Spiritual Chef (3)

The siblings were seated side by side on that modest table placed in the middle of their hut. As the younger one between them, Yuan Ling reached out to the pot of water and filled her brother's cup first.

Naturally, Long Yuan wouldn't waste Yuan Ling's effort.

Although it was just water, Long Yuan didn't mind and happily finished them in a single gulp. And to his surprise, it seems that Yuan Ling still has something else for her beloved brother.

Perhaps this was the reason she's a little late back home today.

"Long- Gege... This is the Essence Manipulation Art I told you about." Yuan Ling handed the book hand-copied by herself. There's no title in front of the book, and the paper used can be said to be the lowest quality possible.

In any case, that shouldn't be the reason for her to be blushing.

But the present Yuan Ling had rosy cheeks like she had seen something she shouldn't. Seeing this made Long Yuan feel a little weird.

'What's wrong with this young lass? Don't tell me cultivating this Essence Manipulating Art would require one to strip naked? It shouldn't be, right?' Long Yuan chuckled in his mind and opened the book from Yuan Ling without any suspicion.

'Ah... No wonder. I guess the first thing I had to do was teach this girl how to use the pen (brush) properly...' Long Yuan smiled while looking at the writing that seemed no different to the footprints from a dozen chickens running around.

He finally realized the reason behind Yuan Ling's embarrassing expression. It seems that even the most perfect girl in his eyes would have a flaw here and there.

When it comes to her talents in cultivation, mannerism, and looks, Yuan Ling was at the pinnacle of perfection. Even to Long Yuan's standard from his previous world and this one, his sister stands far at the top, with a big gap.

But even to a perfect girl like Yuan Ling, a flaw would still appear nevertheless. As to her case, it's her handwriting. Of course, this is understandable from Long Yuan's point of view as the girl hadn't gone through a proper lesson in calligraphy at all.

In this subject, she's nowhere better than a five-year-old child.

The instant Long Yuan saw his sister's handwriting, it reminded him of the scholar-like customer that came to their stall this morning.

'Perhaps... I could ask that teacher to teach this lass how to write instead. He could be a much better teacher than I could when it comes to writing, correct?' Long Yuan nodded blankly while his sister looked at him, puzzled.

"Do you want me to read them out for you, Gege?" Yuan Ling asked. It's not like she had no idea her brother is illiterate. But even in her wildest dream, she wouldn't imagine that the current Yuan Ling is more educated than she does.

Of course, part of the motivation to make her suggest this is because of her chicken-scratching, hardly beautiful handwriting. If she was given a choice, she would snatch the book back from Yuan Long's hand.

"It's okay, Ling-Er. Your Gege will try to read them myself." Long Yuan replied to her with a loving smile on his face. Furthermore, he knew that this lass should be weary from all her work from morning until now.

Even when they're running the quern to grind the wheat grains, Long Yuan caught her yawning nonstop a couple of times.

"Then... Ling-Er will go to sleep first." the lass gently said before turning over to her bed. Covering herself under the straw blanket with minimal warmth, she tried her best to calm her mind down before she fell into her slumber.

In less than fifteen minutes, she was soundly asleep.

Meanwhile, Long Yuan patiently reads the book about Essence Manipulation Art copied by Yuan Ling. Although the writing was horrendous, the content is still remarkable and accurate. At the same time, Long Yuan also occasionally compared it with the Mortal-Grade Essence Flame Art Xiyang Xiao gave him.

The content of the two was similar, but in profoundness, the latter is a level better than the publicly available Essence Manipulation Art.

Of course, both manuals had their own uniqueness and weaknesses. The Essence Manipulation Art focuses more on daily application, while the Essence Flame Art focuses on one purpose, Flame Manipulation.

Comparing them side by side is like putting a jack of all trades against a specialized one.

The further Long Yuan studied the two manuals side by side, he noticed the similarity and inconsistencies between them. Possibly because of Long Yuan's second life, his comprehension power is much greater than he imagined.

The content is no different from understanding the science and arithmetic subject for a primary level education. Furthermore, it felt like the two books were written by the same person, albeit with two entirely different mindsets.

'How peculiar... On the Essence Manipulation Art, the fundamental is to shape the Spiritual Essence freely. Meanwhile, the Essence Flame Art focuses on one shape. What kind of contradiction is this?' Long Yuan scratched his head while interpreting the meaning behind the two Manipulation Arts.

But the deeper he studied them, the more he noticed that a few parts in the context could be applied together to increase efficiency. Unfortunately, he had neither pen nor paper to write down his own theory in the house.

'I'll just go along with my current understanding for now.' Long Yuan soon gave up trying to break apart the content from the book this late at night. After putting the book aside, he got onto his bed and fell into his slumber in less than ten minutes.

About an hour after both of them were asleep, the same green gaseous body soon appeared above the sibling's body to repeat the same body tempering process over their body. And surprisingly, the amount of Spiritual Essence leaking from Long Yuan was close to Yuan Ling's level.

There could be only one conclusion for something like this to happen, and it's likely because Long Yuan's talent in cultivation is nowhere below Yuan Ling's.

For the first time after so long, this was the first time his tempering process went on so smoothly.

-----

"Let's go, Long-Gege!" Yuan Ling said and excitedly left the house first with a container filled with wheat flour. Evidently, this was what the sibling spent their entire evening making yesterday.

Long Yuan simply chuckled and followed in her footsteps. He was considering making a bowl of noodles for their breakfast in the morning, but it was the stupidest choice that came into his head. He finds it ironic because he had nowhere to use the seasonings he bought yesterday.

The siblings arrived at stall number "66" half an hour earlier than yesterday. As the working guards were the same people they met yesterday, their entry to the settlement was smoother than before.

Yuan Ling immediately went to collect a few buckets of water for her Long-Gege before hitting the storeroom for the bamboo steamer. Their preparation is more fluid this time, as there's some time for them to rest after all the preparation is done. And to the sibling's surprise, their first customer for the day when the food market starts happened to be the scholar-like individual.

"Good morning," said the customer. He does look much better compared to yesterday. And surprisingly, four adults that happened to look like parents were here with him today.

There's a hint of eagerness in their eyes as if they're here for a reason.

"Good morning, teacher. You're exceptionally early today. Are you going to make an order just like yesterday?" Long Yuan asked with a smile on his face.

His question quickly caught the attention of those following the teacher. And without further ado, the four parents approached Long Yuan without a shred of calmness in them and bombarded Long Yuan with questions.

"Are you the Mantou seller that the teacher bought the steamed bun from yesterday?" one of them asked.

"What for you're asking something so obvious? Young'un, what's the price for the steamed bun you're selling?" another one asked. His word clearly hinted that it was noticeable to see what Long Yuan was selling in his stall through the bamboo steamer.

At least from their knowledge, only Mantou, biscuits, and cakes would need to be kept warm to avoid them from turning cold and hard to eat.

The other two remaining parents also asked something similar, but they're slightly more reserved than the first two.

"Yes. We're selling steamed buns here. It will be a copper coin for two plain steamed buns. How much would you like to buy today?" Long Yuan calmly answered them all together with his sales pitch.

There's no point for him to attend to them one by one since their arrival here is likely to purchase the steamed bun for their child, as well for themselves. Based on the reaction he's getting from them, the parents are likely curious about what kind of buns he's selling.

After hearing Long Yuan's reply, they looked at each other before spending three copper coins for six steamed buns per person. Long Yuan closed a twelve copper coins sale in a flash when the food market opened to the public.

"Will you be around tomorrow? Can we expect to see you here the next day too?" one of the parents asked.

"Of course." Long Yuan answered them with a smile.

"Then, we'll come again tomorrow. We're glad that there's a delicious steamed bun stall like yours here in this food market. Now there's a much cheaper food option for farmers like us to choose from." one of them said before leaving.

"So... Are you here today to make the same purchase as yesterday?" Long Yuan asked. He noticed that the teacher was remaining quiet throughout the entire conversation.

"Yes. If I may, can I have the same number of steamed buns I had yesterday?" said the teacher. There are seven copper coins stacked in between his finger. From the look of it, he had the intention to pay for the two steamed buns he had for free yesterday.