Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 74: Cemetery [2]

Hu Qi was speechless.

’Just what kind of genius designed this?’

He looked at it for a moment, then moved the mouse and clicked on the first option.

After all, it was his first time on a mission like this. Teaming up was a necessary precaution.

If nothing else, if they ran into some unbeatable danger, at least a teammate would increase his chances of escape.

And all he had to do was run faster than his teammate.

After selecting the mission, he didn’t pay it any more mind. Finding a team would probably take a few days anyway.

Hu Qi resumed his practice of the Snake Form Posture.

He had come this far not just because of Crimson’s help and his own powerful aptitude, but also through his own indispensable hard work.

Of course, another reason he worked so hard at his Cultivation was that it increased his proficiency, which in turn reduced the number of Modification Points he had to spend.

...

「Two days later.」

"It’s not working?"

Hu Qi frowned, looking at the goat locked in the cage before him.

It had been about ten days since he was last here, but there was still no progress.

"Over the past few days, we’ve tried all sorts of billy goats. But this goat is incredibly bad-tempered, so we had no choice but to use tranquilizer darts for artificial insemination.

Unfortunately, the results were all the same—every insemination failed."

Song Jian, standing to one side, explained in a low voice.

"I even brought in a few experts. After examination, they found that this goat’s Genes are completely different from a normal goat’s. The chance of conception is practically zero.

It’s like a human and a dog—even if they mated, they couldn’t produce a dog-headed person."

Hearing this, although he had already expected it, Hu Qi still felt it was a shame.

It seemed the Camphor Tea Duck situation had just been a special case.

After all, ducks can lay eggs without fertilization; they only need a drake’s involvement when the eggs are meant to be hatched.

Unwilling to give up, Hu Qi asked, "Is there no other way?"

"Well, there is one way!"

Song Jian thought for a moment.

"Unless we can find a second, identical billy goat."

Hu Qi was speechless. He shot Song Jian a sideways glance, seriously suspecting the guy was saying it on purpose.

’Finding another one, and a male at that... who knows how many years that would take.’

"Forget it. Let’s roast it," Hu Qi sighed, waving his hand dismissively.

His gaze fell upon the goat in the cage.

As if sensing its fate, the goat shuddered, then rammed its head against the iron cage, making a loud BANG, BANG, BANG sound.

It was completely useless.

Borrowing the kitchen in Song Jian’s villa, Hu Qi cooked it himself.

With the enhancement of his current physique, Hu Qi easily butchered the goat in just a few moves.

Generally speaking, a whole roasted lamb is best made with a sheep that’s one to two years old. At that age, the meat is relatively tender and has a better texture.

If an adult sheep is too old, the meat can be tough and dry, affecting the taste and flavor.

Goat meat is also relatively firm, with coarser muscle fibers and a unique, gamier flavor compared to other types of mutton.

However, this was no problem for Hu Qi. With his Culinary Skill at the Mastery level, it wasn’t a difficult task at all.

In the courtyard, Hu Qi turned the newly bought barbecue spit, using a brush to evenly coat the goat’s body with a prepared marinade.

Under the heat of the charcoal fire below, the meat gradually turned a golden brown.

The skin began to turn golden and crisp, and an enticing aroma wafted shamelessly through the air.

When it was about done, Hu Qi put on gloves, took the goat off the spit, and placed it on a nearby table.

"Want a piece?"

Hu Qi looked at Song Jian, who had been drawn over by the smell, and used a knife and fork to cut off a palm-sized piece of meat, placing it on a plate and handing it to him.

"Thanks!"

Song Jian said his thanks, picked up the lamb chop, and took a bite.

The next moment, his eyes lit up, and he gave Hu Qi a strange look.

"I didn’t realize your Culinary Skill was so good. It’s a shame you’re not a chef."

"Heh."

Hu Qi chuckled.

Seeing the other man swallow the meat with a normal expression, he subtly withdrew his gaze.

As the saying goes, trust but verify.

’What if something had been injected into the goat’s body...’

’But it seems I was overthinking things.’

He cut off a piece of meat and, ignoring the steaming heat, stuffed it into his mouth.

The first sensation was the gentle heat of the roasted meat, stimulating his taste buds perfectly.

As his teeth bit down, the golden, crispy skin let out a light CRUNCH and shattered, releasing a rich, charred aroma.

At the same time, the Modification Points on his panel began to tick up.

As if that wasn’t satisfying enough, Hu Qi put down his knife and fork, tore off a piece with his bare hands, dipped it in some cumin and chili powder, and found the flavor was even more intense.

Before long, a third of the huge roasted goat was already in Hu Qi’s stomach.

During this time, Song Jian tried to grab another piece, but Hu Qi refused, giving him some nonsense excuse about how eating too much mutton was bad for his health.

’Are you kidding me? This isn’t just mutton, it’s Modification Points. Letting him eat it would be a colossal waste.’

Even with Hu Qi’s astonishing appetite, he felt full after eating a third of it.

As for the rest, Hu Qi certainly wasn’t going to let it go to waste; he packed it up to go.

Seeing this, Song Jian was left speechless. ’He’s not even going to leave me a single extra bite.’

Before leaving, Hu Qi gave Song Jian some more guidance on his Mixed Martial Arts.

Song Jian’s aptitude was excellent, and with Hu Qi’s instruction, his progress was rapid.

In Hu Qi’s opinion, his Mixed Martial Arts had already completely entered the Great Success stage.

If he continued practicing like this, he might even have a shot at reaching Perfection in the future.

However, that was just a possibility. Although Great Success was only one level away from Perfection, it was not an easy gap to bridge.

Perfection proved that one’s understanding of a Skill had reached its absolute Peak, with no further room for improvement.

To reach that level, so-called hard work alone was not enough; one also had to rely on Talent.

During their conversation, Hu Qi deliberately revealed that the Sect Leader of the Shexin Sect had expressed an interest in taking him as a disciple.

This news stunned Song Jian.

After it registered, his attitude toward Hu Qi became even more attentive.

The so-called "second-generation rich" weren’t all just hedonistic dandies who only knew how to eat, drink, and play. Compared to ordinary people, these people received elite educations. How could they possibly be lacking?

Seeing that his ploy had worked, Hu Qi once again reminded him to collect Exotic Beasts.

In return, he promised that after he became a Direct Disciple, he would use his authority to begin investigating the matter of Song Jian’s mother.

After that, the two chatted for a bit more. With both host and guest satisfied, Hu Qi took the leftover goat meat and, with Song Jian seeing him off, left Tangxi Garden and got into a taxi.

Hu Qi immediately summoned his panel.

---

[Owner: Hu Qi]

[Status: Normal]

[Age: 21]

[Skills: Snake Form Posture (Fifth Layer) △]

[Cloud Iron Body (Mastery) △]

[Ghost Slaying Saber (Uninitiated)]

...

[Modification Points: 4 (13%)]

That one-third of the goat meat had given him over 3 Modification Points.

By that rough calculation, if he finished the entire roasted goat, he could probably get a total of 9 or even 10 Modification Points.

Compared to the others, this goat had undoubtedly provided the most Modification Points.

But this still fell short of Hu Qi’s expectations.

After all, the previous swamp eel and Dragon Horn Fish had weighed three or four jin at most, while this goat, by a rough estimate, weighed at least a hundred-some jin.

According to his projections, it should have provided much more than this.

But the facts were the facts.

’Could it be that the calculation for Modification Points isn’t based on the Exotic Beast’s weight, but on other factors? Like the proportion of some special mineral contained within their bodies?’

Hu Qi pondered this. At the moment, it seemed like the only possibility.