Chapter 772: Section 560: Cultivation
A single blasphemy prayer had lifted the Fishman youth’s Life Level to the Golden Level.
He tried to stimulate his fighting energy and successfully found that his fighting energy had taken on a golden sheen.
"Now, I’ve finally caught up with Zong Ge’s pace."
The Fishman youth had left Snowbird Port some time ago and was still unaware that Zong Ge had already been promoted to a Golden Level fighter during his absence.
"No, more accurately, I’m one step ahead of him, considering my Life Essence is already at the Golden Level."
"Next, even without cultivation, the levels of fighters and mages will slowly undergo a qualitative change and, eventually, be promoted to the Golden Level."
A Divine Officer’s cultivation is different from that of fighters and mages, as the enhancement of Divine Power requires the grant of the gods.
"However, with active cultivation, the promotion speed of fighters and mages will be much faster!"
Having reached a higher Life Level step, there is significant support for the cultivation of fighting energy and magic.
"Of course, I have an even faster way to get all three Extraordinary Powers to the Golden Level."
"And that is—prayer!"
By now, the Fishman youth was fully convinced that his blasphemous prayer to Mei Lan would yield a staggering, tremendous gain.
"Where there is gain, there must be loss..." Cang Xu’s warning still echoed in the youth’s ears.
It was a concern he couldn’t afford to ignore.
Yet this concern couldn’t stop the Fishman youth’s determination to forge ahead.
In fact, he found he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to.
He used to pray in his dreams.
Even after eradicating the false memories, this phenomenon did not stop.
"With my Life Level promoted to the Golden Level, it’s time to digest the results."
"I have a strong premonition that the Divine Blessings of Mei Lan will continue to descend in my dreams."
"And moreover, the Divine Blessing will still focus on enhancing my Fishman Bloodline, rather than continuing to raise my Level."
In the past few days, the concentration of the Washwater Fishman Bloodline had already reached 57%.
"Breaking through 60% will lead to a qualitative change, giving me the potential to reach the Holy Domain Level!"
The Fishman youth held considerable anticipation for this.
"8,000 points of Divine Grace... That’s a lot."
"I need to make better use of it!"
Cang Xu had been dispatched, but still kept in touch with the Fishman youth through alchemy tools.
According to information gathered by Cang Xu from people like Zhou Zhang, the Fishman youth was convinced that the Divine Grace he possessed was a vast asset.
"I don’t need all that Divine Grace for myself; I could let Cang Xu use it."
"Even though Divine Grace can’t be traded, I could arrange for Cang Xu and myself to pray together through specific prayers, allowing him to benefit as well."
According to Cang Xu’s investigation, there were many successful precedents for such shared prayers.
A streak of meteors flew across the vast ocean.
Arriving above a sea reef, the fire fell and transformed into a giant.
Cloaked in a Flame Totem, it was Da Dou.
Ever since Frost Love had caught up with him and, in an incomprehensible and inexplicable way, spared him,
Da Dou had become extremely vigilant and tense.
He feared Frost Love might come for him again, so he exhausted the Tunneling Wand and has been on the run, relentless both day and night.
Da Dou’s breathing was heavy, his face etched with fatigue, as he stood on the rocks and surveyed the surroundings.
After a quick reconnaissance, he established that the sea reef emerged above the water only for a few hours a day, spending most of the time submerged.
"The seawater could cover my tracks to some extent."
Da Dou was slightly elated as he began his practice of cultivating fighting energy.
He quickly extracted fighting energy, replenishing a significant amount.
Then he performed his daily prayer to restore some Divine Power.
His use of the Flame Totem for flight over the sea expended not only fighting energy but also the Divine Power of the Fire God.
Prayer required sincere devotion, while cultivating fighting energy made Da Dou even more fatigued.
Yet, he didn’t rest.
Instead, he dragged his tired body and took out a Silver Level Black Iron Pot.
With a slap to his Golden Level storage bag, he brought out the Big guy.
The Big guy’s eyes were tightly shut, immobile, breathing naturally—he was still in a coma.
Da Dou looked at the Big guy and his face immediately revealed a smile, and the soreness of his tired muscles seemed less bothersome.
Da Dou slapped the storage bag again, and a flash of fire burst out, revealing a bag of rice on the reef.
This was Golden Level rice, each grain as big as a fist, known as Antique Building.
Its name was peculiar, and so were its effects. Merely eating this rice caused heartfelt agony; so much pain that it brought tears to one’s eyes and was unbearably bitter!
Its yield was also extremely low, making it a very unique ingredient.
Usually, Da Dou himself was reluctant to eat it, but now, he didn’t hesitate to serve it for the Big guy.
He scooped a large spoonful of rice and began to stir-fry it in the iron pot.
Luckily, his pot had the capacity for spatial storage; otherwise, it couldn’t contain so much rice.
After stir-frying for a bit, Da Dou sprinkled Lace Edge Cheese into the pot.
This cheese was fragrant and if stretched, would form strings that looked like beautiful lace, a Golden Level ingredient.
When the cheese was added, Da Dou stopped stir-frying the rice and instead proceeded to stew it with water.
Midway through cooking, Da Dou took out a dozen colourful, bright mushrooms.
These were known as Adventure Mushrooms.
They grew in clusters and had to be harvested all at once; just harvesting a part of them would cause all the mushrooms to die instantly.
The peculiar thing about adventure mushrooms was that their toxicity and medicinal properties were random.
One cluster of red adventure mushrooms might taste like chili peppers, harmless. Yet another cluster’s red mushrooms could be like bombs; a gentle bite would cause an explosion right in your mouth!
A big cluster of adventure mushrooms was placed into the iron pot.
Soon, the fragrance of food wafted everywhere. When Da Dou fully lifted the lid of the pot, a burst of white aroma cascaded out, instantly waking up the Big guy.
It really was too fragrant.
The Big guy unconsciously opened his mouth, saliva gushing like a river.
"Wait a minute, it’s almost ready," Da Dou said with a laugh, looking at the Big guy who was staring intently at the food.
Combat Skill—Compressed Food!
Golden Level fighting energy covered the whole pot of food and then was fiercely compressed.
The food in the pot originally had a strong Golden Level aura, but it was forcibly compressed down to the Silver Level.
"That should do it."
"This is called a Warrior’s Bake, downgraded to make it the most suitable dish for you."
"Here you go, eat up, all this is yours," Da Dou chuckled, ready to hand it over to the Big guy.
But the Big guy’s face changed. He remembered something, roared loudly, and pounced on Da Dou.
Da Dou sighed and prepared to defend.
The Big guy, being at a lower Extraordinary Level than him and even less skilled in combat, stood little chance. Da Dou easily managed the situation, one hand always holding the iron pot. Without much effort, the Big guy collapsed, exhausted.
He was tired.
He had swum hard earlier, using a lot of energy and drinking plenty of seawater as well.
Seeing he still couldn’t beat Da Dou, the Big guy turned around again, splashing into the water with a plop, repeating his previous behavior of sea diving in search of his father.
Da Dou sighed, threw a punch that erupted into flames, and struck the Big guy’s back, knocking him unconscious.
Enveloped in flames, the Big guy was lifted out of the sea and tossed at Da Dou’s feet.
Da Dou looked at the Big guy with eyes tightly shut, indifferent to persuasion or argument, and couldn’t help but frown in worry.
"What to do now?"
As Da Dou was considering what to do, he saw the unconscious Big guy open his mouth, his saliva beginning to flow once more at the sight of the iron pot in his hand.
Da Dou was taken aback for a moment, then burst into joy, "What a powerful instinct of the body."
"Even in unconsciousness, his body’s instinct still drives him to eat continuously and draw in nutrition crazily for growth!"
"This is the bloodline of a Holy Domain Level, really impressive!!"
Da Dou flicked his wrist, pouring some of the Warrior’s Bake into the mix.
As soon as rice entered the Big guy’s mouth, he started chewing.
After a couple of moments, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and he swallowed the rice in his mouth.
Then, his mouth opened again.
"So eager to be fed."
"Hey, kid, I think I became your milk dad," Da Dou laughed, continuing to feed him.
After eating a large portion of the Warrior’s Bake, the Big guy’s body absorbed nutrition and regained strength.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and saw Da Dou crouching beside him. He immediately swung a punch.
"Don’t hit the pot of food!" Caught off guard and protecting the remaining Warrior’s Bake, Da Dou got punched right in his eye by the Big guy, which immediately turned black and blue.
Da Dou leaped away, instantly putting distance between himself and the Big guy.
The Big guy stood up, relentlessly pursuing him.
"You stinky brat..." Da Dou was furious, "You ate my food and you’re hitting me!"
"I didn’t eat!"
"You are bad, you are the enemy!"
The Big guy roared with righteous fury and released a radiant halo.
Centred around him, the halo multiplied his courage and his fighting capability slightly increased.
Da Dou exclaimed quietly, "A courage halo?!"
Although there was a chance to receive a Warrior’s Halo after consuming Warrior’s Bake, Da Dou knew that after his compression, this probability was very slim.
"Unless the eater has an exceptionally outstanding digestive capacity!"
"You guy, heh heh, such an excellent bloodline, you digested it to this extent, you did not waste my meal!"
"Alas."
Da Dou laughed for a while and was caught up by the Big guy.
As they sparred, he took hits without striking back, letting the Big guy fight to his heart’s content.
"Exercise well, just like that."
"The more you use, the more you digest and absorb!"
To boost the Big guy’s morale and to prevent him from getting discouraged and jumping into the sea again, Da Dou even intentionally did not defend.
Soon enough, he was beaten black and blue.
The Big guy, seeing the hope of defeating a strong enemy, grew more valiant the more he fought.
The bruised Da Dou, too, smiled joyously.
At Snowbird Port’s docks.
Ci Haishen visited the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps branch alone.
"Ci Haishen, you’re looking for me?" Sanda was surprised.
Ci Haishen gazed at him and stated his purpose directly, "I am here to cultivate you."
"I saw the Magic Image, and you showed exceptional knife skills during the fight at the Alchemy Workshop."
"Are you interested in being my assistant and joining me at the grand ceremony of the Frost Love Kingdom?"