The Jade Emperor and the others looked at the peacock egg. Then, they looked at Peacock Saintess. They had to twitch the corner of their mouths.
‘The expert didn’t ask you to lay eggs. Can’t you wait?
‘What happened to swearing that you’ll die before you lay eggs?’
Peacock Saintess was also baffled. She blinked.
‘Did I just lay an egg? I can lay eggs?
‘My first egg ever came out like that?’
She had to look at Li Nianfan. Then, she cowardly looked away. She shuddered.
When Li Nianfan brushed her feathers, she felt a warmth from his palm. Then, she felt lightheaded, and out came her first egg.
‘So scary. Are you the devil?’
However… It felt nice to be touched by the expert. She felt as if her body had improved. ‘Well…at least I can lay eggs.’
Li Nianfan was excited. He laughed and said, “Nice. It’s nice that this peacock can lay eggs. What a nice peacock. I have to raise it properly.”
He smiled at Daji and said, “Daji, serve the guests. I’m bringing this peacock to the backyard to let it familiar itself with the surroundings.”
Daji nodded obediently and said, “Yes, Master.”
Creak.
Li Nianfan entered the backyard. Everyone else in the four-part architecture instantly sighed in relief. They felt less pressured.
Goddess Nuwa put down her glass of fruit juice. She could not wait to ask, “Jade Emperor, what’s going on? When did such a terrifying being arrive in our eldritch world?”
Nobody in the Chaos would dare go near Li Nianfan. ‘So why did he pick the eldritch world?’
“Empress Nuwa. We got lucky!”
The Jade Emperor took a deep breath and said with utter respect, “Our world would’ve been over if it wasn’t for the expert. The expert helped us too much!”
“I noticed it, too. I thought we were in the Absolute Era? Why does it feel…different from what I expected?” Goddess Nuwa continued to ask, “What happened exactly?”
She thought she would return to a ruined wasteland full of suffering. However, that was not the case at all.
The Jade Emperor immediately told her everything.
Goddess Nuwa listened attentively with ever-changing facial expressions. She realized how much the expert did for the world.
He ended the Absolute Era, rebuilt the Underworld, unsealed the Heavenly Palace, killed Styx Laozu, and ended the enemy from another world…
Everything he did was a historic moment for their world. He saved the eldritch world countless times.
The Empress groaned for a moment. She said, “Maybe I’m imagining it but I feel like…the expert’s sentimental when it comes to our world. He has a clear understanding of our world’s history and evolution as if he’s paid close attention to it.”
“The expert’s way beyond our level. He does as he pleases. We’ll receive huge rewards just because he’s happy.”
Goddess Nuwa said with a hint of jealousy, “Probably because he likes something from our world. But no matter what it is, it’s a good thing.”
The Jade Emperor sighed. “But we don’t know why the expert likes to live as an ordinary man. Going along with his act is truly…testing!”
Acting with the expert was nerve-wracking. It was the perfect definition of being painfully happy.
Goddess Nuwa said with seriousness, “For the expert, his capabilities are nothing to him. We aren’t wise enough to understand it. Just don’t anger the expert.”
“We know that.”
Everyone nodded. Yang Jing asked, “Empress Nuwa, according to our sources, the Absolute Era occurred to hide our eldritch world?”
Goddess Nuwa nodded. Then, she said, “I see that you all know about it. Our eldritch world is flawed. We aren’t as powerful as the other worlds. There are thousands of worlds in the Chaos. It’s a dog eat dog universe. We can’t even defeat a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. So, we naturally have to hide.
“Saints strengthened their cultivation through the realm’s Deluxe Merit. Saints exist to maintain order of the realm. But Saints aren’t as powerful as a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. We can only hide our world with the Absolute Era.”
Saints became Saints through the Deluxe Merit of the realm. They could not surpass the realm. A Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal could surpass their realm with true power!
She escaped the eldritch world so she lost all her Saintly Deluxe Merit. Her powers were as weak as a Quasi-Saint or a Daluo Golden Immortal. She could not find a way to cultivate in the Chaos.
The Jade Emperor asked, “Empress Nuwa, do you know where Dao Zu is?”
“Dao Zu’s supposedly still in the eldritch world.”
Goddess Nuwa paused. Then, she said, “But according to my knowledge, things don’t have to be this way. At that time…the Demon God, Luohou, exposed the location of the eldritch world. Dao Zu was forced to compromise, which led to the Absolute Era.”
The Jade Emperor and the others were enlightened. They did not expect that. They finally figured out the entire story.
No wonder there was a cultivator from another world near their eldritch world. Luohuo attracted him.
Luohou was the Demon God of slaughter. He was an animal. He did that and messed up the eldritch world.
Creak.
Suddenly, there was a creaking sound coming from the backyard. Li Nianfan walked over with a smile. He seemed to be in a good mood. He smiled and said, “I think the peacock likes it here. It leaped and jumped merrily in the backyard. I also built a nest for it with tree branches. I spent a bit of time there.”
The Jade Emperor and the others looked at him with mixed emotions. They smiled and said, “Ha. As long as you like, Lord Saint. As long as you like it.”
They gave the expert the peacock but…they were very jealous of her. She was the classic definition of an instant success!
A nest made from tree branches.
It was a nest made from Chaos Spiritual Roots!
Peacock Saintess was probably smiling from ear to ear.
They were…so jealous of how she was being treated.
Especially when they recalled capturing Peacock Saintess. She was so unwilling back then. Then, she instantly laid an egg upon arrival. Most importantly, she was doing better than the others.
‘Sigh, fate was playing with us!’
They watched as they created instant success for someone else. They felt a mix of emotions. ‘Why did I try so hard?’
They finally understood that bad luck was the best luck!
Sizzle!
Suddenly, they heard a soft sizzle from the pot at the side.
Li Nianfan instantly lifted the pot’s lid. An intense steam came out from the pot. Inside the pot was bubbling golden oil.
“Almost done. Wait for a while, everyone. Lunch will soon be ready.”
Nanan curiously went over. She asked excitedly, “Brother, what are we having today?”
“Fried Qiongqi meat.”
Li Nianfan laughed. “It’s a crunchy dish!”
The dish was easy to make. All he needed to do was to cut Qiongqi into huge dices. Then, he had to coat Qiongqi’s meat with mixed flour, put it into the oil pot, and fry until golden brown. Lastly, he would take it out from the pot and it would be ready to be served.
Li Nianfan did a lot of preparations to make this dish.
He fried peanuts to get the oil. Then, he mixed the flour with various ingredients. He also prepped Qiongqi’s meat. It was a lot of effort.
Sizzle—
Li Nianfan tossed the meat into the pot. It instantly boiled and sizzled. Steam went up into the air.
Goddess Nuwa had to look into the pot. She was curious.
She could feel the Chaos Spiritual Qi contained in the pot of oil. It was terrifying. She thought it might explode at some point.
‘This is… Oil made from Chaos Spiritual Roots!”
She had never seen anything like this in her years of drifting in the Chaos.
It would be a great blessing for others to get a single peanut. No one would use them to get peanut oil like Li Nianfan!
Her worldview was expanded around the expert.
Kids could not resist fried food. Nanan could not wait. She kept gulping at the side.
She did not forget to brag to Goddess Nuwa. She said, “Sister Goddess Nuwa, my brother’s food is super delicious!”
Goddess Nuwa smiled and asked, “Really?”
The Jade Emperor and the others did not even think about it. They all nodded at the same time.
They were not as obvious as Nanan but they were all salivating.
Goddess Nuwa was looking forward to it. ‘The Jade Emperor and the others are so obsessed with his cooking. How delicious can it be?’
Maybe because they were too excited, they went silent as they surrounded the oil pot.
There was only a sizzling noise in the four-part architecture.
Li Nianfan had to laugh at their reactions. ‘These are all bigshots. Goddess Nuwa, the Jade Emperor, the Empress, and Erlang Shen…
‘Now they’re waiting to eat fried food like preschoolers…
‘Such a wonderful sight.’
“Done.”
Li Nianfan smiled and took the meat out. He placed the meat on a plate.
The meat pieces were glistening with oil. The golden coating was very appetizing.
‘It’s shining. The meat’s shining!’
“Gulp!”
Everyone looked at golden meat and had to gulp.
Fried food was not very aromatic but it had a unique smell. It looked very appetizing, too. It easily got them hooked.
Li Nianfan placed the plate in front of Goddess Nuwa. He said excitedly, “Empress, this is the first piece of meat. It’s yours. Try it and see if it’s to your liking?”
“Thanks, Mr. Li.”
Goddess Nuwa quietly thanked him. She was very polite. Then, she picked up the meat with chopsticks and slowly inspected it.
The meat was cut into a perfect bite-sized cube.
It had been too many years. She had forgotten all about delicacies. She no longer felt hunger for food. However, at that moment, she felt like her stomach was empty.
‘What a magical feeling!’
Goddess Nuwa inspected the meat for a short while. Then, she bit it.
Crunch!
The golden coating burst apart with a crunch. Then, the hidden flavors underneath the oil erupted in her mouth like a volcano.
As she chewed, she found tender meat underneath the crunchy layer.
The crunchy layer was a perfect combo with the tender meat. More importantly, the delicious warm flavors hit her when she least expected it. It was incredibly delicious and enjoyable.
“Yum—”
Goddess Nuwa blushed. She was slightly quivering.
She was someone who refrained from emotions because she had lived countless years. However, her emotions were screaming internally at that moment.
‘Super delicious!!!
‘How can something taste so delicious? This is more than delicious!
‘Is this what happiness feels like?
‘Is this the meaning of life?’
The Jade Emperor and the others salivated like crazy. They were practically drooling.
‘The worst thing in life isn’t waiting for delicious food to be ready, but rather, having someone eating it in front of you…
‘So torturous!’
