Chapter 30: Living Off the Mountain
A daring thought struck Chen Shi, and he sprang upward toward the sunlight streaming from the other world.
“Thunk!”
He passed through the golden light but collided with the hall’s ceiling, landing back on the floor. Rubbing his head, he looked up.
The sunlight from another world seemed so close, as if following its rays would lead him to a new realm.
Jumping again, he reached out and passed his hand through the light, but it remained intangible, like a mirage.
"This isn’t a true portal," he realized. "It must be the temple’s mysterious power letting me glimpse another world and allowing its sunlight and moonlight to shine through."
Since beginning his True Blood Transformation, Chen Shi’s appetite had surged. Despite devouring everything Grandpa or Madam Sha cooked, he remained hungry.
Within two days, he lost five or six jin. Weighing only sixty jin to begin with, his already slender frame now looked gaunt.
He understood the stakes. The first step in cultivating the Sacred Embryo was transforming one’s blood back into True Blood, akin to the pure, innate vitality of infancy. Before birth, humans breathe through their umbilical cord and rely on their mother’s blood to filter pure energy. This is Innate Qi.
After birth, breathing introduces Acquired Qi, polluted by the world’s impurities, which over time erodes the body’s vitality. By old age, the Innate Qi is depleted, leading to death.
Evil cultivators often resorted to blood replacement to inject youthful blood into their bodies, replenishing their Innate Qi. Some even resorted to horrific practices, such as refining Purple Placenta Elixirs from unborn infants.
Chen Shi’s extreme hunger was a natural part of drawing nutrients from food to replenish his Innate Qi and refine his blood. However, the energy in regular food was insufficient. Without sufficient nourishment, his body would begin consuming itself, potentially leading to death by starvation.
Faced with this dilemma, Chen Shi slowed his training. Much of his day was now spent scavenging for food.
Grandma Yuzhu’s ducks stopped laying eggs under his relentless demands, and Granny Wuzhu’s watermelon field was nearly barren. The fish in the Jade Belt River had dwindled drastically, and even Madam Sha grew wary of his visits.
Chen Shi even entertained the idea of using himself as bait to catch a giant Kun fish.
One day, hunger struck him hard at the Mountain Lord’s Temple. Attempting to endure it, he passed out, collapsing among the trees.
Faintly, he saw blue skies and white clouds, followed by shifting branches and grass that indicated he was being moved. Overwhelmed, he lost consciousness again.
When he awoke, he found himself lying in Madam Zhuang’s tree hollow, surrounded by glowing mushrooms. The serene stream maiden sat nearby, while the chubby forest children gathered around with concerned expressions.
Madam Zhuang, holding one of the forest children, plucked tiny, ruby-red fruits from its head, causing the child to wail. Other children’s heads also appeared sparser, having already been harvested.
"You fainted from hunger," Madam Zhuang said with a smile. "The children carried you here, and the stream maiden made fish porridge for you. But it wasn’t enough, so I used their ginseng fruits to save you."
The medicinal power of the ginseng fruits coursed through Chen Shi, dispelling his hunger. Bowing gratefully, he thanked them all.
Blushing, the stream maiden quietly departed, while the children wagged their fingers admonishingly before retreating into the forest.
Chen Shi, still shaky, tried to leave but nearly fell.
"The ginseng fruits have only just reached your stomach," Madam Zhuang explained. "Rest a while longer."
The fruits worked miracles, but by the second day, Chen Shi was hungry again.
Two days later, Huangpo Village and even Madam Sha’s kitchen were nearly emptied by Chen Shi’s insatiable appetite.
"At this rate, we’ll all starve together," Madam Sha muttered, now glaring at him like a debtor instead of a beloved child.
Realizing the severity of his situation, Chen Shi decided to hunt in the mountains.
Near a mountain peak, the massive black serpent watched as rain cleared to reveal a sunny day. Suddenly, the ground shook as a towering beast charged through the forest—a Feng Xi, a giant boar over a century old.
At nine feet tall, its tusks resembled ivory swords, and its sheer strength could topple trees and boulders. Despite its size, the boar was locked in a fierce struggle with Chen Shi, who clung to its tusks with surprising might.
"Strength-wise, you’re no match for me!" Chen Shi bellowed, his lean frame belying his overwhelming power. With a roar, he wrenched the boar’s massive head to the ground and subdued it with a flurry of strikes.
Dragging the carcass to a nearby stream, Chen Shi quickly set to work cleaning and butchering the beast.
The serpent observed from afar, its millennia of asceticism briefly wavering as the aroma of roasting meat wafted through the air.
Chen Shi, meanwhile, had prepared the boar with expert precision, roasting its ribs and boiling its offal in a pot he had brought from home.
The serpent watched as Chen Shi, carrying a perfectly roasted boar leg, approached its perch.
Stuffed with herbs and seasoned to perfection, the meat radiated an irresistible fragrance. For the first time in centuries, the serpent felt a pang of hunger.