After everyone had gone down the mountain, Zhao Yi cleared the dining table and then stood silently beside Wen Ping on the second floor. In fact, Zhao Yi was not an introverted person, but standing next to Wen Ping, he felt a sense of awe and didn’t dare to speak.
Especially after seeing even those of the Profound Realm seeking Wen Ping’s help these days, his heart was filled with admiration.
"You’ve seen the cultivation grounds of our Immortal Sect, right? The Gravity Field, dormitory area, and the Fierce Beast Trial Ground."
Zhao Yi nodded, "Reporting to the Sect Leader, I have seen them all."
"I know you don’t have money, so I’m giving you a job opportunity. From today onwards, the task of cleaning Yunlan Mountain is assigned to you. Work for one hour, and I’ll give you an hour to cultivate in either the Gravity Field or the Fierce Beast Trial Ground. Work for three hours a day, and the accommodation fee is waived."
"Thank you, Sect Leader."
Zhao Yi quickly bowed, his face expressing overwhelming gratitude. To be honest, he had been worried about this issue for days, especially after learning about the specialty of these cultivation grounds, which made him itch with eagerness.
Huai Ye, Yang Lele, and the others could help for a day or two, but they couldn’t help him forever.
Now that Wen Ping had introduced a work system, it was a great help for him at this moment. He believed that with three hours of cultivation every day, he would certainly be able to return to the Body Refinement Fifth Layer within a year.
Honestly, he didn’t know how to express his gratitude properly.
Helping him reconstruct his meridians was already a monumental favor, and now there was an added favor of support. He had no idea how to express his gratitude to Wen Ping.
Though he couldn’t voice it, he secretly vowed to become strong and repay Wen Ping by helping him with future troubles.
"Alright, go sweep the Thousand Layers first, and cut down the messy branches on both sides," Wen Ping instructed, dismissing Zhao Yi.
With a broom in hand, Zhao Yi began allocating the three hours in his mind, deciding to first use them all in the Gravity Field. After all, improving his realm was the most important thing right now, everything else was secondary.
As evening approached, Yun Liao and the others arrived one after another, rushing to the kitchen with the materials they had found.
Wen Ping checked them one by one: heart flesh of the demon beast Chang Xi, Cyan Falling Fruit... a total of seven items, all hard to find. Though difficult to find, they still managed to bring back plenty, which Wen Ping estimated would last the group several days.
While everyone was awaiting Huai Ye’s arrival, two unexpected guests appeared by her side.
Yang Zongxian, somewhat plump and dressed in luxurious clothing, along with Huaikong, who had lost all semblance of a Demon Chef in his excited demeanor. The two followed behind Huai Ye and, upon entering the kitchen, eagerly watched Wen Ping.
"Sect Leader Wen, we heard you’re making Spiritual Cuisine?" Huaikong’s gaze made Wen Ping’s hair stand on end.
Of course, the look wasn’t particularly terrifying, just unpleasant for Wen Ping, who immediately turned his gaze to Huai Ye. Huai Ye hurriedly explained to Wen Ping, "Sect Leader, it was my godfather and the others who insisted on coming along."
"Sect Leader Wen, sorry for the intrusion," Yang Zongxian said with a playful smile.
Wen Ping didn’t say much, turned and entered the kitchen, closed the door, and left a word, "Come back in an hour."
With that, Wen Ping went inside and began processing the ingredients according to the recipe. He chopped everything finely, mixed them strictly according to proportions, and wrapped them in dumpling skins.
He placed them in a purple-gold pot in a corner of the kitchen, then closed the lid.
After a while, he opened the lid, added a blended substance, stirred, and then closed it again.
He repeated this process seven times.
An hour later, Huaikong and the others sat on the second floor and were delighted when they saw Wen Ping coming upstairs with a Large Jade Basin, "It’s here!"
Under the night’s darkness, the jade basin glowed softly in the Luminous Stone’s light, and a faint fragrance filled the noses of everyone present, triggering a reflexive twitch in their noses as saliva started to overflow.
When the jade basin was placed on the table, the silvery-white soup within left everyone in awe, as it gave the impression that moonlight from the sky was mixed into it. Just as they were marveling at the exotic phenomena of the Spiritual Cuisine, everyone paused as they saw what was in the soup.
Huaikong and the others turned their heads to look at Wen Ping, incredulously turning back to reconsider the "Spiritual Cuisine."
Ignoring their gazes, Wen Ping used a spoon to scoop up a Moonlight Dumpling and then broke it in half with chopsticks.
Suddenly, a stream of pure white juice flowed out, followed by a white glow spreading before their eyes, as if moonlight was pouring out from the dumpling. When the soft glow faded, the stuffing, emitting a white but phosphorescent sheen, was revealed.
Just as Wen Ping was about to invite everyone to start eating, he quickly added, "Water tanks have been prepared under the eaves on both sides downstairs. Men go to the left, ladies to the right. Don’t run around later."
The group, unaware of what he meant, glanced at Wen Ping but didn’t think much of it. With Wen Ping’s permission, they began to scoop Moonlight Dumplings, each taking one and placing it into their mouth.
Even before tasting, their jaws couldn’t close.
With the first bite, they were utterly captivated.
Especially Huaikong, whose expression was so exaggerated, it seemed as if even his body hair was laughing with joy.
On grabbing the second one, Huaikong was filled with excitement and intoxication. Truthfully, as a Taotie, he had tasted everything under the sky, and there was nothing that could excite him anymore; eating was merely to satisfy his innate desires.
But the Moonlight Dumplings were different, they practically drew out his soul with a single bite, flooding his mouth with happiness.
Wen Ping stopped after eating one, while Huaikong and the others quickly devoured every single one of the hundreds of Moonlight Dumplings in the basin. When even the soup had been drunk dry, Huaikong couldn’t resist scraping the basin with a spoon.
When he found nothing else to scoop, a trace of satisfaction appeared on his face.
Huaikong looked at Wen Ping, a broad smile stretching across his face, "Sect Leader Wen, I never knew you could make Spiritual Cuisine. I truly admire you, the title of East Lake Medicine God should be yours. I bet Medicine God Xue Qianqian from back in the day merely touched the realm of Spiritual Cuisine."
Just as Huaikong finished his words, Yang Zongxian beside him looked at Huaikong in shock and pointed at his face, "Brother Huai, why did you come without washing your face today? Look, there are black and white patches all over your face."
Perplexed, Huaikong touched his face, felt something sticky, and immediately recoiled as he brought it to his nose, making a gagging gesture, "What is this? It’s so foul!"
"I have it on me too."
Just as everyone was in shock, Yun Liao’s calm voice came, "This is Purification!"
Having said that, Yun Liao hurried downstairs, for he needed to wash off, or else the black impurities expelled from the body and the replaced white marrow would be reabsorbed by the body’s skin.
The effects of Purification would be halved!
Realizing this, Huaikong immediately reacted, "I actually forgot that Spiritual Cuisine isn’t just about tasting good."
Exclaiming this, he too rushed out of the house, heading to the left eaves, stripping off clothes and scooping water with a bucket to wash himself directly. At the same time, he scrubbed vigorously to remove all expelled substances.
While washing, everyone secretly rejoiced.
Laughter rose, and tonight’s moonlight seemed to become extraordinarily beautiful.
(Everyone, could you please give some recommendation tickets?)