New and old students, attracted by the aroma, were trickling in to join the grand feast.
In face of this truly beneficial immortal food, discarding their preconceived notions about Fan Wubing wasn't burdensome at all. Just a day ago, some disciples were ridiculing him, and now they were laughing and bantering shoulder to shoulder.
When you have capability and resources, who wouldn't want to benefit from it?
Fan Wubing never concerned himself with any noble ideals like "forgive and forget." He only saw one rich student after another.
No one would hold a grudge against those gleaming white, shiny spirit stones loaded with celestial energy.
A self-service meal for 100 low-grade spirit stones each, served about 60 people, earning over 6000 low-grade spirit stones, equivalent to 6 middle-grade spirit stones in total.
This is much quicker than honestly accepting commissions to earn income.
Indeed, productivity and resources are the most potent indicators of value! Even in the Cultivation Realm, it's no exception.
After eating and drinking their fill, off they went.
"Fellow comrades, Junior Sisters and Brothers, although the meat is fragrant and the soup rich, don't indulge too much in this and remember to complete that trial."
Having said that, Fan Wubing contentedly left with Luo Qingyao.
Thirty or so barbaric blood pigs weighing six to seven hundred pounds were nearly devoured by about sixty people. The appetite of cultivators is indeed extraordinary.
"Senior Brother, I still think you sold it too cheaply. You see, many people broke through directly after eating this immortal food. Some disciples even showed signs of improvement with chronic conditions. It's such a loss, such a loss!"
Luo Qingyao was a bit dissatisfied,
"Obviously, you could have earned more."
Fan Wubing laughed,
"Junior Sister Luo, pricing should be according to the market. Outside, I don't worry about sales, so I can sell at normal prices. But don't forget, this is the Peach Branch Small Profound Realm, the place for new student trials.
"My clientele is mostly first, second, and third period students, all Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Stage disciples. How much wealth do they really have? How many spirit stones can they part with at once for immortal food?
"100 low-grade spirit stones can be managed without much thought by the second and third period students. For first period students, the benefits they gain far exceed the 100 low-grade spirit stones; they'd grit their teeth or even owe me to gather enough.
"Moreover, we can't take that pork with us, and if we can't sell it here, it becomes a sunk cost, a pure loss. Let alone how much profit we make; we need to consider if we can earn anything first."
Luo Qingyao with her mouth agape, said,
"Although your wording is unfamiliar, Senior Brother, I roughly understand. The key is being able to sell it and having customers who can afford it, right?"
"Smart! Concise and succinct."
"Hehe."
Fan Wubing's praise made her especially pleased.
The two of them moved at an unhurried pace, traversing through the mountain forest.
Luo Qingyao's points were far ahead, so there was no need to specially hunt Profound Demons. They only acted when they encountered them.
Hungering, they'd set up a pot on the spot, smoothly going along, without any obstacles, quite leisurely.
The first round lasted three days.
In the last two days, Fan Wubing and Luo Qingyao mainly focused on scouring various Profound Demons, experiencing the diversity of species and tasting their flesh and blood, observing the differences in texture and flavor.
Fan Wubing continued to enrich his diet, continually increasing cooking methods.
Not to claim mastery over all culinary arts, but he knew the basics like stir-frying, pan-frying, simmering, steaming, smoking, stewing, roasting, and the like.
Which certainly satisfied Luo Qingyao's cravings thoroughly.
Thus, they roamed and devoured wherever they went, occasionally teaming up with other disciples. They practically turned this place into a gastronomic delight in the Small Profound Realm.
While they feasted and drank well, the elders in the Immortal Performance Hall suffered bitterly.
Watching Fan Wubing cook dish after dish without repetition, even with their many years of steadfast cultivation, they couldn't help but swallow mouthfuls of drool. Some old gourmet enthusiasts fervently hoped the new student trials would end soon, so Fan Wubing could take charge of the banquet dishes.
If Luo Qingyao's improvements from eating were visibly apparent, then Fan Wubing's were mostly hidden.
He's not showing his health point increases on his face, though he can feel a more robust aura.
By the end of the first round,
Fan Wubing calculated that over the three days, he replenished himself fifteen times, totaling an increase of 572.5 health points! The cultivation progress of "Devour Star, Chew Moon" increased by 34.2%.
He checked his own panel,
[Fan Wubing]
[Age: 14]
[Life: 1201.3/1201.3 points]
[Cultivation: None]
[Attribute-less Cultivation Technique: "Devour Star, Chew Moon", current progress 57.5/100, upon perfection, gains passive talent "Tongue's Desire"]
[Physique: Heaven-Deficient Physique...]
[Talent: Fate Unending. No upper limit to life values]
[Talent: Unwarranted Qi Creation Skill. Recovers 0.1% life value per second]
"1201.3 life points, how do you even use all that?!"
Although thinking this, Fan Wubing knew clearly that 1201.3 points, though seemingly a lot, even reaching four figures, it was really just the early game.
In the late game, it's all about numerical explosions!
Otherwise, Fan Wubing wouldn't have thoughts of putting his health bar beyond the attribute panel and then heading out to adventure.
This amount of life points, a Tier Three Demon Beast could swipe it away.
Other games offer a slash of 999, in "Immortal Journey," it's 9999 slashes!
Therefore,
"Not enough, far from enough!"
Since he made up his mind to conquer the Cultivation Realm with his health bar, he can't be satisfied with this.
Currently, in terms of life points, it roughly equals to the third or fourth layer of Foundation Establishment. But there, with a genius sword cultivator Luo Qingyao as a reference, she's already at the seventh-layer Foundation Establishment at a young age, and this is considering she was nurturing her foundation in her early years, only really starting cultivation a year and a half ago.
Even this surpasses many who've been cultivating for a decade or two, making them second or third period students already.
Fan Wubing had seen her flying sword, knowing without obtaining a tool to convert life values into battle power, he couldn't be compared to a true cultivator.
With a thunderous roar, the Peach Branch Small Profound Realm underwent dramatic changes.
The mountains crumbled, deserts overturned, skies shattered.
200 freshmen, ranked by points, only 100 entered the second round, the rest were eliminated, leaving the Peach Branch Small Profound Realm.
A full and penetrating voice echoed in everyone's ears,
"The second round is a puzzle-solving stage, testing wisdom and adaptability; the setting is 'Prison.' The 'Prison' procedure isn't long, comprising three levels, and passing the third level grants eligibility to reach the third round. Please proceed!"
Upon these words, a fierce tremor struck, and the advancing disciples were alerted.
Soon, they saw a colossal prison rise from the ground.
The prison was entirely black, split in half by a massive, damaged flying sword. All around, no living creature could be seen, and the few remaining giant trees had long withered, teetering in the air, liable to collapse at any moment.
Even so, it subtly exuded an untouchable majesty, as if it once was a place detaining great beings.
Merely this momentum made some disciples with wavering minds grow fearful. The old students observed without intention to intervene. In the prior forest hunting Profound Demons, they might have advised and helped a bit, but this kind of checkpoint mostly depended on themselves.
Luo Qingyao observed carefully, pondered,
"This… doesn't seem like an illusionary scene created by immortal energy."
"What is it then?" Fan Wubing asked.
"It should be part of the natural scenes of this land fragment. Didn't that elder say earlier, the Peach Branch Small Profound Realm was originally a land fragment of a Nascent Formation cultivator's internally condensed world? That prison cleaved by the flying sword must be part of that small world."
"So that flying sword is real too?"
Luo Qingyao nodded,
"But in that damaged form, it's probably lost the essence of a flying sword, leaving only the shell."
"Flying swords can be refined to such massive sizes?" Fan Wubing estimated it was as tall as several floors.
"It's rumored that the contemporary first Sword Immortal's flying sword could cleave half of Immortal Continent."
Fan Wubing sighed,
"So there really is such power to shift mountains and seas."
"Naturally. This Cultivation Land is vast beyond knowing."
Fan Wubing was once a player, but he actually didn't know either, as "Immortal Journey's" world map was never completed.
"Let's go inside and be extra cautious. Since it's a puzzle-solving stage, surely there are traps."
"Senior Brother, if you're scared, just hold onto me, okay?"
"…"