Zhao Yu sold the remaining talismans, hoisted the Rock Armor Pig back to his mansion, and took out a bone-chopping knife to begin butchering the beast.
"Finally, I get to taste the meat of a demon beast! Rock Armor Pig, so delicious!"
Zhao Yu bit into a piece of the braised Rock Armor Pig meat that was marbled with fat and lean, filled with a gelatinous texture and elasticity, and he was filled with satisfaction and happiness.
Previously, Zhao Yu had used all his resources to enhance his martial talent and proficiency with talismans, never daring to buy demon beast meat to eat. This was his first taste of demon beast meat.
Zhao Yu stored the unfinished demon beast meat in the ice cellar within his mansion.
Five days later, after finishing a meal of Spirit Rice with braised Rock Armor Pig, Zhao Yu suddenly felt a slight movement in his heart, and lines of information directly surfaced in his mind. His eyes flashed with a trace of surprise, "I can now increase the quality of my Spirit Root!!"
"Low-grade Earth Spirit Root (1/100)."
Zhao Yu's eyes flashed with a fiery passion, "Before, eating Spirit Rice only enhanced my martial talent! Ever since I ate the Rock Armor Pig meat, I've been able to improve the talent of my Earth Spirit Root. If I'm not mistaken, consuming the meat of demon beasts can enhance my Spirit Root. Whatever attribute the demon beast has, that's the attribute of Spirit Root I can improve!"
The Spirit Roots of cultivators are innate, and apart from practicing some heaven-defying techniques or consuming extremely rare and precious Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, they are nearly impossible to change.
If he could continually improve the quality of his Spirit Root, once Zhao Yu acquired a Heavenly Spirit Root one day, his cultivation speed would multiply tremendously.
Zhao Yu analyzed calmly, "It takes five days to increase a single point of Spirit Root quality. It would roughly take five hundred days to improve my Earth Spirit Root to mid-grade. Too slow! If I'm not mistaken, consuming higher quality demon beast meat should speed up the process. But, higher quality demon beast meat also has a higher price!!"
Rock Armor Pig meat, a first-order low-grade demon beast, costs one Spirit Stone for twenty pounds at the market butcher, while first-order mid-grade is ten pounds per Spirit Stone, first-order superior is five pounds per Spirit Stone, and second-order low-grade costs an entire Spirit Stone for one pound.
It took Zhao Yu another twenty days to completely finish eating the Rock Armor Pig, gaining another four points of proficiency in his Earth Spirit Root.
Five days later, inside the mansion.
Zhao Yu was practicing the Red Sun Skill when he suddenly felt his blood and qi surging within him, easily breaking through his bottleneck and propelling him straight to the twentieth level of the Red Sun Skill, advancing to become a Great Grandmaster of martial arts.
"Red Sun Skill Twentieth Level (0/100)."
"The talent of a martial arts genius is truly formidable!! Practicing the Red Sun Skill is so easy! If only practicing the Earth Elemental Skill were this easy!"
A slight sense of wistfulness in Zhao Yu's heart, he glanced at the stubbornly unyielding progress bar of the Earth Elemental Skill and felt quite a headache.
"Cultivation Level: Earth Elemental Skill Second Level (10/100), Qi Refinement Second Level."
Zhao Yu had moved to Huangli Alley where the density of spiritual energy was twice that of the Spirit Fields area, and he even used Spirit Stones to aid his cultivation, but the speed of cultivating the Earth Elemental Skill was still slow as a snail.
"Husband, save me!"
"Mother, don't let them take my mom away!"
".…."
Cries and commotion rose nearby, Zhao Yu's brows slightly furrowed, and with a display of Phantom Step, he bounded and leaped onto a tree in the small courtyard, looking towards Li Yunhai's family's direction.
He saw three men in black clothings, all in the middle stage of Qi Refining, and two in the early Qi Refining stage, dragging Zheng Qiaoman out.
Li Yunhai's face was pallid, and he clutched at the continuously struggling and crying Li Xianjiao with a numb and desperate gaze as his wife was dragged away by others.
The commotion quickly alerted the other cultivators in the alley, and one by one, they came out of their houses, surrounding the five men in black.
A tall man standing two meters high, dressed in black with short black hair, possessing the cultivation level of Seventh Level of Qi Refining, Xu Xuan stepped forward with a cold voice, "What are you trying to do? Under the broad daylight, you dare to forcibly enter another's residence and abduct a woman. Aren't you afraid of the Cangling Sect Law Enforcement Team?"
Xu Xuan was one of the few experts in the late stages of Qi Refinement in Huangli Alley, known for his hot-blooded nature and willingness to handle injustices.
A Qi Refinement Sixth Level cultivator from Jinyuan Casino raised a contract stamped with a handprint and said loudly, "This is Li Yunhai himself losing his wife to our Jinyuan Casino!! He personally wrote this debt contract of his wife!! Even if this matter is brought to the Cangling Sect Law Enforcement Team, it's Jinyuan Casino who's in the right. I advise you, my friend, it's better to mind your own business!"
Xu Xuan's face turned alternately green and white. Without a word, he turned and left.
"So, he gambled and even lost his wife!"
"No wonder!"
"His wife is so beautiful! The Jinyuan Casino usually sells people to the Hundred Flowers Building, hehe!"
"..."
The indignant solidarity in the eyes of those onlooking cultivators dissipated. They looked at Li Yunhai with disdain and contempt, no longer obstructing as the people from Jinyuan Casino dragged Zheng Qiaoman away.
Gambling addicts, there's no good end for them!! What a pity, such a beautiful female cultivator, she was blind to choose such a gambling addict.
Zhao Yu also shook his head slightly and swooped down from the big tree.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Suddenly, a knock came from the door. Zhao Yu opened the door and found the red-eyed Li Yunhai and his daughter Li Xianjiao standing outside.
Li Yunhai, with a handsome face filled with obsequiousness and fawning, pleaded, "Zhao, lend me a few Spirit Stones. Let me gamble at Jinyuan Casino. Once I win some Spirit Stones, I'll pay you back double, no, triple!"
Zhao Yu tactfully refused, "Li, I'm currently learning Alchemy! As you know, Alchemy is a bottomless pit. All the Spirit Stones I earn are poured into it. I really have no Spirit Stones left!"
Lending Spirit Stones to a gambling addict is even worse than throwing them into the sea. Throwing Spirit Stones into the sea, at least one can hear the splash, but lending Spirit Stones to a gambling addict will only lead to entanglement and annoyance.
Li Yunhai suddenly knelt down, begging, "Evil Warding Charms!! Lend me a few Evil Warding Charms at least! I'm imploring you, I'm kneeling down for you!!"
Zhao Yu replied indifferently, "I really don't have any Spirit Stones! The Evil Warding Charms have been sold out, and the rest I need to keep for emergency."
Li Yunhai looked up, his bloodshot eyes filled with madness, "How about this! I'll sell Xianjiao to you for 10 Spirit Stones!! Just 10 Spirit Stones! Once I win the gamble, I'll redeem both Qiaoman and Xianjiao!!"
To think of gambling at such a time, it's truly beyond salvation!
Zhao Yu sighed inwardly, his gaze falling on the young girl Li Xianjiao at the side.
Li Xianjiao's eyes were swollen from crying, her entire being numb, as if she were a delicate doll.
Zhao Yu said slowly, "Enough! Write down the deed. If you really have the ability to redeem Zheng Qiaoman and have no gambling debt on you, for just 30 Spirit Stones, you can redeem Xianjiao."