21: Chapter 21 Just take a bite, don't rush.

Leaving the Black Wind Valley ruins and returning to the Cloud City Pioneers Guild, the atmosphere was subtle.

Zhao Mengmeng followed closely behind Xia Youchu, her eyes glancing from time to time at Ling Tian, who looked like a monster beside them.

Ling Tian's size no longer allowed him to be carried by Xia Youchu; he could only walk listlessly behind them, occasionally his eyes lighting up when he sensed stones or plants containing energy, then rushing over to take a few bites.

Zhao Mengmeng's Crimson Flame Wolf had its tail tucked, not even daring to look at Ling Tian.

Nearly 1.2 meters long, standing taller than Zhao Mengmeng's waist, its rock-like skin shimmered with a matte finish in the sunlight. Jagged back fins extended along its spine, and its thick tail could carve shallow grooves into the hard ground with a casual swing.

Those cold, vertical pupils occasionally swept over her, still making her feel a chill in her heart.

With this appearance and this strength, you're telling me it's Mortal Grade?

Then wouldn't her Crimson Flame Wolf be worse than a Mortal Beast?

"Little Sister Youchu..."

Zhao Mengmeng couldn't help but lean closer to Xia Youchu, lowering her voice, "What breed is your War Beast exactly? It's too fierce! I want to raise one too!"

Xia Youchu glanced at her expressionlessly, complaining internally.

I want to know what kind of gluttonous, troublesome breed this is too!

But she maintained her unfathomable, indifferent appearance on the surface, casually brushing it off: "A mutated breed of Gecko, just a bit special."

"Special? This is too special!"

Zhao Mengmeng looked incredulous.

Watching Ling Tian bite through a roadside piece of granite, crunching away with great relish, the corner of her eye twitched, "Your Gecko has really good teeth! If you hadn't told me, I would have thought it was a mutated breed of Transcendent Earth Dragon!"

...

Returning to the Pioneers Guild, they submitted the mission [Clear out the Cave Spiders on the outskirts of Black Wind Valley].

When the staff member saw the number of Cave Spider poison sacs Xia Youchu submitted, they were visibly stunned, especially since there were several mixed in that were clearly from Demon Soldier leader-level beasts.

"These... were these all completed by you alone?"

The staff member looked at Xia Youchu in disbelief, then at the... uh, incredibly fierce Mutated Stone Lizard at her feet.

"Yes." Xia Youchu replied faintly.

Zhao Mengmeng stood by, wanting to speak but holding back. She really wanted to say there were many more Demon Soldier Peak spoils, but unfortunately, they had all been eaten by that giant lizard. However, seeing Xia Youchu's expression, she didn't dare to speak.

In the end, the mission was settled, and Xia Youchu received 120 points and 600 Low Grade Yuan Stones.

For an ordinary Yuan Practitioner, this was not a small fortune.

But for the current Xia Youchu, this harvest was barely better than nothing.

She took the Yuan Stones and went to the resource area within the Guild to purchase a large amount of Yao Beast meat needed to Cultivate the "Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art," along with quite a few Low Grade Yuan Power alloys.

She had figured it out: relying on feedback from Ling Tian was a lost cause; this guy was a pure bottomless pit. If she didn't want him to snatch her good stuff, she had to prepare affordable substitutes in advance to keep him fed.

Sure enough, upon returning to the small courtyard they had rented, as soon as Xia Youchu took out the pile of Yuan Power alloys, Ling Tian's eyes lit up as he pounced, sweeping through them like a storm.

[Devoured Yuan Power Alloy * 10, gained Evolution Points + 10.]

[Devoured Yuan Power Alloy * 10, gained Evolution Points + 10.]

...

Evolution points were slowly and steadily moving toward the critical point.

Truth be told, the taste of this high-intensity Yuan Power alloy was actually quite good, giving Ling Tian the feeling of chewing beef jerky.

Ling Tian ate to his heart's content, found a corner to lie down, and began to digest, with dark red energy light flashing faintly on his body and disappearing.

Xia Youchu watched his "eat and sleep" attitude, shook her head helplessly, and walked into the quiet room, preparing to digest the harvest from this trip to the ruins.

Although she hadn't eaten the dragon-pattern spirit-nourishing fruit, having gone through consecutive battles, especially after using the Soul Burning Secret Technique and walking on the edge of life and death, her Cultivation Bottleneck had loosened.

Coupled with the purchased Yao Beast meat, breaking through to the four-star Yuan Practitioner level was not a problem.

With a little consolidation, consecutive Breakthroughs were not impossible.

She sat cross-legged, took out medicinal herbs, and began to operate the "Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art."

Demonic Qi surged in her body, carrying a trace of dominance, forcibly devouring the essence from the Yao Beast meat, and impacting the Bottleneck of the four-star Yuan Practitioner.

Time passed quietly.

...

Ling Tian lay in the courtyard, digesting food while vaguely sensing through the Soul link that the energy fluctuations from Xia Youchu were gradually becoming intense.

"Oh? This woman is leveling up?"

He didn't have any special feelings.

Feedback? Whatever.

His evolution system seemed to be independent of the beast-taming rules of this world.

Devouring everything, strengthening himself.

All energy was firmly locked by his unique energy core and body structure, used for his own growth and metamorphosis.

To use the words of this world, he was an "iron rooster," not giving out a single feather.

Ling Tian didn't know if Xia Youchu's Breakthrough would bring him feedback, but his evolution wouldn't bring any benefits to Xia Youchu, at most just adding some debt for Xia Youchu after his appetite increased.

"Whatever, I'll sleep first."

Ling Tian yawned and continued to concentrate on digesting.

...

In the quiet room.

Xia Youchu was surrounded by faint black mist, the manifestation of operating the "Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art" to the extreme.

Her face flushed and turned pale alternately, with fine beads of sweat seeping from her forehead.

Cultivating Demonic Techniques involves both pain and risk.

But the effects are also significant.

Boom!

As if some shackle had been broken, the Yuan Power in her body instantly surged, becoming more condensed and vigorous!

Four-star Yuan Practitioner!

Breakthrough achieved!

Moreover, because of the characteristics of the "Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art," the Yuan Power she had just broken through with carried a domineering erosive force, far more aggressive than the Yuan Power of Cultivators at the same level.

She slowly opened her eyes, feeling the increased power in her body, and gently exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"Finally... took another small step forward."

Although the process was tortuous, the harvest was far lower than expected, and she had been scammed quite a bit by her own War Beast, the increase in strength was real.

She walked out of the quiet room and found Ling Tian still lying in the corner, seemingly asleep, but the energy fluctuations on his body were even more obscure and deep than before.

"This silly lizard... seems to be getting stronger again?" Xia Youchu felt complicated.

Just then, there was a soft knock on the courtyard door.

"Little Sister Youchu, are you there? It's Su Wanqing."

Xia Youchu was slightly startled.

Su Wanqing?

How did she find this place?

The Su Family was one of the noble families on good terms with the Xia Family. Their strength was slightly inferior to the Xia Family, but their relationship had always been good.

Su Wanqing was the eldest daughter of this generation of the Su Family, with a gentle and kind personality. In her previous life, she had some friendship with her.

It was just that later, seemingly because of a Family marriage, she married a playboy from a major power, and the ending was not very good.

She couldn't remember the specific details clearly. After all, in her previous life, she was focused on Cultivating and didn't pay much attention to these trivial matters of noble marriages.

She only vaguely remembered that the marriage seemed to be a year later, and Su Wanqing died in depression not long after the marriage.

A pitiful person.

Xia Youchu gathered her thoughts and stepped forward to open the courtyard door.

Outside the door stood a young girl in a pale purple long dress, with a beautiful appearance and a gentle temperament, but with a trace of faint sorrow between her brows.

Behind her were two maidservants, holding several exquisite gift boxes.

"Sister Wanqing, why are you here?" Xia Youchu stepped aside to let her in.

Su Wanqing saw Xia Youchu and a gentle smile appeared on her face, but when her eyes swept over the simple environment in the courtyard, a flash of heartache appeared in her eyes.

"I heard about your situation..." Su Wanqing said softly, "Don't take those rumors in the Family to heart. I believe you must have your own plans."

She motioned for the maidservants to place the gift boxes on the stone table in the courtyard.

"These are some Yuan Stones and Medicinal Pills for Cultivation. Although not many, it is a token of my heart. You are new here, it is not easy outside, don't wrong yourself."

The gift box opened, and inside were neatly arranged hundreds of Medium Grade Yuan Stones, as well as several bottles of good-quality Pei Yuan Pills and healing medicines.

They were very valuable, far exceeding the harvest Xia Youchu had just earned from the mission.

Xia Youchu looked at these resources, then at Su Wanqing's sincere and concerned eyes, and felt a slight warmth in her heart.

In her previous life, when she ascended to the Emperor Realm, she was mostly surrounded by awe and calculations. Such pure care was rare.

"Sister Wanqing, this is too precious..." Xia Youchu wanted to decline.

"Accept it."

Su Wanqing pressed her hand, her tone gentle but firm, "Our two families are Family friends. Although we don't see each other often, I have always regarded you as a younger sister. Now that you are in trouble, how can I stand idly by?"

She paused, her voice lower: "I know the Family cut off your resources, and you must be feeling bad. But the road is one you walk yourself. I believe you will definitely be able to carve out a world."

Xia Youchu felt moved, remembering what she heard in her previous life.

Su Wanqing seemed to be a sacrificial lamb used by the Family for marriage alliances to exchange for benefits.

The time was probably a year later? The other party seemed to be the notorious second son of the Black Rock City lord's Family next door?

She couldn't remember the specific details, but the miserable ending was certain.

"Thank you, Sister Wanqing."

Xia Youchu no longer declined and accepted the gift box, "I will remember this kindness."

Su Wanqing saw Xia Youchu accept it, and her smile became even brighter: "That's right. If you have any needs in the future, just come to the Su Family to find me."

She chatted with Xia Youchu a few more times, mostly caring about her safety outside and telling her to be careful, without inquiring too much about her privacy or the War Beast that looked very fierce.

Before leaving, Su Wanqing seemed to hesitate for a moment, and finally said softly: "Little Sister Youchu, if... if there is a chance in the future, to leave Cloud City and go see more vast places, perhaps... that would not be bad."

These words carried a hint of imperceptible suggestion and expectation.

Xia Youchu understood and nodded: "I understand, Sister Wanqing, you must take care too."

After sending Su Wanqing away, Xia Youchu looked at the resources on the table and was silent for a while.

"Also a pitiful person who cannot control her own destiny..."

...

In the corner, Ling Tian, who was sleeping, opened his eyes at some point.

Through the Soul link, he captured some fragments of Xia Youchu's thoughts about Su Wanqing.

"Marriage... tool... a year later... died in depression..."

Ling Tian was not interested in these bourgeois squabbles.

But he remembered two things.

The first thing was that this woman named Su Wanqing was not bad, she brought a lot of delicious food.

The second thing was that she seemed to be in trouble in a year.

Ling Tian licked his lips, looking at those Yuan Stones and Medicinal Pills, calculating in his heart.

"For the sake of these tributes..."

"If I run into her in the future, it wouldn't be impossible to help her out."

"Just consider it prepaid meal money."

If you give me food, I'll solve your trouble.

Thinking about this, Ling Tian's tears flowed down from the corner of his mouth again.

Forget it, let's have a small taste of the Medium Grade Yuan Stone first.

"Stop!! That's not for you to eat!!"

In the time it took to turn around, Xia Youchu looked at the mess on the ground, furious, and punched Ling Tian hard on the head, then silently went to the medical room to hold her hand.

Damn it!

One day she would teach this silly lizard a lesson and let it know who the master is!