Chapter 18
Chapter 18.
The chat, which had been in an uproar, erupted into cheers at my appearance and instantly turned into a bidding war.
Just putting out pills always brings peace to the world. Conflicts and grudges arise because resources are scarce.
If fortuitous opportunities were everywhere, what would there be to fight over?
└Yao Immortal (444.4): Baby Jiaolong!! Show me what you saw!! And of course, welcome back!! Share the nudes!!
I gained another flash of insight.
I chuckled as I caught up with the Yao Immortals for the first time in ages, when...
A savory aroma wafted over from deeper inside the cave abode.
“Master! The feast is ready!”
With Seo Geum’s voice, a delicious smell hit my nose.
My first time emerging from seclusion in five years, a breakthrough in my cultivation, and a satisfying revenge against LotsaTails.
It felt like everything had come together to make this a perfect day.
I turned off the Yao Immortal Gallery notifications and, feeling content, gazed at the feast Seo Geum had brought out, complete with dishes and refreshments.
“You’re quite a good cook. Weren’t you the pampered darling of your clan?”
“My clan wasn’t that big. I helped my mother, so this much wasn’t difficult.”
Seeing Seo Geum smile brightly as she spoke made my heart feel warmer.
“Isn’t this too much food for just the two of us?”
“Ho Chung is here, too. And a feast should always have this much food!”
Seo Geum had a more generous hand than I’d expected.
“From the left, we have Snow-Peak Spirit Phoenix roast, cakes made with Emerald Cloud-Mud, and Nine-Turn Golden-Scaled Fish soup. For the appetizer, there’s a Purple Crystal Flower salad, and for medicinal wine, we have Fragrant Pearl Wine. I’ll explain each one as you try it.”
She seemed quite confident in her cooking.
Just looking at the spirit energy in all of it, I could tell these dishes had been made with precious ingredients.
The main dish was the golden-scaled fish soup.
Beside it was what looked like grilled deodeok, made by roasting ginseng roots. It smelled wonderful.
The cakes looked delicious, and the Purple Crystal Flower salad looked refreshing enough to whet my appetite.
“Well then... let’s try some.”
First, I reached for the Purple Crystal Flower salad, which looked like the lightest dish.
Crunch!
The moment it touched my teeth, clear, translucent juice burst in my mouth.
At first, it carried the sweet flavor of honey, but soon a crisp acidity tingled across my tongue, washing away the heavy, stale feeling in my stomach.
It wasn’t merely an appetizer. A clear, cool energy rose up my throat and seemed to refresh my very mind.
It was as if someone had splashed cold water over my brain, jolting me wide awake.
“This is delicious! What’s this refreshing feeling after that crunchy texture?”
At my genuine admiration, Seo Geum explained with a proud look.
“Purple Crystal Flowers only grow between the dew-catching rocks in the valley west of the cave abode, where the moonlight shines brightest. They say the flowers bloom just once every three years, heavy with purple dew. I picked tender stalks of Cold Star Herb, then lightly dressed them with spirit honey and White Lotus Herb powder. There’s no better appetizer for freshening your mouth and lifting your spirits.”
“Ooh...”
Her explanation was like something from a fine-dining chef, and it put me in a good mood for no reason.
I didn’t really understand the explanation, but it still made me feel good, right?
It made me feel like I was being treated!
Who wouldn’t like that?
Besides, these were all made with precious ingredients. The moment I ate them, warmth spread through my lower abdomen and my energy rose.
Every single one of them was practically a restorative elixir!
“Next is the Snow-Peak Spirit Phoenix roast. I obtained tender meat from a young spirit golden-winged bird raised in the icy winds of a ten-thousand-year snow mountain, then roasted it until golden, brushing it three times with juice made by simmering frost spirit herbs with the bones. The spirit herb juice carries the chill of the snowy peaks, banishing the meat’s gamey smell and leaving a lingering flavor with every bite.”
“Right, right~”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, no. I just got a little carried away.”
I tore off a piece of the golden-brown meat and a strip of snow ginseng and put them in my mouth.
Crisp!
The thin coating of spirit herb juice shattered with a crunch, releasing the hot, rich juices trapped inside to soak my tongue.
The meat was far denser than chicken or pheasant, yet it melted so tenderly I barely had to chew.
But there was a curious twist at the end: as I chewed, a subtle, spicy pine fragrance spread through my mouth.
“Mmm... Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the very definition of perfection! That sharp, tingling flavor is a work of art. So tasty, so tasty!”
Feeling my stomach fill with warmth, I picked up a piece of Emerald Cloud-Mud cake made from the tender heart of jade bamboo.
As soon as I bit into the round little cake, an astonishing texture unlike its appearance awaited me.
Stretch—!
The dough, soft and stretchy like cheese, clung to my teeth as I chewed. Then honey-soaked reishi mushroom powder, like black pearls, and the essence of a century-old he shou wu came gushing out.
Its rich, deep sweetness filled my mouth, then flowed along my meridians, warmly soothing the stiffened acupoints throughout my body as if massaging them with gentle hands.
“Wait, was it really possible to make something this delicious in a cultivation world? What on earth have I been eating all this time?!”
Finally, I pulled the long-awaited main dish toward me: Nine-Turn Golden-Scaled Fish soup, its golden scales simmered down until the broth turned milky white.
I scooped up the steaming broth, its spirit energy rising like gentle hot-spring water, and carefully let it flow into my mouth.
Slurp.
“……Ah.”
A gasp of admiration escaped me.
There wasn’t a trace of artificial flavor from salt or spices.
Only the true essence of the golden-scaled fish, which had absorbed spirit energy for hundreds of years, had melted perfectly into the broth.
As the hot, rich soup slid down my throat, warmth flared in my lower abdomen, just like sinking into a steaming hot spring.
It felt as if the fatigue and toxins that had accumulated during my seclusion were gently escaping through my pores.
And to top it all off...
I filled a cup to the brim with the pearl-colored Fragrant Pearl Wine Seo Geum had brewed herself and downed it in one go.
Whoosh—!
The clear, pure fragrance of lotus blossoms lingered in my nose, and a refreshing feeling washed over me as the eight extraordinary meridians throughout my body opened up.
The food and medicinal wine came together, blending into perfect harmony.
The trinity!!
The Three Thousand Great Daos!!
“T-the Great Dao is here!!”
That wasn’t the slightest bit of an exaggeration.
There was a Great Dao in Seo Geum’s cooking.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Master, I also offer you my congratulations once again on breaking through a minor realm.”
Seeing Seo Geum kneel demurely and bow her head, I felt full in both stomach and heart.
“Thank you. But where did you get all these ingredients?”
“I... found them after coming to Golden Ring Immortal Paradise. I brought them out because I wanted to help you, Master, even if only a little.”
“You found these on your own, not while we were out together? Why did you do that?”
“Because I wanted to celebrate you with things of my own.”
My heart gave a little throb!
I was touched.
How could anyone be so sweet?
I couldn’t rule out the possibility that her words and actions were calculated.
But I was still grateful, and a proper master should reward her for it.
“Seo Geum. I’ll reward you for guarding the cave abode and looking after me these past five years.”
I looked toward Ho Chung, the Immortal Wine Gourd Bug.
As if it understood what I meant, Ho Chung waddled over to Seo Geum and opened the stopper of its gourd.
Seo Geum bowed deeply, then took the cup I offered and accepted Ho Chung’s immortal wine.
“I don’t know if I should accept something so precious...”
She looked rather uneasy.
But Seo Geum had done more than enough to deserve it.
She’d more than earned the right to drink a little of Ho Chung’s immortal wine.
And she’d be even more helpful from now on.
‘Even if I drank all of Ho Chung’s wine myself, it wouldn’t help me make much of a breakthrough.’
Most pills and elixirs build up a resistance, and the same was true here.
Unless Ho Chung’s immortal wine rose to a higher grade, it wouldn’t make a particularly significant difference for me.
So it would be better to give it to Seo Geum as a reward.
‘It’s still wine, after all. There must be a reason Ho Chung only offered me a sip.’
Overindulgence was just another form of greed.
If I got greedy, like the high official in the story who drank himself younger until he became a baby and disappeared, I might bring disaster upon myself.
I’d get to keep up appearances as her master, and Seo Geum would become even more loyal.
Someone who proves their worth...
Deserves a reward.
“Go on, try it. You’ll like it.”
“But, Master, shouldn’t we clean up first?”
“I can clean up.”
“I-I can’t let you do that! You can’t be the one to clean up, Master.”
Even when I told her it was fine, she stubbornly refused.
That only made me feel more generous.
It was only natural, given our relationship, but I’d lived alone for so long that this was the first time anyone had treated me like this.
I was just overwhelmed with emotion, and the tears wouldn’t stop!
“Is that so? Then let’s eat first. Once we’ve cleaned everything up, I’ll stand guard for you.”
“Th-that...”
“I said it was a reward. If you worked hard, you deserve one.”
After we’d enjoyed the entire feast and cleaned up, Seo Geum entered seclusion.
“I wonder how many years it’ll take.”
I knew what the immortal wine could do.
Seo Geum would probably spend a few years in seclusion, raising and consolidating her cultivation. I was already looking forward to seeing her when she emerged.
‘Surely she won’t reach the Third Realm all at once.’
Since I’d risen two minor stages, she’d probably only break through two minor stages of the Second Realm herself.
Even that would be an incredible fortuitous opportunity, so she’d be satisfied.
“Well, then. Maybe I’ll do some training in the workshop for the first time in a while.”
It was time to check the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder Diagram again, along with the winged insect and my alchemy.
Besides, I needed to inspect the storage pouch belonging to the Ghost Gate Sect elder who’d come here last time, as well as examine the spells, cultivation methods, magical artifacts, and so on that they’d carried.
Of course, it was only natural to check my spoils.
But first, it was right to review my own cultivation.
First up, the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder Diagram.
“The Purple Cloud Divine Thunder Diagram is still the same. Maybe because it’s a body-cultivation art, I don’t make much progress unless I train my body. On the spell side, I think I’ll make a big leap once I form more thunder nodes.”
I needed to take my time forming Purple Cloud Thunder nodes throughout my acupoints, link them together, and create a circuit.
That would let me accumulate Purple Thunder, then use the thunder I’d gathered to form the Dao.
My physical techniques would naturally reach the second star with time, but I’d probably need to set aside time to train my spells. Even so, my cultivation had advanced so much that it didn’t seem like it would be too difficult.
‘It’s become easier to summon and control my yao power.’
Thanks to that, it had become much easier to draw out the power of my innate bloodline.
Accumulating Purple Cloud Thunder qi had become easier, so forming thunder nodes was much less of a strain.
Early in my cultivation, I’d barely managed to form one thunder node near my inner core.
It seemed I’d be able to form another one in a week.
I sat cross-legged, recited the Purple Cloud Thunder Art, and began circulating my yao qi through the Small Heavenly Circuit.
The Small Heavenly Circuit flowed much more easily than before, and thunder qi crackled throughout my acupoints, giving me a pleasant tingling sensation.
How much time had passed?
Even a brief session of seated meditation seemed to have lasted several days.
‘Done.’
And I reached the second star of the Purple Cloud Thunder Art.
