Verna leaned in and sniffed, then exclaimed excitedly, "Such a curious ingredient! Is it for me to eat?"
Elder Brother was startled, "This isn’t for people to eat..."
"Why not for people to eat?" Verna protested, "Elder Brother, have some courage. As long as they’re properly handled, foods eaten by the Demon Clan and wild beasts can actually be quite delicious!"
Owen Bertram, with a headache, tried to scare her: "This is food for ghosts!"
Verna suddenly realized, "Ah, so that’s how it is, no wonder I thought it was so strange." Then she looked at him pitifully, "I just want to taste it, just one bite."
Owen Bertram’s forehead veins bulged: "No! That would be asking for trouble."
"It won’t be, really." Verna swore solemnly.
But this thing was imbued with the memories of hundreds of human grandmasters, how dare Owen Bertram let her eat it? If she absorbed those memories... would his sister still be his sister?
Owen Bertram dissuaded her painstakingly, making a basketful of promises, finally persuading his sister not to eat the stuff. Verna started the fire, heated the big pot until it was red, and began to cook the half lump of black oil.
Owen Bertram watched vigilantly from the sidelines, genuinely afraid Verna might give in to the temptation of tasting it. As an elder brother, his family status was worrisome; neither his brother nor Alexia really listened to him.
This time, Verna’s cooking was utterly "all-natural without additives," probably because it was her first time cooking this kind of "ingredient" and she didn’t know what to add.
Throughout the process, Owen Bertram saw Verna attentively staring at the pot, stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon, quick and slow, for about four hours. Verna extinguished the fire: "It’s done."
"It’s done just like that?" Owen Bertram couldn’t see any difference. Verna nodded earnestly, "It’s really done, now it’s several times more delicious than before."
Owen Bertram stopped doubting, since he didn’t understand cooking either. He filled the jade pot with the half lump of black oil, bade Verna farewell, and climbed onto Magpie to leave Summit Guard Post again.
Verna ran out and waved vigorously at her elder brother in the sky, "Remember what you promised me, bring more delicious food next time you come back."
Chaotic Demon’s nest was below that ancient battlefield.
Several peaks were suppressed here, and there used to be a massive array underground. After this area became the Extinction Domain, there was a mutation here, the twisted array giving birth to a unique void that was between the whole world and the Brocade Storage Space, mysterious beyond mysterious. Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t be able to enter; even if they passed by one side, they wouldn’t discover anything.
This was Chaotic Demon’s own space, as long as it hid in the nest, no one could capture it.
Ever since escaping back here, Chaotic Demon hadn’t left again! It was famous among the Copper Gorge Demons, and even Dandelion and the Stone Statues were extremely fearful of it. However, not a single demon knew that it was actually very timid.
In fact, even Chaotic Demon itself didn’t know this before being injured this time...
This was the first time it had been injured since its birth, and it was scared to death, thinking, "Am I going to die?! What’s it like when demons die? I probably can’t enter the Netherworld, right? Then that means if I die, I’ll just disappear completely! So terrifying..."
Because it was born exceptionally strong, with a powerful ghost army under its command, it had crushed and defeated every opponent it had faced in its life. It hadn’t even encountered an opponent that could last a few rounds against it.
Chalk it up to overconfidence at the time; it wanted to be promoted to Tier-8 but ended up encountering such a catastrophe!
Moreover, this injury had happened a long time ago, but it hadn’t improved. Since it had no experience being injured, it also had no experience recovering from injuries, and it was extremely worried.
As a result, it sent its ghost army out to guard its territory, securing three layers within and three layers outside. The moment any living creature entered, it would immediately be alerted.
Chaotic Demon wasn’t able to devour its own ghost army to advance or recover because these ghosts didn’t have rich "life memories." These ghosts had already experienced an endless amount of time before becoming ghosts, and their memories had long since been worn away.