"Something I'm hiding from you? Like what?"
Mu Chen deflected. Su Qingyue only knew that his body produced Primordial Origin Qi, the pure golden qi energy she needed so badly.
But there was no sign that she knew about the golden cauldron inside his body. If she did, she would have asked about it from the very beginning.
"Yes. I can't quite explain it, but I feel like something about your body is strange," Su Qingyue said.
"Master Su is my teacher. A disciple has no reason to be stupid enough to lie to you."
Even so, Su Qingyue was unconvinced. She raised two fingers, drew up her qi light, and pressed it against Mu Chen's forehead.
Mu Chen's body suddenly locked up, unable to move. His eyes stayed fixed on Su Qingyue, panic rising in them. He was afraid she would find the golden cauldron hiding inside his body and fly into a rage at him for lying.
What... am I supposed to do?
Su Qingyue closed her eyes. Her body-examination technique began working, searching for Mu Chen's dantian. That was the only place where it would be possible to store an artifact or anything else.
In less than five minutes, Su Qingyue pulled her hand back. The qi light at her two fingers faded and the technique stopped.
"There is nothing in your dantian."
Nothing? Then where is the golden cauldron?
"The geniuses of the past were always deeply mysterious. Perhaps... you are just as mysterious as they were," Su Qingyue said.
"We will stop cultivation for tonight and rest."
Su Qingyue extended her hand, directing her qi to wrap around Mu Chen. The two of them flew from the waterfall pavilion back to the Jiuxiao Lotus Residence.
Mu Chen kept a hand pressed to his stomach. Hunger was gnawing at the back of his mind. There had to be food somewhere in Su Qingyue's residence.
They arrived at the residence grounds. Mu Chen landed and walked alongside Su Qingyue. The woman didn't head back to the lake pavilion but came inside the house instead.
"Sit down. I'll make you something to eat."
Mu Chen agreed, sat at the dining table, and watched with a look of quiet disbelief as Su Qingyue actually cooked something in the kitchen.
The two of them looked like a married couple. Mu Chen thought so himself, even though he knew dual cultivation was still a long way off.
Ten minutes later, Su Qingyue came out carrying two plates. Mu Chen gave a thin smile. What was on those plates was burnt food.
The chicken was charred black. The stir-fried vegetables were over-salted. The broth was completely bland. From the look on Mu Chen's face, Su Qingyue could see exactly what the verdict was.
"Since breaking through to Core Formation, I have had no need for food like this," Su Qingyue said.
"Thousands of years have passed. I forgot how to cook properly."
Mu Chen smiled wide, scooped up the rice and whatever was on his plate, and ate with full enthusiasm. He didn't care whether it tasted good or not. He was hungry and he needed to eat.
Su Qingyue's sullen expression brightened as she watched Mu Chen eat what she had made. She reached out with her chopsticks to try the stir-fried vegetables, but Mu Chen quickly held up a hand to stop her.
"I've been starving... since I got here."
"You don't actually need to eat this kind of food, right? Let me finish all of it."
Mu Chen's attitude made Su Qingyue even more pleased. She slid her bowl of rice toward him and kept her eyes on him with a teasing look, chin resting in her hand.
"If you enjoy my cooking that much, I can make it for you every day," Su Qingyue offered.
COUGH!
Mu Chen choked and startled, reached for his water, and stared ahead while swallowing the rest of what was in his mouth.
"That really isn't necessary."
"Not necessary?"
"What I mean is... cooking is a hassle. It's messy and tiring. You're my teacher, aren't you? I can't have my teacher acting like my servant," Mu Chen said.
Su Qingyue leaned her face forward and reached out to brush her fingers along Mu Chen's chin. Their eyes met briefly.
"So you will be cooking your own food?" Su Qingyue asked.
"Our food. I'll be the one cooking," Mu Chen replied.
A wide smile spread across Su Qingyue's face. She settled back into her chair and let her hand fall away from Mu Chen.
While Su Qingyue sat keeping him company, her eyes snapped sharply to the side, sensing the aura of a cultivator flying at the edge of Jiuxiao Mountain's boundary.
"Yun Tian?"
"What's going on?" Mu Chen asked.
The woman glanced forward, smiled, and shook her head. "Nothing. Keep eating, Mu Chen. I need to step out for a moment."
In an instant, Su Qingyue was gone from Mu Chen's sight. He had no idea where she went, but he figured it had to be connected to something else.
With Mu Chen alone, his thoughts turned to finding a way to complete his second mission. He had cultivated earlier, but the mission hadn't cleared.
Maybe... I need to cultivate with the golden cauldron out in front of me.
Mu Chen summoned the golden cauldron and let it float before him. He tried absorbing the spiritual qi energy in the air around his body.
To his surprise, the spiritual qi flowed into the golden cauldron, and then Primordial Origin Qi from the golden cauldron channeled back into Mu Chen's body.
Oh... now I understand what it's supposed to do.
[Cultivator Profile]
[Host: Mu Chen]
[Realm: Qi Condensation, Second Layer]
[Spirit Root: Low-Grade Ancient Root]
[Qi Purity: 25%]
Another panel appeared, catching Mu Chen off guard. It displayed his data alongside other terms he clearly didn't understand.
"Maybe I should try to finish this mission while I can. Looks like Su Qingyue will be gone for a while."
He stopped his cultivation, put the golden cauldron away, and hurried to finish his food.
Elsewhere, Su Qingyue arrived just outside the boundary of Jiuxiao Mountain. She hovered in the air, arriving with a thrum of qi.
Yun Tian and Han Lao were waiting ahead of her. Both Nascent Soul cultivators pressed their hands together and bowed to Grand Sect Leader Su.
"I hope you have something important to say after pulling me away from my time with Mu Chen!"
"With respect, Grand Sect Leader Su. We came to report on the results of the Ancient Ruins expedition," Yun Tian replied.
"Speak."
Sect Leader Yun Tian gave a nod, then turned and glanced at Han Lao. Core Elder Han Lao flew closer and pressed his hands together.
"Sect Leader Yun sent me in your place to lead the ancient ruins expedition. We explored it for three straight days without rest."
"Please forgive our failure, Grand Sect Leader Su. We did not find the Ancient God Cauldron," Han Lao said.
Su Qingyue's hand clenched tight, sending strong pulses of white qi energy radiating outward in every direction. Yun Tian and Han Lao kept their heads lowered.
"Did the Hongyan Sect or the Qingyun Sect get it?" Su Qingyue asked.
"I would stake hundreds of years of cultivation on it, but not one of them found it either," Han Lao said.
Her anger eased. She let out a slow breath and floated gracefully toward Yun Tian and Han Lao. Both Nascent Soul cultivators stayed perfectly still, unwilling to meet Su Qingyue's eyes.
"The Ancient God Cauldron was my only real chance to break through to a higher realm, to grow stronger, to make the Tianyin Sect the one and only Emperor-Tier Sect on the Yangguan Continent."
"Now it is gone. I will have to start searching for other Ancient God artifacts."
"This junior and every member of the Tianyin Sect will work extremely hard to find information on the whereabouts of any other Ancient God artifacts," Yun Tian said.
Su Qingyue was quiet for a moment, then looked back toward her residence. Her gaze came back to Yun Tian and Han Lao.
"That won't be necessary."
Both Yun Tian and Han Lao were visibly puzzled. Su Qingyue had always been deeply driven to acquire Ancient God artifacts to help push her cultivation through a breakthrough.
Now her attitude had shifted, and the moment it did, her eyes had drifted toward her residence. Yun Tian suspected the change in Su Qingyue had everything to do with the mortal named Mu Chen.
"Mu Chen carries Primordial Origin Qi just like an Ancient God artifact. I will perform dual cultivation with him and make use of his qi."
"If I find that it is not enough, then you can start looking for other artifacts."
Yun Tian nodded in understanding. He would make all of the sect's resources available to help dual cultivation between Su Qingyue and Mu Chen happen as quickly as possible.
There was nothing else to discuss. Yun Tian and Han Lao took their leave and flew away. Su Qingyue stood cold and still, saying nothing in return.
She turned and looked toward her residence. It came as a real surprise when she noticed qi energy flowing in from nature and entering the building.
Could Mu Chen actually be cultivating again?
Su Qingyue shot forward in a flash of light and arrived fully inside the house. Mu Chen was not in the dining room. The bowls and utensils had already been cleaned and put away.
She activated her cultivation eyes again, following the trail of spiritual qi flowing through the residence. Every thread of it was concentrated in Mu Chen's room.
She reached forward and took hold of the door handle, sliding it open to the side.
"Mu... Chen?"
Su Qingyue's eyes went wide, her expression visibly stunned at the sight of a golden object hovering in front of Mu Chen, pulling in spiritual qi energy.
Su Qingyue's heart felt like it had stopped for a moment. The qi in her body shook hard.
Mu Chen's eyes snapped open. He froze in shock. He had been caught red-handed using the Ancient God Cauldron to refine spiritual qi into Primordial Origin Qi.
"Master... Su?"