A Vahanea structure. A perpetuum mobile of the cultivation world. A structure capable of endlessly reproducing true Qi as long as someone feeds it with a bit of spiritual energy in the beginning.


    In other words, something that, ording to anyws of physics, cultivation, ormon sense, couldn''t exist.


    And yet…


    "Are you going to tell me now that it actually exists?" I asked while raising my eyes to the girl''s face.


    "What? No, of course it doesn''t!" she quickly eximed, only to then shake her head. "But that doesn''t mean there are no structures made with Vahanea''s structure in mind. And even if they all ended up failing, it doesn''t change the fact that some of those…"


    ire averted her eyes and looked down while biting down on her lips.


    "Some of the structures made in Vahanaea image certainly do work, even if they are still a far cry from what the original was supposed to be," she exined.


    But there was one word that instantly caught my attention.


    "The original?" I muttered while raising my eyebrows. "I thought it was impossible to make one, so how could there be an original?"


    ire sighed.


    "And that''s where we enter the realm of what you brought at the very beginning, the realm of myth. ording to that very myth, there wasn''t just one… but a total of seven different Vahanea structures that predated even the mystical area. That time of cultivators running free all over the world and holding the reins of all of humanity?"


    ire shook her head.


    "There are some who believe that rather than humanity''s high point in history, it was the time of decay and fall for the civilization that''s lost in time. A civilization buried by some disaster so thoroughly, all we ever managed to recover from it are some tiny trinkets."


    I opened my mouth… only to close it shut as a sudden question popped up in my head.


    ''Just what exactly was the topic before we shifted to talking about this structure?'' I thought, turning my eyes over to the arrangement of the table.


    ''Formations? Arrays? Or…''


    "Well, I guess there''s no use worrying about it too much," I said before following it up with a deep sigh. "If it''s impossible, then that''s that.


    What''s the point of worrying about it now?" I asked the rhetorical question while standing up and getting closer to ire… Only to reach by her side and pick the te before using it to carry a piece of the apple pie that ire formerly used as a showcase of an end result from putting an apple, a stand-in for spiritual energy, through all sorts of arrays within the formation she disyed.


    In fact, this cake drew my attention quite a while earlier already with how its perfectly square cut did a great job at disying the meaty, chunky insides of the fried apple filling and its golden crust seemingly shining with its own light.


    A pastry I didn''t feel like grabbing before in fear of ire having the irrational thought I paid more attention to food than herself. And a worry I could only put aside now that she left myp!


    "Well, the one thing I can say," I stated, only to raise the te to my mouth and then use it as a crumble-catcher when I took the bite of the soft treat, "oose nent vaion…"


    My vision nearly went off when my eyes went up to the ceiling as the rich, perfectly juicy vor of the pastry''s filling filled my mouth. The slight sourness of the apple mixed perfectly with the sweet addition of the cinnamon powder infused in it the simple, straightforward sweetness of the fluffy base, and then the crunchy, zed crust.


    "Those ancient nations or whatever, even if they really had impossible devices like that Vahanea structure, they certainly didn''t get these kinds of tasty treats!"


    I wasn''t overexaggerating here. Not even in my time of working for my uncle when money was hardly an issue and when I frequented his ce did I get a taste as rich and vorful as I did just now.


    "It''s…" ire gave me a strange, slightly confused look. "It''s just a pie, you know?" she muttered, before turning her gaze over to the huge te with more squares of the pastry. "Oh, I…"


    "Look here," I called out to the girl, only to strike out with my right hand… and stuff her mouth with the piece I just took a bite from as soon as she turned to face me again.


    At first surprised, ire awkwardly munched down on the cake while allowing the drops of crumbles to fall down to the te I held just below her chin. Then, for a moment, her expression melted down as she got to taste the delicious treat herself, only to swallow… and look up with a hint of anger in her eyes.


    "Tasty, isn''t it?" I asked with a huge smile on my face, more than eager to move away from all those heavy topics and charge straight ahead to the next point of the day''s schedule.


    "It sure is…" ire begrudgingly muttered. "Just don''t eat too much of it, since it''s made with Atraxia leaf."


    "And what''s that?"


    "Quite the vicious herb," ire shook her head before pushing the te with thest bite of the cake away from her mouth. Yet, rather than just letting me have it, she actually grabbed the te before forcing it out of my hand and putting it back onto the table. "While it''s not bad in small amounts… Well, it uses your own Qi to enrich the taste of whatever it is that you are currently eating.


    So using it sparingly shouldn''t be a problem, but well…"


    ire looked away.


    "It''s better if you won''t get used to its effects because once you get addicted to this level of taste and start consuming it on a regr basis, the burden it will ce on your cultivation will be actually massive."