209 Chicken-Meatball Flavored (1/2)
With sandstorms and stone pillars everywhere, this was the home of the earth elementals. However, based on the fundamental countering between the elements, wherever there was an excess of the earth element, there would naturally be less of the water element. Not only were sources of water priceless, but this place also lacked any traces of ice or water magic.
Using water or ice element magic in this Earth Elemental Plane with imbalanced elements was no different from forcibly trying to cause artificial rain to fall in a desert. Not only would the difficulty be greatly magnified, but its might would also significantly decrease, and this power drop had nothing to do with personal strength. The stronger the mage, the more one would need to borrow power from nature, and the strongest forbidden curses were nothing more than the products of synchronizations between people and nature. This all meant that ice and water mages were weakened more than anyone else here.
This was also why most of the mages in Karo City were earth mages. In such an environment, their cultivation would be far easier, and their actual power levels would be greatly increased.
As for the strange concept of training in harsh environments and placing large burdens on yourself while training, this was more suitable for muscular warriors. Magic was an academic technique which required precision and logic, where a kingdom could be lost for want of a nail. Getting used to an environment where the mage’s element was rare would not only not be beneficial, it would actually cause the mage’s elemental power to weaken due to a long period of cultivation in an area lacking the mage’s element.
If everyone could simply transform into powerful Legends simply by living in areas of low magical power rather than moving to areas of high magical power—well, that would be more suitable for some tale’s heroic main character. If it was possible in real life, then wouldn’t everyone turn into superheroes and all acolytes turn into archmages with the coming of the Elemental Tide?
Yet, sometimes, the world was simply illogical. In this Earth Elemental Plane where ice, snow, rain, and water were almost nonexistent, there was currently a patch of abnormally frozen corpses.
It was a group of vicious and sly Burrowing Mantle Spiders. They typically lived underground for long periods of time and excelled in hunting prey with ambushes and traps. When walking by, innocent people and even magical beasts would be bitten on the legs and dragged underground, where the spider’s sixteen sharp stone fangs would rip them apart.
However, these dangerous existences were all lying dead on the ground, with only minuscule wounds to be seen on their bodies. What killed them was the fatal icy chill that had entered their wounds.
And, right now, I was rather annoyed; not because of the enemy creatures before me, but rather…
”Urgh! How disgusting.”
I had made a temporary barbeque rack and had just taken a hunk of mantle spider leg.
After heating it up and skinning it, there was actually some snow-white meat underneath all the thick layers of earthen spider shell. However, cooking it produced only a disgusting aroma of lime powder.
”Ptui! Ptui! Ptui! I failed again.”
Even though I said so, I still furrowed my eyebrows and continued chewing.
[You have now tasted your 64th abnormal delicacy. You still lack 36 more to go for your ‘Food God—Nothing is Off-Limits’ achievement. You also lack 9,936 more to go for the ‘He Who Stands at the Top of the Food Chain’ achievement. However, since this creature has sixteen feet, it doesn’t count for your ‘We Eat Everything with Four Legs Besides Tables and Chairs’ achievement. And since this creature’s taste doesn’t quite reach even half of the legendary ‘Taste the Sky, So Delicious’ achievement, it will not count for that one, either. Please keep trying harder.]
”Sigh, this achievement seems so difficult to achieve; I have to find something with four legs that tastes even more disgusting… Ptui! Am I stupid? I don’t want to get that damned achievement.”
Yep, I never had any type of abnormal collection habits; I understood that my system’s achievements had always made suffer since long ago. Either the achievements would indeed be useful and the process of obtaining it be ridiculous, or I would receive one without even realizing it but there would be painful side effects. At any rate, the system wouldn’t be happy unless I was suffering.
I’ve already checked all these achievements and requirements for obtaining them. I was rather interested in the one called ‘He Who Stands at the Top of the Food Chain.’
[Epic Achievement: ‘He Who Stands at the Top of the Food Chain.’ After consuming 10,000 living or nonliving foods that no normal person would eat, you shall receive the honorable title of ‘Bear Grylls, Devourer of the Void.’ Equipping this will cause you to seem more threatening to all living creatures, and it will give you the ability ‘Bear Grylls Glare.’ Any targets under this effect will feel as if they have met their mortal enemy or natural counter and will be unable to move for a short while. A friendly reminder from your System: this skill has a special effect on Beifeng. Another friendly reminder from your system: that’s right, I have long since stopped treating Beifeng as human.]