A goddess dwells in my heart.

Chapter 10 Feeding the Goddess

During the brief intervals after his journey through time that day, Lu Zheji took the time to study the Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

He discovered that in addition to entering it as a consciousness, he could also directly observe every corner of the Bronze Sparrow Terrace using the method of inner vision, just like switching to a third-person perspective in a game.

At this moment, he was using this method to observe the graceful figure kneeling with her eyes closed on the jade platform.

My gaze fell upon that stunningly beautiful face. The goddess's eyes were slightly closed, her long eyelashes drooping, and her cool and indifferent face was as calm as a frozen lake, without the slightest ripple.

Lu Zheji examined the face closely, trying to find a trace of something unusual.

Unfortunately, no.

The goddess showed no reaction to his probing, remaining as aloof as ever, leaving Lu Zheji unsure whether she was ignoring it as nonsense or too guilty to respond.

"Tsk, what a show-off," Lu Zheji muttered to himself.

Actually, when he said the goddess was jealous, it was mostly in jest. How long have they known each other? Less than a day at most. Their relationship is at most that of enemies forced to share the same boat. Almost every time the goddess takes the initiative to talk to him, it's about their situation. It's clear that he hasn't cultivated any affection for her at all, and it's probably even negative. So how could she be jealous?

He guessed that the goddess's slightly unusual emotion was at most the displeasure of "the person who licks my boots is flirting with another woman," the kind of annoyance that comes from having your toy taken away. After all, no matter how indifferent the goddess was, her mental age was only around eighteen due to amnesia, so it was normal for her to have some minor emotions.

"But I don't think I was really licking her boots... Subjectively, I wanted to coax this goddess who could give me cheat codes, but when it came to actually doing it, I couldn't help but flirt with her. Could it be that she falls for that?"

Unable to discern any flaws in the goddess's appearance, Lu Zheji, bored, simply stopped focusing his gaze on her face.

His gaze began to move, as if he were manipulating a game camera, slowly rotating around the kneeling goddess.

The platinum gown draped over her graceful figure. The chains pulled down her slender waist and hoisted her arms, forcing her tiny waist to bend into an astonishing arc like a fully drawn bow, making her breathtaking beauty even more captivating.

Wow, that's fun.

It can zoom in and out, and you can even move the camera up and down, making it feel like appreciating a female character in a 3D game. It's a shame it's not a real game, otherwise he'd be living the Doraemon dream.

Move it up, enlarge it.

Wow, from this angle, it's so magnificent, so fair...

"Emperor Wu"

The goddess, who had remained silent all along, suddenly spoke softly: "You've taken a lustful liking for me again."

Lu Zheji: "..."

After the man's gaze left sheepishly, the goddess finally opened her eyes.

Her eyes were as clear as a cold pool. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze piercing through the walls of the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, taking in the image of the two lovers embracing outside.

The girl smiled radiantly and leaned closer affectionately, while Lu Zheji also gave her a gentle smile.

The goddess watched silently.

Even Lu Zheji's boldest conjecture never imagined that the goddess was actually jealous just now.

That moment of emotional breakdown even prevented her, who was already used to being connected with someone by spirit, from suppressing her agitation.

Just as Lu Zheji was protecting Su Wanning with his sword in the manor, the goddess who had been quietly observing from the Bronze Sparrow Terrace suddenly felt a strange pang of sorrow in her heart.

In a daze, it seemed as if there had been a time when that man had also shielded her behind him in this way. But now, the one being held in his arms was no longer her.

Just thinking about it makes my heart ache.

She wasn't surprised at all that the goddess and Emperor Wu had a secret affair. She had known for a long time that before she lost her memory, she had been in love with Emperor Wu.

Unlike those who stumbled on the path of reincarnation, she merely suffered from amnesia. Her current aloofness and indifference are inherited from the original goddess. Thus, she was born like the bright moon in the sky, shining with her own pure light, untouched by dust.

But when she first read about Emperor Wu in the book, a strange feeling arose in her heart.

She felt sorry for Emperor Wu when she read the passages where he was vilified, felt sad when she read about him being attacked by the so-called second-generation goddess, and felt a deep bitterness when she read about Emperor Wu setting up a trap for the goddess and imprisoning her in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

Her memories are not completely lost, but sealed by some power from reincarnation. When these long-forgotten memories are touched, this body will still respond with the most genuine emotions.

Lu Zheji was still wondering why the goddess hadn't shown any hostility towards him, attributing it to her nature.

But the truth is, the goddess's attitude towards him was extremely complicated from the very beginning...

……

"Junior brother! The beef is ready!" Su Wan Ning's voice came from outside the door, as cheerful as a sparrow.

Lu Zheji got up and opened the door. The girl was standing in the courtyard, holding a huge food box in her hand.

"The Bull Demon King has been slaughtered and delivered to my cave," she said with a smile. "Didn't you say you wanted to eat bull's heart? Your senior sister has already prepared it for you!"

Lu Zheji had already told her the "reason" on the way to the manor—he remembered that when he was a child, he found a secret technique in the library that only descendants of the Lu family could practice, which required eating a whole cow's heart to enter the path.

Su Wanning immediately patted her chest and said, "Leave it to me, senior sister."

"Is it done?" Lu Zheji was a little surprised; it had only been a short time.

"Hmm! Senior sister really put a lot of thought into this." Su Wan Ning entered the room and placed the huge food box on the table. A faint smell, neither bitter nor fishy, ​​wafted from the gaps in the lid.

Lu Zheji immediately had a bad feeling.

He lifted the lid of the food box and saw a large earthenware pot inside. Steam was rising from the edge of the lid, and a strong aroma of medicinal herbs wafted out.

"Senior sister, you didn't turn beef heart into a medicinal dish, did you?"

"Yes!" Su Wan Ning nodded matter-of-factly, her eyes curving into two crescent moons. "A demon's heart is a highly concentrated tonic, containing the essence of a demon beast. The Bull Demon King is only one step away from transforming into a demon, and you said it was for his cultivation technique, so I processed it according to the method used for demon hearts. This way, the medicinal power is fully preserved. Isn't Senior Sister very thoughtful?"

intimate……

Lu Zheji knew that his tongue was about to suffer again.

The "Demonizing Your Heart and Devouring the Demon's Heart" ritual, aside from the medicinal benefits, is primarily a conceptual ritual to seize the power needed to slay demons, and does not require any cooking method.

Oh well, I'll just have to bear with it. It's my fault for not making things clear.

Lu Zheji resignedly lifted the lid of the casserole, and as the steam rose, he was immediately dumbfounded.

The heart was about the size of a watermelon, probably weighing over ten kilograms. It was dark red all over, and its surface was covered with veins and blood vessels. It lay quietly in the dark brown medicinal soup, with a few unidentifiable medicinal herbs floating around it, like an offering from some ancient ritual.

Lu Zheji looked up in astonishment: "Junior Sister, this..."

Su Wan Ning tilted her head, seemingly finding his reaction quite amusing: "How big do you think it is? A cow that big, how small could its heart be? And this is after it's been cooked and shrunk."

She took a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve and put it in his hand: "It's alright, your senior sister has prepared some digestive aid pills for you. I guarantee you can digest as much as you want."

This isn't a question of whether I can eat it or not; it's a question of whether I'll survive after I finish eating...

Lu Zheji looked at the enormous heart, then at the small porcelain bottle in his palm, and then at Su Wanning's innocent smiling face, and took a deep breath.

Eat it, what else can we do?

Half an hour later, Lu Zheji collapsed onto the table, his eyes lifeless and his face ashen.

He felt his stomach was undergoing a fierce battle. The coarse and firm texture of the beef heart, mixed with the bitter and fishy smell of the medicinal herbs, and the powerful blood and qi that was almost enough to burst his meridians, were rampaging through his body.

"I never imagined that the closest I've ever come to death since transmigrating would be because of my junior sister's medicinal cuisine..."

The Demon Heart is not actually the heart of a demon in the literal sense, but rather the inner core that condenses in the center of the heart. However, since the Bull Demon King had not yet truly transformed into a demon, his essence was still dispersed throughout the entire heart, so he had no choice but to swallow this ridiculously large heart whole.

Coupled with the junior sister's medicinal cuisine skills, it's practically torture.

but……

It was all worth it.

Lu Zheji forced himself to sit up and looked inward at his dantian.

A phantom image of a giant bull lay prostrate in his dantian, its four hooves like pillars and its back like a mountain. A surge of powerful qi and blood flowed throughout his body, rushing along his meridians and nourishing every inch of his flesh and bones.

He could clearly feel his power increasing at a visible rate.

Lu Zheji's earlier mention of cultivation techniques to Su Wanning was actually an excuse, but now it turns out he stumbled upon the right thing. The true nature of "Demonizing Your Heart" is indeed a Dharma, a supreme Dharma cultivated to the seventh realm by a powerful being at the mountain's peak.

But the blessing bestowed upon him was not a systematic mastery of this method, but rather a crude and degraded version of the supreme law.

A fully-fledged demon transformation wouldn't just absorb 50%, but all of it, and not just its blood and spiritual essence, but all its supernatural powers, magic, and everything else. The remaining effects would likely double in value.

By devouring demons and endlessly strengthening itself, one can already imagine what an extraordinary monster the master of this supreme law must be.

Therefore, a single "Colorful Blessing" is definitely a very powerful buff, a great opportunity that can allow a seemingly useless person to defy fate. However, to think that one can reach the pinnacle solely based on this is to greatly underestimate the heroes of the world.

No matter, if one isn't enough, then a few more will do. Once he's fleeced every last drop of the goddess's wool, he'll be a figure who can roam freely in this world.

Thinking about it this way, isn't the goddess the real monster? What exactly did she cultivate back then? Could it be that she absorbed the cultivation methods of all the powerful beings in the world?

……

Feeling the complete circulation of the Bull Demon King's blood and qi within his body, the immense power gradually settled and merged into the depths of his flesh and blood. Lu Zheji shook off his chaotic thoughts and stood up with a jolt.

He went into the courtyard and assumed a stance in front of the wooden stakes used for practicing martial arts.

Without using spiritual power, he unleashed a punch purely with his physical strength.

"Bang!"

The wooden stake trembled, emitting a dull hum. A deep fist-shaped imprint was now clearly visible on the stake.

Lu Zheji looked at his fist, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

In terms of sheer strength of qi and blood, it has already reached the threshold of the mid-stage of the second realm of body cultivation. And this is only a demon heart that has not yet entered the realm!

Besides bewitching your heart, he also has the ability to fight on a narrow path, with comprehensive improvements in strength, agility, and defense, plus increased damage and armor penetration!

Lu Zheji had previously wondered how one could improve one aspect while keeping the other unchanged, since strength and speed are inseparable in reality.

After receiving the blessing, he discovered that the basic values ​​of his physical body had not changed due to the narrow path of swordsmanship, but he was able to cause greater damage, achieve faster speed, and suffer less harm with his original physical body, which was already within the scope of the Dao.

"Bang!"

Another punch landed, and the wooden stake cracked open.

Lu Zheji stood with his fist clenched, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and couldn't help but smile upwards.

"Junior brother is really amazing!"

A clear voice came from behind him. Lu Zheji turned around and saw Su Wanning had reappeared at the courtyard gate, carrying a food box and smiling at him.

"This must be the effect of that technique. In such a short time, my qi and blood have become so much stronger."

Lu Zheji nodded, in high spirits: "With this kind of strength, I should be able to be selected by the sect during the results announcement ceremony and stay in Chang'an."

This was just a way of comforting Su Wan Ning; in reality, he wasn't confident at all.

With such strength, he is indeed qualified to join a sect. But what he needs is for that mysterious big shot to acknowledge that he possesses potential comparable to a Saint Body.

Su Wan Ning tilted her head: "Junior Brother is cultivating so diligently so that he can stay in Chang'an and accompany Senior Sister?"

Actually, it was to save their lives.

But at this moment, the girl had already put down the food box, opened her arms, and ran over to him.

"Junior brother is so nice, senior sister will give you a hug!"

Her soft, delicate body crashed into Lu Zheji's arms, the girl's cheek pressed against his chest, her hair rubbing against his chin, like a spoiled kitten.

A moment later, Su Wan Ning released him, took a step back, and still had that sweet smile on her face, as if the intimacy just now was nothing out of the ordinary.

Lu Zheji coughed lightly and looked at the food box she had brought: "Is there dinner too?"

Su Wan Ning handed over the food box: "Senior sister made some braised beef. If you still have an appetite, eat some; if not, save it for a late-night snack."

You know you lose your appetite after eating your medicinal food...

Lu Zheji took the food box and gave a wry smile: "Then I'll eat it later."

"Oh, right." Su Wan Ning called out to him again, took out a thin booklet from her sleeve and handed it to him, "I found this at home, it might be useful for your cultivation technique, remember to take a look when you have time."

Lu Zheji took it and glanced at it; the cover read "The Great Compendium of Demon Heart Consumption".

"Then thank you very much, Senior Sister."

……

After practicing martial arts for two hours, Lu Zheji returned to his room and opened the food box.

Inside, neatly arranged slices of braised beef were glossy red and fragrant. He picked up a slice and put it in his mouth; the meat was tender and flavorful, with a savory aroma and a hint of sweetness—the taste was simply exquisite.

"No wonder it's a snow-covered bull that even the emperor couldn't enjoy..." He squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

He was alone in the room and there was no response.

Lu Zheji picked up another slice and muttered to himself, "Would you like to try one?"

Within her sea of ​​consciousness, the goddess showed no reaction.

Lu Zheji, with his thick skin, said, "If you don't speak, that means you agree."

The next moment, his consciousness entered the pavilion on the top floor of the Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

Along with him came a food box filled with braised beef.

Within the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, the goddess remained kneeling, bound by chains, her eyes closed in silence. Her long, white-gold gown flowed like clouds across the ground, highlighting her snow-white skin and making her beauty seem otherworldly.

Her posture was humiliating, but her face remained calm, as if the cage was nothing more than an ordinary quiet room to her.

Lu Zheji placed the food box beside the jade table, took out a dish of braised beef, picked up a slice, and offered it to the goddess's lips: "Want to try some?"

The goddess finally opened her eyes, her clear, glass-like eyes calmly gazing at him. Her lips parted slightly, her voice cool and clear:

"I have already fasted and do not need to eat."

Lu Zheji didn't take it seriously: "There are plenty of cultivators who abstain from grains but still eat as usual; it's just satisfying their cravings."

"I have no desire to speak."

"Since the moment she gained consciousness, the goddess has been locked in this Bronze Sparrow Terrace, never having tasted the flavors of human life. How could she know she has no desire for food or drink?"

The goddess originally wanted to say, "My nature is pure and free from desires," but Lu Zheji had already pressed his advantage:

"I once heard a saying, 'I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the light.' Before the goddess read poetry for the first time, did she expect that she would fall in love with it?"

The goddess pursed her thin lips slightly, and her clear eyes flickered as if she were pondering these words.

After a moment, she said softly, "Then let's give it a try."

A smile flashed in Lu Zheji's eyes as he picked up a piece of braised beef and offered it to the goddess's lips.

She hesitated for a moment, then gently parted her lips, her delicate tongue curling slightly as she sipped the slice of meat into her mouth.

With a light chew, the aroma of soy sauce mixed with meat juices spread in her mouth. A faint ripple seemed to pass through her clear, cool eyes.

After she swallowed, Lu Zheji asked, "How was it?"

"It's delicious," the goddess said softly.

Lu Zheji picked up another piece of braised beef, a smile playing on his lips: "Shall we continue?"

The goddess nodded.

She tilted her head slightly, parted her lips to reveal her pearly teeth and a bit of her tender tongue, and quietly waited for him to feed her.

Its posture was somewhat docile, like a domesticated pedigree cat, demurely accepting its owner's flattery.

As Lu Zheji fed her the second slice of braised beef, he silently breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn't really confident he could get the goddess to accept him, because she was truly detached from worldly desires to an unbelievable degree.

An ordinary person imprisoned for decades would have harbored deep resentment and become mentally twisted. Yet when he first met the goddess, even though she was bound by chains and forced into such a humiliating posture, she remained as calm as a deep pool when she saw him, the culprit.

He wondered to himself, could it be that the goddess was not ashamed of this at all? Perhaps being imprisoned here was no different from her secluded life in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

The goddess doesn't seem to yearn for freedom much, nor does she seem to have any curiosity about the outside world. So what could possibly bring her joy?

Lu Zheji came up with a draft design for the game. He set up a favorability system for the goddess who was the female lead, but he only got started with naming and feeding.

The first time you choose a name, you will increase the favorability rating by one point.

However, after Lu Zheji named the goddess "Qiao Qiao," he did not receive positive feedback, making him unsure whether this setting was actually useful.

Thinking about it carefully, the goddess wasn't his pet, so how could naming her and feeding her possibly work?

But the fact that the goddess loved poetry inspired Lu Zheji, which relates to another aspect of his characterization of the goddess—

The legendary lover, King.

The goddess is aloof and seems detached from worldly affairs, but as the guardian of humanity for thousands of years, since she loves humanity so deeply, she may also have a special attachment to the products of human civilization.

As expected, the goddess who seemed detached from worldly affairs actually had a great fondness for human pleasures.

Considering her ability to collect the teachings of the world's strongest figures, could this hobby be related to her own laws? Perhaps something like human love that grows alongside human civilization...