By the time the sun crept over the horizon, the demon beast corpses outside the city had mostly been cleared away. Anything that wasn’t completely pulverized had been hauled inside the city walls.
These were all invaluable resources.
Demon beast meat strengthened the body when consumed; their hides could be crafted into armor; their bones could be forged into weapons; and those that had reached the fourth rank even produced inner cores.
For example, the Blood-Eye White Tiger possessed a crimson inner core, said to contain the entirety of its lifelong cultivation and essence, making it extremely precious.
Yun Fei believed that since Su Mo had killed it, the core rightfully belonged to Su Mo.
Since he put it that way, Su Mo naturally didn’t refuse.
Besides that, Yun Fei also sent his son, Yun Shan, to deliver a chest full of rare natural treasures, calling it a “small token of appreciation” and insisting it shouldn’t be refused.
Well, if it’s just a small token, wouldn’t it be hypocritical not to accept it?
(^ω^)
Yeah, exactly. Su Mo happily accepted.
Of course, he did politely refuse once…
Yun Shan introduced them one by one: “This is a Millennium Blood Ginseng, nourishes qi and blood; this is Earth Dragon Grass, nourishes qi and blood; this is Dragon-Tiger Fruit, nourishes qi and blood…”
There were over ten items, all exceptional. When he took out the last one, his expression turned serious: “And this one is a Golden-Skin Fruit!”
“I get it, nourishes qi and blood, right?” Su Mo said with a laugh.
“Not this one.” Yun Shan looked slightly embarrassed, scratching his head as he explained. “The Golden-Skin Fruit is the treasure among natural treasures. It increases the body’s resilience.”
“Flexibility?” Su Mo’s eyes lit up.
Flexibility is good! A girl’s body ought to be softer. It’ll be more convenient for… ahem, never mind.
Unconsciously, a faint blush spread across Su Mo’s cheeks.
Yun Shan was in the middle of explaining the Golden-Skin Fruit’s properties when he suddenly witnessed this lovely sight, causing his heart to skip a beat.
She’s really so beautiful.
“Ahem.”
It wasn’t until Su Mo coughed twice that Yun Shan snapped out of it: “The Golden-Skin Fruit, well…”
Su Mo: “???”
This kid seems off. He couldn’t possibly have a crush on me, could he?
Ugh, that can’t happen!
He immediately put on an impatient expression: “Stop with the ‘well…’. I got it. Golden-Skin Fruit increases flexibility. If there’s nothing else, please see yourself out. And remember to convey my thanks to City Lord Yun Fei.”
He then glanced toward the door, effectively giving the signal for Yun Shan to leave.
Though it was a bit rude, he hoped it would change how Yun Shan saw him. After all, he was already “spoken for,” and it was better not to break the young lad’s heart.
Yun Shan was taken aback for a moment before catching on. He quickly clasped his hands: “Thank you for the reminder, Immortal Sister. I shouldn’t overstay my welcome. Father is waiting for me to return.”
With that, he scurried away, feeling quite pleased.
Immortal Sister is so thoughtful. And she looks so pretty when she blushes.
“Wait a second.” Su Mo’s voice suddenly called out from behind.
Yun Shan turned around, trying hard to suppress his joy, and said earnestly, “What else do you need, Immortal Sister?”
“Did your father have any other message for me?”
“No… Oh, yes! There was one thing I nearly forgot.” Yun Shan gave an awkward laugh. “Father said that once you’ve recovered, he’d like to invite you to the manor. He wants to express gratitude on behalf of the entire city.”
Su Mo thought, How could you forget something so important? Truly the City Lord’s worthy son, specializing in sabotaging your own dad.
The underlying meaning of that invitation was really to ask when the divine artifact inheritance could proceed.
Su Mo replied, “Please inform your father that I will visit tomorrow.”
“Great! I’ll go tell him right away.” Yun Shan was overjoyed. The thought of seeing Immortal Sister again tomorrow made his heart race.
This is wonderful.
Su Mo didn’t return to his own room but went to Li Xiaomou’s door instead. They hadn’t seen each other since parting on the city wall, and it seemed she had already left.
Clunk! The door was pushed open.
Su Mo stepped inside, carefully looking around.
Aside from a letter on the table, there was nothing else worth noting.
Su Mo picked up the envelope. On it was drawn a silly face, with a line below: Hmph, I knew you’d sneak into my room. (｡ì _ í｡)
Su Mo made a strange face and opened the envelope, only to find the letter inside was written in English.
What the heck!
Su Mo’s eyes widened.
She did this on purpose. She absolutely did. Why else would she use such difficult words and write such long sentences, tedious and smelly like an old woman’s foot bindings?
She knew his English was poor and wrote it this way deliberately. So she must be Mei Xian! Mei Xian was opposing him, so she must know about this!
At this point, even if Yang Jie were here, he’d without hesitation call her Mei Xian…
He put the letter back into his white jade ring. After one more fruitless search around the room, he left.
As for the letter’s content, he’d have to wait until he got back and use a translation app.
He suddenly felt he really ought to study harder. What if he encountered a situation like this again and missed something important?
Yeah, next time for sure, he’ll study properly!
After making this promise to who-knows-whom, Su Mo returned to his room. He took out the Golden-Skin Fruit that Yun Shan had made sound so amazing and examined it.
“Kinda looks like an apricot. Seems pretty good. Let’s try a bite.”
The flesh was soft and tender, melting in his mouth, but his body didn’t feel any different. There was no symbolic warm or cold flow of energy.
He took another bite.
His body: “…”
He took another bite.
His body: “…”
He simply ate the whole thing in one go. This time, his body reacted.
Soreness. So much soreness. It felt like the morning after an intense workout, when every movement is agony.
Gritting his teeth against the soreness, he sat down and circulated his spiritual energy, hoping to speed up the absorption of the medicinal effects. Instead, a wave of drowsiness hit him, and he collapsed onto the bed.
When he woke again, it was already the next morning.
Just stretching upon waking, Su Mo immediately felt the change in his body.
It was incredibly soft. Unlike back in high school when measuring sit-and-reach required someone pushing from behind, now it was effortless.
He twisted his body, feeling supple and boneless.
Not only that, he noticed his skin was even better than before—dewy and radiant, so much that he felt tempted by it himself.
Wasn’t this supposed to evolve tendons and bones? How did his skin become more tender too?
Just as Su Mo was puzzling over this, he remembered its name: Golden-Skin Fruit.
Judging by the name, its evolution seemed to focus on the skin.
Of course, Su Mo didn’t think “evolving the skin” just meant better complexion. There must be other effects, like defensive capabilities.
Thinking this, he took out a small knife and drew it across his hand. Lightly at first, then gradually increasing the pressure, not stopping until the blade had pressed a visible groove into his skin.
It still didn’t break the skin?
He then tried with an embroidery needle. This time, it did pierce the skin, but the wound was so small it healed almost instantly, returning to normal within a minute.
Su Mo clenched his fist, repeatedly exclaiming “Wow!” to express his current amazement.
This Golden-Skin Fruit was truly miraculous! In future fights, if an opponent’s blade was even slightly dull or their strike a bit light, he might emerge unscathed without a scratch.
This is straight-up protagonist setting!
Right then, a unpleasant odor drifted into his nose. Su Mo realized he had broken out in a sweat, and impurities from his body had been expelled, sticking to his skin.
Great, time for another bath…