Chapter 139: A Pleasant Surprise!

Su Jingxing narrowed his eyes.

While crocodile meat was indeed the flesh of an exotic beast, the chickens were common domestic birds raised in mountain farms and sold in bulk at the market. These chickens had no access to anything that would grant them special abilities; they survived on feed, grains, and insects. Why would they suddenly be eating crocodile meat?

Chopped crocodile meat was still meat! Chickens only ate meat if they were exotic beasts themselves. Yet, these ten chickens were competing for the crocodile meat, pecking away with such fervor. The reason could not lie with the chickens—it had to be the meat itself.

The cooked crocodile meat did indeed have a unique aroma. The ten chickens had caught the scent, rushed over, and fought for it. This could only mean one thing: the allure of the crocodile meat was beyond imagination.

With this in mind, Su Jingxing did not stop them, letting the ten chickens scramble for half a plate of the meat. He then set the rest aside and waited patiently. It wasn't that he was stingy; the chickens had limited appetites, and if they kept eating, they might burst before they were ever poisoned. The chickens showed no restraint, scrambling for a spot and gorging themselves. Su Jingxing had no desire to watch them die of gluttony.

During the wait, he observed them closely. Though the chickens were stuffed, they were full of vitality and showed no signs of poisoning. The four roosters even struck poses and sparred with one another. After half an hour, satisfied that the chickens were fine, Su Jingxing turned back into the house, seasoned the remaining crocodile meat, stir-fried a large plate, and finished it for breakfast.

He had to admit, it was delicious. It possessed the exquisite quality of wild river delicacies, the unique texture of exotic beast meat, and a cooling, refreshing sensation that swept from head to toe. After eating, he didn't feel bloated, as the meat digested quickly, transforming into a cool energy that coursed through his body. It permeated his limbs, internal organs, and even his brain—feeling like drinking chilled spring water in the height of summer. It wasn't the shivering, bone-chilling kind of cold, but a gentle, soothing coolness like stroking fine silk.

As time passed, this feeling became more pronounced. On his way to the crematorium, his mind felt exceptionally clear. It didn't do much for tempering his body, though. Su Jingxing tried circulating his "Nine Steps to Heaven" technique to refine it, but since there was no major reaction, he simply let it be and enjoyed the soothing sensation. Carrying corpses while feeling this refreshed was an experience like no other.

Three hours later, the sensation faded. Su Jingxing decided he had to retrieve the rest of the crocodile meat. Letting such exotic meat rot in the underground pool was a pure waste. Moreover, after discovering that his card-looting range had increased, he was even more eager to retrieve it all.

That was right—the meat of this giant crocodile could actually increase his soul power!

At first, Su Jingxing thought it was an illusion. It was only after several tests that he excitedly confirmed the looting range had indeed expanded. Previously, his range was ten meters; he could loot cards from corpses within a ten-meter radius of himself. Yesterday, it was still ten meters. Today, it had become twelve meters—an increase of two meters.

Was this automatic growth from a good night's sleep? Or a side effect of his improving Qi cultivation? No. It couldn't be sleep, and this wasn't the first time his Qi had improved. If it boosted soul power, it would have increased long ago. The only explanation was the crocodile meat he had eaten that morning.

To verify this, he went to the Taiming Mountain Reservoir immediately after work. Using his "Voice to the Ear" secret skill to ensure no one was around, he pretended to go for a swim and entered the reservoir. With his Qi projected, he dove into the cave and reached the underground pool, collecting all the remaining crocodile meat and storing it in his palm space.

While fishing for the meat, he noticed a type of silver fish at the bottom of the pool. They were the size of two fingers, fast, and elegant in form. He tried to catch a few but failed; projecting Qi underwater caused too much resistance and disturbance. The silver fish were highly alert, sensing him long before he could get close, and vanishing into the holes at the bottom of the pool that connected to other waterways.

Su Jingxing didn't have time to play with the fish and gave up. The discovery of these fish explained what the giant crocodile had been eating for the past two hundred years. Only the giant crocodile's ability to mask its presence could allow it to capture... or rather, only the giant crocodile could make the silver fish swim directly into its mouth. By eating the crocodile meat, Su Jingxing was indirectly consuming the silver fish as well.

Returning to his small courtyard at the foot of the mountain, Su Jingxing took out the meat and cooked another large basin. Once again, he enjoyed the cooling, soothing sensation for three hours, then hurried to the crematorium, lurking in a corner to control his distance while looting cards. After several attempts, he confirmed the range had increased by another two meters!

Surprise! It was a delight that could not be topped. He had only brought the meat back to taste it because he knew how rare exotic beast meat was after killing the giant crocodile. He hadn't expected to hit the jackpot!

He still didn't know the purpose of the glowing willow tree, but the meat of the giant crocodile he had slain was a pleasant surprise. It increased soul power—a rare treasure usually found only in medicinal pills like the Spirit-Nourishing Pill. The fact that the meat of this giant crocodile, which could turn invisible and mask all presence, possessed this ability was truly astonishing.

The exact amount of soul power was hard to calculate, but a large basin of meat for a two-meter increase in range was a solid metric. The giant crocodile was nearly forty meters long; after removing the skin and organs, there was enough meat left for dozens of basins.

Since it could increase soul power, Su Jingxing was in no rush to go to the Xuantian University library. For the next few days, aside from work, he stayed home and cooked a basin of meat every three hours. He tried every method—roasting, boiling, stir-frying, slicing—and when the last of the meat was gone, his brain felt a strange surge.

He rushed to the crematorium to check his looting range. The result: 101 meters!

His soul power had accumulated enough to push his card-looting range past one hundred meters. At this distance, he didn't even need to enter the crematorium to loot the cards.

Then, an even more surprising thing happened. He no longer needed a prompt to respond to before looting. As his soul power pushed the range past one hundred meters, his cheat had become an automatic looting system! It didn't even loot one by one; it accumulated them to a certain number before collecting.

For instance:
[Card +30]
[Card +50]

Ha! Su Jingxing grinned, quite pleased with this change.

"With a looting range of over a hundred meters, perhaps it's time for me to change my identity?"