It probably said something about me that the techniques I was most interested in trying out were culinary in nature, as opposed to combative. Arguably, I could use them in combat, but this was more about training control and skill.

The nature of the Yin Vessel Cauldron Technique was to refine things through a soup or broth - materials were broken down into an elixir, and the elixir was then consumed (or the Qi drained from it). Either way, it was a tool to help me condense and refine Qi - but now that I've stepped into Foundation Establishment, my options expanded with it.

Alchemy and Cooking both relied on the concept of refinement, when you boiled it down - you refine the ingredients to bring out their best qualities (or flavours), and discard or downplay the worst. You use materials with strong resonance and Qi to create powerful medicines and elixirs - you use delicious herbs and spices that complement the meat to season a roast. Same principle.

Or at least, I was treating them as the same principle.

With my Cultivation solidly progressed to the Second Stage, I had another tool to season my proverbial and literal meat with - Qi. My Qi. Cultivators could refine their Qi and manipulate it in all sorts of ways. I could already heat things, chill, dry, even tenderise things, but I wanted to go one step further. Instead of just changing what I was applying my Qi to… I wanted to… not necessarily 'refine', but 'enrich'.

Distantly, I remember in my last life that there was attempts to genetically engineer rice - to enrich it with vitamins it didn't normally have to better tackle malnutrition in some areas. I didn't understand the science behind it all that well, given I was not a geneticist, but the same principle ought to apply here.

Only I wasn't really going for vitamins - useful, but not quite what I wanted. I wanted to infuse something more like… 'energy'. 'Vitality'. 'Soothing'. And like any good scientist, I needed test subjects and variable control.

"Grub's up," I announce cheerfully, setting two bowls in front of Zhou Cheng. We were sitting around in a clearing near the city, just far enough to be back in the 'wild', but no so far we were more than maybe half an hour away. For us, at least.

He gives me a weird look at my terminology, but turns that gimlet eye onto the rice congee in short order. Exact same recipe for both bowls, only one I tried to infuse with my Qi. "Which one is the…?"

I shake my head. "If I tell you, it'll bias you. Just try them, and let me know if you feel anything different."

He sticks his tongue out, very mature, and starts examining them closer before taking long, deep inhales. "It's this one," he declares, pointing to the (correct) bowl.

I'm not confirming anything, but I do flick his forehead. "Just eat your congee, Cheng-ge."

Grumbling a little, he obliges, taking a spoonful first of the 'plain' congee. His face still lights up a little as it hits his tongue, and he chews it with way more consideration than I've ever seen him give his food. He usually inhales it and asks for seconds, so I guess at least he's taking it seriously?

Satisfied, he takes a spoonful of the infused congee, and I watch carefully, waiting with bated breath for the moment. He chews it - or as much as anyone can chew congee, given it's basically a porridge - and swallows. No sign of any change at first, but then his eyes widen a little shortly after. "It's… warm?" he mumbles, frowning a little as he fumbles for the words. "Obviously, but… a different kind of warmth. It's… like being hugged."

I grin. "Then it works!" I was going for 'comfort' and 'soothing' with that, so 'being hugged' seems right on the money. I couldn't really taste any difference myself though - I suppose that was because I was the one making it. It'd be like hugging myself, and that just doesn't really work.

"So what are you hoping to get out of this, then?" Cheng-ge asks, watching me with the kind of curious intent that a cat staring at an entirely new animal might have. "It's nice, but it doesn't really seem that useful?"

"Not everything has to be useful - it can just be nice." It'd be a bit of a waste not to finish this off, but I can save it for later. My… siblings - and Heavens it feels weird to say that now - could probably enjoy it. A nice, warm hug in congee form from their older brother. "But really, it's just great practice. If I can infuse comfort into my food, then I can infuse other things too."

He gives me another weird look, brow furrowing in confusion. "You're going to… what, infuse your food with terror? Pain? And fight like that?"

"Something like that." I finish partitioning the congee and stashing it away in my qiankun pouch for later and turn to face him with a slight smirk. "Want to try it?"

He straightens up, pausing only to tip his bowl back and gulp everything down in one go. That's… that's kind of impressive, actually. "You're on! Show me what you've got!"

"So impatient," I tease, already placing my cauldron before me. I didn't want to seriously hurt him - I doubted I could, but it was better to be safe than sorry - so when I swipe along the rim to fill it with the stored broth, I take a moment to consider what sort of effect I want to impart onto it.

My fingers twist into a mudra and I pulse my Qi through the cauldron. "Phantasmagorial Soup of Illusive Shadows." Shadowy shapes burst out of the cauldron, hazy and indistinct like a child's attempts at shadow puppets.

Cheng-ge's actually caught off guard by the attack, perhaps not expecting something so direct and forward. He raises an arm to try and protect himself, but the creature's claws swipe right through him like a ghost. Which is what it was, technically, I guess. His eyes go wider as his arm goes slack, all feeling disrupted and severed.

At least I assume that's what happened - it's what I was going for. 'Numbness' felt like a neutral sort of way to confirm whether it worked or not without actively hurting him. It certainly seems like that's the result though, especially when he starts swinging his limp arm back and forth, more curious than shocked now.

"That feels really weird." His fingers are twitching a little, and his arm almost sort of moves - guess I didn't have what it takes to properly paralyse him. Shouldn't come as a surprise.

"Numbness can be like that - it should wear off soon, but you could try cycling your Qi a little." A wave of my hand and the creature disperses back into vapour, inky shadows bleeding away as I step forward to take Zhou Cheng's arm. Definitely disrupted the flow - I can actually feel a little shadow of my own Qi lingering in his arm.

I gently trace my hand along his arm, peeling my Qi out like I might peel a pore strip. It returns to me easily enough, melding back with my flow and leaving Zhou Cheng's arm unmolested. "Better?"

He nods vigorously, cheeks a little pink. Is he still embarrassed by me healing him like this? I guess it's a little like putting a bandaid on his scratches or something. "Are you really just going to attack with soup, though?"

"Why not? It worked on you."

He sticks his tongue out, chest puffed up. "Yeah, because I let it. It wouldn't work on me again - I'd just dodge or counterattack."

Uh huh. Of course you would. Well, it's not like he's entirely wrong though. I have no idea how stable my… phantasm's are. They're made of vapour and Yin Qi after all - I wouldn't put it past Cheng-ge's wind to just blow it away. "I have my knife - and I can do other things with Qi you know." To demonstrate - because I didn't really want to do it to him - I plucked a blade of grass from the ground and heated it. I expected it to catch fire or something like that, but instead, it just slowly shriveled and blackened.

I guess that's because I was applying direct heat as opposed to 'fire'. Well, either way, I hope that established things for him.

Rather than be properly amazed at my incredible prowess, he just gives me a suspicious look. "Lian-er… are all your techniques revolving around cooking?"

"Is that really surprising?"

I think the sigh was a little much, Cheng-ge. Come on. How can you possibly be surprised by any of this? "As long as it works…" he mutters.

"I'd rather not have to try it, myself. Please give me a little while before your next… adventure."

"No promises."

I'm not asking for too much, am I?

The day of the auction was almost upon us, and there was a sense of activity building up everywhere one looked - even my parents were busier. My family didn't purchase or really supply anything to the auction directly, of course, being mortals, but with an influx of Cultivators and their retinues, came an influx of money and business in general.

And fights. We couldn't ignore fights.

"There was another scuffle," my father warns us carefully, like we hadn't interceded in a fight on our first trip to the markets, "So you best be careful, yes? Oh, I know you're strong enough to take care of yourselves, but I don't want any trouble."

"It's fine, it's fine. We're just going to pick up Cheng-ge's robes, and then head back." I almost said 'What's the worst that could happen?' before I realised better of myself.

Not today, Murphy.

Cheng-ge, for his part, makes a face at the reminder of his robes, but he doesn't complain. I'm not sure what his problem with them is - I never liked wearing suits, but these don't feel that restrictive. And they're tailored!

"Are you coming with, Sister Tian?"

She hums softly. "I suppose I should. My walks around the local area haven't really turned up anything interesting, alas - and if there's going to be trouble, I want to be there!"

"There's not going to be any trouble." Did she not hear me say that? No trouble. None whatsoever. "It's just a quick trip." Don't make that face at me. I swear to Heaven, do not curse me with this Tian Mingfei.

It's a simple trip. Nothing is going to happen!

Of course, the moment I say that, one of the servant's comes rushing along, bowing deeply the moment he's within range. "Young Master, there is a… Cultivator at the gate. He wishes to speak with you."

Studiously ignoring my sworn siblings, I gesture for the man to relax. "I don't suppose he gave you a name?"

"Mo Jianyang, Young Master."

Eh? Well, I guess it's not too much trouble to see what he wants…

I rise up from my seated position, brushing myself off and make my way to the entrance. Ever the tagalong, Zhou Cheng follows me with a curious air - I could swear if he were a cat, his tail would be raised and alert.

Mo Jianyang is waiting for us in the foyer, and he looks… rough. The last time we saw him was only a few days ago, and he was fresh and fit as a fiddle - overjoyed even, given his newly minted status as a Cultivator in the Second Stage. Now he looks like he hasn't slept since and was put through a ringer or two.

I can't imagine what the hell happened to him in a few days to cause this, but I suspect I'm about to find out. Really, when he doesn't hesitate to kowtow before us, it's probably a bad sign.

"Seniors!" he calls, "Please! I beg for your assistance!"

… Well. At least it didn't happen on our way to get Cheng-ge's robes. There's still a chance that will be a nice, normal trip. But right now… "I'll prepare some tea, and you should probably start with… whatever the problem is."