The First Eighth-Tier Expert

Feng Rumeng looked up and saw a pair of golden eyes gazing down at her. She turned around and saw Jin Ling examining her handiwork. "What's this, Rumeng?"

"Jin Ling, what brings you here?" Feng Rumeng was a little surprised. Then she fixed her eyes on the thing in his hand. "Give it back."

Jin Ling held it up high. "Tell me what it is first, and then I'll consider giving it back."

"Stop fooling around, Jin Ling. Give it back, quick. It's not a toy." Feng Rumeng reached for it.

Jin Ling spoke in a lazy tone. "Rumeng, give it to me."

Feng Rumeng's long lashes trembled. "I really can't give you that. I'll give you something else."

Jin Ling stretched the underwear open. "Is this...?"

His golden eyes widened slightly. Looking down, he fixed his gaze on a certain spot, then waved his hand and stowed it in his space. "I'm keeping this treasure, Rumeng."

"Jin Ling, you really can't just give that away," Feng Rumeng said, holding out her hand. "Give it back."

Jin Ling lowered his head and rubbed his androgynous face against Feng Rumeng's palm. "You smell so nice."

Feng Rumeng tried to pull her hand back, but Jin Ling caught her wrist.

Clatter! The chieftain's ceramic bowl shattered.

Feng Rumeng and Jin Ling looked to the right at the same time. The chieftain, the great elder, and the priest, with Hu Feng and several other fifth-tier warriors behind them, were all staring at the two of them, eyes wide and mouths agape.

Jin Ling straightened up and coughed twice.

Feng Rumeng lifted her chin slightly. "Go on. Come back when you're done, and I'll make you something delicious."

"You'll make me something delicious?" Jin Ling's smile deepened. "All right."

Feng Rumeng went into the cave, measured out the right proportions of grain flour and water, and began kneading the dough.

"Rumeng, may I come in?" Jin Ling asked warmly from the cave entrance.

Feng Rumeng came out carrying a ceramic basin and found that Jin Ling was the only one outside. "That quickly?"

Jin Ling took the basin and set it on the stone table outside the cave. "I'll help you make it." Smiling, he went to the stone vat and scooped out water to wash his hands.

"Sure. Then I'll leave the job of chopping the meat into a paste to you." Feng Rumeng took out the chunks of meat, a cutting board, and a stone knife and set them on the table.

Jin Ling shook the water from his hands. "All right." He picked up the stone knife, and the meat paste was ready in no time.

Feng Rumeng brought a ceramic pot out of the cave and filled it with water.

Jin Ling knew just what to do. He went over, lit the fire, and tended it. "Rumeng, what about the rest? What can I do?"

"I'll season the filling first. You can put the meatballs in later," Feng Rumeng said as she added seasonings to the meat paste and mixed them in.

"Meatballs?" Jin Ling murmured. "What are those?"

"You'll find out soon." Feng Rumeng finished seasoning the meat filling, pulled the kneaded dough into small pieces, stuffed them with meat, and pressed them into rounds. She rubbed some fat over the thin stone slab heating beside the ceramic pot, then laid the meat pies on it.

"What's this, Rumeng?" Jin Ling was like a curious child.

"These are called meat pies. Once both sides are fried golden brown, they're ready to eat." Feng Rumeng uncovered the ceramic pot, took out a wooden spoon, and taught Jin Ling how to make meatballs.

Jin Ling scooped up the meat paste with the spoon and dropped it into the pot. "Amazing. Rumeng, what's this?" he asked, holding up the spoon.

"A wooden spoon."

"Rumeng, then I want a wooden spoon."

"Okay."

When the meatballs were almost done, Feng Rumeng added a few greens and sprinkled in some salt. The aroma came out at once.

"That smells so good, Rumeng. I'm going to eat three bowls."

Feng Rumeng smiled. "All right. One pie and a bowl of soup are enough for me. The rest is all yours."

Jin Ling looked at the meat pies piled high on the wooden plate, his mouth nearly watering.

Once the food was ready, Feng Rumeng served Jin Ling a bowl first.

Jin Ling took it but didn't eat. She waited for Feng Rumeng to sit down with him.

"Why aren't you eating?" Feng Rumeng looked at him in confusion.

Jin Ling curved his lips. "Females first."

Feng Rumeng chuckled. "Go on and eat. No need to stand on ceremony."

Only after watching Feng Rumeng swallow her first bite did Jin Ling pick up his spoon. He elegantly held a meat pie in one hand and used the spoon in the other to deliver meatballs to his mouth, repeatedly mumbling that they were delicious.

Meatballs and meat pies were both meat. Feng Rumeng didn't actually like eating this way, but beastmen lived mostly on beast meat, so this was the only way she could treat her guest.

During the meal, Jin Ling asked why neither of her two mates was around. Feng Rumeng gave him an evasive answer: one had gone to trade beast hides, and the other had gone to advance.

Jin Ling asked no more and changed the subject.

Feng Rumeng and Jin Ling ate, chatting and laughing. Not far away, many people were swallowing their saliva. They had smelled this aroma before, but would never admit they wanted any.

The chieftain and the high priest hadn't even eaten lunch. They waited at a distance, ready to respond at any moment, afraid of offending this lord from Beast King City.

They were also worried that Feng Rumeng might complain about being drugged that morning. If the lord became angry, the Fierce Tiger Tribe might vanish on the spot.

They were seeing an Eighth Tier expert who had only just reached adulthood for the first time. Even the lord in charge of Beast City had only entered the seventh tier a few days ago.

When they first saw the golden eagle beastman, they thought something serious had happened. After all, nobles from Beast King City wouldn't readily set foot in this remote forest where even birds wouldn't shit.

Only after talking to him did they learn he had come to announce the date of this year's mate-selection gathering in Beast City. Although it didn't mean the tiger tribe could move into the city, having an Eighth Tier expert come to deliver the news was an immense honor.

In previous years, it had been held in the first month of the flower season. This year, no beastman from Beast City had come to notify them for so long that they thought it had been canceled.

Delivering the news was probably a small matter for this lord; he had really come to find the black female. His smile was so openly flirtatious that all he lacked was a peacock's tail to fan out.

They already couldn't understand why Ling liked this black female and had even joined the tribe for her. But did this royal lord have a special fetish for black?

In the clearing by a cave not far away, a group of females openly watched Jin Ling. He was already exquisitely handsome, and today he wore an expensive, light, white two-piece beast-hide outfit. He was a walking exclamation mark-how could they not be infatuated?

In Hu Yun's cave, Bai Zhenzhen learned of Jin Ling's presence and prepared to come out and see him too.

[System: You can sleep with him, but it must not interfere with the conquest mission.]

Isn't he one of my conquest targets? Bai Zhenzhen asked upon seeing Jin Ling.

[System: No. Host, your mission is to conquer specific characters in the plot.]

Is he from an unknown side plot too?

[System: Yes.]

Is this man blind? What on earth is so good about that black female?

[System: Unable to provide an answer.]

After the meal, Jin Ling asked for a wooden spoon, a wooden bowl, a wooden plate, and a bamboo cup—a full set.

Feng Rumeng also gave him some meat and banana slices she had dried herself. Jin Ling didn't stand on ceremony at all; he took whatever she gave him.

When he left, he gave Feng Rumeng one pink Beast Crystal and ten red Beast Crystals, but she took only one red crystal as a token.

She and Ling had hunted ferocious beasts many times without getting even a single sixth-tier blue crystal, much less seventh-tier red crystals or eighth-tier pink crystals.

Jin Ling said that special piece of beast hide was worth those crystals.

Feng Rumeng looked at Jin Ling. It was something worn close to the body, so what was it supposed to mean for him to take it? But she couldn't get it back, so she could only ask offhandedly, "Are you sure?"

Jin Ling gazed at her gently with his golden eyes. "I'm sure."

Feng Rumeng gave a soft huff and shrugged.

Jin Lin tapped the tip of her nose with the pad of his finger. "I'm leaving, Rumeng."

Feng Rumeng waved. "Mm. Have a safe journey, Jin Ling."

Jin Ling walked to the tribe's entrance, where the chieftain and the others gathered around him. Bai Zhenzhen was also subtly displaying her charm.

Jin Ling looked straight ahead. "Chieftain Hu, sorry for the trouble, but please help take care of the female Rumeng."

Hu Zhi nodded deeply. "Rest assured, my lord. The female Rumeng belongs to our tribe. We'll certainly take good care of her."

Jin Ling took out two red crystals and handed them to the chieftain. "I trust the chieftain will keep his word."

He glanced at Bai Zhenzhen and smiled warmly, then spread his wings in beast form and flew away.

Feng Rumeng looked up at the giant eagle flying through the sky. It must be wonderful to fly. If only Ling had a pair of wings too.

That afternoon, after waking from her nap, Feng Rumeng sat in front of the cave again and crocheted underwear. She couldn't have too much of it.

In the evening, Hu Zhi personally brought people over and gave her crystals according to the numbers Feng Rumeng had recorded. He also said a few courteous words.

When the male beastmen apologized, they were sullen and resentful, and Feng Rumeng gave them no friendly looks.

Hu Zhi tried to draw information out of her, but Feng Rumeng only smiled faintly and said nothing more.

Finally, Hu Zhi brought up Hu Yun, saying that things hadn't been easy for him in the tribe over the years. Unable to transform, he had suffered plenty of scorn.

Feng Rumeng didn't make things too difficult for the chieftain. She asked for twenty blue crystals and said that would settle the matter.

After all, she still had to wait in the tribe for Ling to return. As for everything else, she would leave it to the chieftain to arrange as he saw fit.

She knew that Jin Ling's status had played a large part in the chieftain acting so quickly.

The chieftain had told her that, on the Giant Fang Continent, Jin Ling was the first Eighth Tier expert they knew of.