Chapter 086: Sanctification of the Mortal Flesh
Zhou Junhao insisted on forcing the seven beast eggs of varying sizes into Song Ye’s hands. Song Ye had to lift his shirt to gather them all. Zhou Junhao said, “I obtained these beast eggs during my travels. I originally thought of hatching a few little spirit beasts to tame as pets, to amuse myself in my spare time.”
“But now, they belong to you. How you wish to handle them is entirely up to you. If you cook these eggs, their flavor is exceptional—far surpassing ordinary chicken or duck eggs. In fact, I boiled one last night, and it was delicious.”
Song Ye chuckled, “Then I thank you.”
He had never tasted a spirit beast egg before; it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“Of course, such a great favor won’t be repaid with a mere few beast eggs. This debt, I, Zhou Junhao, will remember all my life,” Zhou Junhao said sincerely. “Should you ever need my help in the future, you may come find me at Celestial Yan Palace. I will not refuse you anything.”
“My advancement to the Soul Emperor realm is a major event for Celestial Yan Palace. I’ve already promised my younger brother, the headmaster, that when I become Soul Emperor Immortal, I must return to inform him at once. So, I won’t trouble you any further—I’ll take my leave.”
With that, Zhou Junhao rode the wind, vanishing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
Watching him leave in such haste, Song Ye couldn’t tell if Zhou Junhao was truly eager to return to Celestial Yan Palace, or if he simply feared Song Ye might demand more benefits, so he hurriedly tossed over a few eggs and fled.
Indeed, age brings cunning.
Still, at least he didn’t leave them with nothing, not even the eggs.
After Zhou Junhao’s departure, Qin Xuanxi turned to Song Ye and said, “This man’s identity is far from simple. He is the Azure Yan Immortal Sovereign, the head of Celestial Yan Palace—his status surpasses even that of the sect leader.”
Qin Xuanxi thought her young husband’s luck was truly extraordinary. He had merely taken a stroll by the river, yet by chance had helped the Azure Yan Immortal Sovereign break through his cultivation, thus gaining a valuable connection. In the world of cultivation, connections are also a kind of resource—having the support of a powerful cultivator can greatly benefit one’s own path.
Unfortunately, such a resource was wasted on Song Ye, for Qin Xuanxi had long since noticed that he had no spiritual roots; he would never develop an immortal or demonic vein, and was thus utterly cut off from the path of cultivation.
So, all Song Ye could do was remain a loyal, honest, and faithful mortal for the rest of his days.
However, what Qin Xuanxi did not know was that Song Ye’s lack of spiritual roots was only because his “Cultivation” function had not yet been unlocked. That was the reason he could not cultivate before unlocking it.
But now, Song Ye felt that whether he could cultivate or not was of little consequence. He could simply enhance his physical attributes and reach the realm of sanctified flesh. Besides, he could also use guardian skills to assist in battle.
Therefore, even if he could never cultivate, he could still become an unrivaled existence in this world!
After Zhou Junhao left, Song Ye decided to fashion a simple fishing rod and try his hand at fishing, for it would not do to produce a fishing rod from his game inventory out of thin air in front of Qin Xuanxi.
He dug up some earthworms for bait.
Qin Xuanxi and Song Yan sat quietly nearby, watching him fish.
After a quarter of an hour, Song Ye caught a carp, as large as five palms.
He thought that today’s lunch would be this carp, accompanied by a few beast eggs.
The magistrate’s office did not provide meals; usually, Song Ye and Song Yan made do with a bowl of noodles at a small shop in the eastern market. But today, the three of them were together, so Song Ye thought they should eat a little better and cook a meal at home.
He also remembered that Qin Xuanxi possessed astonishing culinary skills, so he asked if they should buy some more ingredients from the eastern market and let her showcase her cooking.
Qin Xuanxi immediately said, “Then let’s buy a chicken.”
After all, the only dish she truly excelled at was stir-fried chicken.
So, they bought a chicken from the market, and the three of them returned to their small courtyard in Pear Blossom Alley.
Song Ye took charge of steaming the fish and frying the beast eggs, while Qin Xuanxi handled the chicken, and Song Yan waited eagerly to eat.
From the seven beast eggs, Song Ye first selected a brown one, cracked it open, and poured the contents into a bowl. At that moment, a prompt from the game system sounded in his mind:
“Ding! Player has slain a high-level spirit beast [Azure-Eyed Golden-Feathered Bird], experience +500,000!”
Song Ye was stunned for a moment, then looked at the eggshell.
Could this be an Azure-Eyed Golden-Feathered Bird egg?
Perhaps the life within the egg had already developed, so when he broke the egg, it counted as slaying the beast.
This was an unexpected delight—just by cracking an egg, he’d gained half a million experience points.
He recalled that he’d once finished off an Azure-Eyed Golden-Feathered Bird before and had only gained sixty thousand experience. Perhaps, at the time, his level was lower, so the experience was limited.
Now, at level 78, slaying such a high-level beast netted him far greater rewards.
He then took the other four brown eggs and broke them one after another into the bowl.
The game prompt sounded in his mind again and again:
“Ding! Player has slain a high-level spirit beast [Azure-Eyed Golden-Feathered Bird], experience +500,000!”
“Ding! Player has slain a high-level spirit beast [Azure-Eyed Golden-Feathered Bird], experience +500,000!”
...
“Ding! Player has slain a high-level spirit beast [Azure-Eyed Golden-Feathered Bird], experience +500,000!”
Goodness, Zhou Junhao had cleaned out an entire nest of those eggs.
As for the remaining two beast eggs, one belonged to the “Infant-Headed Giant Python,” the other to the “Sword-Feathered Bird”—one was worth 700,000 experience, the other 680,000.
After breaking all seven beast eggs, Song Ye had gained a total of 3.88 million experience points.
Immediately, beams of golden light signifying level-ups flashed around him—he leveled up five times in quick succession.
He then dumped all 32 attribute points gained from leveling up into his “Vitality.”
His latest stats:
[Level]: 82
[Vitality]: 1360
[Soul]: 50
This morning’s gains were abundant. Regardless of how the beast eggs might taste, just the experience points alone had left him satisfied.
...
In a barren mountain outside Yan City,
For the past half month, Murong Qingyi had been living alone in the wilderness. Because of the spirit beast hairpin embedded in her scalp, she dared not return to Yan City.
She had considered simply cutting off her long hair and the spirit hairpin together with a sharp blade, but just as she prepared to do so, the hairpin seemed to sense her intent and transformed into a black collar, coiling tightly around her fair neck.
She couldn’t possibly cut off her own neck.
Over these two weeks, she had tried every method she could think of but could not rid herself of the spirit weapon known as “Sang He.”