Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 235 Anomaly (Part Two)

"Is this young Master Han?"

"Yes, yes, I heard that at such a young age, this gentleman has already become a late-stage Blood Refinement expert. He has extraordinary talent!"

"Your information is outdated. I've heard that this Master Han has some connection with Vice Sect Master Qu Jingxian. Didn't you see how polite Elder Huang Ze was to him...?"

"Shh, you fool, are you out of your mind? You have to call him Sect Master Qu Jingxian..."

Inside the butcher shop, some onlookers whispered among themselves after seeing the owner's respectful demeanor.

These bystanders thought they were speaking very quietly, but Han Yi, having become a martial arts master, had sharpened his senses and was able to hear their gossip from afar.

But his face remained expressionless, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Unfortunately, sometimes, pretending to have low-level strength is a tough job.

After handing over his shift to Cai Yu, he immediately went to the black market shop that sold monster meat.

In the morning, he specifically instructed the butcher to reserve a good piece of monster meat for him.

But…....

Han Yi picked up the long black cloth bag in his hand and looked at it, his face somewhat speechless.

This piece of meat was quite heavy, weighing about ten pounds, but no matter how he looked at it, the bloody lymph nodes on the membrane and the thick layer of white fat...

This piece of meat is clearly from the neck; compared to the monthly benefits of an inner disciple of the Crimson Flame Sect…....

That was truly like heaven and earth!

It should be noted that although the two catties of Crimson Tiger meat that Han Yi receives each month is not a large quantity, each piece of meat is a lean tenderloin with clear texture and a reddish color!

Even so, according to the butcher in the black market, the neck meat he gave Han Yi was already considered a rare and high-quality piece that could be bought outside!

If this were placed on the black market, martial artists would fight tooth and nail to buy the meat!

Han Yi also looked at the meat hanging on the rack outside the butcher shop. Some of it had tumors and spots, some had curled black hair, and some even had dirty internal organs!

This large, intact piece, thick and without any hair or neck flesh, is indeed of excellent quality!

He had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

The butcher said that this meat came from a type of mythical beast called the roe deer, which was said to be beneficial for intelligence and overall health, and had a mild temperament. It was considered neutral meat and suitable for most martial artists.

However, because this kind of meat is impure and contains many impurities, it is not suitable for martial artists above the level of opening the meridians to practice their skills. Therefore, it can only be sold on the black market, and those sold are all the ones that are deliberately left over.

Meat of this quality is only bought by wandering martial artists who have no other choice but to buy it for cultivation because they lack access to it.

Even so, although the quality of this venison is not very good, the price is really not cheap.

The butcher was asking for fifteen taels of silver for this pound of meat, and he told Han Yi frankly that he was only giving him the cost price because Han Yi was the guardian of the black market.

Han Yi untied the black cloth bag and looked at it again.

If you take away ten pounds of meat, remove the inedible fat and lymph nodes, and add the losses after cooking, you'll be lucky to get five pounds of cooked meat left.

Given his current rate of energy and blood consumption and conversion, these five pounds of meat would only be enough for him for two days.

In the next two days, my strength will increase faster, but after I finish eating, it will probably return to its old state of slow growth.

In other words, five catties of meat, two days, and one hundred and fifty taels of silver!

To increase the speed of Qi and blood generation to meet the needs of strength consumption and grow at a normal rate, it's not just a matter of spending more money; it's a bottomless pit!

No wonder so many martial arts masters need to rely on powerful forces; just the cost of food alone is a huge sum of money!

"The poor study literature, the rich study martial arts... These days, you need a good financial foundation to master martial arts... Luckily, I obtained seven gold notes at the Shadow Assassin Pavilion stronghold, otherwise, I really wouldn't have been willing to spend so much money..."

Han Yi closed the bag and strode towards the black market gate, the lingering smell of medicine slowly dissipating.

Although this piece of venison looked bloody and had some blood-like liquid covering its surface, it didn't have the usual bloody smell of meat. Instead, it emitted a strong herbal aroma, clearly indicating that it had undergone some kind of special treatment.

Just now, while he was in the shop, he tried to subtly inquire about the source of the venison from the butcher, but the butcher just laughed it off.

Han Yi also understood that although this kind of business appeared to be a personal transaction, it must have been authorized by other powerful forces behind the scenes.

Presumably, it's either the Crimson Flame Sect or the Thousand Leaves Sect...

The butcher's words also hinted at this, so Han Yi had no choice but to give up and stop asking.

He was just asking out of boredom. If he could find out more information, that would be great. If not, it wouldn't matter.

Anyway, in a few days it will be the fifteenth, the day of the Yingjiabao gathering...

I still have to go to those kinds of places to buy some better quality stuff...

..

The meat from the black market will serve as a supplement...

"Master Han, may you rest in peace!"

Just as he was thinking this, a greeting suddenly interrupted Han Yi's thoughts.

He looked closely and saw that Xiao Ba was standing guard at the door, bowing and greeting him.

Han Yi returned a polite smile and continued walking out.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

He saw a familiar figure; it was Cai Yu.

At this time of year, it's common to see Cai Yu on the black market.

After all, Cai Yu was supposed to be on duty at the black market tonight, and Han Yi had just handed over the shift to him.

However, Cai Yu's current actions and behavior are somewhat strange.

Cai Yu is a man who always smiles at everyone, with the appearance of a kind-hearted old man who is unassuming and hardworking.

But in reality, based on what Han Yi had learned over the past few days, he already knew that this person was lazy, greedy, and extremely lecherous.

To put it bluntly, this person is a complete lazy bum who doesn't know how to work. He has been able to survive in the black market for so many years entirely because of his Blood Refining stage strength, plus the considerable tribute he gives to the elders of the Internal Affairs Hall every year.

Therefore, when this person was guarding the Black Market, he would often wave his hand and dump the tasks that inner disciples should do onto outer disciples.

He was either lying down drinking tea or fast asleep in his room.

Therefore, after Han Yi and Cai Yu finished their shift, Cai Yu immediately went to sleep in the warm little house with a stove lit.

"Didn't he already lie down? Has he changed his mind and wants to get up and work?" Han Yi frowned, somewhat puzzled. He had just seen Cai Yu take the blanket to bed and make him close the door before leaving.

“Cai…”

Han Yi wanted to say hello, but he swallowed the words back down.

Because he saw Cai Yu walking back and forth in the open space in front of the gate, head down, as if looking for something.

But it's already evening. Without torches and lanterns, what can we find by just looking like this?

Moreover, the more Han Yi stared at Cai Yu's posture, the stranger it seemed.

Cai Yu's walking style is somewhat rigid and stiff, always appearing a beat slower than others, as if someone is pulling him along with a rope.

Han Yi took a few more steps closer, wanting to see what Cai Yu was looking for and whether he could help her find it.

"...Where did it fall...?"

As Han Yi got closer, he seemed to hear Cai Yu muttering something, as if something had fallen there.

Moreover, as he got closer, he noticed that Cai Yu's eyes were half-open, and he seemed somewhat dazed, as if he was extremely sleepy and had been forcibly woken up.

Most importantly, even though Han Yi was so close, he still didn't react at all!

"this…...."

Han Yi's temple muscles twitched, and a strange feeling rose from the bottom of his heart, to his brain, and then to his skin, raising goosebumps.

At such close range, even an ordinary person should be able to hear footsteps, let alone a martial artist like Cai Yu who is at the late stage of Blood Refinement!

Cai Yu is usually very slick!

He was able to keep getting by and remain a seasoned veteran in the black market, which shows his strong interpersonal skills!

Otherwise, among so many Blood Refining Martial Artists in the Crimson Flame Sect, why is he the only one who can enjoy life to the fullest every day?

Cai Yu knew that there seemed to be some relationship between Han Yi and Elder Huang Ze, so every time they were far apart, Cai Yu would take the initiative to greet Han Yi and show goodwill.

Now, he was almost in front of Cai Yu, and they had already met face to face, but Cai Yu was still as if he were asleep, with his head tightly down, as if he hadn't seen anything!

Seeing this, Han Yi felt that Cai Yu's condition was not right. He was thinking about whether to raise his voice and ask him what he had lost so that he could help him look for it.

Suddenly, for some reason, Cai Yu's head-down posture reminded him of the beautiful girl who had been chained in an iron cage earlier that day, her arms tightly wrapped around her thighs, her head bowed low.

And inside the wooden shack, on the iron railings, a head with exposed white bone fragments and bright red flesh, and a pair of eyes filled with resentment…

A sudden, overwhelming sense of disgust arose in Han Yi's heart towards Cai Yu.

Seeing that Cai Yu still didn't react and ignored him, Han Yi shook his head, walked past Cai Yu without saying a word, and crossed the black market gate.

After leaving the black market and walking onto the bustling street, Han Yi looked back from afar.

Cai Yu remained stiff and mechanical, head down, searching for something.

As Han Yi watched his retreating figure, he felt a strange sense of oppression and unease.

However, in the system's view, Cai Yu was still the same late-stage Blood Refinement martial artist, with no change in strength. On the contrary, he had regressed due to his indulgence in wine and women.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it... He's just sleepy..."

Han Yi turned around and strode home. A cold and desolate wind blew by, the sky darkened, and the clouds on the horizon turned ashen, tinged with a sickly blood-red hue.

----------------------------------------------

Blah blah blah!

Han Yi didn't stop walking all the way home. As soon as he got home, he threw the black bag on the ground and took out the venison.

According to the butcher, as the effects of the herbs on the venison wear off, the blood and nutrients in the meat will gradually be lost, so it must be eaten quickly!

With Bai Sanren absent, Han Yi didn't delay. He quickly took out a large piece of neck meat, placed it on a square cutting board, removed the lymph nodes and fat, and then chopped the raw meat into large pieces.

He didn't have Bai Sanren's culinary skills, so he decided to choose the simplest method: steaming, to ensure that the nutrients were retained as much as possible.

Wash the meat, rub it with salt, slice the scallions, ginger and garlic, and place them under the meat pieces in a steamer.

Then, water was scooped out, rice was rinsed, and the spirit rice delivered by "Liu's Rice Shop" was poured into the pot.

Finally, the stove was lowered, the bellows were turned up, firewood was lit, and the pot lid was closed.

Soon, white steam rose, and the rich aroma of meat and rice filled the air.

"Ah, this feels so good, this is what life should be like..."

Han Yi picked up a large piece of venison, dipped it in the sauce he had prepared in advance with soy sauce and spices, and took a bite, the juices bursting out.

A faint herbal aroma combined with the meaty fragrance, along with the salt, scallion, ginger, and garlic flavors, fills the mouth.

Han Yi placed the venison on top of the red rice and began to shovel it away.

Finally, feeling that this wasn't enough, he grabbed a bowl the size of a washbasin. He dipped the venison, deer meat, and red-blooded spirit rice in the sauce, mixing them all together.

He picked up the bowl and spoon and stuffed large chunks of food into his stomach; the flavors were fresh, fragrant, spicy, and incredibly satisfying.

If he hadn't already eaten all ten catties of venison he bought, and if he hadn't run out of Crimson Blood Spirit Rice, he would have wanted to cook another pot.

"It seems that for martial arts masters, eating this kind of food is their daily routine..."

As the meat and rice went down his throat, Han Yi felt a sense of fullness he hadn't experienced in a long time, and he almost burst into tears.

After he opened his meridians and became a martial arts master, he stayed outside, eating and sleeping outdoors every day. When he was hungry, he would eat some flatbread and when he was thirsty, he would drink some water.

Back then, the only slightly more comfortable meal we had was at the Yanyue Taoist Temple, but it was still just ordinary food.

Martial artists naturally have large appetites, not to mention those at a higher level, whose digestive abilities are even more astonishing. Now, ordinary food, for Han Yi, will make him feel a little full for a while after eating, but it will quickly be absorbed and used to replenish his qi and blood.

In the past, Han Yi could always eat his fill of ordinary chicken, duck, fish, and mutton by simply eating a little more each day and having a few more meals.

But now, as a martial arts master, for him, those foods that are not made from demonic beasts, no matter how many times or in how many quantities, are of no use.

Eventually, you'll feel empty inside!