He expected her to endure bone-crushing pressure and to cultivate a foundation as unyielding as a mountain.

And miraculously, miraculously, Ji’an held on.

She was a lazy, laid-back chef at heart, but she was also a realist.

She was currently living in a world populated by sociopathic princes, feral beast lords, and a yandere ice demon who could freeze her blood with a thought.

If she wanted to maintain her monopoly over her own life and potentially suppress these crazy male leads if they ever stepped out of line, she needed the physical power to back up her arrogant mouth.

Besides, there was a mutually trusting bond between her and her master, so he tacitly approved of her being a girl and didn’t ask for the specifics; he didn’t need to know every secret his disciple had, does he?

As long as she abides by the rules of a disciple and does her job diligently, and feeds him delicious food three times a day, it doesn’t matter to Jiu Zui whether she is a man or a woman; all that mattered was that he had already decided to spoil his only apprentice and wouldn’t change his mind no matter what, that’s all!

By the end of the week, her internal meridians were so densely packed with compressed Qi that she could casually snap a solid oak table in half with a flick of her wrist, all while maintaining her slender, elegant, entirely non-gorilla-like physique.

With her martial foundation temporarily secured, Ji’an shifted her focus to her true battlefield: the kitchen.

She was going to be gone for at least a month, traversing the mortal empire.

She could not, under any circumstances, leave her two most high-maintenance dependents, her alcoholic Master and her brooding Ice Demon, without proper nutritional supervision.

For forty-eight hours straight, the Drunken Peak’s kitchen was an engine of pure, culinary mass production.

Ji’an used a Glacial-Jade Stasis Box, a high-tier preserving artifact that Jiu Zui had impulsively bought on the Black Market.

The artifact froze time around organic matter, preserving the exact temperature, texture, and spiritual freshness of the food indefinitely.

She made fifty servings of her signature spicy hangover broth for Jiu Zui.

She prepared mountains of braised pork belly, delicate crystal dumplings, and sweet, soothing plum-blossom jellies for Xie Wangchen.

She meticulously portioned them, labelling them with passive-aggressive sticky notes.

"Eat one a day. If you eat three in a sitting, I will know, and I will replace your tea with bathwater."

When the cooking marathon finally ended, Ji’an wiped her flour-streaked forehead, feeling a profound sense of domestic accomplishment.

She loaded the jade stasis box into her spatial ring, washed up, and donned her crisp, formal white Inner Sect robes, clipping her Martial Uncle token to her belt.

It was time to say goodbye.

****

Ji’an made her way down the winding, overgrown paths of the Drunken Peak, her muscles aching pleasantly from the Dao of the Iron Wok training.

The morning air was crisp, and the sect was buzzing with the chaotic energy of disciples rushing to complete their daily ranking missions.

As she approached the grand suspension bridge leading to the central plaza, a blindingly bright, familiar voice called out to her.

"Brother Lin! Martial Uncle Lin!"

Ji’an turned to see Gu Zhiwei jogging toward her. At this moment, the Holy Son of the Celestial Sword Sect looked like a walking advertisement for righteous heroism.

His golden hair caught the sunlight, his white robes were immaculate, and his golden eyes shone with unadulterated, puppy-like enthusiasm.

"Zhiwei! Good morning," Ji’an smiled, genuinely happy to see the only Protagonist who didn’t actively terrify her. "You’re up early. Hitting the mission board?"

"Yes! Master assigned me a Class-A subjugation mission in the southern valleys!" Zhiwei beamed, falling into step beside her. "I heard you were leaving the sect today as well! Are you going on a mission, Brother Lin?"

"Something like that," Ji’an nodded. "I’m escorting my little brother back to our family estate in the Azure Empire. I managed to squeeze it in under the guise of an ’escort and retrieval’ mission to earn some merit points."

"That is so noble!" Zhiwei gasped, looking at her with stars in his eyes. "Family is so important! I am sure your brother is incredibly proud of you! Where are you heading now?"

"To the Eternal Cloud Peak," Ji’an said, patting her spatial ring. "I have to drop off a month’s worth of meal prep for Wangchen before I leave."

Zhiwei’s face lit up even brighter. "Brother Xie! I haven’t seen him since the assembly! Do you mind if I tag along? I would love to bid him farewell before I leave for the southern valleys as well!"

Ji’an hesitated for a fraction of a second.

Her mind instantly flashed back to the last time Gu Zhiwei and Xie Wangchen were in the same airspace.

Wangchen had nearly turned the plaza into a glacier of pure, murderous jealousy just because Zhiwei had healed her.

Bringing the Golden Retriever directly into the Ice Demon’s lair felt like carrying a lit match into a fireworks factory.

But then again...

’Maybe it’s a good thing,’ Ji’an rationalised, a cowardly, self-preservation instinct taking over. ’If I go alone, the atmosphere might get weird. Wangchen might look at me with those deep, intense, emotionally devastating eyes. He might do something ambiguous again. If Zhiwei is there, it’s a buffer! It’s just three bros hanging out! Perfect!’

"Sure, Zhiwei. Let’s go," Ji’an smiled, completely oblivious to the fact that she was about to test the limits of Wangchen’s newly adopted, psychopathic patience.

.

.

.

The Eternal Cloud Peak was as pristine and silent as ever. The massive iron gates were open, and the courtyards were swept clean of snow.

When Ji’an and Zhiwei stepped into the rear courtyard, they found Xie Wangchen sitting at the low tea table, exactly as he had been a few days ago.

He was dressed in his flawless Ice-Silk robes, his silver crown immaculate, pouring steaming, pale-blue tea into two delicate porcelain cups.