3-8 Dao of Cooking

Chapter 3: Ruins

The streets stretched away, pressed by the ruins of the houses on both sides, a mess of debris and old belongings roasting under the blazing sun. Lei's home was on the third block, past Sidestone Street, a one-story affair that had half its roof missing.

That roof had been the end of his soul-brother.

He sighed as his hold around the sack in his arms tightened. Even a simple step earned him a great deal of protest from his muscles, but there was a wide smile on his lips as he trudged through the streets, and the jingle of the coins inside the pockets made for a good song. He felt a richer man now, both in body and spirit.

It'd been a hell of a morning.

He had half the mind to pick a skill, to be honest. He was never much for patience. But for this once, he held himself back and decided more thinking was warranted in this case.

I have to be careful.

One thing was clear, though. The system wanted him to dab his hands into cultivation. All the skills demanded spirituality in one shape or form.

Trouble was, the previous owner of this body had been kicked from his clan for a good reason: he had only nine spirit roots, meaning he didn't have a chance to sense, or gain control over Qi.

The average cultivator had about forty roots, so the difference wasn't something he could close with simple effort. There were heavenly pills and treasures that could allow him to grow new spirit roots, but those were rare things one could only hope to chance upon.

Not to mention that this city, Jiangzhen, rested in a backwater region far away from those Immortal Cities where heavenly treasures and pills were a dime a dozen.

But even if he couldn't sense Qi, he could still try to climb up the first stage of cultivation, which was the Body Tempering Stage. This was essentially a preparation stage, where a cultivator focused on growing his muscles and cleansing the body from the mortal dust.

In theory, everyone could punch and kick their way through the nine steps of the Body Tempering Stage. But according to his soul-brother's memories, it took at least five to ten years for talentless people to climb a single step without relying on external resources like medicinal pills and elixirs. And those things cost an arm or a leg.

Rounding a corner, Lei was just about to check the skills when a bustle of noises pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Lei! Lei!"

"We're hungry! Please make something for us!"

"Big Brother Lei! Did you bring any eggs?"

A group of children came flocking round him, reaching with hands, pulling him from the arms, staring expectantly at the sack he held in his arms. Their robes had been patched way more than they should, but their eyes glinted with innocent joy.

"Alright, stop pulling!" Lei said, pressing his lips into a straight line as he tried to don the mask of a slightly angry older brother. He failed, like he often did, as a smile creased his lips. "You have to wait and be patient. Being patient earns you your keep!"

The children hopped away from him as they formed a straight line, a bunch of shuffling legs too excited to stand still. They looked like little soldiers hungry after a busy morning.

"Be good, that's right," Lei said, nodding at them with a slight smile

Then he gave each one of them a bread filled with menemen from the morning, patted their head, and pinched their cheeks before letting them eat their sandwiches at the side. Thankfully, he didn't forget to bring the sack with him after all that shit he'd gone through.

"Big Brother Lei, can you give me two more? Zhong Chao is sick, and Little Mei is taking care of him, so I'll give these to them," said a boy with a round face. Unlike the others, he had a different air about him, and different eyes, too, that glinted with a stubborn light.

"Little Sunjie—"

"You've promised you'd call me Snake!" the boy said, pursing his lips.

Lei sighed tiredly, but he knew better than to argue with this little devil. "Alright, sneaky Snake. Tell me, what happened to Little Chao?"

Snake shrugged. "Something about his stomach, I think. We visited Aunt Lifen's house, but they said she'd gone to Eastern Dew Village for her monthly visit. So we'll have to wait for her to check if Zhong Chao's really sick or not."

"Eastern Dew Village?" That place was a day's trot from here. It would at least take Aunt Lifen one or two days to come back.

Snake nodded, then pointed at the sack. "Can I take those?"

Lei gave him three, just in case. "You know where to find me if something's wrong. Now be good, and take care of your team."

Snake saluted him in a practiced fashion and hopped back to the crowd. It was a little trick Lei had taught the kids after dealing with their rather unruly behaviors.

He tried to manage a smile as he watched them devour the sandwiches, but each day it was becoming harder and harder to keep a front against these kids. Most had lost their parents to that attack and were now living around the ruins. The Governor's Office had saved dozens from the wreckage, but not every child had that fortune.

These were dangerous times, is all. Dangerous, and strange, it had to be said. There was only so much a man could do for them. Feed them, sure, but beyond that, Lei was helpless.

"You're early," a rough voice came from the back, followed by a loud thumping noise of a cane that made the children jump back.

"It's Grumpy Ji!"

"Old Monster!"

"Run!"

The children scuttled away like mice before a tiger when the owner of that voice thumped his famed bamboo cane on the ground once again, staring tiredly after them.

Lei shook his head as he turned to Old Ji. "And I'm happy to see you too, Old Ji."

"You're pampering them too much!" Old Ji grumbled.

His face was a map of wrinkles, framed by thin, gray strands of hair that danced lazily in the wind. He always had something between a frown and a scowl on his face, but Lei knew he was more than that tough shell.

"Somebody has to do it, don't you think?" Lei said. There was some talk about a relief package that supposedly would come from the capital, but a month had passed after the assault, and nobody had seen or witnessed anything as such.

"If this continues, they'll never learn how to take care of themselves!" Old Ji, as always, was too realistic in his thinking.

"Is that why you keep patrolling around these streets? Keeping those thugs away from the ruins?" When the man raised an eyebrow at those words, Lei gave him a little smile. "Yes, I know. Some brooding monster stalking people during the night. Aren't you too old for that?"

"Hmph!" Old Ji raised his cane at him, its point inching closer to Lei's face. "I do no such thing!"

"Right, my mistake." Lei ran a hand through his long, dark hair as he regarded the old man. His legs were too skinny, and even with the cane, he was rocking back and forth as though a leaf bearing a strong wind. Thus, Lei didn't want to keep him for too long.

Reaching into the sack, he pulled out a bread and gave it to the old man. "Here, I want you to try this."

Old Ji frowned. "I don't need your pity. I can take care of myself."

"I know that." Lei sighed out a breath. "Know that too well, I'm afraid. But I made something different this time, and nobody has near the culinary experience you have around here, Old Ji. Eat this, and tell me what you think."

"Uh," Old Ji snorted again but took the bread. Lei gave him a grateful nod.

After he watched the old man huffing his way back to his house, Lei trudged silently toward his own place. It was never wise to idle round a grumpy, old man. He had a choice to make, but before that, he thought a good rest would do him good.

….

His house was not much for living. It had a straw-filled bed, some pots, and a spare wok he'd snatched from someplace masquerading as a restaurant near the city center, a wooden drawer, and a table. Simple things as you would expect from simple times.

Lei had patched the wounded roof with the planks he'd gathered around the ruins and stretched a mat over on it to keep the rain away. It wasn't the most reliable thing you'd have over your head, but he was more than proud of the work he had done. It'd been one of the many firsts he'd achieved in this world.

After he poured himself over the bed, he called the system interface.

Name: Liang Lei

Age: 20

Class: Chef

Tier: Novice 2

Skills: Eyes of the Yellow Maiden.

Cooking Skills: Skill Choice Available!

That novice part still nagged him, but he was beginning to think that perhaps the system hadn't been too mindful of his qualifications before grading him. It could also be that the Tier part didn't have any correlation with his cooking skills — technical and theoretical, for that matter.

Other than that, it looked simple enough. There were no stats, and no new missions that'd have him face off against monstrous beasts or murderous cultivators to gain some shining gems or spiritual tools. He was a cook for most of his life, and even in this world, he wasn't planning to change that.

He certainly didn't want any of that killing and butchering. Searching for ingredients, hunting for spiritual beasts, now that was something he could get on with.

Might as well become a Spirit Chef.

That seemed near good as being an Immortal. Leave all the fighting and killing to the nutjobs, and open himself a good restaurant by some spiritual river. That sounded like a dream, and a good one, he was thinking.

Let's see about these skills, then.

[Soothing Touch - Novice 1]: Infuse your spiritual dishes with a calming aura that affects both you and the consumers of the food, reducing stress and increasing focus.

[Essence Enhancement - Novice 1]: Increases the potency of spiritual ingredients you use in your dishes.

[Spiritual Sensitivity - Novice 1]: Allows you to discern the details of spiritual ingredients, identify hidden properties, and detect spiritual anomalies.

The system obliged, showing him the list of skills he could choose from. Then again, it didn't serve any other purpose than showing him the things he already knew. Trying to ask questions, or demanding more clear explanations got him nothing in return, so it seemed he had to go about with a trial-and-error approach for most things.

His gut told him that Spiritual Sensitivity could be useful, but he didn't know if the system considered cultivators as spiritual anomalies, or would see them as possible ingredients for some wicked concoction that involved spiritually enhanced cultivator intesties and the mortal dust that'd probably make for good seasoning.

Not that he was planning to cook cultivators in the foreseeable future.

But even if he could somehow sense the malicious intent of a cultivator that had their eyes fixed on him, he wasn't sure if he had the skills to escape from such a disaster. The patched roof was a good testament to that fact.

Jiangzhen also wasn't famous for its spiritual ingredients. Other than some places that sold spirit rice, Lei hadn't seen anything spiritual in the weeks he'd spent working around. So even if this skill could allow him to see details of ingredients, it would only be useful if he could get a bunch of spiritual ingredients to choose from.

To be honest, this skill seemed like it'd be good in the long run, but as of now, Lei needed something else to start his spiritual journey.

Pass.

The [Soothing Touch] made him curious and reminded him of the drugs college students took for exams, but he didn't know if being hyper-focused would do him any good in the culinary field.

It could've been a broken cheat for a highly talented genius that'd allow them to meditate or cultivate for days and months. He also wondered if the stress-reducing effect had any sedative side about it. Who knew, perhaps with this skill he could cook some serious drugs that'd make cultivators see even more colors with their spiritual vision.

Can make for a good career. But I'm not sure these people need more drugs. They're already beyond saving as it is.

The third, and last option was the [Essence Enhancement]. Now, this skill could be more than it seemed. Spiritual ingredients, to Lei's thinking, was a rather extensive topic. Minerals, plants, beasts, or anything that had some semblance of spirituality could very well be considered as spiritual ingredients.

Above all that, though, it could boost his talent, or the quality spiritual ingredients he'd get. To what extent he could enhance the ingredients would be crucial for that, but right now, it looked like it would be the best course of action to take that first step into cultivation. 

They already sold spirit rice and spirit vegetables in some restaurants in the city center. They weren't cheap, of course, but Lei could at least try to buy some.

But that [Soothing Touch]…

Alright, I've decided.

He picked the [Essence Enhancement] skill, and felt a cold wave of air brushing against his face. The first thing he planned to do was to speak with Fatty Lou about the details. He had only a single friend to depend on, and that friend happened to know the city like the palm of his hand. He would know where they could buy some spiritual ingredients.

Lei closed the door to his house, shutting out the chaotic world outside. He collapsed onto his bed, the straws poking him from all around. Sleep came right away.

Chapter 4: Spirit Rice

It was a beautiful night in the eastern part of Jiangzhen, and the cobbled streets hosted a great crowd that strolled under the stars. Some ladies wore make-ups so thick that Lei reckoned you could season a wok with them, and some others preferred simple attires fitting the cool and serene air of the night.

Lei nodded here and there to the acquaintances he'd made during his time as a dishwasher as he trudged through the crowd. Not the most distinguished bunch, these people, but seeing them almost washed away that sensation of being a complete stranger in a different world. And they did save him from brooding alone with his thoughts. Gave him something to work for.

He'd always be grateful for that.

Past the Eastern Square, the hawkers were busy screaming into the crowd, their stalls lit brightly under the lanterns and adorned with veils and ornaments of their own making. Their grand display stretched from rugs to basic tools, and further along, gave way to robes of quality silk and carved wood paintings that greeted mostly the ladies, who were either ushered away by experienced husbands with a slight tap on the shoulder, or directed towards less expensive, but equally gorgeous, options.

Though he and Fatty Lou spent most nights out in the streets, Lei still hadn't gotten used to their ways. He knew people tend to forget certain things, and had that ability to carry on from even the gravest disasters, but the folks here didn't seem to remember that one-third of the city's eastern part had gone missing some weeks ago.

Better to carry on than dwell too much on the past. Lei guessed there was wisdom to be gained somewhere in there, but it didn't quite sit well with him.

Fatty Lou was waiting for him at Swirling Frog, a two-story teahouse that stood just around the corner, stools and tables scattered before its front yard. He sipped from the ceramic cup as his eyes wandered here and there, but mostly toward the young ladies.

He didn't look much, but he knew his way around the women.

Lei tapped the shoulder of an old man as he passed through the stools, smiling down at his face, "Master Feng, another pot for us."

Master Feng's dark eyes snapped at Fatty Lou and then back at him. He gave him a nod and vanished inside the teahouse.

Lei poured himself over a stool before Fatty Lou and shuffled under the questioning gaze of his brother-in-arms.

"What?" Lei asked when that gaze got a little too much for him.

"What do you mean 'What'?" Fatty Lou placed the cup back on the table and frowned at him. "We've busted our asses for the whole week, but not once have I seen you like that. You've a fever or what? That sickness, maybe, that's been going around in the city? What was the name again? Longfever, was it?"

Lei shook his head. "I'm fine, Brother Lou. All that work must've gotten to me, that's all. This stall business is harder than I thought."

"Mm." Fatty Lou rubbed his chin, then clicked his tongue. "You're not wrong, but it makes me worry, you know? When do you plan to get rid of that damned house, anyway? Living with all that dust and ruins can't be good for your health."

"Money is better spent on more important things," Lei said, tapping a finger to the table. "I've a roof over my head, and a bed to sleep in. A man has to live frugally if he wants to work out a capital for ventures, right?"

"Exactly!" Fatty Lou waved a finger into his face. "A dead man has no use for things like money. You're always around those kids, and that's dangerous. You know what my Mother used to say about children?"

"What?"

"That they're nothing but a bunch of walking diseases! Always coughing and sniffing, those little devils, sucking at sticks, pebbles! Anything they find they think of as something to be eaten or at least deserving of a lick!"

"Come now, brother, don't be too heartless." Lei smiled slightly at him.

"I'm not being heartless. If you want to help them, help them, that's fine with me, but don't do it at the risk of your health. We need you up and running if we want to fix them a place."

"You're right, but this really has nothing to do with them," Lei said.

Fatty Lou was just about to press him when Master Feng came with a teapot and two new cups, laying them gently over on the table before fixing them with a curious gaze. The man was a mute, got his tongue cut as punishment for speaking too loud back in the day, or at least that's what the people round the teahouse joked about now and then, but he had his eyes for all that talking, and they did a damned good job for the most part.

And they say he has the sharpest ears across the city.

So Lei waited for him to clear away before leaning closer to Fatty Lou. A simple motion, but it hooked the man enough that he perked his ears up for him.

"Something happened," Lei said, staring around himself to check if anybody was listening. Different faces, dozens of them, were too busy talking loud and laughing to pay them heed. "It's a bit hard to explain. So I won't."

Best we treat with caution here.

Fatty Lou smacked him on the head with two fingers, face twisted up in rage. "Are you playing with me, bastard? Speak up! You know I'm not the one for patience."

Lei jerked his head back, stifling a laugh, "That's why you can't find a good wife, brother, instead you're fooling around with all those ladies. Improper and immoral, don't you think? What if Master Li finds out? Think he'll kick you out of the house?"

"I'm twenty fucking years old, you think I'd fear a wrinkled old man? And don't start with the wife-talk. There's not enough beauty in this place to chain my soul in some dusty house to father a bunch of bastards. Thought we were aiming higher, no? Become rich and get ourselves a place in one of those Immortal Cities, eh? Clear your damned head and focus on the mission, and tell me what the hell has happened!"

"I'm thinking it's best I show you because I don't know how to explain." How can you explain to a man that you have a system stuck in your soul, giving you skills and showing you screens? "But for that, we need some spirituality."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we need spiritual ingredients. Some restaurants near the city center sell spirit rice, yeah?" Lei asked, feeling the coins inside his pocket. He'd probably have to spend a week's-worth of earnings to get a handful of that rice, but it was for a good cause. You can't be stingy when you've got a system in your head.

But Fatty Lou gave him an exaggerated sigh. "We've had this talk already. You can't trust those places. That's no spirit rice they're selling, that product is foul and of poor quality. Just some scraps they'd bribed out from the Alchemy Guild and the Adventurer's Guild."

"I know that, but you have to trust me on this one," Lei said.

It took more than just spiritual energy to raise such crops, and the demand was already high enough that nobody would risk a journey across the forests and mountain paths to sell spiritual ingredients to a city as mortal as Jiangzhen. But it was possible to sweep some now and then if you had the right connections in the Empire's own Alchemy Guild and Adventurer Guild.

"You're… serious," Fatty Lou said, narrowing his eyes. "If that's the case, I know a place. But first, drink your tea."

…..

The center of Jiangzhen was a beast on its own, its roads paved and cared for, rows of shops almost too bright to look at. The robes people wore here had a different sound about them as they flapped and creased with the wind. Seemed to Lei's eyes that flower embroidery was making a comeback. The last time he'd come here these ladies were all about birds and bees.

And the streets were too wide. It was always the case with the rich folk here. They liked things wider and deeper.

Fatty Lou led the way with the confidence of a young master, chin high and chest puffed out like a proud rooster amongst the chicken. He was made for great things, he'd often say, and he certainly had the right attitude for it. Just that he was lacking on the money front.

But Lei didn't like it here. This whole place smelled and looked too fake for his taste. Just like those shopping streets in big cities back on Earth, here people greeted each other with mysterious smiles that spoke of deeper things.

It was always about a deal or an exchange with these people, and Lei had his fill when he thought working for richer folk would be a good idea. Foolish of him, of course, but it made him see the greater truth about this city, and he couldn't say he was too surprised when he'd found that it was all the same.

Money talked, people listened.

They came upon a great street that had short buildings, their tiles painted and lined with gold, lanterns hanging down the roofs latched with sparkling hooks. Flavors of dishes and perfumes splashed out across from the half-opened doors, filling the street with a rich wave of fog that beckoned customers for a treat.

"You think they'll give us the rice uncooked?" Lei asked, rather doubtful of this arrangement.

"I know a guy here," Fatty Lou said, squinting up at a place called 'Moonlight Delight' with a smile on his face. "Just prepare the money."

Lei clutched the coins inside his pocket as he stared at the two ladies fanning themselves before the door. It must've taken a great deal of powder to paint all that skin cloud-white, but at least they made a show of their efforts and looked quite triumphant as men, older and younger, poured inside while sneaking glances from them.

"You sure this place sells rice?" Lei asked. Seemed to him that his brother had done some injury to the truth.

"Don't worry, they sell everything here." Fatty Lou smiled as he clapped him on the back before making his way through the door.

Lei followed him, raising a hand when the ladies so kindly invited him for a cool drink in the back rooms. Fatty Lou had shown him those kinds of rooms before, so Lei could proudly say it wasn't a first for him, but he was a touch curious as it seemed this place had some quality about it.

We've other business to be about, ladies, my apologies.

Once inside, the starlight gave way to the soft red of the lanterns that lined the wooden beams, casting a warm, intimate glow over the space. The air was thick with perfumes, and it got thicker still when they stepped into the great hall.

Dozens of tables were crowded with patrons, mostly rich men, accompanied by the ladies of the house as they gulped away their worries. Right around the left side was an opening where a lonely woman sat on a tasseled cushion, clad in elegant reds as she plucked the strings of a zither.

Ancient times and modern times. Not that different when you've seen them both.

Fatty Lou led the way through the throng, weaving between the tables with practiced ease, and out toward a side door that didn't fit the lively ambiance of the hall with its flat face. He knocked on the door twice, and then it clicked open, revealing a middle-aged man with short, gray hair.

"Little Lou?" The man cocked an eyebrow at him, stepped back, and gestured to them to get inside. "You've honored me with this visit! Come inside!"

"It's been too long, Uncle Zhang!" Fatty Lou smiled widely at him and shrugged when Lei gave him a questioning look.

You have an uncle in a brothel? This guy is something else.

Lei shook his head as he sat down on a chair, dragged it screeching near the desk that had dozens of papers stacked over on it. Fatty Lou and the old man were seated soon, both smiling round at each other.

"Father misses you," Fatty Lou started. "You've gone for so long that we'd nearly forgotten your face!"

"These are tough times, Little Lou, you know that." Uncle Zhang shook his head at him. "But sometimes even I don't know what I'm doing here around the brothels."

"Somebody has to keep these accounts, right? They can't find anyone better than you," Fatty Lou said, then straightened his back and leaned closer to him. "Uncle Zhang, I don't want to keep you for too long, so I'm just going to tell it to you straight. I need something, and I was thinking that maybe you could help me with that."

"Oh?" Uncle Zhang said, his eyes widening in surprise. "Go on, say it. If it's anything this old man can do, he will do his best for his nephew!"

Fatty Lou glanced at Lei before speaking in a solemn voice, "We need some spirit rice. Uncooked, untouched. Straight from the source, if you will. Not much, just a handful or two. We've brought the money for it."

Lei pulled the coin pouch from his pocket and put it on the table. Fatty Lou snatched it with a quick hand, staring up at the old man.

Uncle Zhang frowned. "Spirit rice? What are you going to do with spirit rice? Don't you know they're selling poor-quality rice here? Yes, it's rather tasteful and good for your bones, but it isn't anything like those real spirit rice we'd eaten back in Lanzhou."

Lanzhou? That's where my soul brother's clan resides. A month's trot away from here.

"I'm aware, but as I've said, we don't need much of it," Fatty Lou said.

Uncle Zhang took the money pouch, stuck a finger inside, and checked the coins. "It's tough…" he said, scowling down at them. "But if it's important to you, I think I can arrange some."

"I knew we could count on you, Uncle Zhang!" Fatty Lou slapped his thigh and sprung on his feet, rounded the desk, and hugged the old man till his bones groaned. The poor man's face reddened like a beet from lack of breath, but his eyes were glinting.

"Hah!" he choked out a laugh when Fatty Lou got back on his seat and left him gasping. Then he waved a hand over them, "You two wait here while I go and get your rice. Don't make a fuss!"

Lei nodded like a little child under the man's gaze, and Fatty Lou didn't look much different than a real child, to be honest. For a second he turned into a kid who got candies and chocolate for just being there.

"So, spiritual cooking, is it?" he said when the old man left them alone. "But you know we can't do much with a handful or two. Not like these people would give us a whole sack. They're too stingy about these things."

"It's not for selling," Lei said. If [Essence Enhancement] would work as he thought, then they wouldn't be selling those dishes. Not before they got high on some spiritual energy, that is. "I'm thinking we might have a real shot at this cultivation business, after all."

Fatty Lou stiffened, his eyes narrowing down. "What do you mean by cultivation? Between you and me, there's not enough roots for a fucking sapling! You think some spirit rice will solve that problem?"

"Just let your brother cook," Lei said. "We'll soon see if this thing's half as good as it sounds."

Chapter 5: Getting High

Back at the house, Lei felt himself lighter after parting with his coin pouch. Not the worst of his purchases, but he did feel the sting from giving away a week's worth of earnings to that shady, a little too colorful for his taste, brothel that apparently thought serving spirit rice to their customers would aid them in their night-long endeavor.

Makes you curious.

Checking the rice, Lei wasn't sure if this thing could boost anything in practice.

[Spirit Rice: Mortal-grade, Low Quality]

Now, the mortal-grade part caught his eye, it had to be said. By this logic, there should be heavenly-grade spirit rice somewhere near the capital, or perhaps far away in the deeper parts of the wide world, cultivated by caring and loving hands.

Those treasured specimens, unfortunately, weren't meant for mortals like them. Lei doubted there was anything heavenly in Jiangzhen, considering most of the population didn't even bother to cultivate.

Guess I can't blame them.

"Are we cooking or what?" Fatty Lou said, slumped over on the bed, staring out from the wooden shutters toward the night sky outside. He seemed bored and rather angry. He'd said something about debts and favors along the way, but Lei hadn't been in the mood to lend him an ear.

He had other worries — expectations, to be clear, from the new skill he'd just picked.

[Essence Enhancement - Novice 1]: Increases the potency of spiritual ingredients you use in your dishes.

He was worried because he didn't know if the skill would poke him through the chest like he'd experienced the other day. That seemed like it had something to do with his dishes being eaten by others, but still, there was no way for him to be sure of it.

Trial and error, you're saying.

He wasn't a stranger to trying and failing at things alright. Working up a menu inside a Michelin-star kitchen had everything to do with this practice, after all. Most days even the sleep left him as he delved too deep into the ingredients, constantly mixing them inside his mind, trying to come up with gorgeous, and tasty dishes that would be served in small portions, just so the people would feel at ease spending hundreds on them.

Give them a plate full of noodles, the most delicious fucking thing in the world, then they'd start complaining about the prices.

Can't do anything about that, now, can I? Let's start our spiritual journey.

He split the rice into three parts; a handful of it he'd cook without using the skill, just to see how effective and spiritual this thing really was. The other part would be graced by the [Essence Enhancement], which Lei hoped would bring the rice to new spiritual heights. And the rest would be saved for later use.

I should keep my expectations low.

That was easy to say, of course. For all his life he was a man of expectations, and by extension, had his fair share of disappointments. Funny now that he thought about all those times he'd cursed himself for being a failure. Those worries and all that depression felt somehow distant as if they were another man's problems now.

Because I died once. Maybe that's why, eh?

He snickered as he washed the rice slowly, carefully. To his knowledge, there wasn't an extra step in cooking the spirit rice. So he dipped two fingers into the water, checked the amount, and started the fire before stepping back to the second pot. This time, he focused on the skill. Thought about it. Willed it awake and running, prayed it to be effective.

A cold sensation poured out from his heart, through the arms, into the pot. He couldn't see anything with his eyes but felt the skill slowly influence the spirit rice. For a second he thought he'd seen a glamorous glow under the water, but it'd gone away after a blink.

Now, the extra steps. There's no harm in being a touch more careful.

On the side was his chopping board, with carrots and other ingredients waiting for his gentle touch. He picked an onion, peeled it and cut it in half, diced it beautifully before snatching a carrot from the wooden container. He made short work of it, cutting it so the pieces were as small as possible. The garlic didn't stand a chance under his severe gaze as he minced it into tiny little dots that spread a strong smell about the place.

Lei pulled out a wok and started the fire on his third stove. The wood crunched and crackled, tongues of flame cuddling the cookware from all around. He slipped a spoonful of lard in and swirled it round and round before cracking three eggs inside. Two sticks, clenched tight in the palm of his hand, worked them until they were cooked and split into tiny parts.

Once that was done, he scooped the scrambled eggs into a plate and set it aside for it to cool down. The wok was still busy heating over the wood, and Lei didn't want to waste another second as he added the onions, carrots, some peas, and garlic, and cooked them until they were as soft as a baby's fontanelle.

Well, that's a little too much, but yeah.

He set the wok over on the table for a little while and checked the rice pots. Having tasted that they were done, he took both of the pots away from the stoves and opened the lids to let them cool down. A refrigerator would've been preferable, but until he became a cultivator who could freeze the lands and the crops with a wave of his hand, he had to settle with the good old wind that breezed inside through the wooden shutters.

Seconds crawled past as they waited. Fatty Lou was on his feet now, pacing around the one-room house, sticking his finger through the cracks along the walls, clicking his tongue for perhaps the thousandth time that how damned of a place this house really was.

Lei listened to him with a patient smile. The man was right, but if this skill would meet half his expectations, then it wouldn't be long before he said bye-bye to this place. Maybe a house by Master Li's bakery, he was thinking. That street was as clear as clear got in this city, and this way, they wouldn't have to set times or speak before sundown each day about where they would meet at nights with Fatty Lou as they would be living side by side.

He let out a sigh, then checked the pots. The rice was cold and ready. Back on the wok, he scooched the veggies over to the right side of the wok, added another spoonful of lard to the other side, and turned up the heat once again. He tried to use [Essence Enhancement] on the ingredients cooking in the wok but didn't feel that cold sensation.

It works only on the spiritual ingredients, that's for sure.

This was his favorite part. He took the ladle in hand, and slapped half of the spirit rice over on the melted lard, the other half saved for later experiment, both enhanced by the system-flavored skill. Then came the soy sauce. Once he heard the sizzling of the rice grains, he jabbed and slammed the ladle inside the wok, the other hand tight on the wok's handle. He shook and twisted the mixture, making sure there were no strangers left inside. Everything, from carrots to beans, and rice grains to onions, got to meet each other, and it seemed they were having a great time over on the roaring fire.

Oh, how I missed stir-frying some rice!

There was a stupid smile hanging wide on his lips. This was life. Simple, uncomplicated. It was meant to be lived like this, to Lei's thinking. Even in a ruined house, surrounded by all that wreckage and sorrow, cooking in a wok somehow managed to bring him the deepest of joys.

This was his home in a different world. And it was meant to be shared. He could already feel those hungry and curious gazes peeking from the tiny holes riddling the walls. Little faces, he saw, gulping happily, knowing they'd get a piece from what was cooking in the wok.

Lei shook his head as he focused on the wok again. Cooking for a crowd, now he felt like a performer, and he had to be sure he was showing them his best tricks.

He removed the wok from the fire, set it aside, and added the scrambled eggs, showed the sesame oil the way to its home, and sprinkled some green onions, a touch of salt and pepper.

"It's done," he said after stirring the mix for good measure. The flavors dominated the tiny room, an ethereal fog that claimed the space, with Lei as its sole master.

He checked it.

[Spirited Fried Rice: Mortal-grade, Medium Quality]

That looked to be some quality dish, for sure. It even sparkled, but Lei thought it might have to do with the starlight bouncing off of the walls. Anyway, after some honest sweat, things were ready to be experienced, and experimented on, for that matter.

"Three plates?" Fatty Lou said as he pointed a finger at the table. "What for?"

"We'll start with this one," Lei said as he passed two sticks to Fatty Lou, eyes down at the normal spirit rice. Once his brother-in-arms took a seat next to him, Lei spoke slowly, and warmly, in the manner of a school teacher addressing a new exchange student. "This one is the normal spirit rice, a simple dish that lacks any seasoning. Take your notes, for we'll be comparing these dishes after tasting each of them."

They both took their first bites. Lei's face darkened as he chewed on the grains for a while, greatly disappointed by the lack of spirituality in the dish. It didn't spark an enlightenment, or fill his so-called meridians with energy, nor did Lei feel that after tasting it he could defy the heavens. But it left an aftertaste once he gulped it down, and it was rather interesting. Felt like he took a whiff from a menthol cigarette.

Fatty Lou gave him a look that said 'Told you it's nothing special.' Lei shrugged and dragged the plate filled with the enhanced spirit rice. Before eating, he checked the dish using the Yellow Maiden's Eyes.

[Spirit Rice: Mortal-grade, Low Quality]

The quality is still low. But why? I've used the same rice with the Spirited Fried Rice, haven't I?

Could it be that his extra touches had done something to change the overall quality of the dish? But then again, he didn't know how the system measured the quality of… well, anything.

Guess we'll just have to take our chances.

They shared a silent look with Fatty Lou before Lei nodded, and tasted the enhanced spirit-rice. The first bite brought that same bland taste, followed by the menthol flavor that eased down the throat. It didn't end there, however, as that airy feeling in his throat thickened, slowly making its way down his stomach.

Once there, it dissolved into multiple threads that slithered about his lower waist, down his legs, and up his arms. It was about to sprawl to his head when that cool sensation suddenly died down.

"What the… This is Qi!" Fatty Lou smacked his lips loudly, raising two fingers to his mouth as if to check if the rice had been real. Then his head snapped back at Lei, eyes narrowed down in suspicion. "What the hell did you do to that rice? I was about to complete a minor-circle… A fucking minor-circle, but how?"

Lei shook his head. He'd been a second away from completing a minor circle himself, but he wasn't impressed. "A minor-circle… That's rather weak, don't you think? You have to be able to complete nine minor circles to be considered a first-step Body Tempering Stage cultivator."

Then they stopped and stared down at the spirit-rice. Fatty Lou lunged for a second bite, but Lei whisked his arm away with a back-handed slap and scowled at him. "It's not going anywhere, brother. We have one more dish to try."

And there it stood, the main course of the day, a most remarkable dish worthy of the richest palates, but now stuck with a certain fatty and the cook who made it. The Spirited Fried Rice seemed spirited in all things considered, smoke swirling invitingly over on the fried grains, tiny green onions flashing as though smiling up at them.

Lei took the first bite. It was glorious. The dish was packed with flavors so strong that it instantly burst alive inside the mouth, floating down from between his teeth, turning into a river of pleasure that sloshed away all that bad taste of its lessers.

Down inside the stomach it went, then stopped, a curious snake peeking about it with glinting eyes. A second passed, silent, Fatty Lou staring, Lei smiling, then they both jerked back at the same time, mouths hanging wide open, eyes sparkling like little kids blessed with dozens of toys.

"I'm alive…" Fatty Lou said as he thumped a fist on the table, the other hand clutching his belly. "I'm fucking alive…"

"Really…" Lei trailed off.

The world started spinning around him. He couldn't feel his arms, but there was no mistaking it; the cold sensation circled inside his body as though a tornado, wreaking havoc wherever it went. Joy, it brought him, and some agony in the mix, Lei reckoned. He groaned and sputtered, and clutched the table tight to balance the chair rocking back and forth. Warm blood trickled down his nose, dripping down his chin.

His head was so light that at every motion it wobbled back and forth. Drunk on spiritual energy, was it? Lei shook himself and slapped his cheeks, but nothing changed.

Then he stared at Fatty Lou. His brother was flushed like a ripe tomato, cheeks puffed out and breath wheezing out through his lips. For a second it seemed his eyes would pop off, but all of a sudden the tension left him, his shoulders slumping down, a blissful daze coating his crimson cheeks.

"We're nothing but a child's dream, a blink away from existing," Fatty Lou said. He had stars in his eyes, shining bright like a cloudless sky. Lei saw them as the reality shattered around him, sinews bulging out on his neck, throbbing, trembling as the energy circled inside his body.

Before he knew it a minor circle was completed, and yet he couldn't catch a breath as another circle started.

"I've no feet!" Fatty Lou said, wobbling up from the chair, his feet swinging left and right as though they were softer than a sponge - boneless, and spineless too, it seemed, as he tumbled over on his back a second after.

"Don't worry." Lei bent over him, huffing through his nose, his body spasming madly inside. It jabbed at him, the Qi, the cold sensation, whatever the hell this thing was, rammed into his innards and stole the breath out of his lungs. Still, he breathed and managed to utter those crucial words to his brother, "I have two of them. You can take one."

Only then Fatty Lou smiled in relief.

Two of them, Lei nodded, one for each.

Then everything went dark.

Chapter 6: After Effects

Your [Tier] has increased by 1 level.

[Essence Enhancement] has increased by 1 level.

Buzzing in his head. Some annoying fly caught in the web of his ears, maybe? Couldn't be that clean in there. There were no cotton swabs in here, and the other options were too unreliable that Lei feared he might break something crucial in his head should he try to work anything but a finger up in his ears.

He shook, and spat phlegm on the ground, his feet singing a painful song as he winced his way up to the table, clutched the edges, and pulled himself afoot, breath rasping in his chest.

A look around the room let him understand that it wasn't the world, but his mind that had decided to go on a crazy number of spins. Fatty Lou lay snoring under the table, one hand caught between the hinges of the chair, his index finger seemingly had stopped mid-way reaching for the Spirited Fried Rice.

Deep breaths. Take deep breaths.

What in the eighteen hells, or six paths of reincarnation had happened? Did they somehow overdose on spiritual food? Could it be that this was the legendary state that fell many a famous cultivator, Qi Deviation the devil itself?

No. Deviation would've killed us. This was different.

The most sensible explanation was that their body couldn't take all that Qi. Then again, Lei had never thought a simple dish would carry Qi so intense that'd leave them breathless. Everything, from the tips of his fingers to the nape of his neck, hurt like a bastard.

Oh?

But his feet were light as feathers. A step took him round the table, and another out from the door where he breathed the fresh air, bathing under the blazing lights of the morning sun.

Sun? Did we sleep through the night?

That explained the bad taste in his mouth, and his throat, too, parched like a cracked patch of earth that'd been roasted under the blazing sun. What about his face, then?

Lei sprung back into his house and raised a pot near his face to check if there was anything wrong with him. A stained, exhausted face glared back from the pot's darkened surface. But other than the trails of blood dried under his nose, there didn't seem to be anything broken at all.

He sighed out a long breath. That was a relief.

Then he froze. The wok, the pots, and the plates… everything looked as though somebody had licked them clean. Not even a grain of rice was left on them.

You brats! You're going to kill yourselves!

He shot Fatty Lou one last look and decided not to wake him up. He looked too peaceful in this rather twisted state, so Lei pulled that arm from the chair and put it over on the floor. He didn't have it in him to carry him to the bed.

He had other worries. Yes, that was the reason.

Outside, the sight of ruined houses and deserted backyards, bushes, and weeds slowly consuming the once lively streets greeted him. He shaded his eyes with one hand and decided to check the system as he started.

Name: Liang Lei

Age: 20

Class: Chef

Tier: Novice 3

Skills: Eyes of the Yellow Maiden.

Cooking Skills: [Essence Enhancement - Novice 2]

His right eye twitched when he saw the system's generous evaluation of him as a Novice 3 chef. Other than that, though, the new skill had gained a level too, but Lei still didn't have any idea about what these upgrades meant.

The skill must've become more effective, but how should he measure this improvement was beyond him. He didn't have dozens of spiritual ingredients to do endless experiments, nor did he really have a solid way of getting those. Fatty Lou's uncle in that brothel had said that he could only help them for this once. So that door had been closed for good.

There were other ways, different ways, but Lei wasn't sure if it was worth risking his life just to work his way through a system he didn't know why he got in the first place. Some twisted joke, or a prophecy, perhaps?

But then, a prophecy about a chef didn't sound too realistic.

He could see where things could go from here. The [Essence Enhancement] skill alone had the potential to turn his dishes into pseudo-medicinal pills, and he was sure he'd get more from the system as he kept leveling up.

Does it matter why I got this thing? Can't I just use it?

That sounded good, but the trouble was, that it would mean that he had to be more than a mere stall owner who just wanted to spread a different culinary culture in this ancient world.

There was always the risk of being collateral damage to some cultivator's nuke, though. The choice doesn't always belong to you. Not when some bastards can decide anytime that a mortal city will be a good place to sort their differences.

That was what killed the previous owner of this body. A pack of stray cultivators. They didn't even directly assault the city but razed it to the ground as they passed by it. So in that sense, staying away from cultivators or anything spiritual was just a matter of perspective. If you're a delusional fool thinking that you could find a 'silent' place by some mountain, then by all means you're free to ignore the reality of the world.

It'd be hardly a surprise if the mountain I'd picked turned out to be some primal fucking turtle hiding from its arch enemies.

Lei sighed. It was probably foolish of him to think all of these things while still suffering from the side effects of that Qi overdose. His whole side was screaming at him, and his feet were sore and itching.

Where are these kids?

And why were these ruined houses looked all the same? Those children were few in number, and never stayed in one spot, always changing houses to be safe from the thugs that frequented this place at night. But it also worked the same way against Lei, and he wasn't in the mood to check every single stone to see if they'd been dead or not.

Well, we're not dead. And there was hardly enough rice for a dozen children. If they all took one or two bites, then I don't think it'd be enough to kill them.

Lei sighed. What a start to the day.

...

He found them all curled up and out cold in some building that had its door jacked between two walls, wooden planks groaning lazily in the occasional wind that drifted down from the far mountains. That seldom breeze was the only thing that made the day bearable. Well, that and the kids were still breathing.

Good, they're not dead.

As he stooped under the beams and worked his way to the other side where about a dozen children lay sleeping on the cold floor, Lei sighed once again. Then something furry caught his eye, hidden behind a girl's arm, its two pointy ears jerking up at the sound of Lei's steps.

"You've even let the cat eat that?" Lei didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he stared at this sight. "I've spoiled you too much!"

Thankfully, Old Ji wasn't here, or else Lei would have to listen to his blabbing about how these kids didn't know what was best for them, or how they would turn into thieves and thugs if he kept pampering them.

Some were already thieves, but Lei tried to put a positive spin on it. They were kids, after all, and kids didn't know how to act in certain situations. Their brains had this basic logic that more often than not got them into trouble.

But not you. You should've known better, you little devil!

Lei leaned over to a boy who had a blissful smile on his face. His friends called him Snake, a name that suggested a sneaky, and vicious thug that roamed the lands, but in truth, he was just a slippery little devil that prided in being not caught after all the things he'd snatched from the stalls.

He had a round face, plump cheeks with dimples on them, and short, spiky dark hair. Lei reckoned he was twelve, or thirteen at most, making him the oldest of these bunch, and he knew how to look after them.

"Sneaky Snake, wake up," Lei poked him with his sandal, but the kid groaned and turned his side, pushing Lei's foot with his hand. That was rude and unacceptable, so Lei raised his voice, "Wake up, you brats!"

That got him some reactions as a couple of heads turned in his direction. A strange silence settled on the cramped space, broken by widening eyes and gasps as the children all stiffened at the sight of Lei.

"It's Lei Lei," said one of them, a girl with long, brown hair who had the kindest eyes in the world, petting the black cat that purred happily in her arms. "Looks like he's awake!"

Lei shook his head at her. "Little Mei, just call me Lei. You don't have to say my name twice."

"It's more fun this way." Little Mei cocked her head to the side, gazing curiously at him. There were enough rice grains stuck on her cheek to suggest that she'd had her fair share from that fried rice, and she giggled as the damned cat licked them off of her face one by one.

"We were supposed to call him the Heavenly Cook!" a voice protested as another child raised a finger to Little Mei's face. This brat was a head taller than Little Mei and had black eyes that glinted under the sunlight.

"Heavenly Cook?" Lei was amused and patted Little Chao on the shoulder. He then knelt beside him, and asked, "Who told you that?"

All the eyes turned to the same spot, where the only child still lay dreaming.

"Of course," Lei mumbled as he leaned closer to Snake, poked him once, twice, and when that wasn't enough, he stretched the boy's eyelids open and snapped his fingers at him. "Wake up, little snake!"

"Big Brother Lei!" Snake's eyes jerked wide open, staring round at him. "What are you doing here?"

"That's my line, you brat," Lei said, scowling. "Didn't we have this talk the other week? And yet you're still stealing, even from your Big Brother here. You all could've died!"

"I didn't steal anything!" Snake waved his hand angrily. "Y-You were sleeping, and I thought letting the food go cold would be a waste, so we took it."

"Sleeping?" That was one way to put it, but Lei didn't bite it. "Didn't you all watch me cook those dishes? I saw you peeking from the holes, don't lie to me!"

Little Snake looked hurt, but he still dared to click his tongue at Lei. "Nobody's lying, Big Brother. We watched you cook that dish, and then you dozed off with that fatty."

"What about you?" Lei asked, rather curious about the effects of those spiritual dishes on these children. They didn't look different, perhaps a little more energetic than always, but that could've been the result of a full belly. "Are you feeling different? Any pain in your stomach, or anywhere else?"

All the children shook their heads at the question, with Snake inching closer to Lei and giving him a reassuring pat on the back, "Big Brother, I've always thought you're a simple cook, but turns out you're a real genius! Your rice even fixed Stone's stomach! He said it didn't hurt anymore."

Little Chao, the so-called Stone, stepped forward and bowed as though a disciple before a Master to Lei. His head nearly touched the ground before he stepped back, respect shining deep in his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Lei asked. That dish near broke him and Fatty Lou. It was a little hard to believe the only effect it had on these children was a good night's sleep. There had to be something, anything.

When the crowd of shuffling heads gave him strange looks, Lei decided it would be best to rely on the system's magic. Why bother trying to get answers from these little devils? There was no trusting them, anyway.

He focused on Snake, using the Yellow Maiden's Eyes on him.

[Song Junjie: Mortal, 1st step of the Body Tempering Stage]

"Wait, what?"

Chapter 7: Tense

"Hold on," Lei said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's not right."

"What's not right, Lei Lei?" Little Mei said.

"Look at his eyes," Little Chao muttered. "They are glowing."

"He's really the Heavenly Cook, I told you!" Snake swept them with an excited gaze, then turned to Lei and bowed deeply. "You must feel exhausted after cooking those miraculous dishes, Big Brother Lei. Why don't you rest here? We can go clean your house if you want."

"My house? Ah, yes…" Lei said as he stared at the other children. A shiver ran down his spine when he checked them one by one.

[Yuan Mei: Mortal, 1st Step of Body Tempering Stage.]

[Zhong Chao: Mortal, 1st Step of Body Tempering Stage.]

[Haou Bolin: Mortal.]

…

…

He breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that not all of them had become cultivators overnight. Only Little Mei, Little Chao, and Snake had stepped into the ranks of the Body Tempering Stage, but they didn't look different.

Most of them are still mortals… But what about these three? How did they become cultivators with just a simple dish?

It wasn't quite clear to him how many minor circles he'd completed before blacking out, but he reckoned it must be around three or four. So he couldn't be considered a real cultivator, not before he'd managed to complete nine minor circles.

Something about the roots, perhaps? Maybe unlike me, these kids have a real talent for cultivation.

That sounded like a sensible explanation. Some medicinal pills worked in a similar fashion, after all. Once eaten, they dissolved into waves of Qi that slowly expanded one's meridians, basically working as a replacement for the Qi that'd normally be absorbed through simple meditation.

"Did you all try that fried rice?" Lei asked. If there was one thing he'd learned from the last night's episode, it was that his fried rice was leaps and bounds above that normal enhanced rice in spirituality.

"Mm!" Little Mei nodded as she scratched the black cat's fur with her nails. "It was delicious! We all tried it!"

Then it's not the fried rice alone. These three are really something else.

"Do you feel any difference?" Lei asked. He didn't know what he should do in this situation. He was by no means an expert on the topic of cultivation and certainly didn't have the experience to guide these little devils toward the right path.

But let alone answering him, they didn't even seem to know they'd become more than mere mortals after eating those dishes. Granted, the Body Tempering Stage wasn't a stage that turned simple human beings into mountain-punching, river-crushing forces of nature, but it did boost one's physical abilities.

"Snake, lift that rock for me," Lei said, pointing at a rock that was thrice the size of a normal brick. It must've weighed at least thirty or forty pounds. Nothing too crazy, but a twelve-year-old kid should find it hard to lift such a rock.

"Rock?" Snake raised an eyebrow at him. "I can easily lift it, but what will I get in return? If you let me eat more of those dishes, then I can lift all the rocks here!"

"Fine." Lei nodded, waving his words off.

There was an almost crazed glint about his eyes as Snake stepped near the rock, and tapped a finger on it.

Is this the first sign of a would-be cultivation maniac? Am I witnessing a rare genius?

Lei chuckled at the thought. This whole thing was so ridiculous that a part of him still thought he was in the middle of a bad trip. Overdosing on spiritual energy couldn't have been as simple a matter as dozing off.

But when Snake raised the rock with two hands, barely straining, smiling up at him as though he'd lifted a nail-sized pebble, Lei understood that everything was way too real.

"That's nothing!" Little Chao said, staring him down. He huffed and puffed his way through the ruins of the house, found a bigger rock, dusted off its surface in the manner of a true weightlifter, and hauled the damned thing. "See?" he said, his smile straining behind the big rock. "I can do it better!"

The two released the rocks, and they thumped on the ground, rolling sideways, sending little clouds of dust up the walls.

"Were you two…" Lei said, gulping nervously. "Always this strong?"

Little Chao and Snake exchanged glances before shrugging. Snake then gave him a confident shake of his head. "I've never tried to lift a rock this big, Big Brother Lei. But can't say I'm surprised."

"I've tried once," Little Chao said, eyes down at that big rock. "But it is my first time succeeding."

Lei nodded. This sudden increase in their strength wasn't anything groundbreaking but was expected from a first-step Body Tempering Stage cultivator. At the ninth step, cultivators could lift four to five hundred pounds with ease, the amount changing depending on the manuals and practices they'd use in the process.

What am I going to do with these brats?

He sighed out a long breath.

There is the annual assessment of the Empire's Own, but that's still months away and only happens in big cities like Lanzhou.

Every year the Eastern Chu Empire sent its guards and officers to the big cities to unearth the potential of the masses. The few children who had been blessed with talent and opportunity would get recruited either into the Empire's Own, academies, or righteous sects.

But those spots were usually reserved for the children of the high-born folk and prominent figures of the cities. Lei didn't know if he could slip these little devils into the mix.

His head throbbed with a budding headache as he considered all the possibilities. Though he didn't want to admit it, there was nothing he could do right now. He lacked the means and money to even find a house for these children, let alone sketching a real future for them.

"I'll try to think of something," he muttered, more to himself than to the children. The only thing he could rely on was the system, and for that, he needed more spiritual ingredients.

He turned and regarded each kid with a heavy gaze.

"You don't worry yourself about us, Big Brother Lei," said Snake, his chin high. "You can count on me!"

Lei gave him a strict nod. "Take care of yourselves, and stay away from trouble while I think this through."

Then he trudged back to his house.

…..

Just when Lei stepped inside the house, a strong hand grabbed him by the collar, yanked him closer, and flattened his back on the cold wall, an elbow pressing tight into his chest. "Who are you?!" Fatty Lou growled, his eyes burning with cold fury.

"W-What are you doing?" Lei said, caught backhanded against the sudden assault, flailing against the strong hold. "Put me down!"

Fatty Lou swept him a fierce gaze and stepped back, but didn't lower his hand as though he was ready to strike at any moment. The fat under his chin wriggled impatiently as he regarded Lei with blatant suspicion.

"Are you insane?" Lei said as he shook his head to gather himself. He already had enough shit to deal with, and now this fatty was trying to kill him.

"When we first met, what was the first thing I'd told you?" Fatty Lou frowned at him.

"What did—"

"Answer me!" Fatty Lou raised his hand, glaring out into his eyes. "What did I tell you the first time we met?"

"Y-You've told me that I've not enough meat in my bones!" Lei sputtered, the man's eyes almost drilling painful holes around his body.

All the tension left Fatty Lou as he breathed a long sigh. "Good. You're really you, then. For a second I'd feared some demonic bastard seized your soul." Then he turned to the empty plates. "Now, can you tell me how in the heavens did you cook something like that?"

"That's the thing I wanted to show you," Lei said, rubbing his neck. He'd figured showing Fatty Lou would be the easiest and most effective way for him to understand, but seemed he hadn't thought it through.

Should've known I'd get a strong reaction. It's not like the place has dozens of chefs cooking spiritual dishes.

"I thought I was going to die," Fatty Lou said, wincing a step back and leaning to the table, his face easing into a questioning frown. "Five minor-circles… Do you know what that means?"

"I know—"

"Five fucking circles, Brother Lei!" Fatty Lou said. "Four more, then I would've stepped into the ranks of the Body Tempering Stage cultivators. I've spent years trying to sense the Qi around me, but I have never been able to get a single whiff of it! Then suddenly, you tell me you've something to say, then fry some rice that happens to be packed with all the fucking Qi in the world! How's that possible?"

"You have to trust me on this one," Lei said, scratching the back of his neck. The system and its screens were as alien as phones and planes for these people. Hell, even he didn't know what to make of it.

"Where and how… These questions are not important," Lei said. There was no point talking about the reasons where the result was what really mattered. "This gift of mine can do that… I mean, can influence the spiritual ingredients used in a dish. If we can find more—"

"So that's what happened the other day when you'd clutched your chest and crashed down at the stall?" Fatty Lou asked. "That's when this… boon of yours appeared." He snapped his fingers. "Just like that, eh?"

"More or less," Lei said and smiled slightly. "I think I've been struck with a sudden enlightenment. You know like those legends that have all the lights and a far-away voice of some higher being, whispering the grand truth into one's ears."

On some level, this was exactly what happened to him. Though he knew he'd get something after completing that first mission, it'd still been way beyond his wildest dreams.

"That makes sense," Fatty Lou mumbled as he started pacing around the room. "You must've been blessed by Heavens in some shape or form. I've heard such things happen to people. What did they call it? A fortuitous encounter, was it?"

Yes, that's true. This is a damned xianxia world, after all.

"Exactly!" Lei pressed right away. "Must be something like that. We can use this, Brother Lou! We just need to find a way to get more spiritual ingredients, that's all."

Fatty Lou shook his head, "You heard Uncle Zhang. Those people won't sell their precious spirit rice to us. Even if they agreed to sell, we don't have the money for it."

"If you can convince Master Li to give us a loan, then…"

"Forget it. That old man's stubborn as a goat. He won't give a single coin to us, that stingy bastard. If we're going to do this, we'll do it on our own."

A tense silence followed their conversation. Lei racked his brains for possible solutions, but the ones he thought of were mostly about money or might. With enough money, they could venture deep inside the Empire, perhaps to an Immortal City where everything was more or less spiritual in origin.

But even if they could somehow make the journey without encountering monstrous beasts or stray cultivators, such a venture would cost them dozens of Imperial gold.

I've never seen a golden coin in my new life.

The same was true for the Alchemists' Guild. In theory, everyone could buy a medicinal pill from the Empire's Alchemists' Guild. The former Emperor himself had declared some years ago that the Eastern Chu Empire shall provide all its people the means to buy and trade such important sources.

Though he'd probably done that to prevent the monopoly of certain cultivation clans and sects.

That didn't mean the pills would be cheap, however. They were, in all things considered, heavenly treasures in the eyes of the mortal folk, things that they couldn't hope to ever buy even if they spent their lifetime earnings. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but a single Body Tempering Pill cost about three imperial gold. Considering Lei earned about thirty to fifty copper coins in a good day, he would have to work for weeks to even afford a single pill, as the value of an imperial gold coin was about a thousand copper coins.

And this was on the account that such pills would be available in the Alchemists' Guild, as they were often reserved for people with deep pockets and deeper connections in the right places.

On the other hand, if they could find enough ingredients to boost their cultivation to the Body Tempering Stage, then they could go straight inside the Adventurer's Guild and become adventurers.

There were all sorts of missions in the guild that didn't involve a dangerous fight, or a life-or-death battle against the monstrous beasts, as even city folk could put up their own missions with providing proper rewards.

Hold on...

Lei glanced at Fatty Lou. "What if we post missions in the Adventurer's Guild?"

"Missions? What sort of a reward— Wait!" Fatty Lou's eyes glinted. "Don't tell me you're thinking of giving a spiritual dish as a reward?"

Lei nodded smugly. "That's some generous reward if you'd asked me. We let the bastards do all that hard work, gathering the ingredients for us, and then we'll give them a portion as a reward."

"Ingredients…" Fatty Lou frowned in thought. "It's a good plan, but I don't think they'd find any spirit rice growing in a forest. And how does one cultivate spirit rice, anyway? What, you just blow your breath into the seeds, or spit on them?"

"It doesn't have to be rice, anything spiritual would do the job just fine," Lei said, scratching his chin. "I mean, I can even work with some spiritual weed. Nothing too crazy, just simple weed with an extra touch of the Heavens. You think they don't have those?"

Fatty Lou shrugged. "Yeah, no… I'm sure there are plenty of spiritual things in the Darkloom Forest for people mad enough to brave its dangers. But still, we must keep your boon a secret if we don't want some bastard to know how spiritual your dishes can get."

"You're right. We need a middleman that'll post the missions for us," Lei said, staring at Fatty Lou.

When his brother-in-arms didn't take the hint, the strange eye contest stretched for a couple of seconds before, finally, Fatty Lou jerked a thumb back at his chest.

"You want me to be the middleman?" Fatty Lou's eyes were wide as saucers. "You know I'm a rather famous butcher around this part of the town, right? You can ask all those ladies. They often say I give the strongest impressions if you know what I mean."

Lei almost rolled his eyes at that. "I didn't mean you. Just find someone. You've enough shady friends in the town, no? Fetch one of those. Tell them we'll pay in coppers."

"Yeah, right…" Fatty Lou scratched the back of his neck before nodding. "Give me some time to think. I'll pay a visit to your stall tomorrow, then we'll talk about the details."

With that, Lei sent him off and threw himself over to the bed. He'd fallen asleep after getting high on spiritual energy but didn't feel rested at all, and he had to be in good shape if he wanted to keep grinding the system with his dishes.

Chapter 8 - Honest Work

The sun beamed through the clouds, and it seemed brighter today than it ever was as people sauntered about the Eastern Square. Each one had their own story, regrets, and plans, but the only stories worth lending an ear to, Lei was thinking, belonged to the ones who had the courtesy to grant him a coin or two on this bloody hot day.

He worked with brutal efficiency, hardly breathing, hardly aware of the noises that surrounded him. He let the coins pile in the corner as he delivered one bread after another, flashing that half-smile that had long since become a natural thing for him after all the years he'd spent keeping a front against faces he'd cared little to remember.

But behind that front wasn't the usual fury or the cold emptiness gnawing at his heart, but rather some warmth, and a good deal of nervous excitement that kept him away from focusing too much beyond the reach of his hands.

Fatty Lou had visited him earlier today and told him that he'd bring a guy who they could trust the mission with after sundown. They were to meet at Swirling Frog, for Fatty Lou thought making the deal in a crowded place would let them keep away from curious eyes.

Not like we're starting a drug business. Some honest work, that's all.

But so long the matter went smoothly, Lei didn't mind meeting at a teahouse or a dark shed by the lake. Though he must say, the tea here was rather strong and had a nasty kick about it. Perhaps that old, mute guy added more than just leaves to the pot before serving it to his regulars.

"Six coppers, Sir," Lei said as he smiled up at a wrinkled old man, who gave him a copper coin with the word 'one' engraved upon it. The man fumbled with the coin, seemed embarrassed for a second, and fished for some time in the depths of his pocket before flashing an additional glinting, five copper piece with a trembling hand.

Lei took the coins and gave him a portion of the freshly cooked menemen, smoke curling beautifully over it.

Now that they were taking the matter of cultivation seriously, he'd become painfully aware of how lacking his little stall business was. The whole morning had gone without him gaining a single tier or a level in the [Essence Enchanhement] skill, and the coin pile started looking awfully short in height even though it was growing at each passing minute.

Three handfuls of spirit rice had cost them about one hundred fifty coppers. That was half the average wage of the masons and the carpenters in the city. The lucky few who owned their craft could make between five to six hundred in a month, but that sum depended highly on the Governor's Office's unreliable tax practices.

When Lei rented this little stall for the flat sum of fifty coppers for a single month, Master Li, Fatty Lou's Father, had told him that rent would be the least of his worries should he keep this practice In the long run.

And it was true, kind of. While the fifty-coppers rent was not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, the flat 20% tax part was rather cruel to Lei's thinking. He didn't know who'd been the genius behind this flat income tax idea, but he certainly hadn't the best interest of the normal folk while coming up with it. To make matters worse, the Governor's Office could jerk this rate up to 40% should they see a need for it.

At least there's no VAT or something like that.

Just then, a cold sensation pricked Lei's skin. Felt like a mother's touch to him now that he knew what was really causing it. A look around the scattered crowd told him that the business hadn't been the same as when Fatty Lou worked his magic the other day, but he still had about a dozen people chewing on the loaves round the square.

"I'll be taking a little break," he said when another man came up to the stall, who gave him a nod before trudging away. Lei stepped back and sat on the ground, bracing himself for the pain that could come poking through his chest at any moment now.

Eh?

Seconds crawled past, but the pain didn't come. In fact, he felt better than ever before, probably because of the little breather he took from the constant cooking and sweating.

The strange thing was, he could still feel the cold sensation. So there had to be something causing it. He used the Yellow Maiden's Eyes to take a glance around him, and then saw, much to his surprise, a flash of light coming off from the ladle that rested by the wok.

Your [Common Ladle: Poor Quality] has been upgraded to [Spiritual Ladle: Mortal-rank, low-grade - Poor Quality.]

What?

Lei sprung forward, heart thumping in his chest, and took the ladle in hand. He turned and twisted the worn metal. At first, he couldn't see anything different about it, but then slowly felt that cold sensation trickling down from the ladle to his fingers, making them itch.

A spiritual tool? Are you serious?

He gave it a swing. It whistled through the air, producing a ringing sound. His fingers hurt from how hard he had to clench them around the handle just to stop the ladle from slipping out through his hold. He didn't want to bloody his hands after a good morning run, not with a ladle, at least.

Lei stepped back and slammed the ladle down on the stall, which made the poor wooden logs groan and creak under its weight. A web of cracks spread from the curving edge of the damned thing, nearly breaking his lifeline in two and leaving him jobless.

As usual, the system barely provided any information about his new tool. Mortal-rank, sure, low-grade, yeah, that was some help alright. Thankfully, his soul brother's education at the Liang Clan had come with basic knowledge about spiritual tools.

A Mortal-rank, low-grade spiritual tool was barely worth anything in the eyes of most cultivators. An average sect disciple could get a Mortal-rank, middle-grade tool as a welcome present from whatever sect they decided to join.

But it was still a spiritual tool, and anything spiritual was better than decisively mortal in Lei's eyes. For a second he wondered if this would be how he'd rise to new heights. A ladle-swinging, soul-cooking chef who would defy the already twisted common sense of this world.

That made him laugh right before it dawned on him the real implications of this function. This could mean that in time, and with great care, he could produce heavenly ladles and immortal woks with which he could truly ascend higher into the heavens to become one of the old monsters he'd often read in those novels.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

He shook his head as he kept pondering on the matter.

It didn't slip past his notice that this upgraded tool was the same ladle he'd used cooking that Spirited Fried Rice the other day. So it was either charmed by the spirituality brimmed inside that glorious dish or suddenly struck with enlightenment that it could, by all means, transform into a better version of itself by simply willing it.

When Lei stared intently at the ladle, he didn't see anything quite resembling a will about it. It was a ladle through and through.

So it was because of that dish.

A strange thought popped into his mind. What if he cooked those spiritual dishes with a sword? Would it become a spiritual weapon that could hack through cultivators and monstrous beasts like a real treasure? If so, then it meant he could be a rich man far quicker than he'd thought.

But I'm a chef. I don't think this system would have such a glaring loophole.

Though it was stingy in its explanations, Lei never thought of it as a broken thing he could take advantage of. Still, he made a mental note to try a sword when he'd have the chance.

There's no harm in trying, right? Trial and error, simple as that.

Straining to lift the ladle, which had become heavier like a twenty-pound rock, Lei cooked the last batch of menemen before calling it a day. The afternoon sun slowly eased back to the west, its crimson light bouncing off of the coin pile that rested on the stall.

Lei secured his tools and put the ladle under the counter before counting the coppers one by one. His right eye twitched when the total came up with a grand sum of forty-eight coppers.

Not bad, I guess. But it's time I take advantage of the drunk crowds of the night. It's getting too hot for me to work my ass off for the whole morning.

For that, though, he needed a new recipe. He'd chosen menemen because of its low cost. It was also a touch familiar in taste for these ancient folk. Lei found that cooking completely alien food was a wasted effort, as these people weren't that open to trying new things.

On the other hand, he wasn't planning to go with the usual noodles or fried seafood like most of his competetion often sold. He didn't want to lose his edge, but he had to take account of the cost before coming up with a new dish.

Something with meat, maybe? The last time I'd checked the prices weren't that bad.

Locking the stall, Lei wiped his face with a towel and stared up at the sky. He had a good hour or two before the meeting with Fatty Lou and his shady friend, enough time for him to do a little market search.

He gave a last look over the shoulder to the stall. Somehow he didn't feel right leaving the ladle in there. It was a spiritual tool, after all, even though it didn't look like it.

I'll take you with me after the meeting.

....

There were many things these ancient folk lacked. Refrigerators, your everyday tools, even a simple sink and a flush. In the month he spent here Lei came to greatly miss those things he took for granted back on Earth. Even finding a soap could be a hurdle sometimes.

But if there was one thing this ancient world had over modern times, it was the quality of basic ingredients. Everything was too organic to the point that you could almost taste the hard effort behind these ingredients which were cultivated by great care and honest sweat.

That was why he found solace in the East Market. This was his heaven on earth, a place that displayed the simplicity and authenticity of this ancient world. There were no packed foods, or fluorescent lights that drilled into his soul, nor there were the tired, lifeless faces of people who hated every second they wasted in some giant building that lacked any warmth.

As Lei strolled from between the stalls that stretched across the market, he couldn't help the wide smile creasing his lips. Tomatoes flashed red and green from under the thin veils, beckoning him for a taste. Beside them stood eggplants, peppers, bok choys, and broccolis, painting the stalls with a cacophony of colors.

Hard faces would turn mellow whenever people inched a step closer to one of these stalls, often followed by the gentle voice of a farmer asking them if they would be interested in trying one of the ripe melons that they'd cut open, displaying the gorgeous play of colors between red and green.

A single piece from that juicy wonderfulness would be enough to hook most of the customers into a heated bargain where they didn't stand a chance against these grizzly workers. More often than not these customers would leave the stall with sacks filled with melons, eggplants, and peppers, even though they'd just come for a jin of tomatoes.

But when they saw Lei, those faces creased further, wary eyes staring at him as though he were a thief with the deftest of hands in this part of the city. They had learned better to give him a piece or two after Lei filled his sacks without paying a dime.

He didn't mind it. In fact, he respected their attention to detail, as it wasn't easy to remember a face when there were dozens of people crowding the place every day.

Soon the fresh air gave way to the heavy stench of the animals as Lei rounded a corner. Ahead, the butcher shops came into view. The sounds of bleating goats, clucking chickens, and the occasional low of cattle dinned inside his ears, accompanied by the sharp clinks of knives on chopping boards and the rhythmic thud of cleavers splitting bone.

Lei approached a familiar butcher's stall, run by a burly man named Hu Liwei. His pate shone under the crimson lights of the setting sun as he chopped a chicken with a deft hand, barely blinking as he readied the cuts.

"Master Liwei, good day," Lei said as he smiled at the man. He'd stared around, but couldn't see Fatty Lou.

"Oh?" Master Liwei gave him a side-eyed glance, his mouth twitching. "Little Lei, so it was you? Your bastard of a friend isn't here if you're looking for him. Said something about a friend or a business, can't remember. If you ask me, he must be out chasing some young ladies."

Lei chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm actually here to buy some meat. I'm thinking of a new recipe."

Master Liwei's expression softened as he set aside the chicken and reached for a sizable lamb leg hanging from a hook. "Good, good! What about some lamb? Freshest one we've got."

"I can work with lamb." Lei nodded as he took out his coin pouch. "How much for that leg?"

"Fifty coppers would be more than enough," Master Liwei said with a strained smile.

"Just for a leg?" Lei was taken aback. "The last week it was about thirty, no?"

"Courtesy of our Governor." Master Liwei scowled down at the lamb leg. "They've been devouring lambs and cattle over there for the last week. Don't know who's been visiting, but it can't be a nobody, tell you that much. I'm thinking some officer of the court."

Is it related to the cultivator attack? Perhaps the capital did send a relief package.

If so, there was not much he could do. The lamb was expensive, but it'd sell for more by that logic.

"Alright, I'll take four," Lei said, then raised a hand. "But I need lean cuts, no thicker than a finger. Leave the fat, and save me the bones, will you? I'll take them tomorrow morning if it's fine with you."

"As you wish," Master Liwei said and flourished his cleaver. Unlike Fatty Lou, who seemed he'd have horses chasing him whenever he worked here, Master Liwei was careful, and slow in his art.

"What about this new recipe?" Master Liwei asked just as Lei was about to leave.

Lei smiled over his shoulder. "Something from far away. A dish from my mother's side."

"Oh?" Master Liwei raised an eyebrow at him. "What's it called?"

"It has a different name depending on the region, but our folks used to call it doner kebab."