Zhou Lulu frowned and said, “I love reading and want to study under Elder Si, who specializes in Confucianism. But my dad insists I choose Hundred Refinements Peak. He says Elder Si has read too much and can’t teach me anything.”
“Your father is…”
“Fifth Elder Zhou Xin.”
Lu Yang immediately fell silent. Hundred Refinements Peak belongs to her family, so of course her dad wants her to choose it.
The main peak of Hundred Refinements is a tall, red mountain that reaches into the clouds, looking like a volcano ready to erupt and lighting up the sky.
Maybe it’s because of the long history of refining tools here, or maybe it’s just how it is, but the temperature here is a bit higher than in other places.
At this time, it was early spring, but Hundred Refinements Peak felt like summer.
Lu Yang felt a bit of a prickling sensation on his skin, as if something was trying to burrow into his body. He instinctively circulated his energy, forming a thin protective layer around himself, as delicate as a cicada's wing.
Zhou Lulu quietly explained, “Junior Brother, what you’re feeling is the energy of metal. There are so many magical tools being forged here that the air is filled with this energy. But it doesn’t harm cultivators; you’ll get used to it.”
“But your reaction is quite quick; not many people can sense it like you do.”
Lu Yang chuckled, “My technique is quite useful.”
He then heard clanging sounds. In his imagination, it was probably a senior brother using a big hammer to hit some fine iron, sparks flying everywhere, turning it into steel.
Following the sound, he saw it was the cafeteria.
“Hmm—”
Lu Yang thought it might not be so bad after all.
He was getting used to it.
The cafeteria was bustling with activity, filled with the smell of food. People were coming and going, chatting and laughing, holding various dishes like they were wielding swords, ready to fight for justice.
It looked like students passing by the cafeteria after class to buy meals, and also like heroes just stepping out of a weapon shop.
“Is Li Haoran here?” Lu Yang remembered that Li Haoran, who had a fire spirit root, was under Fifth Elder, and wondered how his cultivation compared to his own.
Zhou Lulu shook her head. “Junior Brother Li hasn’t come out yet. He’s not qualified to sell food in the cafeteria. My father said he has a good foundation and needs to soak in lava for a while longer to develop better.”
“I heard from others that at first, Junior Brother Li was screaming while soaking in the lava, but then he went quiet, so he must have gotten used to it.”
“...Is it possible he didn’t just get used to it, but got familiar with it?”
“Hmm?”
Lu Yang hadn’t expected that soaking in hot water wasn’t the worst experience. The senior sister was too kind to him.
He didn’t feel too regretful about not seeing Li Haoran; otherwise, they could have shared bathing tips.
Zhou Lulu walked into the noisy cafeteria, and her enthusiasm quickly faded. She took a couple of steps back, speaking rapidly like a machine gun: “Junior Brother Lu, the food here is good and cheap. You should buy it yourself.”
After saying that, she disappeared in a flash, and Lu Yang didn’t even see how she left.
Sighing, Lu Yang realized he had to rely on himself.
“Braised fish bones, just made! The perfect choice for cutting trees and fighting! Everyone who’s tried it says it’s great!”
“Freshly baked meat pies, tough enough to withstand punches and kicks!”
“Come and take a look! Noodles harder than steel, a must-have for tying people up. Once tied, they can’t escape! Buy now and get a free tying tutorial!”
The cafeteria felt like a bustling market, with vendors shouting to sell their food. The only difference was that it was much louder here—the vendors were powerful cultivators with booming voices.
Lu Yang saw a senior brother holding a braised fish bone, its sharp spikes looking like deadly blades. A gentle scratch could leave a deep wound, as if bitten by a fierce shark.
The vendor enthusiastically promoted, “Junior Brother, would you like a fish bone? This is from the fish demon in Bi Bo Pond, which had peak foundation-building strength when it was alive. The bones are very hard; I spent a long time refining them. They can be used as weapons in battle, and if you’re hungry, they can be food too.”
After saying that, he bit down on a fish bone with a crunch.
Lu Yang looked at the useful fish bone and then at the price.
Hmm, too expensive.
Seeing Lu Yang smile apologetically, the senior brother didn’t push him and continued to promote to others.
Lu Yang noticed another senior brother directly reaching into a pot of oil to pull out some fried dough sticks, draining off the oil.
“Junior Brother, would you like one? We have some for foundation-building and some for golden core stage. The foundation-building ones are only 150 contribution points.”
In terms of price, it was indeed cheaper than the Mountain-shaking Hammer on the exchange list, which cost 270 contribution points. The fried dough sticks were almost half the price.
“The advantage of my fried dough sticks isn’t just their hardness. They contain three layers of hidden strength. When you hit with them, the three layers combine for a powerful explosion, catching enemies off guard.”
“If you’re hungry, they’re good to eat too; they have a long shelf life.”
After saying that, the vendor took a bite, and the three layers of hidden strength exploded in his mouth, but nothing happened except his cheeks puffing up a bit.
“Senior Brother, I’m new here and don’t understand some things. Why can these fried dough sticks be both weapons and food? Can they really be bitten into?”
The senior brother noticed Lu Yang’s cultivation level. Since he was a foundation-building junior brother, it was normal for a newcomer to have questions.
“This is a way to train and test your physical cultivation results.”
“Physical cultivation means refining your organs and bones internally, while externally refining your skin and senses. Only then can you call yourself a true body cultivator. Also, teeth are an essential part of this process.”
“I’ve heard some body cultivators focus solely on refining their bones and skin to the extreme. Under their rough attacks, even mountains tremble, making them quite formidable. Others find it very difficult to face these invulnerable body cultivators and come up with a solution.”
“What solution?”
“They use spells that can change their size, like the Size-Change Spell, to shrink their bodies and attack these body cultivators from the inside. Since these body cultivators haven’t trained their internal organs, they can easily be defeated this way.”
“Such people can’t be considered true body cultivators; they’re more like rogue body cultivators.”
The senior brother’s teeth clinked together, making a sound like metal colliding.
They were half body cultivators; their physical strength couldn’t compare to true body cultivators, but they had trained both inside and out.
“Ordinary cultivators use magical tools as weapons, but for body cultivators, their bodies are the strongest weapon. Since it’s the strongest weapon, eating fried dough sticks shouldn’t be a problem.”
Lu Yang understood now. The food in the cafeteria was highly functional. It could either be sold as weapons for non-body cultivators like him or as food for body cultivators.
“Meng Jingzhou is under Third Elder; he’s a real body cultivator, so he should be able to bite into them.”
Thinking of this, Lu Yang bought a fried dough stick, waved it around a bit, and felt its weight. It was quite heavy.
(End of Chapter)