Chapter 41: The Efficacy Of The Vampiric Vine’s Flower Petal
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
‘D*mn, these guys are even more crooked than me! It’s just a few fishes but they’re asking for tens of thousands yuan!’
Bei Feng looked at the two arowanas before him with an incredulous expression on his face.
Shaking his head, Bei Feng turned away from the tank. There were still plenty of other fishes to look at, and even an amateur like Bei Feng was able to appreciate their beauty.
‘Would they even be able to sell anything by setting up their shop here?’
The county was ultimately not the same as a proper city. There weren’t many people here who were rich enough to afford such expensive, high-grade pet fishes.
‘Oh well, it’s none of my business anyway,’ Bei Feng shrugged his shoulders and left the shop. Without buying anything, of course.
A small truck had already stopped by the cicada shop when Bei Feng reached the farm produce market. Bei Feng gave the shopkeeper a curt greeting before climbing into the passenger’s seat.
"Boss, where to?"
The golden cicadas had been loaded onto the back of the truck already, and the middle-aged driver was ready to depart at any time.
Together, two, three golden cicadas would weigh around one liang, and there were 10,000 of them. Including the water which was used to prevent the pupae from dying, it added up to a lot of weight. [1]
Bei Feng only needed to direct the driver occasionally and, in no time, the outline of Qing Ling Village appeared in the distance.
Due to the scale of the purchase this time, Bei Feng had asked Bai Xiang to wait at the village entrance to help him bring the cicadas back to the mansion so that he wouldn’t have to make the trip twice.
They rejected the kind intentions of the driver and directly picked up the numerous bags before striding back to the mansion, leaving the driver stupefied.
For normal people, a load of 100-200 jin would be extremely heavy, to the point where they would not be able to carry it for more than a few steps before having to stop and rest.
However, such weight was not much of a problem for the likes of Bai Xiang and Bei Feng. The two acted as though they were only carrying bags weighing 20-30 jin at most as they walked and laughed in an extremely carefree manner.
"Hmm? Who are you?"
Bei Feng slung the huge sack of golden cicadas over his shoulder and looked at the well-dressed young man outside his house.
"You must be Bei Feng. Boss told me to give you this money. It’s for the shrimp meat he bought from you."
The young man scrunched his eyebrows together as he examined Bei Feng from head to toe. ‘This guy doesn’t look too impressive…so why would Boss think so highly of him?’
"Your ‘Boss’?" Bei Feng asked.
"En. Boss Wang came by this afternoon for lunch," the youth replied curtly.
"Oh. You can go back now. Tell him that the meal’s on me."
Bei Feng shook his head. He never had any intentions to accept his money. What he valued from the beginning was Wang Jian’s network.
"Boss Wang wanted me to tell you that this is not money for the lunch. It’s for the shrimp you let him take away."
The youth explained, before holding up a briefcase before Bei Feng and opening it with the contents facing him.
Just like in a scene of a shady movie where some villains engage in furtive transactions on a rooftop, Bei Feng stared open-eyed at the huge stacks of hundred yuan bills lined up neatly inside the briefcase. Based on the size of the briefcase, it seemed to hold at least a few hundred thousand yuan!
"That’s too much. It’s not so expensive!"
Bei Feng was completely blown away. What kind of situation was this? Was the dude so rich that he had nothing to do with his money and so decided to give some pecuniary aid to a poor man like him? How can a few jin of shrimp meat be worth this much money?!
"That’s none of my business. In any case, I’m just here to deliver the money."
The young man was a straightforward person. After pushing the briefcase into Bei Feng’s arms, he immediately turned to leave. Bei Feng was completely stupefied. He couldn’t possibly stop the guy from leaving right?
Absolutely confounded, Bei Feng hurried into the old mansion and put the golden cicadas aside. After that, he pulled out his mobile phone to give Wang Jian a call.
‘Looks like Wang Jian is mistaken about something…’
Bei Feng thought with a bitter smile as he ended the call.
But as he recalled Liu Ziyun’s expression, Bei Feng felt that he might really have underestimated the value of the Imperial Shrimp meat.
Finally, after some thought, he posted a message on the chat group.
"The reservation slots are fully filled and additional bookings will be temporarily suspended. Other details like the reopening date and future pricing are also unconfirmed."
Bei Feng immediately exited the chat after posting the message. It was like he didn’t care about the commotion such a message would cause in the chat group.
"Haha! This Emperor is not insane! This Emperor does not need any medicine! What are you all doing? Men! Bring my sedan chair!" A user called "There’s always a villain waiting to harm This Emperor" posted after a short pause.
"Evaluation complete. The guy above has turned crazy!" Someone replied immediately.
"Actually, I feel like I’m about to go crazy as well. 6,000 yuan a meal and there’s still so many people signing up for it?" Another called "Panda who doesn’t eat bamboo" also poked her head out to show that she could not take the hurt as well.
All kinds of words were thrown around the boiling chat. Most people said that Bei Feng was a money-grubbing monster who had gone insane with greed. Others were grumbling about how there were still so many rich suckers lining up to get conned.
A strange atmosphere like that of people calling grapes sour when they can’t eat any lingered in the chat group as the discussions went on.
"Looks like this Imperial Shrimp meat is quite important to Liu Ziyun."
Wang Jian had expressed his desire to purchase more of the shrimp from Bei Feng earlier when he called.
"Forget it, I’ll just treat it as doing him a favor," Bei Feng decided. At the same time, he reminded himself to be more careful when dealing with certain things.
At the very least, something like a Grade 1 demonic beast meat should not be released into the public on a large scale.
"One, two, three…"
Bei Feng counted the amount of cash in the briefcase with a quivering heart. There was a whopping 500,000 yuan inside!
He could not help but be shocked to the core. That was half a million yuan! The old him would probably need to save rigidly his entire life to accumulate such a large amount of money. In contrast, this amount of money did not seem to be worth any mention at all in the eyes of the rich!
Bei Feng put the money away like an overly protective hen. He decided to go to the bank first thing in the morning to deposit the money. It felt extremely unrealistic, not to mention dangerous to keep this much cash at home!
Returning to the yard, Bei Feng directly poured the 10,000 golden cicadas onto a small pile in front of the Vampiric Vine.
Most of the golden cicadas were still alive, their bodies slick with water. Some of them were newly emerged insects and were still stretching their limbs and joints awkwardly in an attempt to start crawling.
In contrast, the Vampiric Vine’s root hairs shot out with immaculate speed and accuracy as it bound the golden cicadas in a new cocoon, much deadlier than their previous ones.
As if guided by a skilled surgeon, 10,000 sharp root hairs stabbed accurately into the abdomen of every golden cicada and, in the blink of an eye, reduced each of them to an empty shell.
A thick, red light appeared around the Vampiric Vine, causing it to resemble a mini red sun as it grew with shocking speed!
The lone flower atop the Vampiric Vine became even more resplendent as its devilish charm became even more apparent. Even the alluring fragrance emanating out of it had become much thicker and substantial!
Finally, after half an hour had passed, the Vampiric Vine retracted its roots. The ground was now littered with 10,000 empty carcasses of the golden cicadas.
Numerous flower petals suddenly fluttered down in a stunning display of beauty and, in no time, eighteen blood-red petals littered the yard. These petals were much thicker than normal flower petals. Tiny vein-like patterns decorated the top of the petals, looking as if they were carved by a master artisan.
"Ping!"
Bei Feng picked up one of the petals and flicked his finger lightly against it. Immediately, a clear and crisp sound rang out in the yard, as if he had hit a piece of jade.
"These flower petals are likely extraordinary treasures as well. I wonder if they have the same efficacy as the Blood Origin Fruit?"
Bei Feng could see traces of a strange liquid pulsating within the radiant blood petals’ veins.
Cocking his head to the side as if he was deep in thought, Bei Feng suddenly popped the petal into his mouth with a flick of his wrist. The petal felt a little cold in his mouth, almost like shaved ice. As he chewed on it, large amounts of juices flowed out of the petal and covered his tongue.
It tasted rather sweet, with a tinge of something bitter and astringent to it. Such a sensation was truly difficult to describe with words.
What Bei Feng was most concerned about was naturally the efficacy of the flower petal. The moment that strange liquid entered his stomach, Bei Feng felt a wave of itch spread out across his body.
Although it was a little surprising, Bei Feng was not frightened. Besides the itch, he could clearly feel his body becoming stronger.
His bones seemed to have gone through a round of refinement, just like ore under the repeated strikes of a blacksmith’s hammer. It was much more condensed and free of impurities now. Even his cellular structure had become more compact as well.
After an entire hour, the medicinal essence provided by the flower petal was finally exhausted.
A layer of dirt had once again formed on Bei Feng’s skin. This layer of dirt was forced out of his body as his cells, muscles and bones went through the process of condensation. It was formed from the impurities within his body.
After a long bath, Bei Feng checked himself in the mirror again. At a glance, he had not gained much in terms of muscles. Instead, he appeared a lot leaner. This caused Bei Feng to feel even more satisfied. It was good to obtain strength, but he did not want to become a muscleman.
Strength: 34
Speed: 29
Mental Power: 34
Minor Illumination Breathing Technique: Minor Completion!
Weapon: Extreme Arctic Frost
Required experience points to reach level 2 Fisherman: 6,900!
His body had only gone through a round of condensation and become more compact. And yet, there was such a huge increase in his strength and speed! Only his mental power had not risen.
Excited, he grabbed another petal and swallowed it. However, 10 minutes passed and there were still no changes to his body.
‘Could it be that the effects cannot be multiplied? Maybe it’s a single-use consumable…’
Bei Feng theorized. Another possibility was that the energy within a single petal was no longer sufficient to refine his body a second time.
The second theory seemed more probable. However, there were only 16 petals left on his palm…
[1] ED/N: 1 liang = 50 gram = 1/10 jin.