Time passed quickly, and soon it was four o'clock in the evening. Right on time, the hotel staff delivered the food Draven had ordered.
There were four different dishes in total: two large portions of second-tier slim rice, two whole second-tier forest chickens, one liter of second-tier seven-colored deer milk, and one bowl of second-tier wild buffalo meat stew.
The hotel staff neatly arranged everything on the dining table in the room. Draven first saw the hotel staff out before he started to devour the food in front of him with relish.
Although, due to his Ultimate Demon Physique, his vital chi would naturally replenish even without eating, Draven still preferred eating to his heart's content. After all, no matter how much he ate, he was not going to get fat or anything due to his Ultimate Demon Physique, which always kept his body in a perfect state. So why would he have to diet to keep his fit like others?
After taking a sip of the seven-colored deer milk, Draven twisted off one of the legs of the roasted chicken and poured the wild buffalo meat stew over the rice before he started eating everything together.
He began by taking a bite from the chicken leg, then a few spoons of the rice mixed with the wild buffalo meat stew, with occasional sips of the seven-colored deer milk. In this way, in less than half an hour, Draven finished the table full of dishes and patted his stomach in contentment.
Soon, the hotel staff came and cleaned the dining table before they left the room. Alexandria was still sleeping soundly on the fluffy bed without any sign of waking up. So, Draven decided to wake her, since after so much time, the effect of his aura on her spirit should have already dissipated by now.
The reason he had let her rest until now was because the aura suppression primarily targets the spirit, and the best way to recover from this suppression is to get a proper rest.
Draven gently slapped Alexandria's cheeks once again, and sure enough, she groggily opened her eyes.
"Where am I?" Alexandria asked in a weak voice. The only thing she remembered was standing inside the Hunter Association, and the next moment her vision blacked out. Now that she had regained consciousness, she felt as though a heavy hammer was placed on her head, and all she wanted to do at this moment was just sleep.
"You are inside a hotel room," Draven explained to her as he extended a glass of water from the side table for her to drink.
Alexandria's sleepiness vanished when she heard what Draven had said. She hurriedly looked around and asked in a shaky voice, "How long were we here?"
Draven thought about it and replied, "About six hours."
"It's over, everything is over... I am not ready for it yet..." Alexandria's eyes turned moist, and she started mumbling gibberish that Draven didn't understand.
"What happened? Why are you crying all of a sudden? And what are you not ready for?" he asked in confusion.
Alexandria looked toward Draven angrily and scolded, "You are older than me, yet you don't know anything?"
Draven scratched his head in confusion. "Is there something I should have known?"
Seeing Draven's confused expression, Alexandria started crying even more loudly. "Don't you know? If a man and a woman stay in the same hotel room for too long, the woman will get pregnant!"
Black lines formed on Draven's face when he heard her explanation. "Didn't we sleep an entire night inside the tree house? Did you forget that?"
Alexandria stiffened when she heard this. It was as though she had suddenly come back to her senses as she mumbled to herself in understanding, "So I was pregnant from yesterday?"
Draven's mouth twitched. He had no idea how to make this naive young lady understand this matter thoroughly.
After thinking for a while, he finally explained, "It's not what you think. For a woman to get pregnant, a man should touch her while they sleep. Since we didn't touch each other, you are safe."
Alexandria finally calmed down when she heard this. She hurriedly wiped her tears and smiled charmingly. "So there is such a condition also. Big sister didn't tell me about it."
Draven could only smile helplessly.
"Oh, you cut your hair. I have to say, you look even more handsome than before," Alexandria said as she noticed Draven's new hairstyle.
Draven touched his hair and nodded. "I also think so. By the way, what's your next plan?"
"I am going back to my master's place. Previously I sneaked out with my senior brothers without telling him, so I have to go back and apologize to him first," Alexandria replied.
"Those two young men I saw with you initially," Draven asked, thinking of the spear-wielder and the lightning cultivator from the battle against the Jade-Horned Tiger King, "were they your senior brothers?"
Alexandria nodded.
Draven remained silent for a moment and said, "Usually I don't have the habit of putting my nose in others' matters, but since it's you, I will give you some advice. Stay away from the spear-wielding young man. He is the type of fox who will do anything for his own survival."
Alexandria thought about how he had pushed her towards the tiger demon to save his own life and chuckled wryly. "That guy is my fiance. It was an arrangement by my father, but that won't be the case for long as I am not going to live the way he wants me to anymore."
"Well, that's a good decision. Anyway, let's meet again if we ever get a chance in the future. Also, don't forget to nurture your life-bound weapon well. According to the information I got from the Asura God's legacy, your Celestial Maiden Bow used to be the personal belonging of the famous god-level figure from the past called the White Maiden. Although I am not sure how strong she was, she was definitely not anyone mediocre since the Asura God himself mentioned her with respect," Draven reminded her as he prepared to leave.
Every life-bound weapon had to be nurtured by the spiritual chi and vital chi of the cultivator before it could take physical form and could be used by the cultivator. Both Draven's and Alexandria's weapons were now only at the illusory stage where they didn't even have a physical form, and it would take a long time of nurturing before they could be of any use.
"Are you leaving?" Alexandria asked with some reluctance in her tone.
Draven nodded as he thought about the Stonewills. "I have some matters to take care of. If I didn't act now, I probably wouldn't get a chance in the future."
"Can you give me your number so that we can contact each other?" Alexandria asked as she took out her phone from her storage ring.
Draven took the phone from her hand and saved his number before giving it back to her. "Eat something before you leave. The owner of this hotel is my friend, so just say my name at the reception and they will put the bill on my tab."
Alexandria nodded. After saying goodbye to her, Draven returned to the Hunter Guild and left the place on his Black Phantom. Now, with his improved senses, Draven felt as though the current Black Phantom could not even keep up with his running speed.
"It seems that I should also order a new custom-made Black Phantom soon," Draven mumbled to himself as his bike sped along the road at a speed far beyond any vehicle running beside it.
He first stopped at the Merchant Association. This place was also called the Merchant Guild and was the gathering place of all the reputable merchants in the 36th Stronghold. Although the things sold here were costly compared to outside, the quality was guaranteed.
Draven usually bought everything he needed from here since he always used quality goods even though they were expensive.
Unlike the Hunter Association, which was a large single-floor building, the Merchant Association was a massive five-floor building with each floor dedicated to different sections. The first floor was for the buying and selling of beast materials, the second floor was for cultivation techniques, the third floor was for weapons, the fourth for medicines, and the fifth floor was dedicated for other accessories like clothes and other miscellaneous items.
Draven first stopped at the third floor and bought a second-tier storage ring with a capacity of ten cubic meters. This was made from the space core extracted from a 10th-stage Ascended Realm beast and was of the best quality among the second-tier storage rings.
Next, he visited the fifth floor and bought several sets of second-tier clothes, all made of 10th-stage Ascended Realm beast materials. He also bought other necessities like dried rations and cooking utensils.
In total, all of this combined cost him 100 second-tier essence coins, which was a sum far beyond the spending range of most of the Ascended Realm cultivators in the 36th Stronghold. The balance on Draven's credit card was also reduced to just 50 first-tier essence coins, but Draven was not worried. With his level of strength, recovering his balance was just a matter of hunting in the forest for a while.
Author's Note: Essence coins are the currency used in this world. They are made by refining beast cores or other materials which contain essence chi. Cultivators can also absorb the pure essence inside these coins to cultivate, as it can be absorbed by anyone without worrying about which element they cultivate, since it is a highly concentrated form of elemental essence with no attribute mixed in it. As for the tier, it represents different realms; 1st tier means Mortal Realm and 2nd means Ascended Realm.