Chapter 10: Devouring Like a Wolf and Tiger
A petite maid was hurrying through the heavy snow, carrying a large wooden basin full of clothes. Suddenly, she paused, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes as she looked into the distance.
There, faintly visible, someone was kneeling on the ground, their body slumped forward. Strangely, there was no snow accumulated around them.
"What's going on?" The young maid murmured, puzzled, as she cautiously walked toward the figure.
"It's the master!" As she drew closer, she instantly recognized him—it was none other than the lord of Snow Eagle Territory. His bare back had a faint reddish glow, radiating an intense heat, and mist was rising into the cold air. Within a ten-meter radius around him, all the snow had completely melted.
If a powerful knight or mage were to witness this scene, they would undoubtedly be shocked.
But the little maid was just an ordinary person. She had no understanding of what it meant for someone's mere body heat to be strong enough to melt all the snow within ten meters.
"Why has all the snow around him melted? Could this be battle qi?" she wondered to herself. Unable to suppress her concern, she called out hesitantly, "Master, Master, are you alright?"
She felt a little fearful.
After all, her master, Dongbo Xueying, had often practiced his spear techniques so intensely that he would end up drenched in sweat, steam rising from his body, sometimes even collapsing onto the ground from exhaustion. She assumed that this time, he had once again pushed himself too far in training.
"I'm fine," Dongbo Xueying rasped in a hoarse voice as he slowly stood up.
"I'm doing great."
He turned to look at the maid, his eyes flashing with an intense light. "Better than ever!"
The young maid stood there, speechless, not daring to make a sound.
"Pass down my orders—have the kitchen prepare and roast an entire magical beast for me. Bring it here." Dongbo Xueying instructed.
"An entire one?" The maid's eyes widened in shock.
Horses in general weigh around seven to eight hundred jin, sometimes over a thousand jin. As for the Fei Shuang magical beast foals, they weigh as much as two thousand jin. Some magical beasts are even more massive, often weighing several thousand jin or even tens of thousands of jin!
Inside the castle, Dongbo Xueying's main diet consisted of magical beast meat, which contained far more energy. The knights in the castle also ate magical beast meat.
That's why the castle kitchen's cold storage would keep one or two magical beasts on hand, but they were meant to supply the entire castle and typically lasted several days.
"Yes, the whole beast. I remember seeing a third-rank magical beast and a second-rank magical beast last time I checked. Roast the third-rank beast and bring it to me," Dongbo Xueying ordered.
"Yes," the little maid obediently went to pass on the command.
Dongbo Xueying watched the little maid hurriedly run off with a large wooden basin in her arms. He smiled, then walked over to pick up his clothes and put them on. He still appeared to be the same heroic-looking young man… but aside from himself, no one knew just how terrifying his body had become!
"Let's see how high I can jump," Dongbo Xueying looked at the main building of his castle. The castle was grand and imposing. The railing on the second floor was already seven or eight meters off the ground. Before, when he leaped up, he could only barely grab the railing and pull himself over!
Whoosh!
With a push of his feet, he shot up like a phantom, soaring into the sky. He went so high that he actually surpassed the entire height of the castle before finally landing. Even Dongbo Xueying himself was startled. Luckily, because of the heavy snowfall, no one had noticed this brief but shocking moment.
"I can actually jump this high? The castle's main building is over twenty meters tall. If I remember correctly, the city walls of Yishui City are huge, but they're only about eighteen meters high. I can now easily leap over them in a single jump?" Dongbo Xueying was stunned. Based on how high he had jumped, he was beginning to get a sense of just how powerful he had become.
Dongbo Xueying quickly descended from the rooftop and made his way to the dining hall, where he waited for his roasted meat.
Because—
He was starving!
He had never felt this hungry in his entire life. Although he was excited about his newfound strength, the first thing he ordered was the roasted meat, as the hunger was driving him crazy.
"Crunch, gulp…"
Dongbo Xueying grabbed some pastries and other snacks from the fruit platter on the dining table, swallowing them in just two or three bites. His newly evolved stomach immediately digested and absorbed them, but the energy from these small bites was pitifully insufficient.
"Master, Master!"
A burly, bearded servant rushed in, his voice rough. "Master, do you really want an entire magical beast roasted? And the third-rank one at that?"
"Yes!" Dongbo Xueying glanced at him. "As fast as possible! Once it's cooked, bring it over immediately."
"Understood, understood." The bearded servant chef was startled and hurried off to get it done.
Normally, if the lord gave an order, a mere chef like him wouldn't dare to question it. But this order was simply too outrageous! A whole third-rank magical beast—that was a full twelve thousand jin of meat, an incredibly valuable resource. Moreover, the order hadn't come from the lord's personal attendant but from a lowly laundry maid, which was why the chef had dared to come and confirm it.
After all, if the maid had been lying, she would surely be punished, but the chef himself would also suffer severe consequences for wasting such a valuable magical beast.
"The lord wants to roast an entire magical beast? That's way too extravagant." The bearded chef thought to himself but dared not question further. A lord's command was not something he could challenge. His only duty was to obey.
Dongbo Xueying waited, enduring the hunger that made his entire body tremble.
Finally, the scent of roasted meat reached his nose.
Whoosh.
Dongbo Xueying shot out of the dining hall in an instant and stood by the railing, looking down. Below, a carriage was moving forward slowly, accompanied by a group of servants. Inside the carriage was the fully roasted magical beast, cut into two massive pieces.
The twelve thousand jin of magical beast meat was already its pure weight after removing the internal organs and draining the blood. The ordinary servants wouldn't be able to move it on their own. Even roasting and transporting it had required considerable effort from them.
"Once we reach the lord's dining hall, we'll need to work together to carry it up. This won't be easy," the servants were discussing among themselves, knowing that delivering such a massive amount of food to the second floor would be a serious challenge.
Boom.
Suddenly, the ground trembled. A black-clad youth appeared in front of the carriage.
"Master," the muscular servants were momentarily stunned before they quickly bowed in respect.
"It's fine. I'll take care of the meat. You all can go back to your duties."
As he spoke, Dongbo Xueying reached into the carriage and lifted the enormous tray containing the roasted magical beast, split into two massive pieces.
Holding a tray far larger than his own body, Dongbo Xueying swiftly carried it toward the dining hall.
The servants around him were utterly dumbfounded.
Dear heavens…
He just picked it up and walked away?
That was twelve thousand jin of magical beast meat! Even if some of the fat had melted away during roasting, it was still over ten thousand jin! It had taken a whole group of strong men struggling just to move it to the second floor.
And yet, he simply picked it up and carried it off?
How much strength did he possess?!
"Don't gossip outside," Dongbo Xueying cast a glance down and instructed them.
"Yes, sir." The servants responded in unison.
Dongbo Xueying knew that news of him ordering and consuming an entire magical beast would spread. But that didn't matter. After all, it was common for powerful nobles to engage in extravagant acts—many saw such displays as a way to showcase their wealth and power.
Without real strength, who could afford such extravagance?
As for lifting over ten thousand jin of magical beast meat? That wasn't a big deal either. Sooner or later, his strength would be revealed.
"The lord can carry over ten thousand jin of magical beast meat… He must be a Heaven-rank Knight, right?"
"Probably. A Heaven-rank Knight at just fifteen years old… He won't even be sixteen until after the new year. That's incredible."
"Hmph, you only see how powerful he is now, but you don't know how insanely hard he trains every single day. The servants at the training grounds say it's terrifying just to watch him."
The servants murmured among themselves.
Clang!
The massive tray was placed onto the dining table, causing the entire table to tremble.
Boom—Dongbo Xueying immediately shut the dining hall doors.
Boom—Dongbo Xueying immediately shut the dining hall doors.
The servants all assumed their lord was simply being extravagant, indulging in wasteful luxury.
But in reality…
Dongbo Xueying was truly starving!
"Let's do this."
He grabbed the dining knife beside him and, with swift, precise motions, sliced off a chunk of meat over ten jin, still attached to the bone. He immediately began devouring it, biting down with crunching sounds. Within moments, even the bones were completely chewed up and swallowed. His body eagerly absorbed and digested everything, breaking it down the instant it entered his stomach.
His ravenous, energy-starved body continued its relentless digestion and absorption, hungrily extracting every bit of nourishment.
Eat, eat, eat!
Dongbo Xueying ate at an astonishing speed. Before long, the golden, glistening roasted magical beast was rapidly disappearing. Even the smaller bones were completely consumed—only the largest, thickest bones remained.
"Xueying! Xueying! How could you be so wastefully extravagant?!"
A deep, powerful voice rang out, carrying a hint of anger. It was Lionman Tong San. In the entire castle, only Tong San and Zong Ling dared to scold Dongbo Xueying.
Whoosh—
Still fuming, Tong San forcefully pushed open the dining hall doors. But the moment he stepped inside, he froze in shock.
The massive tray held nothing but the gigantic skeleton of the magical beast. Not a single scrap of meat remained. Even the smaller bones had been completely eaten, leaving behind only the largest, most solid parts of the skeleton.
Dongbo Xueying had already wiped his hands clean and was sitting comfortably to the side, smiling.
"Uncle Tong, I didn't waste anything."