Chapter 6- Eating Treasure with Broken Teeth

Stormborn Pine Truffle. A delicacy and a body refining treasure. They cannot be farmed, and only chanced upon by luck.

Tian was balanced on a tree trunk no wider than his leg. The drop to the river below was a hundred feet or more. The climb up was not much less daunting, and besides, there was a tiger up there. He knew the tiger was still there because the big bastard kept peeking over the edge of the cliff. It could smell the truffle too.

I bet that’s why you ran into that Tiger. This isn’t the right sort of environment for a tiger. It must have been driven out of its territory, smelled the truffle and guarded this place while it matured. It was probably just looking for a way to get down the cliff without dying in the process.

“Good thing it can’t climb.”

Oh, they can. They just don’t like climbing cliffs. If you had run up a tree you would have found out really quickly why they are called the Kings of the Jungle.

Tian shuddered. The tiger was huge. The bobcat was already a nightmare. He didn’t know what to call the tiger. It was just death. He had lost his waterskin and tools too, along with his jerky. That wasn’t good at all.

“It’s a body refining treasure?”

Oh yes. Well. “Treasure” for you, certainly. Most cultivators at the lower stages of most cultivation methods would be quite happy to find it, but they probably wouldn’t risk their life for it. The main thing is that, used properly, it’s transformative. We are really going to waste great stuff here.

“What’s the right way to use it?”

Soft scramble three eggs with salt, white pepper and finely chopped chives. Shave the truffle paper thin over the eggs and serve immediately. Accompany the eggs with toasted, buttered sourdough bread and a bright, sweet juice like orange juice or pineapple. Share the food with your nearest and dearest friend, or, better, lover. Savor the moment intensely, excluding all other thoughts except the interplay of flavors, textures and emotions. Rejoice in life.

Tian blinked “Grandpa… I don’t know what any of that is.”

It would be strange if you did, but I kind of wish you knew about scrambled eggs, at least. You’ve certainly seen plenty of eggs.

“Sure, but what’s a soft scramble?”

A conversation for another, happier, time. Look over the truffle carefully. First, give it a feel. Stormborn Pine Truffle should have a faintly rough texture to it, almost like a tree bark. The exterior color is a deep brown verging on black. When it is mature, it emits a strong fragrance that smells like… well like this. You will find out more things to compare it to when you are older. The flesh inside should be fish-belly white with faint stripes of yellow and green. Don’t crack it open, I don’t want to lose any of the potency. It’s the real thing.

Tian just nodded along, and remembered. Grandpa always did this- explaining things endlessly. He once told Tian that he wanted to teach all he could, as fast as he could, in case he had to go silent for a long time again. That was a scary thought. So Tian just nodded and listened.

No need to worry about fancy preparations- we can’t make any. So just shove it in your mouth and eat it.

“I don’t think it will all fit?”

It’s soft. Your teeth will bite through well enough. Just cram it all in there and do your best to chew. Make sure all the liquid runs down inside your throat. No drooling.

The tiger at the top of the cliff saw exactly what was happening. It kept looking over and roaring, warning Tian not to eat its treasure. He could see the tiger trying to swipe at him with its huge paw, claws extended. Tian smiled up at it. The tiger was dozens of feet above him. It could roar all it liked.

“The tiger has very big teeth, and I think it has all of them. I’ve got gaps in my teeth.”

Yes. Another reason to reforge your body.

“You don’t understand, Grandpa. The tiger is very big, it has claws and teeth and it’s strong. But I’m eating the truffle. It feels… good.”

Heh. Keep working hard so you can be strong enough to get more treasures in the future. After all, you couldn’t have found the truffle if you weren’t strong enough to kill the bobcat, outrun the tiger and survive the fall.

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Tian gave the truffle another sniff. It smelled very odd, but his mouth was watering and every scrap of him was screaming that, odd or not, it would be the tastiest thing ever to eat. Tian opened his mouth as wide as he could, stretching his jaw until the hinge ached. Then, looking the tiger dead in the eye, he crammed the truffle into his mouth, and bit down.

The flavor nearly knocked him off the tree.

Rich. Overwhelmingly rich. Savory. Meaty, but deeper and darker than the roasted cat meat. The juice and aroma rose up from his mouth, into his nostrils and filled his body. The juices trickling down his throat had a bitter tang, but even more savoriness to make up for it. There was a lingering scent of pine, and a whiff of char.

All the smells and tastes whirled around like a storm in his mouth and flooded in his senses. Dizzying and bewildering and fascinating, endlessly fascinating. And somehow, it was medicine. This delicious thing was basically the same as the paste he smeared on his wounds, except for his insides.

He chewed carefully, making sure every drop of juice went down his throat, closing his lips and teeth as soon as he could to trap every scrap of aroma inside of him.

Hold on to the tree, Grandson! Hold on to the tree whatever happens! Stay balanced and hold on!

“This is medicine. The truffle is like the herbs, and my body is the leaf. My stomach is the water. So what’s the fire boiling it all?” Tian thought.

His stomach started to cramp. Stabbing pain, like needles boring out into his stomach lining, then the muscles of his abdomen. Then into the rest of his body. Needles tore his lungs with every breath and every pump of blood drove them deeper into every muscle and fiber in his body. He shivered, then convulsed. But he didn’t let go of the tree. Grandpa said to hang on no matter what, and his own eyes told him to do the same. Tian hung on for dear life, even as his body tried to shake him off.

“I can’t let go. I can’t let go. I can’t let go.” Tian chanted in his mind. Anything or everything else could happen, but he couldn’t let go. He wouldn’t die. He could get through this. He knew how to work through the pain. Willpower. As long as he had willpower, he could get through this.

“That’s the fire,” The thought cut through the pain-fog like lightning. “Everything is just separate bits without it. Everything comes together and transforms with willpower!”

Even as he convulsed, even as his body shook with pain, he smiled. It was all down to willpower. And he had plenty of that. Growing up in the junkyard, eating trash, sleeping under more trash, fighting the rats and foxes that came to nibble on him while he slept- he had lots and lots of willpower. He could endure pain and loneliness. This? This was nothing.