the multi

Chapter 4 (Vol-2)

"Hurry! Burn everything down! Leave nothing behind!!"

"""YES"""

The Yanfeng domain, the greatest source of food for the Yin Long Empire, was now aflame as the Yanfeng family's forces swept through the hundreds of Li of farms and storage, burning buildings, killing mortals who worked the land and raised cattle, poisoned the land and water, and killing the livestock.

It was a scene from hell itself.

The reason why this family that belonged to the Five Noble families of the Empire took such measures upon its own land was quite clear for everyone to see as they looked up to the thundering heavens, witnessing the massive battle in the skies between powerful cultivators.

"HAHAHA!! Did you ever think such a day would come for you?? Yanfeng Chilei??"

The fat patriarch of the Yanfeng family, Yanfeng Chilei, gnashed his teeth in anger as he stared at his two opponents.

"Lanjian Yufeng! Hanzhang Bingpo! Don't think so highly of yourself!! Sooner or later, that lunatic Empress will come for your families as well!"

"HAHA! There is no need to threaten us like that. We are loyal subjects of the Empress, unlike you traitorous bastards of the Yufeng family."

Hanzhang Bingpo did not join in on the boasting of his current companion but nodded in affirmation.

In truth, the patriarchs of the Lanjian and Hanzhang families believed that the words of Yufeng Chilei were not wrong and had long since prepared countermeasures for such a situation.

However, they dared not reveal their true thoughts in this situation. Especially when the Royal Guard and The Radiant Sword, Yao Xingchen, were nearby, suppressing the forces of the Yanfeng family.

Glancing to the side, the Lanjian and Hanzhang family heads saw that The Radiant Sword was busy guiding her people to stop the Yanfeng family's men from destroying everything. However, even when a lot of the land was poisoned, she did not seem all that concerned. It was only when the mortals were being killed that she personally took charge and killed the men of the Yanfeng family.

"Since you people have no intention of letting my family go, I'll take you down with me!"

Yanfeng Chilei pulled out his spear and charged the two family heads, his body moving swiftly despite its shape while executing their exclusive martial arts, The Flame Spear Arts.

Instantly, fire engulfed the sky as the full power of Yanfeng Chilei's Nascent Soul realm cultivation war exerted behind his attack. His spear left after images in its wake as it broke the sound barrier during its multiple thrusts and sweeps.

Yet, his attacks were perfectly blocked by the gentle swings of the sword wielded by the Lanjian patriarch, Lanjian Yufeng, who unleashed his own cultivation that was on the same level as his companion and enemy. His family's Wind Mist Sword technique countered the flames and swept them away from the user.

However, the sheer power behind a single affinity spirit root-based technique was not something that Lanjian Yufeng could compete with on his own.

Thankfully, he was not alone in this attack.

As Lanjian Yufeng held off Yanfeng Chilei, Hanzhang Bingpo ambushed the Yanfeng patriarch from behind and struck with his palm, his own cultivation and family technique, The Ice Palm art, circulating at full power as Ice Qi invaded Yanfeng Chilei's body.

The clash barely lasted for a few seconds at most, but one of the three combatants was already injured. Such was the scale of fights between high-level cultivators where the result is usually determined in a matter of seconds.

Blood seeped from Yanfeng Chilei's mouth as he circulated his Fire Qi across his Spirit Roots, trying to hold off the invading Ice Qi while also keeping his guard up.

"Hehe, looks like you are not as strong as you make yourself out to be. Yanfeng."

"Lanjian, you bastard! If you have the guts fight me by yourself!"

"And fall for your tricks? No thanks. I'd rather get rid of this thorn in my side once and for all today."

Once again, the three elements clashed in the sky as The Radiant Sword finally managed to capture the men of the Yanfeng family, preventing any more damage to the territory.

However, this situation did not last for long as powerful True Qi suddenly surged from the Yanfeng family's ancestral home followed by an emancipated old man with a simple spear shooting up into the sky.

"Looks like you people of the Noble families and the Royal family no longer keep my Yanfeng family in their eyes. How dare you harm my family while I am still alive. Today, I must wipe out the Lanjian and Hanzhang families along with that little bitch of an Empress."

Yanfeng Chilei's eyes lit up in delight at that sight.

"Ancestor!"

This old man was none other than the ancestor of the Yanfeng family, Yanfeng Chitian.

And yet, despite the old man's appearance, the Lanjian and Hanzhang family heads did not panic. Instead, they gave the old man sneering looks before powerful Qi burst from nearby, revealing two figures equally as old as the Yanfeng ancestor.

"What was that you said about destroying my family? Yanfeng Chitian, looks like you have gone senile in your age."

"Indeed. What makes you think that you can destroy our families while we are still alive?"

The two old men flexed their Qi, revealing their peak Soul Transformation realm cultivation for everyone to see as their domains expanded to engulf the Yanfeng patriarch and ancestor along with the patriarchs of the Lanjian and Hanzhang families.

The two patriarchs dutifully stood behind their ancestors as they watched the show, hoping to see a humiliating defeat for the Yanfeng family.

From Lanjian Fengyun, the ancestor of the Lanjian family and a legendary swordsman who was once called the Sky Splitting Sword, a domain of tempest winds and rushing seas formed, suppressing the Fire Qi of the Yanfeng duo.

But he was not done yet.

From his side, Hanzhang Shuanghe, the man who was once called the Frozen Mountain of the Hanzhang, unleashed his own domain, which overlapped with his companion, causing the raging seas surrounding the Yanfeng duo to start freezing as Ice Qi invaded their bodies.

However, the Yanfeng ancestor did not say anything and neither was there any fluctuation in his expression.

"..Is that all?"

With those words, Yanfeng Chitian unleashed his own domain.

And directly destroyed the domains of both the Lanjian and Hanzhang ancestors, causing them to cough up blood due to rebound.

Instantly, the entirety of the Yanfeng home and the surroundings, including the place where The Radiant Sword and the Royal guards were located, was engulfed in a hellish landscape of flames.

"I-Impossible! How did you break through to the Void Refinement realm?? Wasn't your Soul damaged during your rebellion against the Royal Family?"

"And why should I tell you something like that?"

With those words, Yanfeng Chitian teleported behind the Hanzhang ancestor and directly severed his head with his spear while also flooding his body and soul with Fire Qi, destroying both at the same time.

All of this happened in a single second during which the Lanjian ancestor recognized the danger and teleported out of the area while holding his descendent.

However, Yanfeng Chitian did not let them go too far before he struck down both of them just as easily.

All was silent in the aftermath as Lanjian Yufeng trembled in fright.

"Now, are you convinced with my ability to wipe out all of you pests?"

"Indeed, I am convinced. However, if you are so sure you can take care of all of us on your own, why don't you try facing this artifact as well?"

The sudden words from the Radiant Sword, Yao Xingchen, caused the Yanfeng ancestor to turn towards the woman only to have a spherical artifact thrown at his face which he easily caught.

"Hmm? Based on the Qi fluctuation, this should be an Earth-grade artifact. What did you hope to achieve with this-'

Before he could continue speaking, the sphere suddenly erupted as a barrier formed around him, and Yanfeng Chilei, much to the latter's shock.

"W-What is this *Cough*'

Suddenly, blood started to leak out of all their orifices as their eyes watered uncontrollably and their muscles spasmed.

When the sphere erupted, tiny insects contained within the sphere secretly entered the bodies of the three cultivators and burrowed themselves deep within their spirit roots. Then, they promptly died and released the toxins and Qi hidden within them.

A deadly mix of Phosphorus, Cyanide, and various other chemicals, along with powerful materials rich in Yin and Demonic Qi.

"Do you like it? The base of that is the Gu poison bug. Yes, the same Gu poison bug that your family patriarch purchased from the Demonic Path to assassinate the Empress. We knew that we could not use this thing as is on you for revenge since you would likely have the antidote for it. That is why we had a friend modify it to make it even more deadly."

The friend that Yao Xingchen talked about was none other than Da Wei.

When Yin Lingxi first came to him with this idea, he was going to simply mix Cyanide into the demonic poison and be done with it.

However, when she revealed the assumed power of the Yanfeng family's ancestor to him, he became cautious and helped develop what he called Sarin and mixed it into the Gu bug. He believed it was better to overestimate the enemy and prepare for it accordingly than to be underprepared and be caught off guard.

Something that Yao Xingchen was realizing to have been a good move on his part.

As the Demonic poison and the Sarin gas wreaked havoc within their bodies, the three cultivators could no longer maintain their power and plummeted to the ground.

Lanjian Yufeng shivered in fright as he watched the Yanfeng duo's bodies spasm as they struggled to breathe on the ground.

'When I get back, I must cancel all my plans. We cannot afford to offend the Empress, or else it will be the Lanjian family that falls victim to this sinister weapon next.'

With that vow made in his heart, he watched as Yao Xingchen walked forward casually and swung her sword, destroying the bodies and souls of both Yanfeng Chilie and Yanfeng Chitian.

From that day forward, tales would spread across the empire of how the Empress made the Yanfeng family die a pathetic death, directly increasing her reputation and the fear of her wrath, gaining her a new moniker.

The goddess of death.

What they did not know was that, currently, the goddess of death in question was busy fighting her friend over the food prepared by Da Ling on his airship in the territory of the Baihu empire.

Chapter 5 (Vol-2)

A massive beast slithered through the trees in a small town on the frontiers of the Baihu empire.

Its scales glimmer in the sunlight with a multi-colored hue. Its massive eyes scanned the surroundings for any threat towards itself.

The unique thing about this beast, however, is the vein-like pattern spread across its massive serpentine body, glowing with Fire Qi flowing within the beast.

The beast lazily moved through the trees and arrived at a massive cave, a place that it called home.

However, just before it could enter its burrow, its senses caught onto an anomaly that made it pause.

The Pure Qi in the air around its cave was much higher than it was before it left to hunt for food.

Cautiously, the beast flicked its tongue in the air. The organ within the roof of its mouth that mimicked Jacobson's organ in normal snakes carefully analyzed the particles and Qi of the surroundings while its eyes, which could switch between Infrared vision and normal vision with excellent movement detection ability, watched its surroundings cautiously looking for anything that could be the cause of this anomaly.

Unfortunately, despite its extremely cautious nature and exceptional detection abilities, it failed to spot the two humans that were hiding behind bushes near its body while using an artifact to refract light and radiation while masking their scent.

"So, this is a Magma Python?"

"Indeed. Lingxi. We are lucky to see such a rare beast."

Yin Lingxi frowned as she looked at the admittedly majestic beast while Da Wei carefully captured its form on the book that he received from Jin Tianrui for his birthday. While the different color dyes that he carried with him could not capture the true majesty of the beast's appearance, he made great efforts to at least capture it as true to form as he could.

"I heard that Magma Pythons were hunted to extinction in our empire due to their potential of transforming into a Fuzang-Long, a dragon of hidden treasures associated with Fire, once they reached the Soul Transformation realm. But, it would seem that the Baihu empire has no such fears."

"it is understandable. Unlike the Yin Long Empire, which had personal experience with dragons in the past, the Baihu Empire is a younger empire that was founded after the disastrous times of the end of the 3rd era and the birth of the 4th era. As such, they have no reference to the dangers that the existence of a dragon, even if it is only in the Soul Transformation realm, can pose."

Yin Lingxi looked contemplatively at the Magma Python before turning to her friend.

"…Why not capture it as a Dao Familiar for yourself? Da Ling has already obtained one and Jin Tianrui is working on finding one for himself. Why not get one for yourself as well?"

Da Wei looked at Yin Lingxi with an amused look.

"Why don't you have a Dai Familiar? As a princess of one of the only two empires on the continent, don't you have certain privileges?"

Yin Lingxi huffed in annoyance before leaning back into the tree behind her.

"I never felt a connection with any of the beasts that I ever came across. Not to mention the fact that my Light element is so unique that the number of Dao Familiars compatible with my cultivation can be counted on my fingers."

Da Wei nodded at those words as he continued to draw on the book.

Yin Lingxi was born with one of the rarest elemental affinities in existence, the element of Light.

As expected of an advanced category elemental affinity, her cultivation was much faster than her peers. This, combined with the fact that there were a few other Light element users in her lineage in the past which allowed her to use a cultivation technique tailored for her, she never had any challenges in her path of cultivation.

However, just like with everything, her advantages also came with limitations.

Just like she said before, due to her elemental affinity, she was unable to find a Dao Familiar that had the same element as her to bond with.

In a society where Dao Familiars are seen as a status symbol for cultivators, she always struggled to maintain the same prestige as her older and younger brothers, who had Dao Familiars of their own thanks to their normal spirit roots.

Of course, this matter of prestige is something that no one would dare to mention in front of her. But she always felt it to be one of the few things she lacked compared to her siblings.

On the other hand, Da Wei suffered from a different problem. Or rather, he suffered from his success.

Thanks to the fact that his spirit roots did not have any elemental affinity, he is capable of taking any beast he desires as a Dao Familiar. The only problem is that due to the overwhelming power of his Primal Qi, he cannot take any beast that is weaker than him as a Dao Familiar.

In fact, any Dao Familiar he takes must be at least a minor realm higher than him to even survive the power of his Primal Qi flowing into them through the contract.

"For now, I don't need a Dao Familiar, so we can just get rid of this thing right now. I'll take the core, you can have the rest of the body. I need the core to enhance Da Ling's Yaoban."

Yin Lingxi giggled softly before touching shoulders with him.

"You only ever think about others all the time. Why not look for something that would benefit for once?"

Da Wei chuckled at her words before replying with a happy tone.

"For me, the prosperity of my loved ones is more important than my personal gain. Besides, I don't particularly need or lack anything, so there is no point in taking such an action."

"Fine, fine, mister good guy, let's take care of our work and go back. I am tired from our journey, and I want to get some rest in a proper bed and not on your Airship."

"Well, it is your own fault. I told you we should have rested before we departed from that frontier town to travel Eastward for more than a week."

Yin Lingxi gave a glare and playfully smacked his shoulder.

"Enough backtalk from you. Let's go."

Da Wei smiled as he put away the book and got up from the ground.

By this point, the Magma Python had long since dropped its guard and slithered into its cave to rest.

With a pulse of his Qi, Da Wei disabled the artifact concealing their presence, and cautiously entered the cave, making sure to draw the Pure Qi from the atmosphere, and turn it into a more potent form but stopping before it converted into Primal Qi, then releasing it back into the atmosphere.

Ever since breaking through into the Nascent Soul realm, Da Wei had long since realized that his Pure Qi had a natural camouflaging effect on the senses of cultivators and Demonic Beasts. However, his Primal Qi is something much more potent than regular Pure Qi and would easily stand out in the atmosphere.

That is why he developed this method of drawing in and intensifying the Pure Qi of an area to hide himself from his targets.

Right behind him, Yin Lingxi walked with her sword in hand, keeping an eye on her surroundings and guarding Da Wei's back against any potential ambushes.

Soon, the duo walked deeper and deeper into the cave until they found the beast sleeping peacefully upon a pile of bones belonging to both humans and Demonic Beasts.

Near that bone pile, it also had a small hill of gold, spirit stones, artifacts, gems, shiny pebbles, and anything else that would gleam under light.

"…Looks like its draconian instincts are already shining through. It's a good thing we caught it before it could truly mature. Who knows what kind of disaster would have befallen this continent if we were left ignorant about its existence?"

Da Wei said nothing in return since he had his own doubts about this.

He doubted this Python would have lived long even if they had not stumbled upon it, given the lack of its existence in Xiang's memories of his timeline. Even then, the thought of a fully mature dragon was truly spine-chilling for Da Wei to consider, so he remained guarded and observed carefully.

Slowly, he crept near the slumbering beast, arriving near its body, just below the head where one of its scales was reversed.

The so-called reversed scale of a dragon.

With a deep breath, Da Wei gathered all of his Primal Qi into his fist and got into a martial arts stance.

Then, with explosive force, he shot out a punch straight at the reversed scale.

With a thunderous noise, the cave wall behind the Python exploded outwards, along with the head of the beast, which turned into a bloody mist.

The massive body of the serpent started thrashing about. Without the brain to give it instructions, it was not anything more than a thrashing dead body.

Within a matter of minutes, the body slowed down its thrashing and finally fell silent.

"….That was suspiciously easy."

Da Wei received no response for his words, causing him to turn towards his friend, only to find her staring at him with a slack jaw and wide eyes.

"What? What is it?"

"….Nothing. Let's go."

With a confused look, Da Wei took the corpse and the treasure hill into this storage before following the shocked princess out of the cave.

Chapter 6 (Vol-2)

"Thank you, Daoist Da Wei! Truly, I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't agreed to help us."

Da Wei smiled at the old man holding his hands as he trembled and wept in relief.

"It is alright, Chief. It wasn't really that strong and we took care of it easily so it really is nothing you should worry about."

"Easily, he says, not that strong, he says. How the hell am I supposed to reply to such absurd talk?"

Da Wei ignored Yin Lingxi's grumbling from his side.

"Even still, I must express my gratitude to a great Daoist like you properly. Thanks to you, my son and daughter-in-law can rest in peace, knowing that their killer is dead."

"Really, don't do anything excessive. We are fine with our original agreement of providing us a place to stay for a day or two in this village."

The old mortal vehemently shook his head at Da Wei's words as the surrounding villagers gave a serious look at the two cultivators.

"Absolutely not! How can we not reward our benefactors properly? How would we face our ancestors in the afterlife if such a thing happened?"

With a tired sight, Da Wei gave a wry smile to the old man.

When he and the empress had stumbled upon this village during their travels, they had originally intended to stay here for a bit before venturing deeper into the Baihu Empire, aiming for the capital, which was still a few weeks away by their airship.

However, when they talked to the old mortal, he immediately kowtowed to the two of them and begged them for help in getting rid of a Demonic Beast who had been harassing their village for a few decades by this point.

In the end, Da Wei 'negotiated' a deal with the old man to provide the both of them with a place to stay for a few days in exchange for slaying the beast, a deal which the old man accepted eagerly.

In the end, the beast turned out to be a Magma Python that was at the peak of The Nascent Soul realm. Just on the brink of transforming into a newborn Dragon, a Fuzang-Long.

"Fine. What do you have in mind?"

"I have instructed my people to host a banquet in your honor and the best gift that this mere mortal village can prepare for you. Please accept it."

Da Wei's eyes widened at those words and prepared to dissuade such an action.

However, Yin Lingxi beat him to the punch.

"Of course. But, before that, we would like to rest a bit in our rooms."

"HAHA! Of course, Daoist Yin. I'll inform my people to not disturb you."

With those words, the old man swiftly left the two cultivators alone and headed straight for his people, who were hanging back from the duo at a fair distance.

Da Wei gave a sullen look at his friend who gave the man a neutral look.

"Lingxi. What are you thinking? This village is located far from the nearest town and can't produce their own food. Most likely, they hunt for their food from the forest and might not have much in the way of resources. Why accept a gift and a banquet from such people when it would no doubt deplete their meager food reserves and whatever wealth they have?"

Yin Lingxi stared at Da Wei for some time before giving a tired sigh and motioned him to follow her to their rooms.

"Da Wei, you are a very kind person. I lov-admirethat about you. But, you need to understand that you cannot push your kindness on people when it might be interpreted as looking down on them."

"…What do you mean? I never put my own feelings on other people if I can help it. I just don't wish to burden their lives by taking a part of their limited resources when we don't even need such things in the first place thanks to our cultivation."

Yin Lingxi did not turn around, but a tiny smile blossomed on her face as her gaze grew gentle.

"Da Wei, everyone has their own pride. Even the mortals. Putting aside everything else, tell me something. If you were a mortal village chief who had the misfortune of being in the same position as that old man. Suddenly, two cultivators showed up at your doorstep and asked for a place to stay in exchange for getting rid of your greatest nemesis in life and then denying your offer to celebrate this miraculous event of your small life, how would you feel?"

"…I would feel that they were too conceited and did not consider our struggles to be something worth mentioning to someone like them. I would resent them for taking away my chance to joyously celebrate the demise of the monster that plagued my life."

"Exactly. Now you understand. This celebration is as much for us as it is for the villagers. As I said, you care greatly for others, a trait that is almost nonexistent in this accursed world, but you must start to think about what your kindness appears as from the perspective of those that you are helping."

Receiving no response, Yin Lingxi turned her head slightly to spot Da Wei from the corner of her eyes, catching him thinking deeply about her words, which made her smile even more.

The two cultivators returned to their rooms, each lost in their own world.

The villagers screamed and laughed in joy as they drank alcohol and ate grilled meat to their heart's content.

At the center of the village, the younger men and women, and even older people, laughed in joy and danced around happily to the music of the Zither, the Pipa, and the flute.

For this group of villagers, today was truly a miraculous day in their lives when they were finally rid of the demon that had taken so much from them.

Nobody knew when that beast originally appeared around the village since the village itself was a new settlement. Some even considered the possibility that it had been around even before this village was established.

In the beginning, it would only attack their hunters who ventured too deeply into the forest to hunt for food. However, as time passed, it started to attack the village itself at irregular times, with no apparent reason or motive.

Each passing day, the villagers spent their days in fear, the fear of losing their loved ones due to the actions of a beast that they could not hope to oppose since there were no cultivators in this village.

However, suddenly, they were rid of this demon that plagued their life and their hearts just like that, thanks to a pair of cultivators that randomly showed up at their village.

The celebrations went on with great joy as the chief watched on from the distance with a content smile.

His smile deepened even more as he watched the Daoist named Da Wei give a troubled smile at the girl who pestered him with a mischievous and sensual look.

"Daoist Da Wei, can you tell me more about the life of a cultivator?"

"Well, there is nothing much to say since I don't have a point of reference. All I can tell you is my own experience…."

The girl, Chen Lin, the daughter of the best hunter in the village and someone considered the most beautiful woman in their village, clasped her hands together and looked up at the man with a cute look while also angling her body in a way that would definitely attract the attention of any man.

Watching all this, the chief could not help but applaud the cunningness of the girl as he knew exactly what she was doing, and he approved of such actions.

If he could tie down such a powerful cultivator to their village, then there is no doubt that they would flourish in the future.

For the sake of his people, he was willing to go along with such a blatant honeytrap method even if it meant slighting their benefactors. Even if it meant using the daughter of his dead friend as a honeytrap for a powerful cultivator.

While it might seem ungrateful, the tactics that the chief was using were something that was quite common across this continent. It is extremely common for those in power to try to use money, resources, and their children and subordinates to tie a powerful or talented cultivator to their forces.

And since it was a common tactic, there was no way an Empress like Yin Lingxi would not know it.

Yin Lingxi had been watching the entire exchange from the very beginning, watching as the mortal girl used extremely obvious and blatant seduction methods to try and tempt Da Wei into getting involved with her.

And she did not like it, not one bit.

For some reason, watching the scene made her feel as if she could not breathe and like something was scratching at her heart.

In truth, Da Wei was not the only target of this 'Honeypot trap' as several young and handsome men had been instructed by their chief to win over Yin Lingxi's favor in any way they could. However, the emotions that Yin Lingxi felt as she watched Da Wei and Chen Li caused her to momentarily lose control of her cultivation which resulted in her Qi slowly leaking out of her body, causing the men to feel extremely uncomfortable as their bodies entered a fight or flight state whenever they approached her vicinity. This led to the empress being isolated within this large group of people.

As Chen Li made another provocative move and leaned her upper body against Da Wei, Yin Lingxi could watch no longer and swiftly approached her friend.

"Da Wei, can you bring me my space ring? I left it in my room accidentally?"

At those words, Da Wei looked at Yin Lingxi as if she were his savior and swiftly retreated from the place, leaving behind an irritated empress and an amused mortal girl.

"….I see, so I never had a chance from the very beginning then?"

"..I don't know what you mean."

"Heh~ is that so~"

Yin Lingxi glared at the mortal girl who handed over a cup of alcohol to the empress.

"Don't be too hung up on it. I am only doing what is necessary for my people. I don't really hold any feelings aside from admiration for his strength. If he is really unwilling, I'll back off."

"You should back off right now. He will never settle here no matter what tactic you use. Besides, he already has a family and a daughter."

At Chen Li's shocked look, Yin Lingxi turned her head away, very much aware of the double meaning she had implied with her words since she did it on purpose.

"…I see, then, I have advice for his family that I hope you will convey to them. They should express their feelings for their loved ones as soon as possible, lest they end up regretting it."

This time, it was Yin Lingxi's turn to feel confused and bewildered as Chen Li left her alone.

"Wait, what do you mean by those words?"

"….If you really don't understand the meaning, then you might have yet to understand yourself better. When you do realize your own desires, you will also understand the meaning behind my words."

Once again, Yin Lingxi felt nothing but confusion at those words. A feeling that she swiftly suppressed as she spotted Da Wei cautiously approaching her, keeping a wary eye on the surroundings to make sure that Chen Li was truly gone.

"Thanks for saving me from that trouble."

"…think nothing of it. Let's go, I feel hungry watching all these mortals enjoy themselves."

"Oh! Then let's join them."

"No. I want to eat the food from your storage."

Instantly, Da Wei took a guarded stance while protectively hiding his Jade bracelet filled with Da Ling's cooking.

When Da Wei first introduced the joys of cooking to his daughter more than a year ago, he would never have imagined that she would improve so swiftly that she left him behind in the dirt, even in terms of food from Earth that he introduced to her which she somehow ended up improving upon on the fly, making him feel extremely useless.

After tasting her food, Da Wei felt that any other food he ate tasted like dirt compared to his daughter's cooking, a fact that even Yin Lingxi agreed with if the way she constantly fought with him to eat the food Da Ling prepared for Da Wei in the bracelet for his journey was anything to go by.

The only silver lining in all of this is that he practically had unlimited access to her cooking since she took great delight in cooking for him.

"Yin Lingxi, you have already emptied out your portion of the food that we prepared for an entire year's journey and we are only two months into my task. I will not sacrifice my own portion of food to feed your gluttonous stomach that rivals my daughter."

Yin Lingxi gave a dramatic look with a hand on her head and one on her heart, pretending to faint in anguish.

"Oh Heavens! What a friend I have. He is not even willing to give me some food. Is my friendship really not worth the food in his pocket?"

"Quit the dramatics, no matter what you say, I am not giving you my portion."

"Oh, come on! A little bit won't hurt right?"

"No!"

Da Wei immediately ran to their rooms as Yin Lingxi chased after him with a laugh, forgetting all about the encounter and emotional turmoil from before.

However, deep within her heart, a part of her could never forget the words spoken to her.