Qian Renxue turned her hand over and took out the bone she had spent a thousand Gold Soul Coins on earlier, carefully setting it in front of Chen Qianqiu.
The moment Chen Qianqiu saw it, his dark-gold slit pupils lit up.
He eagerly stretched out his little black dragon claws and clasped the hard, dark-red bone.
The instant his dragon claws touched its surface, instead of the coldness of a dead object, he felt a searing heat against his palms!
Probing carefully with his spiritual power, he could feel the power roaring within it like surging magma. It was hard to imagine what realm its owner had reached in life!
Such powerful force. Why didn't Qian Renxue have this reaction?
Puzzled, Chen Qianqiu unconsciously examined it more closely and discovered something. This bone should have come from the head of some powerful Soul Beast.
Before its death, that powerful Soul Beast had deliberately channeled all its blood vitality and origin into its skull, hoping someone would inherit them.
Perhaps something had gone wrong along the way, or perhaps the vendor earlier had simply lacked a discerning eye. Now, only this single fragment remained, but even such a small piece was already enough for Chen Qianqiu, who had only hatched yesterday.
Eating this means accepting your kindness. Brother, rest in peace.
Silently offering those words as a sign of respect, Chen Qianqiu could no longer hold back. He opened his little mouth, filled with closely packed sharp teeth, and aimed to take a bite.
"Huh? Wait!"
Just as this supreme tonic was about to enter his belly, Qian Renxue unexpectedly snatched the skull fragment back with quick eyes and nimble hands.
"Xiao Hei, you want to eat this? This isn't food!!!"
The little girl widened her bright, watery eyes and waved the hard bone in front of Chen Qianqiu, shaking her head like a rattle drum.
"No, no! This thing is really hard. You only just hatched. What if eating it damages your stomach and intestines? I told you, Spirit Hall doesn't have any good vets!"
With that, Qian Renxue moved to put the bone away.
But with such an unparalleled delicacy right before his eyes, how could Chen Qianqiu give up?
He let out urgent whimpers of protest and stared pitifully at Qian Renxue, pointing a dragon claw at the bone, then at his own mouth, insisting on eating it.
The girl and the dragon remained locked in a wide-eyed staring contest for quite some time.
Seeing Xiao Hei looking so stubborn and pitiful, Qian Renxue finally softened.
"All right, then. But if you insist on eating it, you should at least make it tasty. Gnawing on a raw rock like this would be so unpleasant."
Another thought seemed to strike the little girl, and she dashed out of the room.
Before long, Qian Renxue came running back, huffing and puffing, with several exquisite bottles, jars, and little dishes in her arms.
They were seasonings she had just swiped from the kitchen.
As Chen Qianqiu watched her as though she were an idiot, Qian Renxue enthusiastically placed the skull fragment on a gold-rimmed plate.
Then, imitating the head chef who often cooked for her, she picked up a bottle of specialty snowflake sea salt in her left hand and held a bowl of rich, savory stock in her right.
Splash-
In an instant, the bone was covered in seasonings. Having watched Qian Renxue's entire performance, Chen Qianqiu felt the corners of his eyes twitch wildly.
Well, damn. Pouring on the soul sauce, are we?
But food was food. What could he say? He had good teeth.
Chen Qianqiu opened his mouth.
Crunch!!!
With that crisp sound, a clean-edged chunk was bitten right out of the bone as though it were paper!
He had to admit, after Qian Renxue's treatment, the bone actually tasted pretty good. It was a little like the potato chips from his previous life-very fragrant.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
Chen Qianqiu sped up, his cheeks working furiously, and soon chewed up the entire bone.
As the last bone fragments slid down his throat, an extremely scorching, violent power exploded inside him!
Chen Qianqiu felt as though he had swallowed a blazing little furnace. An endless, searing torrent poured out of it, wildly washing through every limb and bone. The sensation was indescribable, both painful and comfortable.
"Buuurp-"
After letting out a full-bellied belch, Chen Qianqiu rolled his eyes back, toppled stiffly onto Qian Renxue's soft, large bed, and fell straight asleep.
An unknown amount of time passed.
When Chen Qianqiu groggily opened his slit pupils again, the first thing he saw was Qian Renxue leaning against the edge of the bed, poking his cheek over and over with her little hand.
"Xiao Hei, you've been asleep for a whole day and night. Why aren't you waking up...?"
The little girl's large eyes were filled with worry.
Having just woken up, Chen Qianqiu stretched luxuriously, unconsciously opened his mouth wide in a yawn, and habitually grumbled in his head:
Stop poking, stop poking, little girl. I'm fine. I just ate too much.
The moment those words fell-
Qian Renxue's eyes flew wide as she leaned beside the bed. She pulled her hand back as though shocked by electricity and pointed at Chen Qianqiu, her face filled with disbelief.
"Ah! Xiao Hei, were you talking to me just now?"
Chen Qianqiu stiffened, his entire dragon self dumbstruck.
"What's going on? You can understand me now?!"
He sprang up from the bed, his slit pupils widening.
"I can, I can! This is so amazing!"
Qian Renxue was overjoyed. She scooped Chen Qianqiu into her arms and giggled.
"This is wonderful! Xiao Hei, you can actually talk when you're still so little. You're so clever!"
"Hmm, wait, Xiao Hei?"
"Why do I feel like you've gotten bigger?"
The little blonde was somewhat puzzled. Xiao Hei, whom she had once been able to pick up effortlessly, was now becoming a little difficult to hold.
Her words prompted Chen Qianqiu to examine himself, and even he was a little startled by what he saw.
When he had hatched, he had only been the size of a kitten. Now, he had grown a full size larger and already looked as sturdy as a half-grown hunting dog.
The barbs on his body and the contours of his bones had become smoother, brimming with the beauty of explosive strength.
The most striking change, however, was in his scales.
Originally an ordinary pure black, they had now transformed into a deeper, darker shade, as though they could swallow even the light around them.
And that was not all.
Crack, crack-
Chen Qianqiu clenched his foreclaws hard and felt strength filling his entire body.
The pile of medicinal herbs from earlier and the bone had carried him straight through a young dragon's most vulnerable newborn stage.
Sensing something within him, he abruptly spread the pitch-black wings on his back.
Previously, those membranous wings had only barely allowed him to flap about on the bed like an oversized moth. But now, he gave them only a gentle beat.
Whoosh-!
A powerful current of air swept through the room.
Chen Qianqiu felt his body grow light. Like a streak of black lightning, he shot into the air in an instant, easily looking down from above.
"Holy shit! I can fly!"
The exhilarating sensation of breaking free from gravity made Chen Qianqiu circle the upper part of the room several times in excitement, stirring up repeated whistles of rushing air.