Book 3: Chapter 9: Meng Li's Life |
In the grand distance from whence Yin Hu and party reside. Lightning bloomed upon a mountain peak, black and filled with deadly amounts of Qi. Making the entire mountain rumble with each thunderous bolt that blasted its solidified form. Spirit Beasts and Demonic Cultivators all hid within their little homes, hoping beyond hope they were not going to be the next target to die an unexpected death.
Yet, even that paled in comparison to what resided within the mountain alongside them.
What had once been the abode of their Heavenly Demon was now turned into the home of an ancient thing. A creature that roared to the heavens every once in a while. Its intent and Dao freezing the arid landscape this place had been and turning it into fields of snow and ice. The Demonic Cultivators trembled at the thought of catching that thing's attention for even a second.
Said monster cackled as explosions of lightning erupted near her doorstep.
The cavern Meng Li took from Zi Zhen had strong arrays that limited sound, Qi, and a dozen other things to keep the peace and quiet within it even if there was a war outside of it. It made for a perfect spot to test and experiment on her single most important skill.
Baking would save her life.
Baking sweet treats would be the reason the Ancient would not kill her on sight like he did Hei Gu.
That was the only chance she had to survive and she would be damned if she did not perfect her opportunity to make it out of this alive. Give her best even if it ended up with less than satisfactory results. Death would be fine if she made the effort, but hiding here and waiting for the inevitable ax upon her cleaned neck was not how she had been raised by her mother and father.
They also didn’t teach her how to bake either, but that was neither here nor there.
Meng Li stepped back from the open oven and stared at her latest creation. A lemon cake that radiated more Qi than a Superior Qi Stone and would make the denizens of this pitiful world fight and kill for even a tiny piece to devour. Providing them with giant advancements in cultivation and even growth within their Dao. The grandest creation she had accomplished so far.
It was wonderful for anyone in her realm. Or even her fathers and Hei Gu’s realm. Maybe even further, yet she knew better.
This was not enough.
The Ascended Heavenly Flour did not have enough concentrated Qi. The Phoenix Eggs were from an adolescent roughly two thousand years old and not one from a fully matured one above thirty thousand years of age. The sugar, milk, and all the other ingredients were not worthy of a being that comes from a civilization so old it could be an Ancient Vault over the eons.
She had better ingredients within her Spacial Ring, but it would be unwise to use any of them before she was ready.
Until that moment, she would practice and grow into the baker the Original Calamity expected her to become. Fulfilling her role in this strange reality she found herself in.
Meng Li pulled out the cake, not feeling the heat upon her hands even the slightest bit, and placed it on the table next to her oven setup. She had transformed Zi Zhen’s little hole into a place worthy of her. The cliff her personal kitchen, covered in curtains, frills, color, and everything else that made the dreary black stone cavern a bit more alive and less dead like the old bag of bones. Below was filled with flowers and a couple families of foxes and rabbits. Said rabbits were there for her little pets to hunt and feed upon to grow nice and strong.
She had established the perfect cycle of growth.
All her atrocious attempts she could not stand to eat were fed to the rabbits. Said rabbits would ascend upon the coils of immortality and grow in power.
Only to be eaten by her lovely foxes, who in turn begin to ascend said coil of immortality.
Meng Li didn’t really have a plan of what she wanted to accomplish with all this other than having a few pets to keep her company. Not that she needed it. Whenever she got bored, she meditated for a few days, and then returned to practicing her baking. Though she did fill much of the extra space between with her own cultivation techniques and trainings. Her father would not be pleased if she abandoned them in a potential battlezone.
She waved her hand and the lemon cake split into eight perfect pieces. A cold freeze came upon the top layers to add depth to the taste and experience.
The thought to adorn it with more things did cross her mind, but that required more practice. More testing.
It became a matter of whether she had enough time to split her attention on two fronts.
Meng Li shook her head and pulled out the first slice. Heat and aroma filled the cavern like a sudden avalanche that flooded the entire mountain. Every single being within it froze and hid, the perfect creation was nothing but a mirage to them. It was a signal that she had awoken and was actively moving about the place rather than resting like she was supposed to do. Monsters of her scale should be cultivating and in secluded ministries rather than so active daily.
There needed to be some time in between the terror she caused them, yet that was not the case here.
She took a massive bite, her eyes turning into crescents, and enjoyed the fruits of her labor. Finishing her slice in two massive bites. Then cleaned the entire plate in record time. She felt her cultivation react to her creation. Strengthening her Dao and increasing her depth of foundation beyond what she could have done in the same amount of time taken to make it.
This was by far the best cake she had ever made.
I think I might be ready to make a visit and scope the area around the Ancient. Isn’t he still in that human packed city?
She let her senses roam and expand.
Meng Li stopped herself well short of the city and recognized that his presence was still there.
It wasn’t that she found traces of him, the exact opposite. She couldn’t sense him at all no matter how hard she tried. Instead, wherever he went, there was an absence of energy she could sense at all. Not even the tiniest traces of ambient Qi floating in the air. He naturally blocked her attempts to locate him so perfectly that he made it clear and obvious exactly where he was on the planet.
Should I? I would need to make the perfect cover. He’s been ignoring me and didn’t act against Hei Gu until he attacked one of his people.
It was something she needed to consider in the coming days.
Maybe when Zi Zhen finally returned. The old bag of bones has been missing for over a few months and she had yet to hear anything at all from him. She worried her agent might have gotten himself killed by being stupid enough to get too close to the Original Calamity while trying to extract his operatives from the midst of their numbers. The last thing she needed was for the couple to say or do something stupid and it brings about the end of this planet.
Then again, this place seemed a sentimental piece of land that an ancient peoples that had fallen within it.
Peoples he called kith and kin.
She doubted he would destroy this planet. Rather he would erase her and anyone affiliated with her and Zi Zhen.