The instant the lid touched the little cauldron, a terrifying surge of spiritual energy poured out through the elder's seven orifices and flowed back into the cauldron.
Golden inscriptions appeared around the cauldron, then dimmed. The cauldron began to shake as the thing inside continued to struggle, forcing the lid upward.
The surrounding golden inscriptions lit up again and pressed the lid down. But the thing inside refused to give up and kept pushing.
Each time the lid rose, the ring formed by the inscriptions flashed and dimmed, but after every flash, its glow was noticeably weaker than before.
Mo Caihuan knew it had to be because the restrictions on the cauldron were not strong enough.
Without further hesitation, she took out a spirit stone and an adhesive talisman, channeled spiritual energy into it, and slapped the talisman over the gap beneath the lid with a smack.
The little cauldron shuddered a few times, then fell still.
"Whew." Only a few breaths had passed, but they had been nerve-racking. This was her first time dealing with something so uncanny. It was far too strange.
"Thank you, Martial Niece." The elder's face was pale, and sweat poured down her like rain. She was terribly weak, but she had regained consciousness.
"Martial Aunt, what is this?" Mo Caihuan asked.
Still shaken, the elder said, "Inside is the pure appetite of a Nascent Soul expert."
"Huh?"
Seeing Mo Caihuan's incredulous expression, the elder explained, "Most cultivators have no desire for food or drink, but some cannot let go of their appetites. This Nascent Soul expert loved fine food. After advancing to Nascent Soul, he planned to taste every delicacy under heaven. Before he could even begin, however, war broke out between the righteous and demonic factions, and he had to obey his sect's orders and go to the battlefield. Unfortunately, his cultivation was unstable. He died outright, his body burst apart, and only a wisp of his remnant soul escaped to hide in this Leftover Cauldron. As time passed, the remnant soul's resentment grew heavier and heavier, until it all transformed into appetite. I found this cauldron deep in an ancient battlefield. Not knowing what it was, I forcibly broke its restrictions and was nearly devoured. I could only protect my spiritual consciousness with the Fire Wheel Heart Method and hold him at bay. If you hadn't come, Martial Niece, even if I had managed to resist that appetite, my vital energy would have suffered greatly."
She had obtained all this information during their clash of primordial spirits.
"I just happened to stumble onto the right answer," Mo Caihuan said. "It helped that I've read plenty of miscellaneous books. That reminded me that many things with spiritual awareness hide inside containers."
"I'll remember this favor, Martial Niece. In the future, I can do one thing for you."
"Thank you, Martial Aunt." Mo Caihuan knew that, since the elder had offered, refusing would only cause displeasure.
Only after Mo Caihuan accepted did her martial aunt say, "You may leave now. I need to rest before I can recover."
"I'll have everyone stay away from the stone chamber." She set down the little cauldron and withdrew.
She told everyone to move back and not disturb the immortal elder's cultivation.
Mo Fengwu arrived as well, carrying a first-aid kit. There was no longer any need for her help, though, so Mo Caihuan briefly explained what had happened.
"How utterly mysterious," her second sister marveled. "The world of cultivation really does contain every imaginable wonder."
"Doesn't it? Come on, everything's fine here for now." The two sisters went home together, chatting and laughing.
Inside the stone chamber, the elder put the little cauldron into her storage pouch, no longer curious about it. She never noticed that it was already completely empty.
That night, Mo Caihuan once again sat with her five centers facing heaven. She placed five Low-Grade Spirit Stones against the soles of her feet, her palms, and the crown of her head, then began cultivating.
But before she could empty her meridians, the five spirit stones cracked with a sharp snap. Their glow vanished, leaving nothing but gray debris.
"What?" Mo Caihuan knew this was wrong. Very, very wrong.
After all her years of cultivating, her spirit stones had still looked brand-new. How could they possibly have been drained so quickly?
"Who's there?" Knowing she must have brought something unclean home with her, she sprang to her feet, heedless of the spirit stone debris falling onto the couch.
"Not enough. More, more..." a childish voice said, unsatisfied.
"Who are you?"
"I have no name, but you may call me Food Immortal."
"Are you the remnant soul from the little cauldron?" She panicked, but quickly regained her composure. She was only a mortal. Possession should be impossible.
"You're not stupid."
"When did you move into me?"
"Heh. That Core Formation cultivator had already come to her senses. If she'd seen me struggling and struck to kill, things would have gone badly. Within her spiritual abode, we were evenly matched, but outside her body, I was no match for her. Still, I didn't want to remain trapped in that broken-down Leftover Cauldron, so I escaped the instant the lid was forced open for the last time and hid inside your spiritual abode. Now hurry up and give me spirit stones," Food Immortal ordered.
"I'm going to find my martial aunt." She immediately made to return to her martial aunt.
"Wait, wait, wait!" the remnant soul said hastily. "You have no spiritual root, girl, but your body is strong. You must be practicing body tempering. I can tell you've hit a bottleneck. Tsk, tsk. I'm not a bad person, just greedy for food. How about this? Let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"That's right, a deal. I'll help you break through your bottleneck, and you'll satisfy my appetite," the remnant soul said. "Very fair."
"Do you cultivate both magic and the body?"
"No. Cultivating both magic and the body is far too difficult. Only someone with something wrong with their head would do that. I'm just a cultivator."
There really was something wrong with Han Li's head. He always chose the most difficult way to cultivate, which was why he was outrageously strong.
"If you don't know body tempering, how can you help me?" Mo Caihuan asked.
"Heh. I may not practice body tempering, but I've eaten countless demon beasts. I've reached the point where I can carve up an ox as effortlessly as the master butcher himself. You know demon beasts, don't you? They're the forefathers of body tempering. I know their bodies like the back of my hand. By drawing connections from that knowledge, I've gained some understanding of body tempering."
Mo Caihuan was speechless. Did eating a lot really mean someone knew how to temper the body?
"Little girl, you should know what conditions are like in the Lower Realm. Body tempering isn't easy. Why not treat a dead horse as though it were still alive and give my method a try?"
Tempted, Mo Caihuan asked, "But you're only a wisp of remnant soul. How can you taste food?"
"Don't worry about that. You'll be the one eating it. The food's appearance, aroma, and flavor can be converted into streams of consciousness. I only need to absorb those streams to taste it."
"That's all it takes?"
"Don't underestimate a Nascent Soul expert. Even though I'm only a remnant soul, I still command plenty of divine abilities. Of course, your tongue, nose, and eyes aren't good enough. They need training. I'll give you a prescription. Take the medicine to strengthen those three senses."
"Is that body tempering?"
"No, that's so I can enjoy food better. As for body tempering, don't rush me. Give me half a month to work out a plan, and then I'll tell you." He would have to devise a body-tempering plan from scratch.
"It had better not be too complicated. I don't have that much energy to spend gathering materials."
"So many demands. Go get the medicine first," the childish voice said irritably.
Mo Caihuan felt a rush of heat in her head, and an extra memory appeared. It was a prescription called the General Knowledge Formula. All its ingredients were mundane medicinal herbs, which her second sister's clinic stocked.
At daybreak, she went to the Benevolent Heart Clinic to collect the herbs. She simmered them into a bowl of brown liquid at the clinic and swallowed it despite its bitterness.
The medicine would not work immediately. She would need to keep taking it to sharpen her tongue, nose, and eyes so that none of a delicacy's appearance, aroma, or flavor escaped her.
As she ate breakfast, Food Immortal cheered excitedly inside Mo Caihuan's head. "What is this? Why is it so delicious? Why haven't I ever tasted it before?"
"This is duck blood vermicelli." Mo Caihuan had ordered breakfast at the restaurant next door to the clinic.
"Delicious, delicious! Have another bowl."
"No. I'm full." Mo Caihuan was not going to indulge him. Duck blood vermicelli was another piece of knowledge she had brought from Earth. She had taught it to the families of Whale-Jiao Society members so they would have a way to earn a living.
"Tch. Your appetite is too small. Next, we should strengthen your stomach. You need a big belly to hold more food. Oh, and we should refine a new Leftover Cauldron. The old one is broken."
"The Leftover Cauldron? You mean that little black cauldron you were hiding in?"
"Exactly. Don't underestimate it. It may look plain, but there's a whole other world inside. It can store belongings and keep fresh ingredients, too. If there's a delicacy you can't bear to finish, you can preserve it inside. When you take it out to eat next time, it'll be just as fresh and delicious."
Isn't that the ultimate takeout container? Even packed ingredients would stay fresh. But something that useful surely would not be easy to refine, so Mo Caihuan merely said, "Let's try the General Knowledge Formula and see how well it works first."