Chapter 648

When Yu Lin returned from the beginning of the Neihong myth's creation, a year had passed in reality.

Amaterasu was still waiting inside the house.

The living room light was on, and from the kitchen came the sound of a spatula clattering and the sizzle of oil splashing.

Lao Jun sat in the chair beside the dining table, holding a cup of tea in his hand and giving instructions.

"Last time the flavor was a bit light; this time add more salt."

"Also prepare a little more; Yu Lin should be about——"

Before he finished speaking, Yu Lin's figure suddenly appeared in the center of the living room.

The hem of his clothes still carried the aura of chaos from the beginning of creation.

Lao Jun's words trailed off, his tea cup held halfway in the air, and he glanced at him.

"Um, you're back?"

"Hmm." Yu Lin walked to the refrigerator, pulled open the door, took out a bottle of cola, twisted off the cap, and took a sip.

The bubbles burst in his throat, he exhaled, pulled out a chair and sat down in front of Lao Jun.

"What dish are you making?"

Lao Jun raised his hand and pointed toward Neihong.

"Their specialty dish there is well made; it's worth a try."

Yu Lin turned his head to look in the direction of Neihong.

Through the wall, through the city, across the sea, his gaze fell upon Gaotianyuan.

Those world phantoms that once violently fluctuated are still fluctuating now, but the amplitude is no longer that large; the cracks at the edges are slowly healing, and the surging chaos in the depths is gradually settling.

It can be considered temporarily stable.

It merely treats the symptoms, not the root cause.

He withdrew his gaze.

At this moment.

Amaterasu walked out of the kitchen carrying two pots, steam rising from them.

She set the pots on the table and lifted the lids.

One pot was sukiyaki, with beef and vegetables rolling in the soy‑colored broth, giving off a sweet‑salty aroma.

The other pot was tempura, with fried shrimp and vegetables, etc., coated in a golden batter, neatly arranged on the iron rack, and the batter still hissed with tiny oil bubbles.

She turned and went back into the kitchen, bringing out a large plate full of Neihong's specialty dishes, filling the table.

Finally she arranged the bowls and chopsticks, stepped back one step, and bowed.

"Please enjoy your meal."

Having said that, she turned to leave.

Lao Jun suddenly spoke.

"I won't take your food for nothing; this talisman I give to you."

He flicked his finger, and a talisman scroll flew from his fingertip, spun twice in the air, and landed steadily in Amaterasu's hand.

The talisman scroll was yellow, with vermilion‑drawn runes on it, glowing with a faint golden light in the lamp light.

Amaterasu immediately turned and bowed again.

"Thank you, Heavenly Venerable, for granting the talisman!"

"Hmm, go on, go on, we're eating." Lao Jun waved his hand.

Amaterasu straightened up, left the living room, and gently closed the door.

Lao Jun picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of tempura fried shrimp, and placed it in Yu Lin's bowl.

The shrimp was large, fried golden, the batter evenly coated, and the shell at the tail remained, making it easy to hold.

Lao Jun looked at Yu Lin with a smiling, narrowed eyes.

"Eat more, look how thin you've become."

Yu Lin lowered his head to look at the fried shrimp in his bowl, then lifted his head to look at Lao Jun's smiling but ill‑intentioned face.

He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of fried shrimp, and bit into it.

The batter was crisp, the shrimp meat springy, not an ordinary thing, indeed not bad.

He chewed, swallowed, and set down his chopsticks.

"Lao Jun, just tell me directly—what do you want me to do?"

Lao Jun gave a light cough, and the smile on his face faded a bit.

He reached his hand into his sleeve and rummaged around, rummaging for a long time, as if he were turning over a deep pocket.

The cuff was stretched out of shape, and the things inside jingled a few times.

Finally his hand withdrew from his sleeve, with a smack, an axe was slapped onto the tabletop by him.

The axe was not large, a bit smaller than an ordinary axe.

The haft was wood, dark brown, smooth to the grip, as if it had been rubbed countless times.

The blade was bluish-gray, unsharpened, very dull, looking as if it couldn't cut anything.

But Yu Lin merely glanced at it and felt a heavy weight.

How to describe that feeling............

It was like an existence vaster than heaven and earth!

Lao Jun tapped the axe head with his knuckles, producing a clear sound: "This axe is called the Heaven‑Opening Axe, but it's lacking something—it hasn't truly opened heaven yet."

"Then I'll trouble you with it."

"Uh..............." Yu Lin stared at the axe, silent for a moment.

He looked at Lao Jun, the faint malicious smile on Lao Jun's face returned, squinting, the corner of his mouth slightly upturned, like an old fox that had stolen a chicken.

"Alright," Yu Lin said.

He lifted the axe, weighed it, and it was extremely light—light beyond belief, not the weight of a world‑shaping artifact.

Then he placed the axe on the table, picked up his chopsticks, and continued eating.

After they ate their fill, the two of them lay back on the sofa.

One on the left, one on the right; Yu Lin lay on the left, Lao Jun on the right.

Yu Lin's legs rested on the armrest, Lao Jun's legs rested on the coffee table.

The TV was off, the lights were off, only the streetlamp light filtering through the window illuminated the living room in a dim yellow glow.

The two lay there like two lazy salted fish.

If no one said it, who could know that these two are beings standing at the very top of the world, um, the top beyond the world?

They were almost done lying.

Yu Lin turned his head and looked at Lao Jun.

Lao Jun was holding a phone, his thumb flicking the screen up and down; the short‑video sound came from the phone, sometimes laughter, sometimes music, sometimes "Who among the family understands?"

Yu Lin spoke.

"Lao Jun, you mean that I should go help Pangu?"

Lao Jun's thumb paused, then kept flicking.

"No rush, it's not time yet. Stay lying first."

He swiped to a cooking video, paused to watch for a while, then swiped away.

"Moreover, there are other people who will come looking for you, so your idle days aren't many."

His tone carried schadenfreude, the corner of his mouth slightly upturned.

Yu Lin turned his head back, looking at the ceiling.

A thin crack ran across the ceiling, extending from beside the lamp base to the corner of the wall, and it was unknown when it had cracked.

"Well, there's nothing we can do; after being comfortable for so long, doing some work is fine," he said.