The Secret of the Porridge and the Blessing Power

Not long after Li Chunsheng departed the lounge, a colleague respectfully informed him that the maid who had previously delivered his meal had returned.

“Ah?” Li Chunsheng exclaimed, startled, and hurried downstairs.

He had left home in such a rush that morning, never imagining that Liuxia, who had been ill just hours ago, would recover so swiftly and insist on bringing him food.

But he had already eaten!

Upon reaching the ground floor, Li Chunsheng indeed saw Liuxia, elegant and graceful, standing under the afternoon sun outside the office building, a lunchbox in hand.

The soft sunlight illuminated her gentle, lovely face, casting a sacred halo around her that made her appear ethereal.

“Sen… Liuxia!” Li Chunsheng called out loudly. Hearing his voice, Liuxia turned to him with a tender gaze, a faint smile gracing her lips.

“How could you…! Sigh! You were so sick this morning, why are you still bringing me food?” Li Chunsheng quickly approached her, a pang of concern in his heart as he looked at Senior Sister.

“Hee hee hee—” Liuxia chuckled softly. “It’s very important to eat your fill, you know~”

The young woman spun lightly in place, demonstrating her newfound health and vitality. “And, thanks to you, I’m completely recovered now. See? Not a single thing is wrong.”

“So, don’t worry about me. Just eat! Otherwise, it’ll get cold.”

Li Chunsheng was momentarily speechless. Who could he blame for this? The potent effects of his ‘soul seasoning’?

Yet, he was already full! Still, Senior Sister had cooked for him right after recovering from a serious illness and delivered it personally. Such thoughtfulness could not be disregarded.

“Alright…” He sighed softly, extending his hand. “Give me the lunchbox.”

Li Chunsheng resolved that even if it meant overeating to the point of discomfort, he would not let Senior Sister’s efforts be in vain.

Liuxia smiled, pressing her lips together, and placed the lunchbox into Li Chunsheng’s hands. They settled naturally on the steps in front of the office building, one diligently eating, the other quietly watching him, bathed in the warm, beautiful afternoon sun.

“Oh, right?” Li Chunsheng, his mouth full of rice, suddenly asked, “Senior Sister, how did you get here?”

“You didn’t walk again, did you?”

Although Li Chunsheng had left some Black Iron Coins for Senior Sister on the dining table before leaving that morning, he had reason to suspect that, given her personality, she hadn’t touched the money at all.

“No, no~” Liuxia replied, a peculiar expression flickering across her face as she whispered, “I cycled here. I rented a shared bike with money.”

As for public transport, the young woman was still hesitant to use it, fearing she might expose her identity.

Li Chunsheng’s face brightened with a smile. “That’s more like it! Senior Sister, you don’t need to be so polite with me. If you need money, just tell me directly.”

Liuxia’s expression grew even stranger. She stammered slightly, “The money I used… it wasn’t the money you left, Chunsheng.”

“???” Li Chunsheng was utterly bewildered.

‘Has Senior Sister… resorted to stealing or robbing? As an unregistered person, where would she get a source of gold coins?’

Noticing Li Chunsheng’s suspicious look, Liuxia spoke softly, as if she were confessing a crime. “Actually… ever since I recovered from my fever this morning, I discovered that my gold content had actually… returned to a positive number.”

“Then, I tried to retrieve Black Iron Coins from my body, and I found that those Black Iron Coins… were all ‘blessed,'” The young woman’s face registered utter disbelief.

Li Chunsheng gasped in astonishment. “What? Positive! And blessed!”

He immediately understood what had transpired: Blessed Black Iron Coins meant they possessed a unique serial number bestowed by the Wealth Holy Temple, making them genuine currency that could be spent!

But how could Liuxia, whose gold content had previously been negative and who had never participated in any labor rituals, possibly acquire blessed gold coins?

It was simply too peculiar!

“I… I suspect that all of this is because of the bowl of porridge you made this morning, Chunsheng?” Liuxia hesitated, finally voicing her suspicion, all the while intently observing her junior’s changing expression.

“Chunsheng, was there… something added to that porridge?”

At her words, Li Chunsheng’s expression indeed froze, as if he had been caught red-handed, and a visible panic flared in his eyes.

‘Just as I thought,’ Liuxia mused. ‘That porridge definitely had something unusual about it.’

“Se-Se-Se… Senior Sister, I-I-I-I… I’m so sorry…” Li Chunsheng stammered, unsure how to explain himself.

This was a topic he had always desperately wanted to avoid. If he truly had to explain, what could he possibly say? It would be far too awkward, too perverse!

There was no other way. What methods of ‘infusion’ could Senior Sister have possibly deduced that wouldn’t noticeably alter the food’s color or cause him obvious physical harm? When he truly considered it, were there not only a few possibilities?

Seeing his distress, Liuxia sighed helplessly and took the initiative to explain for him. “You don’t need to explain. Let Senior Sister speak—I think I finally understand what secret Chunsheng has been so eager to keep.”

Li Chunsheng’s heart leaped into his throat. Was the terrible thing he had done about to be exposed by Senior Sister right to his face?

Liuxia’s expression turned unprecedentedly serious. She took a deep breath, her voice grave. “Chunsheng…”

“Yes!” Li Chunsheng responded, trembling like a criminal.

“You actually… added Blessing Power to the porridge, didn’t you?” The young woman finally voiced the answer she had arrived at.

“Huh?” Li Chunsheng blinked in confusion.

‘Why would you think that?? I’m a man! How could I possess Blessing Power?’

After stating this core answer, Liuxia’s subsequent conjectures flowed smoothly. “This explains why I could have blessed gold content simply by coming into contact with Chunsheng.”

“And… why you, Chunsheng, can use Bronze-tier artifacts without a care, completely unafraid of becoming a Goblin due to debt…”

“Wh-Why?” Li Chunsheng was utterly dumbfounded, the question escaping him involuntarily.

Liuxia, thinking Li Chunsheng was merely playing along, nodded gently and continued, “Yes, why indeed?”

However, the young woman did not rush to explain. Instead, she changed the subject, recounting a mythical tale familiar to everyone in this world.

Legend has it that long, long ago, there were neither men nor women in this world, only a chaotic horde of disorderly monsters.

Among them, the most peculiar were creatures known as Goblins. Unlike ordinary monsters who only dropped gold coins upon death, Goblins continuously produced gold coins—these energy entities capable of almost anything—as long as they were active.

Yet, Goblins were monsters nonetheless. Despite their immense power, they only used it for infighting. This chaotic behavior rendered the entire world desolate, and their own species teetered on the brink of extinction through endless internal strife.

The Holy Tower of the divine realm could not bear to see the world destroyed, and it deeply regretted that the Goblins’ exceptional talent was not used for order.

Thus, the Holy Tower descended to the mortal realm, bringing with it the Goddess Tribe.

The Goddess Tribe blessed these monsters with love, transforming their appearance and teaching them order. This act converted the Goblins into the first men.

Having expended their divine power, the Goddess Tribe remained in the mortal realm, transforming into women, retaining only a faint trace of Blessing Power.

The two groups then cooperated, procreating and flourishing, eventually forming the human society of today.

Li Chunsheng listened blankly, failing to grasp what Senior Sister intended to convey by recounting such a fairytale-like myth.

Liuxia, however, continued, “Chunsheng, you didn’t attend university, so you might not be aware.”

“But in truth, the higher echelons of the church have long theorized that this myth is indeed based on fact. The essence of Blessing Power is, in reality, a quantity of information calculated by women using their own mental energy.”

“Therefore, the act of blessing is the forceful alteration of the original information expressed by energy and matter, achieved through information calculated by mental energy.”

“All such actions, of course, incur a cost…”

“But whether it’s stamping unique numbers on men’s gold coins to allow them to circulate, or attaching mental energy and information to gold coins, enabling women to expend mental energy to use Authority Artifacts…”

“Even the legend of the ancient Goddess Tribe, who fundamentally altered the Goblins’ material information to transform them into men and taught them the mighty power of order!”

“All of these are the results of Blessing Power modifying information.”

Liuxia paused, her clear red eyes fixed deeply on Li Chunsheng, and stated with absolute certainty, “And you, Chunsheng, clearly possess Blessing Power, which inherently belongs to women!”

“Huh?” ‘Is that true?’

‘If I had Blessing Power, I would have been creating real money for myself a long time ago, wouldn’t I?’ Li Chunsheng was utterly stunned.