Infinite Awakening: My Exp Doubles Everyday Chapter 4: Please Leave The Cooking To Me

As the sun climbed higher, painting the horizon in a breathtaking mosaic of gold and crimson, Li Yao emerged from her chambers. She stretched her limbs with the fluid grace of a cat, a look of deep satisfaction radiating from her every movement.

"Today's cultivation was great," she announced to the crisp mountain air, her melodic voice harmonizing with the morning songs of the local birds.

A playful, mischievous grin lit up her delicate face. Suddenly, her form became a blur—one second she was standing on her porch, and the next, she had materialized at her senior brother's window with supernatural speed. Pressing her face against the cool pane, her eyes darted around the modest room.

"That's weird," she whispered, her playfulness shifting into genuine confusion. "He isn't here."

Li Yao knit her brows in thought. Her senior brother was never one for early mornings; in fact, the opposite was usually true. The sight of an empty room contradicted everything she knew about his habits. At such an hour, where could he have possibly gone?

Memories of the previous night flashed through her mind. She recalled him training with strange intensity, swinging his practice blade with newfound focus until the mountain was swallowed by darkness. A flicker of anxiety stirred in her heart. Had he overexerted himself? Perhaps he had collapsed from fatigue in the woods or spent the entire night shivering in the cold?

"I need to check on him," she resolved, leaping into action without a moment's delay.

She raced across the rugged terrain, springing between the trees with effortless skill. The branches barely rustled as she passed, her movements so light they didn't disturb the morning calm. Upon reaching the training grounds, she skidded to a halt, her eyes widening in shock.

There stood her senior brother, still immersed in his practice, his knife cutting through the air with rhythmic determination. Despite the morning chill, sweat soaked his brow—clear proof of a long, grueling session.

"Has he been here all night?" she wondered silently, noting the desperate grit on his face as he repeated each strike.

Li Yao considered calling out to him, her hand rising for a greeting before she hesitated and let it fall. After a few moments of quiet observation, she shook her head and retreated into the shadows of the forest canopy, vanishing as silently as she had appeared.

Down below, unaware that he had been watched, Xiang Yu continued his tireless drills. His motions felt more natural today, each swing of the blade gaining a refinement that had been missing during yesterday's clumsy efforts. He stopped for a second to wipe the perspiration from his eyes, feeling a small spark of pride in his chest.

"I'm getting the hang of this," he mused, though a nagging sensation tugged at the back of his mind—as if he had forgotten something vital.

"Probably not that important," he muttered, shaking the feeling off.

He couldn't have been more mistaken.

Suddenly, without any warning, Xiang Yu found himself flat on his back, staring up at the vast sky. He had no memory of falling. Confusion swirled in his mind as he tried to understand why his perspective had shifted so abruptly. Had his legs given out? Had he fainted?

As his consciousness cleared, a sweet, enticing aroma drifted through the air, tempting his senses with a delicious promise. His stomach reacted instantly, letting out a thunderous growl that seemed to vibrate through the clearing.

With a heavy effort, Xiang Yu forced himself up, swaying unsteadily on his feet. Driven by the scent like a starving man, he stumbled through the trees until he reached a different clearing.

"Senior brother, you're here!" Li Yao called out happily, looking up from her work. "I was just about to come find you!"

Xiang Yu’s eyes locked onto the scene: Li Yao was tending to a makeshift spit where a wild boar turned slowly over a crackling fire. The realization struck him like a powerful spiritual attack. In his obsession with training, he had failed to eat. He hadn't consumed a single bite since... when? Yesterday morning?

He was not like those high-level cultivators who could live off spiritual energy alone; his mortal body still demanded food. If his junior sister hadn't been so thoughtful, he might have become the first transmigrator to die from simple hunger rather than a cultivation calamity.

He hurried to her side, and she shared the meat generously. She watched him with curiosity, noting the tears streaming down his face as he stuffed the food into his mouth.

"Does senior brother truly enjoy my cooking this much?" she thought, her heart swelling with the idea that her meal could move him to such an emotional state.

The reality, however, was the exact opposite. Xiang Yu’s tears weren't caused by happiness, but by culinary agony. The meat tasted mostly of charcoal and bitter ash, leaving a foul aftertaste that punished his tongue. Nevertheless, his hunger was too great to stop, and he forced down every terrible bite until his stomach finally ceased its protest.

Once he had finished the nearly inedible meal, Xiang Yu placed his hands firmly on Li Yao's shoulders, staring into her eyes with a look of absolute gravity.

"Junior sister," he said, choosing his words with extreme care, "from now on, please leave the cooking to me."