256: Am I, Old Huang, really getting old? Too skinny? Out of favor?

They looked up blankly, seeing no one around, and were about to continue their actions.

"Aow—! My Seven-Colored Auspicious Sirloin?! Who?! Is it you again?!"

A piercing deer cry suddenly broke the tranquility of the back mountain, carrying unbelievable indignation.

"Squeak! My Thunder Hind Leg! Shameless thief! Give me back my meat!"

A bolt of lightning, as if its fur was standing on end, leaped up, a rabbit's shadow flickering, filled with towering rage.

However, before they finished speaking, the Void Realm in front of them trembled slightly, and a small bottle of crystal clear, Dao Rhyme-flowing Innate Spirit Marrow appeared before each of them.

Immediately after, Gu Changge's calm yet undeniable voice, like a heavenly decree, echoed in their Divine Souls:

"What are you yelling about? Cutting this bit of meat from you is to activate your Qi and blood. Quickly refine this Innate Spirit Marrow. Your Realm is still too low.

Cultivate diligently, strive to Break through to the Great Saint Realm early. The higher your Realm, the better the meat will taste."

Deer, Rabbit: "???"

The indignant howls caught in their throats. Feeling the vast vitality and Dao Rhyme contained within that bottle of Innate Spirit Marrow, and then hearing this devilish logic of encouraging Breakthroughs just for better taste, the deer and rabbit froze in place. A huge sense of grievance and an even greater Opportunity left them dizzy.

In the end, they silently put away the Innate Spirit Marrow, sullenly lay back down, and began to Cultivate frantically—

Get stronger! Must get stronger! At least... at least be more tender than that old beef from before!

Meanwhile, inside Gu Changge's small courtyard, several pieces of prime fresh meat, shimmering with auspicious light, radiating abundant Spiritual Qi, and even slightly trembling, had silently appeared on the stone table. Deer meat and rabbit meat were separated, and an exotic aroma wafted through the air.

Wang Xiaopang's eyes went wide, and he almost drooled: "Ma-Revered Master... this meat... the Spiritual Qi is too abundant!"

Gu Changge glanced at him, a smile in his eyes, his tone calm: "Mm, sit down. Today, we shall taste the flavor of this Seven-Colored Elk and Lightning Rabbit."

With that, he gently flicked his sleeve, and an ancient, grand three-legged cauldron, inscribed with profound runes, appeared in the courtyard. Earth fire spontaneously generated beneath the cauldron, and clear springs surged within it, enveloped in rich Spiritual Qi.

Various rare Spirit Medicine, divine fruits, and Immortal Plants, which Wang Xiaopang had never even seen before, were casually picked by Gu Changge and placed into the cauldron, to be boiled together with the shimmering spiritual meat.

Immediately, an indescribable complex exotic aroma permeated the air, refreshing the heart and mind, making one's Divine Soul feel a sense of comfort, as if the Great Dao itself was resonating.

Xiao Ruobai, Fang Hanyu, Ling Xi, and the others skillfully sat around. Xuan Yangzi and Shi Wanshan also sat down with smiles, clearly having long anticipated this scene.

Deep within the spiritual field, Old Huang, who had been burying his massive ox head firmly in the damp soil, his whole body tense, waiting for that familiar moment of being cut, waited for a long time, but the anticipated cutting never came.

He finally couldn't hold back and cautiously, extremely slowly, pulled his huge ox head out of the mud. His mud-stained, bell-like eyes furtively glanced towards the small courtyard.

When he saw that Gu Changge had already taken out that familiar large cauldron, and what was boiling inside were indeed the deer meat and rabbit meat emitting seven-colored auspicious light and lightning Qi, and not his Old Huang's beef... a huge, inexpressible surge of wild joy and relief instantly overwhelmed his tension!

"Didn't... didn't cut mine?! This time it's not mine?! Heaven has eyes! Ancestors bless! I, Old Huang, have escaped another calamity!"

He was so excited he almost jumped out of the soil. He sniffed the enticing aroma of meat in the air with his ox nose, feeling that this smell was more wonderful than ever before!

However, this wild joy of escaping disaster only lasted for a few breaths.

A more complex, even more inexpressible sense of resentment and loss, like a creeping vine, quietly entwined itself around his heart.

Old Huang's huge ox eyes stared longingly at the deer meat and rabbit meat boiling in the cauldron, which were highly favored by the Venerable One. Then he looked down at his own sturdy but seemingly out-of-favor tendon meat, his gaze gradually becoming aggrieved... "Venerable One, why didn't he cut my meat this time?"

"Is it because he thinks I, Old Huang, didn't work hard enough tilling the field? Or was the sirloin I contributed last time not tender enough?"

"Could it be... that the Venerable One thinks the Seven-Colored Elk's meat is more auspicious? That the Lightning Rabbit's leg is more vigorous? That it tastes better than my Old Huang's beef, which has been tempered a thousand times and contains the profound virtue of the earth and the fragrance of diligence?"

"Am I, Old Huang, truly old? Is my meat tough? Have I fallen out of favor?"

The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he became. He even felt that the Venerable One's letting him go this time was not an act of kindness, but a silent negation and disdain for his "beef quality"!

This complex sense of crisis from being out of favor made the Azure Sky Python Bull King secretly grieve in the spiritual field, making even the enticingly fragrant Spirit Medicine next to him seem unappealing.

He listlessly lay back down in the dirt, only revealing a pair of ox eyes filled with "resentment" and "self-doubt," gazing from afar, longingly, at the feast he was unable to "participate" in, his heart a mix of emotions.

Just then, Gu Changge, seated at the head, his gaze seemingly inadvertently swept across the spiritual field, perfectly meeting Old Huang's aggrieved, mud-stained ox eyes.

The faint smile on Gu Changge's lips seemed to deepen slightly. His tone was calm, but his voice clearly reached Old Huang's ears, and also the ears of everyone in the courtyard:

"Old Huang, stop lying there."

Old Huang's huge ox body suddenly stiffened, his heart uncooperatively pounding. He thought the Venerable One had finally remembered his "tough meat" and was about to make that cut. He instinctively wanted to bury his head back in the dirt.

But then he heard Gu Changge continue: "Go get some purple flame spiritual rice."

"Ah?" Old Huang was stunned, a hint of bewilderment flashing in his huge ox eyes. Not cutting meat? It's... it's to get rice?

Immediately, Gu Changge paused, then added another sentence, his tone calm, but it made Old Huang's ox eyes widen instantly.

"Come over and sit down, and eat together."

"What?!"

This time, not only was his meat not being cut, but he was also allowed to join the table and eat?!

This sudden "grace," like a huge pie falling on his head, made him feel a bit dizzy for a moment. The huge grievance and resentment were instantly shattered by this immense surprise!

"Moo—!"

He suddenly lifted his head from the ground, letting out a loud bellow filled with disbelief and wild joy, so resonant that the Spirit Medicine in the spiritual field trembled.

He didn't care about the mud covering his face. His huge body, with an agility completely unsuited to its size, "whooshed" out of the spiritual field, his four hooves kicking up wind.

He quickly brought the spiritual rice over, as if afraid the Venerable One would change his mind if he was a second too slow.

Old Huang carefully used a gentle force to take out a large bag of plump, light purple rice grains, subtly streaked with flame patterns—it was the purple flame spiritual rice.

Everyone in the courtyard was first startled by Old Huang's dramatic change, then couldn't help but laugh.

Xuan Yangzi pointed at Old Huang, who was rushing back with the rice, and laughed, slapping his thigh: "Hahahaha! This old ox! His face changes faster than flipping a book! Just now he looked like a little abandoned wife, and now his tail is almost wagging to the sky!"

His eyes rolled, and he deliberately called out to Old Huang: "Hey! Old Huang! Looking at how aggrieved you were just now, are you unhappy that Junior Brother didn't cut your meat? How about... I reluctantly help you fulfill that wish?"

Old Huang heard this, his huge ox eyes glared, and he snorted indignantly at Xuan Yangzi: "Go away, go away! Xuan Yangzi, stop fanning the flames here!"