The Sweet and Soft Little Cake, and I'm Not Talking About You

The Great Luo Ancestor of the Taichu Soul Ancient Clan, Feng Jinhuang, fell silent for a moment. Seeing the floating spiritual treasures in the paradise dwindling, she grew anxious. After much hesitation, she suppressed her unease and ordered, "Disciples, charge forth! But remember—do not erase the true spirits of the spiritual treasures!"

"Yes!"

"Hahaha, here I come, little treasures!"

"Mine, mine, they're all mine!"

"..."

With the ancestor's command, hundreds of clansmen from the Taichu Soul Ancient Clan surged into the Spiritual Treasure Paradise.

Yet Feng Jinhuang herself remained standing before the stone stele. Her jade-like fingers gently traced the encrypted inscription, as if trying to sense the aura of its creator from the lingering traces.

Hum~

The Taichu Soul Ancient Clan was not only formidable in soul power but also possessed unparalleled perception. Soon, she detected a wisp of residual will within the encrypted inscription.

"Hmm? This seems to be just a lucky little fellow?"

Feng Jinhuang carefully examined the lingering will. In the hazy void, she faintly glimpsed a vibrant young man—barely a Jade Immortal (the formal term for a Pseudo-Immortal), not even a True Immortal yet!

"Really just a lucky little guy?"

She murmured, her slender fingers rubbing the encrypted text as her sense of foreboding grew stronger.

But then—

The massive gate, previously immovable, suddenly uprooted itself, shrinking into a brick engraved with profound Dao patterns before forcibly lodging itself into her hand!

Under the energy restrictions of this place, where even a Great Luo-level powerhouse could only exert True Immortal peak strength, she couldn’t resist the high-grade spiritual treasure’s enthusiastic self-offering. She couldn’t even shake it off.

"Hehehe, no one else paid attention to me, but you lingered so long in front of me—you must like me!"

"Heehee, I like you too!"

The brick-like spiritual treasure let out a simple, guileless laugh, clinging tightly to the Great Luo Ancestor of the Taichu Soul Ancient Clan.

In that instant, Feng Jinhuang’s pupils contracted as if the sky had collapsed.

Nothing in this world came for free.

Only stolen meals could be eaten with peace of mind. Could something delivered straight to your mouth really be safe?

Was this thing poisoned or something?

"Chen Yi, do you want this Spring-Autumn Chalice? If not, I won’t hold back!"

Deep within the Spiritual Treasure Paradise, Black Earth spoke softly, her eyes burning with desire.

Though they had encountered many spiritual treasures along the way, few aligned with her attributes. Moreover, Chen Yi hadn’t taken a single one, making her hesitant to act. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hiding something, so for caution’s sake, she suppressed her urges and passed up one high-grade treasure after another.

But when the Spring-Autumn Chalice appeared, she could no longer restrain her excitement. The chalice itself radiated a sense of kinship toward her—it was a perfect match. To give it up now would be unbearable!

Chen Yi waved his hand. "A gentleman doesn’t take what others cherish. This chalice clearly resonates with you. Take it freely. I’m just browsing."

Black Earth hesitated, then asked, "Chen Yi, can’t people be a little more honest with each other? After passing by so many high-grade treasures, why haven’t you taken a single one?"

Others might not know, but she did—this guy was greedy. Entering a treasure trove and leaving empty-handed? That was like putting a pig in a mountain of rice and expecting it not to eat a single grain.

Did that make sense?

Pigs wouldn’t abstain, and Chen Yi wouldn’t either—unless he wanted everything.

"Who said I’m not taking anything? I’m taking it all!" Chen Yi said calmly.

Black Earth leaned back in shock. "Then what about this Spring-Autumn Chalice—"

"Relax," Chen Yi said dismissively. "You’re the Divine Realm’s representative ally. If I say it’s yours, it’s yours. Take it without worry."

Black Earth’s lips twitched. "Really no traps? What did that encrypted text on the entrance stele actually say? You could read it, couldn’t you?"

Her true self in the Abyssal Void had deduced that the encrypted text was complete nonsense—something like "break through the Golden Core and grind it into powder, mix it with steel bars to create a counterclockwise despairing pilot..."

What kind of madman wrote that?

Or was the decryption flawed?

Her true self was already a Half-Step Origin Sovereign (Dao Ancestor), with flawless logic and impeccable reasoning.

Unless the encrypted text had been tampered with, leading to a wildly incorrect decryption!

"It’s just a declaration notice, nothing important," Chen Yi said matter-of-factly. "Even if you don’t take these treasures, the Immortal Realm factions will. They might already be inside. If we dawdle, we’ll have to face them head-on."

With that, he clasped his hands behind his back and strode toward the depths of the paradise.

"You—!" Black Earth fumed but, after a moment’s struggle, couldn’t resist reaching out and grasping the Spring-Autumn Chalice.

Thus, the contract was sealed.

She would owe the Purple Star Immortal Court’s Treasury Department—or rather, the future God of Wealth Fang Fan—a karmic debt. One that could be rightfully demanded later.

If unpaid, Chen Yi would have every justification to throw a fit.

With the chalice claimed, Chen Yi and Black Earth soon arrived at the paradise’s end.

Here stood another gate—another high-grade natural spiritual treasure.

Unlike the yellow main gate at the entrance, this back gate was tightly shut, an inky black square that devoured all light around it like a miniature black hole.

Before it stood another stele.

This time, Black Earth refused to let Chen Yi sneak ahead, immediately stepping forward to inspect it.

Unfortunately, this stele bore no encrypted text—only a few profound runes condensed from ethereal Dao essence.

Inscribed: Gate of Spirit Severance.

Nothing more.

As they approached, the gate’s spirit awoke with a sinister chuckle.

"Kehehe, two more—no, one soft, fragrant little cake. Want to test how sturdy big brother’s body is?"

Black Earth’s brow furrowed. She stepped forward, forcing a sweet, syrupy tone. "Gate Brother, I should—"

Before she could finish, the gate’s spirit rudely cut her off.

"Piss off, you stinky woman! Let the little treasure behind you come talk to big brother!"

Black Earth’s eye twitched. So the "soft, fragrant little cake" wasn’t her? It was Chen Yi?!

Then what was the point of her cringy act?!

You —!

Chen Yi’s lips also twitched. So he was the "soft, fragrant little cake"? What the hell—was this gate’s spirit from Rongcheng or something?!

Whack!

Disgusted, Chen Yi strode forward and kicked the gate hard.

"Open the damn door!"

"Ohhh~ So good! Harder, big brother can take it!"

Chen Yi: "..."

After a pause, he silently retreated behind Black Earth and said flatly, "True Immortal strength alone can’t move this Gate of Spirit Severance. See if there’s a specific method to open it."

It has to be said, Chen Yi felt like he had been weakened in this place.

The moment he entered, his stats were suppressed, his energy level lowered. Without sufficient power, how could he oppose the ever-present mechanisms here?

There was no way he’d expose his trump cards right at the start of the exploration, forcibly fusing high-star clones to resist the secret realm’s rejection and bulldoze through, right?

If a one-star clone couldn’t smash this Spirit-Sealing Gate, then he’d summon a two-star one. If that didn’t work, a three-star, then four-star—hell, he’d even go for five-star if pushed!

He had enough power and methods to make this damn gate open up obediently on its own!

But there was absolutely no need for that!

After all, if he clashed head-on with the mechanisms here and ended up scaring off the hidden Chaos Treasure, what then?

He wondered how far his little buddy Fang Fan had progressed by now. If his reckless actions caused Fang Fan to fail at the last moment, even if Fang Fan could forgive him, he’d never forgive himself!

After all, the Chaos Treasure was just too tempting. Given his own abysmal luck, his chances were slim—but Fang Fan could do it. Him obtaining it was as good as Chen Yi obtaining it!

So, Black Earth, the mechanism expert, it’s all up to you now!

And Black Earth didn’t disappoint. After muttering a bunch of gibberish while touching the stone tablet, she suddenly looked up: "Hmm, got it. Ignore this stupid gate. The real key is on the tablet. Just accept the Spirit-Sealing Seal to suppress your own power, and you can proceed to the next stage!"

"Oh? You’ve got some skills, you little troublemaker. Found the way to clear the stage so fast? Guess I underestimated you!"

The Spirit-Sealing Gate trembled slightly, and then a pair of shameless eyes materialized, staring straight at Chen Yi: "Oh, sweetcake~ Too bad you won’t play nice with me. Fine, put on the Spirit-Sealing Mark and step into my embrace. Come on, I can’t wait any longer—ah, it tickles~~~"

Chen Yi: "......"