Chapter 24
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Chapter 24: Soothe the Soul
By the time Wang Chen returned home, the sky was almost dark.
He passed his house without entering and directly took a hoe out of his storage bag.
He began to clear the weeds in the spirit fields.
These weeds were more resilient than stock investors; he had just removed them yesterday, and they had grown back significantly in just one day.
Fortunately, he rented a small plot of spirit fields and was already quite adept at farming.
After toiling under the stars, he finally finished the task.
He didn’t forget to water the fields.
But by the time Wang Chen, who was famished, actually returned home, it was already past the hour of the dog.
“Squeak, squeak!”
A big white mouse was sitting on the table. As soon as it saw him, it stood up and squeaked twice.
Its call carried a hint of resentment!
“Ah!”
Wang Chen slapped his forehead, “Little White, I’m so sorry.”
He had completely forgotten that he had a hungry mouse waiting for food at home!
The big white mouse twitched its nose and turned its head as if silently accusing him.
It seemed to say, "You promised that as long as you had food, I would never go hungry."
Liars, they’re all liars!
Wang Chen sheepishly rubbed his hands and petted the big white mouse: “Don’t be angry, Little White, I’ll make a big dinner tonight!”
He went to the kitchen, first taking out a large piece of beast meat and placing it on the cutting board, using a wooden stick to pound it.
The magical beast meat had very little fat; the texture was tough and dry, and it contained many tendons.
Repeatedly pounding to break down the muscle could greatly enhance the flavor.
When he felt it was ready, he placed it in a meal bowl, adding soy sauce and spices to marinate it.
Next, Wang Chen took out the parts he had customized at the blacksmith’s shop and began to assemble the rice mill.
The rice mill consisted of parts like the machine shell, drum, rice knife, processing bucket, and rice sieve. Due to manufacturing technology constraints, the motor was replaced with a hand crank, and the structure was simplified.
The assembly work was quite straightforward.
I must say, the master blacksmith’s craftsmanship was exceptional.
All the parts were forged from refined black iron, and even the machine shell was beautifully processed.
The precision was completely up to standard.
Wang Chen saw with his own eyes as the craftsman took a small knife and made a few cuts on the metal parts, perfectly solving the issues he pointed out.
The efficiency was truly impressive!
After the rice mill was assembled, Wang Chen couldn’t wait to fill the hopper with spiritual grains.
He began to hand-crank the rice mill.
This rice mill could process rice into white rice all at once, while also separating the rice grains from the husks.
As the drum kept turning, the spiritual grains underwent coarse processing through the screw teeth on the drum.
Then, the white spiritual rice was pushed to the exit and fell down.
The husks fell through the rice sieve into the bottom of the machine shell.
He succeeded!
Looking at the grains of white corn falling into the bowl, Wang Chen couldn’t help but smile.
Although the efficiency of hand-cranking the rice mill was not high,
it was still over ten times better than using a stone trough to pound rice.
He used the rice mill just to meet his own needs; he was not running a rice milling shop, so he didn’t need speed.
He felt that his quality of life had improved a bit!
After milling enough spiritual rice for a meal, Wang Chen started a fire to cook.
Next, he wrapped the almost marinated magical beast meat in broad leaves and tied them up with hemp string.
Finally, he covered it with water and yellow mud, then stuffed it into the stove to steam and roast.
“Squeak squeak.”
The big white mouse jumped to Wang Chen’s side and stared at the glowing red fire in the stove.
Wang Chen, sitting in front of the stove, reached out and picked it up, placing it on his lap to cuddle.
Little White was a very clean spirit mouse; its body was not dirty at all and had no foul smell.
Wang Chen didn’t treat this intelligent spirit mouse as a pet.
It was more like family to him!
In this world where he felt he had no kin, having its company made Wang Chen feel less lonely.
The big white mouse enjoyed Wang Chen’s gentle touch, happily wagging its tail.
Wang Chen curiously asked, “Little White, where did your husband go? You’re not getting a divorce, are you?”
He hadn’t seen the golden-haired mouse in several days.
However, judging by the big white mouse’s usual demeanor, there probably wasn’t any big problem.
“Squeak squeak!”
The big white mouse squeaked twice in reply.
Sadly, Wang Chen didn’t understand mouse language.
Magical creatures were classified into several tiers: transformed beasts, spirit beasts, great beasts, beast kings, and beast lords…
Above those were celestial beasts and beast gods.
Little White was obviously a transformed beast; it needed to evolve further to speak human language.
That would be a true spirit beast!
Wang Chen didn’t expect to have a normal conversation with Little White.
He was merely trying to find some topics to chat about.
When the aroma of rice wafted from the iron pot, carrying a hint of burnt scent, he turned off the stove.
Then, he retrieved the "roasted magical beast meat" that had been stuffed inside the stove.
He smashed the hot, hardened mud shell, and an intense meaty fragrance immediately burst forth!
Little White, squatting beside Wang Chen, was drooling with anticipation.
Wang Chen cheerfully placed the grilled meat on the table and scooped two bowls of fragrant rice.
The large bowl was for himself, and the small one was for Little White.
Of course, Wang Chen didn’t forget to add some sliced grilled meat to Little White’s bowl.
“Dig in.”
He gently tapped the big white mouse’s head, and it immediately buried its face in the bowl, devouring the food with gusto.
It was absolutely delicious!
Wang Chen also cut himself a generous portion of magical beast meat.
After eating worm meat every day for a while, he had grown thoroughly sick of it.
Now, with a change of flavor and the addition of spices, he almost swallowed his own tongue in delight!
Wang Chen was immensely grateful that years ago, he had taught himself cooking skills and crafts for making videos.
Now, all those skills were proving invaluable.
In this unfamiliar world without mobile phones, computers, or the internet, delicious food was a comfort to his soul.
After finishing this hard-earned dinner, the night had grown deep.
Little White carried the rice balls made by Wang Chen back to its nest, while Wang Chen retreated to the quiet room to cultivate.
Today, he had exchanged for the follow-up technique of the Five Element Technique, and his daily practice resumed.
During the transition from the initial stage of Qi Training to the intermediate stage, Wang Chen had opened a new meridian, which significantly increased the time required to complete one cycle of magical energy.
As a result, his training speed had slowed.
【Five Element Technique·Experience +1】
【Five Element Technique (Level Four): 1/400】
Wang Chen completely ignored the pop-up message in his vision and focused intently on comprehending the deeper meaning of the higher-level technique.
He didn’t know how many more nights like this he would endure in the long years to come.
…
The next morning, the sound of the Dingyang Bell roused Wang Chen from his sleep.
After a quick wash, he prepared breakfast to fill his stomach before returning to the quiet room to cultivate.
Once he finished his "morning lessons," he headed to the spirit fields to work.
He no longer took on the money-making task of clearing land rhinoceroses.
So, these ten acres of spirit fields had to be well-maintained; otherwise, a poor harvest would be a real headache.
“Doggie!”
Just as Wang Chen was tilling the soil for the spirit rice, his neighbor, Old Sun, appeared.
“Where were you yesterday?”
He exclaimed excitedly, “The local head came to distribute flags for everyone to plant in their spirit fields. He said the Purple Palace master would come today to handle pest control, and you missed it!”
Wang Chen couldn’t understand why the old man was so thrilled: “My spirit fields don’t have any land rhinoceroses anymore.”
“What if there are some stragglers?”
Old Sun grinned, revealing his teeth: “I managed to get a flag, and having the fields cleared again is a good thing! It’s a shame I couldn’t get one for you, or I would’ve helped you out too.”
He looked as though he had scored a great deal.
However, Wang Chen had a nagging feeling that things weren’t as simple as they seemed!
