Little Cooking Saint – 0130 – Octopus Ball (c)

Chapter 130 Octopus Ball (c)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

 

Shiyu ended up sitting cross-legged on top of the rock overlooking the cave entrance. Fortunately, no one came close to this part of the forest, therefore they would not be disturbed for a while.

After sitting still for a day and a night. Shiyu’s peaceful vigilance was shattered by a sudden scream from the cave. Shiyu’s eyes startled open and she leapt to her feet. However, just as suddenly, the scream was cut off. Shiyu leapt to the cave entrance and tried to peer in, but there was nothing to see.

Most likely the scream of pain had been cut off by Fat Cat’s spiritual barrier. Which was very worrying since Fat Cat had already set up a barrier the moment Shiyu left the cave. What suffering Lao Er must have endured to break even Fat Cat’s barrier if only for a moment?

Shiyu’s heart seized and she could not help but worry about Lao Er’s condition.

Just what is going on inside?

Shiyu could only imagine the misery suffered by Lao Er, but could only stay outside and pray that he would survive this trial

 

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Time passed slowly. The sun rose in the east and inched across the sky. Long after the golden ball of light disappeared in the west, Shiyu was still keeping vigil. It was close to midnight when Fat Cat finally came out.

“It’s over now.”

Shiyu leapt down from her perch, “How is Lao Er? Is he alright?”

“He’s fine,”

“Then, his spiritual root?”

Fat Cat shook his head slowly, “It failed. The Thunder Seed did not take root. However, his body could be said to have been renewed. It is not without hope. The Thunder Seed had tempered his body and created usable Dantian that could accommodate Spiritual power. He could Cultivate, but he will never breakthrough into Core Transformation [1] stage.”

Shiyu felt a little disappointed, “Is that so… having a Seed does not guarantee a spiritual root even after refining… But, how did I succeed in the first place?” She did not think that her condition was any better than Lao Er. If anything, her original condition was much worse than him as she had no medicinal bath and was still weak from lack of proper nutrition and exercise.

“I could only say that luck played a strong role,” said Fat Cat. “He’s in the back, you bring him back with you, ba.” With that final remark, Fat Cat disappeared.

Shiyu stepped in hesitantly into the cave. She found Lao Er seated cross-legged at the back of the cave. The remnants of the bathtub and empty jars around him. His eyes were opened, but unfocused. It looked like he was hit hard by the news.

“Lao Er…” Shiyu called once. When he did not respond, she approached him, intending to help him up. [2] He was still naked, so Shiyu grabbed a blanket from her space ring and put it over his shoulders.

Lao Er finally looked up, “Sister,” he even tried to smile, “I’m fine.” He sounded very weak, “From the very beginning, I’ve braced myself for failure. The chances of success and failure are equal in this.” Though it looked like he was giving Shiyu an explanation, it sounded more like he was trying to comfort himself. “I can just try again next time.”

“En! It doesn’t matter if you fail. Sister will find you another Thunder Seed. If the second one failed, I’ll just find a third and fourth one for you. It’s impossible to fail every single time,” said Shiyu firmly.

However, Lao Er merely looked at her and said, “No. Sister, you’ve helped me enough. The rest is up to me. As long as I don’t die, I shall not give up!” After this last energetic remark, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back in a dead faint.

Shiyu sighed, [2] rolled him up in a blanket and [3] summoned Cloud Beast. After gently placing the young man on the soft back of her Spiritual Beast, Shiyu patted the fluffy creature, “Let’s go home,”

Back at the villa, she found that 11th Martial Uncle was ready to leave. Everything had been packed and the Leisurely Cloud Sect people were only waiting for her to come back to say their good-byes. Naturally, Qing Chen and Xuan Yin will be leaving too.

The world is like an endless banquet, with people coming and leaving at all times. Therefore, Shiyu could only wave goodbye to this group of friends, for now.

That night was their last night before their departure. Shiyu could not sleep well, her heart still troubled by various things. Her friends leaving, Lao Er’s Cultivation future, her own future… in the end, she came downstairs to sit on the steps leading to the back garden. She sat there alone, watching as the snow fell quietly onto the world.

It was winter at Imperial Capital. The snow had not stopped falling since it started. Sometimes, it was light, other times snow fell so thickly that it was as though the world had changed overnight. After some time, someone else came to sit beside her.

Shiyu turned to the person and said, “Seeing you wear so little is making me feel cold.”

Qing Chen looked down at his clothes. Well, these were the uniform of his sect, so…

“What are your plans from now on?” he asked instead.

“I’ll probably be leaving too,” said Shiyu. Everyone else is moving forward, she did not want to be left too far behind. Moreover, she still has to fulfil her promise to Mister Qi!

“Where are you heading to?”

“The Xuan Chu Empire,” said Shiyu absently. Suddenly she brightened, “Since you’re so much more knowledgeable than me, have you ever heard of this place?”

Qing Chen did not answer. Instead, he asked, “Have you ever considered coming to Leisurely Cloud Sect with me? Though you have a strong Cultivation base, your martial arts are lacking. I can teach you everything I know.”

Taken aback, Shiyu frowned at Qing Chen. However, it did not look like the guy was joking. She could only shrug and say, “So you noticed it too. To be honest, aside from cooking, I don’t know many other ways to use my dagger. However, there’s no need to worry about me. I have a teacher, I’m sure he’ll teach me everything I need to know.”

Even though this teacher has been dead for x number of years, he left a Fat Cat who would eventually pass on his teachings. It would be as though he was still around.

Qing Chen frowned, [4] he had no idea what Shiyu’s teacher was thinking of teaching her such lopsided skills and wanted to persuade her again. However, when he noticed her smiling face and the determined gleam in her eye, he merely sighed lightly, and said, “It’s good that you have a teacher. As for the Xuan Chu Empire, I have some knowledge of it. It’s very far from here. You’ll have to cross at least a dozen countries to get there.”

As he spoke, he withdrew a scroll from his space ring, “This is something I painted in my early years. Take it, perhaps you may find it useful in your travels.”

Shiyu accepted the scroll and unrolled it. It turned out to be a painting of a map. Names of various countries of the Ninth Realm was depicted in great detail. It was also amazingly beautiful. More importantly, she found Xuan Chu tucked right in the southeast corner of the map.

“So far!” Shiyu exclaimed.

“When will you be leaving?” Qing Chen asked.

“Most likely after you all leave. I should get started as soon as possible seeing how far Xuan Chu is.” She’ll leave after entrusting some people to look after Lao Er and Xiao Qi.

“En,” Qing Chen nodded. Then said, “I have no idea what your master is planning to teach you, but I hope you can learn these martial arts on your own.”

Shiyu looked down at the bunch of scrolls and rare books he had casually dropped into her arms.

As Shiyu understand it, this guy is trying to show kindness in his own way. Understanding that this was a sincere gift on his side, she did not reject it.

“Thank you! In return, please accept these!” She began taking out a bunch of rare medicines and herbs. None of them was below a thousand years old.

Qing Chen appeared surprised to see the wealth of rare items in her hands. He could not help but chuckled a little and said, “I had intended to gift you some herbs as well. Since you have plenty yourself, I shall not take them out.”

“Er…” Shiyu felt a little embarrassed. “Ah, I can’t just keep taking your things. How about this, once we next meet, I’ll give you something more to your liking. How about it?” She understood that he probably won’t take her precious medicinal plants. But what about special medicinal wine or medicinal sweets? Surely he would not refuse her gifts then?

 

[Gumihou: I like how Qing Chen is not insistent after being rejected by ‘an unusual girl’ and opted to help her out the best he could instead of being a sad second male lead. It’s like, he’s more concerned about her potential being wasted than anything else. Also, this may be his way of thanking her for introducing him to his new love. Matcha. Lol!]

 

 

[1] Gumihou is keeping track so that you don’t have to ~

 

Condensation Stage	Stage 1
Core Transformation	Stage 2
Core Condensation	Stage 3
Divine Transformation	Stage 4

 

[2] Additional Detail for Logistic Purpose: Author-san seemed to have forgotten that people usually ended up naked after a trial like this, so… patched with a blanket

[3] Additional Detail for Logistic Purpose: Original “She heaved him onto her shoulder and took him back to the Villa” er, are you going to haul a naked young man over your shoulder all the way back? Patched with Cloud Beast, because we love Cloud Beast.

[4] Adjusted Information for Prevention of OOC: Not only to prevent OOC, but also to streamline the information in Qing Chen’s head and give him a reason for wanting to persuade Shiyu before changing his mind

 

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