Cultivating in Honkai!

Buzz-!

The "AT Field" shook several times before shattering. The remaining force of the mental attack was weakened.

"Ow!"

Kiana's head swayed backwards as if she was flicked on the forehead.

"Don't expect to master it in one day. It's already been six hours."

"Six hours?! That's dinner time!" She paused and asked, "Do we still have that barbeque?"

This Tuna…

"Yes. That's what you want for dinner?"

"Um. Um."

Ever since the dragon corpse was taken out of the golden orb space, it is guaranteed that a tenth of it will enter Kiana's stomach.

That was hundreds of meters of meat. I personally butchered it. Bones took up a quarter of its weight, followed by its flesh, skin, and scales. Its internal organs mainly consisted of intestines. There is a gallbladder along with several eggs inside. The rest of them are considered miscellaneous, mainly for crafting artifacts.

In short, a single azure dragon has more than five thousand tons of flesh. It is a lot, but not that much in the face of an immortal's cooking techniques.

"Do it like before. Turn them to smaller and tastier bites. I took hours to chew all of them…"

"You asked for it."

"I didn't think it'd take that long…"

Seeing her begging look, I relented.

The time with Su was very boring. Aside from studying techniques and spells, I delved into the cultivation professions. It went smoother than the techniques.

The cultivation profession, in a sense, has a fixed procedure.

Refining involves the three steps of creating the artifact embryo, locking spirituality, and carving patterns.

Alchemy involves extracting the essences of plants and synthesizing them together into an alchemy product.

It is different from the techniques that seemed very vague. There are also tips and tricks within each recipe and manual I got. There are a lot of footnotes on the do's and don'ts, basically serving as rich experiences.

The cross-references coupled with my comprehension pushed me up to the third grade of refining, alchemy, and cooking—theoretically, that is.

There are also professions with irregularities, but it's fine as long as I know how to fix that specific scenario. The knowledge given by the golden orb is complete.

I got into moving.

From my late third grade storage ring, I took out a portion of the meat. It freed up some of the space inside the ring.

Turning it smaller…

It can be done with an auxiliary spiritual cooking technique.

Just as essences will be extracted on spiritual plants, the flesh and blood of a spiritual beast can be compressed.

Hum-!

Buzz-!

The technique soon got into working. A bright red light surrounded the huge block of meat. It did not take long before it shrank to a ten pound steak. The succulent piece of meat emitted a delicious smell.

"Calm down. That's raw."

"I know. It's just… it smells so nice."

For some reason, her gaze turned towards me.

???

Kiana did not explain things. I focused on my work.

Spiritual cooking is similar to alchemy; it has two steps.

First is to activate the dormant essences within the ingredient.

Second is to enhance its effects with other ingredients.

It is simpler than alchemy.

Ten minutes later, there are three plates with a steak, skewers, and stir-fried pork with chillies. The three dishes are glowing in gold. Dao rhymes could be seen dancing around them.

It is a bonafide heavenly dish that will satisfy everyone.

"Wipe off your drool. Let's eat this outside."

"Um…"

Her twin braids swayed as we returned back to the orphanage. The dishes' scent became more prominent.

"Nighttime… The kids must be sleeping already."

A simple spiritual consciousness sweep allowed me to see our visitor's current state. She did not leave the room, sitting cross-legged as she meditated.

Fu Hua is the legitimate native cultivator of this world. My heart itched to teach her immortal cultivation.

I passed on the glowing plate of steak along with a special set of utensils. They are all made of second grade spiritual ores.

Kiana created a simple void construct that served as a floating table. She followed behind as we walked, all the while eating the steak with relish.

"Mn..!"

Her words turned to a high-pitched hum. She stopped walking as she relished with the steak. Kiana's eyes are closed. Her body is trembling, with her once hidden aura almost breaking loose.

Are these dishes really that delicious?

I looked at the skewers and stir-fried pork floating beside me. I ate dragon meat before. It is delicious and far outranks all mortal food. Still, both I and Kiana did not react exaggeratedly. This is the first time I compressed its essence.

I reached out for one of the skewers.

The moment I bit on it…

I understood Kiana's reaction.

*****

"Hm..?"

Fu Hua was disturbed by two strong presences outside. It took a good five minutes for them to disappear.

Another five minutes later, her room welcomed a newcomer.

Click.

The door opened. Shi Tian's figure was revealed. Fu Hua felt he was somewhat familiar… before she recalled who he was.

"You are with Siegfried's daughter?"

"Yes. We met a year ago."

He covered Kiana's mouth for speaking recklessly back then. Fu Hua noticed Kiana's appearance and found her similar to Siegfried's and Cecilia's daughter. Later on, she reported Kiana's existence to Otto. The latter asked her to monitor the two.

A slight sense of unease emerged in her mind. She does not know how to face her benefactor-slash-former enemy.

'What is he…'

She set aside her questions. She stood up from her bed and did the typical salute with a cupped fist.

"Thank you."

Fu Hua did not salute for long. She sat on the bedside, looking forward to what Shi Tian would say next. Her blue martial arts uniform stood out from the orphanage's casual outfits.

"You must be curious why I helped you." He said. "I am looking for allies. Su said you will be a reliable one."

"Su..?"

Both her mind and soul are completely repaired with the [Sword Nurturing Pagoda]. The traces of her removed memories started to resurface.

"A lot of things happened. I ended up meeting him and being told of his story. That's where I heard about you, Shenzhou's Celestial."

"..."

Fu Hua fell into a deep thought. It did not stop Shi Tian from speaking.

"My main goal is to prevent the honkai from destroying humanity… as well as your final failsafe."

"..!"

'Even that…'

Her emotions are stirred violently. Project STIGMA is not confidential. A lot of knowledge is passed down about it (Void Archives, Moon Rocks). What's important was Su's intent in telling Shi Tian about it.

More than a thousand years ago, Fu Hua's contact with Su and Kevin got cut off. It further exacerbated the issues of her mental state.

Not only is Su still alive, he entrusted the boy in front of her to lead humanity against the honkai.

A part of her would have doubted this… but it's different now.

"I will become your ally."

Shi Tian was surprised by her answer.

"Even if I asked you to betray Schicksal?"

"...I will do it."

In her pupils, a faint rainbow hue was reflected. It is the sword representing someone who has faced doubts and tribulation and overcome them all. It is the sword which sought to protect those around him.

His [Sword Light Refraction] entailed all of his choices that led to this point. It reflected who Shi Tian truly is.

Facing such a person…

'I will trust him.'