An Jing wasted no words. He lowered his head and bit into the meat.
At first, his teeth met a texture like tough, resilient rubber, but with just a little force, they sliced through the lightly charred muscle fibers on the surface. Inside, the tenderest meat burst open, releasing an abundance of rich, fragrant juices and fat.
The crisp, springy texture was utterly marvelous. With every swallow, he could clearly feel the meat digesting and breaking down within him, transforming into nourishment for his body. That sensation of satisfaction immediately gave way to an insatiable greed, making An Jing crave another bite despite himself...
In what felt like a mere instant, An Jing had devoured every scrap of meat before him, leaving behind only bare, gleaming white bones scraped clean by his teeth.
*What kind of beast's meat is this...?*
Sitting on his chair, An Jing's face flushed a deep crimson. A searing wave of fiery heat surged from his chest and belly, rushing straight toward his limbs and torso, seemingly intent on penetrating into the subtlest depths, coursing all the way to his fingertips and the roots of his hair!
An impulse seized An Jing, urging him to leap to his feet and roar at the top of his lungs to vent this inexplicable heat—and in fact, others were already doing just that.
In an instant, the entire cafeteria turned into a menagerie of wild beasts. Shouts, roars, and shrieks echoed in every direction, as though they were out in the untamed wilderness.
*What kind of test is this now?*
An Jing took a deep breath, suppressing the surging impulse within his body. He noticed that not everyone had been overwhelmed by this bizarre urge.
Zhang Ying was currently howling, his voice long, drawn out, and laced with a shudder-inducing chill, like the cry of a wolf.
To one side, Gu Yeqi was curled up, clutching her stomach tightly, refusing to make the slightest sound.
Those who refused to make noise and those venting the heat were split roughly half and half, though perhaps slightly more were venting, but not by much.
*Are they just going to let them vent like this?*
An Jing drew several more deep breaths. After a few times, he could easily suppress the instinctive urge. He observed everything with curiosity, diverting half his attention to the Instructors and lecturers, as well as Suspended Fate Manor's 'servants.'
They were waiting off to the side, watching the scene with deep concern, much like An Jing.
About a quarter of an hour later, as their energy ran out, the children—whether exhausted from howling or from enduring the heat—gradually returned to normal. The servants then came forward, bringing cups of thick medicinal decoction.
As Gu Yeqi had said earlier, the decoction's main ingredients were iron southcore and ice awn flower seeds, meant to calm the mind and steady the spirit.
Neither Zhang Ying nor Gu Yeqi had been mistaken; both of them had been right.
An Jing took a cup and downed it in one gulp. The taste was purely bitter, yet carried a peculiar, refreshing crispness. The ice awn flower seeds swelled after being boiled and cooled, yielding a tender texture. When chewed and swallowed, a burst of icy chill exploded in the mouth.
The feverish heat caused by devouring the beast meat began to recede. An Jing closed his eyes, and after a few breaths, he opened them again, thoroughly calm.
Yet that heat and power were no illusion—the beast meat was definitely extraordinary, far from that of ordinary wild game!
Most of the other children also quieted down after drinking the decoction, though they looked somewhat dazed, as if wondering what they had just been doing.
"All right. Everyone was a bit excited today. Head back and get some good rest,"
At that moment, Manor Lord Yao stepped forward and spoke kindly. "Tomorrow morning is for rest. Morning practice is canceled, so sleep in a bit.
"As long as you perform well, everyone will have meat to eat—and the better you do, the more meat you'll receive."
Without evening practice before bed, everyone returned to their respective dormitories and lay down early.
In the past, almost everyone fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows, but tonight that was impossible. Everyone tossed and turned restlessly.
And so, chatter broke out spontaneously across the dormitory.
"I don't know why, but I just couldn't hold it back back there..."
Zhang Ying complained from An Jing's left, his voice muffled through the bamboo wall. "I felt like I had turned into a giant wolf, and I couldn't stop myself from howling... That meat tasted amazing, but it was so bizarre. I've never eaten meat that gave me so much, so much... so much strength!"
"Indeed. It is quite extraordinary."
Ye Xiuyuan lay to An Jing's right. Coming from a scholarly lineage, he always spoke in a refined manner. "I once saw such meat during the ancestral year-end sacrifices at my main clan. It was likely the flesh of some savage ferocious beast."
"A ferocious beast?!" Zhang Ying's voice rose. "A ferocious beast comparable to a peak Inner Breath martial artist, or even an Inner Strengthening master? How could that be!"
His astonishment was well-founded. Even for hunting bands in the Northern Frontier, taking down a ferocious beast required immense effort and often resulted in casualties.
If they encountered more than one, an entire hunting band could be wiped out.
Yet its meat, hide, bones, and sinews were all treasures, serving as materials for precious medicines, grand elixirs, wondrous contraptions, and spirit implements. Both commoners and the authorities would pay handsomely for them. Bagging a single ferocious beast was enough to keep a hunting band wealthy for an entire year.
Even Zhang Ying had never tasted ferocious beast meat. Ye Xiuyuan added, puzzled, "That is precisely what baffles me. Even at the main clan, when the four Ye branches held their grand sacrifice, they only used a slightly larger piece of ferocious beast meat alongside standard cattle and sheep as sacrificial offerings.
"For Suspended Fate Manor to give each of us a portion—and such a massive portion at that—is simply unbelievable..."
"Who cares about all that?" Zhan Feng's voice boomed. The moment he spoke, everyone, including An Jing, shushed him in unison to keep from drawing an Instructor over.
Even so, once he lowered his voice, he remained utterly nonchalant. "At least it beats being a refugee. I've had more than enough of starving."
He had originally been a beggar in Mingshan City. Because he was so tall, people rarely gave him alms, yet when he tried to look for work, no one would hire him because he was too young. The old beggar who had raised him froze to death during the Frost Calamity. He had survived the journey purely by eating whatever he could scavenge, and fortunately, he had never ingested anything poisonous.
He had an extremely favorable impression of Suspended Fate Manor. Here, he could eat his fill. No matter how exhausting the training was, it didn't matter—in fact, to his mind, being worked to death on a full stomach would be the finest fate imaginable.
His words drew murmurs of agreement from many. After all, every one of them had been chosen from the refugee camps. All of them had known starvation. It had been ages since they had tasted meat or rice, but at Suspended Fate Manor, they could eat their fill, eat with relish, and even stuff themselves to bursting like today.
No matter what, in their eyes, the manor had no flaw other than treating them so well that it made them fear there might not be a next meal.
"I'm just afraid days like this won't last long,"
Cang Linzu smacked his lips, still savoring the memory of the meat. "Aren't all those secluded sects like this? Sifting through candidates layer by layer, holding assessments and tests, and throwing out anyone who doesn't measure up.
"When that time comes, you're no longer a disciple of Suspended Fate Manor—just a servant, like those uncles and aunties doing menial chores... These good days won't last!"
After spending so much time together, everyone knew that Cang Linzu's family had scraped together a substantial sum to send him to a martial academy. But after two years, he had been sent packing, supposedly due to 'deficient innate constitution.'
Yet how could that be? Suspended Fate Manor had evaluated his Innate Constitution as Upper-Lower, second only to An Jing. This left Cang Linzu deeply resentful, and he often grumbled through gritted teeth that the academy's instructor had simply been greedy for bribes, kicking him out when none were offered.
His greatest dream was to master martial techniques at Suspended Fate Manor and return to his hometown—if it was still there—to give that instructor a sound thrashing for slandering his innate constitution and causing his townsfolk to look down on him.
Cang Linzu wasn't particularly worried about failing the requirements; he merely wanted to learn more mental arts and martial techniques at Suspended Fate Manor.
"Well said."
Ye Xiuyuan agreed with Cang Linzu. "Who knows how many will be allowed to stay in the end... Big Brother An Jing will definitely be one of them."
"Right, Brother Jing?" the other boys chimed in. "The rest of us might get eliminated, but you're certain to stay!"
"...Perhaps the test began long ago."
An Jing disliked taking part in such discussions, but since they had brought him into it, he spoke up.
Rolling over on his bed, he said bluntly, "Our enthusiasm during training, our daily discipline, physical fitness, height and weight, how much food we can eat, what time we wake up, whether our routines are regular... Everything could be tied to the 'assessment.'
"Get some sleep early tonight." Rolling over once more, An Jing closed his eyes and said calmly, "Since the Manor Lord granted us half a day off tomorrow, there must be a reason for it.
"Rest early and sleep a little longer, but don't let it interfere with tomorrow afternoon's drills."
"All right." "Mm." "Understood, Big Brother!"
An Jing commanded great respect, and with those words, the entire dormitory fell silent. Before long, a chorus of snores, tooth-grinding, and sleep-talk drifted through the room.
Meanwhile, An Jing felt waves of fatigue and craving welling up from deep within his body... He hadn't lied to Deputy Envoy Yao. When he had laid eyes on that meat, his instincts had told him that it wasn't enough, that it wouldn't fill him.
In truth, his stomach was full. The meat had been heavy and rich, enough to satisfy his hunger. Yet he remained unsatisfied; the beast meat could only stave off his cravings for the moment, but it could not truly appease his body.
Carrying this strange sensation—neither fully sated nor entirely starved—An Jing sank into a deep slumber.
The next morning, the dawn light shone over the mountain ranges, painting them in gold and crimson.
Rubbing his eyes, An Jing pulled back the blanket and realized he had overslept by roughly two hours.
This was highly unusual for him. He had gone to sleep earlier than usual the previous night, yet he had still woken up late today. No wonder Deputy Envoy Yao had canceled morning practice; most of the children probably wouldn't be able to get out of bed this morning.
If it truly had been ferocious beast meat, it would indeed produce such an effect.
Straightening his clothes and putting on his training robes, An Jing mused to himself, *Eating too much rich food makes one drowsy. That must be it.*
There were thirty boys in the dormitory. An Jing cast his gaze across the room and found that aside from himself, everyone else was sound asleep. That was likely because their digestion was inferior to his, or perhaps because he hadn't truly eaten his fill.
Regardless, it didn't matter. There was still time before noon, and An Jing planned to do some morning training to restore his physical energy.
However, just as An Jing gathered his things and prepared to leave the dormitory, he suddenly noticed something.
Zhang Ying was gone.
Chapter 12