Raising the Villain in Wrong Way

She deglazed the wok with a splash of high-grade fermented spirit-wine, the alcohol burning off in a spectacular burst of blue flame that illuminated the dark swamp.

Finally, she pulled out a specialized jade container containing the prime cuts of a Rank 5 Silver-Scaled River Salmon she had caught earlier that week.

She didn’t cook the fish.

With rapid, blindingly fast knife work, she sliced the salmon into paper-thin, translucent pieces of perfect sashimi, arranging them on a platter over a bed of crushed ice, garnished with a dab of freshly grated spirit-wasabi.

Within thirty minutes, the camp smelled like a five-star imperial banquet.

"Dinner is served," Ji’an announced, presenting a massive bowl of the spicy, stir-fried boar to Blue, and setting the platter of sashimi down on a clean rock for the Nekomata.

«Acceptable,» the kitten projected, elegantly hopping down from the branch and delicately taking a bite of the raw fish.

Its eyes widened slightly, the twin tails swishing in sudden, genuine approval. «Highly acceptable. You may live, cook.»

Blue took the bowl from Ji’an.

He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite.

Wangchen had eaten Ji’an’s food before.

He knew her skill.

But every single time, it felt like a revelation.

The moment the spicy, rich pork hit his tongue, a wave of pure, concentrated, soothing spiritual energy flooded his meridians.

The fatigue in his muscles evaporated.

The minor micro-tears in his spiritual veins from forcing his disguise were instantly, miraculously healed.

The food didn’t just taste divine; it was a potent, masterfully crafted alchemical elixir disguised as a stir-fry.

He looked up at her.

Ji’an was sitting on a log across the fire, eating from her own bowl, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, looking entirely satisfied with her handiwork.

"Your cooking skill is terrifyingly amazing, Young Master Ji’an," Blue murmured, his voice thick with genuine awe. "A sect would pay millions for a single meal of this caliber. You restore Qi faster and more efficiently than the highest-grade medicinal pills of the Medicine Peak."

Ji’an swallowed, waving her chopsticks dismissively. "Pills are for people who don’t know how to appreciate the flavor of foods. Why swallow a bitter ball of compressed dirt when you can eat spicy pork? Food is life, Blue. If you aren’t enjoying the journey, what’s the point of reaching the destination?"

Wangchen stared at her through the flames of the campfire.

’If you aren’t enjoying the journey, what’s the point of reaching the destination?’

The words struck the core of his Heartless Dao, threatening to shatter the foundational philosophies he had been taught since childhood.

The orthodox path dictated that the journey was suffering.

The journey was isolation, sacrifice, and the severing of all worldly joy in pursuit of immortality.

But looking at Ji’an, laughing, eating, entirely content in the middle of a lethal swamp, he realized how utterly hollow his years of existence had been before she kicked his courtyard door open.

"You are wise, Young master," Blue whispered, taking another bite of the pork, ensuring he committed the taste, the moment, and the exact shade of the firelight on her skin to his eidetic memory.

They ate in comfortable, easy silence, the only sounds being the crackle of the fire and the delicate chewing of the glowing cat.

By the time they finished, their Qi reserves were completely overflowing.

The heavy, lethargic exhaustion of the day had been entirely banished.

"I don’t think I can sleep," Ji’an admitted, leaning back and patting her stomach. "I have too much energy. That ginger sure was potent."

"Then we don’t sleep," Blue replied smoothly, standing up and vanishing their empty bowls with a flick of his wrist. "The deep jungle awaits. If you are recovered, we can push further eastward under the cover of darkness. The predators will be active, but so will the rare flora."

Ji’an grinned, leaping to her feet. "I like the way you think, minimalist! Let’s go hunt some monsters!"

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.

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The next twelve hours were a grueling, spectacular march through the heart of the Eastern Coastal Wastes.

Because they didn’t need to stop for rest, fueled by the efficiency of Ji’an’s cooking, they bypassed the usual pace of other cultivators.

They moved like shadows through the dense, rotting underbrush.

The deeper they went, the more alien and hostile the environment became.

The trees grew to impossible heights, their roots forming massive, twisting bridges over lakes of bubbling, toxic mud.

The air grew so thick with ambient, chaotic Qi that it physically pressed against their skin.

They fought constantly.

They encountered a Rank 7 Iron-Hide Ape, a beast that tried to crush them with boulders the size of houses.

Blue effortlessly deflected the boulders with his kinetic barriers, while Ji’an utilized a newly invented technique, the Searing Wok Updraft, to launch herself above the beast and deliver a concussive strike to the crown of its skull.

They navigated a field of Illusionary Ghost-Orchids, flowers that emitted a pollen designed to trap cultivators in their worst nightmares.

«Pathetic flora,» the Nekomata scoffed, sitting comfortably on Ji’an’s shoulder.

The kitten merely flicked one of its silver tails, unleashing a wave of pure, enlightened mental energy that instantly shattered the illusion array, allowing them to walk through the field completely unbothered.

"You know, fluffball, you really pull your weight," Ji’an praised, tossing the cat a piece of dried salmon.

«I am a god among insects. Do not compare me to weight-pulling beasts of burden,» the kitten retorted haughtily, though it happily chewed the salmon.

Throughout the entire march, the synergy between Ji’an and Blue only deepened.

It was an intoxicating, thrilling rhythm.

Ji’an found herself anticipating his movements before he even made them.

She knew exactly when he would step left to provide cover, and he knew exactly how long she needed to wind up a strike. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

They moved through the lethal environment not as two separate individuals, but as a single, perfectly calibrated machine of destruction.

"You are incredible, Blue!" Ji’an laughed breathlessly, having just delivered the final blow to a massive, venomous swamp-serpent.