Forgotten One

Lei Shu tried to remember as much as he could about the Dao of the path of the Beast. It was a lot of information to digest and he wanted to keep it all. He asked a weird question, "Then could I become a Beast Tamer?"

"By the standards, I have listed you already have capabilities beyond a Beast Practitioner. By what I've seen, your Dao heart is very solid. I'm not sure how you moulded it but for someone as young as you, to have such a strong Dao heart… I can at least say that heart demons will be the least of your problems."

"Uhh, heart demon, what's that supposed to be?" Lei Shu said.

Mo Fen was a bit shocked, "When I rescued you from your fall your robes weren't poorly made. You must have a decent background but how have you not heard of heart demons? Heart demons aren't actual physical manifestations, but they can change someone physically and mentally."

"Master, can you explain it a bit more. If I ever run into such a situation, I want to be able to combat it to the best of my abilities. Also, if any of the people around me run into a similar situation I want to be able to help."

"Heart demons are a truly abstract concept and it is quite difficult to explain but I will do my best. Say you have a 'pure' heart, and there is something you believe in or fight for. These can be your convictions/values. If something comes one day and breaks your preconceived values and convictions, your heart may be unable to cope, and it may fall into chaos. This is why some people do not let themselves emotionally near the opposite s.e.x, if they happen to fall in love and make a connection, they may separate one day. This will leave the person in a pit of depression and sadness; without a clear focus, they will stagnate in their realm forever. People with strong values from the beginning will develop faster and because their values are decided when they are young, they may be broken easily. All in all, heart demons are something that causes inner turmoil."

Lei Shu was paying attention until his belly let out a loud sound. He was very hungry but his thirst for knowledge was greater, so he forgot to eat. Lei Shu placed a hand on his stomach and gave a slight smile.

Mo Fen was already prepared before Lei Shu could say anything there was a delicious smell wafting in the air. "How could I let my first disciple starve to death, I promised a feast, didn't I? The only issue is that we spoke for quite a while and the food cooled quite a bit. I just need to roast the meat under the fire a bit longer, but the other items are already made. I like to make sure my food is hot throughout the entire meal; cold or even lukewarm food just isn't the same."

Lei Shu was delighted inside. He was the exact same, back on Earth he would constantly have to microwave his food to keep it warm throughout his entire meal. It also didn't help that he was a slow eater, he liked to enjoy his food, not just scarf it down his throat."

Lei Shu got up and went to sit down at the table. A plethora of food was covering the table, a nice stone table at the peak of this mountain, it looked quite domineering, to say the least.

He saw various things but none of them had the same ingredients as Earth. He saw something that looked like a mango cake, it was golden yellow bread, incredibly soft to the touch. On top of it was a dollop of white cream, the smell made his stomach grumble uncontrollably.

There was something that looked like a tossed salad, it was very nutritious but not too delicious. There was also a fruit basket. It had what looked like pineapple rings, and different types of berries, green and orange in colour. Everything he looked at made him incredibly hungry, he almost couldn't hold himself back.

He began eating the berries first, they were a bit sour but the after taste was quite sweet. The changing flavour made it quite enjoyable to eat. What looked to be the pineapple rings made his mouth water. When he took his first bite extreme citrus flooded his mouth, the pineapple rings were incredibly soft, almost melting in his mouth.

Even though Lei Shu didn't enjoy salads as much as other things, he wanted to try a bit of everything. He took a handful portion of the salad and bit down. The plants were green, red and purple. The salad itself looked amazing and the crunchy texture reminded him of celery sticks. The salad was great, it cleaned his pallet so that he could truly enjoy his other meals.

Right before Lei Shu went to grab the dessert his head sharply bent at a 90-degree angle. His eyes were almost bulging out of his head he couldn't believe what he saw.

"Haha, how'd you like the food. I had to make do with what we had in the canyon so it wasn't as good as it could have been, but I tried my best. The salad was made using nearby plants, the fruits were berries I found deep into the inner layer. I see that you enjoyed the yellow rings, they're guarded by rank 2 spiritual serpents. These serpents have the same golden ring pattern around their body."

Mo Fen walked to the table and pushed everything over to the side.

"THUD"

He dropped a huge platter of meat onto the table, it was enough to feed 4 full-grown men on Earth, but Lei Shu didn't think about that at all.

"Master, even though I haven't been cooking the beast meat I've been eating, none of this meat looks similar to what I've been eating."

Mo Fen spoke out, "Yes indeed! This meat is incredibly special, and you can only find it in the canyon. It is incredibly moist and soft, it's large in quantity and incredibly filling. It has an almost perfect fat to meat ratio, and it glistens in the light. The only issue is that, even if it is filling, you'll never be full. This meat is so good that you'll want to keep on eating even if you're bloated. This meat comes from the glistening white canyon sheep. The sheep themselves are only rank 2 spiritual beasts and they aren't too physically strong. Their strength lies in mental domination, and they are also preyed upon by rank 3 spiritual beasts. I had to kill a rank 3 red devil scorpion just to get that damned sheep!"

Lei Shu slightly bowed. Mo Fen truly went through a bit of trouble to prepare a feast for him, Mo Fen really did care heavily about the boy. "Now, to devour a feast. A feast fit for kings!"

Lei Shu tore off various pieces of meat and began chewing. The meat fell directly off the bone as soon as he lifted it off the platter. The meat fell back onto the platter, but the steam was still rising into the air from within. This meal really was too precious, way better than anything he had ever seen or tasted on Earth.

When he bit down, he almost fell into a trance, he might even have fallen in love. Lei Shu was practically smitten with a piece of meat. He licked his lips until all the flavour was gone. Piece by piece he kept eating. He chopped off both of its legs and gave them to Billa. The wolf was practically drooling onto the floor waiting to have its fill.

Billa ate to his heart's content and rolled over onto his bag for a nap. He looked as if he was having an amazing dream, a smile on his face as he slept. Lei Shu's heart warmed every time he looked at Billa. He really did have a soft spot for everything cute.

As they neared the end of their meal Lei Shu realized he had been eating a rank 2 spiritual beast's meat this whole time. He checked within his body and noticed his blood surging within his veins.

Mo Fen also noticed, "Hmm, another breakthrough this quick? A cripple turned prodigy I don't think anyone would believe it even if they've seen it with their own eyes. Don't worry about the feast, focus and stabilize your strength and try breaking through. I'll keep watch in case anything out of the ordinary happens."

Lei Shu sat down in a lotus position and closed his eyes. It looked like he was extremely focusing on something. Every time Lei Shu had to breakthrough in the Body Tempering stage it was the same process. He had to gather up the hazy spiritual energy within his body after he gathers it up, he must condense it so that it becomes tough and not flimsy. Then he would guide the condensed spiritual energy to the chains. He would attack the chains directly with his energy and over time they would wear out and snap.

This time he was meditating for 30 whole minutes until the chains started crumbling. He was at the last chain; the sheep meat was too great. It tasted amazing and gave him an amazing boost in strength.

"BOOM"

The rocks near his body were instantly turned into dust. He opened his eyes and they were filled with joy. He smashed his hand into the mountain and actually managed to punch a deep hole into the ground. It was eerily precise, and he received only minor scratches.

"So, this is the strength of the Second Stage of Body Tempering. Although I'm happy, I'm not satisfied. I'm still much weaker than the same generation disciples within the Shu Empire. If I try to fight them, I wouldn't stand a chance."

Mo Fen admired his thirst for power. His thirst was solid, and it reflected his confidence, yet it didn't become too extreme to the point of being overbearing.

"Don't worry about the weaklings of the Shu Empire. Now that you have me, you'll definitely surpass your peers by leaps and bounds. Time is the only factor, with enough time you could even lord over the entire planet alone."

Lei Shu gave it a thought. "Becoming a lord hmm? It sounds fun but it also sounds quite tedious. I want to have my cake and eat it to. I don't want to grow strong, just to become shackled in chains by a label or title. I am me, and that is all that matters!"

"Quite a domineering line. I must have to agree, titles and positions are in most cases, utter bullshit. Who the f.u.c.k cares if someone is royalty or not? I sure don't give 2 f.u.c.ks. I Mo Fen care not of their position but of their character."

Lei Shu enjoyed being around likeminded people. He was quite content at the moment. Back on Earth, he was far more intelligent than his peers. They couldn't keep up with him mentally, they were sheep to society, unintelligent robots. They repeat what society and the rest of the population say, they don't truly think for themselves although they may believe they do.

Lei Shu's jolly voice rang out, "Speaking of wanting cake and eating it to…"

Lei Shu got up and stretched out his arms, he raised them into the sky until he was content with the stretch. He lowered his arms to his side and went back to sit at the stone table with Mo Fen.

He reached towards the dessert. His fork seamlessly cutting into the golden bread. Moist and soft, yet also springy. The golden bread was quite decadent, Lei Shu felt like he could indulge for hours without getting bored of it. A white dollop of cream on top brought a fresh taste to the dessert, something about it made the body feel refreshing.

"It seems like you really like that cake, this bread has always been with me as a sort of keepsake. It was from before my time in the canyon. This was my favourite dessert so I would always keep some with me. I didn't have the heart to eat it until I left the canyon but today is special, and most importantly my disciple is worthy. This dessert is nicknamed spring-summer glow."