Kidnapping Houtu with a meal, and then heavenly merit descends?

"Going somewhere?"

"The Primordial World is boundless, nurturing the great thousand, created by the Father God when he split heaven and earth. Its merits shine for billions of generations. What magnificent power! I, Houtu, control the path of the earth and know the vastness of heaven and earth. How could I not know of a mysterious place?"

Houtu was very curious. Her bright eyes were kind and expansive, seeming to pierce through Chen Xuan. This brat she could blow away with a single breath... she couldn't see through him...

"The world is vast and profoundly mysterious. How can you glimpse all its secrets? If you don't believe me, at least trust Lady Nuwa..." Chen Xuan tried a little harder, not revealing too much.

The secrets of later generations were better known to fewer people...

He definitely had to trick Houtu into helping him with farm work in the countryside...

"I'll consider it. The Witch Clan is still very weak right now. I can't bear to leave my ten elder brothers and my sister. I'm truly worried..." Houtu sighed.

"It's alright." Chen Xuan nodded, showing understanding. The Twelve Ancestral Witches each had their own personalities and often caused minor disputes, with Houtu frequently stepping in to mediate...

Currently, with the help of the divine hall, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were roughly at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. Without Primordial Spirits, they could only cultivate their physical bodies. Fortunately, they had innate divine abilities...

"Lady Nuwa... I want to eat dragon meat. How about we barbecue? This spot is quite nice..."

Chen Xuan changed the subject, looking at a stretch of mountains and rivers. Outside the pavilion was a river, with green mountains. Beasts roared, most of them lacking intelligence.

Only a small portion of the demon race existed before Eastern Emperor Taiyi and Di Jun created the Heavenly Court, and the concept of a demon race hadn't yet formed...

"Okay... especially if there's a good dipping sauce." Lady Nuwa's eyes lit up. What she missed about later generations was delicious cuisine.

"You handle the dragon meat. I'll look around nearby to see if I can find some seasonings." Chen Xuan was also curious if there was such a thing as barbecue in the Primordial World.

Woof woof woof...

Big Yellow, being intelligent, naturally wagged its tail and followed eagerly...

"Hehe... I'll help too. Let's search together." Duobao rolled a few times and followed.

Nuwa didn't idle. She took out a colossal Five-Clawed Golden Dragon and began to dismember it, drawing out most of its spiritual energy to make it suitable for the weaker ones to eat...

"Little Wa... is this barbecue really that delicious?" Fuxi was puzzled. Innate gods generally ate spiritual fruits and never ate such "trash." They rarely even ate anything.

"Our Witch Clan focuses on cultivating our physical bodies. We usually drink spiritual spring water and eat many spiritual fruits. We rarely eat beast meat because it's too fishy and unpalatable..." Houtu also expressed disgust.

"You don't eat worldly food, so naturally, you wouldn't know..." Nuwa waved her hand, dismembering the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon. She condensed a trace of Creation power, extracting a large amount of nourishment. A mortal would explode from a single drop of its blood. Without becoming an immortal, they could only eat a little, and the power needed to be purified.

Soon, rows of dragon meat, cleaned and processed, were hung by the river. A fire was lit, and smoke curled upwards, like a small riverside village, very pleasant...

About half an hour later...

The person, the dog, and the "mouse" finally returned...

"As expected, I found pepper, angelica, star anise, perilla, and some mineral salt. I can't believe they existed in the Primordial era. It's truly incredible..."

Chen Xuan was genuinely surprised. Looking back at later generations, pepper came from the West and was considered a traditional Chinese medicine before becoming a condiment.

"The Primordial World is the origin of all things. It's not strange that they exist. However, your pepper, star anise, and angelica are a bit too big, aren't they? They're as large as fists?"

Nuwa had seen Chen Xuan cook and was familiar with some ingredients. If he weren't a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, she'd suspect they might be poisonous.

"It's fine... these have all been modified by time. It's normal for them to be a bit strange. What about corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes... aren't they all products of scientific improvement? They didn't achieve high yields instantly."

Chen Xuan explained, then shattered the ingredients with a hand, grinding them into powder to rub onto the dragon meat for marination.

Houtu watched intently, truly amazed. The Witch Clan didn't eat much meat now, and when they did, it was usually raw. They hadn't even started barbecuing. It was truly like opening a window...

"This is barbecue? It looks quite ordinary..." Houtu looked at the large chunks of meat, thinking it was a bit superfluous. It would be better to just eat it directly.

"You'll know later..." Chen Xuan smiled mysteriously.

Half an hour later...

The marinated dragon meat was placed on the fire by Chen Xuan. The flames blazed, and the meat began to sizzle and release oil. It was indeed top-tier meat from the Primordial World. Soon, a rich aroma filled the air.

"Culinary arts are vast and profound. Barbecue is all about the ingredients, and the fire is just an aid. Experienced chefs can easily judge the doneness of the meat. It looks delicious just looking at it..."

"Of course, there's also a prerequisite: the most unpretentious delicacy is an authentic one, cooked with a simple technique..."

Chen Xuan explained as he grilled the meat.

"This... how is this possible? I never thought of grilling meat before. I always thought meat was eaten raw." Houtu was stunned...

"Sister Houtu... you're mistaken! Because we don't need to eat, absorbing wind and dew is enough. Looking at this delicious food, don't you feel like countless eons have been lived in vain?" Nuwa teased.

"Hmph... no matter how you boast, I don't know how it tastes!" Houtu snorted proudly.

Fuxi stood by, watching. The fragrant aroma stimulated his appetite. It was indeed a superb delicacy, a pleasure of later generations that made him yearn for it...

"Here... have a taste." Chen Xuan took a large piece of meat and gave it to Nuwa and Houtu first, then distributed it to everyone else...

Houtu looked at the sizzling, fragrant barbecue and couldn't resist taking a bite. Her beautiful eyes instantly widened. A completely new flavor danced on her taste buds...

"This... this is too delicious..." Houtu exclaimed, eating large mouthfuls of meat.

"Very good... as expected, dragon meat is a delicious delicacy, absolutely top-tier." Nuwa didn't hold back either.

"I also feel like I've lived countless years in vain..." Fuxi praised endlessly.

Woof woof woof...

Big Yellow and Duobao didn't stand on ceremony and ate ravenously, as if afraid others would snatch it away. The deliciousness filled their mouths and coursed through their bodies, nourishing them intensely.

"It's so delicious..." Houtu took another piece of dragon meat, eating it with gusto, completely devoid of any immortal air. She looked at Chen Xuan enthusiastically and said, "Can you teach me? This is definitely the first delicious dish in the Primordial World..."

"No problem... Besides grilling, I also have steaming, frying, braising, smoking, white-cut, raw meat... numerous cooking techniques. I'll teach them all to you, guaranteeing that even in this culinary desert of the Primordial World, everyone can enjoy delicious food..."

Chen Xuan was being generous, but it might backfire. One meal of grilled meat had already made Houtu so enthusiastic. Could a single meal be enough to charm a goddess into following him to the later ages?

"I'll listen to you... Just teach me how to grill meat, it's simply too delicious." Houtu ate another piece of meat, not worried at all about gaining weight. The advantages of being a goddess were something mortals could only dream of.

Rumble...

Suddenly, the sky above erupted with a tremendous commotion, echoing in all directions. A wave of golden light descended from the highest heavens, showering down upon a large area and astonishing the entire Primordial World.

"Power of Merit? Who has created something for the Primordial World again, causing Merit to descend once more..."

"Since Pangu created heaven and earth, every time great Merit has descended, it has been for a grand creation within the Primordial World. To have it descend again after such a short time, who could this divine being be..."

"Look at that area, it seems to have twelve fellows cultivating their physical bodies, claiming to be of Pangu's bloodline..."

Throughout the entire Primordial World, whether on the sun, within the moon, including the endless Sea of Blood, and on various immortal mountains, beings stared in shock at the descending golden light of Merit.

Each of them counted on their fingers but could not deduce anyone's identity. In the early stages of the tribulation, the heavenly secrets were shrouded in chaos, making it impossible even for Hongjun and Luohu to glimpse the causal connections.

This shower of golden Merit light was distributed: seventy percent fell upon Chen Xuan, twenty percent upon Nuwa, and the remaining ten percent was shared by Houtu, Fuxi, Big Yellow, Duobao...

"No way... we just ate some grilled meat, and now Merit is raining down from the heavens. Isn't this a bit too much?" Nuwa was stunned...

"Have you forgotten Suirenshi?" Chen Xuan immediately recalled someone.

"I almost forgot him. Suirenshi drilled wood to make fire, allowing humanity to abandon raw meat and blood, advancing civilization by a great leap. His Merit was immeasurable, making him an Innate Human Emperor, and the foremost of the Three Innate Emperors..."

"No... this is the Merit your ancestor earned. Aren't you ashamed?"

Nuwa cast a disdainful glance at Chen Xuan.