I Can Copy the Talents of All Creatures

"Yu Fei, you have to try some. Start with this Thousand Blades Flying Snow Stew. I used the tenderloin from that deer beast, sliced paper-thin, shaped it on a special cold plate at negative 150 degrees Celsius, and then slowly warmed it with a Flaming Blood Warm Jade.

You know the sauces Teacher has. Every one of them is top-quality. Quick, try it!"

"And this dish! I took the most essential ingredients from those desolate beasts, added a five-hundred-year-old Solomon’s seal from Teacher’s collection, and simmered it over a Martial and Literary True Flame for a full day until the soup turned golden-red and the meat and tendons melted in your mouth. Give it a taste!"

"And this one, a high-heat stir-fry of tiger beast and pangolin..."

Yu Fei’s appetite was whetted, and he could feel himself starting to drool. There were nine dishes on the table in total. The one in the very center was the one Mr. Tang had just introduced—a cauldron-cooked dish made from the essences of various beasts.

These dishes contained a high amount of energy. Just from the aroma, he could feel his Inner Qi stirring.

Yu Fei immediately dug in. Mr. Tang’s cooking was countless times better than Xiaohai’s. He had grown a bit tired of eating the food from the smart kitchen every day.

Ye Shuping barely touched his chopsticks before putting them down.

"Lihui has a special technique for refining ingredients. He can gather and condense their essential yuan qi, upgrading the ingredients themselves. What’s truly remarkable is that while these ingredients contain higher-grade energy, they’re also much easier to absorb."

"The essence of those desolate beasts you brought is likely all here in these dishes."

Yu Fei was shocked. ’There’s a technique like that?’

He couldn’t help but look at Mr. Tang with admiration.

Yu Fei ate a little less than half of the meal, his stomach visibly bulging. Zhuo Feiming polished off the better part of it, while Ye Shuping and Tang Lihui barely ate at all.

The energy in these dishes was potent and not so easily digested. For a Martial Saint like Zhuo Feiming, if she were to truly let herself go, this entire spread wouldn’t have been enough.

After the table was cleared, the group moved outside to chat. Yu Fei was just about to ask his senior sister about the Heavenly Palace Ruins when he heard Ye Shuping bring up Yan Sea.

"Speaking of which, I recall that Yu Fei’s original martial arts initiation teacher is still serving under your command. His name is Yan Sea, correct?"

Yu Fei’s expression remained unchanged, but he was inwardly surprised. ’Ye Shuping’s words are never simple,’ he thought. ’Is this just casual chit-chat, or...?’

Zhuo Feiming didn’t think much of it and answered casually:

"Yes, he’s in the Vanguard Camp. He walks the path of the Demonic Dharma Aspect, so his foundation is unstable. The only way for him to increase his strength is through bloody battles and absorbing Evil Qi. However, his cultivation of those two ancient Buddhist sutras is so-so. With Su Yue looking after him, there shouldn’t be any major problems."

Ye Shuping nodded and said casually, "That’s good to hear. I took a look at his file when I had a moment these past few years. He’s a pitiful fellow. Grandmasters who use Dharma Aspects have powerful attacks, but they are brittle and easily broken. Don’t work an honest man to death. Life hasn’t been easy for him and Su Yue. Let them rotate out for a while to rest and enjoy life a little."

Zhuo Feiming casually agreed. "That’s easy enough. We’re short on Grandmasters and Martial Saints in the Shenxiao Army, but Grandmasters of his rank aren’t as crucial. I’ll reassign them later."

The moment she said this, Yu Fei suddenly froze.

From some unknown dimension, he suddenly sensed a strange shift. It felt as if certain trajectories had deviated, intertwined, and ultimately converged upon him.

A thought stirred in Yu Fei’s mind. In that unseen realm of fate, he had a premonition that trouble was headed his way in the near future.

This was the "Fated Trajectory" effect, a new ability gained after his [Insight] talent had upgraded to the red level.

Fated Trajectory: When others are in the process of interfering with your destiny, you can perceive whether this interference is beneficial or harmful to you and identify its source!

Under the influence of the talent, he perceived a multitude of threads of fate, tangled and in constant turmoil.

It was like a pebble dropped into a lake, creating countless ripples that collided and intertwined, altering the trajectory of countless lives.

And the hand pushing from behind the scenes—or rather, the one who cast the stone—could be traced along these derivative trajectories directly to the old man before him, who was smiling and chatting as if it were a family gathering.

Within the trajectories of fate, it seemed he had only made a single, subtle move—a simple sentence that had invisibly changed so many things.

The Fated Trajectory talent could only reveal that Ye Shuping had interfered with his fate and that it would bring him some trouble; it provided no other information.

’This old fogey, what is he up to?’

’Was it unintentional, or did he do it on purpose?’

The old man had been in charge of Shenhan for many years, and his methods left no trace. Take this casual comment, for instance. If Yu Fei’s [Insight] talent hadn’t upgraded and allowed him to sense the abnormality, he never would have imagined that Ye Shuping had already made a move.

According to the good and ill will perception of his [Insight] talent, the old man’s goodwill toward him was the strongest he’d ever felt, perhaps even rivaling that of his own parents. It was a goodwill that had been steadily and consistently growing stronger.

’But what is he really trying to do?’

From the talent’s feedback, Yu Fei understood that the old man’s words were definitely not just a casual remark. There was certainly a purpose behind them, but he had no way of knowing what it was.

Ye Shuping and Zhuo Feiming’s conversation had long since moved on from the topic of Yan Sea. The old man having a sudden benevolent impulse to take care of Yu Fei’s initiation teacher—there was nothing wrong with that on the surface.

Yu Fei didn’t press the issue. He just stared quietly at the old man for a moment. He couldn’t very well ask Zhuo Feiming *not* to give Teacher Yan Sea an easier assignment; that would be completely unreasonable.

The feedback from Fated Trajectory only indicated "some trouble," and since this was the first time the talent had activated, Yu Fei decided to wait and see what would happen. It was a good opportunity to test the effects of his talent anyway.

"There’s been a new breakthrough in the development of the Holographic Docking Pods. Tianwen has overcome a technical hurdle. They might be able to create a one-to-one replication of a Martial Artist’s strength for practice and drills..."

Zhuo Feiming shared the latest news she had, with Ye Shuping occasionally chiming in.

"To what degree can it be replicated?"

This was a topic Ye Shuping was interested in, but his attention was still fixed on Yu Fei. When he had suggested a more relaxed post for Yan Sea, Yu Fei’s expression had changed, and he had even stared at him for a moment.

Zhuo Feiming and Tang Lihui hadn’t noticed, but having spent so much time with Yu Fei, he was able to grasp his thoughts.

’My little apprentice must have just discovered something.’

’But this is simply unbelievable. Arranging a cushier post for Yan Sea was just the beginning of this small plan; the subsequent schemes were still locked away in my heart, known to no one. How could Yu Fei have sensed something was amiss from just a single sentence?’

Yu Fei’s mind was actually quite simple, or perhaps even naive. It was a natural disadvantage of his lack of experience and lower realm. Logically, he shouldn’t have reacted at all.

’Truly, what terrifying intuition!’

The more he dealt with this little guy, the more he realized how terrifying he was.

An unreasonably powerful perception. Even back at the second realm, he could sense my presence and even judge the malice of others.

Admittedly, his plan was for Yu Fei’s own good. By all rights, it shouldn’t have triggered a reaction.

Yet this kid had somehow managed to sense something was up.

Ye Shuping could only imagine how difficult Yu Fei would be to deal with once he entered the Martial Saint realm.

Immune to sneak attacks, immune to malice, and now, it seemed, even immune to being schemed against.

At this rate, the only way to defeat this guy would be in a direct, head-on confrontation. As for killing him...

Ye Shuping then recalled the guy’s absurd beacon-based teleportation and transport abilities.

Within the same realm, who could possibly kill him? Even ganging up on him wouldn’t work.

At this thought, Ye Shuping felt a sense of satisfaction. This was the prodigy he had personally cultivated.

A Martial Artist like this, as long as his raw power was sufficient, would make anyone in the world seem three parts weaker in his presence.

Even the Great Ancestor, in his time, only displayed extremely fast cultivation talent and the ability to quickly master numerous Cultivation Techniques. Compared to Yu Fei’s potential, he still seemed to be lacking.

He was truly looking forward to seeing what kind of changes Yu Fei would bring to the world when he finally broke through to the Martial Saint realm. Could he unify the martial world? Could he unlock the secrets of the borderlands?

With his teleportation ability, Yu Fei had a real chance of achieving it. What lay on the other side of the Cross-Border Black Fog? This concerned the very truth of the world!

’As for the kid being a little unhappy right now, that doesn’t matter. Even if he wants to settle accounts with me in the future, to betray his teacher and defy his ancestors, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I can handle him with ease.’