Before dawn, the cliffside camp was already bustling with activity.
With limited space, the two patients had been cured by the exceptional ingredient of wild pheasant, so Xie Ziyin simply put away the sickbeds and even contributed his alchemy furnace.
Huaiming Buddha Son was plump and round, resembling a penguin, yet he moved with surprising agility when "liberating" the wild pheasants.
Rolling up his monk robes, he cheerfully plucked feathers, removed the innards, and washed the birds. He first coated the tender, white bodies with a layer of "liberation" seasoning to ensure flavor, then—with great solemnity—chanted "Amitabha" and recited a few Buddhist sutras before compassionately dropping them into the pot!
Yin Xuan tended the fire nearby, watching with satisfaction before gracefully nodding and openly poaching from Divine Evolution Temple: "Holy Monk, have you ever considered becoming a culinary cultivator?"
Huaiming clasped his hands together and hastily corrected, "Amitabha, Benefactor Yin, this humble monk is merely performing liberation rites, not cooking."
Such things couldn’t be spoken of lightly—he still had to return to Divine Evolution Temple as its Buddha Son.
Recognizing the refusal, Yin Xuan sighed. "What a shame."
...
While Divine Evolution Temple’s Buddha Son was busy "liberating," his junior brother had left the camp with the others from Qingling Mountain.
Lu Jiayao asked curiously, "Why aren’t you helping your senior brother with the liberation?"
The young monk replied shyly, "This humble monk is dull-witted and lacks Senior Brother Huaiming’s mastery. I’m not yet capable of liberation."
"Oh." Lu Jiayao suddenly understood and sympathetically added, "Then you won’t get to drink the pheasant soup later."
The young monk hesitated before tentatively suggesting, "Perhaps... a little soup would still be permissible?"
Lu Jiayao: "???"
Now intrigued by Divine Evolution Temple, Lu Jiayao bombarded the young monk with questions: "Does your abbot eat pheasant too? What’s his preferred method—roasted, boiled, or beggar’s chicken?"
Sweating nervously, the young monk was torn between the vow of honesty and the certainty of being scolded by the abbot if he answered truthfully. Flustered, he stammered, "Ah... well... um... Benefactor Lu, my senior brother is calling me! I must go!"
Lu Jiayao enthusiastically offered, "I’ll come with you!"
The young monk: "..."
...
At the cliff’s edge, Li Zhuohua practiced his sword forms in the rain, the blade humming through the air.
Shen Hefeng had found an auspicious spot and crouched there alone, muttering to himself while casting divinations.
Wen Shuangbai and Xie Ziyin sat side by side on the cliff, attempting to fish for man-eating flowers with makeshift fishing rods.
Xie Ziyin divided the discarded pheasant innards into equal portions, baiting the hook with a small piece.
Wen Shuangbai crossed her arms, watching as he worked and casually asked, "What kind of elixir are you planning to refine from these flowers?"
To her surprise, Xie Ziyin replied, "No idea."
Wen Shuangbai: "...??"
Xie Ziyin glanced at her expression, unperturbed as he added fuel to the fire, "Might not refine anything at all."
Wen Shuangbai glared. "You don’t even know, yet you dragged me into making fishing rods for you? Do I look like I have nothing better to do?"
Xie Ziyin responded flatly, "Glad you’re self-aware."
If she had time to lecture the young monk on artifact crafting, she might as well help him fish for man-eating flowers.
Wen Shuangbai clenched her fists until her knuckles cracked. "You’d better produce results, or I’ll throw you off this cliff as fertilizer!"
Xie Ziyin remained indifferent as he cast the line.
The fishing line on the flower-hook rod was crafted by Wen Shuangbai using spliced tendons from the previous python's tongue. The carnivorous flower sea, likely starved for too long, caught the scent of blood from the wild pheasant and immediately gaped its maw wide, its stem stiffening as its petals lunged for the bait.
This was the moment!
Wen Shuangbai swiftly unleashed her Thousand Leaf Blade, severing the flower’s neck cleanly the instant its petals clamped shut around the hook.
Xie Ziyin reeled in the line, and a vividly crimson carnivorous flower was hauled up, glistening with dew.
With a pulse of spiritual energy, Xie Ziyin gripped the stem and deftly unhooked the flower.
Wen Shuangbai leaned in curiously for a closer look.
The flower’s stem was a tender green, its petals a striking red, their texture resembling a tongue.
She reached out a finger, tempted to touch the petals.
Xie Ziyin promptly pulled the flower away, disapproval in his tone. "Miss Wen, where exactly is your sense of caution?"
Did she just haphazardly touch everything?
Wen Shuangbai lifted her gaze to meet his and said, "Aren’t you here?"
Though the man was sharp-tongued and infuriating, his expertise was undeniable. With him around, their team had no fear of poisoning—he’d intervene.
Xie Ziyin: "…"
Fair point.
He lowered his eyes, tossed the flower aside carelessly, and gave a faint hum of acknowledgment.
"Besides, isn’t this flower dead?" Wen Shuangbai swung her legs, hands braced against the damp cliffside as she gazed at the mist-shrouded mountains at dawn, the aroma of chicken soup wafting from their camp behind her. Her tone was light as she bantered with the infuriating man. "Do dead things still bite?"
"It’s dead, but its reflexes remain." Xie Ziyin continued baiting the hook with chicken offal, glancing sidelong at the woman beside him, her lips curved in amusement. A trace of a smile touched his own eyes as he voiced a long-pondered question. "Were you a D-list actress in your past life?"
Wen Shuangbai’s grin froze. She stared at him in disbelief before decapitating another carnivorous flower. "Are you blind? How could I possibly be?"
"…" Xie Ziyin reeled in the line. "Hm. An accountant, then?"
"…No."
"A scammer?"
"!!!" Wen Shuangbai choked on her outrage—she was a law-abiding citizen! "…I wrote code!"
Xie Ziyin hadn’t expected that. It didn’t show at all. But after a moment’s thought, it made sense—back when they’d transmigrated, computer science was a hot major, with graduates pulling in six-figure salaries right out of school. "Paid well?"
Wen Shuangbai: "Mhm."
Xie Ziyin: "Tch."
The two fell into a rhythm, seamlessly harvesting carnivorous flowers while trading barbs.
Shen Hefeng, having finished his divinations, crept over and eavesdropped for a while but couldn’t make sense of their conversation.
Giving up, he cut in bluntly, "Hey, you toxic duo, the old man’s done with his readings."
Wen Shuangbai rolled her eyes. "And?"
"Good and bad news. Which do you want first?" Shen Hefeng asked, his tone theatrically mysterious.
Wen Shuangbai: "The good!"
Xie Ziyin: "The bad."
Shen Hefeng smirked. "So which is it?"
Wen Shuangbai shot Xie Ziyin a look brimming with silent threat.
Xie Ziyin half-glanced at her, shook his head, and stood, arms laden with their floral haul. His choice was clear.
Wen Shuangbai immediately declared, "The good. Spit it out."
"I've divined an excellent route," Shen Hefeng declared with a triumphant grin. "The signs suggest smooth sailing ahead, with a little surprise thrown in!"
"Really?" Wen Shuangbai's mood instantly brightened. "Then let's set off after breakfast."
She nimbly sprang up and headed toward the campsite. "Don't bother mentioning any bad omens—I don’t want to hear them. Keep those to yourself."
Shen Hefeng, of course, wouldn’t let her have the last word. He chased after her, his voice dripping with mischief like a demon’s whisper. "But the outcome remains the same—a futile effort. The divination says we’ll never get our hands on the Star Moon Divine Tree, hehehe."
Wen Shuangbai: "..."
The two immediately started brawling, but their scuffle lasted less than ten seconds before Yin Xuan’s call of, "Food’s ready," put an end to their squabble.
---
After finishing their chicken and soup, the six from Qingling Mountain swiftly packed up their camp and bid farewell to the Divine Evolution Temple.
Though they had briefly cooperated the night before, the temple also sought the Star Moon Divine Tree. Since they were now competitors, there was no need to travel together—it was every group for themselves.
Before leaving, Yin Xuan made a point to tell the plump monk, "If you ever want to become a culinary cultivator, look me up."
The monk chuckled cheerfully. "Sure, sure."
Having endured the ordeal of trekking through the rainforest in cumbersome vine armor, the five now moved with effortless grace, gliding through Star Moon Forest as if it were flat ground. Guided by Shen Hefeng’s tortoise-shell navigation, they ventured deeper into the woods.
Although the Purple Flame Realm had been dropped closest to the Star Moon Divine Tree within the secret realm, they should have reached it by now.
Yet, since the competition hadn’t ended and they hadn’t been forcibly ejected from Star Moon Valley, it meant the Purple Flame Realm must have run into some trouble—they hadn’t succeeded in claiming the divine tree.
Naturally, they had to go see what was going on.
Along the way, Lu Jiayao barely stopped chattering, enthusiastically sharing the gossip he’d squeezed out of the little monk: "...Turns out their abbot doesn’t like chicken—he prefers lamb! All those spices and seasonings Huaiming Buddha Son had? He stole them right before they left for the competition!"
Yin Xuan hummed in approval. "I like lamb too."
Li Zhuohua nodded. "I love a good roast whole lamb!"
Meanwhile, Wen Shuangbai, Xie Ziyin, and Shen Hefeng all fixed their gazes on Lu Jiayao.
Wen Shuangbai couldn’t help but ask Xie Ziyin, "What did you feed Lu Jiayao?"
Xie Ziyin looked utterly unbothered. "That chicken soup was blessed by the monks."
Shen Hefeng stroked his nonexistent beard, scrutinizing Lu Jiayao until the latter’s hair stood on end. Finally, he remarked, "Lu Jiayao, you’re actually keeping up with me?"
Lu Jiayao blinked. "Huh?"
Wen Shuangbai pointed out the oddity. "We got faster from climbing the Celestial Mountains, but you weren’t with us. How are you keeping pace?"
Li Zhuohua suddenly halted, turned back, and circled Lu Jiayao with burning intensity. "Could the puppet curse still be lingering? Should I drag that fat monk back here to purify you again?"
Lu Jiayao checked his own abundant spiritual energy and shrugged. "I feel perfectly fine—nothing’s wrong."
Xie Ziyin stepped forward, channeling his healing energy to examine Lu Jiayao’s spiritual bones and meridians. His brow furrowed. "Strange."
Wen Shuangbai moved closer. "What is it?"
"Lu Jiayao's spiritual veins have become much more refined than before, and his cultivation seems to be showing signs of advancement," Xie Ziyin remarked.
The others: "…………"
Seriously? Getting possessed by a puppet demon can have this effect?!
In front of the Mystic Heaven Mirror, Wu Shao, who had been secretly observing Qingling Mountain, nearly fainted from rage.
Typically, possession by a puppet demon only damages a cultivator's spiritual awareness. Only in extremely rare cases does it actually benefit the cultivator, refining their spiritual veins.
So, damn it, after all his elaborate scheming, he'd ended up doing Qingling Mountain a favor?!
This was outrageous!
"Outrageous!" At this moment, Shen Hefeng shared Wu Shao's exact sentiment. "So, in the end, the only one who suffered from this puppet demon incident is me, with my damaged spiritual bones?"
Wen Shuangbai gave him a sympathetic look. "Yep."
Shen Hefeng: "…………"
Since Lu Jiayao seemed fine, the group continued their journey.
Suddenly, Li Zhuohua, who was leading the way, stopped in her tracks. She glanced at the scene ahead, then turned back to her fellow disciples with a strange expression.
Lu Jiayao was still basking in his joy—his stagnant cultivation had finally progressed!
Noticing her pause, he quickly asked, "Senior Sister, what's wrong? Are there demonic beasts blocking our path?"
"There are, but they're already dead." Li Zhuohua pointed at the scattered corpses of demonic beasts lining the road, their deaths dating back a day or two. She scolded, "Whoever did this only took the demonic cores and left the rest to waste!"
Wen Shuangbai immediately perked up. "Oh?"
