Chapter 51 Huo Fei's Plans

- Tower of Flames, Back Kitchen -

"Immortal Fairy Huo Fei? Hello… Immortal Fairy Huo Fei?"

"Heheh…"

The girl by the name of Huo Fei sat in her chair with a wide smile on her face, giggling to herself and completely ignoring the poor servant trying to get her attention. In her hands was a wooden pendant of some sort, marked with a special orange gemstone at its center. She stared at it dreamily, as if in a state of utter euphoria within her own little world.

​ The servant sighed.

"Please, Immortal Fairy Huo Fei… the feast is set to begin soon, and you haven't even started cooking the main dishes…"

"Mm, yeah, yeah… have you set up the thing I asked you to, though?" Huo Fei asked in return, loving eyes not once leaving the pendant.

"Er… yes… there was only one contestant with white hair and red eyes, so the process was easy."

"I see, I see… hehe, will he appreciate the gifts I left him, I wonder…?" Huo Fei let out a happy giggle, then waved the servant off. "Leave me. I'll start cooking when I feel like it."

At this, the servant sighed yet again, but she was in no position to argue any further. Dejectedly, she left Huo Fei's room, and tried to think of how she was going to make excuses to the VIP guests who were eagerly awaiting the Immortal Fairy's cooking.

"… Still not listening?" A woman asked, leaning on the wall beside the door to the back kitchen.

"Ms. Jiapei… yeah. I've never seen Immortal Fairy Huo Fei act like this before, and I've been here for almost an year. From what I remember, she's always been a bit grumpy and impatient, but today… she seems oddly happy?"

At first, the servant had thought it was just because of the Immortal Feast happening today. But upon further observations, she realized that wouldn't make sense, given how uncaring Huo Fei seemed about the banquet itself. As much as the servant racked her brain, however, she failed to find a second possibility as to why the Immortal Fairy seemed this happy.

"I know an expression when I see one," the older woman said with a smile as she peeked at Huo Fei inside the back kitchen. "And that, young lady, is the look of a maiden in love."

At this, the younger servant's eyes widened.

"Immortal Fairy Huo Fei… is in love? Just what kind of man must he be to be able to win her heart?! How many marriage proposals has she declined over the years?"

"You understand nothing," the older woman said with a soft chuckle. "You came here recently, so you wouldn't know—but a year ago, she was not like this at all. She was happy, playful, and mischievous everyday—just like the average teenage girl."

"I'm sorry, but… that's really hard to imagine…"

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"Yes, it is. Do you want to know what caused her sudden shift in personality?"

"What?" The younger woman tilted her head, curious, as the older woman smiled and pointed at Huo Fei's figure.

"The same man who gave her that pendant. He was a truly incredible figure, I tell you—so much so that it wasn't even the question of whether or not he was worthy of our Immortal Fairy, but the other way around instead. One day, however, he suddenly vanished without a trace, and since Huo Fei has always been very attached to him like a little sister… she fell into this mood you see today."

"Wait… so then the fact that she's acting like this now, means that man has returned?" The young servant's eyes widened. "You're saying a powerhouse of that level is in this building right now, and the rest of us haven't even noticed yet?!"

The older woman nodded calmly. "After all, many high level cultivators prefer to hide their true strength—and if my guess is not wrong, the reason Huo Fei changed the last prize to the precious Sealed World Pearl was precisely because she knew this man would be the one to take the crown."

"I see… that's also why she asked me to give out the most precious items in our treasury to an unforgettably stunning man with long white hair and red eyes every time he advanced a level…"

There were few men with long white hair and red eyes to begin with, but even amongst them Xuan stood out like no other with his completely flawless complexion and unique beauty mark. It was impossible to mistake him for someone else. And as the older woman nodded in confirmation, the younger servant sighed.

"Everything makes sense now… though, I still can't quite visualize the great Immortal Fairy Huo Fei being attached to someone like a shy little sister…"

"Quite frankly, neither can I," the old woman replied with a laugh. "Even I do not know their history, so if you want to find out, you will have to ask her yourself."

"Ahaha… I'll pass, thanks…"

With an awkward laugh, the younger servant scurried away, and the older woman smiled before peeking her head into the back kitchen.

"Milady, I…"

"I know, I know," Huo Fei immediately cut her off, sighing before finally stowing the pendant away. "I'll get to work and finish this banquet as fast as I can, so then I can begin on the coming home feast I'll be preparing 'him'… hehe~"

Giggling like a little girl, Huo Fei skipped her way to the ingredients table, and began cooking. It would seem she was not so irrational after all.

*****

- Tower of Flames, Level 18 -

<Floor Cleared!>

<Advance: 18 -> 19>

<Obtained Health Restoration Pill x1.>

<Obtained Qi Restoration Pill x1.>

<Obtained 18,000 Spirit Crystals.>

<Obtained Seven-Petaled Radiant Lotus x1.>

———

<Sword Duel Enlightenment>

<Sword Intent +3,000>

<Current Intent EXP needed for next level: 7,300/10,000>

As the spotlight engulfed Xuan and took him to the next floor, he let out a breath. Only two more fights to go until he reached the top.

'The Seven-Petaled Radiant Lotus… a Saint-Grade treasure,' Xuan pondered. 'Just how many incredible artifacts did Huo Fei obtain while I was gone…?'

Sure, this was one of the last few levels, so not many people would be able to obtain this reward, but even so, it was somewhat over-extravagant. Since the Eon Ginseng, Xuan had been suspicious—as he ascended to each floor, he didn't hear any talk amongst the other cultivators about the items he'd received, but instead other ones like Blood Rubies or Teleportation Talismans.

Compared to those, the Seven-Petaled Radiant Lotus, which had the power of purifying any curse or poison from one's body as well as give them an incredibly improved physique afterwards, was infinitely times better. Similarly, the artifact he received from the previous floor, the Heavenly Jade Incense, was said to be able to improve the potency and efficiency of normal meditative cultivation by five. The other reward he obtained from floor 17 wasn't as impressive—just a pure gold spear that was worth an extremely high amount of money, but wasn't actually all that strong.

In other words, whereas Xuan had received incredible treasures and artifacts, other cultivators simply got items that were both rare and beneficial, but nothing too extravagant. These things could help them slightly with their cultivation or let them escape a situation in a pinch, but that was about the extent of it. The real reason why everyone was fighting here was the Sealed World Pearl, and for weaker cultivators, simply Spirit Crystals.

It was strange, to say the least—and he didn't think it was the work of Senior Pan Gu or the supercomputer friend she had. This wasn't changing fate or 'good luck' or anything like that. This was simply bias, and Xuan had a good idea why. The only explanation was that Huo Fei had somehow detected that he was here, and then probably told an underling of hers to manipulate the rewards for a man with long white hair and red eyes from beyond Floor 15 or something like that.

The only question was—how?

Xuan certainly didn't recall giving her a tracking device of some sort that linked to him, and nor were there any surveillance arrays in place within the tower due to the amount of World Qi a building of this size would require. The only possibility was that an employee told her directly, but then again, the only employees that had seen Xuan directly was that man he bribed, and he definitely was not working here when Xuan last visited this place in his past life.

Xuan sighed. He could guess and deduce all he wanted, but until he saw Huo Fei in person, he was never going to get an answer—and since she was surely busy with preparing the Immortal Feast, that would have to wait.

In general, all the opponents Xuan had faced in the arena thus far have been inferior to Zhou He, so he was able to take them on. The difficulty grew steadily with each level, of course, but Xuan had yet to encounter a foe capable of giving him a true challenge—and thus, a good fight that would help him break through his bottleneck. It was somewhat disappointing, but alas—he still had Nine Heavens as backup, didn't he?

That wasn't to say he'd lost hope already, however. The final two floors were going to be the most challenging ones yet, as there were only three other people here other than himself—two of which were already fighting. One was a skilled swordsman wearing white and black robes to represent yin and yang, while the other was the poet Xuan had seen on the first floor.

'Hm… so he made it all the way up here as a Core Formation stage as well, huh?'

But whereas Xuan had semi-cheats thanks to his bribery of the restaurant employee, this man had—presumably—made it here simply from his own strength, and by the looks of his completely flawless complexion, he had not suffered a single defeat, just like Xuan himself.

"Interesting…" he muttered, narrowing his eyes. Currently, the two on-stage were on even terms with one another despite a three-realm difference, but Xuan had a faint feeling that the poet would be the one to come out on top.

Before he could spectate and analyze the duel in detail, however, a soft and hesitant voice suddenly called out to him from the table beside, and Xuan froze at the words.

"Ahem… excuse me. Are you, by any chance, Senior Zero?"