Qi Yuan still recalled the fight between No-Food Goddess and the Yang Spirit's projection.Though covered in wounds, she hadn't faltered once. Moreover, during the Hongtang War, he had seen her eat fish. She seemed utterly carefree at the time.

What is going on?

Qi Yuan urged her. "Are you alright? Use your Dao techniques to spit the fish out!"

Unfortunately, he couldn't glean any useful information through his eyes. With time and space standing between them, he couldn't help her at all.

There was no response. No-Food Goddess appeared to be asleep.

After a long while, a voice as faint as a mosquito came from her lips. "I'm fine. Maybe if I sleep for a while, everything will be better... The Heavenly Pillar might be fully repaired."

Qi Yuan was anxious beyond measure. "What's going on? Did this happen when you ate before? Then why did you still eat?"

He couldn't understand at all.

A few moments later, her weak voice came again. "I don't know... Wait until tomorrow."

Since he didn't want to exert a response from her, Qi Yuan didn't say anything more. He stood quietly by her side, his mind replaying scene after scene, thinking deeply.

Her Dao dictated that all things were impure, and so consuming them brought harm. Could it be that she had a special constitution that forbade her from eating? Still, it couldn't mean eating nothing whatsoever. Could it be innate?

Suddenly, Qi Yuan remembered Qi Qi’s words. Presumably, No-Food Goddess had an Innate Flawless Physique—pure and spotless, akin to glazed glass. However, once it partook of mortal smoke and fire, it would be stained. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

No-Food Goddess's reaction was even stronger than expected. Could it be her actual physique was more extreme than the Innate Flawless Physique? Solving her condition and the pillar's issue was of utmost priority.

He didn't know how much time passed before a weak voice sounded again. "You're still here?"

"Mhm."

"The fish... I want to drink... no..."

"Big Sis, stop eating!" Qi Yuan quickly said. "There's not even any soup left. You're already speaking incoherently."

If she kept eating, he was afraid she'd die right in front of him. No-Food Goddess didn't speak again. She lay quietly on the ground, not attempting to get up. The room was silent, without even the sound of her breathing.

After an unknown amount of time, Qi Yuan's gaze fell on the plate of fish.

[Ordinary Braised Fish. Appears to be tainted by the impurities of the mortal world.]

"Impurities?" Qi Yuan's thoughts churned. "Is it because of this impurity?"

While dwelling on the word “impurity,” he quickly looked at other items. Earlier, he had discovered that focusing on something with a specific intent made it easier to achieve the desired result. It was worth noting that he could scan the same item just once a day. Any new information would be updated the next day.

[No-Food Goddess's Red Dress. Woven from ten-thousand-year weak silk. Spotless and free of dust.]

...

[Ordinary Bamboo Mat. Tainted by the impurities of the mortal world.]

[Ordinary Fish. Weighed three pounds and two ounces.]

Qi Yuan rapidly scanned through everything, especially the tens of thousands of fish in the lake. He scrutinized each one, searching for useful information. Suddenly, his gaze froze.

[Ordinary Fish. Tainted by the impurities of the mortal world. To remove the impurities, it must be cleansed by blood that is flawless as glazed glass.]

Qi Yuan froze. Blood flawless as glazed glass? Didn't he possess Immaculate Golden Physique?

In the Flowing Wind World, Bai Ze had given Qi Yuan the Great Sun Golden Lotus. Using it, Qi Yuan had forged the Supreme Glazed Immaculate Golden Physique. Beyond enhancing his strength, his physique alone enabled him to devour stars and forge a Golden Core. Without it, he couldn't even hope of containing the Star Golden Core.

Still, since it was far inferior compared to the Star Golden Core, he usually bragged about his core instead. He never expected that the physique's blood would have such use. However, there wasn't much of it. Losing even a drop would injure him. He'd have to endure if he were to draw it out.

Qi Yuan couldn't help but complain, "Is playing this damn game not enough? It still wants my blood! How am I supposed to bleed into the past?!"

Even if he wanted to draw blood, he shouldn't have been able to. Still, there was no other option.

"I'll just have to try!”

No-Food Goddess was still half-asleep. The pillar was still broken. There was still a whole lineup of gods he wanted to visualize. The game wasn't cleared.

"Haa... Draining my mental energy isn't enough, it even wants my blood. If the reward is trash, I won't let it slide!"

Qi Yuan's gaze sharpened as he looked at his finger. Under his gaze, his finger turned crystalline and clear. Several drops of pure, transparent blood were squeezed out, dripping downward. He turned somewhat pale, and even swayed slightly.

Terrifying flames roared above the Star Golden Core. Qi Yuan's consciousness blurred briefly as endless fire seemed to scorch him.

He muttered, "It's actually asking for my life!"

With a taut face, he fixed his gaze on the falling blood and the fish on the plate. If the purification failed, he'd have to pull the blood back.

In the next instant, surprise flashed through Qi Yuan's eyes.

The transparent blood seemed to cross space itself. It drips onto the fish, before melting away and vanishing. The dish looked exactly the same as before.

Just then, No-Food Goddess seemed to smell something. Her delicate nose twitched slightly. "So hungry..."

She opened her eyes. Her pale complexion had improved noticeably, a healthy flush appearing.

Qi Yuan saw a suppressed longing in her eyes.

He asked cautiously, "Would you like to try eating some more?"

A hint of confusion appeared in No-Food Goddess's eyes. She picked up her chopsticks and ate another piece of fish, chewing slowly. Soon, she started to eat faster and faster, shedding all her ladylike grace.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan couldn't help but smile. As long as she could eat, that was all that mattered. He'd been afraid she couldn't.

He said, "Eat slowly. If you're still hungry, we can cook more fish."

No-Food Goddess paused, then turned toward where Qi Yuan was.

Her gaze was profound, carrying a trace of longing. "How did you do it?"

Qi Yuan chuckled, not revealing the truth. "It is a secret.”

For some reason, looking at No-Food Goddess sent a shiver down his spine, as if he were prey facing a predator.

No-Food Goddess stared at his spot, as if trying to look into his eyes and extract the answer from them. However, she saw nothing, and heard nothing more.

Just then, she asked, "Are you afraid of me?"

Qi Yuan smiled. "No."

That sense of dread had come and gone in an instant.

No-Food Goddess said leisurely while eating, "Shouldn't it be me who's afraid of you? I can't see you or sense you, yet I can hear your voice. If I were just a mortal, I’d think there was a ghost beside me. Now, I'm already a Mythic, standing at the pinnacle of this world. Isn't it terrifying that I still can't sense you in spite of that?"

She smiled brilliantly, with a hint of helplessness.

Qi Yuan admitted after some thought, "Now that you put it that way, it really is pretty terrifying."

If he were in her position, he'd definitely be wary of someone he couldn't sense at all.

No-Food Goddess said nothing more, chewing her fish slowly.

Stars were few in the night sky, and a cool breeze drifted through. Within the Heavenly Pillar, the night was somewhat cold.

Qi Yuan sat nearby, gazing at the starry sky. "In the future, two of those stars up there will be mine."

He was showing off again.

Then, his tone shifted. "What kind of constitution do you have, that you can't eat anything?"