However, upon hearing the denial, he didn’t think much of it, assuming the other person wasn’t Li Donglai. Otherwise, why would he hide and not dare to admit it?
At this moment, Xiaodouding heard the other person’s words and nodded in satisfaction, "You’re pretty good, not just spouting nonsense. But if you want to rival Li Donglai, you’d better go back and practice for another ten years."
Speaking of this, Xiaodouding muttered, "How could Li Donglai be knocked down by just one of my punches?"
Although the voice was low, Li Donglai heard it clearly and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, his face full of helplessness.
As the three of them were chatting and bickering, the Observatory Master Liu Feng walked out, and everyone immediately shut up and started the morning lesson.
In the drowsiness of the crowd, the morning lesson ended, and then Xiaodouding pulled Zhang Chen towards the canteen.
Meanwhile, Li Donglai watched their backs, his eyes gleaming, "That little fellow actually refined the Pill Force. Is there some secret at play? How could she, at such a young age, have mastered Pill Force? This is unbelievable. If I could understand the secret within, wouldn’t my future cultivation be smooth sailing?"
With that thought, Li Donglai felt a stir in his heart and rushed towards Zhang Chen, "Hey brother, wait up, let’s go have breakfast together."
Zhang Chen didn’t refuse upon hearing this. Although Xiaodouding wasn’t fond of the little fatty, she didn’t continue to mock him, as all her attention was drawn towards Chu Mingyue.
"May I know your name, brother?" Li Donglai cupped his fist towards Zhang Chen and asked.
"I’m Zhang Chen, and your name is?" Zhang Chen asked in return.
"My name is..." He was about to blurt it out, but recalling the embarrassing scene from this morning, he worried about being belittled by the three-inch nail, so he quickly changed his words, "My name is Li Lai. You can just call me Li Lai."
"I’m a few years older than you, so just call me Big Brother," Li Donglai said nonchalantly, putting his arm around Zhang Chen’s shoulder.
Zhang Chen looked at this naturally familiar guy. He wasn’t bad-hearted, and since he was indeed seven or eight years older, calling him big brother seemed appropriate.
While they were talking, Xiaodouding squeezed through the crowd with joy and ran towards Chu Mingyue, "Senior Brother Chu, wait for me."
"Is this girl a fangirl of Chu Mingyue?" Li Donglai watched Xiaodouding’s eager pursuit and remarked sourly.
What’s so special about Chu Mingyue? He might not even be better than me.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen shook his head, "I don’t know. I never thought she’d be a fangirl."
He didn’t stop Xiaodouding since they were all fellow disciples. What could possibly happen?
Over there, Chu Mingyue glanced at Xiaodouding with a hint of coldness in his eyes, but he didn’t bother with her, continuing to converse with the person beside him. Xiaodouding, however, didn’t mind and happily trailed behind.
Honestly, seeing this scene, Zhang Chen felt a bit jealous, like his family cat had been petted by someone else.
Zhang Chen and Li Donglai chatted idly and arrived at the canteen to get food. After they got the steamed buns, Li Donglai wouldn’t leave and instead followed Zhang Chen closely, determined to figure out Xiaodouding’s secret.
Zhang Chen saw Xiaodouding sitting beside Li Donglai and shouted from afar, "Sister, time to go home for lunch."
Xiaodouding waved Zhang Chen off, indicating not to worry about her. Seeing this, Zhang Chen was helpless and could only leave with Li Donglai.
On their way, they arrived at Zhang Chen’s little house, and looking at the exquisite courtyard, Li Donglai exclaimed, "Junior Brother, you actually have your own courtyard within the Daoist Temple. Your temple treats you too well. No way, I’m staying here for a few days. You can’t refuse me. I don’t want to sleep on the large bunk beds any longer."
There were a few empty rooms in the courtyard, so Zhang Chen didn’t refuse. He seemed to sense a familiar aura from Li Lai, like seeing Wu Changming’s shadow.
"There’s a room next to mine. You can stay there for now," Zhang Chen said.
Li Lai went in, nodded in satisfaction, and then sat in the courtyard with Zhang Chen, with his plate of steamed buns. The next moment, to Zhang Chen’s shock, Li Donglai pulled a chunk of metal from his sleeve, took a bite of the bun, and then bit into the metal. The chunk, like a piece of cake, was effortlessly bitten off, chewed with a crunching sound, and swallowed.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen was stunned. Li Donglai noticed Zhang Chen’s astonishment and grinned, "Don’t be surprised, Junior Brother. I have a bloodline superpower. I love eating iron. No iron, no joy."
Zhang Chen twitched his mouth; a person who can chew steel. He had never seen anyone like this before, and he actually swallowed it. Could his stomach handle that?
"I say, Li Brother, can your teeth manage that?" Zhang Chen asked, thinking this bloodline was truly incredible.
"My teeth can cut gold and jade. My stomach can melt steel into lava, healthy as can be. The more iron I eat, the stronger my abilities. I’ve managed to build myself iron bones and copper skin, and once I turn my flesh into steel, I’ll be invincible. But, the iron residue that often accumulates in my stomach is very uncomfortable and bloated."
Saying this, Li Donglai patted his large belly, his face full of helplessness, "Who’s not a handsome and charming young man, huh?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen opened his Devouring Dharma Eye, looking at the young man. He saw a red glow swirling in the boy’s stomach, as if there was a fiery world inside.
Then Zhang Chen turned his gaze, scanning the boy’s body, finally landing on the boy’s hands.
On the boy’s hands, two runes flickered. Understanding the Devouring Dao, Zhang Chen naturally knew what those two runes represented.
"I say, the reason you have iron residue in your body, could it be that, I’m just suggesting, you might not have to chew iron to devour its essence? You just need to hold the iron in your hand and guide your stomach’s energy to your hands to absorb its essence?" Zhang Chen suggested.
Finding this young man interesting, he didn’t mind offering a few pointers.
In terms of mastering the Devouring Dao, if Zhang Chen claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.
Watching the law’s flow in Li Donglai’s body, Zhang Chen showed a contemplating look, having some ideas. He felt that if he could see through the law system within, he too could devour the Power of Iron Essence to strengthen his body.
Li Donglai was momentarily stunned, blankly looking at his palm and then at Zhang Chen, "Guide my stomach’s energy to my hands? How do I do that?"
While speaking, with a thought, a wave of heat surged from his stomach, converging in his hands. Next, his hands changed into a metallic color as if they were brandishing blazing iron, radiating terrifying heat.
Shocked by this change, Li Donglai quickly withdrew his energy flow, hurriedly checked his pocket only to find the iron chunk devoured.
Then, his gaze turned to the iron pot in Zhang Chen’s courtyard. With a swoosh, he leaped up and charged towards it.
"No!" Zhang Chen’s face changed upon seeing this. That was his iron pot for cooking meals.
But it was too late. Li Donglai’s hand landed on the iron pot, melting it into a pool of iron liquid, which was then controlled by an unknown force in Li Donglai’s hand, shrinking it into a small lump of iron residue he tossed to the ground.
"What kind of stupid things have I been doing for these ten years?" Li Donglai stared at the iron residue, doubting his entire existence, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Biting into iron for over ten years, I really was a fool.
"My pot! My pot!" Zhang Chen looked at the iron residue shrunk to fist-size, his eyes full of helplessness.
"It’s just a pot; I’ll buy you another one. Junior Brother, how did you come up with that? That’s just incredible!" Li Donglai turned around, looking at Zhang Chen in shock, his eyes filled with excitement.