Li Qingran had never encountered anything like this before.
For cultivators, building a house was a simple task, but transforming a dilapidated thatched hut into a stone mansion in an instant was no small feat. Not to mention conjuring clothes and food out of thin air. The difference between creating something from existing materials and creating something from nothing was vast.
At first, she thought a powerful cultivator might be playing a trick on her, using invisibility to retrieve items from a storage ring. However, she didn't sense any spatial fluctuations. Everything had truly appeared out of nowhere.
To create something from nothing and to ensure the food's color, aroma, and taste were all perfect—such a feat would require at least a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, right? Or perhaps... even a Soul Formation stage expert?
Li Qingran wasn't sure. Her master, the old monster at the Nascent Soul stage, Qingxuan Daoist, couldn't do something like this. He could transform ingredients into prepared dishes, but he couldn't conjure food out of thin air. Of course, it was also possible that Qingxuan Daoist had never studied such techniques, as cultivators could abstain from food once they reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
The aroma of the food made Li Qingran's stomach growl. After her cultivation was crippled, she could no longer abstain from eating. Many demon beasts' flesh was highly toxic, and she couldn't tell which was safe, so she had been surviving on wild fruits and roots from the mountains.
Hiding under the bed wasn't a solution.
Li Qingran cautiously poked half her head out from under the bed, mustering her courage to call out, "Which senior is performing such magic here? This junior, Li Qingran, boldly requests the senior to show themselves!"
The surroundings remained silent, with no response. Only the sound of heavy rain pounding against the bamboo window filled the air.
After a moment of silence, Li Qingran decided to come out from under the bed. It wasn't that she wasn't scared, but if the other party was so powerful, what could she do to resist? Earlier, the sole of her foot had even been touched by the senior, whose hand was warm, almost as if mocking her for hiding under the bed and leaving a clue...
Thinking of this, Li Qingran bit her lower lip, her face flushing red.
Forget it, if I die, I die.
She crawled out from under the bed and looked around the room, but didn't see any suspicious figures.
Finally, her gaze fell on the sumptuous feast on the table.
Gulp—!
The sound of her swallowing and the growling of her stomach echoed simultaneously.
She awkwardly sat down at the table, staring at the dishes but not touching them. Instead, she clasped her hands together and bowed deeply, saying, "If the senior is unwilling to show themselves, could you at least tell me if I am allowed to eat this food? If the senior remains silent, I would rather starve than touch your belongings."
With that, Li Qingran sat in front of the feast, closed her eyes, and began meditating.
...
Chen Huaian had just whipped up a simple tomato and egg stir-fry for lunch.
When he returned and opened his phone, he saw that Li Qingran had already come out from under the bed and was now sitting at the table, meditating. However, her body was swaying slightly, and her face, smudged like a kitten's, was dotted with sweat. Her nostrils flared as she clearly struggled to resist the temptation of the food.
"What kind of pose is this?" Chen Huaian chuckled.
Who meditates in front of food? Is she training her willpower? The girl's chin was practically hovering over the roasted chicken.
[Li Qingran requests to consume the nutritional meal. Do you agree?]
A dialog box popped up.
"This thing even needs my approval? So strict?"
Chen Huaian shook his head with a wry smile and selected "Agree."
In the game, Li Qingran seemed to hear something. She opened her eyes, a look of joy spreading across her face.
"Thank you, senior!"
"Whoa, there's voice acting too!"
The sudden, clear, and melodious female voice startled Chen Huaian so much that he nearly dropped his phone. He hadn't turned on the sound earlier because the game had no background music, so he assumed there was no audio. After turning up the volume, he realized there were realistic environmental sounds, like the crackling of the fire in the stove and the pouring rain outside.
But he never expected Li Qingran to have her own dedicated voice actor.
As the saying goes, small studios go all out!
Chen Huaian continued to watch the girl eat.
At first, Li Qingran ate in small bites, but soon her chopsticks moved faster and faster, devouring the food like a whirlwind. The speed at which she cleaned the plates left Chen Huaian dumbfounded.
As expected of a game. Only game characters can eat this fast.
...
After finishing her meal, Li Qingran picked up a small towel to wipe her mouth, her face slightly red as she bowed in gratitude. "This junior hasn't had such a delicious meal in a long time. Senior's kindness will never be forgotten!"
Earlier, while she was meditating with her eyes closed, she suddenly heard a voice say, "Approved."
The voice was like a divine proclamation, resonating through her soul.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a giant golden character—Approved—floating above the food, formed from spiritual energy.
This was clearly a form of voice transmission.
Many cultivators could condense spiritual energy into characters. However, these characters didn't draw energy from the surroundings but were instead created out of thin air. This meant that the spiritual energy characters were transmitted along with the voice. She couldn't even begin to guess how far away the senior was when they sent this message.
Sss...
Li Qingran secretly gasped, feeling even more in awe of the mysterious senior. But regardless, based on the current situation, it seemed the senior meant her no harm.
"Senior, I'll clean the dishes now."
Li Qingran picked up the plates and walked outside.
The rain was still pouring heavily, the sky dark with thick clouds. The dense rain reduced visibility to less than five meters. Apart from the relentless patter of rain and the occasional rumble of thunder, nothing else could be heard.
"The rain is even heavier than before..."
Looking up at the sky, Li Qingran felt a surge of gratitude.
If it weren't for the senior's mansion, her old thatched hut would have likely collapsed by now.
Outside the mansion, there was a small corridor. She walked along the eaves and soon found the wooden bucket she had placed outside the door the day before. Originally, the bucket was used to collect rainwater for drinking, and now it was full, making it convenient for her to wash the dishes.
[Li Qingran is washing the dishes.]
[Li Qingran's favorability +5. Current favorability: 10.]
"Nice, she can even wash dishes? A favorability system isn't surprising, though."
Chen Huaian was increasingly impressed by the game.
Not only were the characters lifelike, but there were also so many interactive elements.
How come he had never heard of this game before?
Seeing that the identity and health report would take a few more minutes, Chen Huaian began exploring other features and soon discovered something new.
He had initially thought the game's scope was limited to the small house, but that wasn't the case—the game had a map, and it was huge! When fully expanded, Li Qingran's location was just a small circle, with a green dot representing her. The area around the circle was shrouded in black fog, likely indicating unexplored territory.
Apart from the lit area around the small house, there was also a sect-like structure on the map that wasn't covered by fog. It was labeled with three golden characters: Qingyun Sect.
"Huh? Isn't that the sect Li Qingran used to belong to?"
Chen Huaian frowned. If Li Qingran was a disciple of the Qingyun Sect, why wasn't she there? And why was she in such a sorry state? Moreover, this place wasn't far from the Qingyun Sect—just a short distance from the mountain's peak to the foot. For cultivators, it should have been a trivial journey.
There must be quite a story behind this...
He zoomed out the map again.
Then his expression changed.
Near the small house, five red dots had appeared.
They were moving rapidly toward Li Qingran's location!