Let Me Taste It For You

Yet the golden light within the door remained, waiting to be pushed open once more at any moment.

Xiao Xiao came to the dormitory to find Mu Chen once, carrying a box of cookies she had baked herself.

Wang Dong opened the door, and the two stared at each other for three seconds; a subtle static seemed to crackle in the air between them.

In the end, it was Mu Chen who walked out, took the cookies, and offered his thanks. Xiao Xiao muttered a quick "you're welcome" and ran off, her green twin tails whipping through the corridor.

Wang Dong closed the door, his expression like a cat whose territory had been encroached upon.

"What did she come looking for you for?"

"To give me cookies."

"Why would she give you cookies?"

"I don't know."

"Have you eaten any?"

"Not yet."

Wang Dong snatched the cookie box, flipped open the lid to sniff it, then popped one into his mouth, mumbling, "I'll help you taste-test them first. What if they're burnt?"

Over the next half-hour, he "tasted" the entire box, offering commentary as he went. By the time he returned the empty box to Mu Chen, a stray crumb was still clinging to the corner of his mouth.

Mu Chen reached out to brush the crumb away, his movement natural. Wang Dong's ears burned instantly, and he bolted out the door with a shout of, "I'm going for a run!"

Mu Chen watched the lingering sway of the door, looked down at the empty cookie box, and shook his head.

And so, the days flowed steadily between cultivation and routine, until the night of the fifth day.

Mu Chen was circulating his Mysterious Heaven Skill in meditation as usual.

His Sea of Consciousness was tranquil. The golden silhouette of Old Tang sat cross-legged in the void, eyes slightly closed as if dozing.

The emerald green orb transformed from the Life Blade hovered in the center of the Sea of Consciousness, radiating a gentle rhythm of vitality; every pulse felt like the beating of a heart.

Then, the gray mass of light within that green orb stirred.

For these past days, this gray mass had remained in a state of dormancy.

It had come from that chance encounter on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, from the fragmented consciousness drawn in by the Life Blade—Electrolux, the Necromancer Holy Mage, a being who had once stood at the pinnacle of power in another world.

After being contained within Mu Chen's Sea of Consciousness by the Life Blade, it had been as quiet as a sleeping seed, so quiet that Mu Chen sometimes forgot a third person was living inside his head.

But now, it was awake.

The gray mass began to pulse, its frequency shifting from slow to rapid, its color brightening from a dull ash to a faint, shimmering glow.

That light was not the color of dead silence, but a cold radiance between silver and white, carrying an ancient and mysterious rhythm.

Old Tang opened his eyes.

The golden silhouette's eyes ignited in the void of the Sea of Consciousness like two lit lamps.

He stood up, the golden light around him flowing slowly. His gaze fell upon the awakening gray mass; his expression remained unchanged, but the aura he exuded surged by several levels in an instant.

It was a silent warning: In my territory, behave yourself.

The gray mass flickered violently, like a cat that had had its tail stepped on. Then, a voice resonated within the Sea of Consciousness.

"Where... is this?"

The voice was aged and frail, intermittent like a candle flickering in the wind.

Every word carried a weary tremor, making it clear just how weak the speaker was.

"The Sea of Consciousness. You're lucky; you've salvaged your life." Old Tang's reply was brief and cold.

The gray mass fell silent. It was sensing its surroundings—this Sea of Consciousness controlled by Old Tang, the emerald green orb constantly radiating vitality, and the consciousness of Mu Chen standing not far away.

A moment later, an aged and blurred face emerged from the gray mass. The features were barely discernible, the eyes cloudy yet still sharp.

"Who are you?" Electrolux's voice was steadier than before, though still weak.

"You can call me Old Tang. Now, it's my turn to ask: who are you? Why are you nothing but a wisp of a remnant soul? And why have you appeared on this continent?"

Electrolux fell silent. A complex expression, impossible to describe, surfaced on that blurred face—sorrow, anger, nostalgia, and a weariness that had settled over him after the passage of long, long years.

"My name is Electrolux, the Necromancer Holy Mage, once master of the Undead Half-Plane. In my world, I fought against the heavens, against gods, and against fate. In the end, I lost. I was left with only this wisp of a soul, drifting through spatial rifts for who knows how many years, until I was drawn by the aura of life on that blade and found this space where I could temporarily reside."

By the end, a hint of self-deprecating bitterness crept into his voice: "A dignified Necromancer Holy Mage, reduced to clinging to a carving knife to survive. Truly, it is ironic."

Old Tang did not speak immediately after hearing this. The golden silhouette's eyes locked with the blurred face within the gray mass, and the atmosphere in the Sea of Consciousness grew subtle and oppressive.

Then, Old Tang spoke, his voice as flat as a landlord discussing a lease with a tenant.

"You want to recuperate here?"

"Yes," Electrolux answered crisply. At his level, there was no point in pretense.

"Very well. But there is a condition."

The gray mass flickered slightly. "What condition?"

"The master of this Sea of Consciousness is him. If you recuperate here, you will consume the soul power and mental energy of this place. In return, you will teach him your skills." Old Tang pointed at Mu Chen's consciousness.

Electrolux turned toward Mu Chen. The cloudy eyes within the gray mass scanned him from top to bottom—from the soul power pool in his dantian to the structure of his Sea of Consciousness, from the blood and qi of his physical body to the resilience of his soul.

He watched for a long time, and then the corners of that blurred face twitched slightly.

"You certainly know how to bargain for your disciple," he said to Old Tang.

Old Tang did not correct the term "disciple," merely saying indifferently, "He is good material. If your skills were in his hands, they would not tarnish your reputation."

Electrolux remained silent for a long time.

It was so long that Mu Chen thought he would refuse. Then, the gray orb of light suddenly brightened—not with the faint flickering from before, but with a steady, resolute glow.

"Very well. I can impart the necromantic arts to him. But I have one condition: everything I teach must never be used to slaughter innocent lives. Necromancy is the path of life and death, not the path of slaughter. If he ever uses it to kill the innocent, I shall reclaim all that I have passed on."

Old Tang looked at Mu Chen.

Mu Chen stepped forward and bowed slightly toward the gray orb of light.

He did not swear a heavy oath, nor did he thump his chest in guarantee; he simply said two words calmly: "Understood."

These two words carried more weight than any grandiloquent speech.

Electrolux was silent for another moment. On that blurred face, the arc of the mouth seemed to deepen slightly—a dry, habitual smile, yet amidst that aged weariness, it was truly a smile.