1226  Long Way To Go

A few hours later, w.a.n.g Wei was casually eating these women"s food. He did not care nor had any expectations. He gave them a task as a way to psychologically comfort them since he knew they would feel useless if he ignored or completely dismissed them. And in this terrifying place, being useless meant they would be killed, discarded, or even worse, traded as goods to someone else.

"Hmm?" w.a.n.g Wei uttered after taking a bite in one of the dishes. He focused and ate even more. "This is delicious even by my standards." He added the meat to the rice and took a bite. "They perfectly combine, and the taste even elevates each other." He drank the soup next, and his eyes shone even brighter: "A three-piece combination meal?"

w.a.n.g Wei quickly finished the meal before summoning the woman who made it. He looked at a thin woman with large eyes that had lost their l.u.s.ter. She had shoulder-length black hair and a mole underneath her eyes, and her body smelled of naturally alluring herbs — she was an unconventional beauty.

 "What"s your name?"

"Chen Zhilan," she replied while secretly holding the corner of her green dress.

"Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"I…I cultivate Food Dao."

w.a.n.g Wei shook his head. "You"re only a Quasi-Emperor, so even with such a unique Dao, it"s impossible for your cooking to reach such a level unless you"re an unparalleled genius. Are you an unparalleled genius?"

Chen Zhilan lowered her head.

"You can tell me the truth," w.a.n.g Wei rea.s.sured. "Unlike your predecessor, I have no desire to…take advantage of the weak."

"Are you going to abandon us?" Chen Zhilan quickly asked. Such a fate might be worse for them. Their previous owner might be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, but he was not one of those sick b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who used them to fulfill his demonic desires.

"No, I"ll find a better and more peaceful life for the rest of you," w.a.n.g Wei rea.s.sured. "However, if any of you have talents or abilities I appreciate, life will be much easier for you once I leave this place."

Chen Zhilan was silent for a few seconds before saying: "I understand."

"Can you answer my question now?"

She still briefly hesitated before telling the truth, "I had a master who was, in fact, an unparalleled genius. With his Food Dao, he became an Everlasting Empyrean in record times. His skill even reached the level where he could make food beneficial to Paragons as long as he had the material and enough time."

Chen Zhilan became teary.

"I"m guessing fate was not kind to him," Wanh Wei said as he waved his hand to manifest a handkerchief for her.

"Sadly," she nodded. "The Moons heard of him and came for him. Some wanted to eradicate him, while others wanted to use his gift. In the end, the Blood Dragon took him away, and I"ve never heard from him since."

"She"s not an Immortal, and her lifespan is limited, so this should have happened recently, probably between a million to a few billion years." w.a.n.g Wei leaned on the latter because the main events that occurred in the past few million years mainly involved the lower dimension. If anything had happened before, his guard should have records of it.

"What happened to you afterward?"

"Many of the master"s apprentices died or scattered during the confrontation," Chen Zhilan explained. "I was one of the lucky ones who escaped. " She wiped out her tears. "Life was hard after that, but with my cooking, I could live a decent life even in hiding. Unfortunately, I was caught by Slave Traders and brought to this place, and …"

"I understand," w.a.n.g Wei nodded. "Well, you don"t have to worry anymore. I"ll even help you find your master."

"Thank you for the offer, but I doubt he"s still alive."

"She"s not that bright, is she?" w.a.n.g Wei thought. "Maybe just ignorant."

"You said your master was an Everlasting Empyrean, correct?"

"That"s right."

"In that case, he"s definitely alive. After all, you remembered him, didn"t you?" w.a.n.g Wei explained. Chen Zhilan looked at him with shock. "That"s right. How can I forget about that?" Then, she started to sob again as she sat on the floor.

"What is it?" w.a.n.g Wei asked while helping her up.

"I spent so many years mourning him," she replied with tears and snot on her face. "I even built him an ancestral shrine. Do you think he"s going to be mad at me?"

"I"m sure he"ll understand," w.a.n.g Wei rea.s.sured. "Poor girl, all that trauma must have severely affected her spirit." His mind released a unique fluctuation, making Chen Zhilan pa.s.s out as her body and mind completely relaxed. Then, her body flew to her room.

"What a strange girl," w.a.n.g Wei shook his head as he walked to his room. However, he suddenly stopped. "I did something on a whim but found a pair of talented master disciples with a rare Food Dao? Is my luck this good?"

His Essence Flower Ability required him to consume delicious food, which was a welcome surprise. However, w.a.n.g Wei felt something suspicious. His luck was excellent, but many good things happened recently, meaning it was time for him to calm down.

"Could it be that fate realized it might be a while before I can taste the future wife"s food and sent me a temporary replacement?" w.a.n.g Wei thought but soon shook his head. "It loved me, but not to this extent."

He looked at Chen Zhilan, peacefully sleeping, and his eyes changed. "Hmm? She"s related to Xu Junyao?" w.a.n.g Wei"s lips twitched as he put the pieces together. He had a [Fated Love] connection with Xu Junyao, meaning they must experience many events to build an emotional bond naturally. Chen Zhilan and her master are part of those events.

w.a.n.g Wei exhaled deeply. "It"s horrifying if you think about it logically." For this event regarding his love life, Fate involved three Empyreans and a Paragon (Blood Dragon) as the primary partic.i.p.ants. The power of the partic.i.p.ants is not even the most impressive aspect; the scale of Fate"s operation is.

w.a.n.g Wei, Xu Junyao, Chen Zhilan"s master, and Blood Dragon are only four individuals in an infinitely large world. Fate has absolute control over the mortals of this world and weaves its influence amongst all the cultivators — who are considered G.o.ds and Demons. Moreover, the Eternal Ascension World is only one world amid the infinite worlds in the Chaos Universe.

w.a.n.g Wei suddenly felt or realized how tiny he was. His fate manipulation is a joke compared to the River of Fate or its guardian/manager — the Adjudicator of Fate.

"There is no need to beat myself down," he thought, inhaling and exhaling to calm down. "This only means I have a long way to go to attain my freedom."

"Look, he has an invincible streak."

19:13

"That"s nothing. It will only be impressive if he can keep it while battling the tower."

The next day, Chen Zhilan woke up refreshed, having had the best sleep since her master"s disappearance. She quickly went to apologize to w.a.n.g Wei for how she behaved yesterday, and the latter rea.s.sured her. After breakfast, w.a.n.g Wei warned the other women — who were already displaying hidden jealousy toward Chen Zhilan — before leaving to start his challenge.

According to the rules, as long as a cultivator in this continent leaves their house — considered a sacred and protective place — they must experience a minimum of five battles and a maximum of 1000 battles. w.a.n.g Wei challenged all the Empyreans, but there were only 210 of them. He was not surprised since most of them had already entered the paG.o.da. Regardless, he won his matches as quickly as possible — usually with one punch. After that, he challenged the Dao Rulers, which was even easier and quicker. Although a few Insurgents were among them, most were just regular Dao Rulers. In fact, they exercised their right to give up this battle once they encountered w.a.n.g Wei, and he was okay with it since it still counted as his win. In five days, w.a.n.g Wei met the requirements and took everyone from his room to enter the PaG.o.da. As soon as he stepped inside, a golden crown condensed above his head, alarming everyone in the lobby. w.a.n.g Wei sensed countless gazes focusing on him, but he remained calm.

"Someone who"s going to get a [t.i.tle]?" murmured an Emperor on the corner.

"Look, he has an invincible streak."

"That"s nothing. It will only be impressive if he can keep it while battling the tower."

"Look at this man"s face. I think he might keep it."

"Keep dreaming. Only a few people can remain undefeated as they climb the tower, and they all lose that streak anyway after fighting the Barbarian King," sneered another bystander.

"Either way, I have a good feeling about this one, so I"ll bet on him."

"That"s what you said, but the person you chose was defeated on the third floor."

"I"m telling you, my intuition is telling me this person is the real deal."

w.a.n.g Wei calmly observed and listened. An administrator from the paG.o.da came to lead him to a private room.

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