I can gain insights into martial arts.

"A senior martial arts student at Eighth High School..."

"I called the police as soon as I was safe after escaping danger..."

"Knowing there were dangerous rats in the alley, he still risked staying nearby and dissuaded two pedestrians from entering the alley..."

Liang Wenbin looked up at Chen Mochuan, his tense face showing approval, and patted him on the shoulder forcefully:

"Good lad, calm under pressure, courageous and resourceful, you did a great job!"

He paused, seemingly feeling that verbal praise wasn't enough, and reached into his inner pocket to pull something out.

"Thanks to your alertness and proper handling today, we were able to avoid more serious consequences... Please take this as a small token of my gratitude."

Before Chen Mochuan could react, a cool, hard object was shoved into his hand. He instinctively tried to refuse, saying, "Captain Liang, this..."

But as soon as he turned his head, Liang Wenbin's figure had already disappeared into the flashing police lights.

Gripping the object tightly in his hand, Chen Mochuan understood that the other party had made up their mind, so he could only carefully put it away.

Given that Chen Mochuan was a senior high school student with a heavy workload and had already given a statement, and that no further assistance was needed, a police officer drove him back to the entrance of Xinghu Community.

However, before getting out of the car, the police officer specifically instructed Chen Mochuan not to reveal what had happened that night.

Chen Mochuan could understand this. If the public knew that there was another ferocious beast that had escaped, even if it was just the lowest level of ferocious rat, it would cause unnecessary panic.

……

Chen Mochuan woke up leisurely at 8:30 the next morning.

Today is his day off. He didn't get home until almost midnight last night. After a period of intense training, he encountered a life-or-death crisis, which left him physically exhausted. He needed to rest fully, so he had a rare opportunity to sleep in without an alarm clock.

Just as he was getting dressed and preparing to go to the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall for training, he suddenly noticed a hard object in his pocket. Only then did he remember that he had been exhausted after returning home the night before and had casually stuffed the gift from Liang Wenbin into his pocket without checking it carefully.

Chen Mochuan took out a hard object, a metal box about half the size of his palm, which was slightly cool to the touch.

Inside, there was a thin, reddish-brown sheet about three centimeters square.

"This is... dried meat?"

Chen Mochuan originally thought it would be a supplement, medicine, or a plaster, but he didn't expect it to be a piece of dried meat.

But even the worst gift from a martial artist at the "Inner Realm" level can't be something ordinary.

He looked closely and noticed that the surface of the meat jerky had a very faint red glow, which was almost imperceptible unless you looked closely.

"It's the meat of a ferocious beast... and of very high quality!"

Chen Mochuan's heart stirred. As far as he knew, only the meat of ferocious beasts of the third rank or above usually contained spiritual power to this extent, thus displaying this characteristic glow.

Ordinary ferocious rats are merely the lowest-level ferocious beasts that do not enter a certain rank, while the strength of a third-rank ferocious beast is already comparable to that of an Inner Realm martial artist.

Although it was just a thin slice of dried meat, it was an extremely rare treat for Chen Mochuan.

The price of ferocious beast meat is very expensive. Only during the Lunar New Year will the parents be willing to buy a piece of the lowest-grade ferocious beast meat, which is not even ranked, to celebrate the New Year.

This small piece of high-level ferocious beast meat might already be worth over ten thousand.

Most importantly, the meat of such high quality is a very good tonic.

Suppressing his excitement, Chen Mochuan decided not to go out and returned to his bedroom to take the dried meat out of the box.

A faint fragrance wafted into his nostrils, instantly invigorating him.

"In a novel, this would probably be considered a rare and precious treasure."

After carefully examining the meat jerky in front of him and finding nothing wrong with it, Chen Mochuan put it directly into his mouth.

Unexpectedly, the meat jerky was not dry or tough; it melted easily with a little chewing and was quickly swallowed by him.

Not long after, he felt a warm current surge up in his abdomen, slowly flowing to his limbs and bones.

As this warm current spread throughout his body, his blood and qi began to surge, his body temperature rose rapidly, his skin turned slightly red, and he felt extremely hot.

"It seems like I've overdone it..."

Despite his discomfort, Chen Mochuan immediately stood up in the sixteenth stance of the Foundation Strengthening Stance, attempting to calm the turbulent blood and qi within his body through the stance training.

But Chen Mochuan soon discovered that the impact of this small piece of meat was even greater than the 10 doses of Qi and Blood Tonic he had taken when he awakened.

The current advanced-level Qi-strengthening stance is unable to smoothly circulate Qi and blood.

Under the impact of the restless blood and qi, Chen Mochuan felt his body swell, which was a sign that the blood and qi were beginning to stagnate.

The constant impact on his blood and qi made him extremely uncomfortable, and he almost couldn't maintain his stance.

He had never anticipated that such a thin slice of ferocious beast meat would bring him such a heavy burden. Ultimately, it was because his own strength was too weak to digest the energy contained in the meat.

However, he was well aware that if the stance collapsed and the flow of qi and blood could not be smoothed, the situation would become worse. So he mustered his strength, stabilized his lower body, and tried his best to maintain the foundation stance.

In this situation, he suddenly remembered the terrifying devouring power that had appeared within his body on the night of his awakening.

Perhaps it was this awakening of bodily memory that made a thought instantly and clearly emerge in his mind: "Soul Devourer" is requesting to join the battle!

Because of the unpleasant experience of almost being drained of his energy when he awakened, Chen Mochuan has always tried his best to resist directly applying the power of "Spirit Devouring" to himself, except for absorbing martial arts spirituality, ever since he awakened "Spirit Devouring".

But this is precisely the moment when that terrifying devouring power comes into play.

Without further hesitation, Chen Mochuan activated the "Spirit Devouring" ability, and the long-lost power of devouring reappeared within his body.

As expected, "Spirit Devourer" did not disappoint him. It was like a highly efficient internalization furnace, and the stagnant blood and qi that had been accumulating were gradually being devoured by this devouring power. The swelling and burning sensation all over his body were gradually easing.

Fortunately, unlike when I was awakened, the meat of the ferocious beast contained more energy, which satisfied the needs of "Soul Devouring". Therefore, the intense hunger that originated from the life instinct did not appear.

This relieved Chen Mochuan and made him feel very gratified.

As "Soul Devourer" continued to exert its power, relevant information popped up on the golden light screen panel.

[You have devoted yourself wholeheartedly to your practice and have gained a deeper understanding of the fundamental cultivation method.]

[Strengthening Foundation: Da Cheng (30%) → Da Cheng (31%)]

……

[You activated "Spirit Devouring," efficiently absorbing the energy from the Boiling Blood Beast's jerky, thus boosting your blood and improving your physical attributes.]

[Qi and Blood Value: 3.71 → 3.72]

[Qi and Blood Value: 3.72 → 3.73]

……

As Chen Mochuan watched the constantly updated information on his standing meditation skills and the increase in his Qi and blood values ​​on the light screen, he also noticed the mention of "Boiling Blood Beast." He knew that his guess was correct; the dried meat did indeed come from a third-tier ferocious beast.