The two of them walked back to the lower court. The wilderness was completely quiet except for the chirps of early morning birds.
*grumble*
Chen Shaojie's stomach resounded with emptiness. It was especially loud in the quiet environment.
Li Xuejiao tried to hide her smile. "Brother Chen, you should eat something. Don't starve yourself."
Chen Shaojie could only reach his hand into his pants again.
Actually, every time he reached into his pants when he was hungry, he felt a little uncomfortable.
He had no idea why the pockets of the male servant disciples' pants had to be sewn into the crotch region. It was so inelegant.
He had brought along a bag of food, which he had kept in his pants pocket on the side of his crotch. After a day and a night, it was not that fresh anymore when he took it out.
The bag was filled with buns. Chen Shaojie offered one to Li Xuejiao. "Sister Li, here, have a bun."
"I'm not hungry."
Li Xuejiao shook her head, refusing immediately without a hint of hesitation.
But the moment she said that--
*grumble*
Sister Li's stomach also resounded with emptiness.
Now this was a bit awkward...
Fortunately, the sky was not that bright yet, so they could not see each other's faces.
Chen Shaojie was wise enough to pretend not to hear anything. He happily enjoyed his bun.
After spending some time together, he now had a good grasp of Li Xuejiao's temperament.
She was introverted, proud, and would sometimes have a little social anxiety, so she usually liked to put up a cold and tough front to disguise herself in front of others.
Chen Shaojie was unwilling to over-provoke this protective shell of hers, lest she would not carry him anymore in the future. That would be a really big loss for him.
*grumble*
Perhaps his meat bun smelled too good, or perhaps he was eating the meat bun too loudly, Sister Li's stomach growled again.
Chen Shaojie did not dare turn his head to look, but he could no longer pretend that he did not hear it or the situation would get even more awkward. He could only pull out another meat bun from his pants and offer it to her. "Here, Sister Li."
"..."
Li Xuejiao took the bun without a word and ate it in small bites.
After finishing a bun, Chen Shaojie still felt really hungry for some reason. He immediately ate another one.
Li Xuejiao had also finished her bun very quickly. She said in a soft voice, "After using three Qi Attracting Pills, my Qing Yu Body Forging Technique has reached the intermediate stage of the Mineral Digestion realm. That's why I feel so hungry."
So that's why...
Chen Shaojie contemplated it. His own situation was probably similar.
His Qing Yu Body Forging Technique had also reached the realm of Mineral Digestion. He was not at the intermediate stage yet, but it was a given that his appetite would be bigger.
It seemed like the function of Mineral Digestion was to enhance the body's absorption ability so that the body could better obtain energy from food to cope with the growing energy consumption of the body after becoming stronger.
The reason Li Xuejiao was suddenly saying this was in fact because she was trying to give an explanation for her faux pas just now.
Chen Shaojie was very cooperative. He asked, "When you've fully completed the cultivation of the Mineral Digestion realm, is it true that you can actually digest minerals?"
Li Xuejiao smiled gently and shook her head. "Of course not. Except for the Gold Gobbler, an ancient divine beast in the myths, how could anyone really be able to digest minerals?"
After a slight pause, she explained, "For real cultivators, the higher their cultivation level, the greater the immortal power in their body. Eventually, they would be able to destroy heaven and earth with a swing of their hand. By that point, they would have transcended and would no longer be the same as ordinary people."
"The food that normal people eat simply could not provide enough energy to satisfy the need of an immortal body anymore. That's why, instead of eating grains like ordinary people, real cultivators consume Qi, pills, spirits..."
"When we complete the cultivation of the Mineral Digestion realm of the Qing Yu Body Forging Technique, although it can't actually allow us to digest minerals, it can temper our mortal body so that we can start to eat things that contain more spiritual Qi."
She had explained it very clearly.
To use a more graphic analogy, a diesel engine must be fueled by diesel, a gasoline engine must be fueled by gasoline, and a nuclear reactor must be fueled by nuclear fuel.
In order to get higher power output, besides refining and improving the power unit, the fuel was also very important. You could not fuel a nuclear power unit with diesel, right?
Chen Shaojie thought with concern that, if he continued on like this, he would soon find himself unable to be sated anymore.
For a while now, he had realized that his appetite had gotten much bigger.
Before this, he would feel full from a bowl water-boiled noodles, two eggs and a large cucumber. But now, even two more drumsticks on top of that were not enough for him.
For a person whose cooking skill was pretty much non-existent, it was a huge problem.
If he was in the mundane world, he might be able to find a tavern and order a takeaway or something.
But he was in the Qing Yu Immortal Sect. He was really afraid that he would end up starving to death, becoming the first ever transmigrator to die from hunger in an alternate world.
Li Xuejiao seemed to be having fun chatting. She continued, "I heard that all the upper court disciples will be given three Inedia Pills every month. With them, you will only need to cultivate and consume Qi without having to worry about food intake anymore."
(TL: Inedia or breatharianism is the claimed ability for a person to live without consuming food, and in some cases water. )
Iner...Inertia Pills? Inedia?
What a strange name...
But this was perhaps the best piece of news Chen Shaojie had heard ever since he transmigrated over, bar none.
With the inertia pills or whatever they were called, he would no longer have to worry about cooking, and would no longer have to torture himself with water-boiled noodles every day.
For this reason alone, he must get himself promoted to the upper court as soon as possible.
Work hard, work hard, work hard...
Chen Shaojie made up his mind.
When a person had found a goal, even their gait would become faster.
The two of them soon reached the lower court.
The sky was slightly bright by now.
The door of the lower court's main hall was wide open; it was ready to welcome the disciples inside for morning cultivation.
The two of them stepped inside the main hall.
There was only a single person inside the hall, sitting in a corner – the guy who did nothing but cultivate all the time, Meng Tiancheng.
They were both a little surprised as soon as they entered, not expecting Meng Tiancheng to be there so early.
Meng Tiancheng had also sensed the two of them. He opened his eyes to look, and a trace of surprise flashed across his eyes. It seemed that he did not expect Chen Shaojie and Li Xuejiao to come in together so early either.
"Hmph..."
His gaze quickly swept over Chen Shaojie and Li Xuejiao. He seemed to have thought of something. The corners of his mouth curled in disdain. He closed his eyes again.
'This guy must have a screw loose or something.'
Chen Shaojie had long had a good grasp of Meng Tiancheng's personality, so he did not pay Meng Tiancheng any mind. After he and Li Xuejiao exchanged glances, they walked to their usual corner and sat down with their legs folded as per their routine.
They started cultivating by themselves.
Chen Shaojie connected to Li Xuejiao's WiFi as usual. Although a cultivation speed of x10 could not compare to a cultivation speed of x1000, it was better than nothing.
Any amount of progress was still progress. He had promised himself that he would do everything he can to get promoted to the upper court as soon as possible, so he must keep his words.
A man was only as good as his words. Even if it was hard, he must force himself to do it.
The morning cultivation session was over before he knew it.
Wu Fulai immediately came to look for Chen Shaojie.
He had a devious smile on his face. "What did you do on your day off yesterday, Brother Chen? I didn't see you come back home last night. Where did you go?"
What a busybody...
Chen Shaojie was quite speechless. He could not help taking a glance in Li Xuejiao's direction. He saw that Li Xuejiao had also been approached by two female servant disciples who were pressing her for information.
Sigh. So many busybodies!