Chapter 96: Recovery
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]