“Ding! Limited-time disciple quest for Fourth Disciple activated: Within one month, help Fourth Disciple Baili step into Half-step Supreme!”
The notification faded.
“Finally, another disciple-rearing quest,” Lu Xuan muttered, a hint of exasperation in his tone. “But Baili really does need to reach Half-step Supreme.”
The Supreme Path was about to open… wait, where the hell was that third disciple messing around? How could the Supreme Path open without him? Even the Bronze Ancient Palace was nowhere to be found. No trace of him in the Southern Wilds!
Lu Xuan suspected the third disciple had long since bolted from the Primordial Star. That guy was just too sneaky. Back in the Bronze Ancient Palace, he could’ve refined it himself, but he still needed Lu Xuan’s help. “But this is fine too,” Lu Xuan mused. “It gives Ji Fuyao, Ye Chen, and Baili more time to develop.” His true cultivation was still Half-step Supreme; once Baili broke through, he could enter Quasi-Dao Supreme!
Inside the cottage, it was almost all Ji Fuyao talking.
“Junior Sister, understand?”
“Mhm.”
“Learned it?”
“Mhm.”
Before long, Ji Fuyao, in her fiery red dress, emerged from the cottage, smiling sweetly at Lu Xuan. “Master, Junior Sister’s cooking is definitely going to be delicious.”
Lu Xuan chuckled. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Inside the cottage, after Ji Fuyao left, Xuanji Holy Lord suddenly realized that cooking wasn’t as simple as it looked. That was because when Ji Fuyao demonstrated, her power was pure and refined, making control over Spirit Fire relatively easy. But for her, the difficulty immediately doubled, then doubled again, and again. Her innate power was Xuanji’s Art, but she still had Eerie Power and Ominous Power within her. She had to maintain a balance between these three powers. For her current self, with the help of the Dao of Eerie Scripture, just maintaining the balance of these three powers within her body was already incredibly difficult. But now she was cooking, which required power output. The self-consistency of power within her internal world was entirely different from the balance required for power output. The latter was simply too hard. Crucially, this wasn’t combat. If it were combat, she’d just unleash all three powers at once and obliterate her enemies. But this was cooking. If she made Master and the others sick, that wouldn’t be good. So she felt Lu Xuan was absolutely right. “Cooking is alchemy!” “If you can’t even cook, what’s the point of cultivating?”
Xuanji Holy Lord’s jade-like hands fumbled. She felt that cooking was infinitely harder than cultivation! Today’s dishes were Stir-fried Giant Pig, Boiled Kun Fish… Cooking was difficult; the challenge lay in controlling power. She was already doing her best.
An hour later, Ji Fuyao came outside the cottage and asked, “Junior Sister, how’s it coming along?” Just as she was about to enter, she hit a wall. She had run into a Sealing Restriction. Boom! The brilliant Sealing Restriction surged like a river of stars, tightly enclosing the cottage.
Ji Fuyao was dumbfounded. “Uh… was it really necessary to set up a heaven-reaching Sealing Restriction just to cook a meal?”
At this moment, Xuanji Holy Lord’s voice came from inside the cottage. “Not ready.”
Another hour passed. Ji Fuyao returned to check, but the cottage was still sealed by the Sealing Restriction.
“Ready yet?”
“Not ready.”
Ji Fuyao: “…” Could it be that Fourth Junior Sister was secretly increasing the difficulty?
Another hour passed. Ji Fuyao finally couldn’t hold back and asked, “Junior Sister, how about you open the cottage?”
“No.”
Divine brilliance flickered in Ji Fuyao’s eyes. She soared into the sky, summoning the Ultimate Emperor Weapon Howling Heaven. “Boom!” “Heaven-Burning Art!” Boundless, surging flames erupted around her, blazing fiercely, transforming into a vast ocean of fire that seemed to incinerate the heavens and boil the seas. It dyed the void crimson, its momentum terrifying as she unleashed her supreme power. Whoosh! The Ultimate Emperor Weapon Howling Heaven, imbued with the undying will inherited from the Flame Ancestor, surged with overwhelming power, reflecting in the void like a crimson dragon, stabbing directly towards the cottage. Break the array!
Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes from the recliner. He was utterly dumbfounded. “What the hell? He’d only taken a two-hour nap. Why was Ji Fuyao attacking the cottage? What in the world was happening?”
Boom! A heaven-reaching sea of Spirit Fire surged, hundreds of zhang high, crashing down upon the cottage, but the cottage’s Sealing Restriction remained unmoving. This commotion immediately alarmed all the peaks of the Grand Dao Sect. Many Peak Masters wore looks of utter confusion.
The Body Refinement Peak Master asked, “What’s going on? Is there an enemy in the cottage?”
The Misty Peak Master smiled faintly. “Uh… I don’t understand.”
The Sword Peak Master stood atop a Spirit Sword, hands clasped behind his back, and said calmly, “Actually, there’s no need to be surprised. Whatever happens on Azure Mystery Peak is always perfectly reasonable.”
Everyone: “…”
At this moment, Xuanji Holy Lord’s voice finally came from inside the cottage. “It’s ready.”
Ji Fuyao retracted the Ultimate Emperor Weapon Howling Heaven, biting her delicate lip. “Junior Sister, my apologies, I got a bit carried away.”
Lu Xuan shook his head faintly. What a commotion.
Boom! The Sealing Restriction above the cottage slowly opened.
Seeing this, Ji Fuyao immediately went to call Ye Chen. Ye Chen, in his white robe, emerged from his cave dwelling like the wind. His face was full of anticipation. Lu Xuan also slowly sat down at the stone table. Ji Fuyao and Ye Chen also sat down, their faces filled with anticipation.
Ji Fuyao looked into the depths of the void. “Third Junior Brother isn’t here, we’re missing someone.”
Ye Chen suddenly called out to the void, “Third Junior Brother, stop pretending! Come down and eat!”
No one responded.
Ye Chen rubbed his nose, pretending nothing had happened.
Ji Fuyao smiled faintly, her beautiful face radiant. “Third Junior Brother is probably not even in the Southern Wilds right now.”
Ye Chen simply said, “Oh.”
From the cottage, Xuanji Holy Lord emerged, carrying a platter. Three dishes and one soup: Stir-fried Giant Pig, Boiled Kun Fish, Spicy Spirit Tiger, Black Chicken Soup… Xuanji Holy Lord carefully placed the platter on the stone table. Each dish was covered by a Sealing Restriction, evolving into brilliant Spirit Runes, making it impossible to see inside.
Ye Chen excitedly rubbed his hands. “So mysterious? It must be a grand feast! I’m going to devour it today!”
Lu Xuan suddenly felt a bad premonition. Could it be…? He suddenly remembered the Eerie Power and Ominous Power within Xuanji Holy Lord. He understood. Perhaps it was better not to eat this meal…
Ji Fuyao said with a laugh, “Junior Sister, hurry and open it! It’s your first time cooking, no matter how bad it tastes, we can accept it! I remember the first time I made Fire Dragon meat, Master’s evaluation was ‘passable’.”
Ye Chen recalled, “Master’s evaluation of my cooking was also ‘still edible’.”
Hearing this, Xuanji Holy Lord seemed to gain some courage. With a gentle wave of her jade hand, she opened the Sealing Restrictions. A fragrant aroma wafted out. Ji Fuyao and Ye Chen carefully observed the three dishes and one soup. It had to be said, the presentation was quite good. It looked delicious.
Lu Xuan immediately activated his Insight Eye. After a thorough inspection, he confirmed that the dishes were not contaminated with Eerie Power or Ominous Power. That was already good enough.
Ji Fuyao smiled sweetly and said to Lu Xuan, “Master, please eat first.”
Lu Xuan’s face twitched. An idea sparked in his mind. He picked up a small piece of Stir-fried Giant Pig. The moment he took a bite, he wanted to punch someone. It was utterly disgusting! It smelled good, but tasted awful. The three Heaven and Earth Wonders had undergone a bizarre transformation, layering into an incredibly strange flavor. He then picked up a piece of Boiled Kun Fish. “Ugh…” Out of ten points, this dish scored negative one.
Ji Fuyao and Ye Chen asked curiously, “Master, is it delicious?”
Lu Xuan served a piece to Ji Fuyao and Ye Chen each, then forced himself to say, “Super delicious! Really!”