“Brown sugar contains a large amount of melanin, and carbonated drinks can make melanin rise rapidly...”
“No, that's not it.”
“Precious meat contains a massive amount of energy, wild ginseng can replenish primordial qi, and fresh ginger can speed up energy absorption...” Sitting on a small stool, Zhuang Xun tossed the ingredients he was muttering about into a stone mortar, then quickly ground them with a pestle.
“￥#%￥...#￥￥!@...%*￥%￥...~￥#%+ (His speech and the scene fast-forwarded into a blur.)”
An incense stick's time later, Zhuang Xun looked at the red mush in the mortar and fed it all to the Qiankun Chicken.
“Lay it for me!” He watched with high anticipation for a moment, then ran off to play.
Early the next morning.
Zhuang Xun fished a red egg out of the chicken coop and held it above his head with an expression of absolute solemnity.
“A Blood Qi Egg!”
He carefully peeled away the shell, then took a small bite.
The moment the Blood Qi Egg entered his stomach, it dissolved into a warm current, strengthening his blood qi by a fraction. Zhuang Xun's eyes lit up.
“It worked!”
He devoured the rest of the Blood Qi Egg in one gulp and began researching new recipes.
Over the next few days, he successfully researched the Rejuvenation Egg, which could heal injuries; the Vigor Egg, which rapidly restored stamina; the Body-Shaping Egg, which helped shape one's martial physique; the Detox Egg, which dispelled toxins; and the Fasting Egg, which made one feel completely full after eating.
At the same time, he also figured out the mechanics of the Qiankun Chicken's ability.
—It could refine, purify, and merge any edible materials consumed into its stomach.
However, this ability had a certain limit.
The limit was the age of the Qiankun Chicken itself.
For example, Zhuang Xun's Qiankun Chicken was currently eighteen years old, meaning it could at most refine eighteen-year-grade precious meat into an egg.
The Qiankun Chicken would be unable to digest any materials exceeding this age limit, and eating too much would actually cause it to bloat to death.
A few days ago, Zhuang Xun had almost played the Qiankun Chicken to death, only managing to save it after performing physical resuscitation (by thumping its belly).
Another mechanic was that the higher the grade of the materials the Qiankun Chicken consumed, the longer it took to lay the egg.
Having generally mastered how to utilize the Qiankun Chicken, Zhuang Xun began having it lay eggs daily, sending them to Yan Pingsheng and Bai Yujing.
He had offered some to Yi Xiaoxiang as well, but the latter expressed that they had no need for them.
At the Mortal Dao Zenith, the mortal body reached its absolute limit, with no room left for further elevation.
At this realm, the focus was entirely on the cultivation and comprehension of martial arts techniques.
A month passed in this manner. With the aid of the Qiankun Chicken, the strength of Zhuang Xun's three clones experienced a qualitative leap.
Bai Yujing reached the late stage of the Fourth Rank. Since this clone had no bottlenecks in cultivation, there was no such thing as a peak Fourth Rank stage for him—or rather, the moment he stepped into the peak Fourth Rank, his next step would immediately cross into the Third Rank.
He would likely break through to the Third Rank within the next few days.
Yi Wangyou reached the early stage of the Sixth Rank. Because the vast majority of resources were prioritized for Bai Yujing, his speed in breaking through from the Seventh Rank to the Sixth Rank was only comparable to the speed Bai Yujing had achieved during his golden age of cultivation.
Yan Pingsheng reached the early stage of the Eighth Rank, which was also excellent.
During this period, another major event occurred on Mount Dazhou.
The Shengxue Cult launched a counterattack against the Wanxing Martial Academy. For a time, many disciples traveling outside were ambushed, resulting in numerous injuries.
“So the Shengxue Cult finally can't hold back anymore? Interesting. Let's see just how much weight you actually carry...” Zhuang Xun let out a soft chuckle. He returned to Yan Pingsheng's courtyard, shut the door, and locked it twice.
“Go ahead and jump around all you want. Your big brother is going into seclusion.”
Since Bai Yujing was the main culprit who had made life so miserable for the Shengxue Cult, Yan Pingsheng, as his fellow townsman, would absolutely be targeted as a key objective for retaliation.
He would have to be an idiot to control Yan Pingsheng to go outside at a time like this.
Ahem. His grand words when he first obtained the Summer-Winter Cicada were pure arrogance; now, young Zhuang had sobered up.
After all, the strength boost from the Summer-Winter Cicada was linked to the Character Creation Panel, and the panel's upper limit for realm enhancement was determined by the realm of his highest-level character—which was currently the late stage of the Fourth Rank.
If the Shengxue Cult went completely mad and dispatched an Upper Three Ranks expert specifically to assassinate Yan Pingsheng, wouldn't he be utterly done for? He would even lose the Summer-Winter Cicada.
Furthermore, the mental state one entered after using the Summer-Winter Cicada was rather embarrassing. Unless absolutely necessary, Zhuang Xun preferred not to use it.
Fortunately, he had Hu He's example as foresight, so Zhuang Xun had used a temporarily created clone to test the Summer-Winter Cicada out in the middle of nowhere.
Otherwise, he would have suffered total social death just like Hu He. When that happened, Yan Pingsheng would have no choice but to delete his character.
Speaking of Hu He, even though several months had passed, people were still whispering about him whenever he walked down the street.
The only downside of a perfect match between soul and physical body was that the body would in turn influence the soul. Therefore, the side effects of using the Summer-Winter Cicada—the massive release of physical hormones and the extreme state of cerebral excitement—were very difficult for him to resist. However, getting rid of the side effects was simple: he just had to withdraw his soul from that clone.
Thus, if the time really came when he had to use the Summer-Winter Cicada, Zhuang Xun wouldn't reject it.
So what if he went a little crazy? At least his strength would be boosted.
Besides, could a muscle-bound hunk who wasn't a bit crazy even be called a muscle-bound hunk?
Moreover, due to his high soul strength, Zhuang Xun retained a certain level of self-awareness and clarity. He knew what he wanted to do and what he shouldn't do. He wouldn't end up like Hu He, unable to even recognize his own limbs. At most, his actions and speech logic would become a bit bizarre, so overall, the side effects weren't too severe.
Aside from the Shengxue Cult, there was another matter that had been bothering Zhuang Xun recently.
Namely, Yan Pingsheng's reputation as a human Koi had grown far too prominent. People were constantly coming to ask him to go treasure hunting with them.
...
Hearing the knock on the door, Zhuang Xun clicked his tongue. “Here they go again.”
He ruffled his hair to make himself look more disheveled, adopted a melancholic expression, and slouched his back as he went to open the door.
“Senior Brother Yan...”
“Oh? It's them...” With his eyelids drooping, Zhuang Xun feigned melancholy and said, “Senior Sister Xu, Senior Sister Chen, is something the matter?”
Looking at the tall, disheveled man before her, Xu Ziyi couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy in her heart. “Senior Brother Yan, Qing'er and I noticed that you've been locking yourself in your courtyard without coming out, so we were worried and came to check on you. That incident wasn't your fault. You shouldn't take it to heart.”
Chen Qing'er also expressed her concern. “Senior Brother Yan, it really isn't your fault. It was all Xue Shiyu and Huang Renyong's doing.”
“No, it was my fault. I abetted those villains. If not for me, Xue Shiyu's expedition team wouldn't have attracted so many people, and so many wouldn't have been placed in danger.” Zhuang Xun clenched his fists, looking deeply remorseful.
Xu Ziyi hurriedly said, “But no one blames you, Senior Brother Yan! You didn't know, and besides, no one was actually hurt in the end! On the contrary, they even obtained quite a few benefits. You have no idea, Senior Brother Yan, but they are actually very grateful to you in their hearts.”
“No, I knew, and I did it on purpose...”
Zhuang Xun slowly shook his head and said, “The senior brothers and sisters are kind enough not to blame me, but that is no excuse for me to shirk my responsibility. I cannot forgive myself. I will confine myself to this courtyard for a year as a self-punishment, and as an explanation to everyone. Senior Sister Xu, Senior Sister Chen, you do not need to persuade me further.”
“I just don't want to go out. When I do want to come out, I'll do it on my own. When the time comes, I'll have Bai Yujing come persuade me. Yes, he'll have to persuade me at least three times. Only then can I showcase my mountain-like, noble character...” he thought gleefully.
Xu Ziyi and Chen Qing'er stared at Yan Pingsheng, utterly speechless.
Before meeting this man, they had never imagined that someone could be so incredibly noble.
“Senior Brother Yan is truly dazzling...” After chatting with Yan Pingsheng for a few more moments, they left in a bit of a daze. Yet, that plain, ordinary face—now illuminated by the radiant glow of humanity—was already deeply engraved in their hearts.
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