C43 Eat to Your Heart's Content

"I'm afraid Uncle Li and I are not on the same page this time," Su Yuqing said with a gentle smile. "I have a premonition that this inscription pattern was drawn by the young man himself."

"But how could that be possible? If that's the case, wouldn't he be a genius equal to you, Eldest Miss?" Li He's voice rose in his astonishment, and realizing his outburst, he quickly apologized.

Su Yuqing remained unfazed, her smile unwavering. "You said it yourself, Uncle Li. If I could become an inscription master at my age and be called a genius, why couldn't there be another genius in the world? My father has often said that the Immortal Feather Continent is vast, and we are but frogs at the bottom of a well. Perhaps this time, we might just encounter another prodigy."

With Su Yuqing having put it that way, Li He naturally refrained from further argument. Yet, deep down, he harbored some skepticism. As an inscription master himself, he understood all too well the arduous journey to reach such a status.

Thus, Li He remained convinced that there must be an inscription master mentoring the boy.

As they conversed, Zhao Shude had finished preparing the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

With a few strokes of her brush, Su Yuqing brought Chu Yan's likeness to life on the paper, capturing his image with striking resemblance, right down to the spirited look in the corner of his eyes, just as Zhao Shude had described.

Looking at the portrait she had drawn, Su Yuqing felt an inexplicable flutter in her heart.

Prompted by Li He, Zhao Shude stepped forward, glanced at the drawing, and couldn't help but exclaim, "It's him! That's the one! The resemblance is uncanny!"

"Miss, your artistic skills have advanced yet again," Li He complimented. "With this portrait, our search will be much easier. However, my concern now is that this young man isn't a local of Evergreen Town but merely passing through. If he leaves, finding him could prove difficult."

For reasons she couldn't articulate, after seeing the portrait she had drawn, Su Yuqing's usually serene heart was now rippling with emotion, and she found herself unable to settle her thoughts.

"Uncle Li, I'll leave the decisions to you," she said as she turned to leave, pausing to add, "But I do have one request."

"Miss Su, you're too kind; please, go ahead," Li He urged.

"If Uncle Li does locate this person, I'd ask that you not disturb him just yet," Su Yuqing said, her lips pressed together. "And if there's any news, I need you to inform me right away."

As she spoke those final words, Su Yuqing's heart pounded fiercely, her cheeks flushed with a subtle warmth, and her voice grew quieter.

Li He, however, missed these nuances, simply nodding in agreement.

Gazing at the three Heavy Equipment Inscription Patterns, Su Yuqing mused, "There are lines within these patterns that elude me. If I could meet this young man and seek his insight, perhaps I could unravel their meaning."

If Li He could hear Su Yuqing's inner thoughts, he would be astounded. In his eyes, Su Yuqing was a once-in-a-millennium inscription genius, and the idea that she couldn't decipher a first-rate, mid-grade inscription was inconceivable.

Meanwhile, Chu Yan was oblivious to the events that had transpired since he left the Wan Hai Chamber of Commerce. The image of the Blood Marrow in that tiny vial haunted his thoughts.

"The Blood Marrow's benefits extend beyond its potent blood energy; it's also the combined medicinal properties of various herbs. If I could acquire several bottles and absorb them with the Great Art of the Swallowing Whale Spirit, the gains for my strength and my progress to the fifth level of the Genuine Martial Stage could be immense," Chu Yan pondered.

Looking up, he realized he had unwittingly wandered away from the commercial area and now stood before a restaurant.

The inviting scent wafted from within.

Chu Yan's stomach growled, a rumble of hunger that made him even more aware of his appetite. And with the Great Art of the Whale-Swallowing Spirit stirring within him, he thought, "Since the Blood Marrow is out of reach for now, why not indulge in some wild beast meat, rich in blood and spirit energy? After all, the whole point of this outing was to enjoy a good meal!"

With that thought, Chu Yan's hunger intensified, his very blood seeming to howl with the need for sustenance. He strode into the restaurant without a second thought and made his way to a window-side table on the second floor.

The waiter, who initially assumed Chu Yan wouldn't order much on his own, was left utterly astonished when Chu Yan rattled off a long list of dishes from the menu. Each dish Chu Yan ordered was made from the meat of dire beasts, a far cry from ordinary wild animal meat. Dire beasts were on par with cultivators at the Pulse Condensation Stage, making them formidable and dangerous to hunt. Their meat was notoriously tough to prepare and cook, driving the cost far above that of regular wild beast meat.

The total cost of these dishes had soared past a thousand Spirit Money—a sum many families wouldn't see in a year's worth of meals. The waiter began to wonder if Chu Yan was there to cause a scene.

However, when Chu Yan noticed the waiter frozen in place, he quickly grasped the situation. With a calm demeanor, he produced a pouch brimming with Spirit Money and set it on the table. The clinking sound and the pouch's heft were enough for the waiter to estimate the amount of Spirit Money it contained.

Assured that Chu Yan wasn't there for a free meal or to make mischief, the waiter relaxed. "Here's a tip for you," said Chu Yan, flicking a Spirit Money coin to the waiter.

The waiter, who was used to receiving mere copper coins as tips, was overjoyed at the generous amount of Spirit Money. His face lit up with a smile as radiant as a blooming chrysanthemum, and he eagerly attended to Chu Yan.

Before long, the dire beast dishes were served to Chu Yan, requiring not one but three hastily joined tables to hold the feast. It was a good thing it wasn't the busy hour, or the spectacle would have surely drawn a crowd.

Even so, the few patrons present, along with the waiter and the manager, couldn't resist stealing glances and murmuring among themselves. Curiosity even drew the head chef from the kitchen to the front of the house to catch a glimpse of the extraordinary customer who had ordered such an extravagant spread.

Gazing at the three heavily laden tables of dishes before him, Chu Yan closed his eyes to fully savor the moment.

Almost instantly, he could sense the intense, life-giving essence emanating from the food—a potency that mere wild beast meat could never match.

"This represents over a thousand Spirit Money; it would be a sin to waste it," Chu Yan murmured. Grasping his chopsticks, he inhaled deeply and then launched into a frenzied pace of eating.

In the blink of an eye, a plate piled high with wild animal meat vanished into his mouth.

The onlookers' vision blurred, and by the time they registered what had happened, they were staring at an empty plate.

But before their astonishment could fully form, they were witness to an even more astounding spectacle.

Chu Yan's belly seemed like a cavernous void, effortlessly consuming dish after dish, bowl after bowl of the wild animal meat with a speed that defied belief.

As empty plates continued to materialize, the onlookers' eyes grew wider and wider, their expressions frozen in disbelief.