With no pot to cook in, Belle had no choice but to thread the wild vegetables she’d picked onto branches and roast them over the fire.
There was no seasoning, no spices, and her cooking skills were honestly lacking. After burning the first batch, everything she managed to grill in the end was just as hard to swallow.
But even if it was hard to swallow, she still had to eat—this was no time for enjoying delicacies. What mattered was filling her belly so she’d have the strength to travel tomorrow.
During the meal, Lord Lao quietly altered the flavor of his own vegetables. Yet after eating, he still felt uncomfortable, so he secretly made the vegetables in his belly vanish. With his cultivation, he could go days without food anyway.
Belle was different. Just chewing on the wild vegetables nearly made her vomit several times, but she stubbornly forced herself to keep going. Her determination surprised even Lord Lao.
But judging by the situation, she still wasn’t full.
After a day and night of exhaustion, Belle finished her meal and drifted into a dazed sleep beside the campfire. Lord Lao sat nearby in meditation, quietly watching over her.
A shaft of moonlight pierced the clouds, illuminating her clear face. Her brows were faintly furrowed, and she murmured in her sleep, as if whispering something.
"Nightmare?" Lord Lao wondered, gently flicking his finger. Sparkling motes scattered from his fingertip, sinking into Belle’s brow.
Gradually, her tightly knit brows relaxed, and a sweet smile blossomed across her face.
“Better to dream sweetly, or you’ll have no energy tomorrow.” Lord Lao tilted his head with a faint sigh, stroked his long beard, and gazed through the clouds at the radiant moon. “What a good girl you are. Don’t blame this old man—I’m forced by circumstance. Blame those who set the trap; they’re far too ruthless. These people, breaking Heaven’s order… Is it really worth it?”
As one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Celestial Sect, even if he didn’t dislike demons, had little fondness for Heaven, and was intrigued by Monkey’s ideas, ultimately most gods and immortals were his fellow disciples.
Yet now, as midnight fell and fine rain drifted from the sky, Jade Cauldron’s dilemma grew sharper—if he helped the rebellion, he could never return to Kunlun Mountain. If he refused, he would be trapped forever with secrets too dangerous to share.
He thought of this as Lord Lao glanced over, waved his hand, and softly said, “Don’t cause trouble.”
At that, the dragon clan in the clouds quietly slipped away, the dark clouds dispersed, and the moonlight remained—just as Monkey had always intended to block every escape route from the start.
Soon after, autumn’s chill returned, and frost condensed on the leaves. Jade Cauldron felt the anxiety settle deeper, realizing he’d already fallen into a pit from which there was no escape.
Watching Belle, exhausted after a day and night, still unable to eat her fill, curled up asleep with her arm as a pillow, Lord Lao sighed deeply. He patted his thigh, slowly stood up, and walked step by step to her side, reaching out to check her pulse.
Following Fiona Fox, they descended into the underground city again, toured the smelter, the warehouse, and the supply depot. The scale and efficiency were astonishing.
Just then, he heard Shortbeak quietly instruct a nearby guard: “Move Jade Cauldron Immortal’s room to the underground city. Assign him a residence on the lower levels.”
“Consider this compensation for those two thin pancakes.”
After putting away the pill bottle, Lord Lao extended his left hand, silver light swirling in his palm.
Gradually, Belle’s body seemed to shed the pull of gravity and floated up, following Lord Lao eastward through the sky.
After a while, Lord Lao circled back with Belle.
“Forget it, let’s do this another way. Otherwise, I’ll have a hard time explaining tomorrow.”
He set the sleeping Belle back in her original place. The whole ground began to tremble slightly.
Lord Lao slowly waved his arms, scattering motes of light all around.
Centered on them, the ground for dozens of yards in every direction—trees, soil, campfire and all—was lifted into the air, perfectly intact, as if uprooted by a giant shovel!
In the moonlight, residents of the Western Ox Continent looked up to see an entire patch of land floating overhead like a drifting island, flying eastward.
……
At dawn, a demon knocked early on Jade Cauldron’s door.
Having spent a sleepless night, he jolted upright, swallowed nervously, and reached out to open the door.
Outside stood a cicada demon.
“What is it?” he asked softly.
“The King requests Jade Cauldron Immortal join him for breakfast in the dining hall. Anna Yang is there too.”
“Understood.” He slowly closed the door, pressed a hand to his chest, and let out a sigh of relief.
He had tossed and turned all night, thinking about so many things.
Before coming, he’d only worried whether Monkey could control the demons here, and whether his own firearms could make a name for himself and stun his fellow disciples.
But after seeing the vast underground city, he realized those weren’t the real problems. The real question was just how far Monkey would take the development of firearms.
With methods like these—carving out territory and standing equal to Heaven—Jade Cauldron wasn’t surprised at all.
This game was far too big.