Chapter 1006: Restoring Cultivation Methods

## Winds of Kyushu

The village was filled with small courtyard-style buildings; each home was like this, not built adjacently but spaced a little apart. The living environment was undoubtedly quite pleasant.

"From now on, you two will live here," the village chief instructed. "Since you've just arrived today, please rest for now."

"Thank you, Village Chief," Lu Ye replied gratefully.

The village chief nodded, then turned and left.

Lu Ye watched him leave, then led Dao Shisan into the small courtyard. He hadn't expected to be assigned a dwelling immediately upon arrival.

However, the moment he stepped into the courtyard, Lu Ye's brows furrowed. The courtyard was a mess, and there were many fresh bloodstains on the ground. It was clear that someone had died here, and judging by the scattered bloodstains, it was more than one person—at least five or six.

After a moment, Lu Ye led Dao Shisan out of the courtyard again. He intended to find the village chief for a chat, hoping to gather some information. But as he stepped outside, he realized the entire village was eerily quiet. Even the children who had been playing outside earlier were gone, and every household had its doors tightly shut.

Lu Ye looked up at the sky; the sun hadn't even set yet. Speechless for a moment, he wondered what the villagers were hiding from.

He walked forward, arriving at a courtyard about a hundred paces away. He had seen the village chief enter this specific courtyard earlier, so it was likely the chief's residence. The small courtyard gate was tightly shut. Lu Ye raised his hand and knocked.

Inside, there was a commotion. He faintly heard a child's startled cry, which was quickly muffled. Immediately after, the village chief's trembling voice asked, "Who...?"

"Village Chief, it's me," Lu Ye replied.

"Who are you?!" the chief asked, still trembling.

"The one who came seeking refuge today."

A long sigh of relief came from inside the room, and the chief's voice became much calmer: "What is it? Let's talk about it tomorrow. It's late today; you should go rest."

The sun hadn't even set yet, Lu Ye thought. But since the chief had already said so, Lu Ye couldn't insist. He could only lead Dao Shisan back the way they came. The village remained silent, like a ghost town. Walking down the empty path, he occasionally heard a child's cry from a house, quickly muffled by an adult. Lu Ye's brows were tightly furrowed; he understood less and less about this world.

When the village chief had assigned this courtyard to Lu Ye, he had wondered what had happened to its original occupants. Now he understood. The original occupants of this courtyard must have met with misfortune, and it seemed an entire family had perished! Judging by the dryness of the bloodstains, the event must have occurred within the last two days. Lu Ye grew even more puzzled. What kind of danger was hidden within this seemingly prosperous village? Or, perhaps, the villagers themselves were the danger?

If that were the case, Lu Ye wasn't afraid. Although both his and Dao Shisan's cultivation levels were currently suppressed to the third level of the Spirit Stream Realm, their divine consciousness remained. Furthermore, Dao Shisan possessed a Divine Sea Realm physique; even a True Lake Realm cultivator wouldn't be able to pose a significant threat. If the people of this village truly intended them harm, they would undoubtedly be in for a rude awakening.

Together with Dao Shisan, he began tidying up the messy house.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, as dawn fully broke, the villagers gradually reappeared, and children's playful figures could be seen all over the village. Before Lu Ye could seek out the village chief, the chief himself came to find them. His eyes were still red, as if he hadn't slept well. He looked at Lu Ye with some displeasure: "Don't wander around at night. You're a grown man; how can you not understand such a simple rule?"

Lu Ye wanted to ask why, but doing so would reveal his ignorance. He could only nod and say, "I've noted that. My apologies for causing you concern, Village Chief."

The village chief's expression softened. He said, "No matter what you did before, from now on you are people of Cangnan Village. What did you two do in your previous village?"

Lu Ye asked tentatively, "What can one do here?"

"Cultivate spirit fields, or hunt in the mountains. Although the world is like this, one still has to live, don't they?" His demeanor suggested a life of hardship and suffering.

Lu Ye immediately understood that the village chief was there to assign them work. It made sense; having come to Cangnan Village, they couldn't expect to live off others' labor.

"Then... I suppose hunting in the mountains?"

He had never cultivated spirit fields before. Comparatively, hunting in the mountains would be much easier. He and Dao Shisan had already killed several beasts on their journey here.

The village chief nodded. "Since you two possess cultivation, cultivating spirit fields would indeed be a waste of your talents. So, today you can go into the mountains with Zhang Wu's team." He gestured with his hand and said, "Follow me."

They followed the village chief to the edge of the village, where a group was already gathered. The leader of the team was none other than Zhang Wu, whom the chief had mentioned. Zhang Wu was a dark-skinned man who looked relatively young, appearing to be under thirty.

"Zhang Wu, these two will follow you from now on," the village chief announced.

Zhang Wu didn't refuse; he simply nodded and said, "Alright!"

"It's getting late. Off you go, and make sure to return before sunset," the village chief cautioned.

The various teams immediately dispersed, entering the mountains from different directions. Lu Ye and Dao Shisan were in Zhang Wu's team. The team consisted of about ten people, all possessing cultivation. However, the highest cultivation level among them was only the fifth level of the Spirit Stream Realm; even Zhang Wu himself was only at the fifth level. The rest of the team members were mostly silent, their expressions solemn, as if hunting in the mountains was a dangerous task.

Only Zhang Wu, as the team leader, took care of the newly joined Lu Ye, speaking a few more words to him: "We usually hunt for a few days. In five days, you two should gather at the village entrance again."

"Understood," Lu Ye nodded.

There were still many beasts in the mountains, and occasionally some low-level demonic beasts appeared. The team's hunt went smoothly, and they returned fully loaded by afternoon. During this time, Lu Ye secretly cautioned Dao Shisan not to be too conspicuous. After all, he was currently only at the third level of the Spirit Stream Realm, and suddenly unleashing physical strength comparable to the Divine Sea Realm would be far too startling.

Before the sun had even set, everyone returned to the village with their various game. The village chief was waiting at the entrance. Seeing the teams return, he finally broke into a slight smile, looking somewhat relieved. Other teams also returned one after another. Soon, the village entrance was filled with various hunted beasts.

The village chief took charge of the distribution. Lu Ye and Dao Shisan also received over twenty jin (about 10kg) of beast meat. They carried the meat back to their residence. Dao Shisan immediately set up a bonfire in the courtyard to roast the meat. Lu Ye lay lost in thought on a Grand Master's chair nearby.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Lu Ye looked up to see the village chief, holding a bag. With a quick sweep of his divine consciousness, Lu Ye knew it contained spirit rice grown in the village. It seemed that since they had worked today, they now had their share of provisions.

The village chief handed the spirit rice to Lu Ye and then left. The sun was about to set again, and as always, the bustling village would become eerily quiet at this time.

The aroma of roasted meat wafted from nearby. Lu Ye turned his head and saw Dao Shisan staring intently at the roasting meat. He walked over, took a cooked piece of meat, and began eating heartily. Dao Shisan watched eagerly, his expression somewhat at a loss. Previously, he would undoubtedly have lashed out with a punch, but now, with the Soul-Guiding Divine Mark planted by Lu Ye, he dared not defy him. Helpless, he could only place the remaining meat over the fire to roast.

Lu Ye leisurely ate his beast meat. He had to admit that although Dao Shisan was simple-minded, his roasting skills were excellent, and the meat was very fragrant. As he ate, his expression suddenly changed. He sat upright and began to perceive his own body. He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he distinctly felt that the restraining power within his body was dissipating a little faster.

Then he immediately picked up another piece of not-yet-fully-cooked meat and started devouring it. In moments, Lu Ye had eaten it all. Dao Shisan watched the empty grill, his brows tightly furrowed, wondering what had gone wrong...

Lu Ye, however, was delighted. He had discovered that things were indeed as he thought: eating meat could accelerate the dissipation of the restraining power. He immediately took out a large amount of beast meat from his storage bag. Because he kept Amber fed, and for his own cravings, his storage bag always contained a lot of beast meat. The quality of this meat was undoubtedly much better than what they had hunted in the mountains earlier. Since eating meat could accelerate the dissipation of the restraining power, things would be much easier now.

Seeing Lu Ye take out so much meat, Dao Shisan's brows immediately relaxed. He joined Lu Ye in placing the meat over the fire to roast. This restraining power from the Kyushu Heavenly Mechanism would dissipate on its own, but very, very slowly. Lu Ye had no idea how long it would take to recover his cultivation just by waiting for it to dissipate naturally. He had been considering how to break the restraining power for the past two days but had found no clues until this moment.

He quickly finished the remaining meat in his hand, activating the Gluttonous Devourer technique. A humming sound immediately came from his abdomen. Upon sensing it, his stomach seemed to transform into a millstone, grinding the consumed beast meat. The restraining power dissipated even faster... But it quickly returned to its original slow pace as the essence from the eaten meat was fully consumed.

Could eating meat really accelerate the dissipation of the restraining power? Lu Ye wasn't entirely sure of the mechanism, but based on his current experience, it seemed to be true. He turned his head to look at another piece of beast meat roasting on the fire.

Dao Shisan's body tensed. He met Lu Ye's gaze, a vague sense of unease stirring within his muddled mind.

A short while later, both master and servant were eating with grease dripping from their mouths.

But Lu Ye's brows furrowed. Because this time, the restraining power within his body showed no reaction at all. Just now, eating meat had clearly accelerated the dissipation of the restraining power, so why was there no reaction this time? He skeptically ate a few more pieces, only to find there was still no reaction.

For a moment, he couldn't understand why.