Chapter 193: Sleeping Beauty
"Junior sister, why are you still here? Don’t you have other matters to attend to?" Xiang Yu asked, glancing over his shoulder as he organized the cooking ingredients for the massive feast ahead.
Li Yao, who had been sitting quietly on a wooden stool near the cooking area, looked up with innocent eyes. "No, I’ll just stay here and watch senior brother," she spoke.
"Okay," Xiang Yu replied with a slight shrug, turning back to focus on the preparations.
Inside Li Yao’s consciousness, however, [What do you mean "no"? You still have tons of paperwork to go through. You need to allocate budget for the reconstruction efforts, review the alliance agreements, assign patrol schedules for the outer disciples, evaluate the injured members for compensation...] The Empress’s voice carried a note of exasperation as she listed the piling up administrative responsibilities.
But Li Yao cut her off. "It’s okay, I can do it later. Can’t I just watch senior brother for a while?"
The Empress fell silent for a long moment. She wondered if this girl was more affected by what happened earlier than she was letting on. Although Li Yao didn’t show it outwardly, maintaining her usual confident demeanor, the Empress suspected she had been deeply shaken by the experience.
[Well, alright,] the Empress finally spoke, her tone gentler than before. She thought to herself that it was indeed important to let loose every once in a while. Looking back, maybe it was because she took her duties too seriously that she turned out like this. Still, if she were to go back in time, she knew she would still make the same choices. After all, she was different from her senior sister...
Li Yao settled more comfortably on her stool, her eyes bright and attentive as she watched Xiang Yu begin coordinating the cooking. There was something deeply soothing about observing him work.
"You, prepare the fire. You, get the herbs. You over there, prepare the meat," Xiang Yu called out rapid instructions to the ten new cooking school disciples.
He thought to himself that although this was his first time cooking on such a large scale with so many assistants, it wasn’t as difficult as he had anticipated. It was essentially like having extra hands. The key was clear communication and proper task delegation, skills he had developed during his college years’ group projects.
For tonight’s victory feast, Xiang Yu had planned a three-tier system that would showcase the sect’s capabilities while appropriately honoring their guests according to their status. For the regular disciples of each visiting sect, he would prepare seventh-grade spirit foods. This was beneficial for disciples of this level.
The higher-level disciples and elders would receive sixth-grade spiritual foods. This level would be considered precious even in larger sects. It should be able to offer meaningful assistance to their cultivation, and might even help some break through minor bottlenecks.
For the most honored guests—the sect masters—Xiang Yu planned to serve fifth-grade spiritual foods. These were meals that even Soul Formation experts would appreciate, containing enough concentrated spiritual energy to provide tangible benefits to their qi cultivation as well as soul energy to help in their soul cultivation.
But there were two additional tiers that he kept to himself. For his master, his martial aunt, and himself—he would prepare fourth-grade spirit foods as usual.
And for the final, most exclusive level, Li Yao would receive second-grade spiritual food. Since his cooking had advanced to such impressive heights, there was no point in wasting the opportunity. As long as Li Yao continued growing stronger, everything else would naturally fall into place.
The cooking continued from the afternoon until the sun began to set. The kitchen area had transformed into something resembling a battlefield, with disciples running back and forth carrying ingredients, tending multiple fires, and following Xiang Yu’s increasingly complex instructions as he orchestrated the preparation of dozens of different dishes simultaneously.
Finally, as the first stars began appearing in the darkening sky, they completed the monumental task. The aroma of spiritual food filled the air, creating an almost intoxicating atmosphere that made even passing disciples stop and salivate involuntarily.
All ten new disciples of the cooking school immediately slumped to the ground, their legs giving way as exhaustion overwhelmed them. How could cooking be so physically and mentally demanding? It had been like fighting an intense battle.
What amazed them even more was how the Grand Elder remained standing strong and alert after all that work. He had done significantly more than any of them, coordinating everything while simultaneously handling the most complex dishes personally. The Grand Elder was really impressive.
"You guys did well. Each of you can take a portion of the fifth-grade meals," Xiang Yu announced, then leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially, "but don’t tell anyone about this."
The disciples’ eyes widened in shock and delight. Fifth-grade spiritual food was worth more than most of them could earn in their lifetime. They struggled to their feet one by one, receiving their portions with trembling hands and bowing deeply to Xiang Yu.
"Thank you, Grand Elder," they spoke in unison before departing, their earlier exhaustion momentarily forgotten in their excitement.
Xiang Yu thought to himself that his work here was essentially complete. The disciples had already begun distributing the appropriate foods to their designated recipients according to the tier system. The only remaining portions were the fourth-grade for his master, martial aunt, and himself. As well as the second-grade for Li Yao.
He turned around to address Li Yao. "Yao Yao, why don’t you go and dine with the sect masters so they don’t think we’re looking down on them?" he suggested.
When he received no response, he tried a different approach. "Don’t worry, I’ll keep your portion for you. No one will take it," he assured her.
But still, she remained silent.
Puzzled by her lack of response, Xiang Yu walked closer to where she sat. When he gently lifted her face to look at him, he discovered that she had actually fallen asleep sitting upright on the stool, her breathing soft and peaceful despite the uncomfortable position.