Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

Inside the restaurant, diners, eager to join in the fun, started stirring things up, and the jokes they told became increasingly outrageous.

The proprietress couldn't stand it anymore and slammed her hand on the table: "Shut up! Everyone's here to eat, sit down!"

Unexpectedly, this middle-aged woman is quite a master, possessing the strength of the tenth level of the first rank, which is already perfect, and she is expected to break through to the second rank.

The onlookers who had come to join in the fun all sat down obediently, and no one dared to embarrass the proprietress.

With the strength of ten people at the first level, plus the broad shoulders and round waist developed from years of wok-frying, they can beat an ordinary person who doesn't know any better to the ground.

Liu Xingmo smiled gratefully at the proprietress, then called his companions to order.

The meal was somewhat awkward.

Liu Huimin would occasionally glance at Liu Xingmo with a strange look in her eyes, her expression unreadable.

She remembered a customer saying that his boss was living a life of debauchery with a slutty woman.

Looking up at the young man opposite him, his bright eyes held a hidden wisdom; his slightly upturned lips exuded a warm demeanor.

Hmm... he seems like a decent, good man no matter how you look at it.

Liu Xingmo turned to look at Liu Huimin, who immediately lowered her head to eat, pretending to be nonchalant.

At this moment, Xu Wenting spoke up: "Oh my, club president, I didn't know you had such a romantic history! Tell us about it!"

"What romantic escapades? Do I look like that kind of person?" Liu Xingmo said sternly, slamming his chopsticks on the table.

Liu Huimin looked up, her eyes lighting up. Looking into the young man's earnest gaze, she felt a sudden, inexplicable panic, and like a little squirrel, she lowered her head and began to eat voraciously.

Liu Zhili poured herself a glass of wine: "Isn't it all because those people talked nonsense, leaving us all wondering? President, let's not say anything more, bottoms up!"

"Alright, bottoms up!" Liu Xingmo tilted his head back and emptied his wine cup.

The atmosphere eased halfway through the meal.

One by one, diners from the surrounding area came up to chat, laughing and joking until midnight.

Some people even approached us with newspapers and pens, asking for our autographs.

With a flourish of his brush, Liu Xingmo wrote eight large characters:

The storyteller—Liu Xingmo.

Those who got autographs left happily, and others followed suit, coming to ask for autographs as well.

Liu Xingmo's nickname among the people is "the storyteller".

Because he was too lazy to print more, he didn't give himself a pen name to write in newspapers and magazines.

Over time, "the storyteller" became his nickname and pen name without him even realizing it. Now, he can't change it even if he wanted to.

Regardless, this reputation is still quite prestigious.

In the vast Black Dragon Village, few people knew who Liu Xingmo was. But if you mentioned the storyteller, everyone would get excited.

Liu Xingmo belatedly realized that he had been unusually relaxed when he first entered the Central City Pharmacy; no one had come up to check his identity—the guards probably recognized him at a glance.

Liu Xingmo had a vague premonition that the name and identity he had unintentionally built up possessed extraordinary value, perhaps even comparable to that of a rare innate beast. Therefore, the newspaper staff believed that this editor-in-chief would achieve remarkable success in the future.

Liu Xingmo's thoughts shifted.

In other words, am I actually someone with extraordinary luck? That's why Baohei would willingly acknowledge me as their master?

Can this good fortune be developed into something more valuable through my luck? Can I withstand the calamities that follow?

There is too much unknown information, so it is not advisable to take aggressive risks.

According to the book "The Magical Path of Fortune: Exploring the Mysteries of an Ancient Kingdom" donated by the curator, in the southwest of the Central Plains, there is an ancient country called "Ba" that possesses a top-notch lineage of fortune.

Unfortunately, the mountains are high and the roads are long; without third-tier strength, one cannot even leave the old forest.

……

After finishing his meal, Liu Xingmo began his journey home.

The bus was nearly empty at night, with only a handful of passengers. Under the flickering lights, everyone looked weary.

The hare pulling the cart moved much more slowly. It hopped along the birch-lined avenue, causing the cart to sway slightly.

The bus travels on a road paved with bamboo and wood, which winds through a forest of giant trees. The forest covers the rolling mountains, which sit under the starlit night sky.

The world is so vast, and humankind is so insignificant.

Liu Xingmo took a breath of the crisp, cool air outside the car window and began planning his next task.

Bao Hei is about to advance to Tier 2 in the next few days. Keep an eye on him.

I'm not far from breaking through to the fifth level, so I can take advantage of the large-scale hunting event before winter to get another contracted beast.

Next comes the long and harsh winter. One can go to the mines to find work, and while there, use the blast furnaces to forge some decent equipment to prepare for building the alchemy workshop the following year.

What comes after that is too far in the future and is not something we should be thinking about now.

As soon as Liu Xingmo returned home, Su Mali immediately came to greet him.

"Xingmo! Your tortoise looks like it's about to advance in rank!"

"What? So fast!"

Liu Xingmo quickly ran to the turtle's nest.

Bao Hei lay in the newly built pool, his body radiating ethereal and uncertain fluctuations.

Judging from its size, it's still a bit short of full maturity. But judging from its aura, it has already reached perfection and is about to undergo a transformation.

"It's probably the Purple Rose Noble Fruit that catalyzed Bao Hei's cultivation!" Liu Xingmo had a guess in his mind.

Sumari couldn't help but worry: "Won't there be a problem with being promoted so early?"

"It's alright. Liu Yizhu is also considered a Blood Path Innate Beast. That guy advanced to the second tier when he was young, so there are no hidden dangers. In the end, the first tier of cultivation is just a process of condensing energy. Innate beasts are born with the ability to cross this step. Their difficulty lies in obtaining food and growing."

Liu Xingmo strode to the storeroom, took out the glass jar, and carried it to the turtle's nest.

Half asleep and half awake, Bao Hei suddenly widened his eyes and stretched his neck.

"Look how greedy you are!" Liu Xingmo chuckled, picking a crape myrtle fruit from the jar. "Here you go!"

The fruit flew in an arc and landed precisely in front of Bao Hei's nose. The turtle opened and closed its head, swallowing the brown nut.

After a short while, the chaotic fluctuations of spiritual energy in the room stabilized considerably.

Liu Xingmo moved a chair over and focused on guarding the contracted beast.

Whenever Bao Hei's aura showed any abnormality, Liu Xingmo would feed him a Ziwei Noble Fruit.

This process was repeated four times before everything finally returned to complete stability.

As dawn broke, Baohei got up energetically, shook its big head, and rubbed against its owner's trouser leg.

Meanwhile, those big, green-bean-sized eyes were fixed on the two remaining fruits in the glass jar.

Liu Xingmo patted its shell: "Don't worry, they're all yours. One tomorrow, one the day after, to solidify your foundation."

Baohei opened its mouth wide, conveying the thought of hunger once again.

"Alright, alright! Let me sleep for a while, I'll go to the market to buy you fresh fish when I wake up."

Bao Hei's eyes lit up.

No, it should be said that its eyes shone with a tangible golden light. Then, it opened its mouth wide towards its master.

"What's going on?"

Liu Xingmo was taken aback and quickly focused his attention to sense the surroundings.

It felt as if an invisible force had entered my body.

What is this? Luck?

Has Bao Hei's ability improved after his promotion?