While Ji Hao was cramming the roasted meat down his throat, Ji Xia and Qing Fu were peeking at him through the slits of their bedroom door.
Qing Fu smiled when she saw that both Ji Hao's body and internal power seemed to have increased in power.
Ji Xia grinned, leapt through the window, then ran towards the dark forest. He had to hunt more beasts for meat because Ji Hao's appetite had increased.
Ji Xia was strong and agile. He dashed through the village without anyone noticing him. After going deep into the jungle, he mumbled to himself: "Good, very good..."
"The more he will eat, the stronger he will get. Excellent, he is becoming a true man!"
Then Ji Xia took a breath and laughed, "Worthy of being my son! Hao has been secretive since he was a little kid...What on earth did he learn from those Maguspriest grandpas?"
"Aahh, what does it matter, it seems like a good thing, he is truly my son..."
At dawn, the jungle was shrouded by the morning fog. People in the Fire Crow Clan village had already awoken and had begun their daily chores.
On the mountaintop of the Gold Black Mountain, thousands of majestic Fire Crows flapped their fiery wings and flew towards the golden clouds in the sky. Down in the valley, countless little Fire Crows were cawing and soaring out from the mulberry forest, ultimately flying above the mountain.
A group of Fire Crow Clan warriors were holding their weapons as they rode their contracted beasts; they headed towards the jungle where they would, as usual, hunt for beasts.
The women in the village were busy as well. They had to skin and clean the recently hunted beasts. Metal ores that were mined by the slaves had to be classified and a large amount of plant filaments were required to be woven. There was always so much work to be done.
The sky was getting brighter.
Ji Hao stood on the roof, facing the East while breathing slowly and deeply. Strands of lavender-coloured vapor seemed to be coming from the far East. Ji Hao inhaled the vapor into his body slowly and carefully. The lavender-coloured vapor was the purest lifeforce energy of the nature, only obtainable at dawn.
Ji Hao muttered the [Mantra Dan with Nine Secret Words]: "Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing."
His fingers interlocked together in front of his chest, continuously changing motions. The purest lifeforce energy had been absorbed by Ji Hao's body and refined into his spiritual power. He quickly started to work up a sweat.
Before the previous night, Ji Hao could only handle a single strand of the lavender-coloured vapor, which could already put a big strain on his body. However, after his body and soul had been improved by the blood of both dragon and phoenix, he had already absorbed thirty-six strands of lifeforce energy this morning. But it felt as if he had yet to reach his limit and could continue absorbing.
"Amazing!"
Ji Hao was very pleased. A faint, fiery light emitted from his head. The deal he made with the mysterious man living in his spiritual space seemed to be the right choice at the moment.
"Hao!"
"Bro!"
Hundreds of younger kids passed by the spot where Ji Hao was standing. They were shouting and running. Each of them carried a huge stone, which looked the size of a small mountain.
Ji Hao stopped his practice, smiled and waved at these kids.
Those kids dashed out of his sight. On the surface of their stones, there were special markings that shone with an earthy-yellow glow. Those markings were drawn by the elder Maguspriests. It increased the weight of the stones by more than ten times their original weight.
"Aiyaiyai! These kids...they're on the brink of reaching the first level of Novice Magus; soon all of them will become decent warriors!" said Ji Hao while looking at the kids.
Improving physical strength was the most important thing for a Novice Magus. Only a solid body could serve as foundation for future training, which was required to become a Magus Warrior.
The stones carried by those kids were made of Qinggang, the hardest rock in the Southern Wasteland jungle. Each of those stones had been carved into a three-square-foot cube.
Also, the weight of the stone was used to measure strength. The weight of one stone cube was one unit of strength called one 'stone'. A Novice Magus of the First Level had the strength of ten thousand 'stones' and at the Second Level, their strength increased to twenty thousand 'stones'.
Ji Hao was a Novice Magus of the Fourth Level, which meant that his strength was equivalent to forty thousand 'stones'.
"But...That guy Ji Wu...," Ji Hao frowned.
After the fight in the meeting hall against Ji Wu, Ji Hao clearly realized that Ji Wu was far more powerful than him. The strong and fiery light emitted from Ji Wu's body showed that he had reached the Tenth Level, and his internal power might have already been able to be channeled[3]. If he went only two levels further, Ji Wu could advance to the ranks of Junior Magus.
With Ji Hao's current strength and the wizardry he had learned from the Maguspriest grandpas, it was not difficult for him to transform his body and have a few advantages. However, if he were to fight against Ji Wu face to face, Ji Hao's chances of victory would drastically decrease. Not to mention that even if he won, he would still have to face Ji Shu and his people.
"I have to devour more powerful beasts...," Ji Hao talked to himself.
"How about asking Mr Crow for help? Mr Crow is on a level comparable to a Senior Magus, if I ask him to hunt a hundred of Junior Magus Level beasts for me..."
While Ji Hao was considering this, the smell of roasted meat reached his nostrils.
Qing Fu walked into the yard, waved to Ji Hao, and said, "Hao! Come down. Your Abba has hunted you a serpent earlier this morning, come on in."
Ji Hao looked at Qing Fu, leapt down from the roof, and walked to the hall.
The bronze-furred bear, Ji Xia's contract beast, was lying on its stomach in front of the door, looking at the roasted serpent and drooling.
Ji Xia glanced at the bear, then threw a human-leg-thick firewood towards the bear. The bear was hit by the firewood, howling in pain as it rolled away like a ball of fur.
"Get away, you fatty!" said Ji Xia. "The only thing you understand is eating! Sooner or later you'll be too fat to run; then I could eat you and find myself another contract beast..."
While Ji Xia was yelling at the bear, Ji Hao walked into the hall and glanced at the roasted meat.
It was indeed a serpent. Its muscles were semi-transparent and its bones were metal-like, which meant that this serpent was a peak-level Novice Magus beast.
There were countless beasts living in the jungle, but beasts which reached this level were quite sparse and hard to hunt.
"Abba!" Ji Hao walked to the fireplace and took a seat.
"Hao," Ji Xia looked at Ji Hao and smiled, "You ate all of our meat last night. I was afraid that your hunger hadn't satiated yet. Here, I got you a White Qui Serpent."
White Qui Serpents were highly toxic, skilled in subterfuge and very difficult to hunt. Its bone marrow contained huge amounts of power.
Qing Fu walked inside, rubbed Ji Hao's head and said, "Hao, you ate that much meat yesterday, I saw your strength increase, which is a good thing. Here, you should eat more."
Ji Xia and Qing Fu looked at Ji Hao with broad smiles on their faces. It seemed that they had no intention of asking Ji Hao about his behaviour last night.
Ji Hao looked at his parents and felt deeply touched. They never questioned him; they had always been protecting and supporting him as much as they could.
Yes, they were his parents and as far as he was concerned, they were the greatest people in the world!
"Okay, I'm just a bit hungry! Abba...Amma..., thanks!" Ji Hao laughed.
He grabbed a knife and cut a bucket-thick tail from the serpent off, stuffing it through his throat without even chewing.
Once Ji Hao ate the serpent tail, he sensed that the serpent's bones and muscles turned into a stream of heat, rushing towards the flame in his dantian. Soon, a small strand of the flame was absorbed by his body.
Ji Xia and Qing Fu had noticed that Ji Hao's muscles were swelling. At the same time, sounds of his bones snapping could be heard. Ji Hao even looked slightly taller than before.
They laughed happily.
Ji Xia said, "Good, very good, Hao, just eat whatever you want; Abba can hunt you anything!"
Qing Fu rubbed Ji Hao's head with a smile on her face.
Then, someone knocked the door.
They heard a mocking voice, "Is Qing Fu, the Maguspriest, at home? I have some drug-making problems that I would like to consult with her."