Scion Mountain's trial grounds were a sprawling expanse of surreal wilderness. Ancient trees with faces carved by wind and time loomed overhead, their branches swaying as if whispering secrets. Bioluminescent flowers blinked under the shadows, and in the distance, a waterfall roared with the fury of a thousand angry teapots. The very air tingled with spiritual energy—and the promise of absurd challenges ahead.
Li Fan crept along a mossy path, senses alert. It had been an hour since he entered, and so far, he'd managed not to die. A promising start, he thought wryly. He'd seen no other participants since everyone scattered, each choosing their own route up the mountain to seek the Jade Lotus. The quiet was eerie. In the mortal world's forests, you'd hear birds and critters. Here, now that he paid attention, Li Fan realized the fauna were... different.
Somewhere to his left, a creature made a sound like a bicycle horn – honk honk – causing him to freeze mid-step. Slowly, he peeked past a fern and spotted a two-headed pheasant squabbling with itself. One head warbled melodically, the other head scolded in perfect human language, "Shut up, I'm trying to sing!" Li Fan decided he had seen enough and tiptoed onward. The Heavenly Realm's wildlife was truly unique.
Up ahead, the trees opened into a small clearing. In its center gurgled a hot spring, steam curling invitingly. There was an inviting smell in the air, like spiced broth. Li Fan's stomach reminded him that being slapped silly was hungry work. Perhaps he could take a quick break to eat Yuechan's dumplings?
He approached cautiously and tested the water with a finger – it was warm, the perfect temperature. Setting down his wok and pack, Li Fan took out one of the dumplings Yuechan had given him. They were still slightly warm and filled with fragrant vegetables. He sighed happily and popped one in his mouth. Delicious, of course; Yuechan did nothing by halves, it seemed.
As Li Fan chewed, he felt the ground tremble slightly. Ripples formed on the surface of the hot spring. Uh oh. He quickly swallowed, senses on high alert again. The tremor grew, water sloshing. With a sudden eruption, something huge burst out of the spring, sending a wave of broth-scented water flooding the clearing.
Li Fan scrambled up a rock, soaked from the knees down. Blinking through the steam, he saw the culprit: a massive Broth Boar – a boar-like beast wreathed in aromatic steam, with noodles dangling from its tusks. It snorted, and a jet of scalding soup sprayed out of its snout, narrowly missing Li Fan. This creature literally bathed in soup, perhaps even was a part of it. Heaven's sense of humor seemed to include soup-based wildlife.
The Broth Boar glared at Li Fan for disturbing its soak. It pawed the ground, preparing to charge. Li Fan's mind raced. Fighting wasn't his forte, but maybe he could use brains over brawn. Or flavor over force?
He quickly reached into his satchel and grabbed the first spice jar his fingers found – a small tin of Sichuan peppercorn powder. Not exactly a weapon, but in cooking it packed a punch of heat and numbing zing.
The boar charged, squealing. Li Fan sidestepped behind a tree, and as the beast thundered past, he flung a handful of peppercorn powder at its face. A cloud of fine spice met the boar's snout. The creature skidded to a halt, snorting in confusion. Then it sneezed. Once, twice—then an uncontrollable fit of sneezing took over. Each sneeze sent out spurts of broth, making it look like a living soup fountain.
Seizing the moment, Li Fan darted out. The boar's eyes were watering from the spicy assault. Li Fan felt a twinge of sympathy (he knew how potent Sichuan pepper could be). But he needed to ensure it wouldn't keep attacking. He spotted some wild ginseng growing by a stump—maybe something tasty would calm it?
Working quickly, Li Fan dumped the rest of the peppercorn powder into his wok, added water from a flask, and crushed the ginseng roots in. With a small flint spark, he lit a quick fire under the wok. Tthe Heavenly wood caught easily, burning with a mystical blue flame. In mere moments, he had a bubbling, extremely peppery ginseng broth.
The Broth Boar, recovering from its spice onslaught, sniffed the air. The aroma of Li Fan's concoction wafted over. The beast's aggression faltered, replaced by curiosity and maybe hunger. It trotted closer, snout quivering.
"Hungry, big guy?" Li Fan said as calmly as he could, his heart still pounding. He stirred the wok with a wooden spoon. The boar peered over, its snout almost dipping into the wok. In one swift motion, Li Fan grabbed a spare bowl from his pack and filled it with the piping hot soup. "Careful, it's hot," he cautioned instinctively, as if the boar understood.
The enormous creature took a tentative slurp from the bowl. Its eyes widened. With a delighted grunt, it dunked its entire muzzle into the bowl, slurping noisily. Li Fan burst into a relieved laugh. Heavenly beasts apparently appreciated a good soup too.
While the boar was distracted enjoying the meal, Li Fan quietly gathered his things. He figured it wise to depart before the soup ran out or the peppercorn sneezing fit returned. As he backed away, the boar looked up, noodles hanging from one tusk, and gave a contented snuffle. It seemed the cook had gained a strange sort of respect from the beast. Li Fan even dared a small wave. The boar responded by nudging the now-empty bowl back toward him and snorting expectantly.
"You want... seconds?" Li Fan blinked. The boar stomped and gave what could only be described as a pleading whine. He had just made a friend via food. Li Fan scratched the boar behind one ear The beast surprisingly leaned into it like a giant pig puppy. "Sorry, buddy, I've got a trial to finish. But here—" Li Fan grabbed a few carrots from a nearby patch and tossed them. The boar happily chomped them, giving Li Fan time to slip back into the forest path.
As he left the clearing, Li Fan couldn't help a grin. He had survived his first magical beast encounter not with violence, but with cooking-based diplomacy. If only those arrogant cultivators could see him now, they'd be... well, they'd probably be baffled.
The victory was short-lived. Further up, the terrain grew steeper and rocks jutted like the teeth of a rocky maw. Li Fan carefully navigated a narrow trail along a cliffside. Far below, the hot spring he left was a mere dot. He felt quite proud: half a day in, still alive, one beast befriended. Maybe I can actually do this, he mused.