Chapter 106: The Terrifying Power of Drawing Cakes
Chapter 106: Chapter 106: The Terrifying Power of Drawing Cakes
Snakeskins, snakeskins, snakeskins!
The courtyard was littered with green snakeskins.
The intense, foul stench rising from these snakeskins made it impossible to breathe.
The Blood Crow, however, was thrilled. Like a starving brute who had stumbled into an all-you-can-eat buffet, it cawed incessantly. CAW CAW CAW CAW.
Tang Wen covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief given to him by one of his maids at home.
The handkerchief carried a faint, unidentifiable, but pleasant fragrance.
Before he could speak, Elder Ya, wearing a pig-snout—that is, a crude gas mask—asked in surprise, "It’s only been a few months. How did your Blood Crow get so big?"
"Has it?" Tang Wen stroked the Blood Crow’s wing. "A large size is perfectly normal."
Elder Ya was momentarily speechless, then said impatiently, "Go, go, go. Take your medicine and get lost."
After a large number of High-Level Beast-grade Green Water Pythons were killed, their brain matter and Snake Gallbladders were extracted to create a Secret Medicine.
Its effect was similar to the previous Secret Medicine, strengthening one’s Constitution, but this Snake Medicine had the added benefit of acting as an antidote.
Tang Wen picked up a simple wooden box. Inside, cushioned by hay, were three small vials. "Such a big box for so little medicine. Can’t you give me a few more vials?"
Elder Ya turned his back, ignoring him.
Tang Wen continued, "What would happen if I fed this medicine to my Blood Crow?"
Elder Ya whipped his head around. "This medicine is worth hundreds, even thousands of taels of silver!"
"Oh, so that means I *can* feed it to him. Would one drop at a time be too much?" Tang Wen stroked the Blood Crow’s glossy black feathers, his tone casual.
After a two-second pause, Elder Ya produced two more small vials from somewhere. "If you really want to try, use one vial for a medicinal bath and have it drink the other one diluted. Use it all within ten days. But be careful—the process is excruciating. If your bond with this beast isn’t deep, it might abandon you!"
Tang Wen cupped his hands in thanks. He endured the stench to chat with him for a while longer before turning to leave.
CREAK!
Xiaoliu opened the courtyard gate, her voice light and cheerful. "Master, you’re back!"
Little Taotao came running over like an untethered lamb and hugged Tang Wen’s leg. She tilted her little face up, her jet-black, lacquer-like eyes gazing up at him, full of life.
Once inside, Taotao’s mother, Cui Lian, helped Tang Wen change his clothes.
As usual, he took a bath, rested, and chatted with the three women about recent household matters.
There wasn’t much to talk about, really. After they finished with the pleasantries, Xiaoliu and Peach Blossoms both looked at Cui Lian, as if they had something to say but couldn’t bring themselves to, deferring to their big sister to speak for them.
Tang Wen stared curiously at the three jade-like, flower-pretty faces.
Cui Lian, having been married before, was a bit bolder. She puffed out her ample chest slightly. "Master, the three of us are Martial Disciples now!"
With her breaking the ice, Xiaoliu quickly added, "Miss Tangtang said we’ll soon become Second-class Martial Disciples."
Tang Wen looked at them with admiration, his heart inevitably stirring. "Excellent, excellent."
Although he never expected them to become great masters, he couldn’t let them remain completely defenseless.
Danger lurked outside the camp, and they couldn’t just stay inside forever.
Peach Blossoms also said with a blush, "We’ve also been practicing the techniques you gave us, Master."
After speaking, she looked at Tang Wen with a fiery gaze.
With Zhou Bing gone for many days and Tangtang also away from home, the three of them were feeling a bit daring.
Seeing the eager anticipation in their eyes, Tang Wen smiled. "Then let’s practice!"
The three women began performing the Eight Vajra Techniques in unison, their waists slender and their figures enchanting.
They were clearly practicing a Daoist Profound Technique, but paired with their coquettish glances, Tang Wen had the distinct illusion that he was watching dancers in a brothel.
’Who the hell could stand this?’
He picked up his cold tea and drank it nonstop.
’I can’t resist the temptation!’
’I just can’t resist it at all!’
Little Taotao ran into the room and began mimicking the three adults’ movements beside her mother.
Tang Wen quickly focused his gaze on the happy little girl, and only after a long while did he manage to escape his predicament.
After sending the three women away, Tang Wen breathed a silent sigh of relief. ’That was torture. I can’t stay home anymore!’
A craving for power surged within him.
’I’ll just endure it a bit longer, just a bit longer!’
’Once I’m Extraordinary, once I’ve transformed, I’m definitely going to Yihong Tower for three days and three nights—no, thirty days and thirty nights!’
Tang Wen’s resolve hardened, and he began to motivate himself with countless promises of grand, fulfilling rewards.
He opened the wooden box, took out a vial of Snake Medicine, and downed it in one go.
A burning sensation spread from his mouth, down his throat, and into his stomach.
Then came the long-lasting aftertaste—pure bitterness.
It was so bitter he couldn’t even feel his own tongue.
Tang Wen frowned, a random thought popping into his head: ’Whoever it was that endured hardship by tasting gall every day, he definitely wasn’t tasting this kind of Snake Gallbladder.’
’This is way too bitter!’
He brushed his teeth and rinsed his mouth with salt water. After a great deal of effort, he finally got rid of the clinging bitterness.
He lay down and fell asleep. When he woke up, the medicine’s effects had been fully absorbed.
[Body: 8.78→8.8]
Even before drinking it, he knew that this Secret Medicine made from High-Level Beast Essence probably wouldn’t be very useful for him anymore.
But he hadn’t expected it to be *this* useless.
He gave the remaining medicine to Tangtang.
He kept two vials for himself and, following Elder Ya’s instructions, prepared to give the Blood Crow its medicine and a medicinal bath.
"CAW! CAW!"
The Blood Crow struggled, flapping its wings frantically, trying to leap out of the wooden basin.
With quick eyes and fast hands, Tang Wen grabbed another wooden basin and trapped the crow inside it.
"The suffering is only temporary! After today, you’ll be even stronger!"
"CAW! CAW! CAW!"
The Blood Crow thrashed wildly, cawing what sounded like a stream of curses.
Tang Wen paid it no mind and continued his pep talk: "You’ll transform! You’ll fly higher, farther, and faster!"
"CAW! CAW! CAW! CAW!"
The Blood Crow thrashed with all its might, causing the wooden basin on top of it to start shaking.
Tang Wen added, "Endure this, and you’ll surpass all the other Blood Crows!"
TAP! TAP! TAP!
The Blood Crow thrashed even more frantically, pecking at the wooden basin with its hard beak.
Seeing it was about to lose its mind from the discomfort and the wooden basin was on the verge of shattering, Tang Wen shouted, "When that time comes, all the female Blood Crows will be yours! You can have as many as you want! You can be with whichever one you want!"
The moment the words left his mouth...
...the commotion under the wooden basin ceased.
"Caw? Caw caw caw?"
The Blood Crow’s caws were restrained, patient.
But the meaning it conveyed was crystal clear—’Really?’
"Really! Truer than true gold! Think about it, all those powerful pack leaders we see in the wilds—which one of them isn’t surrounded by mates, with offspring everywhere?"
"CAW!"
Tang Wen lifted the wooden basin, and the Blood Crow was no longer making a fuss.
Even though its body was trembling from the discomfort, its claws remained motionless as it submerged its entire body in the medicinal liquid.
The corner of Tang Wen’s eye twitched. ’Damn it! Aren’t you Blood Crows supposed to be monogamous? The kind that never find a new partner even after one dies?’
’Why is this one of mine so... unique?’
’They say a pet takes after its owner, but this isn’t like me at all!’
’I have no idea who it could have learned this from.’
As he thought of this, he froze for a moment.
’It wasn’t me. It definitely wasn’t me. But it hasn’t been in contact with anyone else...’
He fell silent, but a second later, his eyes lit up again.
’Wait, there’s Elder Ya!’
’When it was young, it was with Elder Ya.’
’That’s right! It must have been influenced by Elder Ya!’
The blame was successfully shifted, the Blood Crow was cooperating without a struggle, and even his Experience Panel had changed.
Tang Wen broke into a satisfied smile.
[Beast Taming Skill, Master→Mastery (1/6000)]
It all started from the moment he made that empty promise to the Blood Crow.
The Experience Points for his Beast Taming Skill had shot up by a huge chunk.
It had broken straight through the Master Level, advancing to the next stage.
Tang Wen marveled to himself. ’No wonder my boss in my past life loved making empty promises. This feeling is pretty damn good!’
With the Skill breakthrough, new knowledge and images flooded him like a tidal wave.
He calmly absorbed it all, sensing that some kind of secret connection had been established between him and the Blood Crow.
The same was true for his Middle-level Exotic Beast, the Black Steed.
He could sense it in the Royal Palace stables, lording over the other horses.
Relying on its superior strength, it had driven all the other horses into a corner, allowing only three or five handsome, uncastrated colts to approach it.
Sensing this, Tang Wen felt a bit awkward.
"Why is this horse like this! Oh, the betrayal! Right, it must be because it witnessed its mate, Wuyun Ta Xue, betray it back in the wilderness! Yes, that must be it!"
Tang Wen nodded repeatedly. ’As I thought, it has nothing to do with me.’
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
At lunchtime, someone knocked on the gate.
"What are you eating? It smells delicious!"
The person who entered was General Zhao.