Steve grilled the meat of a magical beast over a fire. Steve's cooking techniques had improved ever since he learned the cooking skills from the Heart of the Universe. Topped with seasoning, this magical beast's meat exuded a tangy and alluring smell.

Not far from him, Lucy was fighting a wind beetle whose level of cell activation reached 38%. If Steve were to face it by himself, it would be a fierce battle. But after only a dozen strokes, Lucy killed the wind beetle and walked over with the carca.s.s in tow.

"Is the fire-feathered chicken ready?" Lucy drooled as she looked at the fire-feathered chicken which Steve was roasting.

"Almost ready. You drag the wind beetle to the river for a wash and peel the flesh off its legs. I'll cook a pot of soup," Steve said. The past two days, the two of them had cooperated very happily. Lucy a.s.sumed the role as of hunter while Steve was in charge of cooking delicious food.

A magical beast with cell activation higher than 30% was extremely dangerous to Steve and could get him killed if he was not careful. For Lucy, killing such a beast was a breeze. However, her cooking skills were mediocre. Although the food she cooked could be eaten, it was by no means tasty. So, with one of them in charge of hunting and the other in charge of cooking, what resulted was a beneficial, if strange, arrangement.

Among them, Steve had the most to gain, as eating the magical beast meat every day made his cell activation go up much more quickly. In addition, he consumed a bottle of subatomic serum and practiced the "Fundamental Practices of Energy Absorption" two hours daily. In just two days, Steve's cell activation grew up to 25%. Over the two days, it had raised 13%. However, Steve also encountered a problem. He had only one bottle of the subatomic serum left, and without it, his growth rate would greatly reduce.

"It's ready, come and eat!" Steve shouted over to Lucy after the soup was ready. The meat on the body of the wind beetle wasn't edible, but the meat on its legs resembled crab legs. It was tasty and creamy, with a hint of seafood, but also had a savory aroma. So, Steve used it to boil soup and a total of five dishes were cooked. When Lucy heard Steve shouting for her, she ran over like a puppy hearing its owner calling it for dinner.

"Eat! Eat!" In the face of delicacies, Lucy immediately exposed her nature as a foodie, and gobbled down the food. The effect of eating the magical beast meat on her cell activation growth was not obvious; therefore she was just enjoying the delicious food. In contrast, Steve ate more slowly, and slowly absorbed the activated cells to strengthen himself.

"It isn't possible you're wrong about the news, is it?" Steve asked as he ate. "Why would the demon Collic deploy his troops here?"

"I am sure!" Lucy swore. "My sister and Stuart discussed how to deal with the demon Collic, but they were not aware that I overheard their conversation in the bathroom." One of the reasons Steve chose to work with Lucy was because Lucy gave him pertinent information like this. It was likely that Sophia didn't even know that her dear sister was betraying her.

"The demon Collic set up a team of troops here. They seemed to be guarding over something. He's seen here every few days," Lucy said.

"What exactly is that thing?" Steve asked.

"I have no idea either. Not long after Collic was able to accomplish the status of level-one demon, he continued to build up his strength in order to consolidate his position in the Black Cloud Demon Clan. Moreover, there are rumors that the reason he was able to achieve level-one demon may be related to something here." Lucy ate as she talked, so her words were m.u.f.fled. It was only because Steve had gotten used to her that he could understand what she was saying.

Steve soon became full, mainly because his cells could not absorb any more force. After eating, Steve drank the subatomic serum and again became hungry. The medicinal effect of the subatomic serum increased the level of saturation of cosmic force. For example, Steve could only increase his cell activation by up to 5% a day, and could not accommodate more force if his cells had reached their saturation limit. Subatomic serum increased the saturation limit of cell activation by, say, 7% or 8%. Also, training after drinking the subatomic serum increased the speed of absorbing cosmic force. Once again, his cells sent a sense of hunger. Steve began to practice the "Fundamental Practices of Energy Absorption." His cells were greedily absorbing the cosmic force around them. The air around Steve started to pick up, as if every cell in his body was absorbing energy. His cell activation level was also increasing steadily.

"Cell activation +0.02%... cell activation +0.02%..." 25% cell activation was reached and was increasing at a slow but steady rate. For others, though, Steve's power growth had been unbelievable. Lucy, for instance, had long been daunted by the pace of Steve's growth, which had grown rapidly each of the three days that she had spent with him. On the first day, when Steve faced the magical beast with a level of 30% cell activation, he managed to kill the beast only after a fierce battle, in which he nearly lose his life. The next day, Steve was already able to hunt and kill a magical beast with a level of 30% cell activation with ease. Today, Steve was able to kill a magical beast with a level of 35% cell activation. Although it was a bit difficult, he did it. In just three days, the pace of his growth was incredible! Lucy swore that even her sister's growth was not so fast.

"Oh wow..." Suddenly a small wave of air swept over Steve and his strength soared again, reaching a cell activation rate of 30%. Another big step forward!

"A 5% increase in cell activation in one breath! Are you insane?" Lucy looked at Steve in shock and asked, after gobbling up all the food.

"The main thing is the subatomic serum. Without it I couldn't have grown so fast," Steve said.

"Credit also goes to the 'Fundamental Practices of Energy Absorption' the way that you practiced it. Though you obtained it from the army, some of the practices were different." After two days of observation, Lucy had noticed the unusual details of how Steve practiced the "Fundamental Practices of Energy Absorption."

These past few days, after imitating Steve's way of practicing, she found that she had actually increased her speed of growth, from nine times her base line, to now ten times in a single breath. Moreover, as her imitation bettered, she found out her pace was faster, even exceeding ten times. However, it could have something to do with Steve's secret. Lucy could not get to the bottom of it.

Steve smiled devilishly and said, "You're full, and we should get started." Suddenly, Lucy's face flushed red. Though she had been trying to get used to Steve for the past three days, she still felt shy around him.