12: Adopting a Little Black Panther
After about half an hour, the Little Leopard had only eaten less than 1kg of Ice Horned Antelope meat before suddenly closing its eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
Chen Mo waited patiently for a while longer.
Soon, the lionesses and Aisha also arrived, seeing the Ice Horned Antelope and Leopard carcasses beside Chen Mo, thinking they were prey the Lion King had just hunted.
Seeing that the Lion King had not started eating, they also quietly gathered around Chen Mo, like loyal guards.
About another half hour passed.
Chen Mo walked to the Little Black Panther, confirmed its breathing was normal and it was only asleep, then began to enjoy his feast.
The Ice Horned Antelope meat was cool and refreshing, tender and delicious, arguably the most delicious meal Chen Mo had eaten since his Rebirth.
Moreover, as he ate, Chen Mo felt the blood in his body cheering!
That feeling of rapid growth from before had returned!
The effect of the Ice Horned Antelope meat was much better than he had anticipated!
It turned out that it wasn't that the Gluttonous Lion had reached its limit, but rather that ordinary meat's benefit to Chen Mo had reached its limit!
Besides this, what surprised Chen Mo even more was that—as the Ice Horned Antelope's flesh and blood were continuously digested, a new transcendent energy was born within his body!
However, unlike the relatively gentle transcendent energy before, this transcendent energy had a cold quality.
Chen Mo could clearly feel this icy energy lurking in his abdomen, causing his entire abdomen to feel cool.
Eat, eat, eat!
The Gluttonous Lion granted him extraordinary digestive abilities; currently, Chen Mo could eat 5 Impalas at once, food almost equivalent to his own weight!
But he had only eaten half of this Ice Horned Antelope before he couldn't eat anymore.
Chen Mo then began to observe his own changes.
African Lion (Male)
Rank: Low-Level Transcendent
Physique: 12
Agility: 16
Strength: 11 → 12
Divine Soul: 8
Overall Combat Power: 52 ~ 94
Very good, his Strength increased by another point.
More importantly—he now had two more Ice-Type transcendent energies within his body.
At critical moments, these two transcendent energies could play a huge role!
After thinking for a moment, Chen Mo tore off about 1/10 of the Ice Horned Antelope meat with his claws and threw it to the lionesses and Aisha.
This was not Chen Mo being stingy, but rather, for the continuation and development of the entire Lion Pride, it was more beneficial for him to eat this meat!
He planned to slowly enjoy the remaining Ice Horned Antelope meat later.
Anyway, Ice Horned Antelope meat comes with a natural refrigeration effect, so it probably wouldn't rot or mold even after a few days.
The lionesses had no objection to this distribution; in their hearts, they even thought it was normal for the Lion King to enjoy all the food.
Not long after, the Little Black Panther woke up.
Touching its mother's cold, stiff body, it knew its mother would never wake up again.
Seeing the timid Little Black Panther, Chen Mo walked over.
Perhaps it was due to the previous food offering, but this time the Little Black Panther did not continue to retreat, only looking at Chen Mo with helpless and pitiful eyes.
Chen Mo picked up the Little Black Panther and placed it beside the gentler of the four lionesses.
He wanted this lioness to raise the Little Black Panther.
Chen Mo watched quietly from the side; if the lioness showed any intention of attacking the Little Black Panther, he would intervene.
"Roar~"
The Little Black Panther timidly called out to the lioness, not daring to get too close, and its gaze returned to Chen Mo.
It had developed a certain trust and dependence on Chen Mo.
The Lion King before him had not only avenged it but also given it precious food.
"Roar~"
Fortunately, this lioness did not reject the Little Black Panther.
Instead, a gentle expression appeared on her face, and she voluntarily lowered herself, seemingly wanting the Little Black Panther to come over and nurse.
She had just lost her own cub not long ago, a period when maternal love was particularly abundant.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
The night sky of the grassland was clear and transparent, with countless stars forming a waterfall, the Milky Way seeming within reach.
Chen Mo looked up at the starry sky.
However, an indescribable loneliness arose in his heart.
Now, he was neither a pure lion nor a pure human.
He had the body of a Male Lion, yet he possessed human thoughts.
Previously, he thought that by relying on self-discipline and challenges, gradually becoming stronger, he might have a chance to return to his hometown.
However, the sudden encounter with the Ice Horned Antelope today proved that he was very likely no longer on Blue Star.
His former home, he might never be able to return to it!
Suddenly, Chen Mo felt an itch on his back, as if something furry was rubbing against him.
It was Aisha.
This young lioness seemed to sense Chen Mo's inner sorrow, so she moved closer to Chen Mo, rubbing her small head against Chen Mo's fur.
Looking at his "Lion Sister" who seemed to be comforting him, Chen Mo couldn't help but show a slight smile, and no longer thought too much, lying on the grass and slowly falling asleep.
The next day at noon.
The Ice Horned Antelope meat was finally all eaten by Chen Mo; these transcendent flesh and blood had increased his Physique by 1 point and Strength by 1 point, as well as three Ice-Type transcendent energies.
And when he had eaten about half, Chen Mo discovered an ice-blue crystal in the Ice Horned Antelope's abdomen.
This crystal was the size of a pebble, clear and transparent like crystal, with some kind of ice-blue energy seemingly surging within it, emitting a faint glow.
The moment he saw this ice-blue crystal, an uncontrollable desire arose in Chen Mo's heart; his body's instinct eagerly wanted to swallow it!
With his own will, Chen Mo barely managed to suppress this desire in his heart.
Who knew if there were any risks in directly swallowing this thing!?
He glanced at the ice-blue crystal, and two lines of light-blue small characters actually appeared next to it—
Ice-Type Transcendent Crystal (Miniature)
It contains a trace amount of Ice-Type Spiritual Energy. After consumption or absorption, there is a small probability that it can cause ordinary creatures to evolve.
Chen Mo was slightly surprised in his heart.
Before this, the effect of Observation Lion was only effective on living beings; plants and trees could not display corresponding information, but this was the first time it observed information about a non-living entity.
Perhaps it was because this Ice-Type Transcendent Crystal was a transcendent object?
As Chen Mo's observation time lengthened, he gradually gained more information about this Ice-Type Transcendent Crystal.
Weight: 4.2 g
Level 1 Resource
Contains 9 strands of Ice-Type Spiritual Energy
Can slowly absorb Ice-Type Spiritual Qi within a 5-meter radius for self-replenishment
...After consumption, there is a greater than 60% chance of completing transcendent evolution, and a 100% certainty that it will not cause harm to oneself.
"Good stuff."
When Chen Mo learned that swallowing this Ice-Type Transcendent Crystal would not pose a life threat to him, he swallowed it without hesitation.
Instantly, an extreme cold spread from his mouth, quickly extending throughout his entire body.
To describe it in one sentence, it was—
Refreshing to the core, heart soaring~
The powerful digestive ability granted to him by Gluttonous Lion began to work; the Ice-Type Transcendent Crystal quickly turned into a liquid like melting ice, and then transformed into the Ice-Type Transcendent Energy Chen Mo was extremely familiar with!
Or rather, Ice-Type Spiritual Energy.
It was exactly the same as the Ice-Type Spiritual Energy born after he had consumed Ice Horned Antelope meat before!
This Ice-Type Transcendent Crystal contained a total of 9 strands of Ice-Type Spiritual Energy; these Ice-Type Spiritual Energy, combined with the 3 strands of Spiritual Energy born from consuming the Ice Horned Antelope earlier, condensed into a small ice-blue sphere the size of a red date, finally settling in Chen Mo's abdomen.
A position similar to the Dantian.
"Am I cultivating a demonic core?"
Chen Mo couldn't help but think of some cultivation novels he had read in his previous life.