Sky Mountain Peak Elder, San Jing

The next morning...

Zhou Lin is thinking what to do next with his status.

'I really should think about upgrading my income...' He thought to himself.

Almost everything in his Status and Abilities are becoming more expensive. He always have to wait at least one to two days before he can upgrade one of it. It's unlike the past when he only need to wait for a few hours before he can upgrade a lot of it.

"That means I will hold myself back from upgrading for some days. That will be a week and a half, I think?" He muttered under his breathe.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his new waitress, Wang Shinyu, calling out to him.

"One pork steak, three meat dumplings, and fried pork noodles!"

"Okay, one pork steak, three meat dumplings, and fried pork noodles coming up!" He yelled back before quickly preparing for it.

He has already prepped most of his ingredients, and he only needs to use it and cook it for a moment. This is why he can quickly served the others in less than ten to twenty minutes.

As he was just heating up the noodles, he heard Wang Shinyu calling out again.

"Supreme Deluxe Set!"

"Okay, Supreme Deluxe Set coming up!"

He was somewhat surprised. He only knows of a single person who ordered something like this. Almost every customers he have, even Old Wang and the others, haven't ordered it yet because it is pretty expensive in his menu.

"I wonder if this is another person?" He muttered to himself.

____________________________________________

Di Cheng has once again come here along with his Elder from his sect. Di Cheng was actually a bit nervous while glancing at his elder.

This is his Elder, and the one he considers his Master. His name is San Jing. A Mountain Realm expert who is at the 7th Stage of the Mountain Realm.

This Elder came along with him after he notices that Di Cheng has acquired some fortuitous changes within him. Di Cheng just managed to stepped through the Earth Realm. It is unprecedented because Di Cheng is still too young.

Di Cheng is actually a genius. Though he hits a bottleneck on the 9th Stage of the Human Realm. It seems like after eating and consolidating the essence of the meat of the Demon Beasts, he manages to breakthrough to the next realm.

San Jing is curious about it, so after asking him about it, he decided to go along with him to this shop.

'A shop that serves Demon Beasts meat. The owner of this place sure is mysterious...' That is what San Jing is thinking as he strokes his gray beard, glancing around and looking at the mortal customers who are eating peacefully here.

He nodded at that. His interest is already piqued.

It is very rare to find a cultivator who is willing to serve mortals. This shows that the owner of this place held no arrogance in his heart. It is a good virtue to have, mostly because this world lacks those virtues anymore.

'Though, I wonder if this cultivator is truly mysterious, or is just naive...' He thought to himself before turning his eyes to the waitress who walks close to them.

"Here are your orders." The waitress simply said with a smile, before putting their meal in their table efficiently.

His eyes glances on the meals, and then locks onto it with his eyes widening. The feast in front of him are truly Demon Beasts meat, and the way they were presented in each of these plates are masterful.

'Good! Something like this is only seen on the Royal Palace!' He thought to himself.

He then turned his gaze at the waitress for a brief moment. His eyes lighting up for a bit in interest.

'A genius! Despite not having any Spiritual Roots, she still managed to stepped through the path of cultivation!' He thought, feeling somewhat impressed.

"What can I do for you, Esteemed Customer?" Noticing his gaze, Wang Shinyu asks nervously.

It is obvious that this old man with a mysterious air around him is a cultivator. She didn't want to rouse the attention of any unknown cultivator. She has already suffered on one already.

She only believed on the benefactor of her family, Zhou Lin.

"My name is San Jing. I am an Elder from the Sky Mountain Peak. I hope to see the owner of this shop." He asks rather politely, not showing any signs of arrogance within his tone.

"Uh.... Yes, I'll convey your words to the owner..." She bowed to him before quickly retreating to the back of the shop.

San Jing nodded at that before turning to Di Cheng. He can see that Di Cheng is also surprised at the sudden turn of events.

He wasn't really here to eat the meal. No, he wanted to see on his eyes just who is behind this mysterious pavilion.

'My disciple can't sense it, but with my own experience, I can see that this whole place is so mysterious! Every materials that made up this whole pavilion is so magical that I almost mistook it to an artifact!' He thought.

This whole place looks mysterious. He wonders just what kind of materials are used to make something like this. He also wants to see just what kind of person is the owner of this place.

"Just eat. I'll be discussing things with the owner of this place." He simply said to Do Cheng.

"I..... Yes, Master Jing." He looks confused, but Di Cheng decided not to ask too much and put his focus on the mouth watering dishes on the table.

____________________________________________

After awhile, Zhou Lin looks at the old man who has just walked from here after telling Wang Shinyu that he is fine talking to him. His eyes looks cautiously at the old man who is brimming with a mysterious aura.

'He is... not on my level, but this guy is an Elder from a sect. I'm sure he have some hidden trump cards to defeat me if it came to a combat.' He thought to himself with a frown. 'What does he want from me?' He wonders in confusion.

San Jing is also surprised to see that the owner of this place is surprisingly young. He is not deceptively young, he truly is young!

At the thousand years of his life, this is the first time he saw a truly young person who have a cultivation more profound than any youth of this generation. He might just be at the age of 18 or 17.

He also can't sense his Cultivation, meaning that he was deliberately hiding it. If he can hide it on his eyes, that just shows that he is stronger than him. A weaker cultivator can't hide their strength against the stronger cultivator.

'Ninth Stage of Mountain Realm... or maybe....' He didn't want to proceed on that thought anymore and just smiled at him amicably. "Greetings, Pavilion Master Zhou. I am San Jing, an Elder from the Sky Mountain Peak." He cupped his hands in greeting.

"Likewise." Zhou Lin simply greeted back while also cupping his hands at him.

He can see that Zhou Lin is polite to the others, though he also feels interested as he can see how guarded he is from his eyes. The way Zhou Lin doesn't let him get close enough, and always takes note of his body posture suggests that he is also cautious.

As someone who has lived for a long time, he can discern what the others are doing by their expression alone, and their own stances. San Jing internally nodded in approval of this.

'Good. He is polite on the others, but wasn't naive enough to befriend them quickly. He knows what he is doing!' San Jing thought approvingly.

His initial plan is to actually invite Zhou Lin to become an Elder of their Sect. Zhou Lin is an unaffiliated cultivator it seems. He has made his own investigations before coming here, and the only thing they got pertaining to this mysterious cultivator is that he is only the owner of this restaurant.

There is nothing else to him. That means he is unaffiliated.

Every bigshots are well-known on this Empire. Each Senior Elders like him from any respectable Sects can get their information from various sources. Only the secretive ones can get pass on their eyes.

Zhou Lin is not so secretive if he was just running a shop in this small city. He will easily be noticed.

As there are no obvious connections or hidden backgrounds from this mysterious expert, it is easy to deduce that he is an unaffiliated cultivator.

An unaffiliated cultivator is free. They can be an ally or a foe. It also means an opportunity for any of the various factions on this continent. If the unaffiliated cultivator is talented, then any sect who can get them will become more stronger. They will get more benefits if they properly nurtured an unaffiliated cultivator.

He thought the owner of this place is somewhat old. Maybe at least forty or fifty years old. Though seeing him being so young, he has changed his mind.

"I won't go into circles. I want you to join our sect." He decided to become straight with him.

Zhou Lin froze at that in surprised. He can't believe this old man is actually straightforward enough to say that without going in circles on their conversation. He actually likes that kind of attitude.

Though, he shook his head. "Sorry, but I am not interested."

"I see." San Jing simply said. Quickly backing out after seeing his casual rejection. "Then, how about an offer?"

"If this is an offer about being affiliated to your sect, then just forget about it." Zhou Lin simply stated.

He didn't want to be affiliated with anyone. He likes doing his own thing after all.

"Nothing of the sort." San Jing waves his hands at that. "I just want to ask that you let the disciples of the Sky Mountain Peak to eat here. In exchange, I will pay you with high grade spirit stones!" He said.

Zhou Lin raises his eyebrows at that. "Anyone can just eat in my shop? Why do you need my permission?" He asks in wonder.

"It's like this...." San Jing explained to him.

Zhou Lin widened his eyes when he heard what he has to say. It seems like a lot of cultivators from the Sky Mountain Sect are actually aware of his shop after Di Cheng and his friends spreads it around through word of mouth.

Though they felt a bit reluctant to come down and eat here. They heard that the owner of this shop is a mysterious expert who might be as strong, or stronger than the Elders of their sect. They didn't want to offend this hidden expert when they come here in waves. That will be a great loss for their sect if they make this expert mad.

It is why San Jing came here together with Di Cheng. If recruiting this mysterious expert is a failure, then he will just ask for his cooperation to let the disciples of his sect to dine here in groups. A lot of their disciples are really excited to eat Demon Beasts meat.

Zhou Lin is confused about that logic. Why will he be mad if they came here in droves?

Unless if they are arrogant and want to cause trouble, he will welcome them so long as they will pay and eat peacefully. He wasn't restricting anyone.

Though he felt a bit fortunate that someone who is on the higher echelons of a sect comes here just to ask him about this.

"I accept, but..." San Jing narrowed his eyes as he waited for his condition. "I won't tolerate any arrogant behaviours from them. If they want to eat, they should only eat! If they try to cause trouble to my shop, then I won't be polite to them!"

San Jing smiles at that. "Of course. I will announce that to the disciples then. I am grateful for your cooperation." San Jing said.

"Of course." Zhou Lin also nodded with a smile.

Thus, they come to an agreement, and San Jing left the shop with a satisfied look along with Di Cheng who is satisfied with a different reason.