Drawing circles, drawing circles, drawing circles, drawing...
Squeak, squeak. Baishi tugged at Liu Bei's clothes with its mouth. Liu Bei snapped back to his senses, and seeing nothing unusual around them, he left the place.
"Old Tu, how are you feeling?"
"Young Master, it just felt like drawing circles. Earlier, I heard the people behind us say that this is a Primary Stone Tablet that anyone can comprehend. It's the basic tutorial for learning how to comprehend stone tablets—anyone can do it. It's the most basic thing, without anything else added, universally understandable across the entire universe. Usually, places that sell stone tablets have these kinds of Primary Stone Tablets. Everyone who comes here tries this first before moving on to the difficult ones. This is basically just a warm-up."
"Just drawing simple circles?"
"Yes, Young Master. It's just a circle appearing in your mind. Is something the matter, Young Master?"
"It's nothing. Probably just feeling unaccustomed to it since it's my first time. Let's go."
They came to the sales booth and gave the front desk clerk the item numbers.
"Hello, sir. The two pieces you selected are part of a bundle where three pieces are sold together. You'll need to pick one more to make the purchase."
"Is that so? But my Star Beast isn't interested in any of the others," Liu Bei said with a helpless tone, then immediately asked, "Does that square Primary Stone Tablet happen to be for sale? Can it count as the third piece?"
"No... oh, that? Yes, yes, it can! But the price will still be calculated as fifty thousand for three."
"That's fine."
"The auction is already locked down for the day, and there are no other Primary Stone Tablets left, so you can't pick up the goods until daytime tomorrow. It wouldn't be convenient for you to carry the stone tablets around anyway. Why don't you give me your address, and I'll have them delivered to you for free as soon as they wrap up tomorrow?"
"Very well." Liu Bei provided the address and paid the fee.
Where to go next? A free buffet—let's go there.
The Wilderness Auction House had a bold exterior, radiating the aesthetic of primitive architecture. Right next to it was a large meat shop, with steam continuously billowing from inside and the aroma spreading along with the heat.
Walking over, they realized it was a paid restaurant. The so-called free part was just small paper cups placed by the door, each containing a tiny piece of meat for passersby to sample for free.
Looking at the meat in his hand, it looked suspiciously like lymph node meat. Who knows if eating it might... well, given what times they had been through, there was no room to be picky. Lymph node meat or not, it still tasted pretty good.
Seeing Baishi drooling with eager hunger, Liu Bei said, "Let's go inside. It's our last meal before heading back to the planet."
Ten thousand per person—the price was truly steep. The interior of the restaurant was huge and ring-shaped. In the center were various kinds of meats, while the outer ring featured individual barbecue stalls with direct campfires and numerous iron skewers stuck into the coals.
Connected to the auction house side, a steady stream of meat was constantly being hauled in. According to the attendant's explanation, these were animals that were on the verge of death during transport, or those that couldn't be tamed, and were butchered and cut up right on the spot. These were all powerful Star Beasts, and some were even Fierce Beasts.
Fierce Beasts were considered the fanatical combatants among Star Beasts. At the same tier, they were much stronger than other ordinary Star Beasts, and they loved slaughter. Such creatures generally possessed a trace of rare bloodline.
Even without excessive seasonings, how could this kind of primitive charcoal-grilled meat, with its sizzling sounds of rendering fat, not taste delicious?
After a few bites, they could clearly feel their bodies growing warm, and the fatigue of the past several days melted away by a fraction. What a nourishing meal!
Although people in this era generally had huge appetites, how much meat can a person actually eat? After several rounds, Liu Bei and Tuente couldn't eat another bite.
Only E and Baishi were still going strong. E had genuine strength, coupled with racial advantages, allowing him to swallow a huge amount of food. Especially with meat like this, his digestion was extremely fast; he could probably eat enough to cover the cost of his own ticket.
The biggest surprise was Baishi. After all this time, it was still eating, rolling the food into a ball before swallowing it.
"Baishi, don't eat yourself to death just because you're worried about wasting money." Liu Bei hugged Baishi, trying to make it stop, but Baishi shook its head to indicate it could still eat, and in the end, Liu Bei and Tuente had to fetch more for it.
Even E conceded defeat, while Baishi was still eating without its belly even changing shape. One had to wonder what its insides were even like. Baishi was left behind by his mother, and Tuente knew even less about it. It had been able to eat a bit in the past, but never like this.
It finally stopped eating, collapsing flat onto the ground the moment it finished. If it weren't still breathing, they would have thought it ate itself to death.
E hoisted it onto his head, and the group left the barbecue restaurant. If it weren't for the fact that the two humans had eaten so little, the owner would have wanted to butcher Baishi for the grill.
Outside the Wilderness Auction House, they sold some very common Star Beasts and their derivative products—Star Beast rations, Star Beast gear...
Right next door was the Qiyi Auction House, which specialized in the unknown, mystical, and bizarre. They walked in and glanced around. Good grief, anyone who didn't know better would think they had time-traveled back. This place could rival an antique market, yet nothing that appeared here felt out of place at all.