Chương 24: Ren Qingquan’s Made-up Brain Something Something Gu

Ren Qingquan opened the system map and saw a massive blue dot. It's about the size of the dot marking his location, but much smaller than the dot representing Xiao Cai. I've set the map so Ren Qingquan appears as white dot and every other creature as blue dots. Each dot varies in size according to its energy quality and quantity. That means the beast is only as powerful as Ren Qingquan, a first-stage Qi Refining cultivator. In the martial arts realm, that should be equivalent to a first-stage Martial Saint.

A Martial Saint beast is still one realm below Xiao Cai's Martial Lord realm. So Ren Qingquan's team can still handle this one. When Ren Qingquan turned to look at the map, he sighed and muttered something similar, 'Luckily it's only a beast at the Martial Saint realm. The Martial Grandmaster we recruited might have a hard time fighting a ferocious beast one realm higher. But I still have Xiao Cai as a killer weapon. So everything should still be safe.'

The beast seemed to have sensed the location of Ren Qingquan's team and quickly headed their way. Not long after, a rustling sound came from the bushes. Behind the rustling bush, a tall silhouette slowly came into view. When the newcomer arrived, I saw everyone on the team gulping. The beast standing before them was a tiger. But unlike other tigers, which are around a metre tall, this one was two metres tall, even taller than the humans.

The guards and the mercenary Ren Qingquan had hired saw the aggressive tiger and prepared to engage in combat. When the tiger attacked, both the guards and the mercenary worked together to block its attacks and counterattack. Over the past few hours, they've been working together to slay some low-level ferocious beasts. Although their teamwork isn't seamless yet, they at least won't hinder each other. Still, their teamwork is only enough to ensure they won't be killed in one hit by the tiger.

As for killing it, given the minor wound they inflicted on the tiger's thick skin, I doubt the battle will end within an hour. Luckily, the tiger doesn't have an insane regeneration speed; otherwise, it would last even longer, or they might even lose after being exhausted by the tiger. Ren Qingquan also saw the minor wounds those people inflicted and grumbled, "Urgghh, if I knew they were this weak, I would've invited a Martial Saint from the house or recruit a Martial Saint mercenary." Xiao Cai rolled her eyes.

"The Martial Saints in the family are busy with other important work, and there aren't any mercenaries at the Martial Saint realm. The gulf between Martial Grandmaster and Martial Saint is incredibly vast. Most Martial Grandmasters are stuck at the bottleneck between Martial Grandmaster and Martial Saint, unable to advance any further. Those who have become a Martial Saint will definitely be recruited by some force in the capital, the imperial army, or some family.

A Martial Grandmaster is already the strongest mercenary you could find." Ren Qingquan nodded occasionally as Xiao Cai explained. At last, he whispered, "Is it really that difficult to advance to Martial Saint? I don't think I feel anything like a bottleneck before I advance?" After Ren Qingquan whispered those words, I could see the corner of Xiao Cai's mouth twitch slightly.

Just in case Xiao Cai got angry and killed him on the spot, I quickly sent a message to Ren Qingquan to stop him from showing off any further. [Host, please remember that you're advancing with the help of a system and a cheat-like Soul Swallowing technique. You should start doubting your life, instead, if you still feel a bottleneck when advancing. Furthermore, you advanced to the Qi Refining realm, not the Martial Saint realm. Perhaps there hasn't been any bottleneck between the Martial Grandmaster and Qi Refining stages since the beginning. Or either your cultivation method or the Soul Swallowing Technique contributed to removing of the bottleneck.] Fifteen minutes have passed, and the guards and mercenaries are still busy jumping around while slashing their weapons. At this time, I saw Ren Qingquan constantly switching between looking at an insect that looked like a stag beetle and at the tiger.

'I want to test something.' After several war crime-worthy thoughts churned inside his mind, I saw Ren Qingquan silently kill the stag beetle. Holding the stag beetle corpse in his palm, Ren Qingquan circulated his spirit qi and applied a corpse-refining technique to it. He also split off an infinitesimally small part of his Divine Sense and channelled it into the corpse, issuing a simple command. After all that, I could see Ren Qingquan grow visibly exhausted.

It seems that even at his level, separating and imbuing a part of his Divine Sense to a refined corpse is still a bit exhausting for him. While looking slightly pale, I saw Ren Qingquan hold onto the freshly refined stag beetle corpse before grinning and releasing it. The stag beetle immediately flashed onto the battlefield between the tiger and the martial artists. It ignored the martial artists and headed for the tiger's head.

Following the instinct Ren Qingquan had instilled, it entered the tiger's ear and wreaked havoc! Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Through [Scan], I could see what happened inside the tiger's ears, but I don't want to describe what I saw. Although I no longer have a body, it still sends a shiver down my nonexistent spine. In short, the stag beetle corpse passed through the tiger's eardrums and cochlea. At last, it gloriously added a tiger's brain to its palate.

After having its eardrum ruptured, the tiger started twitching and attacked randomly while screaming just like an iPad kid whose iPad has been confiscated. It began twitching even more violently when the stag beetle attacked its brain, before it finally stopped moving altogether. Seeing the tiger had died, I heard Ren Qingquan's inner exclamation, 'Holy shit, it actually worked!' Meanwhile, after the tiger's sudden death, both the guards and the hired mercenary looked confused.

They looked around until everyone saw Xiao Cai and Fattzy Zhang staring at Ren Qingquan with a weird, slightly terrified expression. Among them, Xiao Cai is the first one to ask a question, "Young master, what was that attack?" I saw Ren Qingquan sweating slightly while muttering nonsense, "It's umm... Brain... insect..." I felt the gears turning in Ren Qingquan's head. At last, Ren Qingquan gave a nonsensical answer, "It's a brain-piercing gu I have created.

I found the crafting method in an old manual in the family library." I must say I am impressed by Ren Qingquan's ability to spout nonsense, especially since Xiao Cai and the others seem to believe it. Anyway, I quickly reminded Ren Qingquan. [Host, quickly move closer and use 'Devour' on that tiger's souls.] Ren Qingquan gave a subtle nod and ran towards the tiger's corpse. Through our connection, I can hear his plan to use the Soul Swallowing Technique on that corpse.

In response, I controlled [Devour] to target only the middle layer of the soul. Even so, some part of the soul's middle section remained, and I also accidentally swallowed quite a lot of the core, where most of the energy in a soul gathers. It all happened because insufficient points were invested in [Devour]'s selective devour function. Once I finished devouring the soul, Ren Qingquan moved and used the Soul Pinching Finger to grab the soul and swallow it.

With the help of the Soul Swallowing technique, I saw the amount of refined spirit qi in his body increase rapidly. Even so, I think Ren Qingquan is still far from reaching the next level. After he advanced to the Qi Refining realm, it seems the amount of refined spirit qi required to advance has increased greatly. But none of that matters right now. The most important thing is the number of points I got from that tiger. Each of us actually got 5 points! In total, the tiger's soul is worth more than 10 points.

That too, after some of the soul has been swallowed by Ren Qingquan and converted into refined spirit qi. This tiger alone is worth more than Ren Qingquan's daily income while he is at the fish market. I must say, Ren Qingquan's decision to hunt in the mountains is the best choice he has ever made.

After the team woke from Ren Qingquan's surprising one-hit kill, Xiao Cai ordered them to dissect the tiger and collect the valuable, easily portable part. While they were skinning and collecting the tiger's bones, Fatty Zhang pointed at the tiger and said, "Umm, does anyone want to eat that? Processing it is a pain, but it's still Martial Saint-level meat and should contain a lot of energy."

When Fatty said that, I could feel Ren Qingquan recalling the super-chewy dried meat Xiao Cai had purchased as their rations. At that moment, he grew curious about the taste and nearly broke his jaw chewing it. After a brief flashback, Ren Qingquan immediately accepted Fatty's proposal.

"Then, please cook it, brother Zhang. The others and I will help you with it."

"Good! I indeed need help to cook this Martial Saint-level meat." Fatty Zhang immediately got to work with Ren Qingquan, Xiao Cai, and other free martial artists who followed his orders. Watching Ren Qingquan and the others frantically cook under Fatty's guidance is entertaining. It's like watching a cooking show mixed with action movies.

Whether it's the Martial Grandmaster-level guards who tenderise the meat by punching it with martial arts techniques, the Martial Grandmaster-level mercenary who cuts the tiger meat into several uniform pieces in an instant, or Fatty Zhang, who's nimbly grilling dozens of meats at once while occasionally pulling seasonings from his pocket, none of them is something one can see on Earth. Well, maybe a fatty nimbly grilling several meats can be seen on Earth. But I am sure the other two can't be seen on Earth.

After more than an hour of gruelling work that's even more tiring than fighting the tiger, everyone finished cooking the tiger under Fatty's order. Through [Scan], I can hear everyone's grumbling stomachs. Everyone, including Ren Qingquan, quickly went to eat. When Ren Qingquan took a bite, I could hear him scream in his thought, 'This darn thing is so delicious. No wonder Fatty is so fat! If I were as good as he is at cooking, I would also become fat myself.' I could also see the others' reactions.

Except for Xiao Cai, Ren Qingquan, and Fatty Zhang, who were still eating calmly, the mercenaries and guards were eating with gusto. I could even see faint tears falling from their eyes. Hearing Ren Qingquan's words and the others' reactions, I became speechless yet curious. So I borrowed his sense of taste through our [Anchor] connection. I am not a food connoisseur, so all I can say is that it's delicious, so darn delicious. Even MSG isn't enough to make food this delicious.

Did Fatty Zhang actually put some addictive substance in the food or something? After Fatty Zhang processed it, the tiger meat tasted like pork, the extremely juicy kind. The seasoning Fatty Zhang used made the meat savoury and just salty enough not to numb the tongue. There was also a smoky note, coupled with a faint, sweet, spicy flavour that blended perfectly. Finally, there was a strange taste generated by the energy in that meat, which slightly intensified the flavour without leaving a numbing sensation.

After tasting, I envied Ren Qingquan even more. Why the hell am I stuck in this dark space while Ren Qingquan can freely travel around the world, slapping faces, sleeping with beauties, and eating delicious food? My wish to escape this empty space grew even stronger, as did my desire to collect more points. After all, the best bet I have to get out of this dark space is to collect enough points and hope there's an upgrade that can free me.

Although I've tried to add that function, the energy around me hasn't responded to it. I am still unwilling to give up. Except for [Scan], [Anchor], [Devour], and [Calculate], there are still other cheat abilities that are locked and require more points to unlock. There should be an ability that allows me to exit the dark space — I hope.