After a night of seated meditation, the Chaos Sea circulated steadily, the aching tightness in his meridians had completely faded, and he felt refreshed and clearheaded.
He got up, washed, and changed into clean casual clothes. As soon as he stepped out of his room, he caught a faint fragrance.
It smelled neither of pills nor of spirit herbs. It was... food?
Chen Fan paused, then followed the aroma downstairs.
Jiang Qingyuan stood at the counter in the open-plan kitchen.
She had changed into a simple moon-white house dress, her long hair loosely pinned behind her head, revealing her slender neck.
Holding a jade spatula, she was frying something in a pan with easy, practiced movements. None of her usual cool reserve remained; instead, she looked like an ordinary woman at home.
Chen Fan stood at the foot of the stairs, momentarily transfixed.
Never in his dreams had he imagined Professor Jiang would personally cook breakfast.
"You're awake?"
Jiang Qingyuan spoke calmly without turning around. Her soul perception was keen; she had noticed Chen Fan the moment he came downstairs.
"Mm." Chen Fan walked over and peered curiously into the pan. "Professor Jiang, you can cook too? I thought cultivators practiced grain avoidance and didn't eat anymore."
"Grain avoidance means eating is unnecessary, not that you can't eat." Jiang Qingyuan turned slightly and transferred the cooked spirit rice pancakes onto a plate. "The pleasures of the palate are part of cultivation too. There's no need to treat yourself harshly. Besides, life would be far too dull if you ate Grain Avoidance Pills all the time."
The pancakes in the pan were made from ground spirit rice mixed with finely chopped spirit vegetables, fried golden on both sides and giving off a mouthwatering aroma.
Beside them were warmed spirit milk and a plate of sliced spirit fruit.
Simple, yet refined.
"Sit down. Let's eat." Jiang Qingyuan carried the plates to the dining table, pulled out a chair, and sat.
Chen Fan stood on no ceremony. He sat opposite her and picked up a spirit rice pancake with his chopsticks.
Crisp outside and soft within, it combined the fragrance of rice with the fresh sweetness of spirit vegetables for an excellent texture and flavor. After he swallowed, faint Spiritual Qi nourished his spleen and stomach.
"Delicious." Chen Fan was generous with his praise. "Professor Jiang, your cooking is better than the Spirit Cuisine restaurants outside."
Jiang Qingyuan took a sip of spirit milk, her tone even. "During my early years traveling for experience, there wasn't so much ready-made Spirit Cuisine available. I gradually learned."
When she was young, she had ventured into secret realms and explored dangerous lands. Eating in the wind and sleeping under the open sky had been commonplace. She couldn't gnaw on dry Grain Avoidance Pills every day, and over time, she had honed her cooking skills.
Chen Fan nodded and asked no further questions.
He knew no big shot's past could be explained in a few words.
The two ate breakfast quietly. The atmosphere wasn't awkward; instead, there was a rare sense of ease.
Usually, they were either having lessons or discussing cultivation. This was the first time they had sat down to a meal like this.
Without discussing cultivation methods or cases, simply sharing a meal actually made them feel closer.
"By the way, have you found a venue for your Luofu Society club?" Jiang Qingyuan suddenly asked.
"Yes, I already have a few possible places in mind." Chen Fan nodded, looking a little pleased with himself at the subject. "I'll go look at venues in the club district in a couple of days. Then we'll finally have a proper base."
"What direction are you planning to take?" Jiang Qingyuan looked up at him. "Surely you're not really doing this just to milk the funding?"
With his little scheme exposed, Chen Fan wasn't embarrassed. He chuckled. "Milking the funding is the foundation. Mostly, I want to do something interesting, like set up a cultivation method improvement research club, specializing in efficient cultivation methods for cultivators with poor aptitude. We can take on a few research projects and make some money on the side too."
He had already planned it out. The Luofu Society wouldn't just be a tool for fleecing benefits; it could also become his own core team in the future.
He would start with improving cultivation methods and gradually expand. Sooner or later, he could turn it into a top club.
Moreover, he could do this openly without exposing the secret of his traits. He would simply tell outsiders these were insights he had accumulated through years of cultivating with a false spirit root. It was perfectly reasonable.
Jiang Qingyuan raised her eyebrows, a little surprised.
She had thought the boy was founding a club merely to game the system. She hadn't expected him to have serious plans.
"Not a bad idea," she commented noncommittally. "If you're serious about improving cultivation methods, I'll approve some Jingfu research materials for you later, so you won't have to fumble around blindly."
"Really?!" Chen Fan's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much, Professor Jiang!"
Jingfu research materials were valuable things that money couldn't buy.
With Jiang Qingyuan's backing, his club would win right at the starting line.
"No need to thank me. Just don't make a mess of it." Jiang Qingyuan set down her chopsticks and drew out a tissue to wipe the corners of her mouth. "Finished eating? Come over when you're done. I'll check your Chaos Sea."
"Done, done." Chen Fan finished the remaining pancake in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and followed her to the sofa in the living room.
"Hold out your hand." Jiang Qingyuan sat on the sofa and lifted her chin.
Chen Fan obediently extended his right hand, holding his wrist level.
Jiang Qingyuan reached out with her left hand, resting her fingertips lightly on his wrist pulse.
The instant their skin touched, both paused slightly.
Her fingertips were cool, like a piece of fine jade with a gentle chill, carrying a faint fragrance of winter plum blossoms.
Chen Fan felt a tingling numbness spread across his wrist. His heartbeat inexplicably quickened, and he unconsciously softened his breathing.
Jiang Qingyuan felt somewhat ill at ease too.
But her self-control was exceptional. In an instant, she collected herself, turning her Divine Sense into a fine thread that followed his meridians into his body.
Her spiritual power traveled unhindered all the way to his Dantian.
When she sensed that vast, boundless Chaos Sea, Jiang Qingyuan's fingertips still involuntarily tightened.
It was even more stable than she had expected.
In a single night, the Chaos Sea's boundaries had fully taken shape. Mist flowed in orderly currents, and the embryonic Innate Dao Vein had become a little clearer, dotted with starlight and brimming with immense vitality.
Calling this rate of transformation heaven-defying would be no exaggeration.
Even she had been nowhere near possessing such a terrifying foundation during her Qi Refining Realm days.
Jiang Qingyuan grew even more curious, but as long as his heart was upright, he stayed off crooked paths, and he benefited the Immortal Palace in the future, that was enough.
"Your condition is better than I expected."
Jiang Qingyuan withdrew her hand. The instant her fingertips left him, Chen Fan actually felt a faint sense of loss.
"The Chaos Sea's foundation is stable, and the embryonic Dao vein is growing normally." Jiang Qingyuan lowered her eyes, hiding the emotions in them, and kept her tone as even as possible. "Don't rush to break through next. Refine your Divine Sense first, and strive to control Chaos Qi with it as soon as possible. Once you can freely mobilize a wisp of Chaos Qi, reaching Foundation Establishment will be like water flowing into a channel."
"All right." Chen Fan nodded and flexed his wrist, where a trace of her fingertips' coolness still lingered.
The living room fell silent for a few seconds, the atmosphere a little subtle.
Looking at Jiang Qingyuan's cool profile, Chen Fan suddenly felt that this legendary Mahayana powerhouse, known for her decisive killing, wasn't actually so far beyond reach.
She cooked, made wry remarks, protected her own, and would scold you while covering for you after you recklessly got into trouble.
Vivid, and real.
"By the way," Jiang Qingyuan suddenly raised her head, as though remembering something, "there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"What is it?" Chen Fan returned to his senses.
Jiang Qingyuan looked at him and said distinctly, "I have another identity: a Heaven-Rank Law Enforcement Envoy of the Immortal Palace's Law Enforcement Immortal Hall. You're steady, quick-witted, and sharp-tongued enough. Would you like to join the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall, starting as a Yellow-Rank Reserve?"
Chen Fan froze for a moment.
The Law Enforcement Immortal Hall?
Of course he knew of it. The Immortal Palace nominally ruled the Nine Provinces, and its administrative apparatus was immensely vast and strictly ordered. With the Immortal Academy at its center, it oversaw seventeen subordinate departments, each with its own duties.
Among them were several special independent institutions. The Law Enforcement Immortal Hall, Heavenly Secrets Immortal Hall, Immortal Palace Procuratorate Hall, and Immortal Palace Judgment Hall were among the departments that dealt most directly with the public.
The actual force-wielding enforcement institution among them was the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall, which specifically handled cultivators breaking the law, evil entities causing disturbances, academic corruption, and border friction. Its authority was immense, and its standing extremely high.
Entering the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall meant obtaining an official post in the Immortal Palace. His access, resources, and status would all rise like a boat on rising water.
"A Heaven-Rank Law Enforcement Envoy..." Chen Fan digested this information, then smiled. "No wonder the Netherworld side is still behaving itself. So you're an Immortal Palace insider."
He had thought Jiang Qingyuan had simply acted on the strength of her cultivation. It turned out she belonged to the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall, making her intervention entirely proper.
That made sense. With the Immortal Palace's strict rules, it couldn't possibly let Mahayana cultivators manifest their Dharma Aspects outside at will.
An enforcement position made it different. Border deterrence and eliminating evil entities both fell within her duties.
"The Netherworld Ghost Domain has always been a priority target for the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall. They're constantly pulling petty tricks along the border, so dealing with them is part of our job," Jiang Qingyuan said calmly. "Well? Interested? Yellow-Rank Reserve is only a starting point, but as long as you earn merit, you can become a full member very quickly. Your advancement will be like riding a rocket. The Law Enforcement Immortal Hall has more resources and authority than you imagine."
Chen Fan nodded immediately, with almost no hesitation. "Yes! Of course!"
Making trouble legally, with an official post to boot? Only an idiot would turn that down.
What was more, with Jiang Qingyuan, a Heaven-Rank Law Enforcement Envoy, backing him, he would start countless steps above everyone else in the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall.
Seeing the sparkle in Chen Fan's eyes, Jiang Qingyuan's lips curved almost imperceptibly.
I knew this boy wouldn't refuse.
She liked precisely this sort of temperament: daring to venture out and take things on, without hemming and hawing.
"Good." She stood. "This afternoon, I'll take you to the Jingzhou City Law Enforcement Immortal Hall to complete the paperwork. Before that, I'll explain the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall's rules and the unwritten rules within the Immortal Palace system, so you don't end up helping count the money after someone sells you out."
Chen Fan immediately sat up straight, assuming the posture of an attentive student.
He knew Jiang Qingyuan was about to teach him something real.
These ins and outs of officialdom and the system were more valuable than cultivation insights.