Chapter 114: Hunger Replenishment

July 4, morning.

Cang Luo opened his eyes and woke slowly, instinctively lighting up his phone to check the time—it was already past ten in the morning.

“Why did I sleep so late?” Cang Luo muttered to himself in confusion.

The next moment, Cang Luo realized Shinsugi Emiko was asleep in his arms, completely naked—and so was he.

Cang Luo startled—what happened? How did she end up in my arms?

The instant after, a flood of intoxicating memories surged into his mind; Cang Luo sifted through them, stunned into silence.

Last night, had he been conquering cities and lands? Had he captured the city’s ruler, Shinsugi Emiko?

The city’s defenses collapsed, civilians fled in chaos, the entire city was flooded, the city ruler panicked and was swallowed by the flood...

Cang Luo was stunned—how could he have done something so beastly?

No, it must be this Japanese woman who seduced me—it was the osmanthus scent! The osmanthus scent doesn’t just induce sleep, it also clouds the mind, stirs desire, and strips away control...

Cang Luo comforted himself with this thought, then suddenly remembered something else.

Last night, he had felt unbearably hungry—so ravenous he devoured countless demon cores...

“Damn it! My demon cores!”

Cang Luo frantically rummaged through his backpack—but found not a single demon core left, not even the crucial fifth-rank Shadow Tiger core.

“How could this happen?”

Cang Luo’s heart ached—demon cores worth at least two hundred low-grade yuan stones were gone, wasted by his own hands!

After the pain, Cang Luo’s face turned grim—why had he suddenly become so ravenous last night? Even devouring demon cores didn’t satisfy him.

And why had his demon core assimilation speed increased dozens of times? Was it caused by extreme hunger?

Regardless of the cause, why could he absorb less than ten percent of the energy? And why was that percentage dropping further? Where did the other ninety percent go?

Cang Luo racked his brain, then began internal inspection of his body.

He discovered that his dantian, which once held nine yuan wheels, now held only two.

Though the number of yuan wheels had decreased, they were far denser than before.

Previously, the yuan wheels were entirely gaseous; now, though still gaseous, tiny bubbles had formed within them, showing signs of liquefaction.

Cang Luo knew that as cultivation base advanced, the form of the yuan wheels gradually shifted from gaseous to liquid, and by the time one reached Wu Sheng, they solidified—becoming ever stronger.

At this moment, Cang Luo could indeed feel that these two yuan wheels were stronger than all nine of his previous ones combined.

If comparing to a car engine, his former nine yuan wheels were like a nine-cylinder engine, each cylinder with only 0.5 liters displacement—total displacement 4.5 liters.

Now, his two yuan wheels, though only two cylinders, each had at least ten liters displacement—power increased several-fold!

Cang Luo was dumbfounded, muttering blankly: “Could it be... could it be that I’ve broken through? Not only did I advance from Warrior Nine to General, but I jumped a whole level—straight to General Second Rank...”

Cang Luo was speechless—he couldn’t fathom why he’d broken through overnight.

Could it be because of the demon cores?

Previously, absorbing three complete second-rank demon cores hadn’t triggered a breakthrough—was it because the energy wasn’t enough, hadn’t reached the limit?

Then, due to extreme hunger, he gained the ability to rapidly assimilate demon cores, absorbing over thirty demon cores—including the Shadow Tiger—all at once, pushing his energy to the limit and triggering a breakthrough?

Cang Luo believed this was the only possible explanation.

But what caused the extreme hunger?

Suddenly, Cang Luo glanced at the still-sleeping Shinsugi Emiko—could it be her?

The osmanthus scent? Could it also induce hunger?

Or was it conquering cities and lands? During conquest, heavy physical exertion caused hunger?

Cang Luo thought the latter more likely—it better fit the law of energy conservation, and his hunger had begun precisely during conquest.

The fiercer the conquest, the hungrier he became!

To confirm this, he only needed to test it again—but not just on Shinsugi Emiko; he had to test it elsewhere to fully rule out the osmanthus scent as the cause. Still, the answer was almost certain.

After sorting it out, Cang Luo chuckled: “What kind of ability is this? Conquering cities and lands causes extreme hunger—and grants rapid demon core assimilation? Can it rapidly assimilate pills or spirit herbs too?”

Absorb yin to replenish yang?

No! He absorbed energy from demon cores, not from Shinsugi Emiko.

For now, let’s call it... ‘Hunger Replenishment.’

Cang Luo frowned in thought—‘Hunger Replenishment’ was incredibly powerful, a fast method to raise cultivation base, but its drawbacks were severe.

For demon cores, he could absorb less than ten percent of the energy, and he suffered from diminishing returns.

Cang Luo remembered that later on, the energy absorbed dropped further—sometimes as low as two percent per core, wasting ninety-eight percent!

Speed increased, but quantity plummeted.

Gain comes with loss!

Cang Luo shook his head, unable to feel joy—‘Hunger Replenishment’ had too many restrictions: it demanded massive resources and required a woman’s cooperation!

A bit bizarre...

Women weren’t a problem—he could find them at Yichun Courtyard... but would ordinary women work?

Even if ordinary women worked, where would he get the resources?

He’d done a hundred days’ worth of work but earned only five days’ pay—what a loss!

Better to stick with steady, daily cultivation—for now. Wait until he became wealthy before using ‘Hunger Replenishment’...

Wait—does this mean he can’t casually conquer cities and lands anymore?

Even if a woman came to him willingly, he could only watch? Or else he’d starve to death?

Cang Luo felt tragic—his sexual happiness had been stripped away!

With a sorrowful sigh, he stopped thinking about ‘Hunger Replenishment’ and began testing the abilities granted by General cultivation.

At the General level, one can condense yuan energy into Gangqi!

Cang Luo instinctively knew how—his mind stirred, yuan consciousness surged instantly to his dantian, activating the yuan wheels.

The two bubbled yuan wheels of his General Second Rank cultivation spun rapidly; under his internal view, their aura was far more formidable than the nine gaseous wheels of his former Warrior Nine stage, swirling thick clouds of yuan energy.

Cang Luo channeled two streams of Yang attribute energy from the Mieti Divine Art, focusing them on his arms and beginning to refine the meridians from the palms upward—meridians must be refined before Gangqi can form.

Most cultivators first refine the meridians in their hands and feet, as these are the most basic weapons and can hold tools, allowing Gangqi to be attached to enhance their power.

Next, they refine the head and chest meridians—these are the body’s greatest vulnerabilities and must be protected.

After about half an hour, Cang Luo felt numbness, then bursting pain, then heat in the meridians from his palms to mid-forearms...

Cang Luo grunted, then slammed his hands together—suddenly, a thick, translucent orange-red gas enveloped his palms and forearms, like armored gauntlets.

Gangqi successfully formed!

The meridians were also successfully refined—though only once; further refinement would be needed later.

Looking at the gauntlet-like Gangqi, Cang Luo frowned—he had refined the meridians of both arms, yet only the palms up to the mid-forearms were complete; the meridians from mid-forearm to upper arm remained untouched.

Could General Second Rank only refine this much?

Cang Luo didn’t dwell on it—he wondered what to test the Gangqi on, and unconsciously glanced at Shinsugi Emiko.

What should he do with this Japanese woman? She dared to steal his phone!

Kill her?

No! She was his woman now—he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Looking at Shinsugi Emiko, Cang Luo couldn’t help smiling—he hadn’t realized she was still a virgin.

Didn’t she say she had a beloved senior brother? His name was Lin Zhiping, right?

Did she use the osmanthus scent to knock him out every night?

As he gazed, Cang Luo dissipated the Gangqi—he simply couldn’t bring himself to harm her. Let things unfold naturally.

After the Gangqi vanished, Cang Luo lost interest in testing its power—he pulled out his phone, planning to check the news, to stay connected with Earth, and to wait for Shinsugi Emiko to wake.

With delight, Cang Luo opened Weibo, thinking: he’d been off-air for a day—his fans must be frantic. Without his livestream, they probably couldn’t even eat.

He’d post a Weibo first, announcing he’d resume streaming this afternoon.

Cang Luo smiled happily—then his face darkened instantly upon opening the comment section.

Tens of thousands of comments—all insults. No, more accurately—they were jealous, but phrased with vicious cruelty.

Yesterday, Cang Luo had posted two Weibos—one was a photo of him and Shinsugi Emiko. He’d meant to keep it as a memento, and to show Earth’s compatriots what women from the Yuanwu Continent looked like.

But Earth’s netizens had mistaken it—he’d taken advantage of the girl.

Why? Because they noticed Shinsugi Emiko was wearing Cang Luo’s clothes.

Cang Luo couldn’t understand—wasn’t it simple? Her clothes were torn, so he gave her his?

That’s perfectly reasonable!

Why do you all think I was molesting her?

Your minds... are disgustingly filthy!

Cang Luo fell silent—then froze. Wasn’t he now, in fact, guilty?

He... had indeed taken advantage of Shinsugi Emiko.

Uh... should he post an explanation?

Cang Luo frowned, thought for a moment, then hugged the sleeping Shinsugi Emiko tightly, and began frantically snapping photos with his phone camera.

After taking them, he selected a few and posted them to Weibo...

“Heh! Anger you, envy you—dare to insult me?”

Cang Luo sneered—he didn’t care what chaos this post would cause. Let them rant.

Damn it! Even dating a girl draws criticism—so annoying!

At that moment, Cang Luo’s movements stirred Shinsugi Emiko—she blinked open her hazy eyes and woke up.

Cang Luo glanced at her and said awkwardly, “Sorry for waking you up.”

Uesugi Emiko didn’t react at first; she rubbed her eyes and, upon realizing she was held in Cang Luo’s arms, shuddered violently, remembering last night’s madness.

Then she tightened her body and glared at Cang Luo, her eyes filled with unspoken fury, but soon relaxed.

Then she stared at Cang Luo and whispered, “Lord Cang, from now on, I am yours...”