Ghost Immortal

The firelight cast flickering light throughout the shop.

Li Feng secretly took out the large cauldron, reduced it to its normal size, and pretended it was an ordinary cauldron.

"Senior brother, use this cauldron to cook."

Qiu Sheng nodded, put the washed meat into the cauldron, and poured in half a pot of well water.

Li Feng roasted the tripod legs over a fire, and after the water boiled, he blanched the chopped tiger meat in the boiling water.

As the blood foam rose to the surface, a strong, fishy smell mixed with demonic energy steamed up from the pot.

"The smell of this tiger meat is really strong." Qiu Sheng covered his nose, used chopsticks to scoop out the blanched tiger meat, and changed the water in the pot.

When tiger meat is put into water, dark golden oil immediately appears on the surface.

The tiger demon, with three hundred years of cultivation, slowly releases the essence of its demonic power sealed within its flesh in boiling water.

The dark golden oil slicks rolled on the water's surface, emitting a very unique aroma.

Li Feng sprinkled salt into the pot, and then asked Qiu Sheng to cut the white radish into chunks and throw it in.

Radishes can remove fishy smells and enhance flavor, and they can also absorb the overly domineering demonic power in tiger meat, making the soup more mild.

Wild scallions are tied into a knot and thrown into the pot. The bright green scallion leaves tumble in the boiling water, quickly infusing the soup with their aroma.

After stewing for about half an hour, the tiger meat was tender and falling apart.

The dark red chunks of meat trembled slightly in the boiling water, the meat strands distinct yet melting in the mouth.

The soup turned a rich, milky white, with a thick layer of dark golden oil floating on the surface.

The aroma filled the entire blacksmith shop, then drifted out through the holes in the broken roof, spreading in the night breeze.

Qiu Sheng couldn't wait to fill two bowls. He handed one bowl to Li Feng and took a big gulp of the other himself.

"Hot, hot, hot! Ouch! Delicious!" Qiu Sheng grimaced from the heat, but he couldn't bear to spit out the soup in his mouth. He forced it down and his eyes widened.

"This soup is so delicious! It's ten times better than the old hen soup my master makes for Chinese New Year!"

Li Feng also picked up the bowl and took a bite.

As soon as the soup entered my mouth, a warm current flowed down my throat and spread throughout my body.

This energy flow is pure demonic essence. The flesh and blood of a three-hundred-year-old tiger demon were boiled in boiling water for two hours, releasing all the demonic energy sealed in the muscle fibers into the soup.

After this demonic essence entered his stomach, it immediately transformed into a warm current that flowed to his limbs and bones, even making his dantian feel warm.

He could clearly feel that the pain in the three cracks on his spiritual root had lessened somewhat under the nourishment of this warm current.

"efficient."

Li Feng put down the bowl, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"This tiger meat soup really works to restore spiritual roots."

"Of course!" Qiu Sheng proudly served himself another bowl, this time learning his lesson and blowing on it to cool it down before drinking.

"This is the flesh of a three-hundred-year-old tiger demon. It's more effective than any ginseng or lingzhi. Junior brother, drink more and try to heal your spiritual root injury. Don't let Master worry."

The two sat by the blacksmith's furnace, eating white radishes and wild onions, and devoured most of the pot of tiger meat, soup and all.

Qiu Sheng ate with gusto, his mouth greasy and the sleeves of his Taoist robe gleaming. He kept praising the food as he ate.

Li Feng, unusually, ate heartily, chewing every piece of tiger meat clean, even using chopsticks to poke out and suck out the marrow from between the bones.

After eating and drinking his fill, Qiu Sheng leaned against the anvil, patted his round belly, and let out a satisfied burp.

"Junior brother, this tiger meat is really good. I feel like my broken ribs don't hurt as much anymore. Don't you also feel a warm sensation in your dantian?"

Li Feng nodded.

Indeed, after eating the tiger meat cooked in the mysterious cauldron, it felt like having a small furnace in my dantian, with a continuous flow of heat surging from my stomach to all the meridians in my body.

The life essence sealed within the tiger demon's flesh and blood is the purest and most potent tonic for cultivators.

"We haven't eaten the tiger bones yet," Qiu Sheng said, pointing to the seven tiger bones remaining on the stove.

"How do you eat this thing? You definitely can't bite into it directly. This is the bone of a three-hundred-year-old tiger demon, harder than stone."

Li Feng picked up a tiger bone and examined it closely in the firelight.

Tiger bone has a dark gold surface and extremely dense bone walls; tapping it with your fingers will produce a metallic, crisp sound.

The bone marrow sealed in the medullary cavity is faintly visible through the translucent bone wall, presenting a texture like liquid gold.

"Tiger bones cannot be eaten directly; they must be processed."

Li Feng thought for a moment, not wanting to reveal the wonder of the cauldron, and made up an excuse.

"Crack the bone open, extract the marrow, which can be swallowed directly. Grind the bone itself into powder and mix it into soup or porridge for the best medicinal effect."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's smash it now!" Qiu Sheng immediately picked up a small iron hammer from next to the anvil, placed the tiger bone on the anvil, and swung the hammer to smash it.

clang!

The hammer struck the tiger bone, sparks flew, but the tiger bone remained unmoved, while the hammer was bounced so badly it almost slipped from the hand.

Qiu Sheng was so shocked that his hands went numb, and he grimaced and shook his hands.

"My goodness, these bones are so hard!"

Li Feng took the hammer and struck it seven or eight times with all his might before the tiger bone finally cracked open.

Dark golden bone marrow seeped from the cracks, as thick as melted honey.

"Quick, grab a bowl to catch it!"

Li Feng quickly turned the tiger bone upside down, letting the marrow flow into the rough porcelain bowl.

Seven tiger bones yielded a small bowl of marrow.

The bone marrow in the bowl looked like jelly.

"This thing looks weird. Will it kill people?" Qiu Sheng leaned over for a look, somewhat hesitant.

"Tiger marrow is the most precious part of tiger bones, and it is the most nourishing of all."

Li Feng used chopsticks to pick up the bone marrow and put it in his mouth; the bone marrow melted in his mouth.

It didn't have the fishy smell I expected; instead, it tasted sweet.

After swallowing, a warm current, thicker than tiger meat soup, instantly exploded from the stomach and surged along the meridians towards the dantian.

This warm current is completely different from the mildness of tiger meat soup; it is domineering and pure.

The moment the warm current rushed into the dantian, the cracks in the spiritual root visibly shrank!

"It works! This bone marrow is more effective than tiger meat in restoring spiritual roots."

Li Feng opened his eyes in surprise.

Qiu Sheng perked up at the news and, imitating him, picked up a bit of bone marrow and put it in his mouth.

As soon as he swallowed it, his whole face turned bright red, his eyes widened, but he couldn't make a sound.

"Junior Brother, this...this...it's so hot! So hot! So hot!"

He jumped around in the blacksmith's shop like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, slapping his mouth as he jumped.

It took more than ten breaths for him to calm down.

"My goodness, this bone marrow is too potent!" Qiu Sheng collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"It feels like I swallowed hot coals, and now my whole stomach is burning, but the broken ribs feel tingly and numb, like the bones are growing back."

"That's right." Li Feng divided the remaining bone marrow into two portions, half for each person.

"Tiger bone marrow is a top-grade tonic for strengthening muscles and bones. Since you broke your ribs, drinking this is perfect for you. I'll grind the remaining tiger bones into powder tomorrow, and we'll eat a little bit every day to gradually replenish our strength."

Qiu Sheng carefully drank the bone marrow that had been given to him, then licked the bottom of the bowl, looking as if he still wanted more.

But he soon realized something was wrong.

The heat in my dantian grew hotter and hotter, turning from a warm current into scalding magma, surging wildly through my meridians.

"Junior brother, why do I feel hotter and hotter?" Qiu Sheng pulled open the collar of his Taoist robe, revealing that his chest and thighs were covered in sweat.

"Moreover, my dantian felt very swollen, as if something was about to burst out."

Li Feng also sensed it.

The demonic essence contained in tiger meat and marrow is being absorbed by their bodies.

This power is too immense; if it is not refined in time, it may damage the meridians.

He quickly sat down cross-legged and began to circulate the Maoshan Qi Nourishing Technique, guiding the heat in his dantian into his meridians and refining it according to the Great Circulation route.

The spiritual energy flows through the meridians several times faster than usual.

His cultivation, which had stagnated due to damage to his spiritual root, actually began to grow again under the impetus of this demonic essence.

Li Feng guided the heat flow, repeatedly washing away the cracks on his spiritual root.

With each wash, an extremely faint glimmer of light seeps from the edges of the cracks.

The spiritual root is repairing itself.

The tiger marrow essence in the heat flow is like the best medicine for wounds, gradually mending the cracks from both sides towards the middle.

He was so engrossed in his cultivation that he completely forgot about time.

A sudden jolt ran through his dantian.

The level of the spiritual liquid rose at a visible speed, and the capacity of the dantian also expanded accordingly.

Qi Refining Level 2, Breakthrough.

Before Li Feng could even feel happy, his dantian trembled again.

The amount of tiger marrow essence far exceeded his expectations.

The marrow from the ribs of the seven three-hundred-year-old tiger demons contained the essence of demonic power equivalent to the accumulation of several months of arduous cultivation by an ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivator.

Add to that the essence of most of the pot of tiger meat soup, and the force is so great that even a ten-inch spiritual root would find it difficult to withstand.

The excess spiritual energy surged wildly in the dantian, ironically becoming a driving force for further advancement in cultivation.

He has also broken through to the third level of Qi Refining!