Personal Cook · Advanced Edition

The Pope Palace's bedchamber.

Bibi Dong's knuckles cracked as she clenched her fists, her phoenix eyes fixed on the two gilded words on the Light Screen—[Bathing Together].

"Bang!"

The rosewood armrest instantly crumbled to dust. She was just about to flip over the tea table before her when the system's cold, mechanical voice sounded again.

This damn system! What did it take her for?!

[Ding! The "Daily Intimacy Mission Pool" is only a preview of the feature. The currently active mission is: Personal Cook · Advanced Edition.]

[One meal per day, with increasing difficulty. Today's mission: clear-braised Deep Sea Silver Fish with Top-Grade Mountain Ginseng slices. Requirement: fine knife skills.]

[Failure penalty: double the Soul-Devouring Pain.]

The nerves in Bibi Dong's body, stretched to the breaking point, finally relaxed by half an inch.

But at the words "fine knife skills," the corner of her eye still twitched violently twice.

Those four words were harder for her than taking on three Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts by herself.

The Library Pavilion, third floor.

Su Chen lay in a bamboo chair, the Light Screen of the Eye of Omniscience glowing faintly in the darkness.

He looked at the "Advanced Cook Mission" notification that had appeared on the system interface, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

"This damn system really knows how to work someone over."

Su Chen laughed soundlessly.

First, it used a "Bathing Together" mission to push someone's psychological threshold to the limit, then tossed out a much easier "cooking" task. It was a classic case of boiling a frog in warm water. No matter how resistant Bibi Dong was, when forced to choose between two evils, she would have to grit her teeth and accept.

He casually pulled the thin blanket over himself and adjusted into a more convincingly frail, curled-up sleeping position, quietly waiting for nightfall.

Late that night, in the underground chamber of the Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong stood before a newly replaced steel chopping board, dressed in a moon-white gown.

Before her lay a premium Deep Sea Silver Fish that had been butchered so horribly it was barely recognizable, along with several sticks of Top-Grade Mountain Ginseng.

In her hand, she held the Asura Bone-Carving Dagger, a blade sharp enough to slice through iron. She had once used it to sever the Achilles tendons of two Titled Douluo.

At that moment, the look in her eyes as she gripped the blade was even more vicious than when she had crushed the Worship Hall spies that afternoon.

She glared at the fish on the chopping board and tensed her wrist.

"Duang!"

The blow landed. It sounded less like cutting fish and more like chopping wood. Fish scales and chunks of flesh flew everywhere.

The steel chopping board had been hacked three inches deep, the fish violently chopped in two, its guts spilling across the floor.

Bibi Dong's chest heaved. This was more exhausting than stripping away an External Soul Bone.

Outside the heavy stone door of the chamber, Angela and two Red-Robed Guards stood ramrod straight.

Hearing the steady "Duang! Duang!" of chopping from within, along with the occasional muffled rumble of purple-black Rakshasa Soul Power leaking out, Angela's mind completely short-circuited.

Cold sweat instantly soaked the lining of her red uniform.

It was over! His Holiness the Pope was secretly dismembering some traitor inside with a method of unimaginable cruelty, chopping even the bones to pieces! The victim couldn't even scream—clearly, all five senses had been sealed!

Angela hardly dared to breathe, afraid of disturbing the god of slaughter inside.

The battle inside the chamber was brutal.

Bibi Dong dropped the butchered fish and picked up a piece of ginger, preparing to slice it.

The Asura dagger was simply too sharp. The surface of the ginger was uneven, and the blade slipped.

The keen edge cut mercilessly across the index finger of her left hand. Blood welled up instantly.

Bibi Dong didn't even furrow her brow. By instinct, she urged her Soul Power, ready to heal the cut in an instant.

[Warning!]

The system's red light suddenly blazed.

[The wound must remain real. You may not use Soul Power to heal it. This is necessary to determine the sincerity of your "fine knife skills"!]

Her Soul Power was forcibly suppressed. Bibi Dong took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling violently.

She gritted her teeth and tore off a strip of white gauze from the hem of her moon-white gown. With extremely clumsy movements, she wrapped it around her bleeding finger, then used her teeth to tie an ugly, lopsided knot.

On the Light Screen, her emotional status panel glowed painfully bright.

[Bibi Dong's current emotions: Reluctance 99% / Grievance 15% / Frustration 40%]

At the same time, in the Library Pavilion, Su Chen saw everything through the Eye of Omniscience.

On the Light Screen, the Pope who had been decisive and ruthless that afternoon, crushing the Elder Token beneath her foot, was now holding up a gauze-wrapped finger and stubbornly fighting a piece of ginger.

Her eyes were full of reluctance, with even a trace of grievance.

Su Chen stared at the smear of crimson blood for two seconds.

He had spent sixteen years lying low and had seen all the hardships and warmth of life at the bottom. His will had long since become like iron. But at that moment, his heart suddenly softened.

There was something undeniably powerful about seeing a lofty goddess brought down to earth by a mission, fumbling clumsily as she stained her hands with blood.

The following day at noon.

Sunlight fell across the security cordon surrounding the Library Pavilion. Sixteen Temple Knights stood in a neat line.

Bibi Dong strode into the sunlight, dressed in her usual papal robes, her steps calm and heavy.

But in her hands, she carried a silver tray.

As she drew closer, the guard captain on duty caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye and nearly popped his eyeballs out of his helmet.

What had he just seen?

The slender, fair index finger on the left hand holding the tray was wrapped in a glaring strip of white gauze, with a spot of dark red showing through the center!

The sixteen Temple Knights felt as though a nuclear bomb had gone off in their hearts.

His Holiness the Pope... had been injured?

Who could possibly hurt her?

All they could do was slam their heads down toward their chests, so shocked they could barely breathe, not daring even to take a deep breath.

Bibi Dong pushed open the wooden door with a cold expression, then closed it behind her, shutting out every prying eye.

She set a bowl of fish soup that smelled half-burnt on the tea table with a "bang." The motion was forceful enough to splash two drops of broth out.

She turned her head toward the crooked old locust tree outside the window and said stiffly, "Drink."

Su Chen climbed down from the bamboo chair in an impeccably proper manner, knelt upright, and respectfully lifted the bowl of fish soup with both hands.

The fish had stewed into scraps, and the broth was dark. Without the slightest hesitation, he began gulping it down.

Just as he swallowed his third mouthful, Su Chen's teeth suddenly hit something hard.

A slice of old ginger, cut as thick as a piece of bark.

The intensely spicy flavor mixed with the half-raw fishiness and shot straight up his nose.

Su Chen couldn't control himself. He suddenly began coughing violently.

"Cough! Cough, cough, cough!"

His face flushed the color of pig's liver. His eyes instantly reddened from the strain, and tears welled up uncontrollably, streaming down his cheeks and dropping onto his clothes.

Hearing his wrenching coughs, Bibi Dong panicked at once.

She spun around and instinctively took half a step forward, her fingers clutching her skirt tightly.

"Is it that awful?!" Her voice went shrill, betraying her barely concealed urgency. "Spit it out! Spit it out at once!"

Su Chen didn't spit it out.

His throat bobbed violently as he forced down the piece of ginger as thick as bark. His entire esophagus burned.

He raised his head, tears still clinging to his trembling eyelashes, the corners of his eyes red, making him look especially pitiful.

But he wasn't looking at the bowl. His gaze landed precisely on the gauze-wrapped index finger of Bibi Dong's left hand.

"Your Holiness, you set aside your precious time to personally prepare a meal for this subordinate. This soup is delicious beyond words. I'm not worthy of such kindness..." Su Chen's voice was hoarse, filled with an almost crazed devotion and heartache.

He paused, staring at the strip of white gauze as tears welled up in his eyes once more. "Your Holiness's injury... was it sustained for my sake?"

"This subordinate... would die ten thousand times over and still be unable to repay you!"

He choked on the final words, then slammed his forehead against the wooden floor.

Bibi Dong froze in place.

Those words struck like a bolt of thunder, splitting apart every last one of her psychological defenses.

For so many years, no one had cared what she gave up, or whether she was hurt.

Qian Xunji cared only about the Angel Inheritance, while Yu Xiaogang cared only about his theories.

But now, a lowly servant had forced down ginger too foul to swallow for her sake, just so he wouldn't disappoint her "kindness." He was even weeping over her insignificant little injury.

A fierce warmth burst through Bibi Dong's chest and surged straight to her head.

Her ears turned visibly red, then the flush spread down her neck.

She was at a loss, not even knowing where to look.

"Y-you madman!"

She threw out the words, her voice trembling at the end, then spun around and fled through the door. Her footsteps were utterly disordered; she was practically running for her life.

The guards outside watched the Pope hurry away in a panic, their hearts skipping a beat from shock.

When had they ever seen His Holiness the Pope in such a state?

Bibi Dong's presence disappeared completely.

The Library Pavilion fell silent again.

Su Chen sat up from the floor and set down the empty bowl.

He casually wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes. The humility and fear on his tear-streaked face vanished in an instant, leaving nothing but a bottomless calm.

Golden light exploded in his mind.

[Ding! Binder No. 001 has completed the Advanced Cook interaction! Favorability has risen significantly! The Lord of Creation's hundredfold critical return has been triggered!]

[Reward: Eye of Omniscience detection precision increased! Detection range expanded outward by a geometric multiple!]

As soon as the system notification sounded, the Light Screen in Su Chen's mind flashed violently. His vision seemed to rise infinitely, crossing Spirit City's walls and endless mountains and rivers.

A moment later, a dazzling golden notification popped up right in the center of the Light Screen:

[Range expansion complete.]

[An extreme fluctuation in a second, related "great fortune" has been detected outside Spirit Hall territory, in the direction of the Heaven Dou Empire...]

Su Chen slowly leaned back into the bamboo chair.

He didn't look at the empty bowl on the table. Instead, he raised his head and gazed through the broken window lattice toward the distant Heaven Dou City.

If he remembered correctly, Qian Renxue was there.