Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The Fiery Lotus Pavilion kitchen woke long before the sun crested the horizon. The early morning air carried a chill but the interior of the grand cooking hall was already warm and filled with vibrant energy. Chefs in crisp white aprons moved between the roaring stone stoves while chopping fresh herbs and preparing large pots of fragrant broth for the busy day ahead. The rhythmic sound of iron cleavers striking wooden boards created a steady and comforting melody for all around to enjoy.

Li Yu stood at his reinforced iron station and focused his attention on a small clay pot resting over a controlled flame. He held a wooden spoon in his right hand and gently stirred a mixture of delicate green vegetables and clear spring water. He did not use his divine sense to monitor the temperature inside the pot, relying solely on his ears to listen to the soft bubbling of the liquid and his nose to catch the subtle shifts in the herbal aroma.

He extended his left hand toward the base of the clay pot and maintained his natal flame. The bright orange fire bloomed with thick arcs of black purple and white lightning. The destructive tri-colored energy hissed and snapped in the air as before but Li Yu held it firmly in place with his now finer control.

A deep and earthy scent rose from the clay pot as the vegetables imparted their favor to create a rich broth. The water did not flash boil and the clay pot did not melt into liquid slag as had happened many times before.

Li Yu pulled his hand back and extinguished the flame with a satisfied smile on his face. He picked up a porcelain spoon and tasted the clear broth, the reward for his improved skills. The flavor was rich and balanced while the delicate spiritual energy of the herbs remained intact. He had finally managed to cook another simple dish without destroying his equipment or ruining the ingredients.

A few chefs working at the neighboring stations paused their chopping and offered quiet rounds of applause at the success. They had watched the supreme expert struggle for over two weeks now and they were genuinely happy to see his dedication bear fruit.

They had gotten to know him a lot better over the same period and their initial fears of him had melted away but there was still the respect that had to always be upheld when being around anyone so much stronger than you. Li Yu offered a polite bow of his head to acknowledge their support and felt a sense of joy settling into his chest. Not only was his control over his body much better, he had also found a sense of peace in the routine of the kitchen and the culinary exercises were slowly helping him tame his overwhelming strength.

The calm morning atmosphere shifted when the heavy rear doors of the kitchen swung open. Ding Tung walked into the room with a deep frown etched across his face. The clan leader was followed by four burly cultivators who carried a large wooden crate reinforced with thick iron bands. The men grunted under the heavy weight and carefully lowered the crate onto a sturdy stone preparation table near the center of the room.

The head chef of the pavilion approached the table and wiped his hands on a clean towel. This was Elder Pan and he possessed a cultivation base in the Divine Transformation realm. He was a master of culinary arts and usually carried a cheerful demeanor but today his expression matched the clan leader.

"Is this the delivery from the deep stone valleys?" Elder Pan asked while looking at the sealed crate.

"It is," Ding Tung replied with a tired sigh. "The hunters brought it in just a few moments ago. We paid a vast amount of spirit stones to secure this ingredient for the Gale Blossom Culinary Festival tomorrow. If we fail to present a grand dish, we will lose our standing among the neighboring commercial businesses."

Li Yu wiped his wooden spoon and walked over to the central table to see what was causing so much distress. He had heard of the event over the last few days and was looking forward to enjoying it himself. Li Yu stood beside Elder Pan and looked inside the crate as the burly cultivators pried the heavy wooden lid open.

A large slab of raw meat rested on a bed of a special type of crushed, spiritual ice. The ingredient looked unlike any beast Li Yu had ever encountered during his travels. The outer edges were lined with thick layers of fat that resembled veins of white quartz while the dense muscle tissue looked like dark packed soil. A faint aura of heavy earth aligned Qi radiated from the slab and made the surrounding air feel thick and sluggish.

"What kind of beast is this?" Li Yu asked while observing the strange crystalline fat.

"It is a Deep Earth Geode Turtle," Elder Pan explained with a respectful nod toward the young expert. "They are incredibly rare creatures that dwell near the center of the realm and unlike normal turtles they like to be in the ground. Their meat is renowned for possessing a rich and unmatched flavor but it is notorious for being nearly impossible to cook properly. The muscle fibers are as dense as solid rock and the spiritual meridians act like natural defensive formations."

"We need to prepare it today," Ding Tung added while rubbing his temples. "A dish of this caliber must rest in a warm Qi rich environment overnight so the flavors can mature before the festival banquet. The issue is that we do not have a chef capable of breaking down the meat without ruining it."

Elder Pan nodded and raised his hand to demonstrate the problem. The head chef summoned his own specialized fire out of Qi which took the form of a gentle green lotus flame. He directed a concentrated burst of the green fire toward a small corner of the turtle meat to test its resilience.

The gentle flame washed over the dark muscle tissue and flared brightly but the meat did not react at all. The crystalline fat did not render and the stubborn tissue did not soften. The earth aligned defenses of the ingredient simply absorbed the heat and dispersed it while the meat itself was simply too tough and strong.

"My green lotus flame technique is meant for delicate herbs and tender cuts," Elder Pan said while extinguishing his fire. "It lacks the destructive power needed to penetrate the defenses of such a beast at my cultivation level. If my cultivation level was higher, I could do it but not in my current state. If we try to force the meat open using weapons, we will shatter the ambient Qi trapped inside, the dish will turn dry and lose a lot of its flavor. We need a fierce and blazing fire to break down the fibers from the inside out but none of our chefs are strong enough."

Li Yu looked at the slab of dense meat and a bright spark of inspiration ignited in his mind. He remembered the specific teachings he had studied from the Culinary Sovereign's manual back in the sandstone town of Redcliff.

The manual explicitly stated that the intensity of a flame must be precisely calibrated to the elemental nature of the beast. Water aligned beasts required a gentle and simmering internal flame to preserve their delicate energy. Earth aligned beasts required the exact opposite approach. The text instructed a chef to unleash a fierce and blazing fire to effectively break down their dense and stubborn muscle fibers.

His main problem over the past week was that his lightning laced natal flame was far too destructive for delicate tasks. He struggled to simmer water aligned fish because his tri colored lightning wanted to vaporize everything it touched.

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But this specific ingredient did not need a gentle touch. This dense turtle meat actually required the destruction he processed but focused into culinary art. If this was two weeks ago, Li Yu would not feel confident but after gaining a much more masterful control over his power, this was his chance to repay some of the hospitality of this clan and its people.

"Allow me to try," Li Yu offered while rolling up the sleeves of his plain gray robe.

Ding Tung and Elder Pan turned to look at him with wide eyes. The clan leader hesitated for a moment and glanced over at the corner of the kitchen where the rubble of broken stone counters still rested.

He knew the young man possessed a terrifying flame that could destroy everyone and everything in sight but using that volatile power on their most expensive but more importantly rare ingredient was a daunting prospect. If something went wrong, they had no way to procure anymore of this meat. It was a lucky chance that someone had stumbled upon this beast and was able to kill it before it escaped.

"Senior," Ding Tung said carefully. "Are you certain? This meat requires a very specific balance. I am confident in your flame’s strength but everything else… If the lightning destroys the internal meridians the flavor will be lost to the wind."

"I am certain," Li Yu replied with a now confident smile. "I have struggled to hold my flame back because I was still getting used to it. It is now different after all this time, I know you are concerned but I would not step up if I did not have confidence. This turtle meat is begging for a fierce fire and I know exactly how to apply it."

Ding Tung relaxed slightly and offered a nod. There was nothing else to do but trust this young expert. In the worse case, he could ask the young expert to scare everyone else away and win by default. Not exactly sporting but you have to do what you need to do. The clan leader ordered the burly cultivators to carry the crate over to Li Yu's reinforced iron station and the rest of the kitchen staff gathered around at a safe distance to watch the spectacle that was to come.

Li Yu stood before the slab of dark meat and closed his eyes to prepare his mind. He projected a very thin thread of his divine sense into the ingredient as he needed to map the internal structure before applying any heat.

His spiritual scan pierced the dense outer layers and revealed an intricate network of tough blood vessels and thick energy pathways. The meridians resembled solid stone pillars supporting the heavy muscle tissue. He memorized the layout of the internal structure and pulled his divine sense back into his own mind.

Li Yu picked up a sturdy iron carving knife and made a few shallow scores across the top of the quartz like fat. He then extended his right hand and summoned his natal flame.

The kitchen temperature spiked as the bright fire roared to life above his palm. The thick arcs of black purple and white lightning crackled violently and snapped at the surrounding air. The chefs took another step back and shielded their faces from the intense heat radiating from the young expert. They had seen what this flame was capable of and in the hands of this expert it was assured if they touched it at all, they would die.

He began with the Radiant Crust method. He pulled the internal fire out and unleashed a sudden burst of intense heat over the exterior of the slab. The extreme temperature fused the natural sugars and the spiritual proteins together in a fraction of a second. A beautiful dark crust formed over the outer layer and sealed the rich juices and the ambient Qi safely inside the cut.

Li Yu then allowed the destructive tri-colored energy to flow freely but he maintained strict mental control over its shape and direction. It was a form of unleashing the beast but also having faith that you’ve trained it well enough to do what you wanted instead of bringing untold destruction upon the world.

He utilized the Internal Heat Channeling method and focused his blazing flame into a series of sharp fiery needles. Li Yu pushed his hand forward and threaded the concentrated lines of fire directly into the exposed scores he had cut into the fat.

The fierce heat of his evolved flame clashed violently against the heavy earth aligned defenses of the meat. The dark muscle fibers tried to absorb the energy and disperse it just as they had done with the green lotus flame but Li Yu's power was vastly superior in all aspects. The black and purple lightning surged down the internal meridians like a ravenous predator tearing through a rocky canyon but did so in a controlled manner.

A series of loud cracking sounds echoed across the cooking station but the stubborn connective tissues did not vaporize into ash. They absorbed the overwhelming heat and snapped under the pressure. The dense stone-like fibers began to soften and render down from the inside out while the fierce fire broke their structural integrity. While this was happening the intense flames began to sear the meat on the outside, locking in the delicious juices.

The crystalline fat melted into a rich golden oil that seeped into the surrounding muscle and basted the meat in its own natural juices. A heavy and mouth watering aroma of roasted earth and savory spices bloomed and washed over the entire kitchen.

The chefs watched in silence as the impenetrable slab of turtle meat transformed into a tender and glistening masterpiece before their eyes. Li Yu held his hand steady and continued to channel the blazing fire through the internal pathways until every tough fiber was thoroughly broken down.

Li Yu closed his hand and extinguished the crackling flame. The sudden absence of the roaring fire left the kitchen in a state of quiet appreciation for the wonderful smell they were enjoying..

He picked up a pair of heavy iron tongs and lifted the massive slab of cooked meat off the stove. Li Yu placed it carefully into a deep clay roasting pan lined with fresh spiritual herbs and covered the top with a thick wooden lid.

"It is done," Li Yu announced while wiping his hands on a clean towel. He turned to look at the clan leader and the wide eyed head chef. "The fibers are broken and the crust is sealed. The manual stresses that slicing meat immediately after cooking is a tragic mistake. Fresh off the flame the internal juices are boiling and the spiritual energy is chaotic."

Li Yu pointed toward the large stone ovens resting near the back wall of the kitchen.

"The food must rest in a warm and Qi rich environment overnight," Li Yu instructed with the confident tone of a seasoned culinary master. "This will allow the internal temperature to drop gradually so the muscle fibers can relax. The rich juices and the spiritual energy will redistribute evenly throughout the entire cut before your festival begins tomorrow."

Elder Pan stepped forward and placed his hands on the warm clay pan. The head chef closed his eyes and used his own specialized senses to evaluate the dish. He could feel the vibrant life force humming beneath the dark crust and he could smell the depth of flavor locked inside the tender meat.

"This is extraordinary," Elder Pan whispered. "The elemental balance is flawless and the tough fibers are soft as silk. I have never witnessed such an aggressive display of fire control yield such refined culinary results. You have saved our main dish, senior."

Ding Tung let out a joyous laugh and the clan leader was thrilled beyond words. They now possessed a delicious dish that was prepared by a Creation Lord no less. It would surely secure their prestigious standing during the Gale Blossom Culinary Festival.

"Thank you, senior," Ding Tung said while gesturing for his assistants to carry the clay pan to the resting ovens. "Your flame is truly a blessing to the culinary arts."

Li Yu smiled and looked down at his own hands. He felt the vast reserves of energy settling quietly within his core. He had unleashed his power and he had used it to create something beautiful rather than destroying as this lightning had once done to him. He was finally learning how to walk the fine line between his overwhelming strength and his delicate control.

The kitchen staff erupted into cheers and gathered around his station to ask him questions about his internal heat channeling technique. Li Yu gladly shared the theories he had learned from the Culinary Sovereign and spent the rest of the morning swapping stories with the chefs.

He knew he still had a long journey ahead before his new foundation felt entirely normal but standing in the warm kitchen and listening to the sizzling pans made the path feel much less daunting for some reason.

Thinking about the next day and festival, he decided to be bold and invite one of the people he had been wanting to see after waking up from his tribulation. He hadn’t done so earlier because he wanted to have at least a better grasp on his control first and an opportunity never presented itself until now. That person was, of course, Lian.