Chapter 51

The battle now over, Ai Xi dragged the middle-aged demon tamer’s dead body back to Li Changsheng and watched as he went through the corpse’s belongings.

After the previous battle, Li Changsheng did not find himself feeling too uncomfortable this time even though two violently mutilated bodies laid before him. As this was no longer the first time he had to deal with such an ordeal, he found himself getting used to the situation quicker this time.

In that world of supernatural prowess, it was to kill or be killed. There were no escapes or alternatives from vicious battles.

Searching the two corpses, Li Changsheng scavenged as much of their belongings as he could.

A small pile of goods quickly formed by the side.

It may seem to be a large number of personal belongings, but it was mostly cheap medications, demon food, and ingredients.

Among the pile were a few demon cores and two Lower-grade Soul Crystals. Judging the state of their familial backgrounds, Li Changsheng deduced that the two demon tamers were ‘rogues’ who did not belong to any specific organization.

Other than the aforementioned items, were another two more belongings that had caught Li Changsheng’s eyes. They were a collar and a book.

Silver in color, the collar was embedded with pearl white gemstones that, under the radiance of the sun, could fill one’s heart with warmth.

Li Changsheng deployed his omniscience and found that the collar contained an amount of pearl white energy. Specifically, the very kind that could spread warmth.

This was a Light-type Treasure, a solid Low-quality Light-type Treasure that encompassed an amount of energy no less than the Wind Streamer. As long as it was kept in the Treasure Inventory of a Light-type demon, the range of their Light skills would easily increase by 10%.

“This is for you, Heaven’s Fowl!”

A smile on his face, Li Changsheng casually tossed the collar to Heaven’s fowl. Shrinking instantly, the Light-type collar was promptly stored into the Heave’s Fowl’s Treasure Inventory.

Thanks to the effects of the Light-type collar, the Heaven’s Fowl glowed with pearl-white energy for a split second before the light died down in the blink of an eye.

The Heaven’s Fowl realized that with the newly-acquired Light-type collar, the range of its Light-type skills increased, as well as its Light-type healing skills. What a time to be alive.

“Oh yeah! Galen, this Jade Pearl is for you!” Taking the Jade Pearl from the pile before him, Li Changsheng handed it to Galen. With this Jade Treasure in tow, Galen’s healing skills in general—or her Healing Spring specifically—was sure to achieve a substantial boon.

“Wow! It’s so pretty!” Galen’s eyes shone as they fixed on the Jade Pearl in a way not unlike how girls would fawn over glittering accessories. Quickly, she took the Jade Pearl from him and kept it in her possession, as if she was afraid Li Changsheng might change his mind at any moment.

Its rich green radiance glimmered under the light, bestowing the comfort of nature to anyone who set their eyes on it.

At last, Li Changsheng picked up the book. It was thin, with only a mere few pages that were filled with words and formulae.

“Oh? Recipes for Intermediate-level Demon Food!” Reading the name on the cover, Li Changsheng let out a gasp of surprise. A smile tugged unconsciously over his lips.

Compared to the Recipe for Beginner-level Demon Food, recipes for Intermediate-levels were much rarer. In return, the effects of Intermediate-levels easily bested that of Beginner-levels, increasing the strength of demon pets at a much quicker rate when fed.

In contrast to Beginner-level recipes, Intermediate-levels also required many more ingredients and were more expensive to concoct. Luckily, the ingredients required were still commonly found and easily attainable. A trip to the Demon Bazaar should do the trick.

“Rest in Peace!” Having kept his battle trophies, Li Changsheng had the Gopher dig a large grave and buried the two bodies.

Without taking too long, the party cleaned up the last traces of battle and Li Changsheng made his way back to the Demon Bazaar, walking straight to the shop selling food ingredients.

The shop in question had ingredients of all kinds, both common and rare. Li Changsheng quickly entered the shop with the sole purpose to gather all the ingredients the recipe had called for so that he could quickly begin concocting his Intermediate-level demon food.

“Here’s the list of ingredients!” Li Changsheng handed his list to the store employee. He had also made sure to add a few extra filler ingredients to the list in order to not give away the exact recipe.

“One moment please!” The employee began to search the shop for the ingredients.

It had not taken too long before the employee managed to find and bring everything Li Changsheng needed before him. Going over them again in front of Li Changsheng and confirming that nothing was amiss, the store employee began to separate the ingredients into wooden boxes depending on the different classifications. Wrapping everything up, the employee handed the whole lot to Li Changsheng.

Apart from ingredients, Li Changsheng also required tools before he could begin concocting, for which he ended up forking out a hefty sum. The amount of ingredients he had procured should be able to feed his demon for quite some time, provided all his concoctions were successful, of course.

“It’s getting late! Let’s head back!” Having done all that he needed to, Li Changsheng did not dwell any longer and rode on the Heaven’s Fowl back to the manor.

The sun was almost setting and Li Changsheng decided against training his demon pets and returned to his room instead. He could not wait to whip out the recipe for Intermediate-level Demon Food and begin to memorize the details.

As a demon tamer whose omniscience was his main cultivation, his memorization skills easily exceeded that of a normal human regardless of which level he was. Not to mention that since the recipe itself was only a few pages long, the formulae could be more complicated and still would not pose a challenge to Li Changsheng.

Firstly, he had to memorize the recipe. Specifically, he had to know the order of which ingredients were to be incorporated, the ratios, and the timings like the back of his hand.

Next, as the moisture of every ingredient could affect the texture of the food which would subsequently determine the probability of a successful concoction, he had to modify the ingredients to avoid failure.

Lastly, he had to either crush, slice or dice his ingredients differently according to the type of ingredient he was dealing with and place them into different containers first, taking them out later only when he needed them.

Using his powerful memory, Li Changsheng had quickly memorized the recipe.

As the saying went, ‘action was the sole measure of truth’.

Li Changsheng confirmed he had not left anything out before he began to prepare the ingredients. Taking out the tools he needed, he could not wait to begin.

Unlike Beginner-level demon food, concocting Intermediate-level required a far more complex process, not only in terms of ingredients and tools, but the steps to follow as well.

This was Li Changsheng’s first attempt at making Intermediate-level demon food, and so it did not matter if he had the recipe memorized or not, for he was still evidently out of his depth from the way he rushed about it.

Li Changsheng completed his first concoction before long, producing a granular pellet of food.

Unfortunately, due to Li Changsheng’s inexperience, neither the shape nor color of what he had produced resembled the recipe. Its scent was putrid, smelling sourly of burnt smoke.

“Ai Xi! As a reward for doing so well these past few days, here, I made something just for you! I’m sure you’ll find it a pleasant surprise!”

Li Changsheng kept a poker face as he placed his concoction into the feeder, pushing it toward Ai Xi.

Ai Xi looked at Li Changsheng strangely. Being Li Changsheng’s cardinal demon pet also meant that there was a strong mental connection between the two of them, one that allowed Ai Xi to easily sense Li Changsheng’s emotions.

As of now, all Ai Xi felt was a gust of wickedness.

Without hesitation, Ai XI shook its head. Resolutely declining the offer!

“Tsk! Not cute at all.” Li Changsheng spread his hands but did not give up. He opened the demon pouch and released the Gopher, changing his target.

Contrary to Ai Xi, Li Changsheng’s temporary binding contract with the Gopher did not let it sense his ‘wickedness’. Coupled with its gluttonous nature, the Gopher stuck its head and began to feed from the feeder.

The Gopher suddenly stopped gobbling the moment it started. Lifting its head, its eyes were now void of all its previous excitements, replaced instead with an expression of disgust as he tried to spit out as much as he could.

Looking pitifully at Li Changsheng, the Gopher wore an expression that screamed ‘I’ve been wronged, please make it up to me’.

Without question, the food must have been appalling.

“Failure! Was it the moisture? Or was it the ratio? Perhaps I added the ingredients wrongly?” Li Changsheng stared at the Gopher with his chin on his right hand.

To concoct a perfect dish of demon food was a step-by-step process, and while it did not require a great deal of talent, the proficiency of one’s skill played a big role.

That night, Li Changsheng tried again and again. Alas, after failing every attempt, he only managed to improve slightly. He was still a long way from perfection.