4 The Eight Tailed Comet
In the end, Shang Xuan stepped through the Spiritual Conflux's Dragon Gate with a bleeding heart and sour throat.
The Ancestor of Flame ignored the awe-inspiring arches formed by the bones of an archaic dragon, and his fingers burned the old lady's soup to ashes.
Under the envious gaze of an infinite number of mortal souls forced to drink the grueling soup that obliviated their minds for their next time, the youth clad in flames stepped into the portal, his body quickly merging into the distortion of spatial coordinates.
"Take care, my dear old friend!"
Meng Po cackled from above as she tinkered with the large cauldron, her hands cheerfully tossing in abysmal ingredients into the bubbling mixture under the assistance of three intern succubus obtained from the Demon Plane.
The three interns' countenances blanched at the horrifying ingredient clutched in the Seventh Ancestor's hands, their minds pitying the next few thousand souls fated to drink this batch of soup.
"Screw off!" the Flame Ancestor howled as he vanished into the darkness of the void.
"Old Meng, I'm warning you. You dare trash my wine collection whilst I'm away, this Ancestor will wage war!"
With that, Shang Xuan quickly formed a ball of light with his hands, stamping his spiritual imprint into the core of the glowing sphere of flames. The Flame Ancestor tore at the walls of the void to thoroughly conceal his presence from the detection of the Three Realms, before closing his eyes to enter a relaxed slumber.
"I wasn't thinking about it, but you gave me a rather fine idea, Old Shang…"
Back at the Spiritual Conflux, Meng Po's eyes gleamed with a crafty light, and the ingredient worthy of dooming a million mortal souls to at least five hundred lifetimes of absolute misfortune spun in the air to land spectacularly into the bubbling cauldron.
-
Planet Earth, Zhejiang Province, 1974.
At Lishui City, there existed a startup company named Zhong Commercial Foods, having been established just a year prior. The owner of the infantile company, Zhong Hengjie, was a recent graduate from Cambridge University from overseas; considered to be one of the artefacts of pride in the youthful generation of Zhejiang Province.
No more than two months after returning from abroad, the cheerful youth wielded his diploma in business and marketing to establish his own company – dabbling in what the government desired at that time, easily packaged and manufactured rations.
Zhong Hengjie belied on his reputation as a dazzling star in the progress of education and fame, and in no less than half a year, Lishui City found itself staring at another massive factory claiming a plot of land dedicated for future administrative or legislative buildings.
Having received governmental permission from the province to establish his company's factory within Lishui's currently empty plots of land, the private contractors and affiliated familial clans could only watch as the originally beautiful and scenic environment was defiled by a hulking mass of blackened concrete and tar.
Zhong Hengjie did manage to make peace with these ravenous beasts of the real estate and commercial development market, for he promised to relent and not construct a second factory within Lishui.
The acre-wide plot of land was dedicated to the youth's dazzling and brilliant idea of prepackaging military rations based on his and inspirations derived from the western nations, permitting Hua to catch up to their international neighbors of the global market.
With once central command post and three complexes digging underground to comprise of refineries, packaging plants, service hubs and even an independent processing laboratory, Zhong Hongjie's Zhong Commercial Foods rose from the ground to soar into the skies.
Dried and packaged, re-heatable foods that could be cooked and consumed within ten minutes total – that fully satisfied the craving stomachs of the military's strategic and logistics management directors who sought after domestic production of their soldiers' meals.
Furthermore, the wide array of foods available by Zhong Commercial Foods was insanely satisfying and glorifying to both the company's owner, and the nation.
From western delicacies such as shredded beef, brisket, pasta, chicken, the American pizza to eastern, heartwarming meals like char siu or baozi; the prepackaged, reheatable foods produced under the management of Hua's most recent graduate from Cambridge University took over the nation by storm in less than a month.
Producing more than four thousand meals a day priced at seven RMB a pack, the profits were more than sufficient to satisfy Zhong Hengjie's gluttony -
"Boss, cheers!"
A red-faced employee raised his glass towards the darkening sky to toast his powerful and almighty Boss; as one of the oldest employees of the company, he had watched Zhong Commercial Foods rise from a pipe dream to an overlord of the packaged food market.
With the aid of alcohol's inhibitors on his logic, the employee's flattering ability soared to the heavens.
"Everyone, thank you for all of your hard effort, for Zhong Commercial Foods would not have risen otherwise," Zhong Hengjie raised his glass towards the rest of the employees seated at the tables.
"Thus, as Boss of the company, I command you all to eat! Everything on this table is for you to enjoy, to celebrate our success for the year!"
"At once, Boss!"
The employees released a happy roar, their chopsticks whetted and prepared to dig into the succulent feast before them. Ignoring all decorum, the workers ignored social distinction or age as they happily conversed, ate, and drank to their heart's content.
Zhong Hengjie rose from his seat to gaze upon the twilight sky, his ears and nose filled with the invigorating and heartwarming effects of an outdoor barbecue. The young man carefully took a deep breath as he gazed upon the myriad sea of stars gracing the darkening backdrop of the heavens, his mind flickering towards the past.
Eight years ago, he had wished for financial success whilst in struggling through poverty and high school at the same time.
The youth back then had wished for nothing more than earning enough to satisfy his family's desires and needs, for the sight of his parent's smiles during their suffering had broken his heart.
Now, with eight years of blood and heart-rending effort, he had accomplished his dream. Now, Zhong Hengjie could open his gaze upon the wide world, and seek after the higher dreams that were once obscured from his presen-
Whoosh!
"What is that?" Zhong Hengjie murmured, his slightly drunken eyes narrowing in surprise.
"A comet?"
The streak of light flashing across the sky was nothing more than a brief slash through twilight; it lasted for no more than half a second at the most. Remembering several memories of his childhood, Zhong Hengjie lowered his head and uttered a wish deeply within his heart.
The sky returned to its normal state in silence, without any inclination of the mysterious phenomenon just a few seconds earlier.
However, undetected to the eyes of the world, a glowing ball of fire departed onto a desolate patch of land – the northernmost regions of Russia uninhabitable due to the unbearable weather conditions. The ball of light swathed in fire rested before a tranquil lake, appraising its appearance in respectful silence.
Suddenly, the surface of the still lake rippled, and an ancient voice rang forth.
[Old Shang, do you like this world? Just as you asked, this world is devoid of spiritual essence, instead operating on an existence the mortals call science.]
The glowing ball of light hummed with a faint hue of blue, whirling from one end of the lake to the other as it explored the clearing of the forest. A few breaths afterwards, the sphere wreathed in fire hovered above the lake, a youth's voice emanating from its core.
[It's not a bad world, though I wonder whether it was worth the brutal exhortation, Old Meng.]
The surface of the lake became turbid as the woman in the Spiritual Conflux clutched at her sides in laughter. Meng Po shook the mirror in her hand, before directing a curious glance towards an ephemeral and beautiful woman displaying a dissatisfied expression.
[Why, my dear old friend, I could give you a reduced price. You'd just have to converse with Chuyan for a little here.]
[...no!]
The orb of light trembled, spilling its rays upon the dark forest. As the inhabitants of the forest quivered in distaste and insomniac anger, Shang Xuan angrily shook his fist towards the lake's surface.
[Don't you dare, Old Meng! Remember our agreement!]
[Yes, yes, I'll keep the coordinates of your physical form hidden from the Three Realms, as well as mislead that interesting young lass from chasing after you.]
The lake gently rippled once and returned to its tranquil and calm state, as though the previous events had not influenced its presence. The orb of light gently drifted to rest on the bank, obscuring itself from the rest of the world.
[Go enjoy your vacation, and remember to hand over four Bloody Mary's a month, ah?]
Shang Xuan could hear Meng Po's cackle of laughter from the Spiritual Conflux, and couldn't help but despondently shake his head numerous times. The Flame Ancestor sighed as he glanced towards the twilight sky, his thoughts hidden from the rest.
Finally, after what seemed to constitute an eternity's worth of contemplation, the youth hidden within the sphere of light parted his lips.
"Mu, Xi, Hu, go and prepare this mortal world for me," Shang Xuan muttered with an aimless voice.
"I want to have a peaceful vacation, ah."
"Understood!"
Three flames surged towards the sky and disappeared from the forest, merging into the flood of stars hovering in the twilight.
The plumes of flames drilled into the ground unseen, their influence gradually taking root into the world.
The Flame Ancestor took a final glance towards the tranquil lake hidden in the northern regions of Russia that had escaped the yoke of civilization, an unheard sigh echoing throughout the forest.
"Once I settle down, I have a hundred and twenty years at the maximum for my vacation… so let's explore for a bit before that, shall I?"
