269: Little Shrubby

Little Shrubby

Lin Mu thought over a name while eating the meat that he had just cooked. The Brown Shrubby Forest cat was also accompanying him in dinner as it ate his own share. Unsurprisingly, the beast was still eating the same amount as before and there was no change in it like Lin Mu's appetite, which was still growing.1

"Hmm… That's it, I got it!" Lin Mu exclaimed, surprising the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat.

Lin Mu looked at the beast and petted its head while he said, "Your name from now on will be Little Shrubby."

The beast looked at Lin Mu with confusion, and he then communicated with it using his connection.

~Nyaa~

The beast purred in acknowledgment and accepted the new name that was given to it. Lin Mu once again felt a bit proud about his naming sense as he saw the beast liking its new name. While Xukong simply ignored it and focused on his own cultivation.

After being done with his meal he assimilated the vital energy and checked his progress in the Body tempering realm cultivation, only to find no difference than before.

"Hmm, the progress is getting slower and slower. The last time I had any major progress was when I ate the meat of the Alpha steel back wolf, which was a core condensation realm beast. How long will I need to see more progress, or do I need to get more Core condensation realm beast meat?" Lin Mu muttered to himself.

He pondered on the possibility of getting core condensation realm beast and realized that it would be relatively difficult to obtain it. Although he may not have as much problem in finding one, killing it would become a problem if it was at the late stage of the core condensation realm or above. Not to mention that he would have to travel quite deep into the forest in order to encounter beasts that strong now that it was spring time.

~Sigh~

"Seems like I'll have to just keep on eating the spirit beast meat. My appetite is increasing more and more anyway, I may as well just compensated quality with quantity." Lin Mu spoke in a helpless tone.

"You know, if you want the meat of a core condensation realm creature, the beasts are not the only source." Xukong suddenly spoke, seeing Lin Mu's frustration.

"Oh, what other option do I have senior?" Lin Mu asked curiously.

"Technically meat is meat the only thing that matters is the cultivation base of the creature that the meat belonged to. There is a much closer source of Core condensation realm meat near you. You can… simply eat the other cultivators." Xukong spoke in a disturbingly calm tone.

Lin Mu was shocked silent and did not know how to respond to this. Frankly, the idea had never even come close to what he had thought. On an innate level, Lin Mu felt an utter revulsion to the idea of eating another human.

He was about to protest to senior Xukong when he suddenly remembered, Xukong was not a human… he was a beast. What right did he have to tell him that he did not find it correct, when humans ate beasts all the time and beasts did the same to humans? 

At least in that aspect the beasts ate other beasts and did not think much of it… at least the ones that had a higher capacity for thinking. It was not as if beasts were completely unintelligent either. Most, if not all beasts would start to gain intelligence and wisdom as their cultivation base grew. They would eventually become just as intelligent as humans or even go beyond that.

Lin Mu did not reply to Senior Xukong in the end and simply took his words as it is without a comment.

Lin Mu did not know, but today another small thing had changed in him, a change that while small right now, would one day become a mountain.

He then stood up and returned to the bedroom to continue cultivating with Little Shrubby accompanying him. Now he was about to do something that he had been really excited about. The eleven Duan Circle Ascension fruits that he had obtained, he could finally eat them.

Lin Mu withdrew one of them from the ring and looked at it. The fruits were orange colored and were oval shaped. Thin veins were visible on its surface that spread all around the fruit, making it look attractive. Though Lin Mu did not know what they would taste like. 

He only hoped that this would not be like his past experience when he ate the purple grape sized spirit fruit.

"Only one way to find out…" Lin Mu muttered as he then popped the Duan Circle Ascension fruit into his mouth.

Nothing happened when the fruit touched his tongue, but when he bit into it a sweet juice burst into his mouth that was quite delicious. Lin Mu chewed a couple of times while enjoying the taste of the fruit before swallowing it down to his stomach.

He now braced himself for any change that may occur, as he was still a bit scared from his previous experience. But surprisingly, no such change happened. Instead, Lin Mu only felt a small wave of energy travel from his stomach to all parts of his body before disappearing.

"Huh, that's it?" Lin Mu said feeling confused.

He used his spirit sense to observe his body, but he couldn't really see anything different in it. His meridians and dantian also seemed to be the same as before, and there was no change in them.

"You should check if you've had an improvement in your cultivation speed," Xukong suggested.

Lin Mu nodded in response before starting to chant the severing heart sutra. His mind stilled, as the spirit qi in the air around him became visible to him. He circulated the spirit qi within his body as he had always done and started absorbing the spirit qi from the air.

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