On the long street, lanterns hung high, and the crowd was buzzing.
Though it was late at night, the main street of Hunyuan City was still bustling with life.
Chen Ye stopped in front of a stall selling Spirit Food, picked a few kinds of desserts, and planned to save them to welcome the girls out of the Grotto Heaven.
It had already been a month since the Luoxiao Grotto Heaven opened.
Although the duration of each Grotto Heaven varied, judging from past experience, it would close in another ten or so days; the day his disciple returned in triumph was not far off.
And once the little girl came out of the Grotto Heaven, if her Cultivation broke through, her appetite would probably grow even more. He had to prepare extra... Besides, Spirit Food kept well enough that he didn’t have to worry about it spoiling.
"Instructor Chen, in quite the mood, aren’t you. Hunyuan City is a cauldron of hidden currents these days, and you still have the leisure to be buying pastries here?"
A teasing voice suddenly came from under the wine flag at his side.
Chen Ye turned his head.
He saw a fat old Daoist smiling at him with squinted eyes. The man beckoned and said with a grin:
"Instructor Chen, this time you can’t get away."
So it was this asshole...
This guy still bore a grudge against the little girl? Why come looking for him instead?
Still, the timing was perfect.
Chen Ye had been wanting to visit this Daoist Miaofang, but over the past month the Daoist had been staying in the City Lord’s Mansion, and he’d never found a chance.
He paid the Spirit Stones, put the few wrapped packets of desserts into his Storage Bag, then cupped his hands with a smile:
"So it’s Senior Miaofang. Senior has been a very busy man this past month. I hear the City Lord’s Mansion treats you as an honored guest. How is it you have the mood today to stroll the main street?"
"Pah! What honored guest!"
Daoist Miaofang spat, took a gulp of medicinal liquor from the gourd, and stared resentfully at Chen Ye,
"This past month this old Daoist hasn’t eaten well or slept soundly! Every time I close my eyes, I see that silver-haired little girl of yours giving me that look of disdain for my Culinary Skill! I, Miaofang, have roamed the world for hundreds of years, and my signboard almost got smashed in this Hunyuan City!"
Chen Ye couldn’t help but chuckle.
This Daoist, a mighty Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer expert, someone who could strut sideways across the Yan Kingdom, was still brooding over one playful remark the little girl had made a month ago.
Well...
On second thought, it made sense; that girl of his wasn’t an ordinary girl.
As the saying goes, confidants are hard to find—especially a little lass like Qing Jun, who could actually see through Daoist Miaofang’s techniques. Naturally, she’d linger in his mind and leave a deep impression.
"Children speak without malice, Senior. No need to take it to heart," Chen Ye said with a smile.
"No! What do you mean, ’children speak without malice’? Have her go speak ’without malice’ in front of a Nascent Soul True Monarch and see how that goes! Don’t think I don’t know—your girl is sharp as a whip! She only dared be so unrestrained because this old Daoist has a good temper!"
Daoist Miaofang blew out his beard and glared,
"That little girl is stuck in the Grotto Heaven and can’t come out, so this old Daoist can only come after you, her master! Since we’ve run into each other today, you have to show this old Daoist a few moves. Let’s have ourselves a proper contest! If what you make isn’t as tasty as mine, then when your disciple comes out, you must have her admit with her own mouth that this old Daoist is the number one Spirit Chef in the world!"
Chen Ye’s heart stirred slightly.
He’d just been worrying about not having an excuse to get acquainted with this Daoist Miaofang.
Whether it was Daoist Miaofang’s ties to Huayue Mansion, or the Li Family’s heir who had quietly arrived in Hunyuan City a month ago...
Both matters weighed heavily on Chen Ye’s mind.
Sigh...
He’d really wronged the little girl.
If she hadn’t stirred things up back then, he truly wouldn’t have a pretext now to strike up a conversation with Daoist Miaofang.
"Since Senior is in such lofty spirits, if this junior still refused, that’d make me seem rather ungracious."
Chen Ye went with the flow and agreed, then shifted the topic,
"However, since it’s a contest, we should add a little wager to make it interesting. And besides, with so many people and eyes on this street, and no suitable top-grade ingredients, this isn’t exactly the right place to show off Culinary Skill."
Once Daoist Miaofang heard Chen Ye accept the challenge, his beady eyes lit up like lanterns:
"A wager? Heh, you brat want to squeeze some oil and water out of this old Daoist? Fine! As long as you can truly make something that convinces this old Daoist, this bottle of Heavenly Fragrance Jade Dew in my hand is yours! Even if you throw Spirit Stones at it, you can’t buy this treasure anywhere in the Yan Kingdom!"
As he spoke, Daoist Miaofang leaned in mysteriously, lowering his voice:
"As for the place... we’ll go to my Immortal Food Residence."
"But Instructor Chen, before we go I must remind you: Hunyuan City is not very peaceful tonight..."
Chen Ye’s expression remained unchanged as he feigned ignorance: "Oh? Senior, are you referring to those few brainless rats at the corner of the street just now?"
How enormous was Hunyuan City?
The odds of a chance encounter were truly tiny.
Clearly, Daoist Miaofang had sought him out deliberately, and had happened to notice the disturbance from the fight earlier.
Daoist Miaofang burst out laughing:
"Instructor Chen, you’re quite confident—well, they’re nothing but rats everyone wants to beat anyway..."
His expression dimmed slightly; and wasn’t he himself also a rat everyone wanted to beat?
Always skulking around, hiding and drifting from one corner of Ling and Xu to another.
Sigh.
It seemed it was another misjudgment.
The Divine Soul brand the old man had left behind had actually mistaken this brat Chen Ye’s aura for that of Ancestor Songyang.
Still, he’d grown used to it over the years. After all, the old man’s mind had already turned muddy before he fell; the brands he’d left were riddled with flaws and had gone wrong countless times. Daoist Miaofang didn’t take this little episode too much to heart.
"Let’s go. This old Daoist has even prepared a Second Tier Hundred-Leaf Spirit Pig! No point wasting time!"
Daoist Miaofang tossed those vexing thoughts from his mind, grabbed Chen Ye by the sleeve, and led the way ahead in high spirits.
Chen Ye followed behind without betraying anything.
The shadow that had flashed in Daoist Miaofang’s eyes just now had naturally not escaped his notice.
This old Daoist... truly had quite a few secrets.
As for a Culinary Skill contest?
With his system panel’s proficiency backing him, Chen Ye had never feared anyone in the kitchen.
Granted,
Qing Jun often snatched the chance to cook, but as a master he couldn’t bear to let the little girl serve him every day. So, over time, he’d accumulated an absolutely massive amount of experience.
[Culinary Skill Grandmaster: 1755/3200]
...
Half a two-hour later.
"This... how is this possible?!"
Daoist Miaofang’s hand trembled as he picked up the spoon again, carefully scooping another ladle of clear soup and sending it into his mouth.
Clean sweetness, rich depth, an unbelievable savoriness... all kinds of flavors exploded one after another on his taste buds, slid down his throat, and spread to his limbs and bones, even dispersing a good deal of the frustration that had been clogging his heart for years.
Unconvinced, he took another spoonful.
Before he knew it, the bowl was already empty.
"Clang."
The spoon fell onto the table.
Daoist Miaofang let out a dejected sigh and gave a wry smile:
"This old Daoist lost. And I’m convinced. That little girl didn’t lie; your craft... is indeed more than a cut above this old Daoist’s. No wonder that girl is so discerning—such disciple, such master!"
Listen to that—what kind of thing to say was that!
He made it sound like Chen Ye and that evil little girl were cut from the same cloth!
Chen Ye very much wanted to solemnly clarify that the little girl’s wickedness was not something she’d learned from her master.
With great heartache, Daoist Miaofang fished out the jade bottle holding the Heavenly Fragrance Jade Dew from his robe and slid it in front of Chen Ye:
"This Jade Dew is extremely unusual. This old Daoist risked his life sneaking into Budu River to obtain it... Heh, as for its effects, I won’t say too much. You only need remember that it’s an extremely special token. If you ever have the chance to go to Budu River, you can bring out this Jade Dew."
"Many thanks for letting me win, Senior."
Chen Ye put away the jade bottle, secretly puzzled.
He had originally thought it was some kind of Treasure of Heaven and Earth, but hadn’t expected it to be a token.
Though Chen Ye "knew the heavens above and the earth below," he couldn’t possibly be familiar with every sect from five hundred years earlier in the game’s storyline. Only sects tied to side quests or special plots would be lucky enough to leave him with a vague impression.
"Mm... you and your disciple really are something different."
Daoist Miaofang lifted his eyes and sized up Chen Ye.
This kid was polite enough, but that little girl was truly arrogant!
Still... to be honest, he preferred the little girl’s temperament.
He hesitated for a moment, then chose his words carefully: "Instructor Chen, that girl of yours... is she doing well in the Grotto Heaven lately?"
"Everything is going smoothly. Right now she’s roaming the Grotto Heaven, helping the weak and punishing the wicked, making quite a few friends along the way. As her master, I’m deeply gratified."
Chen Ye lied through his teeth without changing expression.
Clearly, Daoist Miaofang hadn’t been paying attention to the Grotto Heaven lately and failed to notice anything amiss.
He blinked in mild surprise, not having expected that little Demoness could even make friends, then let out a sigh:
"That girl of yours is a good kid, but the Luoxiao Grotto Heaven is bound to meet with calamity in the future..."