Chapter 36: Canteen

Zhou Lulu said, a troubled expression on her face: "I love reading and want to study under the Fourth Elder, who specializes in Confucian cultivation. But my father insists I choose Hundred Refinements Peak, saying the Fourth Elder has read himself silly and I shouldn't learn from him."

"My father is..."

"Fifth Elder Zhou Xin."

Lu Yang instantly fell silent. Hundred Refinements Peak was essentially her family's territory; of course, her father wanted her to stay within the family.

The main peak of Hundred Refinements Peak was a crimson mountain, towering into the clouds like a volcanic eruption, illuminating the sky. Whether it was due to long-term artifact refining or simply the inherent nature of Hundred Refinements Peak, the temperature here was noticeably higher than elsewhere. Despite it being early spring, Hundred Refinements Peak felt as if it had already transitioned into summer.

Lu Yang felt a prickling sensation on his skin, as if something was trying to bore into him. Instinctively, his cultivation technique activated, forming a thin, cicada-wing-like protective film around his body.

Zhou Lulu quietly explained, "Junior Brother, what you're sensing is Metal Earth Qi. Hundred Refinements Peak forges too many magic artifacts, so the air here is saturated with it. It's not harmful to cultivators, though; you'll get used to it. However, Junior Brother, your reaction speed is impressive; few can match it."

Lu Yang smiled. "My cultivation technique is very useful."

Lu Yang also heard clanging sounds. He imagined senior disciples vigorously hammering refined iron with large mallets, sparks flying as they forged steel through a hundred refinements. Following the sound, he found himself at the cafeteria.

"Hmm—"

Lu Yang felt it wasn't entirely unacceptable. He was getting used to it.

The cafeteria entrance was bustling with life. People came and went, chatting and laughing, carrying various food items and gesturing with them as if they were broadswords and sharp swords, ready to uphold justice wherever they went. They looked like students grabbing a meal after class, or perhaps warriors who had just emerged from a weapons smithy.

"Is Li Haoran here?" Lu Yang remembered that Li Haoran, with his fire spirit root, was a disciple of the Fifth Elder, and theoretically, his cultivation level should be similar to Lu Yang's. He wondered what actual realm Li Haoran had reached.

Zhou Lulu shook her head. "Junior Brother Li hasn't emerged from seclusion yet and isn't qualified to sell food in the cafeteria. My father says Li Haoran has excellent potential and needs to spend more time soaking in magma for better development. I heard he screamed quite a bit when he first started soaking in magma, but now there's no sound. He must have gotten used to it."

"...Is it possible he didn't *get used to it*, but rather... he got *cooked*?"

"Hmm?"

Lu Yang hadn't realized that bathing in boiling water wasn't the worst possible fate; Senior Sister was still quite lenient with him. He felt a slight pang of regret for not seeing Li Haoran; they could have exchanged notes on their bathing experiences.

Upon arriving at the boisterous cafeteria, Zhou Lulu's initial enthusiasm vanished without a trace. She got cold feet, quietly taking two steps back, then rattled off like a machine gun: "Junior Brother Lu, the cafeteria's food is excellent, cheap, and honest, you can go buy it yourself!"

Zhou Lulu finished speaking and vanished without a trace, so quickly that Lu Yang didn't even see her disappear.

Lu Yang sighed. It seemed he would have to rely on himself.

"Braised fish bones! Freshly made braised fish bones, the ultimate choice for sawing trees and felling foes! Everyone who's used them swears by them!"

"Shao Bing! Freshly baked meat pastries that can withstand any punch or kick!"

"Come one, come all! Noodles harder than steel and iron, indispensable for tying people! Once bound, escape is impossible! Buy now and receive a free binding tutorial!"

The cafeteria resembled a bustling mortal marketplace, with vendors loudly hawking their wares. The only difference was the sheer volume; these vendors were cultivators with powerful voices, making the cafeteria far noisier than any ordinary market.

Lu Yang observed a senior disciple holding a braised fish bone in one hand. Its spines were as sharp as blades; a mere graze could leave a deep wound, as if bitten by a ferocious shark.

The senior disciple selling the braised fish bones enthusiastically promoted, "This, Junior Brother, is from a fish demon of the Azure Wave Pond! It had peak Foundation Establishment strength in life, and its bones are incredibly tough. I refined them for a long time to create just a few of these. They can serve as weapons in combat or as food when you're hungry." As he spoke, he bit off a piece of fish bone with a loud crunch. Lu Yang wondered what kind of teeth cultivation he practiced.

Lu Yang looked at the formidable fish bone, then at the price. He couldn't afford it. Seeing Lu Yang's apologetic smile, the senior disciple didn't press the matter and continued to hawk his wares to others.

Lu Yang then watched another senior disciple reach directly into a pot of oil, pull out a fried dough stick, and deftly drain the excess grease.

"Junior Brother, would you like one? There are versions for Foundation Establishment cultivators and for Golden Core cultivators. The Foundation Establishment grade only costs 150 contribution points."

Indeed, in terms of price, it was significantly cheaper than the Mountain Quaking Hammer on the exchange list, which cost 270 contribution points. The fried dough stick was only 150, nearly half the price.

"The advantage of my fried dough stick isn't just its durability; it contains three layers of hidden force. With a single strike, these three layers explosively combine, delivering astonishing power that can catch an enemy off guard. And if you're hungry and want to eat it, that's no problem either; it has a very long shelf life."

After saying this, the senior disciple selling fried dough sticks took a bite. The triple hidden force detonated in his mouth, yet nothing happened beyond a slight puff of his cheeks.

"Senior Brother, I'm new here and don't understand some things. Why can these fried dough sticks serve as both weapons and food? Can they truly be bitten?"

The senior disciple recognized Lu Yang's cultivation level. As a Foundation Establishment junior, he was clearly a new arrival, and it was natural for new students to have questions like this.

"This is a method to train and verify the results of one's body cultivation. True body cultivation, as it's called, involves not just refining the skin and seven orifices externally, but also strengthening the internal organs, bones, and even teeth. Only then can one be considered a genuine body cultivator."

"I've heard of some body cultivators who only focused on refining their muscles, bones, and skin to the extreme. Under their brute force, even mountains would tremble, and they were considered formidable. However, others found these invulnerable body cultivators troublesome and devised a solution."

"What solution?"

"They would use body-altering spells like 'Size as Desired' to shrink themselves, then attack these body cultivators from the inside. Since these cultivators hadn't trained their internal organs, they were easily defeated by such methods. These individuals aren't true body cultivators; they're more like unorthodox practitioners."

The senior disciple clinked his teeth together, producing a sound akin to metal striking metal. "We artifact refiners are considered half-body cultivators. While our physical strength might not match true body cultivators, we do refine both our internal and external aspects. While ordinary cultivators rely on magic treasures as weapons, a body cultivator's body *is* their strongest weapon. And if your body is your strongest weapon, then eating a fried dough stick isn't so difficult."

Lu Yang understood. The food in the cafeteria served dual purposes: it was sold as a weapon to non-body cultivators like himself, and as actual food to body cultivators.

"Meng Jingzhou, a proper body cultivator under the Third Elder, should be able to bite through this."

With that thought, Lu Yang bought a fried dough stick. He swung it twice; it was heavy and substantial.