Chapter 3: Qi Wu Zhen (Part 1)

It was an unparalleled soul power. Guo Shier felt as if he could easily tear apart heaven and earth. Seeing that no one was around, he quietly summoned his altar. The palm-sized altar spun continuously before him, and the handsome old man poked his head out—really only half the size of an ant.
The handsome old man said, “I’m exhausted, kid. Never swallow soul beads like this again. At most, you can only swallow those I’ve collected, or… uh, those given by that person. Wait until we’ve built a four-layer altar before swallowing them. It’s too complicated; we almost got ourselves killed.”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “I just can’t refuse. The soul beads I’ve swallowed seem to be from third-layer altar professionals. Luckily, I picked carefully. If they were from fourth- or fifth-layer altar professionals, I would really die from the strain. Even if the souls didn’t explode, I’d turn into a mad idiot.”
The handsome old man said helplessly, “It’s because you’re not as good as others.”
Guo Shier replied, “I noticed that Huo Fen Tian seems to have regained consciousness. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. She also discovered the secret of my soul fluctuations. Sigh, I really don’t know what to do.”
The handsome old man also looked troubled. “There’s nothing we can do. Just muddle through for now. But it seems she’s quite kind to you.”
Guo Shier shook his head. “It’s not that she’s kind to me, but to my soul fluctuations. I’m very clear about that. Besides… forget it. Now I’m more confident that she won’t kill us. It seems she won’t leave our team for a while. That’s good… With such a skilled person around, we’re quite safe.”
The handsome old man thought for a moment before nodding. “True. Besides your attractive soul fluctuations, your strength is so weak that she wouldn’t be interested.”
These words nearly made Guo Shier collapse. The old man really didn’t hold back in his speech.
His stomach growled. Guo Shier said, “Ugh, I’m starving. I’m going to eat first.” With that, he put away his altar and rushed downstairs like an arrow.
“Uncle Eagle Demon, I’m hungry!”
Eagle Demon, who was sitting downstairs, stood up upon hearing this. Watching Guo Shier rush down, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Why do you two say the same thing as your first words when coming downstairs? Here, there’s some dried meat. Will you eat it?” He knew Guo Shier better than anyone—whenever he had time, this guy would definitely cook something delicious.

Guo Shier smiled and said, “No way, after being hungry for so many days, you want me to eat just dried meat… Sigh, I’ll just do it myself.” Fortunately, thesymbol / talisman / rune / charm house protected them from the cold air, so he set up his cooking gear on the first floor, bringing out many pots and pans specifically for cooking, ready to reward himself for reaching the third-tier altar.
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan burst into laughter. Nan You still didn’t understand and asked, “What are you laughing at? Eagle, Old Luo, why are you laughing? Is there something good?”
Eagle Demon waved his hand and said, “Just wait.” He could barely hold back his saliva. After all, Guo Shier hadn’t prepared anysymbol / talisman / rune / charm food in a long time—too busy fleeing and practicing, with no time to cook. He mostly relied on roasted or boiled meat to fill his stomach. He said eagerly, “Sigh, this is rare…”
Guo Shier picked some vegetables and aromatic fruits from the storedsymbol / talisman / rune / charm plants, and also found some meat from mutatedsymbol / talisman / rune / charm beasts, all the tenderest and best parts. As he worked, he asked, “Uncle Eagle Demon, where has Senior Fire Burn Heaven gone?”
Eagle Demon replied, “I don’t know. After you went upstairs to sleep that day, she came out, had a meal, and left without saying where she was going.”
Nan You said disdainfully, “You just don’t dare to ask.”
Eagle Demon retorted, “Would you dare? You’re just like me—too scared to say a word.”
Luo Zhan laughed and said, “Forget it. None of you need to blame each other; it’s the same for everyone!”
The two immediately fell silent. Guo Shier said, “Come help wash and chop the vegetables… Don’t show up only when it’s time to eat, and don’t pretend to be dead when it’s time to work.”
Eagle Demon and the others laughed as they stepped forward to help. After years of getting along, they had become like family, treating each other very casually.
Using every skill he had, Guo Shier cooked his best to reward himself with delicious food. A large table was brought out, but there were no chairs, so they stood around it waiting. Guo Shier strictly ordered that no one steal food, knowing that if he didn’t set such rules, by the time he finished the last dish, everything on the table would likely be gone. The people in this world ate faster than tigers, quicker than lions, and more than pigs.
Eagle Demon and the others stared at the table full of dishes, drooling with desire. It was the first time Nan You had seen Guo Shier cook. Smelling the fragrant dishes, his mouth watered. Wiping his lips, he said, “I don’t recognize a single dish. I never knew it was possible to cook like this before…”
Luo Zhan asked, “Have you never eatensymbol / talisman / rune / charm food?”
Nan You replied, “Of course I have, but never like this.”

Guo Shier has traveled to many continents and secret realms in this world, even visiting mysterious places like Yaqi Dami Tian. Because he loves collecting ingredients, he has an extremely rich supply, including some from the ocean, such as the sea emperor crab he once obtained. He prepared over a dozen dishes in total—four cold dishes, eight stir-fries, and a huge hot pot filled with various cuts of meat. The Eagle Demon and the others are meat lovers, so of course there was also a large bowl of braised pork. The last dish was a vegetable soup to cut through the greasiness. The entire talisman house was filled with the strong aroma of food. Even though the door was tightly closed, the scent still seeped out. Just as Guo Shier was about to announce it was time to eat, the door suddenly opened. Huo Fen Tian floated in, her eyes closed as she sniffed the air, then floated straight toward the table in a very strange manner. Guo Shier and the others stared in shock. Huo Fen Tian opened her eyes and exclaimed in surprise, “Is this… for me? It smells so good…” Everyone felt helpless—this woman’s self-perception was really too high! Huo Fen Tian had no concept of modesty and immediately started eating voraciously, then exclaimed, “Mmm, it’s delicious… I like it… so delicious…” The Eagle Demon grew anxious and said, “Guys, start eating!” It seemed that if they delayed any longer, this woman would devour all the dishes, her appetite no less fierce than Huo Ji’s. Guo Shier stepped forward immediately—he was already starving, too busy to celebrate his promotion. The four men and one woman devoured a large bowl of dishes at lightning speed. Whenever Huo Fen Tian chose a dish, they all rushed at it. Each dish was served in a basin-sized portion, but with just a few picks from their chopsticks, the basin would be almost empty, and they would then move on to the next dish. Huo Fen Tian mumbled, “Don’t fight over it, don’t fight… I like this dish… Hey, stop fighting… Oh, it’s gone again… Ah…” Although she ate quickly, she was still slightly slower than the Eagle Demon and the others. Among them, Nan You was the slowest; by the time he reached for his chopsticks, little was left in the basin. He was confused, foolishly following the others’ chopsticks, not realizing the basin next to him was still full. Guo Shier felt that his group was like a pack of starving wolves, fighting fiercely over food.

It took over an hour to cook, but it took no more than five minutes to eat. Apart from hot pot and vegetable soup, everything else was cleared away. Huo Fen Tian didn’t feel full and grumbled discontentedly, “What kind of dish is this?” she asked, pointing at the hot pot.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Hot pot!” He wasn’t full either, but being half full already made him happy. The only regret was that they ate so quickly that they didn’t have time to savor the flavors properly, which was a bit of a shame.
This hot pot was different from Guo Shier’s hot pot in his past life—it was larger, about the size of a bathtub, and also oval in shape. It contained a large amount of meat broth along with many spices. Six fire talismans were stuck to the bottom of the pot, keeping it steaming hot.
Guo Shier then took out various cut meats, different kinds of vegetables, and a large jar of prepared chili sauce, pouring them all in. The clear broth instantly turned bright red.
Everyone was only half full, so they became more civilized and stopped scrambling recklessly. Following Guo Shier’s instructions, they began eating the hot pot.
Eating hot pot was simple—what mattered most were the seasonings. With good seasonings and fresh ingredients, the hot pot would taste great. Soon, everyone was eating enthusiastically. Guo Shier kept bringing out various cuts of fresh meat, most of which came from medium- to low-level mutated beast meats, as well as fish he had collected before.
Chili wasn’t rare in this world, but it wasn’t available on every continent. It existed on the Frozen Continent and the Thousand Lakes Continent. The Frozen Continent imported chili from elsewhere, while the Thousand Lakes Continent produced plenty of it.
Huo Fen Tian loved chili very much. She specifically asked Guo Shier for a few jars, saying, “If you find any spicier ones in the future, save some for me. I like it.”
They ate for half a day. When they finally counted, Guo Shier couldn’t help but marvel. Including himself, they had eaten over 700 pounds of meat, not to mention other foods. He guessed that even five pigs from his past life couldn’t consume that much.
Looking at his own stomach, it was amazing that nothing had changed. Looking at Huo Fen Tian, her figure remained stunning, unchanged at all. He couldn’t help but marvel at how powerful the professionals in this world were—where did they put all that meat? After all, they had only just finished eating and weren’t stuffed.

Huofen Tian stretched lazily and smiled coquettishly. The burly men like Eagle Demon were momentarily stunned—not because they had any ulterior motives toward her, but because her smile was simply overwhelming. This woman was too beautiful; in Eagle Demon’s crude terms, he couldn’t describe it, but he could clearly feel the impact of such beauty.

Guo Shier whispered, “You old witch… why be so tempting…”

Huofen Tian was extremely powerful, so how could such a whisper escape her notice? Yet she missed the first part of his words. Smiling, she stared at Guo Shier and said, “What did you say? I didn’t hear clearly…”

Guo Shier replied seriously, “Nothing, I didn’t say anything.”

Huofen Tian said, “I heard something about temptation. Are you talking about me?”

Guo Shier laughed and said, “That was a compliment.”

Huofen Tian loved hearing that and stopped pressing further. Guo Shier busied himself packing up, with Eagle Demon and the others helping. Only Huofen Tian stood with her arms crossed, watching the scene. Guo Shier couldn’t help but say, “Senior, wash the hot pot…” He regretted it as soon as he spoke—why provoke her for no reason?

Huofen Tian asked, “You want me to wash the hot pot?”

Guo Shier forced himself to say, “Just wipe it with the snow outside.”

Surprisingly, Huofen Tian didn’t refuse. She pointed at the hot pot, and a virtual talisman chain immediately dragged the pot, which was as big as a bathtub, outside. For tasks like this, these experts didn’t even need to use their hands—virtual talismans were enough.

Eagle Demon and the others watched in astonishment as Huofen Tian cleaned the hot pot with ice and snow, never expecting her to be willing to do the work herself. It was only then that they realized Huofen Tian was a person, not a fierce female monster.