16: Chapter 16: Can he speak human language now?

"The Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range is so vast; even after living here for over a thousand years, this old man has never entered its depths."

Old Turtle waved his hand, and a lifelike flat map instantly appeared above the fire. The map was somewhat transparent, shimmering with spiritual light, and the veins of mountains and rivers were clearly visible.

"Look here—"

Old Turtle's cane pointed to a location on the map.

"This is our current location, the outer perimeter of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range."

"The outer perimeter? Doesn't that mean it's easy to leave?"

Su Mo was somewhat excited. While it was quite free in the forest, living like a savage, he still wanted to go out and experience the prosperity and excitement of the outside world.

Old Turtle glanced at him and spoke slowly:

"This old man kindly advises you that it's best not to go out..."

"Why?"

Old Turtle sighed, and with a gentle stroke of his cane on the map, a red dividing line appeared.

It was clearly distinguishable; one side of the red line was the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, while the other side was—human cities!

"Countless years ago, Human Race Cultivators from the outside world would often enter the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range for training."

As if remembering something, Old Turtle narrowed his eyes, the smile on his face vanished, and his tone became cold and grim.

"They called it training, but it was nothing more than wantonly slaughtering Yao Beasts and Spirit Beasts, skinning them for their cores, extracting their bones for Artifact Refining... even raising young beasts as playthings."

Su Mo's heart trembled. Only now did he realize there was such deep-seated hatred between humans and the beast race.

"What happened after that?"

He couldn't help but ask.

Old Turtle gave a cold laugh:

"Later, the actions of the Human Race Cultivators completely enraged a beast race Senior deep within the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range. That Senior led dozens of rank seven experts and slaughtered all the Cultivators within the range of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range."

"They then fought a great battle with those old fogies of the Human Race, and the result was still a stalemate."

"The Human Race had no choice but to sign a Heavenly Dao contract. From then on, the Human Race and the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range stayed out of each other's way; the Human Race could not enter the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range without cause, and the beast race could not proactively attack human territory."

Having said that, Old Turtle looked at Su Mo meaningfully.

"Do you still want to go out and see now?"

Su Mo snapped out of it, hurriedly waved his hands, and said sheepishly:

"No, no. I know my own limits."

Then he looked at the gourd in his hand. This Old Turtle's storytelling was quite captivating; he'd been listening for so long that he hadn't even opened the gourd's lid yet.

*Pop!*

Su Mo grabbed the stopper and gave it a gentle pull. With a crisp sound, a thick white mist instantly drifted out from the mouth of the gourd.

He leaned in and sniffed; a rich fruity aroma mixed with a sweet wine fragrance swirled in his nasal cavity for a long time before dissipating. Su Mo shook his head, feeling light all over, as if he were walking on clouds.

"What is this wine made of? It's so strong; I can already feel it after just one sniff!"

He carefully tilted the gourd and poured a mouthful into his mouth.

Instantly, a liquid like nectar slid into his mouth.

Su Mo felt a warm current rush from his throat straight to his stomach, then merge into his entire body. The whole fox felt as if it were soaking in a hot spring, so comfortable that even its pores opened up.

Old Turtle's voice sounded in his ear at the right moment:

"How is it? This old man's Hundred Fruit Spirit Brew is good, right?"

"To brew this wine, this old man went to great lengths to find one hundred and eight types of spirit fruits, including a Drunken Immortal Fruit, and the water used is from the deepest part of the spirit spring."

"An ordinary person would sleep for three days and three nights after just one sip."

"Mmm... truly fine wine!"

Su Mo narrowed his eyes, an enchanted expression appearing on his face.

It wasn't that he was drunk; as soon as the fruit wine entered his stomach, it was immediately converted into energy, so he didn't feel any tipsiness at all. However, the sensation of his physique being rapidly strengthened was incredibly refreshing.

With just this small sip, the progress bar on the personal panel before him jumped by over a thousand.

His heart suddenly grew fervent. The Old Turtle was still rambling on; he had to hurry and take a few more gulps before he noticed.

"Ying ying ying~"

Su Mo suddenly felt an itch at his ankle. Looking down, he saw Su Su rubbing against his ankle, making urgent noises while her eyes were fixed intently on the gourd in his hand.

"Want a drink?"

"Ying ying ying~"

"No, little kids can't drink alcohol. Go eat your white porridge and roasted meat."

He took out the gourd and poured a large gulp into the mouth of Hearts Eye, who had already stood up nearby. She immediately couldn't handle it and sprawled on the ground, rolling her eyes.

Su Mo ignored her, gave the gourd a swirl, and tilted his head back, gulping down several mouthfuls in quick succession.

After a few breaths, Old Turtle finally realized what was happening, and his words came to an abrupt halt.

Seeing Su Mo's heavy drinking posture, he jumped in anxiety:

"You brat! Stop drinking! Stop drinking!"

The gourd instantly returned to the Old Turtle's hand. Shaking it near his ear, Old Turtle felt like crying but had no tears.

"Three... three hundred years of aging! Only the dregs are left!"

Old Turtle's hands trembled as he held the gourd, the wrinkles on his face bunching up like a flower.

He had originally thought that with Su Mo's cultivation, he would be flat on the ground after two sips at most. As it turned out, in a moment of inattention, this kid had almost finished it all.

Su Mo didn't feel much, except that his physique was constantly being strengthened and his height was soaring. Seeing that he was about to hit the cave ceiling, he quickly crawled through the entrance to the outside.

Seeing this, Old Turtle also flickered and appeared outside the cave.

Seeing Su Mo's ever-increasing height, he clicked his tongue inwardly.

"Hiss, could this kid have some Ancient Giant Beast Bloodline?!"

"That shouldn't be right. Doesn't the fox race only cultivate Divine Sense and not their physique...?"

Within a few breaths, Su Mo's body grew to twenty meters. It felt as if a barrier in his body was broken through, producing a soft pop.

His entire body seemed to have unchained invisible shackles. Su Mo experimentally clenched his fist, creating a piercing sonic boom. He felt that his strength had now surged to fifty tons.

But the physical strengthening didn't stop... twenty-one meters... twenty-two meters... twenty-three meters... it kept growing until it reached a height of thirty meters before stopping.

At this moment, Su Mo was like an ancient giant, his body covered in knotted muscles. With every breath, a breeze would stir in the surroundings.

Su Mo hopped lightly in place. His thirty-meter-tall body didn't feel heavy; instead, it felt even lighter. Gravity seemed unable to affect him. A light hop sent him over twenty meters high, though the sound of him landing on the ground was quite loud.

[Host: Su Mo]

[Race: Red Fox]

[Rank: Rank Three (11563/100000)]

[Skill: Infinite White Porridge (Never Expires)]

[Talent: Savage Growth]

The Rank on the personal panel showed he had reached Rank Three. The Old Turtle's wine was truly effective; he wondered if he could take him on now.

Standing thirty meters tall with sixty tons of force in a single arm, Su Mo couldn't help but feel a bit overconfident, but he still suppressed the excitement in his heart.

In the outer perimeter of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, Rank Three probably wasn't much, so it was better to be cautious.

"Young friend..."

Old Turtle looked up, his neck nearly snapping from the angle.

Hearing this, Su Mo crouched down. Fortunately, when his physique grew, his fur grew back as well; otherwise, his massive frame might have frightened the Old Turtle, who now looked like Thumbelina, out of his wits.

"Senior, what is it?"

As soon as he spoke, Su Mo realized that he could actually speak human language now.

"So strengthening the physique to a certain extent has this effect!"