Time flowed like water, passing in the blink of an eye.
Night fell over the Hundred Beasts Valley. Specks of light began to appear, and the roars of beasts rose and fell in succession.
In a remote corner of the Hundred Beasts Valley, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness of a beast pen. Its long, twisted shadow, cast upon the pen’s walls, made it look like a specter.
Soon, the figure drew near. In the light, he was revealed to be a man in an old, worn green robe. While his face couldn’t be called handsome, it was still rather clean-cut.
It was Li Changsheng, who had spent the day in the mountains.
His once-empty back-basket was now filled to the brim with a strange plant. It was shaped like a vine and crimson all over, but it grew nodes like a stalk of bamboo.
Li Changsheng walked straight into the kitchen and set his basket on the floor. Rubbing his sore shoulders, he went to the water vat and gulped down several mouthfuls of water before letting out a satisfied sigh.
He had spent the day gathering information for his Eye of Cultivation. He’d been starting and stopping constantly, investigating every plant, animal, and insect he came across.
By the end of the day, he had traversed several small hills.
It was a good thing his body was nourished by Spiritual Qi; otherwise, he might not have been able to handle it.
The basket full of plants was his greatest harvest of the day. Gathering it was why he was only just returning as night fell.
Li Changsheng emptied the strange plants from his basket onto the floor. Mixed in with them were five or six bamboo tubes.
Li Changsheng stared at the pile of plants on the floor.
[Blood Bamboo Vine: Spicy in flavor. Contains trace amounts of Qi Blood toxin.]
He had found this plant, which he’d named "Blood Bamboo Vine," in a mountain stream completely devoid of birds or beasts.
Getting it had cost Li Changsheng a great deal of trouble.
Only after entering the mountains did he realize that the information his Eye of Cultivation had gathered previously was limited to plants he already knew.
For plants he didn’t recognize, he had to touch or taste them himself. Only then could the Eye of Cultivation monitor his body’s reactions and provide detailed information.
The information that the Blood Bamboo Vine contained a trace amount of Qi Blood toxin was displayed by the Eye of Cultivation after it monitored his internal reaction to eating some.
The Blood Bamboo Vine was highly toxic. The mountain stream where it grew was littered with the skeletons of beasts that had died after eating it by mistake.
In addition to the Blood Bamboo Vine, the stream was also home to a peculiar insect.
They fed on the sap of the Blood Bamboo Vine. Their bodies looked like bamboo nodes, they had six long, sharp legs, compound eyes, and mouthparts like a mosquito.
When Li Changsheng was cutting down the Blood Bamboo Vine, he’d disturbed them. A massive swarm rose up like a dark cloud. If he hadn’t thought on his feet and run, he might have become just another skeleton on the ground.
In the end, he managed to stealthily cut down some Blood Bamboo Vine at the edge of the stream, catch a few straggler insects, and hurry back to the Hundred Beasts Valley.
The bamboo tubes on the floor contained the insects he had caught.
Li Changsheng picked up the bamboo tubes and placed them on a nearby wooden table. He stared at the Stinkfern and Blood Bamboo Vine on the ground.
[Mixing Stinkfern with Blood Bamboo Vine can remove the foul odor, neutralize the toxicity, and slightly increase its nutritional value.]
Li Changsheng smiled, then turned and walked out into the beast pen.
GRUNT GRUNT...
Hearing the noise, Big Flower and Xiaohua let out low grunts. They obviously hadn’t eaten in half a day and were starving.
Li Changsheng walked to Big Flower’s pen and looked at the lively piglets inside. He counted them carefully twice, only breathing a sigh of relief after confirming the number was correct.
"When I expand the farm, I’ll have to buy a Dao Array. Otherwise, I can’t leave with any peace of mind."
Li Changsheng muttered to himself and turned to leave the pen.
Back in the kitchen, Li Changsheng got to work.
CHOP... CHOP...
The sound of chopping was crisp and pleasant, but the chopper himself wore a grim expression.
Before long, the room was filled with a stench like rotting salted fish.
His face ashen, Li Changsheng dumped over a hundred pounds of Stinkfern into a pot of boiling water. Without pausing, he immediately started chopping the Blood Bamboo Vine.
According to the ratio determined by his Eye of Cultivation, a hundred pounds of Stinkfern required only one pound of Blood Bamboo Vine. He had collected tens of pounds of the vine, enough to last him a month or two.
The Blood Bamboo Vine was hollow in the center, just like bamboo, and contained a scarlet, blood-like liquid. It didn’t stink at all; in fact, it had a fresh, pleasant aroma.
Soon, a pound of Blood Bamboo Vine was chopped up. He poured it, along with the liquid from inside, into the large pot.
The fire in the stove raged, and steam billowed up from the boiling pot.
The contents of the pot, originally a murky green, gradually took on a shimmering blue hue after the Blood Bamboo Vine was added.
After a moment, the fire in the stove died down. Li Changsheng stared at the dark blue pig feed in the pot, a strange look on his face.
’I’m a Cultivator, and I’m making pig feed... so why does this look like a Magic Potion a Wizard would brew in one of the storybooks from my past life?’
’The aesthetic is all wrong here!’
Feeling a little uneasy, Li Changsheng formed a hand seal and cast the Water Purification Technique three times in a row.
The effect was excellent. The concoction’s dark blue color turned a deep, inky black, and it now gave off the fragrance of fresh grass and wood.
As he looked at it, a subtle starlight flashed in the depths of his eyes.
[Tusked Pig Food: Speeds up advancement upon consumption.]
’Well, the effect is right. As for the color... I’ll just ignore it.’
Li Changsheng nodded in satisfaction. He took a ladle and began scooping the mixture into the wooden buckets at his feet. Soon, both buckets were full of the viscous black liquid.
With a slight effort, Li Changsheng lifted both buckets and walked out the door.
Entering the pen, he saw that Big Flower and Xiaohua were already waiting eagerly at their troughs.
Li Changsheng lifted one of the buckets and poured it into a trough.
The pitch-black liquid, like some kind of grim-looking concoction, SPLASHED into the trough.
The result did not disappoint. Before he even finished pouring, Xiaohua began to chow down with loud OINKS, its little tail wagging furiously.
He then poured the other bucket into Big Flower’s trough.
After watching Big Flower and Xiaohua eat with gusto for a moment, Li Changsheng left the pen.
He returned to the kitchen to wash the pot, then went back to his room.
He sat cross-legged on his bed, closed his eyes, and began to circulate the Spirit Guiding Technique. He focused on refining Spiritual Qi, striving to reach the second level of Qi Cultivation as soon as possible.
「The night passed quickly.」
As the sun rose, its light cast a golden glow over the Hundred Beasts Valley. Wisps of smoke curled into the air as the beast-raising disciples began another busy day.
In a remote corner of the valley, inside a simple kitchen built of wood.
CHOP... CHOP...
With several scarves wrapped around his face, Li Changsheng’s knife moved so fast it was a blur. In an instant, a Stinkfern was minced and tossed into a pot of boiling water.
A short while later, the fire in the stove was extinguished.
Two wooden buckets were filled with the thick, black pig feed.
Li Changsheng lifted the buckets, walked out the door, and headed straight for the pen.
He couldn’t wait to see if the special feed had caused any changes in Big Flower and Xiaohua.
Hearing his hurried footsteps, Big Flower and Xiaohua immediately got to their feet and crowded around him.
GRUNT... GRUNT...
Compared to the previous day, Xiaohua showed no outward changes, but Big Flower’s lethargy since giving birth had clearly improved.
Li Changsheng quickly finished pouring out the two buckets of feed.
As he watched the two large pigs chow down, Li Changsheng focused his gaze.
[Target: Xiaohua]
[Species: Tusked Pig (Male)]
[Tier: First-Order Low-Grade: 53%]
[Talents: Tough Hide, Sharp Teeth.]
[Status: Healthy.]
.
[Target: Big Flower]
[Species: Tusked Pig (Female)]
[Tier: First-Order Low-Grade: 61%]
[Talents: Tough Hide, Sharp Teeth.]
[Status: Healthy.]
Looking at the information panels for Big Flower and Xiaohua, Li Changsheng’s eyes flew wide. He muttered to himself, "I’ve struck gold!"