Xiang Yu approached the ruins of his newly built house, where Li Yao stood examining the debris. Her eyes widened with surprise as she noticed him.
"Senior brother, you built a new house?" she asked, gesturing toward the scattered remnants.
"Yeah, but it was destroyed," Xiang Yu replied, surveying the damage caused by the talisman explosion. He made a mental note to repair it when he had the chance.
Concern flashed across Li Yao's face. "Were you hurt? Is everything okay?" In an instant, she materialized directly in front of him, crossing the distance so swiftly that he hadn't even registered her movement.
Xiang Yu blinked in astonishment. Her speed surpassed even the Core Formation cultivator he had faced—and not by a small margin. Despite his recent breakthrough in cultivation, the gap between them remained vast. He had believed he might catch up to her now that he could cultivate properly, but he couldn't even track her movements with his eyes. Was this truly the level of a cultivation genius?
He released a soft sigh. "No, I'm alright."
Li Yao opened her mouth to press for details, but their conversation was interrupted as Elder Guo and Elder Huang descended from the sky, landing beside them. To Xiang Yu's bewilderment, Elder Huang was carrying Elder Guo in her arms like a princess.
"Martial nephew, you have to help senior brother!" Elder Huang exclaimed, her voice urgent and breathless. Elder Guo, thoroughly mortified by his position, buried his face in his hands, unwilling to make eye contact with his disciples.
Elder Huang attempted to bow to Xiang Yu, but he quickly stopped her. "Calm down," he said gently. "Just explain what's going on."
"That's right," she nodded, catching her breath. "Your master overexerted his golden core. It was already injured before, but now it's burst completely, and he's lost all his cultivation." Her voice trembled as she continued, "Now that he's lost all his cultivation, he'll start aging again. Since he's exhausted all his mortal lifespan..." She hesitated, her voice breaking slightly. "He won't live for long."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she spoke. "Senior brother said before that his qi pathways had healed when he ate your food. Since his spiritual root is still there, if his qi pathways are repaired, he should be able to cultivate once again." She tugged desperately at Xiang Yu's clothing, her eyes glistening with tears. "Please help me."
Xiang Yu gently detached her fingers from his clothes, taking her hands in his with a reassuring smile. "Martial aunt doesn't need to be so polite," he said warmly. "He's my master. Of course I'll help him."
Her face crumpled at his words, and she began sobbing openly. "Senior brother really took in nice disciples," she thought to herself. One was a genius who had saved the sect, and the other was also a genius who would now save him. This was how it should be—someone as kind as her senior brother would never be abandoned by the heavens.
"Umm, can you let me down now?" Elder Guo asked, still cradled in Elder Huang's arms.
"No! You're a mortal now," Elder Huang protested. "What if you trip and fall to your death?"
Elder Guo nearly coughed blood at this ridiculous suggestion. "How is that even possible? If that were true, wouldn't all mortals have died long ago?"
"Master, you should listen to martial aunt," Xiang Yu advised with a barely concealed smile.
Li Yao approached their master, patting his head affectionately. "Master, it's okay. We won't make fun of you," she said, her tone playful.
Elder Guo stretched out his hand toward her. "You brat, do you think I can't punish you?" But Li Yao instantly vanished, reappearing safely behind Xiang Yu.
With a defeated sigh, Elder Guo closed his eyes. "Hmph, I'll let it go for now. I'm not that petty to argue with you kids." Privately, though, he vowed to discipline his unruly disciples once he recovered. How dare they make fun of their weakened master!
...
"Junior sister, go and catch some meat. I'll prepare the herbs," Xiang Yu instructed, already mentally planning the meal he would create.
Li Yao pointed toward a distant section of the partially destroyed house. "Senior brother, I saw some meat over there. Shouldn't we cook that?"
Xiang Yu followed her gesture and instantly panicked, his eyes widening in alarm. "Wait, you didn't kill them, did you?" The thought of his carefully maintained livestock being slaughtered made his heart skip a beat.
"No, I just sensed them with my qi sense," she replied casually.
Relief washed over Xiang Yu's face as he exhaled slowly.
Li Yao tilted her head, curiosity evident in her expression. "Is something wrong with them?"
"Well, no," he admitted, composing himself. "But those are not for eating. They're for domestication." He spoke the last word with particular emphasis, hoping she would understand the distinction.
"What's the difference?" Li Yao asked, genuinely perplexed. In her mind, meat was meat, regardless of its source.
Xiang Yu carefully explained, "These are for emergencies, so we'll have something to eat if the mountain ever runs out of food."
Li Yao's confusion only deepened, her brows furrowing slightly. "If the mountain ever ran out of food, I would just go look for it on another mountain," she declared proudly, crossing her arms with a self-satisfied expression. "Senior brother need not concern himself with such a thing."
Xiang Yu could only facepalm. How could someone so extraordinarily talented in cultivation be so utterly clueless about basic survival principles?
With a patient smile, he reached out and gently patted her head, his fingers lightly tousling her silky hair. "Junior sister is really reliable," he acknowledged. "But you won't always be here. Do you want your senior brother to starve to death when you aren't around to catch food?"
She fell silent, her expression growing serious as she contemplated this scenario. After a moment of deep thought, she nodded slowly. Xiang Yu felt a small sense of accomplishment, believing his explanation had finally penetrated her understanding. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
"Then go and catch meat," he directed, making a shooing motion with his hands. "Bring as much as you can. We're having a feast as promised."
Li Yao's eyes lit up with excitement. "Senior brother, does that mean..." she began eagerly.
Before she could finish, Xiang Yu pressed a finger gently against her lips. "Shh," he whispered, leaning closer. "It's a surprise for master and martial aunt, so don't say anything."
Her eyes brightened even more, sparkling with childlike delight. Without another word, she took to the air, her form blurring as she flew away with extraordinary speed.
Xiang Yu watched her disappear into the distance, a contemplative expression settling on his face. He reflected on his tendency toward secrecy—a survival strategy that had served him well thus far. But perhaps it had its limitations. He couldn't hide everything forever, especially from those closest to him.
If he had revealed some of his capabilities earlier, he might have alerted the sect to Elder Mei's treacherous plans. This time, his master had survived the ordeal, but what about next time?
He didn't need to reveal everything—just enough to establish some credibility among his inner circle. And he knew exactly where to start.
Xiang Yu walked toward the kitchen—not the one in his destroyed house, but the common kitchen of the pavilion. As he stepped inside, he realized it had been quite some time since he'd last used this space.
A small smile played across his lips. Today, he would reveal one secret he had carefully hidden until now: his 4th grade cooking skill...
...
Since he had resolved to start revealing some of his abilities, Xiang Yu decided to begin with his cooking skills. Rather than experimenting to determine what level of cooking could fully restore his master's qi pathways, he would simply prepare the best meal possible. He couldn't continue hiding his abilities when his master's life was in danger, and he already had a plausible explanation prepared for how he had achieved such mastery.
His junior sister didn't disappoint, returning with ten wild boars. Xiang Yu chose to domesticate five of them for future needs, keeping his emergency food supply intact, and prepared the others for the feast. With his fourth-grade cooking skills, the preparation seemed effortless. Even his junior sister, who had come to assist, found herself standing idle as she watched him work with fluid precision.
"Senior brother, you've improved even more since the last time," she remarked, observing his practiced movements.
Xiang Yu continued stirring the fragrant herbs as he replied, "Of course, I've been practicing." After a momentary pause, he asked, "Did you use what I gave you?"
Li Yao nodded enthusiastically. "That's right, thanks a lot. I really thought I was going to die back then."
Xiang Yu smiled to himself, thinking she was probably exaggerating. How could a main character like her truly face death? She likely meant she was about to starve and had used his food as a mere snack.
As they chatted, Xiang Yu continued his preparations. In just an hour, he had completed an array of dishes that would have taken ordinary chefs an entire day.
"Go tell martial aunt that it's ready," he instructed, and Li Yao departed eagerly.
Xiang Yu carefully arranged the dishes in the dining area, carrying platters loaded with spirit-infused delicacies. As he worked, he reflected on how different this felt from cooking for himself.
When preparing meals in his personal kitchen, he cooked mechanically, focused solely on cultivation benefits. But when creating dishes for his junior sister, master, and martial aunt, he found himself investing genuine care into each preparation. This feeling was strange but he didn't dislike it.
After placing the final dish on the table, he stepped back to admire his work. The arrangement was perfect—each dish positioned to complement the others, steam rising in delicate wisps that carried enticing aromas throughout the pavilion.
Li Yao soon returned with Elder Guo and Elder Huang. Xiang Yu noticed immediately that his master was walking independently, having refused to be carried again. Despite this show of dignity, the signs of accelerated aging were already becoming visible on his features.
The skin around his eyes had developed fine lines that hadn't been there before, and his posture seemed slightly more stooped. Without his cultivation to sustain him, time was clearly exacting its toll. Xiang Yu silently hoped that this meal would help restore his qi pathways.
"Martial nephew, your skills have truly improved," Elder Huang marveled, inhaling deeply. "I can feel my cultivation strengthening just from the aroma alone."
"Martial aunt is right," Li Yao added excitedly. "Senior brother has really improved. I was amazed watching him work."
Xiang Yu smiled at their praise before turning his attention to Elder Guo. Everyone followed his gaze, staring expectantly at the master.
"What?" Elder Guo retorted defensively, shifting uncomfortably under their scrutiny.
When they continued looking at him without speaking, he finally relented with a dismissive shrug. "Well, I guess it's alright," he conceded grudgingly.
Everyone burst into laughter at his response. This elder was truly a tsundere through and through—even facing mortality couldn't change his stubborn personality.
...
Everyone settled around the table, but they didn't begin eating immediately. All eyes remained fixed on Elder Guo. Since the feast had been prepared primarily for him they wanted him to take the first bite. More importantly, they anxiously awaited evidence that the food might restore his damaged qi pathways.
Feeling their expectant gazes, Elder Guo finally relented. He lifted his spoon, hesitating for just a moment before taking a bite of the spirit-infused dish.
The effect was instantaneous. The moment the food touched his tongue, it exploded into pure spiritual energy. Qi surged wildly through his body, flowing like a raging river seeking its natural course. He felt the energy rush into his damaged qi pathways, the sensation both foreign and achingly familiar.
Where there had been emptiness, energy now flowed. Where pathways had been shattered, new channels formed. The process was exponentially faster than his previous experience with Xiang Yu's cooking. Within seconds his entire network of qi pathways had been restored.
Unable to contain himself, Elder Guo began taking larger bites, shoveling the food into his mouth with uncharacteristic abandon. The sensation of qi flowing through his body again after experiencing its absence was like a man dying of thirst finally reaching an oasis.
"Did it work?" Elder Huang asked eagerly, though she didn't wait for a verbal response. Her hands were already moving across his body as she injected a thin stream of qi to test his meridians.
Her expression transformed into a radiant smile—not her usual playful smirk, but genuine, unrestrained joy. "It worked. It really worked!" she exclaimed, voice trembling slightly with emotion. "Senior brother can cultivate again!"
Elder Guo swallowed his mouthful before tempering their excitement. "Don't be happy too soon," he cautioned. "Even if I can cultivate, the Qi Gathering stage only provides a lifespan of two hundred years. I'm nearly three hundred years old, so I've already exhausted my natural allotment."
His words cast a somber pall over the table, the earlier elation evaporating into silence.
"Way to kill the mood, old man," Elder Huang clicked her tongue disapprovingly. Her momentary vulnerability vanished, replaced by her usual sharp-tongued manner. "Just eat the food. With this much spiritual energy, if you can't form a Foundation, you might as well die."
Now that her senior brother showed signs of recovery, Elder Huang's typical demeanor had fully returned. Privately, she calculated his chances—absorbing qi, even from spiritual food, ultimately depended on talent. Her senior brother had been the most gifted cultivator of their generation, possessing a superior-grade spiritual root. He was what cultivators called a fifty-thousand-year genius. Since he only needed to rebuild to the Qi Gathering stage, if he continued eating food of this quality, he could likely reach Foundation Establishment within a week. That realm would grant him another three hundred years of life, providing ample time to reform his Golden Core.
Xiang Yu watched this exchange in stunned silence. Did they really expect Elder Guo to form a Foundation just by eating spirit food? Was his master truly so talented? The contrast only highlighted his own mediocrity. Despite possessing his experience-doubling system, he wasn't even halfway to forming a Foundation.
He could only console himself by stuffing his mouth with his own cooking, suddenly feeling like the only non-genius at the table.
...
Author's Corner:
Some interesting stuff since the volume is ending:
[Name: Guo Shantian]
[Realm: Body: 12th Layer; Spirit: Qi Gathering 2nd Layer; Mind: Level 4]
[Species: Human]
[Spiritual Root: Superior-Grade Earth]
[Enlightenment: Superior]
[Professions: Blacksmith: 9th Grade]
...
[Name: Huang Fengqi]
[Realm: Body: 11th Layer; Spirit: Core Formation 2nd Layer; Mind: Level 3]
[Species: Human]
[Spiritual Root: High-Grade Fire]
[Bloodline: Phoenix]
[Enlightenment: Superior]
[Professions: Appraiser: 7th Grade]
...
[Name: Li Yao]
[Realm: Body: 16th Layer; Spirit: Core Formation 5th Layer; Mind: Level 2]
[Species: Human]
[Spiritual Root: Heavenly-Grade Lightning and Ice]
[Enlightenment: Heavenly]