Chapter 168: The Food Box Flew Up By Itself
Inside Vice Gang Leader Zhao’s spacious carriage.
The three of them sat cross-legged.
Tang Wen, having the lowest status, sat by the door.
Across from him was Vice Gang Leader Zhao.
Elder Li sat to Vice Gang Leader Zhao’s left.
"Do you know where you went wrong?"
Vice Gang Leader Zhao spoke calmly, his gaze placid.
Tang Wen didn’t dare to relax. After a moment’s thought, he decided to be honest. "I was too greedy and too desperate to get stronger. That’s why I took a few extra portions of fresh Extraordinary Blood Marrow."
The two old foxes hadn’t expected him to answer like that.
Frowning, Elder Li chided, "Stop beating around the bush! What’s this nonsense about wanting to get stronger... Huh?"
Vice Gang Leader Zhao also seemed to realize something and spoke up.
"Wait! You ate the Extraordinary Blood Marrow?!"
Tang Wen looked up and blinked innocently.
"You really ate it?"
"You ate it! And you’re fine?"
Tang Wen said timidly, "I’d heard long ago that eating this stuff could enhance one’s Constitution. I feel really strong now! Mmm, strong in every aspect!"
’The woman at home can barely even stand now.’
’If only Sister Bing were here.’
’She’s a Martial Artist.’
’Those legs... that figure...’
"You’re a real piece of work! Eating raw Blood Marrow, weren’t you afraid of dying?" Elder Li was at a loss for words.
Tang Wen shook his head. "I was! But I want to get stronger!"
"Get stronger? Nine out of ten who try end up dead!"
"Huh? Surely not! You only die if you can’t endure it, and I believed I could!" Tang Wen thumped his chest, putting on a reckless display.
"Ten vials of fresh Blood Marrow—you ate them all?"
"Er, yeah. It was kind of addictive. Toward the end, it wasn’t even having much effect anymore!"
"Damn it! Come on, let’s go test your strength!"
Zhao and Li stared at Tang Wen as if he were some kind of rare specimen.
They pulled him over to a training ground.
Tang Wen glanced around and saw a row of large cauldrons.
The largest cauldron was jet-black and a full two men tall.
Next to it was a cauldron one and a half men tall.
Next to that, a cauldron one and a quarter men tall, and so on...
There were eight in total.
The smallest one barely reached Tang Wen’s thigh.
Zhao and Li looked at Tang Wen with expectant gazes.
Tang Wen understood. He strode forward, gripped the "ears" of the Black Cauldron, bent his waist, and with a grunt, steadily lifted it.
"Excellent! One thousand eight hundred pounds!"
Hearing the weight, Tang Wen now had a baseline. He held it for a dozen seconds before gently placing the Black Cauldron back on the ground.
Clearly, he had strength to spare.
He lifted the second Black Cauldron.
"Two thousand seven hundred pounds!"
"Three thousand six hundred pounds!"
Tang Wen set down the third Black Cauldron and stood panting, hands on his hips.
"This kid... He just became a Martial Artist and already has over three thousand pounds of strength!"
"At the Initial Stage of a Martial Artist, he can pretty much dominate."
Still, this wasn’t anything too special.
It wasn’t exactly heaven-defying.
At least, it wasn’t enough to astonish two Veteran Extraordinaries.
Within Ganshan City, there was more than one Awakened.
They began to naturally transform while still in the Martial Artist stage—those were the true geniuses.
While the two were talking, Tang Wen guessed their assessment of him from their attitudes.
’Some Talent, but not a lot.’
’Something along those lines.’
’That won’t do at all!’
Tang Wen decided to show them a little more.
He walked over to the next Black Cauldron.
He exhaled sharply, hoisting the cauldron over his head.
This drew the attention of the two high-ranking gang members, Zhao and Li, once more.
"This one is...?"
"Five thousand four hundred pounds!" The smile vanished from Elder Li’s face.
Vice Gang Leader Zhao nodded repeatedly. "That Extraordinary Blood Marrow wasn’t wasted on him."
"Indeed. His absorption was quite good."
Faintly overhearing their conversation, Tang Wen didn’t continue.
Elder Li summarized, "Greedy and audacious. He’s thoroughly pissed off that old coot, Old Lin!"
Vice Gang Leader Zhao added, "His talent for Fist Technique is decent, and his aptitude for Martial Arts is high enough."
In short, their conclusion was that the young man was one of their own, talented, knew the importance of gifting, was quick-witted, and was worth cultivating.
Worth grooming as a core member.
Once they returned to the spacious and luxurious carriage.
Vice Gang Leader Zhao spoke with his eyes half-closed. "You did well on this mission. Starting next month, your Cultivation Resources will be tripled."
"Thank you, Gang Leader!"
"Tsk. It’s *Vice* Gang Leader."
"Yes, yes, Gang Leader."
"You little rascal." A small smile tugged at the corner of Vice Gang Leader Zhao’s mouth.
Cheerful laughter filled the carriage.
Vice Gang Leader Zhao: ’This kid is greedy, and his greatest desire is to become stronger!’
’I can use him.’
Tang Wen: ’This Old Zhao really does want to be the Gang Leader!’
’But he looks even older than the current Gang Leader.’
’Well, regardless, this is something I can exploit.’
He then turned his attention to Elder Li.
’What’s his weakness?’
’Women?’
’He has many women, but he’s willing to use them to entertain guests.’
’Fine wine and delicacies?’
’He likes to drink in private, sure.’
’But when we went to see the Gang Leader, there wasn’t the slightest smell of alcohol on him.’
’Children?’
’He has droves of children and grandchildren, and he can still father more himself.’
’He probably wouldn’t even bat an eye if eight or ten of them dropped dead at once!’
’Greed for wealth?’
’No, his children are already grown and making their own money.’
’Damn!’
Tang Wen suddenly felt as if he’d just discovered a hidden boss.
’Is Elder Li strong because he’s without desire, or is he just hiding his true nature?’
「That night.」
Tang Wen summoned the Blood Crow back again.
He worked through the night, writing a long letter to Flame Camp.
In the letter, he detailed the unique aspects of Four Seas Camp, explained the existence of the Hunters, and described the situation in Ganshan City.
Finally, he added a persuasive flourish:
[I can already feel the wheels of history turning.]
[Our Flame Camp can no longer remain isolated in its own corner.]
[We need to develop, we need to increase our strength, lest we be crushed by the coming tide.]
After he finished writing, he tied the letter to the Blood Crow’s leg as usual.
He fed it more than a dozen pounds of Extraordinary Beast Meat.
The Blood Crow rested until midnight, then flapped its wings and flew north.
Tang Wen stood on the roof, watching it disappear into the distance for a long time.
He slowly lowered his gaze, his heart filled with a sense of wistful loss.
This feeling was not unfamiliar.
He was homesick.
He missed his sister, Sister Bing, the Maids at home, and his friends and acquaintances at Flame Camp...
Sitting on the roof, the night wind washed over him.
The river of stars swirled overhead, but he felt no desire to sleep.
He glanced at the woman sleeping soundly on the bed.
Instead, he went to the training room in the backyard and began to hone his Pile Skill.
[Earth Fire Mixed Element Stance, Master (3000/3000)]
After drinking ten vials of Extraordinary Blood Marrow over the past few days, his Constitution had reached a new level.
[Body: 9.99]
[Essence: 9.81]
9.99 was a threshold.
Tang Wen had a faint suspicion.
When he broke through to 10.0 and truly reached double digits...
Perhaps some kind of change would occur.
He expertly assumed the stance, putting all thoughts of his Pile Skill’s bottleneck out of his mind.
He simply repeated the movements again and again, continuously honing his body.
「Three days later.」
[Earth Fire Mixed Element Stance, Master → Mastery (1/6000)]
[Body: 9.99 → 10.99]
[Essence: 9.81 → 10.81]
HUM!
His mind thundered.
It was as if his soul had left his body to resonate with the heavens and the earth.
The strengthening of his body felt like being submerged in a warm spring.
He drifted freely, half-dreaming and half-awake, his spirit intoxicated, as if he had returned to an embryonic state.
GRUMBLE!
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
The violent rumbling of his stomach and a ravenous hunger woke him.
The stronger one’s Constitution, the more difficult it was to improve.
And after an improvement, the subsequent hunger was all the more intense.
Hunger surged through him, crashing over him like a tidal wave.
Tang Wen opened his eyes and looked toward a corner of the training room.
A three-tiered food box sat there.
The wooden box wasn’t large; it was filled with Extraordinary Beast Meat.
He took a step, but his legs felt weak.
He quickly grabbed the wall for support.
’I shouldn’t have put it so far away.’
’I’m starving.’
’If only it could fly over here on its own.’
’You’re a sensible food box now. You should have learned how to make home deliveries.’
The thought was incredibly intense.
Suddenly, as if he were hallucinating,
the three-tiered wooden food box actually began to wobble and lift off the ground...