Had he gone back to the past?

In the main story, the top was a respectable man, now wearing human skin (x

Chapter 22: Had he gone back to the past?

In the end, Chi Yu spent a hundred million on an extra-spacious single room.

Chi Yu: "..."

After a momentary heart attack, Chi Yu bounced right back to full health.

He surveyed the dormitory. There were two rooms separated by a screen, and two large solid-wood beds were visible right from the entrance. They were made of red sandalwood, which, as far as Chi Yu knew, was reserved exclusively for royalty in the mortal world.

To cultivators, though, it was nothing special. After all, it contained little spiritual energy and offered no help with cultivation.

Apart from the beds, there were two sets of tables and chairs, and nothing else. It was very spartan-even inns in historical dramas hung calligraphy and paintings in their corridors and decorated their rooms with vases and screens. But the cultivation world had a different aesthetic. Chi Yu had been in Divine Path for quite a few days and stayed at plenty of inns in cultivator cities, and they were basically all minimalist. The more particular inns put curtains around their wooden beds; the less particular ones simply provided stone beds that left you stiff and bruised all over after sleeping on them.

Chi Yu had already gotten used to this minimalist style.

Since he had decided to stay on Zizai Continent for a while, he naturally had to take it seriously.

First, he chopped up the bed, opened the window, and turned the room into a kitchen.

He set out the pots, bowls, and utensils he had been using for a while. Seeing that it was still early, he decided to make a meal.

He was now at Foundation Establishment, so naturally he could go without food. Taking a Bigu Pill would meet his nutritional needs for the day.

But Chi Yu still wanted to eat. Without a meal, he always felt as though the day had been wasted. Not only did he need to eat, he needed fragrant, delicious rice.

Carrying a copper basin he had bought in a mortal town, Chi Yu went to fetch water. He had learned the Water Condensation Technique, but he always felt that water tasted bad. When the Suoluo brothers brought him to the dormitory, he had noticed Spirit Spring water beside the buildings, so he came straight here to fetch drinking water.

The young boy had finished moving his things. Seeing Chi Yu carrying a copper basin, he strolled over to take a look and asked with easy familiarity, "What are you doing? Is that for drinking?"

Chi Yu filled the basin with water. Hearing the question, he replied casually, "I'm using it to cook."

"Oh," the boy said. "You can cook?"

"Yes," Chi Yu said. "Did you need something?"

The boy rubbed his face, too embarrassed to say anything.

Chi Yu thought nothing of it either. Although he had been relieved of a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, he had only suffered that momentary heart attack before quickly recovering his spirits.

Not taking anything to heart was the key to staying happy. That was his secret to life.

Back at the dormitory, Chi Yu thought, That money was pretty well spent, I suppose. I've looked after my younger cousins so much at home that if I lived with a child, I'd inevitably start fussing over him. Now I have the place to myself, plus an extra room for cooking.

Not bad, not bad.

With that thought, the last of his displeasure vanished completely.

He deftly chopped scallions, ginger, garlic, and chilies, cracked two eggs one-handed, and tossed the shells into the trash with a smooth, dashing motion. He quickly beat the eggs and poured them into the hot oil. Once the eggs were a perfect golden yellow, he added green and red chilies and stir-fried them. Before long, a wonderfully fragrant plate of stir-fried eggs with chilies was ready.

The Spirit Stone-powered stove could keep dishes warm even after they were done, so Chi Yu started on the next dish without worrying about the food getting cold.

Before long, he had made stir-fried eggs with chilies, winter melon and pork rib stew, steamed pumpkin, and red-braised bass.

He had steamed an entire large pot of rice, just enough for him alone.

A rice bucket indeed.jpg

He happily brought the dishes to the table. Since he was eating alone anyway, he simply carried the whole steamer over. Just as he was about to dig in, someone knocked on the door.

Chi Yu set the steamer down and went to open the door. It was the young boy, who craned his neck to peer inside and said, "That smells so good."

Chi Yu: "."

Chi Yu couldn't help laughing. "Would you like to come eat with me?"

The boy looked at him in surprise. "You're going to give me some?"

"I can spare you one bowl," Chi Yu said. "No more than that."

The boy wrestled with the decision for a moment before finally saying, "All right, I'll have a bowl! Thank you!"

Chi Yu took a small bowl, filled it with rice, added a few chopstickfuls of each dish, and handed it to him. "Wash the bowl and bring it back when you're done."

"Oh," the boy said. "Weren't you angry earlier?"

Chi Yu paused, realizing what he was referring to, then burst out laughing. "I was, but it wasn't worth getting angry over."

The boy thought about it, said nothing, and left holding his bowl.

Chi Yu returned to the table and began shoveling down rice.

Cultivation was wonderful. Everything he ate turned into spiritual energy, so however much he ate, his stomach never felt stuffed. The mental satisfaction was indescribable.

Chi Yu could already feel himself growing taller.

Getting back to 180.18.17 was just around the corner!

After eating, Chi Yu carried the pot out to wash up. The boy sidled over again, placed his washed bowl and chopsticks inside Chi Yu's pot, and asked curiously, "What's your name?"

Chi Yu asked in return, "What's yours?"

"My name is Xiaoqiu," the boy said.

"Oh, my name is Long Aotian!" Chi Yu once again announced the name with delight.

The boy gave him a strange look, puzzled by his unaccountable joy. "...That's a rather odd name. Aren't you going to choose a Dharma name?"

"Aren't Dharma names given by your master?" Chi Yu asked. "Do cultivators here choose their own?"

"Of course. Everyone chooses their own. Only monks who take the tonsure have their Dharma names chosen by their masters."

Chi Yu understood. It was like choosing an English name for English class back in school.

After some thought, he said, "My Dharma name is Aotian."

The boy: "..."

The boy suggested, "You should choose a Dharma name that conveys more emptiness, like Zhikong, Ruokong, Mingjue, or Fayuan."

Chi Yu: "..."

Those are way too ordinary!!

Chi Yu said with absolute certainty, "It's Aotian. No, I can't drop Long either. Three characters have more presence."

The boy: "..."

All right, all right.

Although they hadn't known each other long, the boy had already grown a little fond of Chi Yu. He was only a few years older, had a nice personality, and, more importantly, he could cook-and his cooking was delicious.

"I'll give you back that Top-Grade Spirit Stone," the boy said. "Could you make a portion for me whenever you cook?"

"Where do you usually eat?" Chi Yu asked.

The boy wore an expression that was hard to describe. "At the dining hall, but the food is awful. They say craving good food is also a form of suffering, and only by casting off all suffering can you attain nothingness. So the dining hall's food tastes bad."

Chi Yu thought for a moment. "Forget the Spirit Stone. I'll make you a portion."

Then he took a handful of snacks from his Sumeru Ring and gave them to the boy. "Here, have these."

The boy accepted them happily, his eyes shining as he looked at Chi Yu. "Thank you. You're so nice."

Chi Yu had always had this ability to draw people close. Before long, the two were talking about everything.

Xiaoqiu returned to Xie Xiyi's residence with a smile. Unlike the other cultivators' spartan lodgings, Xie Xiyi lived in a palace, hastily built by the Luo Po Chan Monastery a few years earlier. It had been constructed entirely to the specifications of Xie Xiyi's Eastern Palace and was very luxurious, utterly at odds with the Chan pursuit of "emptiness" and "nothingness."

This had also subjected Xie Xiyi to some criticism.

Xie Xiyi was tuning his guqin. Xiaoqiu had little sense of hierarchy and said as soon as he entered, "Your Highness, it's so late. Are you still going to do your evening practice?"

Xie Xiyi glanced at him and asked somewhat absently, "Where have you been?"

Xiaoqiu's eyes lit up. "That new cultivator is so nice. He treated me to a meal, and his cooking is especially good-much better than the imperial kitchen's chefs."

Xie Xiyi said nothing. After tuning the guqin, he reached out and plucked a few notes with his well-defined fingers, his handsome face expressionless.

But Xiaoqiu knew he wasn't very satisfied, so he said, "Your Highness, this guqin is already broken. If it really won't do, why not buy a new one?"

"Enough chatter. Get out," Xie Xiyi said.

Even so, Xiaoqiu wasn't afraid. Though they were master and servant, they were also related by blood.

Unlike the royal families of other countries, the Great Xia imperial family had an extremely strong sense of kinship. Because of their cultivation method, this sense of kinship, this concept of the clan as one, ran very, very deep.

Xiaoqiu was the son of Xie Xiyi's imperial uncle by a concubine. Had he not followed Xie Xiyi to Zizai Continent, he could have been granted the title of commandery prince upon reaching adulthood.

Grinning, Xiaoqiu said, "Your Highness, it's only a guqin. Even if you've used it for ten years, now that it's broken, it's time to replace it. Don't cling to it."

Then, afraid of getting hit, he beat a hasty retreat.

Xie Xiyi set down the guqin, walked to the window, and looked outside. His gaze drifted down from the lush purple bamboo grove and caught sight of a figure.

It was the new cultivator.

He was around sixteen or seventeen, yet already at Foundation Establishment. That was truly rare anywhere.

Xie Xiyi reached out and closed the window.

The next day, Chi Yu arrived at the Dao Di Chan Abode.

The abode stood on a sheer cliff. The red-tiled building wasn't quite shabby and was passably orderly, still in that minimalist style. The bitter wind on the cliff cut like steel blades, carrying a baleful force.

Suoluo had warned Chi Yu in advance, so he had come prepared and wasn't hurt too badly by that baleful force.

He was fairly early, but he was still the last to arrive.

The instructor was a Chan master in a blue-green robe. At Chi Yu's arrival, he didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow, merely saying, "Make yourself comfortable. Find somewhere to sit."

Chi Yu swept his gaze around before finally settling on Xie Xiyi. Xie Xiyi met his eyes, his golden gaze pale and indifferent. After one glance, he looked away.

Chi Yu strode over and sat beside Xie Xiyi, introducing himself. "Hello, senior brother. I forgot to introduce myself yesterday. What's your name, senior brother?"