Ice-Fire Mint Chicken

The second type was a large-scale, battlefield-level firepower platform.

This idea went beyond the scope of individual weapons. Instead, it magnified the Godly Zhuge Crossbow's attack power and transformed it into something like a fortress or a vehicle-mounted heavy weapon.

A huge crossbow bed would be built from sturdier alloys, such as Deep Silver and Mithril.

Its structure would feature multiple layers, allowing for volleys at different angles and speeds.

Sealed Milk Bottles—in other words, Soul Power storage devices—would serve as its energy core.

The operator would only need to activate it to drive this enormous war machine into sustained, high-intensity firing.

It would no longer launch ordinary bolts, but specially made armor-piercing bolts, explosive bolts, and even cannon bolts engraved with the Core Array of a Soul Cannon. A single shot could cause an explosion over a wide area.

Ji Jing provisionally named this weapon the Sky Star Crossbow Array.

Once successfully developed, it would become a meat grinder on the battlefield. Its dense firepower and terrifying penetrative force would be enough to deal a devastating blow to armies led by Soul Saints or even Soul Douluo.

With his direction decided, Ji Jing immediately plunged into his research.

In the dormitory, only the crisp clinks of metal and the glow of circulating Soul Power remained.

After devoting himself to research for an entire day and night, Ji Jing tidied up the parts and blueprints scattered across his desk, then collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, casting dappled spots of light across the room.

In his sleep, Ji Jing felt something damp and ticklish on his face, as if something warm and soft were gently brushing and gliding over it.

A faint, orchid-like fragrance lingered around his nose. It was achingly familiar—and utterly tantalizing.

He slowly opened his heavy eyelids. What came into view was a flawless, breathtakingly beautiful face.

It was Wang Dong, who had shed all her disguises and returned to her feminine appearance.

She was lying on top of him, her pink-and-blue hair cascading over his chest like a waterfall.

At that moment, her eyes were closed and her long lashes fluttered slightly. Seemingly lost in her own world, she planted little kisses on his cheek and lips.

At the same time, one of her hands was being rather bold. Through his thin pajamas, it curiously stroked his abdominal muscles, tracing their powerful contours.

It looked like she had come back early.

Ji Jing's heart missed a beat, then a warm current washed over him.

He didn't make a sound. He simply lay there quietly, enjoying this rare intimacy, tinged with a hint of excitement.

But the warm breath, the soft touch, the unique fragrance of a young woman, and those unconscious, teasing caresses...

All of it instantly roused every instinct in Ji Jing as a perfectly normal young man.

In a flash, he felt the blood rush through his body, and his muscles stiffened against his will.

Though he tried his best to relax, the body's most instinctive reactions were beyond his control.

Wang Dong, eyes still closed as she focused on her stealthy attack, immediately sensed something was wrong.

The little hand wandering over his abs was the first to notice his muscles tensing. A moment later, she clearly felt another change, too.

Wang Dong froze.

With a trace of confusion and suspicion, she slowly opened her beautiful, heart-stirring pink-and-blue eyes.

Their gazes met.

A hint of helplessness and a trace of amusement shone in Ji Jing's deep eyes as he looked quietly at her.

At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.

Wang Dong's brain shut down for a full three seconds.

He's awake?!

"Boom—!"

A wave of heat surged from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Wang Dong's face turned visibly red, from her cheeks to her neck and down to her delicate collarbones, all of it flushed a captivating pink.

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she sprang off Ji Jing and scrambled to the other side of the bed. She wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, leaving only a pair of eyes full of shame and indignation peeking out.

"I... I didn't mean to... I just... just wanted to see you..."

She stammered, her voice as faint as a mosquito's. She wished she could find a crack in the floor to crawl into.

Ji Jing sat up. Looking at Wang Dong, who had wrapped herself into a silkworm cocoon, he fought back a laugh and said gently,

"I know."

Those simple words only left Wang Dong even more flustered.

The atmosphere in the room turned both awkward and intimate.

To break the heart-fluttering silence, Wang Dong cleared her throat and did her best to sound normal as she took the initiative to change the subject:

"Ahem... um, what... what have you been doing during these two weeks of vacation?"

Ji Jing naturally wasn't going to tell her that Biesan had summoned him to the Divine Realm for tea and docked him half a month's vacation.

He got out of bed and casually answered as he straightened his slightly rumpled pajamas:

"Not much. I had some new ideas during the break, so I've been researching Soul Tools."

The two chatted on and off for a while.

Their intimate atmosphere gradually faded as they discussed his work.

Wang Dong no longer hid beneath the quilt. She sat on the edge of the bed, gently swinging her legs as she listened intently to Ji Jing describe his wild design ideas.

Once they had both calmed down completely and the awkwardness had vanished, Wang Dong's stomach let out an untimely growl.

Her pretty face turned a little pink. She rubbed her flat stomach, looking embarrassed, and muttered softly,

"It's almost noon. I... I'm hungry."

Seeing how adorable she looked, Ji Jing's eyes filled with affectionate amusement. He stood up and stretched, his joints cracking sharply.

"Okay, wait a moment."

He spoke gently.

"I'll make you something to eat."

Then he skillfully sorted and put away the precise Soul Tool parts and blueprints on the desk.

Next, he took out all sorts of cookware and fresh ingredients.

In an instant, one corner of the dormitory became a fully equipped kitchen.

Curious, Wang Dong came over. Ji Jing first took out an old-fashioned clay pot, added the mushrooms, medicinal herbs, and bones he had prepared earlier, and poured in water. Then a flame sprang to life at his fingertips.

He precisely controlled the flame's temperature, letting it cradle the bottom of the pot and simmer the contents over a low heat.

Only after that did he turn to today's main dish.

He smiled at Wang Dong and said,

"Today I'm making you a new dish called Ice-Fire Mint Chicken."

This dish was a signature creation he had learned from Rong Nianbing, the God of Emotions.

Ji Jing held out his left palm, and a cluster of blazing, brilliant golden flames rose from it: the Bingwu Primordial Yang Sacred Fire.

He held the prepared chicken above the flames while his right hand scattered spices like a butterfly flitting among flowers.

The moment the spices touched the Sacred Fire, their fragrance burst forth, and their peculiar aroma was forced deep into every fiber of the chicken.

In just a short while, the chicken was roasted until its skin was slightly crisp and its flesh was eighty percent cooked.

Next, he quickly took a huge, fresh lotus leaf and wrapped the roasted chicken tightly inside it.

Then he activated the Dingsi Nether Yin Spirit Fire in his left hand. This yin-laden flame didn't touch the lotus leaf directly, instead circling around it.

The extreme cold instantly condensed the moisture in the air, forming a layer of crystal-clear ice around the outside of the lotus leaf.

The ice not only sealed in the temperature, but also slowly pressed the lotus leaf's fragrance into the chicken through the cold.

Wang Dong watched without blinking. She had never imagined that cooking could be such a dazzling performance.

The final step was also the most crucial.

Ji Jing held the lotus-leaf-wrapped chicken, sealed in ice, in his palm. The Bingwu Primordial Yang Sacred Fire in his right hand suddenly surged, turning into a raging burst of energy.

The golden fireball slammed into the ice!

With a muffled boom, the ice shattered and the lotus leaf charred black, but all the heat and force of the impact were perfectly channeled to the chicken at the very core.

It was as if the blast had sealed the combined aromas of the spices and lotus leaf deep inside the chicken.

When Ji Jing peeled away the charred lotus leaf, an indescribably rich fragrance instantly filled the entire room.

The chicken was a perfect golden color, its skin gleaming with an appetizing sheen, crisp and delicious, while the meat inside remained tender and juicy, fragrant and succulent.

Wang Dong couldn't help swallowing, her eyes sparkling with admiration.