After leaving the royal mausoleum, Gu Qingfeng had Fei Kui find a tavern, where he indulged in a hearty feast of delicious dishes, heavy on the meat and fish.
Truth be told, in the present day, he had long since forgotten what hunger and fullness felt like. He could not recall the last time he had been hungry, nor the last time he had eaten to satisfaction. No—it wasn't that he hadn't eaten his fill, but rather that he simply couldn't get full.
For cultivators, once one formed a Golden Core, they could absorb the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth to nourish their physical bodies. After forming an Infant Soul, they could completely abstain from grains, and going without food or drink for a year or so had no significant impact.
Moreover, cultivators, in order to keep their Primordial Spirit Dharmic Manifestations pure, also avoided consuming miscellaneous things like the five grains. Even if they occasionally craved a taste, they would only eat some spiritual fruits or drink some jade nectar.
Of course.
Some people, even after forming an Infant Soul, or even after achieving a Primordial Spirit or attaining Immortality, still ate and drank as they pleased—and ate the greasiest meats and drank the fiercest wines.
Old Monster Tang, who lived in the mausoleum, was such a person, and Gu Qingfeng was even more so.
Old Monster Tang was a bit better; when he first started cultivating, he knew to watch his diet and rarely ate meat or drank wine. It wasn't until after achieving Immortality that he stopped caring.
But Gu Qingfeng was different.
From the very day he began cultivating, he had never restricted himself in terms of delicious food and drink. Over his five hundred years of cultivation, he had eaten everything edible, and even sampled things that weren't. When he roamed this world, he had tasted all manner of delicacies from mountains and seas, spiritual beasts and demonic fruits. After falling into madness, he had even consumed Golden Cores, Infant Souls, and Primordial Spirit Dharmic Manifestations without hesitation. In the Celestial Realm, he had taken everything from the Nine Heavens Immortal Cranes above to the Nine Nethers Demonic Apes below, the Immortal Souls of Immortals, the Demonic Souls of fiends, and even ancient, nameless entities from the depths of the abyss that had lived who knows how many years, all as accompaniments to his wine.
In this sense,
Gu Qingfeng could be considered a thoroughgoing glutton.
If he went ten or fifteen days without eating something, he always felt a bit peckish.
As for spiritual fruits?
Apologies.
Never mind spiritual fruits, even Immortal Fruits were too bland for Gu Qingfeng, lacking flavor. They could barely pass as snacks.
Drinking wine must be accompanied by meat; what's the point of drinking without eating meat?
Drinking from large bowls and eating large chunks of meat had always been Gu Qingfeng's style—not for any other reason than because it was enjoyable to eat and drink this way.
After eating and drinking his fill at the tavern, Gu Qingfeng went to bask in the sun at a mountain villa.
Fei Kui served him with impeccable attentiveness. Whether it was the tavern or the villa, everything was the most luxurious, most imposing, and highest-grade.
Fortunately,
He had been managing business for the Black Buddha Master and was a man of considerable means.
Gu Qingfeng slept until the following noon.
When he opened his eyes, the blazing sun was already hanging high in the sky.
The mountain villa had a clear spring. Gu Qingfeng went for a soak and took a short nap. After washing up, Fei Kui had already prepared fine wine and delicacies. Gu Qingfeng casually ate some of the delicious food, picked up his wine cup, took a light sip, nodded, and praised, "Speaking of that Old Tang fellow, he may not have much talent in other areas, but his skill in storing wine is truly impressive."
The wine was called Ninefold Fierce.
Gu Qingfeng had pilfered it from Old Monster Tang's wine cellar—eighteen jars in total, which he unceremoniously claimed for himself.
He had few hobbies, but he loved fine wine.
Having drunk for nearly five hundred years, he felt uncomfortable if he went a day without it. Moreover, the wine he drank grew increasingly fierce and his palate increasingly discriminating. Ordinary fine wine was like water to him. Nowadays, unless it was wine from the Ancient Era, he wouldn't even glance at it. Even wine from the Ancient Era had to be of a certain vintage; if it hadn't been stored for at least three to five thousand years, he had little interest.
As for these jars of Ninefold Fierce that Old Monster Tang had treasured, Gu Qingfeng didn't know where the old fellow had gotten them, but one thing was certain: these eighteen jars of Ninefold Fierce had been sealed for at least eight or nine thousand years. The aroma was indescribably mellow, and the kick was indescribably fiery. A single mouthful was like a sudden enlightenment—truly exhilarating!
After drinking nearly half a jar in one go and satisfying his craving, his spirits noticeably lifted. He asked, "Fei Kui, I'd like to ask you about a place."
"I wonder what place the Young Master wishes to inquire about."
"I'm not too clear on the specifics. I only remember it was a great canyon, but I've forgotten its name. It was a wilderness with a few mountains and peaks. One of the peaks was covered in a kind of purple flower—a very beautiful sight, especially at sunset, against the backdrop of the evening glow, it was breathtakingly gorgeous."
The reason Gu Qingfeng remembered such a place in Yanluo was because of Tang Hengxi.
He still vividly recalled Tang Hengxi saying it was her favorite place. When she was alone, she would often lose herself in thought on that peak.
Gu Qingfeng had accompanied Tang Hengxi there a few times, but after several hundred years, he truly couldn't remember the canyon's name. He only recalled that one of the peaks was called Mobi Blue Peak, and the blue flowers were Mobi Blue Flowers.
However,
The peak's name was given by Tang Hengxi herself.
The flowers were also named by her, and she had planted them with her own hands.
Others likely didn't know this.
Over the past couple of days, while carousing with Old Monster Tang, they had talked mostly about Tang Hengxi.
Now, with Tang Hengxi missing without a trace, Gu Qingfeng suddenly wanted to visit the peak she had frequented in the past.
"Young Master, you must be referring to the Yunchuan Grand Canyon."
"Yunchuan Grand Canyon?"
Gu Qingfeng muttered the name, then suddenly realized, his heart leaping with joy. "That's right! It is the Yunchuan Grand Canyon. There is a peak there like the one I described, right?"
"Yes, Young Master. The peak you mentioned is called Mobi Blue Peak, also known as the Empress Peak. The blue flowers on the peak are the Mobi Blue Flowers, also called Empress Flowers."
"Mobi Blue Peak?
Empress Peak?
Mobi Blue Flowers?
Empress Flowers?"
Fei Kui nodded and explained, "It is said that Her Majesty the Empress was very fond of visiting Mobi Blue Peak in the past, and she even resided there for a period. The Mobi Blue Flowers on the mountain were also planted by Her Majesty the Empress herself. The peak became famous because of Her Majesty, hence it is also called the Empress Peak, and the Mobi Blue Flowers are also called the Empress's Flowers."
"So that's how it is."
Gu Qingfeng had just been wondering how Fei Kui knew the name Mobi Blue Peak, which Tang Hengxi had given, since others shouldn't have known. It seemed someone had spread the story, and even the fact that Tang Hengxi had personally planted the Mobi Blue Flowers was known. People of later generations really knew quite a lot.
"You know the way?"
"I do."
"Since you know, then let's go. Take me to have a look."