NOVPUBEvery piece of meat was chopped to roughly the same size and distributed according to the number of residents, without favoring any particular household.
Once all the residents had received their share of the meat, the people in the square had almost all dispersed.
Only a skeleton of the once massive Jiao Dragon remained.
The framework of the Jiao Dragon was black, seemingly undamaged, and held significant value for collectors.
Li Zhizhong loaded the skeleton onto a cart and then walked towards another street.
As he passed Xu Zimei, he suddenly stopped.
Seeing Xu Zimei’s empty hands, he took the remaining bits of Jiao Dragon meat out of a bag on the cart.
He smiled, showing his teeth, and handed over the Jiao Dragon meat to Xu Zimei.
Xu Zimei smiled back, accepting the Jiao Dragon meat.
Then Li Zhizhong pushed the cart away, his figure disappearing around the corner of the street, vanishing into the relentless downpour.
The drizzle evolved into a torrential rain.
Jade Beads fell from the edge of the rooftops in a continuous line.
The sound of the "pattering" rain rang in one’s ears.
Braving the heavy rain, Xu Zimei returned to the inn.
He ordered a few side dishes and a pot of warm wine by a window on the first floor.
He enjoyed watching this kind of weather. 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
...
"Enjoy your meal, honored guest," said the waiter, serving the warm wine with a smile.
"Little Second, I want to ask you something," Xu Zimei said with a smile, placing a Spirit Crystal on the table.
"Honored guest, ask anything you like; there’s no need for so much," replied the waiter, looking at the Spirit Crystal with anticipation mixed with a bit of trepidation.
"Keep it; it’s yours," Xu Zimei insisted.
"You must know about Li Zhizhong!"
"The Hero Who Slew the Jiao Dragon of Linhai City? Who doesn’t know him here? In terms of fame, no one here can surpass him," the waiter responded with a smile.
"Tell me his story," Xu Zimei nodded and said.
"It’s a bit of a long story," the waiter pondered for a moment and then said.
"If you’re not in a hurry, I’ll take my time telling it."
...
"Our Linhai City is a remote place, barren and undeveloped.
Nobody would usually want to come here, not even the Overturning Sea Empire, which we belong to, pays much attention to us.
For the people here, forget about cultivation; even getting enough food to eat can be a struggle."
The waiter said with a sigh.
"We are near the Endless Heaven Sea, which is like a treasure trove, rich with all sorts of marine resources.
The residents of Linhai City live by the sea, depending on the sea for our livelihood.
Unfortunately, a long time ago, a group of Jiao Dragons took up residence at the edge of the Endless Heaven Sea.
We refer to them as the Evil Dragon Jiao.
They occupied that area of the sea, and most of the town’s people who went there to fish or got near the area
would be eaten by them, causing panic and unrest among the residents, making it difficult for them to live and eat in peace."
"Doesn’t the Overturning Sea Empire manage this?" Xu Zimei asked curiously.
"You may not know this, honored guest, but we have two scourges here.
One is the Evil Dragon Jiao, and the other is the Linhai Wolf.
One dominates the waters, and the other dominates the land.
These beasts are very cunning. Their lairs are not in one place. The empire sent people to exterminate them a few times,
but they could not completely eradicate them, so in the end, it was left unresolved," the waiter explained.
"What does this have to do with Li Zhizhong?" Xu Zimei inquired.
"Li Zhizhong has had an extraordinary appetite since he was young, consuming nearly as much as three adults as a child.
And as he grew older, his appetite became even greater."
To keep him from starving to death, his parents could only risk their lives to find food in the Endless Sea.
Finally, one day, his parents died in the mouth of the Evil Dragon Jiao.
At that time, Li Zhizhong was already twenty years old.
That day, braving the heavy rain, he went out to look for his parents and had not returned for nearly a month.
All of us thought he had died outside, but to everyone’s surprise, he returned to the city half a month later, dragging the body of the Evil Dragon Jiao with him.
Since then, he earned the noble name of the Hero Who Slew the Jiao Dragon.
The citizens of Linhai City also negotiated with him, saying that since he killed the Evil Dragon Jiao and eliminated the menace for us, we would give him food.
Later, he even voluntarily shared the Jiao meat with us, which not only filled our bellies but also contained strong Spiritual Energy that was greatly beneficial for cultivation.
As a result, he became even more famous in the city than the City Lord."
"Do you know him well?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Not really; he’s somewhat of a loner," the waiter replied.
"Usually quiet and reserved, he lives in a small courtyard in the north of the city and doesn’t have many friends.
He seldom initiates conversation with others."
"I see," Xu Zimei nodded.
After the meal, Xu Zimei returned to his room.
He was quite intrigued by Li Zhizhong’s story, and Xu Zimei was certain that the man had never undergone cultivation.
Even though the Evil Dragon Jiao wasn’t very strong, only at the Empty Vein Realm,
it wasn’t something an ordinary person could contend with.
Xu Zimei could tell that Li Zhizhong’s strength was incredibly immense, almost reaching the level of the Esteem Vein Realm.
His blood felt as if it was boiling hot water, exceedingly vigorous and tumultuous.
...
After spending a night in Linhai City, Xu Zimei left Linhai City early the next morning.
Based on the map he had acquired earlier, he went in search of Taiyang Zuzhao’s whereabouts in the Endless Heaven Sea.
Because the timeline of this map’s creation was too distant, back then the Yuan Central Continent hadn’t split into five parts yet.
Therefore, many places were somewhat unreferenceable.
Walking near the coastal areas, the rain from the previous night had also stopped.
However, the sun still hadn’t come out, and the sky was overcast.
Xu Zimei hadn’t walked far when he suddenly heard a series of howls.
Turning his head, he saw a pack of several dozen wolves standing on a nearby hillside.
These wolves were huge, all of them pure black.
Upon seeing Xu Zimei, the pack seemed to go insane, howling as they furiously charged towards him.
"How noisy," Xu Zimei frowned slightly.
These must be the Linhai Wolves that the waiter had mentioned.
One of the two menaces.
With a casual wave of his hand, a large Spiritual Energy hand coalesced in mid-air.
With a "boom," the Spiritual Energy hand descended from the sky, instantly annihilating the pack of wolves.
A large five-finger imprint was left in the barren grassland.
The Linhai Wolves behind him, having never witnessed such power, quickly ran off into the distance with their tails between their legs.
Ignoring the rest, Xu Zimei’s main objective was still to find Taiyang Zuzhao.
He continued straight ahead, and not far from the coast of the Endless Heaven Sea, a series of buildings appeared.
They were rows of wooden houses, resembling inns or docks.
As Xu Zimei walked onto this dock, he realized that many of the houses were empty.
Falling into disrepair, many roofs had even collapsed.
After wandering around, Xu Zimei discovered that only the wooden houses at the very front still had occupants.
The rest had long been deserted.
