Chapter 72: The Everlasting Greedy Holy Grail

The Eye of Truth activated, revealing information he initially obtained at the cost of half his spiritual essence.

“The Gluttonous Crucible: Born a hundred years ago was the branch of cultivators known as the Spirit Food School, capable of creating spirit foods comparable to potions that enhanced the strength of pet beasts and dominated the era for a time.

However, after they unearthed an old god’s temple and acquired the forbidden knowledge within, integrating it into their system, they all plunged into madness from the highest to the lowest ranks.

Their greed to turn every lifeform with spiritual essence into food was insatiable. They concocted life-rending nourishments that greatly accelerated their power, but their ravenous hunger was not satiated—they craved more.

In the end… they targeted the remains of deities below the temple.

They harnessed a small tributary of the Mother River to craft a furnace, used primal spiritual essence as fire, and with taboo rituals, they initiated a grand Feast of Gods. But they were unexpectedly met with ■■■■ and vanished without a trace, leaving behind an entire set of dinnerware used for the feast that had undergone transformation and possessed extraordinary powers, scattering across the world.

If one could collect a complete set of this cutlery, they could assemble the edict ‘Endless Hunger’ and reignite the Feast of Gods.

The Gluttonous Crucible is not one of the seven pieces of cutlery but a harbinger born from the ‘Everlasting Greedy Holy Grail,’ spreading the relentless greed. If one could briefly satiate the Crucible’s gluttony with vast spiritual essence, the location of the Cup of Greed could be sensed.

Each time it is used, a part of one’s body will be consumed by ravenous desire, and it can only be used once a day.”

Lu Yu broke into a smile; he thought he would leave the black market empty-handed today, but it turned out he unwittingly stumbled upon a huge oversight.

He knew about the Spirit Food School and was once distressed upon learning that a world-class secret treasure had been shattered. He had even gone through the related materials in the library specially.

But the shattered object was known as the “Prideful Fallen Angel Pot.”

What he held now was one of the three legendary secret treasures that went missing amidst the clamor of contention, a harbinger born from the Everlasting Greedy Holy Grail, a force capable of devouring all things.

Most people subconsciously regarded it as one among the dreamy kitchenware pieces crafted from the fragments of the “Prideful Fallen Angel Pot” due to its stringent usage requirements.

The gap might appear small, but one is an incomplete piece with an unknown number of fragments, while this is a live map to the location of a complete world-class secret treasure.

According to the ritual information from the Eye of Truth, collecting all seven pieces of cutlery would restart the Feast of Gods.

Perhaps there was a chance to consume the remains of deities and ascend to the throne of immortality.

For ordinary people, it was an uncertain gamble, but for Lu Yu…

It was an opportunity to obtain mythological materials!

The remains of a god!

If transformed into materials, they would at least be of the seven or eight stars level!

Whether it was for creating evolutionary secret foods or skill secret foods, either could prompt Little Spider or The Little Hamster to metamorphose directly into a mythological creature.

The possibility of an overpowering cheat wasn’t a fool’s dream!

“However, from the information given by the Eye of Truth, it seems that the ‘Everlasting Greedy Holy Grail’ might be alive and possess intelligence, which probably won’t be easy to deal with…”

Lu Yu wasn’t overwhelmed by the temptation; after all, these world-class secret treasures escaped from numerous powerful contenders and unquestionably possessed force beyond his imagination.

What exactly did the Spirit Food School encounter that led to their complete disappearance, leaving not a soul behind, not even a scrap of text, as though an invisible hand had wiped away their existence, sparing only seven secret treasures?

Did they succeed or fail when they obtained the forbidden knowledge?

And why would the Everlasting Greedy Holy Grail actively reveal its location? What is the purpose of luring people there?

Lu Yu pondered, but he wasn’t too troubled, as he lacked confidence in collecting all seven secret treasures.

Especially since one had been shattered into numerous fragments, creating countless imitations, just collecting these was worrisome enough.

“Forget it. When I grow stronger, I’ll naturally come across more information…”

Lu Yu pushed these concerns to the back of his mind and decided to go with the flow.

Aside from coveting the remains of the deity, he valued the Gluttonous Crucible’s inherent ability to enhance the quality of food.

As the “Key Holder,” Lu Yu had the capability to bestow special effects on foods of good quality or higher that he prepared.

He had tried cooking before, but the general quality label was rather offensive to the eye – manageable for humans to consume, but insufficient to be lauded.

Yet improving his culinary skills wasn’t something achievable overnight.

However, with the Gluttonous Crucible, it was a different story.

He could leverage this unique rule to improve the quality of the food he made, ascend to good quality and above, and thereby gain special effects to speed up the growth of Little Spider and The Little Hamster.

As for side effects?

The effect of the “Key Holder” could reduce all side effects to one percent.

Moreover, even if he broke the rules, could that slight mental contamination ever erode him, a holder of a taboo authority?

The despicable outsider chose to directly exploit bugs.

The Mutual Aid Society proceeded in an orderly fashion, starting to offer appealing items more frequently, anticipating that The Collector would take action once more.

As the session went on, even treasures like the “Heart of a Magmatic Earth Dragon,” which contained the power of magma, began to appear. Unfortunately…

Lu Yu couldn’t afford any of them.

The little that he had spent beforehand was spurred by his soul, and when that ran out, he reverted to a penniless ghost.

To scrape more would be to drain the pond to catch the fish!

The longer he watched, the more tired his eyes became and the heavier his heart felt. So, he casually began to research the usage of the Gluttonous Crucible, appearing lackluster and disappointing many beast tamers who had been waiting for the wealthy to make moves.

After all, mystical powerhouses capable of communication were rare.

However, some had thoughts of their own, reckoning that since this individual fancied some obscure items, it might be worth collecting some specifically for trading later on, to exchange for top-tier treasures.

Unbeknownst to Lu Yu, his poverty alone had incited an internal competitive push in the Mutual Aid Society.

Once the Mutual Aid Society concluded, Lu Yu and Sun Jie visited the Black Moon Trading Company, the Black Market proxy for the Dark Moon Trading Company.

He disguised himself, but not completely.

By then, the entrance of the trading company was overflowing with people, the noise clamorous, and a multitude of receptionists were busy registering information and selling intelligence.

Yet, with the presence of Sun Jie, the mascot of the black market, there was no need for Lu Yu to queue; he was welcomed in directly and was immediately escorted to a VIP lounge.

What he didn’t expect was for the receptionist to be Huang Tiantian again.

The poor woman had worked all day and was still on the night shift.

The workaholic among humans!

This time Huang Tiantian had changed into a uniform, thin, transparent, one-piece black stockings tightly wrapping her sensuous thighs, a white shirt outlining matured curves, and wearing red-bottomed stilettos that added a hint of allure.

Had Lu Yu been cultured, he might have said “A graceful shadow under the moonlight, as if a spirit from a painting,” or “As radiant as the spring bloom, as bright as the autumn moon.”

But he was not cultured; all he could say was:

“Very smooth!”

Lu Yu remained himself, but Huang Tiantian no longer possessed her usual composed confidence; instead, she appeared as jittery as a quail.

This change had occurred only a few hours later.

It seemed that the news had spread; when facing a “Collector” who treats overlords as collectibles, anyone standing at the edge of a tsunami would feel tremendous pressure.

She probably couldn’t have imagined that the young man from earlier had become an important figure in the blink of an eye.

Lu Yu was amused internally, but he refrained from any mischief, as it’s not a joke if the other party isn’t amused.

So, he straightforwardly requested information on the Primordial Ant, an ancient variant suitable for his collection persona.

Sun Jie finally had an opportunity to pay, eagerly settling the bill, nearly in tears, remarking:

“The time is so coincidental for this ancient variant to appear. Most Morning Star level beast tamers either can’t leave Dayuan City or are tied up at the frontier, none of which will trouble your disposition. I can already congratulate you on acquiring another collectible.”

Since The Collector was going, he had to remind a few friends not to be tempted, as facing this individual didn’t guarantee survival.

Lu Yu nodded slightly but felt an odd hunch.

The legend of the Primordial Ant had been around for years, but why had it not appeared sooner or later, but precisely when the Morning Star rank beast tamers were all occupied at the border? Coupled with the hidden Evil God Cult in the Abandoned City…

There might be no connection, but it’s always better to err on the side of caution.

Soon, Huang Tiantian returned, carrying a tray with a specially-modified smartphone on it.

Most components had been removed, leaving only the function to receive video.

According to the rules, videos should be sent after the black market proceedings ended to prevent disrupting business.

But for influential figures, all these rules were flexible.

Huang Tiantian bent down, her back to Lu Yu, and due to the close distance, it was apparent today’s peaches were quite ripe.

Almost smacking right into the face…

Don’t disregard The Collector as a man.

After the phone was powered on, it unlocked, and the video played.

The scene showed a desolate area. Despite the camera’s violent shaking causing some blurriness, one could see red sandy soil below with the sunlight above intensely hot.

Just as the camera’s owner was about to move forward, a golden figure suddenly appeared ahead. As the distance closed, it revealed itself to be a two-meter-tall golden ant, its body as if cast from gold, adorned with a unicorn-like horn on its forehead.

Its opponent was a three-meter-long sand crocodile, a powerful magical creature known for its strength.

Angered by the intrusion of the golden ant into its territory, the sand crocodile charged furiously, lifting its claws capable of crushing boulders, ready to tear the invader into shreds.

Watching the raging sand crocodile, Lu Yu contemplated:

“An elite high-ranking foe should require the utilization of the power ring…”

As he looked forward to witnessing a surpassing ability, in the next moment, the flesh on the Primordial Ant suddenly twitched irregularly, and with a cracking sound…

It split open!