Chapter 218: Teaching Luo Cheng, News of Jade Bone

"Could I have found the wrong place? That's not right, I clearly asked and was told it was here."

At the entrance, Luo Cheng held a basin of stewed meat, waiting for a long time without the door opening. A trace of confusion appeared in his eyes, but soon, as the door opened from the inside and he saw Hong Yu emerge, a smile immediately bloomed on his face.

"Uncle Yu, you just returned from the mining area, you haven't had dinner yet, right? This meat was just stewed, try it and see how it is."

After Luo Cheng finished speaking, seeing Hong Yu staring at him with a half-smile, he felt a bit uneasy. Especially when he recalled what Li Baihe had said to him with a face full of regret after learning that Hong Yu had joined Chen Yingba's hunting squad, his expression grew even more tense.

"What a pity. I originally hoped he could join our squad, which would have made things much more convenient later. Xiao Cheng, this Hong Yu won't stay in the Hive for long. You must seize the opportunity. Spend more time with him whenever you're free; you'll definitely have a big harvest!"

Although Luo Cheng was only ten years old, he was not stupid.

Everything that happened in Cave No. 93, Li Baihe saw, and he saw it too.

Hong Yu's extraordinary strength, and what he did later to Cheng Ping, Wang Hun, and the others, all indicated that his status in Great Xia was definitely not low. Coming to the Hive clearly had some purpose.

Since there was a purpose, he definitely wouldn't stay long. Uncle He letting him spend more time with this Hong Yu was likely hoping the other party would have a better impression of him, preparing in advance for the future return to Great Xia.

…………

"It was Li Baihe who told you to do this, right?"

After all, he was only ten. Even though Luo Cheng tried his best to hide his deliberate attempt to curry favor, how could his performance escape Xia Hong's eyes?

Exposed by Xia Hong in a single sentence, Luo Cheng's face turned red instantly, but he still stubbornly said, "No, this beast meat is something I stewed myself. I thought Uncle Yu hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I deliberately brought it for Uncle Yu."

Xia Hong chuckled. Looking at the beast meat in the basin, which was about four jin and still steaming, his mind stirred slightly, and he asked, "The beast meat your father gives you every day is probably only this much. If you don't eat it yourself, your cultivation progress won't keep up. Aren't you afraid he'll blame you?"

Hearing this, a look of difficulty indeed appeared on Luo Cheng's face, but he soon smiled and said, "Uncle Yu, don't worry. My cultivation progress is quite good; Father won't notice for a while."

Hearing these childish words, Xia Hong couldn't help but smile. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head and said, "Then just bring it in. Put it down and leave. Don't bring any more to me in the future."

Hearing this, a look of disappointment appeared on Luo Cheng's face, but he quickly brought the basin in and set it down. Afterward, he bowed respectfully to Xia Hong, and when he left, he didn't forget to close the door.

Xia Hong returned to the main hall and sat down. Looking at the stewed meat on the table, a trace of oddity appeared in his eyes. He took a wooden jar from his pack, scooped a spoonful of salt into it, and then picked up his chopsticks to eat slowly.

Although he had Frost-Resisting Realm cultivation, he still needed to eat.

Although his pack contained quite a bit of air-dried intermediate beast meat, the texture was far inferior to this freshly stewed kind. Being able to eat a fresh bite, Xia Hong's mood was naturally even better.

"This kid probably won't come tomorrow. Could it be that he's really going out to hunt on his own? Without elite status, half of the prey caught has to be handed over. No matter how you look at it, it's a bit unpleasant!"

Xia Hong frowned and pondered while eating the beast meat.

Making him go hunting personally now, even for intermediate cold beasts, felt dull. Not to mention that when bringing them back, he would have to hand over half to the camp.

Besides, for a dignified Frigid-level expert to have to do everything himself just for a bite to eat, it is a bit absurd.

Facts proved that Xia Hong had guessed wrong.

The next day, when dawn was about to break, Luo Cheng came again.

He still brought a basin of freshly stewed beast meat.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday not to bring any more?"

Watching Luo Cheng place the beast meat on the table with practiced ease, Xia Hong asked with a strange expression.

Luo Cheng smiled and said, "Sorry for the disturbance, Uncle Yu. I remembered that I didn't take the basin from yesterday, so I came to get it today, and brought you some on the way."

He had actually found yesterday's basin, and then, regardless of whether Xia Hong ate or not, he turned and left directly.

Xia Hong looked at the fragrant stewed meat, added a bit more salt, and began to eat. But after finishing, looking at the extra empty basin in front of him, he suddenly laughed.

"This kid is quite cunning!"

Luo Cheng seemed to have locked horns with Xia Hong. Although Xia Hong told him again on the third day that he didn't need to come, in the following days, whenever dawn was about to break, he would appear on time with a basin of beast meat.

January 25th, which was the eighth day Luo Cheng brought meat.

Xia Hong glanced at the beast meat in the basin, then looked at Luo Cheng's Qi-muscle movement, which hadn't made any progress for eight consecutive days, and finally couldn't hold back.

"Not eating beast meat for so long, are you not planning to break through to the Woodcutting Realm?"

Luo Ming did not have elite status, so half of the beast meat caught had to be handed over. Counting his hunting squad as 20 people, one low-level cold beast would only yield about 1200 jin of meat. After handing over half, 600 jin remained. For 20 people, each person could only get about 30 jin of beast meat.

Having stayed in the Hive for so many days, Xia Hong had learned quite a bit.

For people like Luo Ming, beast meat was hard currency. Coal, iron, and other daily necessities all had to be exchanged for beast meat. Therefore, five jin of beast meat was not a small amount for either Luo Cheng or Luo Ming.

His residence was not far from Luo Ming's. Luo Ming basically led his squad out to hunt every night. Just from this point, one could see that the life the father and son lived couldn't be called comfortable, and might even be a bit strained.

Luo Cheng bringing him five jin every day really wasn't a small amount.

He could see at a glance that Luo Cheng's base strength was over 4800 jin, only one step away from the Woodcutting Realm, which was why he asked deliberately.

Hearing this, a look of difficulty indeed appeared on Luo Cheng's face, but he soon gritted his teeth and said, "I'm only that little bit away. I'm not in a hurry!"

Seeing Luo Cheng's conflicted expression, Xia Hong laughed inwardly. This time, he didn't wait for Luo Cheng to leave, but took out the jar containing salt right in front of him. After adding salt to the beast meat, he tossed a pair of chopsticks to Luo Cheng.

"Come and try it, so you won't say I'm taking advantage of you."

Seeing the white crystals in the jar, Luo Cheng's eyes lit up instantly. Hearing Xia Hong let him eat together, a smile appeared on his face. He rushed to the table, picked up some beast meat, and put it in his mouth.

With one bite of beast meat down, Luo Cheng's face was full of enjoyment, and a look of "as expected" appeared in his eyes.

The basin he took back a few days ago, he used to boil things later and found the taste was much more fragrant. He had guessed at the time that Xia Hong must have added something. Seeing it with his own eyes today, he could finally confirm it.

"Uncle Yu, this is too delicious. What did you add? I've never eaten such good beast meat, and after eating it, I feel my strength has increased a lot."

"Salt, something from Great Xia!"

Xia Hong's concise answer made Luo Cheng's eyes gradually sparkle, and his yearning for Great Xia instantly rose to another level.

"Your face is like a monkey's butt, hurry up and practice dispersing the power!"

Luo Cheng was startled. He reached out and touched his face, only to find his cheeks were frighteningly hot. Realizing it was the effect of the salt, he hurriedly got up and walked outside the house, drew the small knife in his hand, and began to practice.

The main ingredients of the salt were intermediate beast bones and frozen beads. The energy contained within was not low to begin with. Added to the human body's demand, the reaction to the first consumption being so great was already within Xia Hong's expectations.

But Luo Cheng didn't know. Waving the small knife in his hand, sensing the energy obtained in his body was several times greater than usual beast meat consumption, he thought the salt was some kind of heavenly treasure, and his expression became extremely excited instantly.

Hu... hu... hu............

Watching Luo Cheng practice waving the knife for a while, Xia Hong shook his head immediately.

"This kid probably doesn't have any talent for blade techniques!"

Although Luo Cheng was only ten-something, his height had already exceeded 1.6 meters, clearly a head taller than his peers. The small knife he waved was clearly custom-made, only ninety-something centimeters long.

Although his posture in waving the knife was skilled and seemed to have wind, Xia Hong could see at a glance that he wasn't good at blade technique variations. His advantages were in arm strength and wrist strength, and the coordination of his arm power was also amazing. Relying on these three points, he barely managed to wave this small knife with some style.

It looked good when practicing, but it wouldn't work if used in real combat.

Arm strength, wrist strength, coordination of arm power...

Xia Hong recalled these three points, turned his head to look at the ceremonial blade on the side, pondered for a moment, and immediately knew what weapon Luo Cheng was truly suited for.

"Hu............"

Luo Cheng outside the house suddenly withdrew his power, exhaled a breath, looked down at his hands, his face full of excitement and emotion.

Breakthrough!

Woodcutting Realm, he actually broke through directly.

Originally, according to his own expectations, even if he practiced by eating beast meat step by step, the last two hundred jin of base strength would take at least two months to successfully raise. Just one bite of salted beast meat, and he actually broke through directly.

Luo Cheng looked back at Xia Hong at this moment, his face full of excitement.

"Spend more time with him whenever you're free; you'll definitely have a big harvest!"

Only at this moment did he suddenly realize what Li Baihe's previous words meant.

Luo Cheng pondered for a moment, walked in front of Xia Hong, knelt down directly facing him, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Uncle Yu. Luo Cheng is eternally grateful!"

However, before he could kneel down, a chair was moved across.

If he knelt down, that would count as the master-disciple ceremony. Xia Hong naturally couldn't let Luo Cheng kneel. Not to mention he had no intention of taking a disciple, even if he really wanted to, with Luo Cheng's current aptitude, he really didn't think much of it.

"No need to kneel. You've brought me beast meat for so many days, consider it compensation from me. When you come tomorrow, no need to bring beast meat."

Luo Cheng could naturally hear the meaning in Xia Hong's words. Originally, there was some disappointment on his face, but hearing Xia Hong let him continue to come tomorrow, the disappointment vanished instantly. He nodded excitedly and agreed.

"Yes, Uncle Yu!"

Soon, Luo Cheng left with two basins. Xia Hong sat on the chair, looking at the departing Luo Cheng, a smile rose slightly in his eyes, and then he turned his head to look toward the main building of the Hive.

"Idle is idle. This kid is quite clever, pointing him out a bit doesn't matter. As long as my ranking doesn't go up, Chen Yingba shouldn't notice me. Just wait for the news from Cheng Ping's side."

Xia Hong pondered for a while, estimated that it was already dawn, took his pack and two blades, and went out the door directly.

The next day, when dawn was about to break, Luo Cheng appeared on time again.

This time he listened to Xia Hong's words and didn't bring beast meat.

However, as soon as he entered the courtyard, he was stunned.

In the courtyard, three cold beasts were displayed, which were Snow Mane and Frost Wolf respectively.

However, all three cold beasts had been split in half, which was clearly done when entering the settlement, having already been handed over.

"Uncle Yu, you went out hunting?"

Luo Cheng's pupils dilated, his face full of shock when asking.

His father Luo Ming led a squad out to hunt, and on the most successful night, they only brought back two pieces of prey. And for the two cold beasts brought back that time, even though Luo Ming contributed the most, he only got about a hundred jin personally.

Read it all in one go!

Under normal circumstances, the beast meat his father could get every night when going out was at most forty or fifty jin.

And in Xia Hong's courtyard at this moment, there were three and a half cold beasts.

The key was, yesterday he didn't see Xia Hong prepare anything, and no one came to look for him. At this moment, looking at him, he didn't look like he had gone out hunting at all.

What did this mean?

Gulp............

Luo Cheng looked up at Xia Hong and swallowed his saliva.

"Use your blade, process that Snow Mane, boil as much as you eat!"

Seeing that Xia Hong clearly had no intention of talking, Luo Cheng didn't talk nonsense, drew his blade, and began to process the cold beast.

Although he had just broken through the Woodcutting Realm, Luo Cheng clearly had no experience. It took him more than half an hour, his whole body soaked in sweat, before he cut off a few pieces of beast meat and put them into the pot to boil.

After another while, seeing the beast meat was almost cooked, Xia Hong added a handful of refined salt. As the fragrance overflowed, the two began to feast again.

"Every time after eating beast meat, eat one pill, and start practicing after finishing."

Just after finishing the beast meat, Luo Cheng saw a wooden bottle appear in front of him. After opening the bottle and seeing the medicinal pill inside, he didn't ask Xia Hong and swallowed one directly.

Xia Hong took out a spear about a zhang long from the house, walked outside the courtyard, held his breath, and began to play with it.

He held the spear with both hands, his temperament changed instantly, and the spear, accompanied by his suddenly flipping body, fiercely drew a semi-arc on the ground.

Chi............

A half-meter-high dust cloud rose suddenly. The stone ground in front of Xia Hong was actually carved with an arc-shaped trench three or four meters wide, and the trench was visually dozens of centimeters deep.

This move made Luo Cheng stunned instantly.

"Month for staff, year for blade, a lifetime for spear..."

Seeing Luo Cheng staring at him without blinking, Xia Hong hooked his lips and continued to speak to himself.

"The long spear is the commander of all weapons, mainly using three methods: blocking, holding, and piercing. Divided in detail, there are seventeen types of spear techniques: splitting, collapsing, penetrating, pointing, clouding, flicking, lifting, entangling, sweeping, framing, throwing, hurling, wheeling, shrinking, bumping, and twisting. For a normal person to practice spear techniques, it definitely won't work without ten or eight years of effort. Even with slightly higher talent, it takes at least three years..."

While explaining, Xia Hong demonstrated all seventeen types of spear techniques one by one, and then continued: "The Woodcutting, Earth-Digging, and Frost-Resisting realms all distinguish strength by the level of power, so there aren't many techniques for using weapons, it's nothing more than proficiency. To master all seventeen types of spear techniques, there's no trick. Persist in doing it ten thousand times every day. If you can master one type in a month, your talent is already considered high. Normal people are afraid it's hard to persist............"

After finishing these last words, Xia Hong threw the spear aside and returned directly to the house.

"Thank you, Uncle Yu!"

Luo Cheng, standing on the side, bowed respectfully to Xia Hong, walked directly to the courtyard, and picked up the long spear on the ground.

However, as soon as he got it in his hands, he was almost crushed by the long spear.

"This spear, so heavy!"

Luo Cheng's hands trembled. He estimated the long spear was at least fifteen hundred jin. Looking at the ten-forged silver patterns on the side of the spear shaft, a look of confusion appeared on his face instantly.

His father also used a ten-forged weapon. According to the volume of the long spear, the weight should be at most six or seven hundred jin. How could it be so much heavier out of thin air?

"Ten thousand times, this............"

Recalling what Xia Hong just said, Luo Cheng's face showed difficulty instantly. But looking back and seeing Xia Hong had already entered the room, he gritted his teeth, stood in place, and waved it with difficulty.

"Ten thousand times is ten thousand times, start from splitting............"

Xia Hong in the room sat alone on the chair, looking through the window at Luo Cheng practicing splitting the spear, his posture quickly going from unfamiliar to skilled, and a smile appeared on his face.

"What this kid is most suited for is indeed the long spear!"

In the period that followed, Luo Cheng ran to Xia Hong's side whenever he was free. Every day when he arrived, he didn't talk nonsense, directly boiled beast meat, ate dinner with Xia Hong, immediately swallowed a Beast Origin Pill, and then started practicing the spear.

Luo Cheng's base strength was only five thousand jin. Wanting to wave a fifteen-hundred-jin long spear ten thousand times in a row, it naturally wasn't easy to do at the beginning.

The first thing he practiced was the splitting spear. On the first day, he only split it seven hundred times before he was basically exhausted. On the second day, there was a slight improvement, over nine hundred times; the third day more, the fourth day, the fifth day............

It is worth mentioning that during this process, Cheng Ping came over a few times occasionally.

Luo Cheng knew about Cheng Ping being controlled by Xia Hong. Watching this person who used to act arrogantly at the city gate and had repeatedly made things difficult for his father show such a servile attitude in front of Xia Hong, Luo Cheng's reverence for Xia Hong grew day by day, and at the same time, he became even more eager for strength.

"I did it, I finally did it, hahahaha!"

February 20th, which was the twenty-fourth day after Xia Hong taught him the spear technique, Luo Cheng split the long spear horizontally again. Regardless of his twitching and spasming arms, he lay directly on the ground and laughed heartily.

Ten thousand times!

He really did it.

"Uncle Yu, I did it, hahaha, I did it!"

Xia Hong walked out of the house, looking at the excitedly laughing Luo Cheng. Although there was surprise in his heart, he still pretended to be cold and said, "What are you so happy about? You only just did it ten thousand times. Continue for another month, and you can be considered to have completely mastered the splitting spear technique."

Luo Cheng was poured a basin of cold water, his expression restrained a lot immediately, but he soon plucked up his spirit, nodded, and said, "Understood, Uncle Yu. I will continue to work hard and practice it successfully soon."

This kid probably doesn't know how much his base strength has increased!

The surprise in Xia Hong's eyes just now was not because Luo Cheng reached ten thousand times of splitting the spear, but because by observing his Qi-muscle, he learned that Luo Cheng's base strength had already exceeded six thousand jin.

It had only been a month, and although there were the effects of the Beast Origin Pill and salt, Luo Cheng's own talent could not be ignored.

An increase of one thousand jin of base strength in a month, if he remembered correctly, in Xia Hong's impression, besides himself, only a few people like Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng could do this.

This kid's talent is indeed not low!

"Hong Yu, is Hong Yu home?"

Just at this moment, a familiar voice came from the door.

Xia Hong raised his eyebrows slightly and signaled to Luo Cheng on the ground.

Luo Cheng hurriedly climbed up, opened the door, and welcomed the person outside in.

"My lord, there is a situation!"

The person who came in was Cheng Ping. Seeing Xia Hong, he bowed immediately.

"Luo Cheng, you go back first, come again tomorrow."

"Yes, Uncle Yu!"

Hearing there was a situation, a bright light rose in Xia Hong's eyes. After signaling Luo Cheng to go back first, he took Cheng Ping into the inner room.

"My lord, our leader had people transport hundreds of thousands of jin of coal stone yesterday. It should be to boil the Jade Bone. I also saw a man in black following him today. I had never seen that person before. It should be the outsider you mentioned."

"Where is the place to boil the Jade Bone? Can I go over?"

Hearing this, Cheng Ping showed difficulty and said, "The place to boil the Jade Bone is on the top floor of the main building. Except for the Great Leader, the Second Leader, and Commander Chen, no one else can go up casually unless summoned."

Xia Hong pondered for a moment and said, "You take me to the main building first, I'll go over and take a look."

Hearing this, Cheng Ping was stunned, and then his face was full of difficulty. But looking at Xia Hong already leading the way, he gritted his teeth and followed.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 219 =====