Jing Qian gazed at the Boat of Reincarnation rushing toward him, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.
This was a supreme sect treasure, one that only mid-tier Yanfu Disciples of the Middle Three Realms were normally allowed to use.
It was both an immense privilege and a cultivation boon.
Riding the Boat of Reincarnation across the Sea of Primordial Qi allowed a cultivator to directly experience the essence of each layer of elemental qi, vastly deepening their comprehension.
That understanding would later reflect upon and refine one's Immortal Qi, granting every Yanfu Disciple a powerful head start when ascending to the Star-Seizer Realm.
For Jing Qian, however, this was something unprecedented; he was the first Longevity-Realm cultivator ever to set foot on this sacred vessel.
As he stepped aboard, he immediately sensed a peculiar, otherworldly power rising from the boat and enveloping his body.
That divine blessing allowed him to safely enter and explore the deeper layers of the Sea of Primordial Qi without being overwhelmed.
Channeling his mana, Jing Qian propelled the boat forward.
The Boat of Reincarnation shot across the vast sea, gliding through the layer of Yang Qi, then piercing the Ghost Qi, and after that the Violet Thunder Qi, before plunging toward an even deeper stratum.
This next layer was of Yin nature, dense, heavy, and suffused with the aura of decay.
The moment Jing Qian entered, an oppressive funereal chill wrapped around him.
Without the boat's protection, this Mourning Qi would have eroded him completely and cast him out of the Sea.
But with the divine vessel shielding him, he was able to remain suspended within it, quietly feeling the resonance of this morbid energy and sinking into meditation.
Time lost all meaning. No one knew how long he remained there before a revelation dawned.
Jing Qian grasped the true essence of Mourning Qi.
The layer of the Sea of Primordial Qi attuned to his aura expanded, and he now commanded seven tiers of resonance.
When the day came for him to condense his Immortal Qi, he would already have seven layers of the Sea mapped and understood; in other words, he had started the race years ahead of everyone else.
He didn't hesitate. Passing through the Mourning Qi, he steered the boat into the next layer.
This new layer was of the Yang attribute, blazing hot.
The instant he entered, the burning air scoured away every trace of deathly Yin from his body until he felt as if he were aflame.
He began trying to comprehend the essence of this Flame Qi, but this time, progress was slow.
His cultivation was still too low; the insight into Mourning Qi had already consumed most of his spiritual strength and divine sense.
After a short while, he reached his limit.
Darkness closed over his vision, and he was forcibly expelled from the Sea of Primordial Qi.
When his consciousness returned to the physical world, he found his Life Essence nearly depleted, drained to the brink of exhaustion, yet his Life Power had increased by a full thousand units.
Jing Qian was overjoyed.
The section on the Sea of Primordial Qi within the Yanfu "Cycle of Reincarnation: Nether Path Scripture" was indeed miraculous; its navigation method truly enabled early cultivation of Immortal Qi.
He had spent 22,000 units of Blue-Blood Life Essence to comprehend one layer of Mourning Qi and gained a thousand Life-Power units in return, an exceptional exchange.
Now, boundless energy surged into him from both the physical world and the Void Realm, rapidly replenishing what he had spent.
By directly absorbing Primordial Qi instead of burning it into Fate Fire first, he had skipped an entire stage, and the conversion efficiency soared.
For him, exploring the Sea of Primordial Qi was by far the most cost-effective path of cultivation.
At present, Jing Qian carried fifteen Heavenly Fates, giving him a theoretical mana capacity of 150,200 units of Blue-Blood Life Essence.
Yet he had filled less than one-sixth of that total.
Once, the idea of ever reaching full capacity would've been a fantasy.
But now, thanks to the Boat of Reincarnation, he could glimpse a sliver of hope.
When he finally awoke from this exhilarating round of cultivation, he realized he was nearing the domain of Tidal Coral.
He refrained from further practice, instead sitting cross-legged at the bow, quietly waiting.
Beneath him lay a being both strange and magnificent, a Fourth-Rank Star-Seizer Coral Demon, whose true form spanned nearly two miles across the seabed.
Who would imagine that this dazzling coral reef, glowing in every color of the sea, could cultivate Dao and ascend to such heights?
Legends said that the site where it grew had once been the union of a Second-Rank Dragon God and a Third-Rank Mermaid.
The coral, nourished by their mingled essence, had accidentally gained sentience and stepped onto the path of cultivation.
Jing Qian, however, cared little for legends.
What concerned him was simply how much profit this coral could yield.
With a light leap, he vanished once more into the dimensional void, diving straight toward the abyss.
After descending nearly a hundred li, he found it a breathtaking bloom of coral deep beneath the waves, radiant and resplendent, the dwelling place of the Tidal Coral Demon.
The body of that great demon was so vast that its edges vanished into the gloom, an expanse so enormous that an ordinary cultivator couldn't even tell where its organs lay, much less find its weak point.
But this was no obstacle for Jing Qian.
When he opened the Three-Lives Eye of Reincarnation, the flow of mana within the Tidal Coral's colossal body became clear.
The coral's innate talent was notably higher than that of the Mud Tuo Dragon; astonishingly, it possessed one Heavenly Fate.
That gave it two strands of Lesser Immortal Qi, and with its amplification art, the equivalent power of ten strands of Immortal Qi.
These strands coursed through a labyrinthine network within its body.
Under the gaze of the Three-Lives Eye, Jing Qian located sixty-four nodes where mana converged, each one a vital core, each one the equivalent of a self-contained organ system with its own miniature cycle of life.
Worse still, those cores did not remain fixed.
They drifted within the coral's immense body like floating palaces, endlessly shifting and intertwining.
Destroying a single core would do little good; it would neither kill the creature nor cripple it.
Instead, it would only drive it into a frenzy, hardening its defense and protecting the others even more.
To win, Jing Qian had to shatter all sixty-four cores at once.
The Three-Lives Eye spun faster and faster, simulating countless scenarios until every detail of the coral's inner structure was mapped.
Within the hidden dimension of Sumeru, Jing Qian adjusted his plan, then burst forth into the real sea.
He hovered ten li above the coral's massive body like a silent fish.
The Sumeru Ghost-Skin cloaked him entirely, sealing off every wisp of his aura.
In his hand gleamed the Immortal Sword Embryo, its black-jade blade infused with the powers of "Three-Thousand Calamities of the Sword" and "Pure Yang Calamity Lord."
Then he vanished.
At that same instant, sixty-four shadowy figures wielding blades appeared upon the coral's body.
Each one looked utterly solid yet shimmered like a mirage, as if existing between dream and reality.
But their swords were real, each strike thundered with the might of a world-ending storm as they drove their blades into the coral's flesh.
Every phantom stood precisely above one of the coral's qi-cores.
Each strike landed unerringly upon its heart.
In a single heartbeat, sixty-four mana explosions erupted across the depths of the Vast Sea, and the Tidal Coral perished.
A second Star-Seizer-rank sea demon fell beneath Jing Qian's blade, and another two hundred years of lifespan flowed into his account.
He had used his mastery of space to project his presence into sixty-four different coordinates, and at every one, he delivered a single full-powered strike.
To the naked eye, the movements were too swift to follow; it looked as though he had become sixty-four incarnations of himself, all slashing at once.
It was a new technique pushing spatial art to the extreme, and it harmonized perfectly with the Immortal Sword Embryo, unleashing devastating power.
Beneath him, the Tidal Coral's massive body collapsed into a radiant, mountain-sized carcass.
Even with its Immortal Qi greatly depleted, the corpse of a Star-Seizer was worth a fortune.
Jing Qian raised his hand, and more than forty ghostly servants fell from him like raindrops, spirits released from his Possession Technique.
They swarmed toward the coral's remains, gnawing eagerly.
A corpse of that size was cumbersome to harvest and hard to sell; better to feed it to his spirit minions to strengthen his army of Life Ghosts.
Taking advantage of the lull, Jing Qian stepped into the Void Realm and appeared beside Good Corn.
The little corn-spirit flailed its leaves excitedly.
"Master, you're finally here!
The bait's long been refined. I've been waiting for you to drop the line!"
It had been quite some time since Jing Qian last fished the void; with all his recent breakthroughs, Good Corn was itching to cast again.
Jing Qian took the dragon-shaped bait it handed over, hooked it carefully onto the Array Spike Spirit Construct, and smiled.
Compared with his first foray into void-fishing, his equipment had undergone a full revolution.
His hook was now a Fifth-Rank Spirit Construct, brimming with power; the bait, a chunk of genuine dragon flesh, was as premium as it got.
The Causal Line had been enhanced through the Three-Lives Eye, greatly amplifying its sensitivity.
And since Good Corn had become his bonded Spirit Construct, their coordination was seamless heart to heart.
As for the Immortal Sword Embryo in his grip, it served as a first-rate fishing rod.
Whether or not they caught anything was another matter, but his gear setup was now the dream of every void-angler.
He had two good coordinates for casting:
On the Half-Sky Sea, a training spot gifted by the original Corn; the other was the strange location sent back from Pure Yang Heaven by Elder Bamboo Cloud.
Of the two, the Bamboo Cloud coordinate intrigued him more.
Everything was ready.
Time for his third cast into the void.
Under Good Corn's expectant gaze, Jing Qian wrapped the Array Spike in countless threads of karma, linked it to the Sumeru Source, and flicked his finger, sending the glowing hook plunging into the cross-currents of time and space.
The dragon-meat bait, already infused with Bamboo Cloud's coordinates, drifted through the junction of worlds, following its spiritual scent toward the realm of Great Black Heaven.
Jing Qian's Three-Lives Eye opened wide, tracking the causal line deep into the void.
He saw it as a realm shrouded in shadow and darkness, and then, suddenly, a blazing light flared within it, so bright it stabbed painfully into his divine sight.
Good Corn, trembling with excitement, planted its leafy palms on the fishing line.
It was ready to unleash its family's legendary art, "Guerrilla Tactics of Rivers, Lakes, and Seas," to maneuver the bait and lure some enormous prey.
But then the line beneath its leaves suddenly turned white-hot.
Before it could react, the green palm-leaf caught fire!
An unbearable solar blaze raced down the causal thread toward them, an inferno so fierce it seemed about to blow the little corn-spirit into a puff of popcorn.
...
In the realm of Great Black Heaven, Bamboo Cloud and Luo Tian looked like two skewers roasting on a cosmic grill, one a blistered green pepper, the other a charred pig's trotter. A balanced pairing of meat and vegetables.
Both were third-rank Heaven-Mending cultivators, beings of tremendous power. Yet, trapped at the heart of the solar furnace within Great Black Heaven, they had endured this torment for over a thousand years.
If not for Luo Tian, once the Head Chef of the Kitchen King Sect, master of fire control, and wielder of the Great Demon Cauldron, a spirit construct specialized in storing flames, they would have been roasted to ashes long ago.
Even so, both were nearly at their limits. Luo Tian's cauldron was filled to the brim with the seething solar flames that saturated this infernal world.
Outside the solar core lurked their nemesis, a first-rank Shadow Demon, an apex existence waiting patiently to erase them the moment they emerged.
No matter how formidable Bamboo Cloud was, he stood no chance against that creature.
Inside, the two fought a losing battle to hold back the endless blaze; every effort to relieve the pressure was almost meaningless.
Then suddenly, the Pure Yang Golden Eye between Bamboo Cloud's brows cracked open.
Through that divine sight, he saw it as a tiny fishhook, glimmering faintly, cutting through the layers of flame and void, heading straight toward him and Luo Tian.
That hook and its bait had braved countless dangers to enter Great Black Heaven, but they had reached the convergence of a hundred suns where infinite solar fire coalesced.
Bamboo Cloud could see clearly: the cultivator behind that line wasn't even at the Star-Seizer Realm.
There was no way the hook could withstand the surrounding firestorm.
And indeed, within a blink, the bait and line caught fire.
This, this was the chance Bamboo Cloud and Luo Tian had waited a millennium for!
They could not let it slip away.
Their minds linked in rapid divine exchange.
Luo Tian grumbled first:
"Bamboo old man, what's with this generation of Pure Yang Disciples? So weak! Can't even handle a little fire aura, what a waste of an opportunity."
Bamboo Cloud retorted:
"Weak? Hah! Could you fish the void at that level of cultivation?"
"Enough nonsense. Think fast. What's left of your Kitchen King arsenal that could help us? Let him fetch it."
Luo Tian's thoughts sharpened:
"When I was Head Chef, I left behind a pair of Gluttonous Wok Spatulas, forged from the same material as my cauldron."
"Tell your descendant to go to the Kitchen King Sect and borrow those spatulas.
They'll link to my cauldron form a channel to transmit fire."
"I can offload the excess flames and make room to hold out a bit longer."
Bamboo Cloud replied quickly:
"Then do it! Leave him your mana imprint so he can retrieve them fast."
The two veterans seemed to converse for a long while, but in truth, their exchange took no more than a flicker of thought.
Once they reached an agreement, Bamboo Cloud acted first. He flicked a streak of bamboo-green sword light, hooking the blazing fishhook and sending it back along its path.
...
Meanwhile, in the Void Realm, Jing Qian's third attempt at void fishing had ended in complete failure.
He had wasted a precious fourth-rank bait, caught nothing, and nearly gotten himself incinerated by a torrent of solar fire that chased the line back through space-time.
Jing Qian escaped with minor burns to his Three-Lives Eye, his divine vision still aching but otherwise intact.
Poor Good Corn, however, wasn't so lucky; half its glossy green leaves were scorched black, curling at the edges.
The little spirit sobbed pitifully, as though it had suffered the greatest injustice in the cosmos.
Jing Qian crouched beside it, consoling with a grin:
"Don't cry, Little Mi, this just means we've hit upon something good!"
Then he took the corn by the stalk and stepped out of the Void Realm.
"Little Mi, make a new bait from the coral corpse. I'll be right back."
With that, his divine eye opened once more. His vision stretched across the realms, locking onto the Chuan Continent, and in the next moment, he was gone.
The current Pure Yang heir of the Yanfu Lineage had arrived at the gates of the Kitchen King Sect.
This ancient sect, ranked fourth among all the great powers of Yingfutu World, was a breathtaking sight.
Atop a mountain that had been sheared flat halfway up stood a massive brass hotpot, ten li in diameter.
Within it lay the sect's core: an entire city of cultivators and common folk alike.
Rivers of molten lava flowed around it, feeding the flames that licked the base of the pot.
The toxic magma-fire of the ley lines was drawn into the great vessel, refined, and absorbed, sustaining the sect's lineage and keeping the city within eternally warm.
A quick sweep of Jing Qian's Three-Lives Eye revealed its nature:
[Spirit Construct: Hotpot Mountain]
Category: External Dao Moon
Rank: Third Grade
Requirement to Subdue: Kitchen King Sect's Fire Offering Ritual
The entire sect was built atop this colossal Spirit Construct.
All the leyline energy of Chuan Continent converged here, feeding the cauldron that nourished the sect's heritage.
Unlike the Pure Yang Heaven or Yanfu Dao, which had suffered calamities, the Kitchen King Sect had enjoyed centuries of peace.
Hotpot Mountain bustled with vitality, a famed sanctuary for cultivators, a paradise for gourmets, and a mecca for commerce.
Ascending a glassy staircase suspended above lava flows, Jing Qian stepped into the Hotpot City.
Instantly, he was enveloped by the intoxicating aroma of food and spice.
Everywhere he looked were teahouses, taverns, and street stalls thronged with both low-level cultivators and mortals.
Centuries of peace had cultivated a rich urban culture here; the city brimmed with laughter, chatter, and the clatter of chopsticks.
Jing Qian wandered through the lively streets, eyes widening at the sights, before refocusing on his mission.
The Three-Lives Eye had already locked onto his target.
Before long, he stopped in front of a bustling restaurant that occupied nearly a thousand square meters, brightly lit, spotless, and packed with customers.
A third of the space was taken up by an open kitchen, where dozens of chefs labored tirelessly before roaring fires.
Jing Qian strolled inside, found an empty table, glanced at the menu hanging on the wall, and beckoned a passing waiter.
"Waiter, bring me a plate of Stir-Fried Dragon Skin and one of Caramelized Spirit Yams."
He ordered two simple dishes and waited patiently.
Despite their grand names, Dragon Skin and Divine Yam, the ingredients were merely ninth-grade, affordable enough that even mortals could enjoy them.
While he waited, Jing Qian's gaze drifted toward one of the chefs in the kitchen.
The man was round-faced and cheerful, spinning his spatula through the air like a performer showing off. But Jing Qian's divine sight revealed his identity; the chef was none other than Luo Tian's descendant, Luo Tian, a core disciple of the Kitchen King Sect, the current inheritor of the Gluttonous Wok Spatulas.
A legitimate heir of the sect's main bloodline, successor to the Fire Offering, and a powerful Seventh-Rank Longevity cultivator, yet here he was, happily chopping vegetables and stir-frying in the back kitchen. The sight was oddly charming.
Jing Qian, well-read in the Book of World Refinement through Fire and Cooking, admired the sect's training philosophy, which stayed perfectly true to its roots.
Cooking, the common world, food, and life itself all were part of cultivation; to master the flavors of the world was to taste the Dao.
Before long, his dishes arrived. Though he hadn't eaten cooked food in ages, he took a few bites and was genuinely astonished.
Both dishes had been prepared by Luo Tian himself, and his skill surpassed anything Jing Qian had tasted in two lifetimes.
Without restraint, Jing Qian dug in until he was halfway through the meal.
By then, Luo Tian had changed out of his kitchen uniform into casual robes and came over, smiling broadly, to sit across from him.
"I didn't know a friend from Pure Yang Heaven, Daoist Chixiao, had come to visit. Please forgive me for not welcoming you properly. This meal is on me, and I'll personally cook you a couple of specialties afterward."
Jing Qian waved him off.
"No need. Your craftsmanship is superb. These two dishes are more than enough."
Then his tone turned formal.
"I've come to deliver a message to your sect's leadership, specifically from your forebear, Chef Luo Tian of old. Whether it's the Head Chef, the Fire-Offering Master, or the Counter-Master, anyone available will do.
I ask only that you help me pass the word."
Luo Tian froze for a heartbeat, then his eyes widened with joy.
"My sect's former Head Chef? That's my own great-grandfather!
He left the realm a thousand years ago to seek advancement in the Void, and we've heard nothing since.
Please, come with me, I'll take you to my master right away!"
He led Jing Qian through the bustling streets of Hotpot City, weaving past crowds until they stopped before another grand restaurant.
This one was three stories tall, far more splendid than Luo Tian's own shop. At the street corner stood a crystal-walled kitchen, open for all to watch the chefs perform.
Inside, a massive dark-skinned man wielded a giant wok like a battle-axe, his every motion radiating dominance. Though he was simply stir-frying, his presence was like a general commanding an army.
This imposing man was Luo Tian's master, the current Head Chef of the Kitchen King Sect, a cultivator of the Star-Seizer Realm.
When Luo Tian hurried into the kitchen and whispered the news, his master's expression changed instantly.
Abandoning his performance, the black-skinned chef released a pulse of mana; in an instant, all the dishes that the diners had ordered were simultaneously cooked and served to their tables.
Then he tossed the wok aside, extinguished the flames, and strode out from the kitchen.
Under his guidance, Jing Qian and Luo Tian entered a private room behind the restaurant.
The Head Chef waved his hand, and light shimmered across the table plates of five-spice beans, broad beans, melon seeds, and peanuts appeared, along with a pot of warm pear tea.
Simple fare, yet fragrant, flavorful, and subtly infused with spiritual energy.
The Head Chef raised his cup of pear tea and began:
"Pure Yang Disciple, well met. Luo Tian tells me you bear news of my master, Luo Tian, the former Head Chef. Please, speak freely."
Jing Qian wasted no time. He lifted his hand, and a wisp of mana unfolded into a message.
It contained everything the two trapped grandmasters in Great Black Heaven had sent during his third void-fishing attempt, the detailed instructions on using the Gluttonous Wok Spatulas to build a fire-transmission conduit and ease Luo Tian's burden.
The Head Chef studied the message carefully, then nodded gravely.
"Many thanks, Pure Yang Disciple. This is a matter of great importance. The Kitchen King Sect will give our full support.
However… the Gluttonous Spatulas are already in Luo Tian's possession. The fire-link must be handled by him."
He sighed.
"The boy's talented but lazy. I just hope he can endure the burn of true flame."
Then, turning to his disciple:
"Luo Tian, work with the Pure Yang Disciple. Let's give it a try."
Under his master's sharp guidance, Luo Tian quickly learned the essentials of channeling fire through a Spirit Construct.
At last, he summoned his Gluttonous Wok Spatulas, ready to begin.
Jing Qian likewise drew out a new coral bait from the Void Realm, hooked it onto the Array Spike, and before the two chefs began another round of void fishing.
Even the mighty Head Chef, a Star-Seizer himself, could only watch in awe; such a technique belonged to cultivators of the Second Rank and higher.
Jing Qian bound one end of the fishing line to the Gluttonous Spatulas and, with a touch of the Sumeru's divine might, connected the new bait to the aura of Great Black Heaven, once again casting the hook into the void.
A heartbeat later, a torrent of blazing fire-essence roared back through the karmic line.
The spatulas absorbed it instantly, bursting into crimson flame.
Then disaster.
"I can't hold it! I can't hold it!"
"It's too hot! I'm going to burn alive!"
Luo Tian shrieked, flailing under the heat, his spiritual core nearly melting from the influx.
The Head Chef's patience snapped.
He summoned a massive iron ladle, smacked Luo Tian across the head, sending him sprawling and, with the same motion, sliced through the karmic line, cutting off the connection.
He exhaled heavily, scowling, and bellowed:
"Useless brat!"
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