Another roasted fish was ready.
Wu Shi had been staring ahead the entire time, trying to see what the man looked like.
Yet no matter how hard she tried, she could see nothing.
She stopped trying and shifted her gaze to the charred fish meat.
Paying no heed to the scalding heat, she grasped it in her hands and devoured the fish greedily, relishing every bite as though it were the sweetest ambrosia.
Possessing the Innate Primordial Physique, she naturally repelled all worldly impurities; even specially formulated nutrient fluid was difficult for her to swallow.
Yet the fish before her tasted like the finest delicacy in the world.
It was a flavor she had never experienced before.
"Do you... want some?" Wu Shi paused, holding the half-eaten fish in her hand and extending it toward where the man stood.
Then, she heard the man's inner thoughts.
*Separated across time and space, I can't touch anything. How am I supposed to eat fish?*
Wu Shi found the thought somewhat perplexing.
However, she truly believed in her heart that the man before her had come from the future.
"I'm not hungry, so I won't eat. Eat more yourself," the man said aloud.
He naturally hoped the Holy Mother of Inedia would eat more and grow up strong and healthy.
After all, he still had to go to the Heavenly Pillar to visualize a God Visualization Art.
Wu Shi felt a pang of disappointment. It was the first time she had tasted something so delicious, yet she had to eat it all alone.
"I said earlier that if you give me a fish, I'll grant you a wish. What do you want?" Wu Shi looked up.
She disliked being indebted to others.
That was why she had never harbored even a trace of resentment when her father and mother sold her like merchandise.
"A wish?" The man looked at the Holy Mother of Inedia, surprise flickering in his eyes. "Do you see that massive mountain thrusting straight into the clouds?"
Wu Shi turned her head. In her sight, it seemed as if she saw a pillar reaching to heaven.
"That is the Heavenly Pillar. Keep an eye on it for me, and don't let it collapse," the man said casually.
For some reason, after saying those words, a sense of predestined fate welled up within him.
Wu Shi seemed only half-understanding, but she nodded. "Okay."
The man smiled. "Hurry and pick up some more fish. Don't starve to death."
Wu Shi froze for a moment, and then her eyes lit up. "All for me to eat?"
"If I leave and you starve to death early on, that'd be quite something," the man said.
Judging by the Holy Mother of Inedia's state, if she hadn't met him, she truly would have starved to death.
In that case, in the future... what would happen with the Heavenly Pillar?
Besides, he was fundamentally kind-hearted and law-abiding.
Coming across such a situation, indulging a random act of kindness wouldn't hurt.
What was more, he and the Holy Mother of Inedia were acquaintances who had met twice before.
This was the third time, which was also the final time.
Hearing the man's words, Wu Shi looked thrilled. Sitting astride the wooden stick, she flew back and forth across the area, picking up fish from the ground.
Before long, like a hamster with a hoarding habit, she had gathered a massive pile of fish.
Looking at the pile of fish, the man wore a pained expression. "You really don't hold back, do you?"
However, he had always been a man of his word; even if it brought tears to his eyes, he would see his promises through.
And so, he stepped forward, his flawless, glazed blood dripping down.
His face gradually grew pale and his form weakened slightly, though it was not a major issue.
Wu Shi couldn't see what the man looked like. Looking at the fish, she beamed with joy.
"I'll help you guard the Heavenly Pillar," Wu Shi said earnestly.
The man thought of something and asked, "Do you have any cultivation methods right now?"
The little girl before him was still far too frail; there was no telling when she might perish.
"No." Wu Shi hesitated. "If I cultivate, I won't be worth as much money."
"How could you not cultivate? You need to learn to protect yourself," the man said.
Protecting the Holy Mother of Inedia meant protecting the Heavenly Pillar.
*I'll teach you how to cultivate.* Thinking this, the man said, "First, cook the fish. Give me a day, and I'll create a Wu Shi Scripture for you!"
God Visualization Arts were very particular; what he had condensed from the Heavenly Pillar could not be shown to Wu Shi.
Thus, he could only create a cultivation method of his own.
The man looked at little Wu Shi and couldn't help thinking:
*If the Holy Mother of Inedia cultivates the Wu Shi Scripture, grows immensely powerful, and wipes out the evil gods, wouldn't that mean when I arrive in this world, I can just lie flat and ride her coattails?*
He looked at Wu Shi, full of anticipation.
He turned around and began diligently composing the cultivation technique.
Creating the *Wu Shi Scripture* was naturally not as complicated as the *Qi Yuan Scripture*.
On the other side, Wu Shi watched the quiet man and happily set about roasting all the fish.
"So hungry."
Night fell, and the glow of the firelight reflected upon Wu Shi's face. Having just washed up a bit, she was no longer disheveled and filthy; her snowy skin was fair and rosy, giving her an ethereal, fairy-like grace.
She stared blankly toward where the man was, lost in thought.
*Why... is it so delicious?*
*How... did he do it?*
A seed of curiosity had been planted in the young girl's heart.
After daybreak, the man opened his eyes and looked at the little girl nearby, chuckling involuntarily.
The little girl was clutching a giant cooked fish in her arms, seemingly fast asleep.
Suddenly, the little girl opened her eyes. They were still slightly hazy as if she had just awoken, yet she asked with an eager expression, "Are you ready to teach me how to cultivate?"
A look of surprise flashed in the man's eyes. "How did you know I finished compiling the technique?"
A sly gleam danced in the little girl's eyes. "A woman's third sense."
Naturally, she wouldn't mention that she had been listening to his heart-voice the entire time.
His inner thoughts had woken her up.
"Tsk, tsk, even a woman's third sense has come out now." Qi Yuan didn't press the matter. "The technique I created for you is called the Wu Shi Scripture. Try cultivating it."
As he spoke, he recounted the contents of the *Wu Shi Scripture* to Wu Shi.
There was a vast amount of content, and it took him three or four whole shichen to recite it once through.
However, Wu Shi displayed photographic memory, sparing him the trouble of repeating himself.
Having received the *Wu Shi Scripture*, Wu Shi promptly set to cultivating it.
Her talent was exceptional—exaggerated, even.
The man asked himself, and concluded that if she were placed in the Canglan Realm, Wu Shi's talent would blow every prodigy on the Prodigy Roll completely out of the water.
Even he felt inferior by comparison.
A day later, looking at Wu Shi's slender frame, the man said slowly, "Now that... you can barely be considered to have the ability to protect yourself, it's time for me to go."
He truly had to leave; he needed to enter the Mountain of Visualization to visualize.
Afterward, he would take his empowered subordinates and return to wage the final battle.
Looking at Wu Shi, he couldn't help letting out a soft, long sigh.
He recalled his later encounters with the Holy Mother of Inedia, and how he had seen her spill her blood across the Heavenly Pillar.
She was... someone who had died long ago, an old acquaintance who had perished in the dust of history.
Wu Shi's heart tightened, her eyes showing a hint of disappointment. After a brief silence, she asked slowly, "Will we ever have a chance to meet again?"
Hearing this, the man fell silent as well.
All three uses of the Lost Glowstick had been exhausted, so he naturally could not return to the past again.
As for the Holy Mother of Inedia...
Thinking back to the Holy Mother of Inedia he met later, she didn't seem to recognize him either.
Could it be that the three Holy Mothers of Inedia he had encountered... were not the same person?
"If fated, we shall meet again."
Having said that, the man's figure vanished.
Beside the dilapidated pond, a pile of charred fish lay beside the young girl.
At this moment, a whirlwind of emotions surged in her eyes.
Her hands were clenched tightly, nails digging deep into her flesh until blood seeped out.
An intense look of longing showed in her eyes. "I want so badly... to eat him."
This longing was a primal instinct of her body.
Possessing the Devouring Primordial Physique... she felt that if she wanted to, she could bite fiercely into the void, and perhaps rip away a piece of flesh.
Yet... she did not dare. She was too timid.
That person was far too mysterious.
He could even purify food so thoroughly that even she could eat it.
She wondered...
She didn't understand why he was like that.
Chapter 231