"More!" Su Wanqing's eyes shone with frightening intensity, filled with nothing but an extreme longing for that bowl of Chaos Golden Light Noodle Soup. Her previous awe and fear had been cast into the ninth heaven! The nourishment and satisfaction brought by swallowing a single noodle sheet were like opening Pandora's box, transforming her completely into a gluttonous beast who only wanted to gulp down the entire pot of soup!
Ling Ye acted as though he hadn't heard her shout. He simply held the ordinary white porcelain bowl and slowly slurped the broth, every mouthful accompanied by a satisfied sigh. His leisurely enjoyment formed a stark contrast to Su Wanqing's desperate, heart-wrenching impatience.
The bowl of soup was soon empty. Ling Ye set it down, seemingly still unsatisfied, and glanced at the small half-pot of amber-golden noodle soup remaining in the pot.
Su Wanqing's heart leaped into her throat! An opportunity! The big shot's leftovers... No, after the big shot had finished his main course, was it finally her turn?!
Just as she prepared to pounce again and beg for a reward—
Ling Ye made a move that left her dumbfounded.
He didn't pick up the bowl, nor did he call for Su Wanqing. Instead... he naturally lifted the double-handled soup pot still sitting on the induction cooker, radiating Chaos Golden Light and a vast aura of life! Along with the small half-pot of divine noodle soup inside!
Then, under Su Wanqing's gaze as if she were looking at a ghost, Ling Ye carried the scalding soup pot, patter, patter... toward the corner of the living room... toward the Chaos Green Lotus Scrap Basin that had been sitting quietly against the wall all this time, its edge an irregular circle, neither metal nor jade, its surface flowing with a faint chaotic radiance?!
Su Wanqing's brain instantly crashed! What... what was he trying to do?! Could it be... could he be using that basin... that footbath?! To hold soup?! This... this was ten thousand times more outrageous than making instant noodles in a mug!
Yet Ling Ye's movements showed no hesitation. He walked to the basin and, with complete casualness, tilted his wrist—
"Splash..."
The scalding amber-golden noodle soup, radiating starry fragments and supreme Dao rhythm, together with those crystalline, jade-like noodle sheets, was all poured into the Chaos Green Lotus Basin, which seemed like an entrance where all things returned to silence!
The instant the soup touched the basin wall, the chaotic radiance flowing across its surface seemed to brighten faintly for a moment. A barely audible hum, like a satisfied sigh, rang out. The chaotic mist within the basin intertwined and fused with the starry golden light of the noodle soup, giving off an even stranger and deeper aura!
Ling Ye emptied the soup pot and casually tossed it back onto the kitchen island, where it landed with a tremendous clang that made Su Wanqing jump. He lowered his head and looked at the small half-basin of "essence," seeming fairly satisfied.
Then, under Su Wanqing's utterly petrified gaze, with her thoughts completely frozen—
Ling Ye began taking off his shoes with complete naturalness?!
He kicked off the pair of ill-fitting old slippers, revealing feet that were smooth and perfectly shaped.
Then he lifted one foot and, with utter casualness, stepped into the Chaos Green Lotus Basin holding the essence of the divine noodle soup?!
The scalding broth, containing the source aura of the Earth Embryo Membrane and chaotic starlight, instantly submerged his pale ankle!
"Sizzle..."
A faint sound rang out, as if spirit and flesh were merging.
Ling Ye's face revealed an expression of extreme comfort, as though he had immersed himself in a premium hot spring. He even let out a satisfied purr like a cat.
A... a footbath?!
Using divine noodle soup that could trigger a "Galactic Level" energy reaction and contained the dust of Xi Soil and Chaos Origin Qi... as a footbath?!
Su Wanqing felt as though her soul were leaving her body! Her worldview had been ground down again and again until it had completely turned to nothingness! She opened her mouth but could not make a sound. All she could do was watch helplessly as Ling Ye slowly stepped his other foot into the basin and comfortably... squatted down? He simply let that precious "broth" soak his feet!
The chaotic starlight and essence of the earth within the broth were like living sprites, happily circling his feet, seeping in and nourishing every inch of skin, even though his feet already looked flawless.
Yet the instant both of Ling Ye's feet were fully submerged in the basin—
A sudden change occurred!
Su Wanqing, who had been quietly standing in the center of the living room and had just undergone a "divine power cleansing," suddenly shuddered violently!
"Boom—!"
The newborn power within her, which had been temporarily soothed by a single noodle sheet and had become thick and stable, seemed to receive some supreme summons and resonance. It instantly lost control! Like a barrel of explosives being ignited, it erupted with a thunderous roar!
Energy far more vast and ferocious than before, mixed with Chaos Origin Qi and the essence of the Earth Embryo Membrane, surged uncontrollably from every part of her body! Faint chaotic-colored patterns instantly appeared across her skin. Golden light shot from her eyes, and her long hair rose strand by strand despite the lack of wind, radiating heart-pounding energy fluctuations!
"Ah—!" Su Wanqing let out a painful moan tinged with intoxication! She felt as though her body were a balloon being continually inflated, on the verge of exploding! Power! Endless power surged and roared within her! She was about to lose control!
Her gaze involuntarily turned toward the corner of the living room, filled with an almost instinctive, frenzied longing—toward Ling Ye, who was soaking his feet in the divine soup! More precisely, toward the Chaos Green Lotus Basin in which Ling Ye's feet were immersed!
That basin... the aura inside it! It could save her! It could contain the power running wild within her!
"Give it to me!" Su Wanqing let out a roar that no longer sounded human. Her reason was completely crushed beneath the raging torrent of power! Like a runaway locomotive, she charged toward Ling Ye in the corner—or rather, toward the Chaos Green Lotus Basin—with unstoppable momentum and blood-red eyes!
She moved faster than any ordinary person, even creating faint sonic booms!
Her goal was clear—snatch the basin! Take the soup remaining inside... No! Kick Ling Ye's feet away! Get in and soak herself!
Ling Ye seemed completely unaware of the "humanoid beast" charging up behind him. He continued soaking his feet contentedly, eyes narrowed in pleasure. It was only when Su Wanqing rushed close with her violent aura, her fingers almost touching the rim of the basin, that—
Ling Ye's right foot, soaking in the basin, rose with complete casualness.
The movement was neither fast nor forceful, even carrying a hint of laziness.
His sole, covered in amber-golden broth and radiating chaotic starlight, was like a swatter striking a fly. With extreme precision, it gently... pressed against the forehead of the charging Su Wanqing.
"Smack."
A light, crisp sound, accompanied by splashing water.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Su Wanqing's furious charge came to an abrupt halt! Her entire body stood rigid in place as if sealed by a binding spell. Her face still held an expression of wild longing, but the red and golden light in her eyes rapidly receded like the tide!
The "footbath water" clinging to Ling Ye's sole, containing the aura of the Chaos Green Lotus, the essence of the Earth Embryo Membrane, and the supreme Dao rhythm of the noodle soup, seemed to possess miraculous purifying power. It instantly passed through the skin of her forehead, seeped into her sea of consciousness, and surged toward every part of her body!
"Buzz—!"
A cool, vast force carrying an unparalleled will to suppress and organize poured down like the Milky Way from the Ninth Heaven, instantly washing through every raging river of energy in her body! Before that will, all the uncontrolled power became as docile as sheep. It was instantly soothed, organized, and guided back onto the proper path!
The chaotic patterns across her skin quickly vanished. The explosive golden light subsided, and her floating hair slowly fell. The vast power within her became like countless rivers returning to the sea, docile and smooth as it settled deeply into every inch of her flesh and every bone!
An indescribable, solid and weighty feeling of power filled her entire body. It was as if her feet had taken root in the endless earth, giving her limitless confidence! Her mind was clearer and more peaceful than ever before.
Ling Ye slowly withdrew his foot and placed it back in the basin, as though he had merely swatted away an annoying mosquito. He even shook off the droplets of water on his foot in disgust, splashing a few onto the carpet beside him.
"So noisy," he muttered, then continued closing his eyes and enjoying his "medicinal bath."
Su Wanqing stood blankly where she was, a warm, damp sensation still lingering on her forehead, along with the faint smell of noodle soup mixed with footbath water. She lowered her head and looked at her hands, which had returned to normal yet contained terrifying power, then touched her cool, comfortable forehead. She felt like someone who had just awakened from a bizarre and fantastical dream.
I... I almost snatched the big shot's footbath?! And the big shot stepped on my face... with his foot?!
A massive wave of shame and lingering fear instantly overwhelmed her, making her wish she could dig a hole and crawl into it immediately! Yet the immense, docile power that had been thoroughly organized and settled within her clearly told her that everything that had just happened was real!
That big shot... had used his footbath water to help organize the power running wild within her?!
What... what kind of outrageous opportunity was this?! And what level of humiliation was it?!
Su Wanqing stood where she was, her face alternating between red and white. Overcome with shame and fury, she didn't dare move, much less look at the man continuing to soak his feet in the corner.
Just then, Ling Ye seemed to have soaked long enough. He slowly rose from the basin, crystalline broth sliding down his perfect ankles and dripping back into the basin without leaving a trace.
He stepped barefoot onto the carpet, casually glanced at the Chaos Green Lotus Basin, which still held a little broth at the bottom—footbath water—then looked at Su Wanqing, who stood rigidly beside it like a statue, her expression constantly changing.
"Hey," he said, his voice lazy after the bath. "The rest..." He jerked his chin toward the bit of golden "essence" in the basin. "Water the flowers with it."
Water... water the flowers?!
With this... footbath water?! Water the Ancient Orchid outside the window, which had just been revived by spirit tea and was worth a fortune?!
Su Wanqing felt as though she were about to suffocate!
Ling Ye paid her no further attention. He walked barefoot toward the sofa with a series of soft pats, apparently intending to continue lying around like a salted fish.
Meanwhile, at a temporary command post three kilometers from Yunqi Mountain.
In front of the enormous monitoring screens, the dead silence had already turned into numb despair.
The energy readings representing the inside of the villa had just gone through an even more insane roller coaster—the terrifying peak reached when the energy within Su Wanqing erupted out of control, nearly the mid-level of the Stellar Level; then the extreme restraint and stability after it was instantly suppressed and organized, when the readings plummeted even as the perceived quality skyrocketed; and finally, the bizarre curve triggered when the Chaos Green Lotus Basin was used, an unresolvable fluctuation that seemed to occur at the level of the rules...
The technician stared at the string of data on the screen, which looked like heavenly scripture, his voice dry as sandpaper scraping against stone. "Report... the target... the target appears to be using a liquid containing a high concentration of mixed chaotic origin energy... to clean his feet? Then... using the remaining liquid after cleaning... to help Su Wanqing organize her energy? Finally... recommending that the remaining liquid be used for... plant irrigation?"
Foot cleaning? Energy organization? Plant irrigation?!
The combination of those words made everyone in the command vehicle feel dizzy, their entire worldview collapsing!
Thunderstorm clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails nearly dug into his palms. He stared at the blurry figure on the screen, who had flopped back onto the sofa, and an unprecedented sense of powerlessness and deep awe, like a cold abyss, swallowed him whole.
This was no longer a difference in the level of power... This was... absolute crushing superiority in terms of life form and cognitive dimension!
Deep underground, within some unknown and hidden space.
A pair of enormous eyes that seemed to be formed from the purest shadows slowly opened. Reflected deep within them were the blurry outlines of the villa in the distant strata above, as well as... a wisp of Chaos Origin aura that had leaked out the instant the Chaos Green Lotus Basin was used, imperceptible yet enough to make the entire shadowy space tremble!
A low, ancient roar containing endless greed and a trace of suspicion echoed silently through the absolute darkness:
"The... Basin... of... Origin?!"
Before you continue