Chapter 559: Nurture
A single blasphemous prayer propelled the fishman youngster's life rank to gold level.
He attempted to summon his battle qi and discovered it now radiated a golden glow.
“This means I've caught up to Zong Ge.”
The fishman youngster had been away from Snow Bird Harbor for some time, unaware that Zong Ge had advanced to gold level fighter during his absence.
“No, more accurately, I've surpassed him. After all, my life essence is already gold level.”
“From here on, I won't even need to cultivate actively. Both fighter and magician levels will gradually undergo qualitative changes, ultimately advancing to gold level.”
The cultivation of clergymen differed from that of fighters and magicians; the enhancement of divine power required the blessing of the gods.
“However, if I actively cultivate, the advancement speed for my fighter and magician cultivation will be much faster!”
Having reached the next tier in life essence provides tremendous support for the cultivation of battle qi and magic.
“Of course, I have an even faster way to bring all three transcendent paths to the gold level.”
“That is—prayer!”
By now, the fishman youngster was certain his blasphemous prayers to the Charming Blue Goddess would yield terrifyingly immense rewards.
“For every gain, there is a loss...” Cang Xu's warning still echoed in the youngster's ears.
It was a lingering concern he couldn't ignore.
Yet this unease could not halt the fishman youngster's resolve to press forward.
In truth, he found himself unable to stop.
Even before, he would pray within his dreams.
Even after purging the fabricated memories, this phenomenon persisted.
“My life level has risen to gold level, time to digest it again.”
“I have a strong premonition that Charming Blue Goddess' divine blessings will continue to descend through my dream prayers.”
“And those blessings will still focus on enhancing my fishman bloodline, not further raising my level.”
Over the past few days, the fishman youngster's Surging Wave bloodline concentration had reached 57%.
“Breaking 60% will trigger a qualitative leap, granting me the potential to reach the saint level!”
The fishman youngster harbored immense anticipation for this breakthrough.
“8,000 divine favor... That's far too much.”
“I must utilize it more effectively!”
Cang Xu teleported away but remained connected to the fishman youngster through alchemy devices.
Based on intelligence Cang Xu gathered from Zhou Zhang and others, the fishman youngster was certain the divine favor within him represented a massive asset.
“I don't need all this divine favor myself. I can give some to Cang Xu to use.”
“Though divine favor can't be traded, I can arrange for Cang Xu to pray alongside me using specific invocations, letting him share in the benefits.”
Cang Xu's investigations revealed numerous successful precedents for such prayers.
A streak of fire streaked across the ocean.
Hovering above a sea reef, the flame descended and coalesced into a giant.
The giant, clad in a Flame Totem, was none other than Da Dou.
Ever since Shuang Lian caught up to him and inexplicably, incomprehensibly, let him off the hook.
Da Dou had grown intensely wary and tense.
Fearing Shuang Lian might track him down again, he used the Tunnel Staff until it was worn out, then fled relentlessly, journeying day and night without rest.
Breathing heavily, his face etched with exhaustion, Da Dou stood on the reef, scanning the horizon.
After a brief reconnaissance, he quickly determined that this sea reef only surfaced for a few hours each day, submerged beneath the waves for the majority of the time.
“The seawater can conceal my tracks to some extent.”
Da Dou felt a flicker of relief and began cultivating his battle qi technique.
He swiftly drew upon his battle qi, replenishing his reserves considerably.
Then, he performed his daily prayers, restoring some of his divine power.
Flying over the sea using his Flame Totem consumed not only his battle qi but also divine power from the Fire God.
Prayer demanded sincere devotion, while cultivating battle qi left Da Dou increasingly exhausted.
Yet he did not rest.
Instead, dragging his weary body, he retrieved his silver level iron wok.
He tapped his gold level storage bag, releasing the big guy.
The big guy lay motionless, eyes tightly shut, breathing naturally, still unconscious.
Da Dou looked at him, a smile spreading across his face. The aching muscles throughout his body seemed less burdensome.
Da Dou tapped the storage bag again. Flames shot out, landing on the reef and revealing a sack of rice.
This was gold level rice, each grain as large as a fist. It bore the peculiar name: How Many Floor Rice. (Note: Name sounds like Kanjiru, which is part of a meme involving "Itami Kanjiru" which sounds like "How many floors to bring up this rice?")
Its name was strange, and its effects were peculiar. Simply eating this rice would cause the eater profound suffering. Pain so intense it brought tears, unbearable agony!
Its yield was extremely limited, making it a truly unique ingredient.
On ordinary days, Da Dou wouldn't even treat himself to it, but now, for the sake of the big guy, he brought it out without hesitation.
He scooped a generous ladleful of rice into the iron wok and began stir-frying.
Fortunately, his iron wok possessed the ability to expand its capacity, otherwise it wouldn't have held such a large quantity of rice.
After stir-frying for a short while, Da Dou sprinkled stretchy cheese over the mixture.
This cheese emitted an intense, rich aroma. When pulled into strands, it formed beautiful stretchy patterns, making it a gold level ingredient.
After adding the cheese, Da Dou stopped stir-frying the rice and instead reduced the heat to simmer it.
Midway through cooking, Da Dou retrieved a dozen vibrantly colored mushrooms.
These mushrooms were called adventure mushrooms.
They grew clustered together, requiring simultaneous harvesting, picking just a portion would cause the entire cluster to instantly wither.
The peculiarity of these mushrooms lay in their random toxicity and medicinal properties.
A red mushroom in one cluster might taste like chili pepper, harmless. But a red mushroom in another cluster could be a bomb, one bite, and it explodes in your mouth!
A large cluster of adventure mushrooms went into the iron wok.
Soon, the aroma of cooking rice filled the air. When Da Dou finally lifted the lid, a cloud of white steam erupted, startling the big guy awake.
The aroma was overwhelming.
The big guy instinctively opened his mouth, drool streaming down his chin.
“Hold on a sec, it's not quite done yet,” Da Dou said with a laugh, noticing the big guy's intense stare at the rice.
Battle skill - Food Compression!
Gold level battle qi enveloped the entire pot of rice, then violently compressed it.
The intense gold level aura within the pot was forcibly compressed down to silver level.
“That should do it.”
“This is called brave baked rice. Downgrading it makes it the perfect dish for you.”
“Eat up, eat up. It's all yours.” Da Dou chuckled, reaching to hand it to the big guy.
But the big guy's expression changed. A memory surfaced, and he roared, lunging at Da Dou.
Da Dou sighed, forced to block the attack.
The big guy's transcendent level was lower than his, and his combat skills were laughable. Da Dou handled him effortlessly, one hand still holding the iron wok. Without exerting much force, the big guy collapsed from exhaustion.
He was worn out.
Earlier, he'd struggled to swim, expending a lot of energy and swallowing seawater.
Seeing he still couldn't defeat Da Dou, the big guy turned around again, plunged back into the water with a splash, and repeated his earlier actions, jumping into the sea to search for his father once more.
Da Dou sighed, punching out a ball of flame that struck the big guy squarely in the back, knocking him unconscious.
The flames enveloped the big guy, lifting him out of the sea and tossing him to Da Dou's feet.
Da Dou looked at the big guy, his eyes tightly shut, stubborn as ever, and couldn't help but frown.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
As Da Dou pondered solutions, he watched the unconscious giant open his mouth. Saliva began flowing toward the iron wok in Da Dou's hand.
Da Dou froze, then beamed with delight. “What a powerful bodily instinct!”
“Even unconscious, his body's instincts still drive him to eat ceaselessly, frantically absorbing nutrients to fuel his growth!”
“Is this the power of a saint level bloodline? It's incredible!”
Da Dou flipped his wrist, pouring out a portion of the brave baked rice.
The big guy's mouth filled with rice, and he immediately began chewing.
After a few bites, his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the rice whole.
Then, his mouth opened again.
“He's practically starving.”
“Heh, kid, looks like I'm your new babysitter.”
Da Dou chuckled happily and continued feeding him.
After devouring most of the baked rice, the giant's body absorbed the nutrients and regained strength.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. Spotting Da Dou crouched beside him, he immediately swung a punch.
“Don't hit this pot of rice!” Caught off guard, Da Dou shielded the remaining baked rice. The giant's fist struck his right eye, turning it purple in an instant.
Da Dou leapt back, instantly creating distance between himself and the giant.
The big guy rose to his feet and gave chase.
“You little brat...” Da Dou fumed, “You ate my food and now you hit me!”
“I didn't eat it!”
“You're bad! You're the enemy!”
The big guy roared with righteous indignation, unleashing a halo.
Centered on him, the aura amplified his courage and slightly boosted his combat power.
Da Dou gasped, “Brave Aura?”
Though consuming the brave baked rice did carry a chance to generate a Brave Aura, Da Dou knew that after his compression, the probability of that happening was extremely low.
“Unless the consumer has truly exceptional digestive capabilities!”
“This guy, heh heh, your bloodline is top-notch! To digest it to this extent, you haven't wasted my meal!”
“Oh dear.”
Da Dou chuckled for a moment before the big guy caught up.
He sparred with the big guy, taking blows without retaliating, letting the big guy fight to his heart's content.
“Work it out, that's the way.”
“The more you expend, the more you'll digest and absorb!”
To boost the big guy's morale, fearing he might see the gap and jump back into the sea, Da Dou deliberately stopped defending this time.
Soon, his face was a bruised mess.
Seeing hope of defeating a formidable foe, the big guy fought with growing ferocity.
Even with his battered face, Da Dou beamed with delight.
Snow Bird Harbor Dock.
Ci Hai Shen visited the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps branch alone.
“Lord Ci Hai Shen, you're looking for me?” Tripleblade asked in surprise.
Ci Hai Shen fixed him with a steady gaze and stated his purpose plainly: “I've come to nurture you.”
“I reviewed the magic recordings. Your blade work during the alchemy workshop battle was exceptional.”
“Would you be interested in serving as my assistant? To accompany me to the Ice Sculpture Kingdom's grand ceremony?”