Chapter 66: From This Day On, Spirit Rice Freedom

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: From This Day On, Spirit Rice Freedom

"Haha... Serves you right, you little brat..."

What kind of childhood is it if a brat doesn’t get a good spanking every now and then?

Yun Wan heard the commotion outside and looked up, slightly stunned by what she saw.

Under the moonlight, a handsome, gentle-looking young man was riding a massive black pig, surrounded by a dense swarm of insects.

’The scene was rather incongruous...’

Li Changsheng gave her a slight nod, then urged Xiaohua to move on.

Yun Wan watched his retreating figure, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Mother, Qing Lan doesn’t know this character..." the little girl in the blue dress cried out, pouting.

Qing Yue, who was beside her, peeked over. Seeing the familiar character, she immediately shouted, "Qing Lan, you’re so dumb!"

Yun Wan glared at her and snapped, "Then you tell me, how is it pronounced?"

Qing Yue said confidently, "It’s pronounced like the word for ’bird’!"

Yun Wan looked at the clearly written character for "dove" and said gently to the confident Qing Yue, "It’s pronounced like ’bird,’ is it? That’s a good girl. Now bend over for Mommy..."

Li Changsheng hadn’t gone far when he heard wails and howls erupt behind him again.

’Tsk, kids sure are full of energy...’

As he neared Dong Xing’s home, he saw an old man and a young woman chatting and laughing in the brightly lit courtyard.

Li Changsheng thought the young woman looked very familiar.

As he drew closer, he remembered—wasn’t this the girl from Chang’s Pill Pavilion, the one he had mentally labeled as having ’profound cultivation’?

The wrinkles on Dong Xing’s face bloomed like a chrysanthemum as he smiled, bustling about attentively.

The girl’s eyebrows were slightly raised, and she would occasionally cover her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Naturally, the two of them noticed the commotion from outside.

When Dong Xing saw Li Changsheng approaching on Xiaohua, he asked in confusion, "Junior Brother Li, where are you coming from?"

The girl beside him also recognized him, her expression shifting slightly as she saw his face clearly.

Li Changsheng glanced at him and replied with a chuckle, "I went to the Marketplace to buy a few things. You carry on, Senior Brother. I’m heading back. My Spirit Beasts at home haven’t been fed yet."

"Go on then, you’re busy..."

Dong Xing nodded with a smile.

After Li Changsheng left, Dong Xing turned to the girl, whose expression was a little stiff, and said, "That’s the Cultivator I was telling you about, the one who practices the Insect Control Technique."

"He’s not as outrageous as you made him out to be. What was all that about a ’strange temperament’ and ’killing people like flies’..."

The girl seemed distracted, merely nodding in agreement.

"I think he seems normal enough, just a bit greedy..."

Dong Xing chuckled. "An ordinary Tusked Pig, and he tried to sell it to me as the cub of some exotic beast. The nerve of that guy!"

Dong Yao snapped back to reality, a puzzled look on her face. "What Tusked Pig?"

Dong Xing immediately began to tell her all about Li Changsheng’s Xiaohua, as well as Big Flower and their cub...

"Grandpa, you can’t believe him! What’s an exotic beast? That’s a creature destined to become a full-fledged demon..."

Dong Yao said quickly, "From what I can tell, his Xiaohua is probably just a mutated Tusked Pig."

"Sigh, your grandpa just wanted to buy you a Spirit Beast for protection."

Dong Xing shook his head and sighed. "If it were real, I would’ve bankrupted our family to buy it for you. What a shame..."

"Oh, there’s no need for that, Grandpa. I’m very safe in the Demon Hunting Corps. Our captain is a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator..."

Dong Yao quickly stepped forward to comfort him, and with just a few sentences, she had him roaring with laughter.

「Meanwhile.」

When Li Changsheng returned to his courtyard, he heard the cries of Big Flower and the Red Fox coming from the animal pen.

He swung himself off his mount and hurried toward the wooden cabin.

After not being fed for a whole day and night, the Spirit Beasts must be starving.

He entered the kitchen and walked to the large vat in the corner. With a mere thought, a bag of over three hundred pounds of Yellow Seed Spirit Rice fell to the floor.

Li Changsheng picked up the bag and poured the Spirit Rice into the vat.

RUSTLE...

Watching the glittering golden grains of Yellow Seed Spirit Rice fall into the large vat, he felt an indescribable joy.

If all went according to plan, his dream of eating Spirit Rice for every meal would be realized, starting from this very moment.

’Indeed. If you want to eat something, you have to grow it yourself!’

Li Changsheng couldn’t help but sigh with feeling.

At the same time, he wondered if he should start raising other types of Spirit Beasts.

’He definitely couldn’t eat Big Flower or Xiaohua. As for their only son... he couldn’t bring himself to eat the little guy, either.’

’Even if Big Flower had more piglets in the future, he’d feel bad slaughtering them for meat.’

’What if Xiaohua gained sentience someday? How awkward would that be...’

’Sigh, when will I finally achieve an unlimited supply of Spirit Beast Meat!’

It was a bitter irony; here he was, a Spirit Beast breeder, and he couldn’t even get a decent bite of Spirit Beast Meat...

Soon, the entire bag of Spirit Rice had been poured into the vat.

Li Changsheng put the lid on the vat.

He added firewood, lit the stove, and poured in water...

From the corner, he grabbed a handful of wilted stink-fern and placed it on the cutting board.

As smoke began to curl from the cabin’s chimney, the crisp sound of chopping echoed from within.

Now that Little Xiaohua had been weaned and moved to its own pen, he could begin raising it properly, which added one more task to his workload.

「A little over two hours later.」

A strange smell wafted from the large cauldron.

Li Changsheng gave it a vigorous stir with a wooden stick, then ladled the mixture into two wooden buckets at his feet.

After cleaning the cauldron, he cheerfully scooped a full bowl of Yellow Seed Spirit Rice into it, then tossed in two strips of dried meat.

’This is nice...’

A smile spread across Li Changsheng’s face. Humming a tune only he could understand, he carried the two wooden buckets out of the kitchen.

"Here, piggy, piggy..."

"Time to eat, Xiaohua."

SPLASH...

A full bucket of feed sloshed into Xiaohua’s brand-new trough.

OINK OINK...

Xiaohua grunted and trotted forward, digging into his meal with gusto.

Li Changsheng smiled and patted his head, then went back to the kitchen and brought out the small half-bucket of feed he had cooked separately for Little Xiaohua.

He circulated his Spiritual Power to block the smell, then entered the pen.

As soon as he stepped inside, he heard squealing from the pen at the far end.

The corner of Li Changsheng’s mouth twitched. He strode over and peered inside.

Little Xiaohua had already grown to be over half a meter long.

Perhaps still not used to being in a pen by himself, he was darting about restlessly, squealing his head off.

"Stop your squealing. Time to eat."

Li Changsheng snapped, then lifted the small bucket of feed and poured it into the trough.

Whether it was his words or the smell of the food that attracted him, Little Xiaohua immediately came running.

OINK OINK...

Perhaps taking after his parents, Little Xiaohua started eating noisily, hopping about as the hot food burned his snout.

Li Changsheng was amused and focused his gaze on the piglet.

[Target: Little Xiaohua]

[Species: Tusked Pig (Male)]

[Tier 1 Low-Grade: 1%]

[Talents: Hard Skin, Sharp Teeth.]

[Status: Healthy.]

"Eat up and grow big and strong. I hope you take after your father and awaken an innate magical ability!"

Li Changsheng ruffled the piglet’s head and carried the empty bucket over to Big Flower’s pen.

OINK OINK...

Big Flower shuffled closer, grunting.

SPLASH...

Before he had even finished pouring, Big Flower was already digging in impatiently.

Li Changsheng patted Big Flower’s head, tossed a few strips of dried meat and two stalks of Jade Grass into the Red Fox’s pen, and then turned to leave.

Only after returning to the kitchen did he disperse the Spiritual Power that was blocking his sense of smell.

Li Changsheng thought to himself, ’I really have to learn an ice-related technique...’ Then he set down the buckets, washed his hands, and lifted the lid of the cauldron.

A cloud of steam billowed out, carrying the rich aroma of grains and meat straight to his face.

He took a sharp breath. "Smells amazing!"

Li Changsheng took a deep breath, scooped out a heaping bowl of Yellow Seed Spirit Rice, and placed a strip of meat on top.

He found a small stool, sat down, and began to eat with large mouthfuls.

The soft, fragrant texture of the Spirit Rice, mingled with the rich flavor of the meat, instantly conquered his taste buds.

’This is unbelievably good...’