Chapter 4: Purple Mist

"With Immortal Fate on the line, who knows how many rivals will come pouring in…." Duke Jaynes led the big yellow ox from the East End of the Village and headed home. Black Turtle Village only had a few dozen households, most of them old folks, the weak, and women with children. Duke Jaynes had lived alone since he was young, so his little courtyard had always been quiet. A servant had appeared in his home out of nowhere, and the change left him awkward. Still, raising his cultivation could not wait. "The Blood Moon Gate only allows those at the Embryo Stage to enter." "I've already perfected body force. After this come soul-forging, organ-tempering, and spirit-and-form. Three major bottlenecks." "And that County Lord just now… her cultivation has to be at the fourth major realm. People like her probably aren't rare, either." Once he stepped into the land of Immortal Fate, the help he could rely on would be limited. In the end, only his own strength mattered. Duke Jaynes reached into his robe and took out a yellow cloth pouch. It was a storage bag, the one Vermilion Bird had just handed him. Whoosh! The moment he poured his body force into it, the mouth of the bag yawned open. A reeking stench of blood blasted out, followed by a rolling tide of demonic miasma that spilled into the air. The temperature dropped in an instant. Duke Jaynes shuddered. He immediately tipped the storage bag over and dumped out more than a dozen demon corpses. Each one looked vicious and grotesque, and none were quite the same. Elara was in the inner room, lifting her skirt to clean her wound. She knew exactly how to build intimacy with Duke Jaynes in the short term, then pry out the identity of the Innate Divine Radiance holder. The problem was, he had not spoken to her once on the road, like a block of wood. What was this turtle boy doing, anyway? He did not even come in to help dress her injury, did not seize the moment with those strong hands of his. After she finished tending the wound, she changed into a clean dress and suddenly stared out the window. "Th-this… is that a Thunder Beast?" She rushed outside and fixed her eyes on a massive beast whose body shone like polished silver. Its skin was sleek and hairless, and thin strands of purple lightning flickered beneath the surface, appearing and vanishing like breath. Thunder Beasts belonged to the demon ranks. They could be called royalty, terrifyingly fierce in battle. At the same level, even dozens of elite human hunters might not be able to bring one down. And Skyspine Ridge was crawling with demons. Powerful species were everywhere. Hunting a royal demon in that kind of environment? The difficulty was absurd. Duke Jaynes glanced at Elara's stunned face, baffled. It was just a Thunder Beast. He had eaten so much game growing up that he could not even count it. Besides, Vermilion Bird had said it herself. Once he finished eating, he could go back to her for more. "This one's a mutant golden ox with monstrous strength… this is a flying python with twin horns… and this white ram, a single horn, snow-white all over. It has a trace of Baize blood…." Elara inspected them one by one. She had thought her knowledge would intimidate him, at least for a while. Instead, the scene felt unreal. She had attended high-end banquets as a successful socialite, but with this spread of top-tier ingredients scattered across the ground, even someone of the County Lord's status would struggle to earn a seat at the table. Rarity made value. To someone at the Embryo Stage, these were supreme tonics. Even older cultivators could extend their lives through such nourishment. "Are you all short on food out there?" Duke Jaynes asked, genuinely surprised that the wild game he had eaten since childhood could scare this once-arrogant servant so badly. "Short on food?" Elara nearly choked on the words. She lowered her head, turned slightly aside, and asked in a soft, careful voice, "These ingredients are extremely precious, Master. Are you planning to turn all of them into medicinal dishes?" Duke Jaynes stared at the obedient little maid in front of him. The sudden shift in attitude left him at a loss. Then he remembered his body's reaction to that Bodhisattva-like figure. He hurriedly urged, "Hurry up and cook. I'm so hungry I could eat a person!" "Eat a person? What a pack of savage villagers!" "And these ingredients contain such overwhelming life essence. With his cultivation, how could he possibly digest it?" Elara understood a servant's duty. Talk less, do more. That was how you earned trust. Duke Jaynes was about to start tempering his body when he noticed, with a jolt, that Elara's figure had become strikingly full, lush from every angle. As a "special talent," she had cultivated ancient techniques meant to sculpt the body. When she moved, her curves seemed ready to spill out of restraint. She pulled out more than a dozen kitchen knives. Her pretty face turned composed and dignified as she focused on carving up the demon beasts, yet every stillness and every motion carried a seductive grace. It was her way of weaving charm arts into everyday life, natural and effortless, not like some brothel girl stripping bare for attention. "Her Flame Divine Radiance doesn't look that strong?" Duke Jaynes wondered. He ignored Elara's deliberate posing. He was half face-blind, and mostly he had simply spent too long around Vermilion Bird. He studied the firelight blooming from Elara's body, then quietly stirred his Black Turtle Divine Radiance to compare. It felt… weak. Across the world, Divine Radiance came in ranks: low, mid, high, then beyond that, peerless, and finally the strongest of all. Elara's high-tier Flame Divine Radiance made her a genius among her peers, and her cooking skill was even more impressive. Before long, more than a dozen dishes covered the table, a feast of rare delicacies. She took out a secret soup base from the storage bag and set up a pot. Thin slices of golden ox rolled in the broth, and a rich, meaty aroma flooded the room. Duke Jaynes' mouth watered just from breathing it in. His stomach rumbled like thunder. He grabbed a slice of hotpot meat, nearly bit his tongue off from the flavor, and swallowed with a look of pure satisfaction. He had not eaten for three days. He devoured the food like a starving ghost reborn. Roasted lamb ribs, stir-fried flying python, Thunder Beast heart-tender stewed into thunder-marrow soup… the more he ate, the more he wanted. Sweat poured off him. Heat surged inside his body in countless waves, and it even felt like blood might burst from his nose. "This medicinal power is insane." Then it clicked. The game he had eaten in the past had been drained of ninety percent of its essence and nourishment. Elara watched him in passing, waiting for him to beg for help. When he did, she would use her massage techniques. She would make him pliant, then whisper a few questions by his ear. He would tell her anything. Duke Jaynes burned from the inside out, as if someone had slammed him into the ground with a mountain of fire. Instinctively, he stirred Purple Mist. A rippling devouring pulse spread from him and swept the heat away. With every breath in and out, he seemed like a colossal beast swallowing heaven and earth, refining the energy from the meal and fusing it into his bones. His tendons and joints itched like they were charged with lightning, and his skin tingled into a pleasant numbness…. The second checkpoint of the Embryo Stage, soul-forging, involved the bones, flesh, and the body's meridians. When that wave of nourishment finally settled, his whole body felt indescribably comfortable. Vigorous energy spilled through him, fierce and brimming with strength. His foundation had grown stronger. With Purple Mist to help, Duke Jaynes did not worry about overeating, nor about getting fat. After more than ten plates were emptied, he still was not satisfied. He glanced at the fresh meat Elara brought over, then at her strange look. Only then did he tap his forehead. "Almost forgot about you. You've had a long day too. Sit down and eat with me." He felt he had been rude. Even a maid should not be worked to the bone. Elara fought to keep her expression steady, but shock churned inside her. What kind of monster was he? Those ingredients… even a hundred body-force cultivators would never be able to digest them. Could he have some kind of special physique? At the start of cultivation, one used Divine Radiance to draw in spiritual energy and nourish the body. Special physiques were born with treasures hidden within. If properly unearthed, they naturally surpassed their peers. Elara swept her gaze over the top-tier ingredients on the floor, then looked at Duke Jaynes again. In her heart, she muttered that he truly was Black Turtle Village's genius. She had chosen the right master. The thought made Duke Jaynes far less unpleasant to her. In fact, he started to look… rather agreeable. "Don't just stand there. Sit," Duke Jaynes said, dumping thick slices of lamb into the pot. Thump! Elara suddenly dropped to her knees in front of him. She bent forward, her soft, rounded body deliberately held taut, pulling her dress tight across every curve. "Did this servant do something wrong?" She lifted her face, cheeks like peach blossoms, a mix of shyness and fear trembling in her eyes, pitiful enough to make anyone's heart soften. "Didn't we already put all that behind us? Get up and eat," Duke Jaynes said, helping her to her feet. "Master! How could this servant eat at the same table as you? That would be far beyond my station." She pressed closer, all trembling sincerity, like a startled little rabbit begging for mercy. "There's a rule like that? Then eat over there," Duke Jaynes said, understanding, and gently pushed her away before lowering his head to focus on the lamb. ? Elara froze. Was this turtle man… impotent? Duke Jaynes' eating only sped up, as if his body itself were calling out for more. As time passed, his body grew hotter. The breath that poured from his mouth and nose carried an ancient, primal aura. He felt both startled and moved, because that aura matched Purple Mist perfectly. Purple Mist rose and fell along the crown of his head, like a sleeping young dragon stirring in its nest. Duke Jaynes sensed it. Purple Mist and his body had formed a tight, intimate connection, as if bound by blood. Boom! Because of that sensation, his vision abruptly changed. At first everything blurred. Then a terrifying pressure, like an immense presence, crashed into his senses. He stopped breathing, staring blankly at the Blood Moon before him. It was too vast, too magnificent. The sight felt abstract, unreal. How was he seeing the Blood Moon? He kept staring at it, so close it seemed within reach. With his head lowered as he ate, it was as if Duke Jaynes sat cross-legged behind the Blood Moon itself, eternal and unyielding, gazing down over Skyspine Ridge with an ancient, overwhelming might.