-- Chapter 14:

Hui opened his eyes and breathed out. A day and a night had passed.

Though he regretted not being able to partake of the turkey feast, he was content with his most recent meditation’s advancements. Entering the war state followed by a series of life-threatening events seemed to have consolidated his foundation, which had become unsteady from rapid breakthroughs. His injuries had also healed for the most part leaving only light scarring, through the consumption of a large portion of the energy from the eggs residing on the surface of his core.

‘At least now I know humans exist in this world.’

Thinking back on his first encounter with humanity, Hui sighed to himself of the tragedy.

‘His skin was so tender, and his lips..’

Hui awoke with a shudder and fought off nausea. Brushing the unpleasant memories aside, he held up the vial Qin Yu had passed to him. It appeared to be finely crafted from high quality jade, at least as identified by Hui, who had never truly handled jade before. Removing the stopper, he poured out the contents within. A pitch black pill fell into his grasp.

‘I-Is this a rumored Immortal Dan?!’

Hui held the pill up and examined it under the sunlight as if it were a counterfeit bill. After a closer look, Hui disappointedly lowered his hand.

‘Che, I knew the he was stingy. Who throws a jade bottle containing an Immortal Dan like a baseball? I can’t even feel a hint of energy from it.’

Hui rolled the mediocre pill around in his twigs, wondering how to go about swallowing it. Finally, he decided to forcefully absorb what little medicinal essence the pill had, and hoped he hadn’t been shafted by an ungrateful brat.

When Hui carelessly attempted to absorb the pill, it turned into a scarce amount of liquid and flowed in his veins directly to his core, where it fell into the ocean of energy soundlessly, and without a ripple.

Hui helplessly smiled. He had low expectations but this was still surprisingly underwhelming.

‘Perhaps he thought an impoverished plant such as myself would be content with such a trinket?’ As Hui was feeling indignant for his species, a peculiar sensation arose from his core.

Before he could delve into his body to explore the sudden change, he promptly lost consciousness.