“Brother, that Sister Ning you like, she’s really skilled.”

    As Li Muyang opened his eyes to see his adoptive sister returning with a roast chicken, Li Yuechan said these words by the side of the field at dusk.

    “Although we’ve met a few times on the way to the sect, our interactions weren’t deep.”

    “I spent the whole day with her today and realized that Sister Ning is truly formidable.”

    Holding the fragrant roast chicken, the girl spoke with a sense of admiration.

    “Your decision to give her up was absolutely the right one.”

    “I suspect you’ll end up completely hooked by her if you continue to fancy her.”

    The girl said this while giggling and watching Li Muyang’s reaction.

    Li Muyang, however, swallowed hard. His gaze was completely focused on the roast chicken in the girl’s hand and showed no reaction to her words.

    This wasn’t entirely an act. The roast chicken truly emitted an irresistible aroma.

    Li Muyang’s eyes widened as he asked, “What kind of roasted chicken is this?”

    “Why does it smell so delicious?

    The mere aroma was enough to make one’s appetite uncontrollable.

    Li Muyang instinctively thought of a delicacy from Yunxiao City.

    The girl’s giggling response confirmed Li Muyang’s guess.

    “This is the most famous Ginseng Wood Roast Chicken from Yunxiao City. It’s cooked over charcoal made from ginseng wood that contains spiritual energy. The chicken is sealed in a clay stove with the wood, perfectly stimulating the spiritual energy and aroma, locking it into the meat.”

    “It’s said that even the immortals above the nine heavens can’t resist the fragrance of this Ginseng Wood Chicken!”

    The girl cheerfully handed the steaming roasted chicken to Li Muyang, saying, “Brother, eat it while it’s hot. The chicken can retain its heat for two hours after coming out of the oven, and now is when it tastes the best. Once it cools down, it loses its flavor.”

    Li Muyang immediately took the fragrant roasted chicken, tearing into it as he spoke, “The idea that even immortals can’t resist is pure nonsense, but I have indeed heard of the fame of this roasted chicken.”

    I never expected it to be so magical. It truly is a world of cultivation that defies common sense.

    Before, Li Muyang had thought it was all exaggeration.

    It’s just a roasted chicken, after all. How could it captivate someone so?

    Now, the reality proved that this Ginseng Wood Roast Chicken was indeed enchanting.

    Without caring for appearances, he sat down on the ridge of the field and began to tear into the chicken meat the girl had brought, savoring it with big bites.

    The chicken, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, melted in his mouth, a wondrous flavor unlike any ordinary food exploded on his taste buds.

    As he ate, Li Muyang couldn’t help but marvel again.

    The world of cultivation is truly full of wonders.

    He looked up at the girl standing beside him, who was smiling sweetly.

    “Brother, just eat. I’ve already tasted it with Sister Ning. We brought this chicken especially for you.”

    “Alright,” Li Muyang simply replied, not being polite and truly enjoying the whole roasted chicken by himself.

    After chatting briefly with the girl about their experiences in Yunxiao City, Li Muyang realized that this city was indeed vastly different from his homeland, Jiuyuan City. ?

    Jiuyuan City, a remote and small town, was considered by most to be a backwater, and everything there fit Li Muyang’s image of an ancient society.

    The streets were filthy, dust filled the air, and the smell of excrement was everywhere.

    However, with its population of a million, Yunxiao City was clean and tidy everywhere, with streetlights and sewers, more like the fantasy world towns in the video games Li Muyang played in his previous life.

    Hearing about all these things from his younger sister Li Yuechan made Li Muyang want to visit Yunxiao City and broaden his horizons.

    But in the end, Li Muyang steadied his emotions and suppressed his desire to go to Yunxiao City.

    His progress in the game had reached a critical moment.

    Xiao Yecao’s favorability was now at 39.

    Just a bit more and he would reach a favorability of 40, earning the second-stage reward.

    Looking at the favorability bar in the upper right corner of his field of vision, 【Xiao Yecao: 39】.

    Li Muyang clenched his fist.

    From today on, he would pull himself together and return to his former self, who devoted all his time and energy to the game!

    Now, he was only one step away from breaking through the second stage of the game and getting the reward.

    How could he indulge in chatting with the sweet girl at such a time?

    Li Muyang decided to change himself.

    So the next day, Li Muyang finally spent less time chatting with his adopted little sister than usual when she returned from the city.

    After watching his adopted little sister’s figure leave once again, Li Muyang sat on the ridge and scratched his head.

    “Have I been alone for too long? How can I talk about such pointless nonsense for so long?”

    Li Muyang, who had intended to quickly end the conversation for the day, found himself feeling somewhat dejected and frustrated after failing to do so.

    He realized that he might have been alone for too long, making it difficult for him to stop chatting with his sister once they started.

    He seemed to be craving this kind of interaction and the feedback from the conversation.

    “People really are social animals, huh? Being alone for too long can really cause problems,” Li Muyang muttered to himself.

    He no longer tried to cut short his chats with his sister.

    It’s okay if the game completion takes a bit longer because if he ends up developing a mental illness from isolation, that would be a real loss.

    Fortunately, he spent almost all his time in the game besides his daily chats with his sister.

    As the saying goes, hard work pays off, and he did receive a reward.

    On the third-to-last day before the Demon Refining Sect closed its gates, Li Muyang successfully completed the second stage of cultivation, raising Xiao Yecao’s favorability to over 40.

    【Xiao Yecao: 40 (She regards you as a precious friend... or perhaps a family member?)】

    The moment that favorability number appeared, Li Muyang couldn’t help but clench his fist and wave it with force.

    This second stage really did kill time!

    It took him almost a month to raise Xiao Yecao’s favorability to 40 points, during which he relied on eating spiritual rice to pile up his cultivation to the Qi Refining Realm Sixth Layer.

    But despite the torturous daily tasks over the month, Li Muyang felt genuinely happy after he saw the sweet smile of Xiao Yecao in the game.

    Because in his view, the system’s reward text popped up.

    【Xiao Yecao’s favorability has broken through 40 for the first time, nurturing progress has entered the third stage (out of five stages)】

    【Congratulations Host, the second stage reward is available for collection】

    【Please select your second stage cultivation reward (choose one of three)】

    【Cultivation +1 (Qi Refining Realm Sixth Layer → Qi Refining Realm Seventh Layer)】

    【Taiyi Dividing Light Talisman (low-grade spiritual talisman) x3】

    【Mortal-grade Flying Sword x1】

    The rewards that popped up from the system made Li Muyang ecstatic.

    Low-grade spiritual talismans... f*ck!

    It turns out the system’s reward pool had more than just secret manuals and weapons?

    It even included scarce items like spiritual talismans... Although spiritual talismans are one-time use items, they are extremely powerful.

    Even the lowest-level low-grade spiritual talisman can easily kill a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm.

    This system really can surprise him. There are such a variety of rewards, and all of them are good.

    Li Muyang stared at the second option for the low-grade spiritual talisman and chose to receive it without hesitation.

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