My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 219: Did a Cultivator Develop Anorexia? Cutting Open the Stomach to Stuff Food In Doesn’t Seem Excessive, Right?

The Foodless Holy Mother gazed at the spot where Qi Yuan stood.

To her, it appeared empty, as if there was nothing there. It all felt like an illusion, not something real.

“We met in the future?” the Foodless Holy Mother murmured without any emotion. “Met once?”

“Yeah,” Qi Yuan didn’t elaborate. That was the first time he had met the Foodless Holy Mother, witnessing her death. He couldn't very well say that after their first meeting, she died—that would be too insensitive.

The Foodless Holy Mother looked at Qi Yuan and suddenly smiled, a bright and radiant smile. “So that’s how it is.”

It seemed as if a doubt in her mind had been resolved, or perhaps everything had been confirmed.

“Weren’t you said to be someone who doesn’t smile?” Qi Yuan remarked casually.

After their previous meeting, Qi Yuan had encountered several followers of the Foodless Holy Mother and learned more about her. According to them, the Foodless Holy Mother was not only the strongest in the Fanxin Realm with astonishing battle prowess, but she also rarely smiled and was highly committed to keeping her word.

“Who says anyone is born not to smile?” the Foodless Holy Mother countered. “Do I need to smile at everyone I see?”

The upper part of her body was covered in a pink round-necked short jacket, and her lower body was wrapped in a vibrant red skirt embroidered with flowers. Her long black hair cascaded down to her waist, and her face, once again adorned with a radiant smile, seemed to brighten the dark night.

“Records are always misleading,” Qi Yuan thought to himself.

The records described the Foodless Holy Mother as stern and aloof, untouched by the world. Those were likely embellishments by later generations.

Looking at the Foodless Holy Mother before him, Qi Yuan felt she was hiding something, as if she held some secret.

“Everyone has a curious nature. Aren’t you worried that I might be lying to you? After all, saying I’ve met you in the future is something no sane person would believe,” Qi Yuan continued.

Moreover, in the future, when the Foodless Holy Mother met him, she didn’t show any signs of recognition, which made Qi Yuan curious. Could it be that the Foodless Holy Mother he met later wasn’t the same as the one before him now? Or did she lose her memory?

“Belief makes it real, disbelief makes it unreal. Whether I believe you or not is not important,” the Foodless Holy Mother replied, her voice like the gentle sound of a mountain stream.

“Your outlook is a bit high-level for me. I’m just a regular person, full of curiosity,” Qi Yuan remarked, not wanting to dwell on the topic.

After all, he and the Foodless Holy Mother were mere acquaintances. She was destined to fade away into the annals of history, and he couldn’t change history, nor did he have the power to.

However, something came to his mind, and he asked, “Have the evil gods appeared in the Fanxin Realm yet?”

The Foodless Holy Mother’s gaze suddenly turned icy. Even though they were not in the same time and space, Qi Yuan could feel a chilling cold, like the sharp edge of a drawn ice sword.

“Yes.”

“They are a great threat to the Fanxin Realm. Among them are one or two sun gods,” Qi Yuan relayed information from the future to the Foodless Holy Mother, thinking it might help the Fanxin Realm prepare and perhaps slightly alter its fate.

However, even with preparation, the hard reality might not change. The gap in raw power isn’t something that can be overcome by merely being prepared.

“I see,” the Foodless Holy Mother’s expression didn’t change much, as if she had merely heard about some insignificant insects.

This puzzled Qi Yuan, and he couldn’t help but ask, “You don’t think I’m lying to you, do you?”

If the Foodless Holy Mother thought he was lying, her reaction made sense—she probably thought he was just a fraud.

“How much of what you’ve told me is true, and how much is false?” the Foodless Holy Mother looked in the direction where Qi Yuan’s eyes would be, as if trying to see into his soul.

“So, you really don’t believe me,” Qi Yuan shrugged, not bothering to explain further. There was no need to make others believe him, as he and the Foodless Holy Mother were just acquaintances.

Qi Yuan set aside those thoughts and got straight to the point.

“You mentioned earlier that the Heaven Pillar might break—what do you mean by that?” Qi Yuan asked.

Could visualization really break the Heaven Pillar? Wasn’t the Heaven Pillar supposed to be broken by a sun god?

“The Visualization Mountain is a projection of the Heaven Pillar, and the two are deeply connected. The Heaven Pillar is not stable, and if you forcefully visualize again, it might break under the strain,” the Foodless Holy Mother explained.

Qi Yuan frowned. “Is that even possible?”

He had never heard of such a thing. He looked up at the towering Heaven Pillar and muttered, “Is this pillar so fragile? Just visualizing Lei Zu is too much for it?”

If he continued to visualize and caused the Heaven Pillar to break, what would happen? The idea intrigued Qi Yuan. If that happened, wouldn’t he be altering history? The Heaven Pillar wouldn’t have been broken by a sun god.

“If the Heaven Pillar breaks, the Fanxin Realm will fall into endless calamity,” the Foodless Holy Mother seemed to hear Qi Yuan’s thoughts and gently explained the consequences of the Heaven Pillar’s collapse.

“How can the Heaven Pillar be repaired?” Qi Yuan asked, looking at the Foodless Holy Mother. He still wanted to visualize others; the Heaven Pillar couldn’t really break.

“It’s quite simple,” the Foodless Holy Mother replied. “You just need… to eat.”

“Huh?” Qi Yuan was confused.

“When I reached the Venerable level, I became one with the Heaven Pillar, and now we are inseparable. I am the Heaven Pillar, and the Heaven Pillar is me,” the Foodless Holy Mother said calmly.

This surprised Qi Yuan, and he felt a bit guilty. “Does that mean I just broke one of your bones?”

If his visualization had caused the Visualization Mountain to crack, and that reflected on the Foodless Holy Mother, it meant she was injured.

The Foodless Holy Mother gave Qi Yuan a sidelong glance. “Repairing the Heaven Pillar isn’t difficult. I just need to eat something, and it will become stable again.”

“Is it that simple?” Qi Yuan was surprised and found it hard to believe. “Let me treat you to a meal!”

Of course, he couldn’t really treat the Foodless Holy Mother to a meal in the past, but he could return to Qing Shui Village, and when they had a feast, he could set up a place for her spirit and offer her food.

Naturally, he wouldn’t say this out loud. That would be too insensitive and might earn him a beating.

The Foodless Holy Mother looked at Qi Yuan, as if recalling something. “It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten anything.”

Qi Yuan nodded. The Foodless Holy Mother indeed didn’t eat. Her philosophy was that people are born pure and perfect, and eating or drinking anything would taint that purity; all things are poison.

“Well, then eat something!” Qi Yuan encouraged her. Only by eating could the Foodless Holy Mother repair the Heaven Pillar.

The Foodless Holy Mother remained unmoved.

Qi Yuan grew anxious. “Do you have anorexia?”

“Something like that.”

“Aren’t you a cultivator? How could you develop anorexia? At worst, you could just cut open your stomach and stuff the food in!” Qi Yuan suggested, trying to come up with a solution.

The woman in the red dress looked at Qi Yuan coldly, her hand pulling back a corner of her pink jacket, revealing snow-white skin. Her waist was slender and elegant.

She glared at Qi Yuan. “You want to cut me open?”

“Just kidding,” Qi Yuan laughed heartily. He wasn’t that crazy.

“Do you want to eat something?” Qi Yuan asked again. Then, he added, “A person in the Liu family, a thousand miles away, died today. Do you want to go to the funeral feast?”

He was making it up, but surely, someone a thousand miles away had died. In this world, people die every moment.

Hearing about a feast, the frost on the Foodless Holy Mother’s face melted away. “You cook for me.”

“You’re making things hard for me!” Qi Yuan sighed. “I only know how to make two dishes: ice stir-fried with cold water and boiled ice cubes.”

He couldn’t cook anything! Being in the past, he couldn’t touch anything, so how could he cook?

“But I can guide you through it,” Qi Yuan offered. He was great at being a commander.

The Foodless Holy Mother had finally agreed to eat, so he naturally wanted to oblige.

“Would you prefer spicy fish or steamed fish?” Qi Yuan asked.

The Foodless Holy Mother paused, a bit lost in thought. “I like spicy food.”

“Spicy fish it is!” Qi Yuan was excited. He finally got the Foodless Holy Mother to agree to eat. However, he thought of something and asked quietly, “How much do you need to eat to fully repair the Heaven Pillar?”

“Maybe… until you leave,” the Foodless Holy Mother didn’t give a direct answer.

“How do you know I’m leaving?” Qi Yuan looked at the Foodless Holy Mother’s eyes, trying to discern something.

“Are you planning to stay?” The Foodless Holy Mother’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

“...No.”

The Lost Glow Stick had a time limit. At most, he could stay in the past for four days.

Looking at the radiant smile in the red-dressed woman’s eyes, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but ask, “Have we met before?”

He had only one use left of the Lost Glow Stick. Had he met the Foodless Holy Mother during that last use?

“No,” the red-dressed woman shook her head. “When will you teach me to make spicy fish?”

“Right now, immediately!” Qi Yuan was eager. “But I need to enter the Visualization Realm a day before I leave to finish my visualizations.”

“Alright,” the Foodless Holy Mother nodded.

“Do you have pots, pans, and utensils? What about seasonings?” Qi Yuan glanced at the Foodless Holy Mother’s bamboo hut. It was empty, devoid of anything useful.

“No,” the Foodless Holy Mother shook her head.

“Could you make some?” Qi Yuan suggested. As a Venerable, she could easily conjure those items, or even an entire dish of spicy fish.

The Foodless Holy Mother ignored Qi Yuan’s words and began walking away, her steps light. “We’ll buy them at the foot of the mountain.”

Hearing this, Qi Yuan could only follow her.

“Buy a lot. I’m worried you might break the spatula with your strength,” Qi Yuan followed closely behind the Foodless Holy Mother, leaving the area.

Looking ahead, the lake was clear, with green aquatic plants and fish swimming around, creating ripples.

Qi Yuan and the Foodless Holy Mother walked on the surface of the lake.

“There are plenty of fish in this lake; we could have a banquet with a hundred fish dishes.”

...

Outside the Heaven Pillar.

Venerable Ling Zhong, who had left earlier, returned once more.

His headless figure was even more eerie in the dark night.

Before him stood the towering mountain that reached into the clouds.

Venerable Ling Zhong spoke heavily, “The Heaven Pillar is unstable, and the Foodless Holy Mother... is injured?”

Elder Fanxin, standing beside Venerable Ling Zhong, wore a worried expression. “Now that the evil gods have invaded, the Heaven Pillar is crucial. It cannot be lost.”

Behind them, a few true gods followed, looking curiously at the Heaven Pillar. These young true gods were quite curious about the Foodless Holy Mother, a mythical figure. Now that they had the chance to meet her, they were understandably nervous.

“Is it true that the Foodless Holy Mother is cold and never smiles?” one of the ancient gods asked curiously.

“With the name ‘Foodless,’ the Foodless Holy Mother’s path is difficult to comprehend,” another replied.

“It’s not just difficult to comprehend; it’s downright baffling. I heard that when the Foodless Holy Mother was young, a myth admired her talent and offered her divine domain elixir. She refused because she wouldn’t consume anything.”

As one of the venerables mentioned this, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

That was divine domain elixir, a treasure that could awaken the seed of a divine domain. Yet the Foodless Holy Mother had refused it, simply because she didn’t eat anything.

Elder Fanxin’s face showed a look of recollection. “The myth you’re talking about is me.”

To this day, he couldn’t understand why the Foodless Holy Mother refused. The divine domain elixir was a pure and clean treasure, a primordial object, and consuming it wouldn’t have affected the Foodless Holy Mother’s path. Yet she still refused.

Venerable Ling Zhong spoke up, “I’ve known her for a thousand years. She doesn’t consume any earthly food; in fact, she seems to have some aversion to it. Remember, in the presence of the Foodless Holy Mother, do not mention food or drink, or else... suffer the consequences.”

The venerables behind him were startled and began to fearfully hide their pills, elixirs, and wines in their storage pouches. They didn’t want to accidentally offend the unpredictable and powerful figure.

“Why did the Foodless Holy Mother leave the Heaven Pillar? It’s strange—since she became one with it, she hasn’t left in thousands of years,” Elder Fanxin noted, looking at the Heaven Pillar with a puzzled expression.

The Heaven Pillar was always in a state of disrepair, on the verge of collapse. So, the Foodless Holy Mother had always stayed there, guarding it.

“Hey, there’s someone!” a true god suddenly exclaimed.

The group looked up to see a stream of light slowly passing through the sky. In the light was a woman in a red dress, her skin as white as snow, her face extraordinarily beautiful, her long black hair cascading like a waterfall. Her lovely face was adorned with a shallow dimpled smile, as if she had stepped out of a painting.

However, this ethereal beauty was holding three pots and several spatulas, with pots, pans, and a cleaver hanging from her waist.

“Is that... the Foodless Holy Mother?” an ancient god blinked in disbelief.

This didn’t match their expectations. Wasn’t the Foodless Holy Mother supposed to be untouched by worldly matters? Wasn’t she said to rarely smile? Why was she laughing to herself, holding pots and pans, with a cleaver hanging from her waist?

Elder Fanxin was also taken aback, almost thinking he had mistaken her for someone else.

Venerable Ling Zhong, fortunate to have no head, would have had an expressive face otherwise.

“Foodless... what are you doing?” Venerable Ling Zhong voiced his question.

The Foodless Holy Mother noticed the group, her smile still lingering. She cast a sidelong glance at her companion and then looked at the group with deep eyes. “Why have you returned?”

That look was familiar. Venerable Ling Zhong let out a sigh of relief; this was the Foodless Holy Mother he knew. What happened earlier must have been a hallucination.

Still, he couldn’t help but notice the items hanging from her waist.

“The Heaven Pillar was shaking, so Elder Fanxin and I came to check. Is your body alright?” Venerable Ling Zhong asked.

“Fine,” the Foodless Holy Mother replied curtly.

Elder Fanxin then asked, “Will you join us in the Hongtang battle against the evil gods in six months?”

The Heaven Pillar’s instability had made Elder Fanxin worry that the Foodless Holy Mother might be injured, affecting her participation in the battle.

“I will,” the Foodless Holy Mother’s response was brief.