「The next day, early in the morning.」

"The store will be closing soon; I wish you a smooth journey ahead," Master Chef Watanabe said as he accompanied Huai Shi to the door. He also handed him a special lunch box prepared by his restaurant and gave him a business card. "After relocating in a while, our restaurant should be able to offer delivery service. I might be presuming too much, but by the look of it, Huai-kun, you don't seem like someone who cooks often. Should you need anything by then, please do patronize us."

"Certainly, certainly."

Huai Shi accepted the business card with both hands. When he noticed the logo of Yesterday Express on it, his eyelids twitched. Once involved with Yesterday Express, no matter the distance, it would surely arrive on time, but the price might skyrocket, much like a space elevator.

However, if it was necessary, even at double the price, it would probably be worth it.

During yesterday's staff dinner, Master Chef Watanabe had introduced his 'Combustion' technique, a secret recipe handed down from Tengu Mountain. Its name sounded terrifying, but it was actually a stewing method.

The stewing method from Tengu Mountain, while blending a large amount of negative Source Substance, also used alcohol as a medium to distill various precious Abyss medicinal herbs into a pot, creating a miraculous brew.

The ingenuity and precision of this process rivaled any form of Alchemy.

Not only could it quickly heal injuries, but it also brought a long-lasting enhancement for up to twelve hours. Depending on the ingredients, it could make a person vigorous and unfazed by cold or heat. It could also render them tireless and immune to deep erosion, among other effects.

Even without the identity of Chef Demon, Watanabe's skill was obviously far superior to Huai Shi's, and it opened a new door for him on the path of Dark Cuisine.

Being a Chef Demon was only the beginning; there were broader worlds waiting for him to explore... even though he wasn't really planning to spend more effort on culinary arts.

Of course, Watanabe had noticed this too; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so bold as to suggest—during breakfast—that if Huai Shi was interested, he could... COUGH, COUGH... consider visiting Tengu Mountain; a letter of introduction wouldn't be a problem.

But Huai Shi declined.

As a predecessor, Watanabe felt it was a pity. However, he also understood that for a young talent like Huai Shi, Dark Cuisine wasn't a goal worth striving for a lifetime. As they said their reluctant goodbyes, Watanabe also handed over the business card for his future restaurant, hoping to lend a hand and foster a good relationship sometime in the future.

This gesture of kindness was solid, and Huai Shi firmly accepted it, nodding his farewell.

Watanabe's usually stern face showed a rare smile. After watching Huai Shi walk a few steps away, he turned and went back into the restaurant, directing his apprentices to start packing up their tools and equipment. Before long, a Ping Tian cargo truck arrived at the door, taking them toward Little Cat Paradise.

Only the empty restaurant remained.

Meanwhile, Huai Shi, riding a White Horse and holding a hand-drawn map given by the master chef, wobbled his way toward the city's concert hall.

There, he should be able to meet someone from the Associations of Various Hell Music, and hopefully, he would find a skilled Luthier.

He still missed his old lute very much.

After having gone through such a long time together, it was more than just a lute to Huai Shi—it was like an old friend who had always been there, never leaving his side.

He would spare no effort to restore it to its former state, and even if he came back empty-handed, it would only be a waste of a little time.

Besides, along the way, he idly plucked leaves from roadside trees and stroked the flowers and grass, as if he were chatting with cats or teasing dogs. Occasionally finding a new species would thrill him for quite a while.

This was the instinctive joy brought by the Mountain Ghost Stigma, a sense of growth and achievement.

As the Source Substance gradually became more complex, the chaotic vitality within it grew increasingly vigorous, bringing order within disorder, much like the wild growth of a deep forest, which has its own rules even in its untamed state.

With every new strand of vitality, Huai Shi's Source Substance became more vibrant; eventually, it seemed to take on a life of its own, leaping about. Wherever the White Horse passed, the asphalt road also showed traces of grass and shrubs.

Huai Shi was everywhere planting grass.

Now he understood that the growth method of the Mountain Ghost Stigma was like an illegal fundraising scheme, with sources as diverse and numerous as the funds that came in, but what mattered more was circulation.

By connecting with different networks, he ensured a balance of input and output, rolling over the benefits in the process.

Under the pressure of the three major restrictions of the Current Circumstances, he couldn't be so rampant. But in Hell, only the Joyful Framework covered this area, which offered no defense against such a bizarre method of life circulation.

In his battle with the Prince, he had discovered a new method: connecting the vitality within his body with the surrounding network of life to form a sort of 'distributed server' effect in a short period.

In simple terms, Huai Shi's life was now like those flashy websites, often full of colors and not kid-friendly, teeming with vitality like a poisonous weed.

In this state, damage from penetrating wounds and blunt trauma from heavy weapons would be greatly reduced. To kill him, one would need to destroy his vitals or forcibly dismember him.

Otherwise, if a 'server' got temporarily shut down, he could just shift a strand of vitality elsewhere to preserve the most precious seed and let it sprout again once the coast was clear.

Well, as long as he could quickly cover the 'illegal fundraising' losses with principal and interest, he would be unscathed.

Looking at it this way... the Skill 'Illegal Organization Operation' seems to have become increasingly important, hasn't it?

Huai Shi pinched his chin with one hand while casually stroking the flowers and plants with the other, his mind wandering and daydreaming as he languidly enjoyed the serene morning—that is, if you ignore the constant roars and faint screams in the distance.

After a rough estimate, Huai Shi figured that he had already collected about a thousand types of vitality, yet he was still about three or four thousand short of truly completing the Mountain Ghost Stigma.

Although the number was somewhat staggering, it was actually the easiest part. While Abyss plants were not exactly commodity goods, almost all major organizations cultivated them.

Not to mention the Existence Institute, which claimed to encompass all forms of life. Then there was the Stone Pot Society, which monopolized various Alchemy Materials and proudly claimed that ten new subtypes of creatures were bred every day. Additionally, there were fragments of the Sea of Milk from the India Genealogy, which nurtures all things, and so forth. As for the Borders that produced specialty Abyss plants, there were countless of them; the Dongxia Genealogy alone had three Borders dedicated to the daily needs of its Alchemists.

For Huai Shi, this was not the most difficult part; even if he wanted to find rare species, it was just a matter of spending more money and time.

Besides, he wasn't planning to buy, just take a look and maybe touch a little. Was that not allowed?

He was already prepared to free-ride.

Therefore, the most challenging part was the next step of advancement.

According to Raven, it was up to him to choose how to advance, and for Huai Shi, there were as many as three options!

The simplest one was not to seek quality of Source Substance but to gorge voraciously, relying on the sheer quantity of pure vitality to break through the barrier. The sheer quantity of the same type of vitality would trigger a qualitative change, allowing him to advance naturally.

This method required neither the aid of Border Relics nor the transformation of a Mystic Ritual.

However, with such an advancement, his Stigma would depart from the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy and transition to a secret path of sublimation within the Dongxia Genealogy. Ultimately, he could still reach the Fifth Stage and achieve the title of 'Qing Emperor', with even more room for advancement beyond that.

But by doing so, he would no longer be considered a member of the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy. This would be akin to everyone splitting up their luggage and returning to Gao's Old Manor to live their separate lives.

It remained uncertain whether the Book of Fate would still acknowledge him as its Secretary.

While Huai Shi had always been somewhat troubled by certain things the Book of Fate represented, the idea of letting it leave him... he still chose to cling to the Book of Fate and exclaim how great it truly was!

Having been aboard this pirate ship for so long, why bother jumping off now?

Even though there was a black-hearted Raven that often left him bloodied, he simply couldn't bring himself to turn cold-hearted and cut ties so decisively. Besides, the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy was quite pleasant, wasn't it?

The Genealogy was filled with talented individuals, and Raven's words were always pleasant to hear—he quite liked it here.

Thus, Huai Shi could only PASS on this option and consider the other two paths of advancement.

Within the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy, Huai Shi's Way of Heavenly Inquiry contained many branches. Based on the 'Ceremony Soul' of the First Stage, divergences occurred upon entering the Second Stage.

The corresponding paths of advancement were Mountain Ghost and River Earl, respectively. And at the Third Stage, both paths faced new choices.

'King Xiang' or 'Soloist'? If one chose the former, there were further distinctions: if male, no change, but if female, an option called 'Mrs. Xiang' became available.

As Raven mentioned, the orthodox advancement for River Earl was King Xiang, while for Mountain Ghost, it was Soloist. However, as part of the extremely versatile Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy, whether one was a Mountain Ghost or a River Earl, one could freely choose between the two.

Each had its own merits and demerits.

King Xiang, as the name suggests, is the legendary 'God of Xiang River', the pure spirit born from water, bestowing upon the user maximum affinity with water, allowing them to become formless upon entering it.

Its distinctive feature is a terrifying capacity for Source Substance; as long as there is ample water, the user can quickly replenish their Source Substance.

If one advanced from River Earl to King Xiang, they would acquire an additional Ability called 'Sky Canopy', greatly enhancing their control over water and exponentially increasing their Source Substance capacity.

Even if their killing power was not strong, they would not need to worry about depletion when using various Border Relics. With a couple of top-tier pieces of equipment, they could become an output monster among Third Stage cultivators.

As a Mountain Ghost advancing, Huai Shi might not compare to an orthodox River Earl, but River Earls lacked the Mountain Ghost's symbiotic ability to coexist and thrive with plants.

Just imagine: by then, Huai Shi would have acquired the ability to replenish Source Substance through water, coupled with his talent to restore life through plants. As long as there were plants and a water source nearby, he would be an undying powerhouse with effectively full health and mana. If he covered his weaknesses and improved overall, his endurance would reach frightening levels.

And if he were a bit merciless to himself and chose to advance to Mrs. Xiang, he'd gain a powerful control Ability called 'Grudge Entanglement'. Yes, as long as the enemy was in the water, they would struggle to move, unable to budge. The utterly weak would suffocate on the spot.

That cannot be regarded as anything but strong.

But without his manhood, what meaning would all of this have...

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