My cultivation is too warm

Although it was difficult, Xu Mo finally made the painful decision: to continue his in-depth study of the "Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica" and give up creating and promoting the martial arts of immortality.

When Xu Mo announced this decision in front of all the researchers in the research institute, the fine beads of sweat on his forehead turned into water droplets as his body went limp and slid down his back.

With Xu Mo's approval, even though some people in the research institute were still unwilling, they had no choice but to give up. If they did not rely on the efforts of the entire research team, they would have absolutely no hope of creating the Longevity Martial Arts before the end of their lives.

Moreover, the person who made this decision was Wuyou Lingnong, the ancestor of all spirits in the new era. Many people in the research institute had some admiration for Wuyou Lingnong. Even after working together for so long, this admiration had not faded. On the contrary, it had become even deeper because of Xu Mo's approachable and kind personality and his profound knowledge.

Xu Mo is no longer the "newbie" who relied on the elders of the sect for protection. He has more than 3,000 years of research experience at Wuyou Peak. With the return of his sealed memories, he also recalled tens of thousands of years of learning experience in the era of Ancestor Tianxuan, as well as his travels and insights in the chaotic void with Xianqing.

Having experienced the erasure of all laws, he read through almost all the inherited Taoist methods in order to return to the era of cultivation.

In other words, Xu Mo is undoubtedly the number one person in this Dharma-ending Age, whether in terms of experience, knowledge, or reserves.

Based on this, in the eyes of everyone at the research institute, Xu Mo is perfect and reliable in every aspect, whether it is his demeanor, character, knowledge, research imagination, creativity, or decisiveness.

He is now the pillar of the research institute, a figure that inspires admiration and reassurance in everyone.

Therefore, after he made his decision, all the previous arguments were quelled, and the entire research institute returned to its previous state.

……

In the afternoon, Xu Mo returned home after a day of research and happened to see Liang Huanhuan, who had just finished get off work and was returning home.

When Liang Huanhuan saw Xu Mo, she greeted him as usual, then quickly ran over and opened the door before him. She then stood aside with a smile and gestured for him to enter. She then smiled mischievously at him and said, "Hehe, junior brother, let's go home."

Strangely enough, a century has passed, and Xu Mo and Liang Huanhuan are now an old married couple. Their child, Xu Qingli, has grown up and become a pillar of the new generation of the research institute.

However, when it comes to how they address each other, both Xu Mo and Liang Huanhuan still follow their old habits and call each other "junior brother" or "senior sister".

Even Wang Er and Ye Qingyue didn't point out anything amiss, as if everything was as it should be.

Xu Mo stared at the smiling Liang Huanhuan for a moment, then his body stiffened instantly.

Liang Huanhuan noticed that Xu Mo's expression was off and immediately asked with concern, "Junior brother, what's wrong? What happened? Tell Huanhuan, Huanhuan can help you."

Xu Mo stared at Liang Huanhuan, who looked somewhat anxious, for a moment, then softly called out, "Senior Sister Huanhuan..."

Upon hearing his call, Liang Huanhuan nodded sweetly and replied, "Yes, junior brother, don't panic, Huanhuan is here."

After speaking, she took two steps forward, hugged Xu Mo tightly, gently patted his back, and ruffled his hair. She spoke softly in his ear, "Junior brother, are you facing some difficulties? Although I don't know if I can help you, please remember, no matter what happens, I will always, always, always be by your side, even if..."

Liang Huanhuan used "always" three times in a row to show her determination. At the end, she paused for a moment, took a silent breath, and then continued in a tone countless times gentler than before:

"Even if Huanhuan grows old one day, I hope you will remember, junior brother, that Huanhuan has never left and will never leave. Huanhuan has just changed the way she accompanies you."

After saying that, she stroked Xu Mo's cheeks with both hands and kissed his lips in his astonished gaze. After a while, she smiled at him with a slightly flushed face and said in a sweet and sour playful tone, "So, junior brother, if Huanhuan leaves in the future, you must not forget Huanhuan, otherwise Huanhuan will be very sad."

Xu Mo's expression froze upon hearing this, and then he asked blankly, "Senior Sister, you... already know?"

Liang Huanhuan nodded with a smile and said, "Qingli reported to Huanhuan that you were unwilling to listen to her opinions, that you were a one-man show, and that you rejected her proposal and were unwilling to create the Longevity Martial Arts."

Yes, Xu Qingli, Xu Mo's daughter, was among those who proposed suspending research and creating the Longevity Martial Arts.

It's obvious that she made this suggestion for her mother, Liang Huanhuan. After all, Liang Huanhuan's lifespan was already more than halfway over after consuming the longevity pill refined by the human saintly ancestor, the Spirit of the Secret Realm.

Each person can only take one of these longevity pills in their lifetime. The reason for this is that they are all mortals now and cannot refine the medicinal power of the pill. One pill is already the limit. If they take another one, the pill will become a deadly poison.

As a daughter, Qingli naturally didn't want to see her mother grow old or be separated from her family, so it's perfectly normal for her to want the Longevity Martial Arts to be created.

Xu Mo rejected the suggestion. Qing Li was still throwing a tantrum at him, so she didn't even go home with him and instead worked overtime at the research institute. Xu Mo was quite helpless about this. He didn't know how to win her over. She was growing up and had her own ideas, which made him very happy.

After hearing Liang Huanhuan's explanation, Xu Mo remained silent for a moment, then said in a trembling voice, "Senior sister, I'm sorry."

Liang Huanhuan understood what he meant. Her junior brother felt guilty because he felt that he had rejected the proposal to create the Longevity Martial Arts, which prevented him from living longer.

Seeing this, she kissed and hugged Xu Mo again until even Xu Mo, who was like an old married couple, felt shy. Then she said in an extremely gentle tone, "Junior brother, you don't need to blame yourself. On the contrary, Huanhuan is very happy that you made this decision."

Then she said very seriously, "Although I can't explain why, what Huanhuan wants to say is that if you, junior brother, choose to stop your research and create the Longevity Martial Arts, Huanhuan will definitely be very sad and disappointed in you. She will feel that Huanhuan has misjudged and followed the wrong person."

"It's good as it is now. Huanhuan made the right choice. Junior brother, Huanhuan is really happy that you made this decision."

Then she waved her little hand a few times, hopped on tiptoe, and said with a grin, "Hehe, as expected of junior brother, Huanhuan is very happy. I won't say anymore, let Huanhuan reward you properly."

After saying that, she hugged Xu Mo and kissed him in his astonished gaze.

It wasn't until much later that Liang Huanhuan released him. Perhaps realizing she had gone too far, she coughed lightly, then said calmly, "Alright, junior brother, let's go back."

Xu Mo nodded slightly upon hearing this. He was still completely bewildered, his head buzzing, unable to understand why Senior Sister Huanhuan was being so enthusiastic today. After returning home, Xu Mo thought for a moment and said to Liang Huanhuan, "Senior Sister, you should rest for a bit. I'll invite Senior Brother Wang Er, Senior Sister Ye, and Fusheng to our house for dinner later."

After saying that, he added, "Yes, I'll cook myself."

Because the meals at home are usually prepared by Ou Fenjin and Xu Yaoyao, a master and apprentice.

Speaking of which, Ou Fenjin and Xu Yaoyao are now contemporary culinary masters with thousands of apprentices under their command, but Ou Fenjin still considers himself Xu Mo's servant, even though Xu Mo has told him many times to no avail.

Every time Xu Mo spoke up, telling him not to worry about him and that he could take care of himself, Ou Fenjin would put on a pitiful expression, his eyes red-rimmed, tears streaming down his face, and he would put on a heartbroken and blank expression as if he had been abandoned, and cry out in despair, "Young master, don't you want this old servant anymore? If there's anything I've done wrong, please tell me, and I will definitely correct it humbly."

Back when he first met Ou Fenjin on the Blood Demon Sect's territory, he was worried that this strange creature would devour its master, so he asked the Nine Wonders Peak Master to make a token to restrain it. But now Ou Fenjin is no longer restrained, and he no longer allows it to act as a servant. Instead, it can't shake it off. He can only say that he worried for nothing back then.

Faced with Ou Fenjin's acting skills at their peak, Xu Mo had no way to get rid of him and could only helplessly let him continue to be his old butler and take care of his life.

As for Xu Yaoyao, her idea was very simple: wherever her master was, that was where she would be. For a foodie like her, her mind was filled with all sorts of delicious food, so asking her to think about anything else was really too much to ask.

Therefore, for the past hundred years, Ou Fenjin and Xu Yaoyao, the master and apprentice pair, have continued to take care of the meals for Xu Mo's family every day, even when they had just recruited many apprentices. They have never stopped doing so.

Now that his apprentices have all mastered their culinary skills, they don't need to be as busy as before, let alone anything else.

Therefore, when Xu Mo went to the kitchen to prepare the meal, Ou Fenjin and Xu Yaoyao, who had just returned from the research institute, immediately erupted in chaos.

Ou Fenjin jumped up, looking heartbroken, and said, "Young master, do you think the food I cooked is bad?"

Xu Mo was speechless at Ou Fenjin's expression. Ever since Ou Fenjin learned that he was not good at dealing with this kind of expression, he would make this face every time something happened.

Seeing this, Xu Mo waved his hand and sighed helplessly, saying, "Alright, Lao Ou, today's situation is special. I need to cook a feast for everyone myself, including you and Yao Yao. You two rest first, I'll take care of it."

"This..." Ou Fenjin wanted to say something more, but Xu Mo interrupted him directly, saying, "What, do you expect me to kneel down and beg you?"

When Ou Fenjin saw Xu Mo's attitude, he turned pale with fright and hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "No need, no need. In that case, young master, this old servant will look forward to your cooking skills."

After saying that, he quickly pulled Xu Yaoyao, who was still looking bewildered, out of the kitchen. Xu Mo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. Ou Fenjin's acting skills were getting more and more natural.

At the dinner table, Xu Mo told Wang Erye, Qingyue, Ou Fenjin and Mo Fusheng, who were present, about his decision at the research institute, and expressed his apologies to them.

However, none of the people present blamed him. Instead, they comforted him, told him not to worry, and encouraged him to work hard.

Xu Mo was not surprised by this outcome. He knew the people around him, but it was precisely because of this that he was even more upset.

Whenever he considered overturning his decision and preparing to create the Longevity Martial Arts, an uneasy intuition within him prevented him from having the courage, leaving him only able to remain silent.

After the dinner, everything went as usual. There were no disturbances or resistance. Xu Mo's decision was absolute, and no one would think of overturning it.

Then time slowly passed, and several decades went by. But the expectation that deeper research might lead to the creation of the Martial Arts of Immortality did not materialize. Instead, as the research deepened, the previous inspirations about the Martial Arts of Immortality were disrupted and could no longer be found.

In other words, the path of immortality through martial arts has completely disappeared, and everyone can only go all the way to the end and make the path of cultivation reappear; there is no other way out.

However, in this atmosphere of desperate measures, Ou Fenjin unexpectedly came to the research institute that day and asked everyone to pause their research. He said that he was holding a cooking competition for his disciples and hoped that they would act as judges to select a new culinary master.

Everyone was very interested in this and participated enthusiastically. Then, during a culinary feast, a new generation of culinary masters was born from Ou Fenjin's newly accepted disciples.

Seeing the happy smiles on everyone's faces as they enjoyed the food at the research institute, Ou Fenjin also smiled sincerely.

For the next period of time, Ou Fenjin stopped working in the research institute's kitchen. Apart from continuing to be in charge of the meals for Xu Mo's family, he spent the rest of his time recording videos, making all the dishes he had ever learned in his life, and adding explanations and insights.

Then he released the video he recorded online for free.

After doing all this, Ou Fenjin cooked dinner for Xu Mo's family, including Wang Er and Ye Qingyue.

After the meal, the emaciated Ou Fenjin, trembling, gave Xu Mo a deep bow and offered his blessings:

“Young master, I have always thought about how to make people happy. Later, I thought I could use my cooking skills to bring happiness to people. However, it is obviously not enough. I can no longer do it now, but you can, young master. So please work hard and create a world where everyone is happy. I believe that you can definitely do it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Mo, Liang Huanhuan, Wang Er, Ye Qingyue, and the others fell silent, staring blankly at Ou Fenjin. This man, who had once been a strange being representing misfortune and calamity, had become a human, and even now, on his deathbed, he still hadn't forgotten his original dream...

He is indeed more suited to being human than most humans.

Finally, Xu Mo nodded at him, and Ou Fenjin smiled broadly upon seeing this...

Then the next day, he left with a smile.

(End of this chapter)