Chapter 218: Ancient Supernatural and Decline

Ghosts were dirty, living things, but Chen Xiyi couldn’t talk to them, especially these bound spirits who had merged with the bus, yet they still seemed to have their own reason.

Souls were a part of people, even guiding them, but they were weaker than ghosts in every way.

Ghosts were more like souls trapped in a fixed set of rules, suffering the torture of death repeatedly without escape.

In the charred and drowned corpses earlier, ghosts were also imprisoned, and these ghosts seemed like some sort of prisoners.

This bus was their prison.

Chen Xiyi judged the difference between ghosts and souls; from the Home Game’s prefixes to the collected data, ghosts and souls were not the same kind of beings.

Even though ghosts were alive, the difference remained.

Souls were free and not trapped, but they were also fragile compared to ghosts and could vanish easily.

More importantly, souls were food for ghosts.

From his observations, ghosts didn’t need to eat to survive, yet their instincts drove them to consume.

His spirituality from the Sequence seemed to ghosts like a tastier meal than souls.

Of course, his Primordial Spirit was different—it was a terrifying strategic-level entity, and even though he practiced life and spirit together, his body still held back his Primordial Spirit, since his Primordial Spirit was from the Qi Refiner path while his body came from the Innate Divine Ability named Primordial Soul Martial Dao, a mix with Internal Energy, not a single system.

With his body attached, Chen Xiyi’s power was suppressed; only when his Primordial Spirit emerged did he show true strength.

Otherwise, why did he bring out his Primordial Spirit to fight Wandering Light or the First Immortal? His body was dragging it down.

If not for a Player’s body issue, he might have crafted a stronger one by now.

Ghosts could only arise from accidents; normal deaths just led to fading away, without becoming ghosts.

These accidents involved people who died violently or with unfulfilled grudges; ordinary deaths like illness or lack of substance couldn’t turn into ghosts.

Being a ghost didn’t mean immortality; Chen Xiyi saw it as suffering endless torment.

This was an unexpected discovery—ghosts and corpse-type beings might come from a third system, so a world without Modules had three systems crammed in—Supernatural Chefs, Peach Blossom Luck, and dirty things.

Currently, the Supernatural Chefs were an ancient system that had declined over time.

Peach Blossom Luck and dirty things were likely new systems, emerging in the last decade and probably less than thirty years old.

From Chen Xiyi’s days scouring records, there were no old references to dirty things, mainly accounts of Supernatural Chefs and their followers.

Clearly, Peach Blossom Luck and dirty things must have appeared together, maybe even from the same group.

After all, Chen Xiyi had read the Dongfang Aristocratic Family’s ancient scrolls and local histories, all without mentions of dirty things.

If they were truly ancient, not a single trace would be missing.

Back when Supernatural Chefs could reshape as Cultivators, they surely noticed such beings.

Even the Dongfang Aristocratic Family, high-powered for millennia, kept no records.

Now, Yanzhou just had scattered clues like captured samples, with no real progress on deeper research.

But the authorities did take note, though since they were led by noble families, they all held back secrets.

After all, dirty things held great Power; who wouldn’t want them?

Chen Xiyi found this out recently with his upgraded system after Primordial Spirit translations; in Yanzhou, the Dongfang Aristocratic Family had hidden bases for experiments on Supernatural Ability Users, dirty things, and tech R&D.

That brought him many gains.

Using this, he collected tons of needed data across Qian Country and globally, pushing his knowledge even higher.

Sadly, this world had no nukes—such ideas hadn’t occurred, or they’d skipped that tech.

He also found the strongest weapon, an ice sculpture, supposed to be a dish itself—a famous creation from the first-ever God of Cooking.

Once activated, the sculpture froze a spot completely for millennia without thawing.

The poles weren’t natural features; when the state first emerged, armies tried to crush Qian Country while it was weak.

Then, the founder used this dish named Tian Xia He Shan, turning them into the north and south poles, killing everyone.

Of course, texts and history blamed the climate; such power was never revealed openly.

Now, Qian Country was trying to remake or recharge this dish, with secret Supernatural Chef training plans still stuck at square one.

They couldn’t replicate it; after a millennium, only the Frost-carved shell remained, as officials had eaten the rest, made by a true Cultivator then.

This was the first God of Cooking—not like modern chefs making glowing dishes or clothes-busting meals.

Perhaps the decline stemmed from heroes taking the Wan Ling Pu for Chen Xiyi as a gift, though he felt other forces were at play.

The decline of Supernatural Chefs might involve Peach Blossom Luck and dirty things.

Otherwise, losing a tool for growing food shouldn’t cause collapse.

True, the Dongfang Aristocratic Family’s Golden Crow Sword had power too, and records held equally potent artifacts.

This spirit item just had the most mystery, producing key ingredients.

Still, those chefs were amazing—a dish lasting millennia to freeze vast areas into the poles.

That opened Chen Xiyi’s eyes to their past might—if long struggles weren’t just about cooking but wild effects-based battles.

Yes, no system should be underestimated, but he had likely mastered this path already.

He couldn’t do it, yet he owned the Heavenly Gourmet Spirit and Hellish Demon Chef treasures; once they grew strong with enough Spiritual/Magical Items, he could gain such dishes too.

“Boss, the third embryo is ready—should we deploy it?”

Ling Hu came over to report.

Chen Xiyi glanced at the loli-like Beauty 3. “Yes, but be careful not to give clues away.”

Given Ye Fan’s setting as a son-in-law, beauties sent his way couldn’t seem threatening to his fiancée; they had to be harmless types, like lolis.

A tall, curvy girl would get turned away fast.

Every son-in-law status needed tailored plans—unlike Qin Tian and Chu Ge with similar backgrounds, Ye Fan’s case called for different tricks.

Local fixes were key.

“What’s the script this time?” he asked Ling Hu.

“He has to help us raise an abandoned girl for a while; once she lands in his hands and we skip town, Beauty 3 takes over.”

“The story is an illegal birth unlisted online—once staged, Ye Fan would likely adopt her nine times out of ten.”

Ling Hu briefed him quickly on Beauty 3’s role.

Chen Xiyi cooked up the first two scripts, but later deployments fell to Ling Hu to manage on his own.

“Good; play it safe—I’ll tap the System into your Bluetooth for real-time intel.”

Chen Xiyi wouldn’t risk failure; without mass data, odds were low.

Only big intel leads sealed the deal.

“Thanks, Boss.” Ling Hu had come just for that nod.

“How about embryos 4 to 10?” Chen Xiyi asked further.

“They’ll mature in three days and release then; it’s just us three—me and my parents—too few hands out there.”

Ling Hu sounded hesitant.

Chen Xiyi paused. “Hire more hands; focus on folks hurt like you from the Ximen Group—paralyzed, homeless, or broken types out on the streets.”

Recruiting took skill—word-of-mouth fits their shady gig best.

“Dig up needed data later via the System.”

“Any loyal help gets fixed up, nothing extra.”

He added that last bit firm and clear.

“No problem, Boss,” Ling Hu agreed outright and left.

Without Ling Hu around, Chen Xiyi mulled things over.

“Seems time to ramp up Shelter work.”

More people meant higher odds of slipping up; this base stayed a surface decoy while his Underground Shelters below handled experiments.

He’d always layered tricks deep like hiding rabbits.

Even leak-proof, more Shelters served as Teleport spots just fine.

“Once crew’s set, operations normalize—with each Peach Blossom Luck host matched to a Beauty model, clues must surface.”

“Dig deep all they want, clearing their table would unset them.”

Chen Xiyi’s curiosity burned bright.