Chapter 72: Section 73: Hunger and the Glory of the Knight (Two in One)
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It was high noon.
Above the withered yellow desert, the sun hung fiercely in the sky.
Waves of heat kept on assaulting us, and the sand grains beneath our feet were scorching enough to frighten.
Hunger and the depletion of physical ability made one dizzy and blurred.
Cang Xu and Zi Di staggered as they walked, nearly collapsing to the ground on their knees several times.
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In light of this, Lord Zhenjin and others had no choice but to take refuge in the shadows of the dunes for rest.
Bai Ya remained unconscious, while the other three struggled to catch their breaths.
It seemed as though the gods, in a rare act of mercy, pitied these wretched souls—the desert wind began to blow.
The wind was not strong, but it mitigated some of the scorching heat.
Under the caress of the wind, the wind-facing slope of the sand dunes churned with fine sand, while on the leeward side, the sand flowed like it was pouring out.
The sound of the rolling sand was rustling, but those resting could not appreciate the desolate beauty of this sound in itself.
Their significant physical energy was drained, leaving Lord Zhenjin and the others with an excruciating hunger.
Lord Zhenjin felt so hungry that his stomach seemed glued to his back.
Once he entered the shadow on the backside of a dune, he laid the unconscious Bai Ya on the ground.
At the start of their journey, carrying Bai Ya hadn’t seemed like much of a burden. But now, it felt to him as heavy as an elephant.
With the burden gone, Lord Zhenjin immediately felt a tremendous relief throughout his body.
He did not forget to check on Bai Ya’s condition.
“Running a high fever again,” Lord Zhenjin’s eyes dimmed.
Bai Ya’s condition was fluctuating and not good at all.
Lord Zhenjin truly wanted to help him, but Bai Ya had already used up Zi Di’s potions.
With adequate food and water, Bai Ya’s body could have been nourished properly.
But their current situation was that Lord Zhenjin and the others had only sipped tiny amounts of water during their journey and had not eaten at all.
There was nothing Lord Zhenjin could do about it.
He could only open the mouth of the water skin and pry open Bai Ya’s mouth to pour a tiny stream of water inside.
The water had already been equally divided into three portions, each person having their own water skin. The water Lord Zhenjin was giving to Bai Ya was from his own share.
Cang Xu and Zi Di watched Lord Zhenjin do so without saying a word.
Both slumped on the ground, motionless, not wanting to talk—or rather, lacking even the energy to speak.
Lord Zhenjin also maintained his silence.
He sat quietly, feeling as though he were an hourglass, with physical strength like grains of sand trickling one by one into his body, accumulating and storing up.
Since awakening on this island, Lord Zhenjin had never felt as hungry and thirsty as he did at this moment.
The closest time was the day he dug himself out from under the sand. But then, he had food—it was an unwise desert viper.
Now, looking out over the dry yellow desert, gazing at the vast expanse of heaven and earth, he very much hoped something like the viper would attack him.
In the past, right after he had exterminated a group of Flying Squirrels and gained food and loyal followers, he was transported away, turning all his efforts to naught. When he emerged from the sand and was attacked by the viper, his heart was filled with sorrow.
But now, sitting on the gravel, recalling the scene, he felt that the viper’s attack might have been a gift from nature, or perhaps the pity of the gods.
A sudden realization dawned on Lord Zhenjin.
“Heh,” he couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
The sound drew puzzled looks from Zi Di and Cang Xu.
Noticing their gaze, Lord Zhenjin explained, “There were many times, oh so many times, when the blows and torments of fate befell me. Each time, I thought I had suffered the heaviest hardships in the world.”
“However, that wasn’t really the case.”
“There are no ‘hardest’ moments. In life, one will encounter even more excruciating difficulties.”
“Right now, my predicament is even tougher than when I was attacked by the viper. Perhaps in the future, I’ll face even more desperate times.”
Zi Di remained silent.
They had already exchanged information, and the young girl understood the ordeal Lord Zhenjin had gone through after they got separated.
Cang Xu, however, also let out a laugh.
“Lord, hearing you say that, I somehow feel lighter myself.”
“Your attitude is not just optimism, but a profound open-mindedness.”
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Zi Di spoke softly, as if in thought, “Suffering is a kind of wealth. The difference lies in whether people can dig out this wealth from their suffering.”
Zhenjin recalled the scenes he had experienced on the island since he woke up, especially thinking about the Demon Core in his heart, “If that’s the case, then I’m a millionaire.”
The conversation ended there.
After these few words, everyone immediately felt their fatigue deepen.
For a long time afterward, they all maintained their silence.
Time passed, and the brutal sunlight began to weaken.
Zhenjin carried Bai Ya on his back, continuing their journey with Zi Di and Cang Xu.
Their luck improved.
On the road ahead, they found a dead sand willow, spiders, and scorpions, the latter all becoming precious food.
They also discovered a desert lizard and a desert jumping rat.
This jumping rat was just a common beast, its size small, similar to a normal rat, with very large ears and sensitive hearing. It sported yellow fur that blended closely with the desert. Its powerful hind limbs allowed it to hop one or two meters with a light leap.
After a chase, its body ended up in Zhenjin’s pocket.
The lizard and the jumping rat were not immediately consumed; the rest basically went into the mouths of Cang Xu and Zi Di.
Despite this, the nourishment was nowhere near enough to compensate for their physical exertion, forcing them to stop and rest multiple times along the way.
Their progress was significantly slowed, and by nightfall, they had not reached their destination—the gold mica stone cluster.
Cang Xu surveyed the surrounding terrain and studied the stars, then drew a map in the gravel.
“I’m not well-versed in star patterns. But the terrain has become familiar, and we’ve only been in and out of the Molten Lava landscape these past few days; the sand dune terrain should not have changed much.”
“So, we’re not far from the gold mica stone cluster.”
“If we travel a short distance tomorrow morning, we can reach it.”
“Let’s rest here tonight, my lord. We’re not capable of going any further.”
The aged Scholar sighed as the night wind caused his snow-white beard to tremble slightly.
Zi Di and Cang Xu both understood the benefits of reaching the gold mica stone cluster, but they were simply too exhausted to continue.
In fact, Zhenjin wasn’t in much better shape.
The young knight nodded, “We have the firewood from cutting down the sand willow. The nights in the desert are extremely cold, but we can light a bonfire to get through the night.”
Starfire Stones collided to create sparks, and the dry wood caught flame easily, lighting the bonfire without issue.
Everyone sat around the bonfire.
The bodies of the small lizard and the jumping rat were skewered on two sticks, which Zhenjin held and rotated over the fire.
Zi Di could not help but swallow at the smell of the roasting meat.
“This must be the most delicious delicacy in the world!” Zi Di said, her eyes revealing her longing.
Cang Xu also stared intensely at the two servings of roast meat, struggling to divert his gaze as he scooped up a handful of sand from beneath him, “Now, looking at this sand, I find it incredibly lovely—so lovely that I can hardly resist the urge to swallow it.”
Zi Di chuckled in agreement, “I actually think those black pieces of volcanic Molten Lava look like fluffy chocolate bread with a burnt surface.”
“I’ve read some historical records; when the Empire suffered famines, many refugees died from eating dirt.”
“I now understand their feelings completely. Hunger can truly drive one mad, and you stop thinking about anything else, just about eating. Whatever you see, you want to take a bite, whether it’s grass, dirt, or sand.”
Cang Xu let out a sigh, “Indeed, some people ate dirt. On the southeast and southwest coasts of the Empire, famines occur every few years. The refugees there would mix mud with butter and salt to make mud biscuits.”
“The Shata family once dispatched me to deliver a batch of relief supplies. When I was there, I tried these mud biscuits.”
“Speaking of them, the texture of these mud biscuits is actually quite smooth. But as soon as you eat them, you can taste the unique dampness of the seaside.”
“Generally, these mud biscuits are made about the size of an adult’s palm, and the refugees would lay them out on the ground to be baked by the sun’s rays.”
“I only took a small bite, but that earthy fishy smell lingered in my mouth for several hours.”
“The local refugees ate these things for a long time, adults and children alike, to stave off hunger. As a result, they were all skin and bones, suffering from chronic diarrhea. Nearly every day, a child would die from diarrhea.”
“Do you know? While we were traveling during the day, I swore to myself: if I had mud biscuits now, I would eat until I couldn’t stuff anymore into my stomach!”
As Zhenjin turned the skewers in his hands, he asked, “Speaking of digestive abilities… Mr. Cang Xu, how’s the digestive ability of wild beasts? Which beast has the strongest digestive system?”
Cang Xu pondered before answering, “Compared to humans, the digestive ability of wild beasts is incredibly powerful.”
“Hyenas are notoriously capable of consuming bones, so the bodies visited by hyenas are almost always left without a trace.”
“Vultures have highly corrosive digestive juices, making it easy for them to digest bones and marrow.”
“Pythons swallow their prey whole, whether it’s crocodiles or small elephants, they can digest them.”
“Generally speaking, birds actually have the strongest digestive ability. They can digest insects in just fifteen minutes. Foods like berries take about thirty minutes to be excreted. Some Sea Birds can digest fish so fast that while the fish tail is still at their beaks, the fish head is already dissolving in their stomachs.”
“What about the digestive ability of the Silver Spear Scorpion?” Zhenjin asked again.
Cang Xu said, “Extremely formidable! The gun scorpion is a Magic Beast, and its abilities far surpass those of ordinary wild beasts. It can consume metal and possesses an extremely powerful digestive capacity that can completely dissolve and break down metal. According to my dissection, its digestion rate is also very fast; it takes approximately five minutes to digest the metal stones it consumes.”
Zhenjin nodded and did not speak further.
As the skewers of Jumping Rat and lizard meat were almost perfectly roasted, Zhenjin suddenly changed his expression, making a motion as if listening intently.
This action immediately put Zi Di and Cang Xu on alert.
“There’s a noise,” Zhenjin’s expression darkened.
Neither Zi Di nor Cang Xu heard anything, but they were aware that as a Fighter Cultivator, Zhenjin’s physical abilities were far beyond that of an average person, so it was normal for him to hear certain sounds.
“You two go ahead and eat; I’ll stand guard and drive away or kill any potential wild beasts.”
“Try to stay put and not move around.”
After giving instructions to the two, Zhenjin handed them the skewers and slowly stood up.
“Lord, please be careful,” Zi Di said, full of concern.
Zhenjin nodded, quickly stepped out, and his figure soon vanished in the night.
He first made a round in the vicinity, confirming there were no traces of fierce beasts. Then he sprinted in a specific direction.
Now unburdened by Bai Ya and without Zi Di and Cang Xu slowing him down, in no time Zhenjin arrived at the gold mica stone cluster.
The gold mica stone cluster was also safe, devoid of any gun scorpion activity.
Zhenjin took a deep breath, hesitation flickering across his face.
But soon after, he resolved himself.
He began to undress.
Quickly, he stripped off all his clothing, leaving him entirely naked.
The next moment, he activated his Heart Core, and his whole body glowed red.
The thick red light obscured his face and body, leaving only the outline of a human figure in red.
Then, very quickly, the red humanoid outline collapsed like water, transforming into the outline of a scorpion.
As the red light faded, Zhenjin disappeared from the spot, replaced by a gun scorpion.
A Silver Level Life Breath burst forth.
Zhenjin had transformed into a gun scorpion leader!
This was his first complete Mutation, with not a trace of his human form remaining.
This action was actually very risky, but Zhenjin had no choice but to do so.
He was starving.
As a Silver Level Fighter Cultivator, those two mere skewers of meat couldn’t do anything for him. In fact, even if Zi Di had eaten them all, it wouldn’t have been enough.
Therefore, Zhenjin decided to try another method.
Gold mica stones weren’t human food.
So, he had turned into a thorough gun scorpion to try.
At this moment, Zhenjin’s senses had dramatically changed.
The night no longer seemed so deep to him. With the gun scorpion’s eyes, he could see far in the darkness.
Moreover, the gun scorpion didn’t just have one pair of eyes. The main eyes were at the front of the scorpion head, and two pairs of secondary eyes were positioned on the sides of the gun scorpion’s head.
Thus, Zhenjin had a very wide field of vision at this moment.
The gun scorpion also possessed a good sense of smell, and Zhenjin instantly detected a rich aroma.
He quickly discovered that this fragrance came from the gold mica stones surrounding him.
Humans couldn’t smell much from gold mica stones, at most a scent of stone or metal. But Zhenjin, now a scorpion, smelled a wonderful fragrance he had never experienced before.
This delightful scent immediately enticed Zhenjin to lift the scorpion tail behind him.
The scorpion tail shot out like lightning, piercing through the gold mica stone.
Then, using his powerful claw-like pincers in coordination with his tail, Zhenjin smashed the honeycombed gold mica stone into many fragments.
The pincers crushed these fragments into smaller pieces, which were then placed into the gun scorpion’s mouthparts.
Zhenjin chewed.
“Oh oh oh!”
“Delicious!”
“It’s like the taste of chocolate cookies. They have a crisp texture, and the final flavor has a hint of silkiness.”
Lord Zhenjin almost cried out.
So for the gun scorpion, gold mica stone was such a delicacy!
The taste system of the gun scorpion was completely different from that of a full human.
Lord Zhenjin ate voraciously, continuously chewing.
He was very hungry.
After consuming two large chunks of gold mica stone, he finally stopped.
He lay on the ground in the form of a gun scorpion, motionless for a good while, making sure that all the gold mica stone inside his body had been digested.
A tingling, sour itchiness began to spread throughout his body.
“What’s going on?” Lord Zhenjin felt something was amiss, as he had been keeping a close eye on his internal organs, and the digestion of the gold mica stone was very smooth and complete.
“Could it be?”
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Lord Zhenjin.
He recalled something Cang Xu had once said, which meant that when the gun scorpion consumed gold mica stone, it could absorb the metal from the stone, making its scorpion shell even more robust.
Lord Zhenjin immediately swung his scorpion tail, stabbing at the shell on his back.
However, both the scorpion tail and scorpion shell were parts of Lord Zhenjin’s body, with equal strength, and thus could not inflict any damage.
Lord Zhenjin then mobilized the Heart Core, reverting to human form while retaining the scorpion shell over his chest.
Perhaps because only this small piece of scorpion shell remained, the tingling, sour itchiness became extremely intense and focused on his chest.
Lord Zhenjin’s fingers transformed into Spider Blade, and he fiercely stabbed at his chest.
The brand-new Spider Blade was incredibly sharp and pierced through the scorpion shell, creating several cuts.
Instantly, the unbearable tingling, sour itchiness was greatly relieved.
However, after a few breaths, the sensation returned with renewed intensity.
Lord Zhenjin looked at his chest and found that the wounds on the scorpion shell had already mostly healed.
A flush of joy appeared on Lord Zhenjin’s face.
Because he had proven his conjecture to be correct.
He immediately continued jabbing his chest with the Spider Blade.
Jabbing once, then again and again, he made many small holes.
The scorpion shell healed rapidly over and over, and the tingling, sour itchiness gradually subsided, eventually disappearing completely.
Lord Zhenjin touched his chest and found the newly grown scorpion shell was even tougher than before. sea??h thё ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
“This must be the reason why the Silver Spear Scorpion was relentlessly pursuing me.”
“It wanted to be beaten and injured!”
“By leading them to the gold mica stone cluster previously and letting it feed again, I was actually hurting myself.”
Realizing this truth, the joy on Lord Zhenjin’s face vanished, replaced by a bittersweet smile full of resignation.
Lord Zhenjin did not linger; after he had eaten his fill, he immediately headed back.
Returning to the campfire, he saw Zi Di and Cang Xu.
The Jumping Rat and lizard skewers were long ready, but neither Zi Di nor Cang Xu had eaten, despite being very hungry.
“Lord, please eat.”
“Lord Zhenjin, don’t make needless modesty. Only if you have enough physical strength can you ensure the safety of all of us, can’t you? Even with adequate strength, we couldn’t handle the fierce Magic Beasts.”
Although Zi Di and Cang Xu were very hungry themselves, they both unanimously and vigorously urged Lord Zhenjin to eat the meat skewers.
Needless to say, Lord Zhenjin refused, having already eaten his fill.
The two sides made their own polite refusals, but this time Zi Di and Cang Xu were adamant.
Lord Zhenjin’s face turned serious: “I still have plenty of physical strength, and my body condition is much better than both of you. You’ve eaten too little food, and if you don’t eat these, you might not even make it through tonight. This firewood might not last a whole night.”
With that, Lord Zhenjin gazed at Zi Di with deep affection: “I’ve said before, I’ll protect you until the end of my life.”
Then, the young knight turned to Cang Xu: “Old Scholar, even if you do not wish to depend on me or act as my subordinate, I will do my best to save you. I’ve made a promise to do my utmost to rescue everyone. That includes you and Bai Ya.”
“Do you want me to break my word? Do you want to tarnish my knightly honor?” Lord Zhenjin’s expression became solemn.
Zi Di and Cang Xu both looked at him, feeling as if his whole being were radiating a holy light; they were moved, speechless for a moment.
“Burp.”
Just then, Lord Zhenjin couldn’t help but let out a satisfied burp.
Cang Xu, Zi Di: ???