Chapter 31: The Night of Harvest

"Bang..."

The corpse of a wild ox, nearly three meters long, suddenly dropped out of thin air, making the ground tremble on impact.

It was fortunate that the cave’s compartment was spacious enough; otherwise, it would never have fit inside.

“What is this...?”

Startled by the sudden appearance of the wild ox’s body, the Crow Monster’s eyes widened in shock. He immediately looked to Lu Fei and asked, “Big Brother, what’s going on?”

“How did you do this?”

“And... where did this ox come from?”

Faced with the Crow Monster’s barrage of stunned questions, and the equally wide-eyed, confused Redhide Pig Demon beside him, Lu Fei replied unhurriedly, “Sit down, both of you. Let’s eat while we talk...”

As he spoke, Lu Fei drew from his person a dagger—no, it was a spearhead—or rather, a dagger carved from a spearhead.

After being ground down again and again, the spearhead was now much sharper than it had been as a weapon of war. Though it was still black and ugly to behold.

The three monsters sat around the ox’s body. Lu Fei deftly sliced open the beast’s hind leg with the spearhead dagger, carving off a large slab of bloody raw meat, then tossed the makeshift blade to Redhide.

By nature, Lu Fei would never have eaten raw meat.

But this ox demon’s corpse had been snatched in passing from a pile of bodies on the battlefield in the valley.

If he were still on Wandering Mountain, he’d have dared to sneak out at night and roast a banquet of wild ox.

But here, newly arrived in the unfamiliar Wild Desolate Mountains, he could only steal and eat in secret.

If he dared light a fire in the cave, some sleepless, energetic little monster might wander in.

If discovered, it would matter little if he made a fire—but stealing spoils of war would be a grave offense.

Under such circumstances, Lu Fei had no choice but to eat it raw.

Fortunately, his current body’s teeth and stomach were formidable. Other than a slight psychological discomfort, he felt nothing out of the ordinary.

Of course, the taste was poor—there wasn’t even any salt.

“Big Brother...”

The Crow Monster, having received the blade from Redhide, hacked off a foreleg and bit into it with relish, his eyes alight with excitement. “Now you can tell us, right?”

Chewing the tough raw beef, Lu Fei didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked, “Did you know that innate magical abilities can be learned from or taught to other monsters?”

The Crow Monster paused his chewing and said, “Yes, I knew that.”

Lu Fei was momentarily surprised. “Then why didn’t you ever mention it to me?”

The Crow Monster grinned. “You never asked, Big Brother.”

Lu Fei said, “Fine. Since you know, why haven’t you learned any?”

The Crow Monster, chewing as he spoke, replied, “It’s too difficult. Besides, if you want to learn another monster’s innate magic, you have to offer them something good in return. I have nothing suitable, so I never bothered.”

Lu Fei was not surprised by the Crow Monster’s answer. He turned to the little Pig Demon. “What about you, Redhide?”

Redhide blinked his small eyes. “I just found out now...”

Lu Fei stuffed the last piece of bloody beef into his mouth, carved another large chunk from the ox demon’s back, and asked, “Now that you know, are you going to learn?”

Redhide nodded immediately. “I want to learn...”

His answer did not disappoint Lu Fei.

Though Redhide was the quietest among the three, and the latest to join them on Wandering Mountain, he was undoubtedly the most diligent.

Upon learning there was a way to strengthen himself by learning another monster’s magic, he certainly wouldn’t let the opportunity slip.

Lu Fei nodded. “Good. Among us brothers, there’s no need to exchange favors. Let’s just learn each other’s abilities first. You both know mine, right?”

The Crow Monster replied instantly, “Yes, you can absorb the essence of moonlight to speed up your breathing exercises.”

Redhide said, “I know too.”

Lu Fei nodded. “Now, tell me about yours in detail.”

The Crow Monster said, “I’ll go first. I can hear sounds within a certain range. To give you an idea, when I was halfway up Wandering Mountain, I could hear the chieftain speaking at the summit, though now I can’t. Even from the foot of the mountain, I could hear other monsters talking halfway up.”

Redhide said, “My innate magic allows me to use my demonic energy to temper a patch of bristle on my body, making it tougher and sharper, so that in danger or combat, I can suddenly fire it out.”

After hearing their explanations, Lu Fei finally understood his companions’ abilities. Both were extremely practical.

Lu Fei’s heart stirred with anticipation.

But now was not the time to learn. Tomorrow would be better.

He said, “So, do you understand now how this ox demon’s body got here?”

The Crow Monster immediately whispered, “I know. You stole it from the chieftain.”

Lu Fei: “...”

Redhide said, “Big Brother meant how you brought the ox demon’s body back.”

At this, Redhide’s eyes lit up. “Could it be magic?”

Lu Fei nodded with satisfaction. At least one of his monster brothers had a working brain. “Exactly. I learned a storage ability from the monsters on Serpent Coil Mountain. If you want to learn, I can teach you later.”

Redhide’s face brightened at once. The convenience and importance of a storage ability were self-evident. To learn it from his big brother was simply a stroke of luck. “Thank you, Big Brother...”

The Crow Monster also paused his feasting, overwhelmed with joy. “Thank you, Big Brother.”

Though equally surprised that his big brother had mastered a storage ability, what intrigued him even more was how Lu Fei had learned it so quickly.

He had tried before, and it was exceedingly difficult.

And until now, he’d never seen his big brother use such magic.

By the time the three brothers had devoured the entire ox demon raw and cleaned up all traces, it was nearly midnight.

As the sounds of the Crow Monster and Redhide snoring quickly filled the cave, Lu Fei lay down on the cold stone floor of the compartment.

With a thought, he summoned forth line after line of faintly glowing, pale white data before his eyes.

[Host: Lu Fei]

[Level: First Rank Demon Soldier (101/100)]

[Experience: 347/200]

[Soul Power: None]

[Technique: Demon Breathing Technique (Proficient) (32/500)]

[Skills: Spearmanship (Basic) (38/100); Archery (Basic) (21/100); Harpoon Mastery (Basic) (15/100)]

[Magical Abilities: Sirius Devours the Moon (Basic) (7/100); Within an Inch (Basic) (1/100)]

[...]

Gazing at the ever-unfolding data, Lu Fei’s eyes were first drawn to the realm value, which now glowed with a full green light, signifying his cultivation progress; and then to the experience bar below, also glowing with green, indicating his soul power was at maximum.

At this moment, Lu Fei had never found the color green so delightful.

Though he had estimated the gains beforehand, seeing them for himself still filled him with excitement.

Looking further down, Lu Fei saw notable improvements in his mastery of spear and bow, thanks to his recent use in battle.

There was also an additional magical ability—“Within an Inch”—the storage spell he had coerced from the rabbit demoness.

All of this was a bounty of rewards.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Lu Fei’s mind.

In the next instant, a root that looked like ginger, yellow and fragrant with medicinal aroma, appeared in his hand.

The scent was so tempting that Lu Fei’s mouth instantly watered, and he was seized by the urge to swallow it whole.