Chapter 86: A Spit Is a Nail! [Extra Chapter for 40,000 Recommendation Votes]

In the days that followed, Lin Huang left the hotel every morning at eight and did not return until around midnight. Black Charcoal and White Madness continued their relentless slaughter of the monsters in the canyon, causing Lin Huang’s life energy to soar rapidly.

There were no bottlenecks between the first and third tiers of Black Iron; as long as one’s life energy was sufficient, advancement was straightforward. For ordinary practitioners of life arts, even with enough life crystals, it would typically take at least two or three months to complete this progression. However, with his life wheels synchronized with both White and Black Charcoal, and with their own life energy already overflowing, all the energy gained from their kills was transferred directly into Lin Huang’s body.

Each monster provided only a small amount of life energy—two or three units at most—but in just a day and a half, Lin Huang’s three life wheels, each with 360 units for a total of 1080, were completely filled, advancing him to the peak of the Black Iron third tier.

Owing to Lin Huang’s progression, both White and Black Charcoal also advanced, reaching the third tier of Bronze.

Yet their rampage did not end there. Within Lin Huang, two pseudo-life wheels created by copying storage cards were ready to store the overflow. Once his primary life wheels were saturated, the new energy began to pour into these pseudo-wheels.

By noon of the sixth day, both pseudo-life wheels were also filled to their limits. At last, Lin Huang ceased the slaughter, recalled White and Black Charcoal, summoned the Violet-Eyed White Hawk, and flew back to Wuyou City.

Over these days, he had collected at least thirteen hundred Bronze-ranked beast corpses. To store them, he had spent seventeen million credits expanding his storage space to twenty thousand cubic units.

However, he had no intention of exchanging these bodies at the Wuyou City Hunter Association. Just a few days ago, he was only at the first tier of Black Iron, and now he had reached the third. Redeeming beast corpses at the same place would surely draw attention to his unnaturally rapid progress.

As soon as Lin Huang had the Violet-Eyed White Hawk land at the west gate of the stronghold, he once again encountered the hunter squad he’d seen several days before.

He didn’t recognize them, but they certainly remembered him. They watched as Lin Huang dismissed his Violet-Eyed White Hawk and summoned a Blue-Scaled Wolf to enter the stronghold, exchanging bewildered glances.

“Isn’t that the young beastmaster from a few days ago? He’s so young, yet he already has two summoned beasts!”

“That’s not the important part, Third. What matters is his combat strength,” muttered the bearded leader, his face full of wariness. “When we met him a few days back, he was only at Black Iron first tier. Now, in just a few days, he’s advanced to the third! Even his Violet-Eyed White Hawk has gone from the suppressed strength of Bronze first tier back up to Bronze third tier.”

“Good heavens, that’s terrifyingly fast!” the others exclaimed.

“I bet only a noble family’s secret life arts could have such an effect...” the bearded leader couldn’t help but sigh.

Lin Huang had no idea that the people at the stronghold gate had met him before.

He rode the Blue-Scaled Wolf back to his hotel, took a shower, and went downstairs for lunch before heading out to search for delicacies for Lin Xin.

Over the past few evenings, he had researched some of Wuyou City’s renowned eateries and marked their locations. He had planned to return a bit earlier that afternoon to buy these foods for Lin Xin, but his life energy had filled up half a day faster than he’d expected, giving him extra time for this errand.

Riding his Blue-Scaled Wolf, Lin Huang visited over thirty shops, packing two servings each of the best-reviewed dishes. By the time he’d finished, night had begun to fall.

He remembered that the little roadside shop where he’d once dined with Leng Yuexin had two excellent signature dishes, so he made his way there directly.

The shop was as busy as ever, with patrons waiting in line. As soon as Lin Huang arrived, the owner recognized him and eagerly waved him over.

Feeling somewhat puzzled, Lin Huang approached, and the owner leaned in, winking and asking quietly, “So, did you manage to win your girlfriend back?”

“Sir, she really wasn’t my girlfriend that day...” Lin Huang hadn’t expected the man to remember.

“Ah, so it didn’t work out. Never mind, I won’t rub salt in your wounds. What would you like today? I’ll give you a twenty percent discount,” the owner said generously, patting his chest.

“I’ll have one veal steak here, and two orders each of the veal and tenderloin to take away,” Lin Huang decided to have dinner there as well.

“Wow, you want takeout too? If I’d known, I’d have only offered ten percent off...” the owner muttered, realizing his goodwill was costing him more than expected.

“No need for a discount. I’ll pay full price. Running a business isn’t easy,” Lin Huang replied with a smile.

“A man’s word is his bond. I said twenty percent off, and even if you eat me out of business today, it’s still twenty percent off!” the owner declared righteously, then quickly switched to a more ingratiating tone. “Just tell your friends to come eat at my place next time they’re in Wuyou City.”

“Of course, I’ll recommend your shop,” Lin Huang promised with a laugh.

He spent over twenty minutes on his veal steak. He’d come for the taste, but as he ate, memories of dining with Leng Yuexin here resurfaced.

“I wonder how she’s doing now...” he mused.

When collecting his takeout, the owner insisted on the discount, so Lin Huang relented, paid, and left.

Back at the hotel, it was almost nine o’clock. The days of exertion finally caught up with him—not physical exhaustion, but a deep mental fatigue, as if he had just finished a long and demanding project and could finally relax.

Half-reclining on the sofa, he checked the information for the magic crystal airship ticket he had purchased a week ago—the departure was scheduled for eight forty in the morning. After watching the news for a while, he washed up and went to bed early.

The next morning, Lin Huang woke around seven forty, showered, tidied up, and left the hotel. After breakfast and checking out, he found a nearby open-air café and settled in with a cup of coffee to wait for his flight.

At eight forty, the airship arrived on time. Unhurried, he boarded.

Standing at the rail, he watched as the airship slowly took off, Wuyou City shrinking in the distance. Lin Huang couldn’t help but sigh softly, “Finally, it’s time to leave...”

~~~~~~

[An extra chapter for forty thousand recommendation votes! My travel plans disrupted my usual update schedule, and some chapters were written in a hurry. The first update tomorrow will be delayed until the afternoon. The day after tomorrow, the schedule should return to normal: 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. I’ll get back to being a good, regular updater~~]