Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

Xu Xingguang knew Huo Wen’an would let Zheng Qin and the others stream live, intending to convey their real-time dynamics to her.

Such a clever trick.

Xu Xingguang followed the clues to find the platform where they were streaming, downloaded the software, and registered her own account.

She named her account ’Little Star,’ the same one she had used on a streaming platform in the Mortal World, aiming to attract Huo Wen’an’s attention.

Searching for ’Xingguang Dream Journey’ in the app, she indeed found their live streaming account, with an avatar of a blazing nine-grid hotpot bowl.

Having eaten nutrient for twenty consecutive days, Xu Xingguang found the hotpot irresistibly tempting; she licked her lips, suppressed the hunger, and entered the account.

The account had already attracted over 3,400 fans, and Xu Xingguang clicked follow, becoming the 3,500th follower.

After some thought, she wrote in the bio section—

[Savior of the Culinary Desert]

The next day after work, she closed the door of Medicine Field No. 18 and plunged into a densely forested area on Cattle Hump.

Elder Tan Nan noticed she headed towards the uninhabited forest, instead of Wuyuan Town, a flicker of confusion flashed in her eyes.

What’s that girl doing in the wild mountains and woods?

What is she doing?

She caught a wild rabbit in the wilderness, intending to make spicy rabbit.

Xu Xingguang’s Reincarnation Space contained the culinary recipes she independently developed on the Food Continent, her cooking tools, and the seasonings she had collected.

By the stream in the forest, she picked a flat patch of grass, made a modified stove using a discarded iron barrel, and then summoned Eagle Sparrow.

”Eagle Sparrow.” Xu Xingguang used her mind to control Eagle Sparrow as her photographer, ”Behave, whether your master can become a culinary hit in the Divine Martial Realm depends on you.”

Eagle Sparrow’s lifelike eyes flashed with a dim light, and under Xu Xingguang’s mental command, it sometimes squatted for shots, sometimes captured from a bird’s-eye view, and when inspired, it could even spin around to shoot a rotating video.

Wearing an embroidered long dress, the woman tied a black and white checkered apron around her waist, cooked a fragrant spicy rabbit by the murmuring stream and under the beautiful sunset.

She presented the freshly cooked spicy rabbit to the camera, and only then turned off the smart device’s filming function.

Wearing the smart device on her wrist, she patted Eagle Sparrow’s head and said, ”Let’s go back.”

Xu Xingguang carried the culinary dish back to Wuyuan Town, and after some inquiries, she found Elder Tan Nan’s residence. She lived alone in a stilted villa built on the mountain, with only an intelligent machine butler.

Xu Xingguang rang the bell, and the machine butler opened the door, releasing a blue light defense wave outside. The intelligent machine butler said, ”Hello, ma’am, who are you looking for?”

While asking, the butler’s internal camera function was already activated, scanning Xu Xingguang’s appearance, and transmitting it to Elder Tan Nan’s smart device.

Elder Tan Nan’s voice came from the hallway intercom: ”Wait a moment, I’m taking a bath.”

Then Elder Tan Nan added, ”Nu Nu, invite the guest in for tea.”

Nu Nu’s round face suddenly showed an adorable smile, speaking in a soft, cute voice: ”Please come in, guest. What would you like to drink?”

Xu Xingguang casually said, ”A cup of Black Eagle Tea.”

Nu Nu shook her head and said, ”Sorry, the option for Black Eagle Tea is not programmed into me.”

Not quite intelligent enough yet; if it were Eagle Sparrow, it would certainly start to bluff by now, because Eagle Sparrow contains a cutting-edge ultra-smart chip from the interstellar age, mimicking Xu Xingguang’s neural structure.

It’s essentially a copy of Xu Xingguang, the difference being it won’t evolve.

Yet this cold machine surprisingly developed its own War Spirit, closing off its combat will after Xu Xingguang’s battle demise, becoming scrap metal.

Only when transported by Reincarnation Space to her did its combat will reawaken.

Carrying the spicy rabbit, Xu Xingguang followed Nu Nu into the house, sitting on the sofa while Nu Nu brewed a cup of bitter black coffee for her.

With some studies to do at night, Xu Xingguang felt more spirited drinking coffee, holding the cup while assessing Elder Tan Nan’s house.

Looking up, she saw along the stairs to the second floor a photo of Elder Tan Nan with a slightly younger appearance, wearing a doctor’s robe alongside a man with black-framed glasses, exuding high education and scholarly charm.

The man appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, aging but still retaining the handsome allure of his youth.

”This is my husband,” Elder Tan Nan said, wearing a crossed-neck robe, stepping down from the stairway platform in white cotton slippers.

As she passed by the photo, she stopped, reached out to touch the man’s chest in the picture, and said with a smile to Xu Xingguang, ”His name is Ying Sinan, the dean of an academy of culture.”

Dean of the Academy of Culture.

Xu Xingguang said, ”Isn’t he a Super Power User?”

Shaking her head, Elder Tan Nan said, ”No.”

But Elder Tan Nan is.

Elder Tan Nan guessed what Xu Xingguang was thinking and said calmly, ”In the Divine Martial Realm, Super Power Users generally marry other Super Power Users, because that way, both strength and age are relatively compatible.”

”A Super Power User can typically live over 200 years, while ordinary humans live at most eighty or ninety years.”

She tugged at the neckline of her pajamas, walked to the single white sofa opposite Xu Xingguang, sat down, crossed her legs, picked up the flower tea brewed by Nu Nu, took a sip, and said, ”Ying Sinan died when I was 85.”

Smiling at Xu Xingguang, Elder Tan Nan said, ”He was five years older than me.”

So, Ying Sinan lived to be 90, which is quite a long life in the mortal world.

”Granny Nan, how old are you this year?” Xu Xingguang found it difficult to discern the actual age of a Super Power User by their appearance.

Elder Tan Nan said, ”180 years.”

She gently stroked the cup in her hand, expressing some emotion, ”He’s been gone for 95 years.”

Xu Xingguang glanced sideways at the wall to the left, which had a fireplace. Above it was a solid wood shelf for cups, upon which sat a clay-colored teacup, identical in style to the one in Elder Tan Nan’s hand.

They must be couple’s teacups.

”What is that?” Elder Tan Nan stared at the ceramic soup bowl on the coffee table, ”Is it a dish?” Elder Tan Nan is a revered doctor whom even the City Lord of Golden Gate City must respectfully refer to as ’Lord Tan Nan.’ When she lived in Medicine King City, her family hired a chef to cook.

Though the chef’s cooking was quite average, it was still tastier than a nutrient.

”It’s a dish I personally made, thinking Elder Tan Nan might not have tasted mortal world cuisine, so I brought it for you to try.”

Xu Xingguang lifted the lid of the soup bowl, and a strong spicy aroma instantly wafted out, changing Elder Tan Nan’s expression.

”This smell...” Elder Tan Nan’s eyes flickered for a while before sighing, ”My husband once made a dish for me that smelled very similar to this, called spicy chicken feet.”

Elder Tan Nan was tearful, she looked up and elegantly wiped her tears, then said, ”I forgot to mention that my lover was also from the mortal world, he was from the Ying Clan of the mortal world.”

”I see.” Xu Xingguang told Elder Tan Nan, ”The Ying family from the mortal world is located around the Chuancheng area. People living in that region love spicy food, so it’s normal for your husband to know how to make this dish.”

”But his cooking skills weren’t that great. He seldom cooked, only doing so occasionally when he missed the flavors of home, and would ask me to get some ingredients for him.”

Unexpectedly, after nearly a century, she encountered her husband’s favorite hometown dish again, and Elder Tan Nan was immediately filled with appetite. ”Let me try it.”

She only had a bite and was immediately overwhelmed with tears from the spiciness.

People from the Divine Martial Realm are used to nutrients and rarely eat spicy food.

After the spiciness came a numbing aroma, the taste was so compelling that Elder Tan Nan continued eating while crying. After finishing a small half bowl of the dish, her eyes were swollen from crying.

”Delicious.” Elder Tan Nan gave Xu Xingguang a thumbs up, looking at Xu Xingguang as if looking at her own child. ”Someone who is overly friendly for no reason is either a traitor or a thief, speak up, what do you want from me?”

Xu Xingguang tilted her head and chuckled before saying, ”A few days ago, during a vacation, I went to Golden Gate City with a group of aunts from the town, and at Mule Department Store, I met the beloved children of the Golden Gate City’s City Lord. Hmm, I had a bit of a conflict with them.”

Elder Tan Nan wiped her tears away, somewhat admiring Xu Xingguang: ”On your first day in the city, you managed to offend the two most influential figures in town, you have quite the knack for causing trouble.”

”It’s not my fault.” Xu Xingguang made a distressed expression, she said: ”It’s just that my teacher is too impressive, renowned throughout the Central Yu Continent. It’s said that Miss Jin once wanted to apprentice under you, but having failed the internship test, she gave up halfway. Probably having heard that I’m your student, she was bitter and deliberately made things difficult for me.”

Xu Xingguang flashed a clever smile at Elder Tan Nan and said with righteousness: ”I am your student. When I’m humiliated outside, they won’t say I’m useless, they’ll only say Elder Tan Nan’s new disciple is a useless fool!”

”To stop these rumors, I had no choice but to offend the siblings altogether.”

That was indeed how things happened, but as Xu Xingguang’s eloquent mouth articulated it, the hatred level skyrocketed, even making Elder Tan Nan want to give Miss Jin a few slaps.

Elder Tan Nan smiled mockingly, pointing at Xu Xingguang and saying: ”You little fox, your skill of twisting the truth is quite something. If Mrs. Tang hadn’t already told me about what happened that day, I would have really believed your nonsense.”

Xu Xingguang raised an eyebrow, ”Mrs. Tang is your person?”

Elder Tan Nan snorted and then said, ”She used to be my maid. After I retired and settled back in my hometown, she followed me back.”

I see.