An Jing didn't say much, he bowed his head and bit into the meat.
At first, the sensation in his teeth was like biting into a piece of tough rubber, yet with just a slight effort, his teeth sliced through the slightly charred surface of the muscle fibers, and the innermost tender meat burst open, releasing a copious amount of rich, aromatic juices and fat.
This delightful and chewy sensation was incredibly marvelous, and with every swallow, he could rapidly feel the meat digesting inside his body, breaking down and turning into nourishment for his body; this sense of satisfaction quickly transformed into an insatiable greed, making An Jing uncontrollably crave another bite…
The feeling was momentary, and An Jing soon finished all the meat before him, leaving only the bones that had been gnawed clean, stark white.
"What ferocious beast's meat is this?"
Sitting in the chair, An Jing's face was already flushed red, feeling a fierce heat streaming from his chest and abdomen, rushing through his trunk and limbs, threatening to burst forth to the tips of his fingers and roots of his hair!
There was an impulse that made An Jing want to stand up, roar loudly, and release this inexplicable heat—and indeed, others were already doing so.
For a moment, the entire dining hall turned into a gathering place of wild beasts, with various roars and shrieks echoing, as though in the wilderness of the mountains.
"What kind of test is this?"
An Jing took a deep breath, suppressing the surge within him; he noticed that not everyone was subjected to this inexplicable urge.
Zhang Ying was currently howling, his voice at this moment similar to that of a wolf, long and carrying a shiver-inducing chill.
On the side, Gu Yeqi was curled up, clinging tightly to his stomach, refusing to make a sound.
Those unwilling to make a noise and those venting their heat were about half and half, perhaps more on the venting side, but not by much.
—Just let them vent like this?
An Jing took several more deep breaths, and after the last few, he was easily able to suppress his instincts; curiously observing everything, his attention divided, also focusing on the instructors and those "servants" of Hanging Fate Manor.
They were now waiting on the side, like An Jing, quite concernedly watching everything unfold.
About half an hour later, as their energy was expended, whether it was the children tired of howling or those enduring the heat, they generally returned to normal, and the servants then offered them cups of thick medicinal juice.
This medicine, as Gu Yeqi had said, was primarily made of Tie Nanxin and Ice Mang Flower Seeds, meant to condense the soul and calm the spirit.
Zhang Ying and Gu Yeqi were both right; they were both correct.
An Jing took it, drank it all in one gulp; the taste was purely bitter, yet had an oddly refreshing quality. The Ice Mang Flower Seeds, after being boiled and cooled, swelled up, soft and tender in texture that burst into a cool sensation in the mouth when crushed and swallowed.
The heat caused by the previously consumed beast meat gradually subsided; An Jing closed his eyes and after a few breaths, he opened them again, completely calmed down.
But that heat, that power wasn't an illusion—those pieces of meat were definitely not ordinary, not the meat of normal wild beasts!
Most of the other children also calmed down after drinking the medicine, appearing somewhat dazed, likely pondering what they had just been through.
"All right, everyone was a bit excited today, go back and rest well,"
at this point, Master of the Medicine Manor approached and gently said, "You may rest tomorrow morning, no need for morning practice, everyone sleep in a bit."
"As long as you perform well, there will be meat for everyone—the better the performance, the more meat."
With no bedtime training, everyone returned to their dormitories and lay down early.
In the past, practically everyone would fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow, but today it was impossible; everyone was tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Thus, the dormitory, involuntarily, started chatting.
"I don't know why just now, I felt like I couldn't suppress it..."
Zhang Ying complained, he was to the left of An Jing, his voice somewhat muffled through the bamboo wall, "I felt like I transformed into a giant wolf, unable to resist making a sound... That meat tasted very good, but it was also too strange, I have never eaten meat that made one feel, made one feel... like it gave so much strength!"
"Indeed. Quite extraordinary."
Ye Xiuyuan was on An Jing's right; his family had been scholars for generations, and he spoke in a cultured manner, "Such meat, I have seen at my family's annual festival; it must be the meat of some barbaric ferocious beast."
"A ferocious beast?!" Zhang Ying exclaimed, "Comparable to the peak of Inner Breath, even a martial master with Inner Strength? Impossible!"
His astonishment was not without reason, because even the hunting teams of the Northern Border, to hunt a ferocious beast, needed to exert great effort, and even incur casualties.
If they encountered multiple ferocious beasts, even the entire hunting team could be wiped out.
But its flesh, skin, bones, and sinews were treasures, materials for many Treasure Medicines and wondrous machines, valuable both to civilians and the government who would buy them for heavy gold; capturing a single ferocious beast was enough to provide for a hunting team for a whole year.
Even Zhang Ying had never eaten Ferocious Beast Meat, and Ye Xiuyuan was also puzzled, "This is also what confuses me, even in the main family on that side, the four major Ye family ceremonies use only a slightly larger piece of Ferocious Beast Meat along with other cattle and sheep as sacrificial offerings."
"Hanging Fate Manor gave each of us a portion, the quantity of which is simply unimaginable..."
"Who cares about that." Zhan Feng spoke especially loudly, and just as he began to speak, everyone including An Jing promptly shushed him to avoid attracting the instructor over.
Even so, when he lowered his voice, he was still nonchalant, "Anyway, it's much better than when we were refugees, I've been hungry enough."
He was originally a beggar from Ming Mountain City, no one gave him money because he was too tall, and no one would hire him to work because he was too young, the old beggar who had taken care of him froze to death during the Frost Calamity, surviving on sheer luck by eating whatever he found, never consuming anything toxic.
He had a very good impression of Hanging Fate Manor, where he could eat his fill, the exhaustion from training didn't matter, on the contrary, being able to eat his fill and work to death was the greatest pleasure for him.
This statement garnered a lot of agreement, as everyone had been selected from refugee camps, everyone had experienced hunger, it had been a very long time since they had meat or rice, but at Hanging Fate Manor, they could eat their fill, eat well, and even overeat like they did today.
In any case, in their eyes, besides the staff being so nice it was scary not knowing if there would be a next meal, there were no downsides to Hanging Fate Manor.
"I'm actually afraid this kind of life won't last long."
Cang Linzu smacked his lips, reminiscing about the taste of the meat, "Aren't all those Hidden Sects like this? They filter through layers and layers, perform assessments and tests, those in poor condition are thrown out."
"By then, we won't be considered disciples of Hanging Fate Manor, just subordinates, just like those servants and aunties... These good days won't last long!"
Having lived together for so long, everyone knew that Cang Linzu had indeed been sent by his family to the Martial Arts Academy with a substantial amount of money, but he was sent back after two years, apparently due to 'insufficient talent.'
But how could that be possible? Hanging Fate Manor ranked Cang Linzu's talent just below An Jing, which made him extremely indignant, constantly grinding his teeth and blaming it on the greedy Martial Arts Academy instructor who kicked him out without enough silver.
His greatest dream was to learn skills at Hanging Fate Manor and return to his hometown—if it still existed—to give that instructor a good beating for wrongly declaring his talent insufficient, preventing him from being respected by his hometown folks.
Cang Linzu wasn't too worried about not meeting the standards, he just wanted to learn more about the Heart Method Martial Skills at Hanging Fate Manor.
"That is very true."
Ye Xiuyuan agreed with Cang Linzu, "It's also unknown how many will remain in the end... Brother An Jing is definitely one."
"Right, Brother Jing?" the other children also chimed in, "We might be eliminated, but you will definitely stay!"
"...Perhaps the tests have already begun."
An Jing did not like participating in such discussions, but since he was brought up, he also spoke up.
He turned over in his bed, cutting to the chase, "The enthusiasm for training, the level of self-discipline, physical health, height, weight, how much food is eaten, what time do you get up on a normal day, whether the exercise routine is regular... everything might be related to the 'assessment'."
"Let's go to sleep early today." He flipped over again and with closed eyes calmly said, "Since the Manor Master has given us a half-day rest tomorrow, there must be a reason."
"Go to rest early, sleep a bit more, and don't miss the afternoon drill."
"Sure." "Hmm." "Yes, Big Brother!"
An Jing's authority was high, and as soon as he spoke, the entire dormitory quieted down. Soon, the sounds of snoring, teeth grinding, and sleep-talking arose.
But An Jing also felt waves of fatigue and craving rising within him... He hadn't lied to the Vice Envoy of Medicine, when he saw that meat, his body instinctively told him it was not enough, he wouldn't be sated.
In fact, his 'stomach' was full. The meat was heavy enough to fill his belly. But he was still not satisfied, the beast meat could only temporarily stop his hunger, but could not fully satiate his body's craving.
With such a feeling of uncertainty whether he was full or hungry, An Jing fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, the dawn light bathed the mountains, tinting them with golden red.
An Jing rubbed his eyes and threw off the blanket, realizing he had probably overslept by about an hour.
This was very unusual for him, he had gone to bed earlier than usual the day before, yet he woke up late today; no wonder the Vice Envoy of Medicine said there would be no morning training today as most of the children probably couldn't get up this morning.
If it was due to the Ferocious Beast Meat, it indeed might have this effect.
An Jing tidied his clothes, put on his training apparel, and mused to himself, "Eating too much and having too many nutrients makes you sleepy, perhaps that's the principle."
With thirty people in the dormitory, An Jing glanced around and saw that everyone else was deeply asleep, probably because their digestion was not as good as An Jing's, or perhaps because An Jing hadn't really eaten his fill.
But this was all trivial, there was some time until noon, An Jing planned to go out for morning exercise to recover his physique.
However, as An Jing got fully ready and was about to leave the dormitory, he suddenly realized something.
Zhang Ying was missing.