Hell Emperor.

Chapter 588 Ye Jie - The Kitchen God
Smoke curls from the chimneys, and the aroma of cooking oil fills the air.

In the quiet valley, a dark dome covered the surrounding area. On the ground, hundreds of black iron pots were neatly arranged. Beside each pot stood a strong man. With a shout, they plunged their palms into the food in the pots, using their palms as spatulas to stir-fry the ingredients while using the fire in the pots to temper their bodies.

Before everyone stood an old man with an air of otherworldly wisdom. His face was stern, and his white eyebrows formed a string on his forehead. He carefully scrutinized the actions of each disciple. If any disciple did not perform the stir-frying properly or tried to slack off, he would severely reprimand them, and they would even be hit hard on the head with the iron shovel in his hand.

Just then, a disciple came running from afar, breathless, and reported, "Elder, someone outside the sect is requesting an audience!"

Elder Bai Mei's face darkened: "How many times have I said that there's no need to report this to me? It's the disciples' time to cultivate now, so we won't see anyone. Let that person wait outside the gate until 3:45 PM, and we'll talk about it after the disciples finish their cultivation."

The disciple, covered in sweat, hurriedly relayed the news: "The person who came to request an audience is none other than the Palace Master of Ziwei Palace!"

"The Lord of Ziwei Palace?" Elder Bai Mei was slightly taken aback, then his face turned pale with shock, and he couldn't even speak properly. "Are you talking about the Lord of Ziwei Palace who killed the Demon God Xiang Liu and was hailed as the reincarnation of a saint? Quickly, invite him in! If you delay even for a moment, you will be held accountable!"

The disciple inwardly grumbled and complained. Not long ago, Elder Mingming seemed to be invincible, but after hearing that person's name, he changed his attitude faster than turning the pages of a book.

Soon, led by his disciple, a man clad in black robes and possessing an extraordinary bearing slowly entered. Upon seeing this man, the elder dared not be negligent in the slightest. To be able to slay a demon god single-handedly, the Palace Master of Ziwei Palace's strength not only stood at the pinnacle of the continent, but his act of saving the world was also worthy of the respect of all immortals.
"The Kitchen God Sect and its three thousand disciples respectfully welcome the arrival of the Palace Master of Ziwei."

Amidst the disciples' greetings, Ye Jie slowly waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities. I have long heard that the Kitchen God Sect is in charge of culinary arts. Actually, I have come here today to request a magical treasure from your sect."

The elder understood and asked, "I wonder what kind of magical treasure from within the sect the Palace Master Ziwei desires? Given the Palace Master Ziwei's great achievements in slaying the demon god, whatever magical treasure you desire, as long as I possess it, I am willing to offer it to you with both hands."

Ye Jie shifted his gaze, fixing it on the giant cauldron at the top of the valley, which resembled a giant dome: "What I want is the Kitchen God's Black Pot."

"This……"

Upon hearing this, the disciples were in an uproar, and even the elders looked troubled. Clearly, this Kitchen God's Black Pot was no ordinary treasure.

"Palace Master Ziwei, you may not know this, but the Stove God's Black Pot is the treasure of the Stove God Sect. It is a second-grade divine artifact left behind by the Stove God himself. If we lose it, the entire Stove God Sect will suffer a great loss of prestige, and the sect may even decline..."

Elder Bai Mei was in a dilemma. He could not afford to offend the Palace Master of Ziwei, who could slay a demon god, but he also could not easily hand over the Kitchen God's black pot to an outsider.

Ye Jie had expected this: "Don't worry, I'll pay for it."

The elder simply shook his head: "Second-grade divine artifacts are extremely rare in the world. Every second-grade divine artifact has left a great reputation in the world. How can money measure their value? Considering the significance of the Stove God's Black Pot to the Stove God Sect, even if you could offer a hundred billion merits, we would never sell it."

After a pause, Elder Bai Mei continued, "This Stove King's Black Pot was created in the past, before the Great Dao was revealed and before chaos was divided. It was under this black pot that the Stove King lit the first flame in the world, teaching the people who ate raw meat and drank blood to cook food. If you want to rightfully take the Stove King's Black Pot, you must pass the Stove King's Trial, which has been passed down for thousands of years in the Stove God Sect. You need to use pure culinary skills to defeat seventy-two skilled cooks in the sect one after another, and use the taste of the food to impress all the elders of the Stove God Sect. Only in this way will you be qualified to become the new owner of the Stove King's Black Pot."

Ye Jie shrugged: "That sounds like a lot of trouble. Since you won't sell 100 billion merits, how about I offer 1 trillion merits?"

"How much... how much?"

Upon hearing the amount, Elder Bai Mei stood frozen in place. After confirming several times that Ye Jie was not joking, his expression became quite interesting.

With a trillion yin virtues, it's more than enough to buy not only the Kitchen God's black pot, but also the entire Kitchen God sect.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go and discuss this with the other elders..."

Having said that, Elder Bai Mei hurriedly left, and when he returned, his face was beaming with a broad smile.
"After consultation among the elders, the Kitchen God's Black Pot has been sold to the Palace Master of Ziwei for one trillion merits!"

Ye Jie smiled. With good karma paving the way, things became much simpler, but he was still a little worried: "What if the Kitchen God Sect declines in the future without the Kitchen God's black pot?"

Elder Bai Mei said righteously, "There is no need to worry. As long as the spirit of the Kitchen God remains, the Kitchen God Sect will not decline!"

After confirming that everything was correct, Ye Jie, amidst the exclamations of many elders of the Stove God Sect, transferred one trillion yin virtues to them.

As an old sect, the Stove God Sect has many elders who have attained enlightenment for thousands of years. However, they have never seen such a huge amount of Yin virtue. They couldn't help but admire him in their hearts. As expected of the Palace Master of Ziwei who defeated the Demon God, he took out a trillion Yin virtue without even blinking an eye.

What the elders didn't know was that this seemingly enormous act of good karma was, in reality, just a drop in the ocean for Ye Jie at this point.

With the Underworld Emperor's Ghost Seal in hand, Yin Virtue was nothing more than a string of numbers that could be modified at will in Ye Jie's eyes. Being able to use Yin Virtue to save a lot of trouble was the best thing ever.

Arriving before the black cauldron dome that shrouded the valley, Ye Jie took out nine sewn pages. With a thought, the black cauldron above his head suddenly disappeared, and countless pebbles fell down, causing the nearby disciples to exclaim in surprise. Ye Jie remained calm and composed, looking at the information on the sewn pages, and couldn't help but smile.

[Book of Life and Death Records:]

In the summer of the 640th year of the Moro calendar, Ye Jie used a stove god's black pot to modify his rank records.

[The initial stage of the Five-Turn Yin-Yang Mystic Lord has been changed to the mid-stage of the Five-Turn Stove God/Kitchen God.]

The powers and authority of the Yin-Yang Mystic Lord Immortal Official have been inherited.

[The Kitchen God's black pot quality exceeds the minimum promotion requirements; his divine official powers have been unlocked.]

[Kitchen God: Red Lotus Purifies, Green Smoke Transforms into Dew. Perfectly masters any recipe, greatly increasing efficiency in processing ingredients, can remove any negative effects from ingredients, increases swordsmanship, and when fighting with swords, has a certain probability of triggering a critical strike, ignoring all enemy defenses and unleashing a thousand slashes in an instant. When cooking, can summon the Kitchen God's Black Pot, greatly increasing cooking speed, can unleash the potential of any ingredient, giving special effects to spiritual dishes, and can condense an inextinguishable red lotus fire in the kitchen.]

Looking at the words on the sewn-up page, Ye Jie slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Despite possessing a multitude of supreme-level cultivation techniques, Ye Jie still needed to advance step by step to truly reach a realm comparable to a saint. His transformation into the Kitchen God further elevated his cultivation. Although the increase from a single minor realm was negligible compared to supreme-level techniques, with continued accumulation, he would eventually reach the Ninth Revolution realm and truly stand tall above the world!
However, the promotion to a higher celestial official was not Ye Jie's primary goal. What he truly valued was the celestial authority of the Kitchen God.

After bidding farewell to the elders of the Stove God Sect, Ye Jie took a step forward, his figure seemingly merging into the void, turning into a black shadow and disappearing without a trace.

This move caused the nearby elders to exclaim in surprise. Even the elders at the fifth or sixth level of cultivation couldn't fathom the secrets of Ye Jie's technique for traversing space. They all stared wide-eyed, straining to comprehend it. Even if they only grasped a little bit, it would benefit them immensely in the future.

In Qingdi City, Nan Linghe, who was busy at work, suddenly felt a familiar aura coming from behind her. When she turned around, she saw that the shadow under her feet twisted and the black mist spread out, and Ye Jie also walked out from it.

"Ok?"

Nan Linghe tilted his head, looked at the shadow at his feet, and then looked at Ye Jie who had walked out. His eyes were filled with confusion. Didn't he say he was going to leave for a while? Why was he hiding in his shadow the whole time?
As if sensing her confusion, Ye Jie smiled and explained:

"This is the effect of the Shadow Step. When the Shadow Step reaches the Supreme Saint level, I can use the power of shadows that are not exposed to sunlight to release three shadows. Each shadow can hide in the shadow of another person and move with that person. If I need to, I can move to the location of any shadow at any time."

Nan Linghe looked like she understood, but not quite. Compared to the intricate effects of the Xuan Ying Step, at least she understood one thing: Ye Jie had placed one of the three Xuan Ying Steps in her possession, even though only three could be used.

Nan Linghe's eyes crinkled into a smile: "So, when the Xuan Ying Step reaches a higher level, it can produce such amazing effects. I wish I could learn it too..."

Ye Jie laughed heartily: "Don't worry, everyone can learn it. Now that I have unlimited merit, I no longer need to worry about the cultivation method. I will modify all my partners' cultivation methods to the Supreme Saint level."

Ye Jie has truly experienced the benefits of boundless merit. All ghosts and immortals in the world are busy trying to earn more merit, but Ye Jie has broken free from the shackles of merit. From now on, he can modify his cultivation techniques however he wants, and he can buy whatever divine artifact he wants. It is extremely enjoyable.

Thinking of this, Ye Jie took out the nine sewn pages, intending to modify all of Nan Linghe's cultivation techniques to the Supreme Saint level. However, the message from the sewn pages made Ye Jie's expression freeze.

[Insufficient permissions to modify Nan Linghe's cultivation technique file.]

"how come……"

Ye Jie had a bad feeling. This was the first time he had seen the word "insufficient permissions" since he had collected all nine sewn pages, which meant that there might be a problem with the sewn pages.

Thinking of this, Ye Jie dared not hesitate and quickly tested the stitched pages. However, the more he tested them, the more alarmed he became by the final result.

[Insufficient permissions to modify Ye Jie's cultivation technique file.]

[Insufficient permissions to modify Ye Jie's rank profile.]

"Oops……"

Ye Jie took a deep breath. His repeated attempts all pointed to one conclusion: he had completely lost control of the nine stitched pages.

Just as Ye Jie's expression turned solemn, the text on the sewn page twisted and disappeared, the black ink vanished, and in its place appeared crimson strokes stained with blood:
[The Lord of the Demon Palace has ordered that Lord Ye Jie of the Purple Star Palace immediately return to the Demon Palace with the Underworld Emperor's Ghost Seal and the Azure Lotus Palace Master's Tent to report.]

Looking at the words on the sewn-up page, Ye Jie took a deep breath and finally understood where the problem lay.

Although Ye Jie possessed nine sewn pages, the eight main ledgers, excluding those of the Azure Lotus Palace, were not in his possession but were managed by the Lord of the Demon Palace.

Although Ye Jie could borrow the power of the nine stitched pages, it was only temporary. Once the Lord of the Demon Palace revoked his authority, the stitched pages in Ye Jie's hands would be no different from a piece of waste paper, and would no longer have any supernatural power.

"This is bad..."

Ye Jie took a deep breath. How could his earth-shattering feat of ascending to the Holy Realm and killing Xiang Liu not be seen by the Lord of the Demon Luo Palace?

The meaning behind the Lord of the Demon Palace's summons of him, specifically requesting that he carry the Underworld Emperor's Ghost Seal and the Azure Lotus Palace Master's Tent, is self-evident.

Lord Moro Palace aspires to ascend to the throne of the Underworld Emperor, so how could he allow the Ghost Seal and the main tent to be touched by others? Once he returns to Moro Palace, neither the main tent of the Azure Lotus Palace, which he had obtained with great difficulty, nor the Ghost Seal, which symbolizes the imperial throne, will belong to Ye Jie.

As if noticing something amiss with Ye Jie's expression, Nan Linghe became worried, thinking she had done something wrong: "Are you alright? You look a little pale..."

Ye Jie took a deep breath and slowly calmed his mind. Although the stitched pages had completely failed, his past modifications were still well preserved in the archives. Those supreme-level cultivation techniques and the celestial official powers he had acquired along the way had not disappeared due to the failure of the stitched pages. However, from now on, it would not be so easy to continue modifying the archives.

"It's nothing... It's just that you might have to wait a long time to learn the Shadow Step."

Nan Linghe nodded obediently: "It's okay, as long as you come to my side, that's enough..."

Ye Jie smiled and then looked into the distance: "Speaking of which, have all the materials I asked for been prepared?"

Nan Linghe nodded vigorously: "Thanks to the help of the other immortals, all the precious materials on Xiang Liu's body have been stripped off and are now properly stored in Qingdi City. The seven-inch flesh you specifically asked for has also been prepared and is stored outside the wine village. From a distance, it looks like a small mountain. By the way, what do you need Xiang Liu's seven-inch flesh for?"

Ye Jie's lips curled up: "Of course it's for eating."

"Ok?"

Nan Linghe blinked, not quite understanding. Xiang Liu was a legendary demon god. It was always the one who ate others, but no one could eat it. Even a drop of its demon blood was enough to pollute rivers and cause the fields within a radius of ten thousand miles to wither. Ordinary immortals would die if they touched it. It was an evil thing that could not be touched at all. What exactly did Ye Jie mean by this?
Ye Jie offered no explanation, only giving her a look of confidence. The two set off and soon, outside the wine country, they saw the filthy flesh, reeking of blood and resembling a small mountain.

(End of this chapter)