The hotel on Snowfall Planet has its own unique charm, looking from afar like an enormous ice sculpture—impressive, beautiful, and somehow chilling.
However, once inside, it’s surprisingly warm.
Those massive beings also take on human form when they enter the hotel.
“What would you like to eat?”
Ruan Qingran handed over the menu, showcasing the specialties of this icy world: a variety of seafood and exotic meats.
Rare fish, shrimp, and other shellfish delicacies are surprisingly affordable here, while fruits and vegetables are notably more expensive.
But right now, Ruan Shu is a seafood-loving little cat.
She ordered a shrimp larger than herself and a clam several times bigger than her own face—both unique to Snowfall Planet, tasting sweet and fresh, even raw.
When it comes to the effect of X pollutants, it might be fortunate that they don’t seem to alter the taste of these ingredients.
If they did, the food industry in this world wouldn’t be thriving so vibrantly; if the food tasted terrible, people might as well stick to nutrient packs.
Because of this, many people take the risk of potential contamination just to enjoy gourmet food. They figure they’ve lived this long—if they die from contamination, so be it. A life filled with only nutrient packs is a fate worse than death.
Especially for carnivorous star beasts; a life without meat, limited to nutrient packs, has no appeal to them whatsoever.
Even though natural ingredients may carry more pollutants than nutrient packs, it doesn’t dampen their passion for eating real meat.
Take the Ruan family members here, for instance, as well as a certain dragon.
Ruan Shu has even fewer concerns in this regard; no matter what or how much she eats, her Jingshen remains unaffected by contamination.
“Add two North Sculpted Fish, five Snow Prawns, and five White Dragon Crabs to the order,” she continued.
The North Sculpted Fish is as large as an orca, the Snow Prawns—like the one Ruan Shu ordered—are practically as big as she is, and the White Dragon Crab is roughly the size of a dolphin. If those long legs were fully extended, they’d be even longer than a dolphin!
Ruan Shu: “…”
There’s no way I can even finish one shrimp.
Another day of marveling at her brothers’ enormous appetites, but this time was truly exceptional. The room was nearly filled with the towering stacks of food when it arrived!
Then, she witnessed Almer’s true appetite, far surpassing even her brothers’.
While she was nibbling on her shrimp, her gaze remained fixed on Almer.
She watched in astonishment as he elegantly polished off a fish larger than the table, leaving only a neat skeleton behind in mere moments.
She couldn’t help but glance surreptitiously at his stomach a few times.
After eating so much, it showed no signs of change!
After that enormous fish, he still managed to eat ten scallops, two giant shrimp, and a crab.
Ruan Shu swore she saw him accidentally bite off a bit of crab shell, but he simply paused briefly and then, unfazed, began crunching through the shell as if it were a casual snack.
Watching him eat so effortlessly, Ruan Shu hesitantly tried to crack open her own crab shell. Her fingers turned red from the effort, but the shell remained stubbornly intact.
Ruan Shu rubbed her sore fingers and could only marvel at the sheer strength of star beasts, except for herself, of course.
Everyone present seemed completely unfazed by Almer’s massive appetite.
Even the waiter calmly cleared away the remnants and left.
Ruan Shu, cuddling her soft little Pink Maiden, rested for the night and was ready the next morning to set off with her brothers in search of Edelweiss.
“Based on the latest information, there’s an Edelweiss patch in Snow Region No. 1, but that area is inhabited by an SS-class Ice Jiao, two King Bears with cubs, and there’s a high likelihood of passing through Snow Wolf territory along the way.”
These are all high-level exotic beasts, so even though Edelweiss grows there, very few people are willing to venture into such territory. Even large mercenary teams must make thorough plans and preparations; otherwise, they’d just end up as food for the beasts.
Exotic beasts differ from star beasts.
Star beasts are intelligent species with their own civilizations and histories.
Exotic beasts, on the other hand, cannot take human form and lack intelligence, acting primarily on primal instincts embedded in their bloodlines.
The simplest way to distinguish exotic beasts from star beasts is that star beasts with intelligence and civilization do not eat their own kind, but exotic beasts do.
In their world, they see no such boundaries—there are only kin and food.
Some exotic beasts even engage in intra-species conflict, killing and devouring their own.
Of course, star beasts are also on the exotic beasts’ menu.
Similarly, exotic beasts are considered fair game by star beasts.
So, the relationship between star beasts and exotic beasts could be summed up as mutually being on each other’s menus.
However, like star beasts, exotic beasts are massive and immensely powerful. They also possess a unique advantage: almost every exotic beast is born with an innate magical ability, a bloodline gift.
Put simply, exotic beasts are natural-born magicians.
Some scientists have even theorized that exotic beasts and star beasts may share a common ancestral origin, diverging into two distinct branches over time.
Star beasts gained intelligence and civilization but lost their bloodline abilities, and now only a rare few can awaken latent powers from their bloodlines.
Exotic beasts, however, retained their raw animalistic nature along with their innate abilities.
This theory sounds reasonable, but so far, no substantial evidence has been found, though many people still believe it.
In terms of physical advantage, star beasts don’t really have much over exotic beasts; they rely mostly on advanced technology and high-powered weapons.
But exotic beasts have magic.
In the end, it all balances out.
Since the area where Edelweiss grows is teeming with exotic beasts and is inherently dangerous, hardly anyone ventures there.
But for the Ruan brothers, blessed with qilin bloodlines, and a certain powerful dragon, there was nothing to fear!
After packing her little backpack, Ruan Shu grabbed her brothers’ hands and set off on this grand adventure with them.
She felt both a bit anxious and very excited.
Her eyes sparkled the entire way. Even in a world blanketed with snow, pure and white, nothing could dampen the wonder in her gaze.