NABC Chapter 93 Times Have Changed
Chapter 93 Times Have Changed
Chapter 93 Times Have Changed
剁！
剁！
剁！
So the mountains and seas are infinitely far away, right? Even if we reach the end, we'll only be qualified to glance at you from afar, right?
Chen Yi wielded a magical kitchen knife, protecting its blade with magical power and golden light, as he processed the second-tier mutated Northern Spirit Clam, mutated Blue Dragon Spirit Shrimp, and deep-sea Golden Claw Crab before him.
This brother and sister love to eat seafood, and the ingredients they use are extremely rare, something that ordinary cultivators would never even see.
Chen Yi didn't stand on ceremony and charged them half of the processing fee for the spiritual materials.
Furthermore, the processing method is extremely simple, merely using spiritual fire for roasting. His main ability, after all, relies on the system to absorb the demonic power, malevolent energy, and yin-cold spiritual energy from the ingredients.
Moreover, the spiritual food that Chen Yi prepared for the two of them only had 80% of its demonic power and evil energy extracted by the system, leaving 20% for them to digest on their own.
It retains more malevolent energy than when he prepares ordinary ingredients.
This wasn't because Chen Yi was petty and wanted revenge.
To prepare such top-quality second-tier ingredients, with his current "spiritual culinary skills," it would be too exaggerated to remove 90% of the malevolent energy on the first try.
Chen Yi's strategy when facing these prodigies was to remain neither humble nor arrogant, demonstrating his value and the ability to negotiate with them.
But you can't show it too much, otherwise they might capture you and take you back to the royal family to be locked up and made into food for you every day.
After a while,
Chen Yi served a seafood feast.
The older brother eagerly took a bite, then shook his head slightly:
"It's very ordinary, with no signs of unnecessary processing."
After tasting it, my younger sister agreed, saying, "Indeed, it was just a simple firing process; the impurities and negative energy weren't completely removed, and a little bit remains."
It feels like it incorporates alchemy techniques.
The junior cook either possesses a special alchemy skill, but it's an incomplete one, only capable of processing impurities in spiritual materials.
It must be some kind of special spiritual fire.
Chen Yi couldn't be bothered to listen to the two members of the royal family's comments; whatever they were made, they would eat it.
This level of impurity removal meets the standard of a second-tier spirit chef. As long as the money is paid, everything is fine.
Unwilling to listen to their accusations, he left with a "Please enjoy your meal" and returned to the kitchen.
He mixed the other half of the seafood feast together to make a seafood soup, and then used the system's power to devour all the impurities.
Take it slowly on your own.
Gold Radiance +1, Gold Radiance +1, Gold Radiance +1
These several second-tier top-grade ingredients provided Chen Yi with golden energy, even surpassing the energy from the thunder copper ore.
Furthermore, the quality of its gold is by no means inferior.
Chen Yi guessed that this level of golden radiance was capable of refining golden bones!
After Chen Yi left,
Inside the house, the brother and sister stopped pretending and began to eat heartily.
They rarely get to eat such top-grade second-tier ingredients, even once a year. Although the royal family has abundant resources, most of them are used for cultivation, and the competition is fierce. They have to accumulate resources to obtain things that are purely for consumption.
While he verbally claimed that Chen Yi's methods were simple and his culinary skills were average, the most crucial part of preparing this feast—removing excess spiritual energy—was done in a way that rivaled even the most upscale restaurants in large immortal cities.
Therefore, they stopped being polite.
Of course, after finishing their meal, the two still offered only brief comments.
"Little sister, this chef is just so-so. I don't see anything particularly special about him. Grandfather sent us to meet this person, and he seems quite ordinary. There are plenty of geniuses and extraordinary people in Qi Kingdom; this person isn't particularly remarkable."
Moreover, without a sect background, just as you judged, it's a fake elixir.
"Yes, I never thought that even the Emperor could misjudge someone."
A spiritual feast for so much money! I think this place is doomed to go out of business sooner or later.
"Let's go, we'll get there first and see what opportunities we can find in the secret realm."
The two finished their food and left. As for feeling that Chen Yi's price was too high, they didn't try to bargain. After all, Chen Yi's skill was quite good, just not as exaggerated as their grandfather had described, reaching the level of a reclusive genius.
Inside the room, half a day later, Chen Yi finished off the seafood feast, which had been completely cleaned of impurities.
This extreme deliciousness far surpassed anything the brother and sister had ever tasted.
If they knew that Chen Yi used their ingredients to create something several times tastier than what they ate, and then enjoyed it all by himself, they would probably be furious.
Moreover, this seafood feast allowed Chen Yi to accumulate over a hundred energy-rich golden particles.
Each of these brand-new golden particles is equivalent to the energy of the dark gold crystal that Chen Yi condensed and combined when he first refined his bones.
Chen Yi tried using this high-energy golden light to refine his bones and found that, as expected, the area of golden bone in his hand bones was gradually expanding.
He had tried it over the past six months and found that using the golden light condensed from ordinary second-tier demonic beast ingredients for bone refining was no longer sufficient to forge golden bones.
Only by condensing those five points of golden light into dark gold crystals can one forge golden bones.
However, this method of first condensing ordinary golden light into dark gold crystals and then refining bones is too cumbersome and energy-consuming.
Chen Yi only engages in this kind of cultivation when he lacks high-level resources.
This is because he has a system. For an ordinary body cultivator, reaching the copper bone stage is basically the ceiling, and refining the gold bone is almost impossible.
Now, Chen Yi discovered that the Thunder-Patterned Iron, Thunder Copper Ore, and these second-tier top-grade demonic beast materials could all be directly used to refine golden bones.
However, these materials are extremely rare.
"Perhaps I really will have to go back to the secret realm again."
Whether it was the lightning array in Medicine Valley or the underground thunder copper mine and lightning pool, they all held immense appeal for Chen Yi's body tempering.
Chen Yi put aside his thoughts and focused on cultivation.
Chen Yi sat cross-legged in the quiet room, with more than a hundred high-energy golden rays floating in front of him. Each one was like a dark golden star, containing a bone-tempering power far beyond the ordinary.
He slightly closed his eyes, his consciousness as fine as silk, guiding the golden particles to precisely penetrate the bones of his arms.
laugh--
Dark gold patterns suddenly appeared on the surface of the bones, spreading like a spider web, with a metallic luster spreading from the fingertips to the shoulder blades.
The golden light merged with the three attributes of ice, fire, and lightning dormant within the bones, causing the bone density to rise at a visible speed, emitting a "clanging" sound, as if divine iron being forged through countless hammer blows!
Half a day later, Chen Yi suddenly opened his eyes, his arms trembling—
Clang!
Amidst the clanging of metal and stone, his arms had completely transformed into a pale gold color, its luster restrained like that of ancient artifacts, yet exuding a chilling sense of oppression.
A light tap of the fingertips on the arm bone produced a dull echo, its hardness far exceeding that of a top-grade magic weapon, and even faintly touching the threshold of a nascent magic treasure!
The prototype of a magic weapon is generally equivalent to the attack strength of a quasi-third-tier or pseudo-core cultivator.
"Bare-handed, I can shatter magical artifacts; lightning and fire cannot penetrate me..." Chen Yi clenched his fist, causing the air to crackle.
"My bone refinement is already a notch above other body cultivators. Once my golden bones are complete and I reach the Foundation Establishment stage, there may be those who can injure me, but those who can kill me will be nowhere to be found."
At this moment, Chen Yi's confidence soared.
It's a bit of a pity that with so many high-grade ingredients, he only managed to refine his hands and forearms for the first time.
To refine one's entire body to the level of Golden Bones, the required high-level resources are countless.
Although the royal siblings Qi Wuba and Qi Yourong concealed their identities, they were still highly regarded by the upper class, and news of their meal at Chen Yi's restaurant still spread.
Chen Yi's private kitchen shop has been remembered by some observant people.
During this period, even many geniuses from sects and successors cultivated by major forces who were a level below those top prodigies would come to Chen Yi's shop for a visit.
Some had inquired beforehand and would bring their own high-quality ingredients to experience Chen Yi's culinary skills.
The ingredients these people brought were at least second-tier high-grade, although they couldn't directly condense high-energy golden light.
However, it also provides ample golden energy, allowing Chen Yi to condense it into a dark gold crystal from five parts of it, which he then used to forge his golden bones.
After more than ten days, Chen Yi's progress in developing his Golden Bone technique has improved again, and he has now completed nearly 10% of the progress.
Chen Yi's culinary skills also spread through the mouths of many geniuses. Even though Chen Yi did not use his full strength, his simple cooking methods and excellent ability to remove impurities still earned him a reputation.
Lake and Sea Fairy City
Miaoyinfang Residence
Lin Xiaoyu received a message from her father.
"What? He's reached the Earth Rank Foundation Establishment stage, his culinary skills have greatly improved, and he's gained the approval of the prodigies. They want me to reconcile with him and invite him back to my Wonderful Sound Pavilion?"
Lin Xiaoyu's expression changed.
Previously, in her transaction with Chen Yi, she provided the [Taiyi Longevity True Scroll], indicating that it was impossible to refine.
Now they've actually achieved Earth-grade Foundation Establishment?
How did you do that?
The next morning, a thin mist of spiritual energy swirled in the air.
In front of Chen Yi's private kitchen, on the bluestone steps.
Lin Xiaoyu, dressed in a plain white dress, stood there quietly, her slender fingers unconsciously caressing the jade pendant at her waist, as if she had been waiting for a long time.
"It's been a while, Miss Lin, your cultivation has improved again."
A gentle male voice came from behind.
Lin Xiaoyu turned around and saw Chen Yi standing with his hands behind his back, his indigo robe highlighting his calm and composed demeanor.
He smiled, his gaze was calm, a stark contrast to the cautious and timid spirit chef he had been in front of her years ago.
— Once upon a time, whenever Chen Yi saw her, he would always address her as "Pavilion Master Lin" or "Senior Lin," his words always filled with the respect due to a junior.
At that time, Lin Xiaoyu, though still young, was very arrogant because of her talent in the Heavenly Spirit Root and mostly treated him perfunctorily.
Now, Chen Yi is a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Earth Rank, and his mastery of the second-tier high-grade spiritual chef makes him able to move freely among the great talents.
That "Miss Lin" was perfectly timed.
"Brother Chen."
Lin Xiaoyu's eyebrows curved into crescents, and her voice was as clear and melodious as a nightingale's song.
"I hope my uninvited visit hasn't disturbed Brother Chen's cultivation?"
She took a half step forward and took out a spirit stone pouch embroidered with cloud patterns from her sleeve. "Oh, by the way, I haven't congratulated Brother Chen on his successful Foundation Establishment yet. This is a small token of my appreciation; I hope you'll accept it."
The spirit stone bag was heavy, with five hundred spirit stones neatly stacked inside, which was the belated Foundation Establishment congratulatory gift.
She addressed him as "Brother Chen" repeatedly, her tone so intimate that it seemed as if they were siblings who had known each other since childhood.
If one hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, who would have imagined that several years ago, when Chen Yi's private kitchen had just opened, he cautiously sought guidance from this cultivator with a Heavenly Spirit Root on the method of Foundation Establishment, and went to great lengths to obtain the "Taiyi Longevity True Record"?
At that moment, Lin Xiaoyu accepted the spirit stone with a look of condescending pity in her eyes: "With your aptitude, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is probably as difficult as ascending to heaven."
She left behind the martial arts manual, her skirt fluttering as she turned to leave, saying, "We need not meet again."
Memories flooded back like a tide.
Chen Yi remained expressionless, simply accepting the spirit stone bag with gentleness, gaining a new understanding of the girl's ability to change her expression.
"I, Chen, am not worthy of being called 'elder brother' by Miss Lin."
Mr. Chen was more than twenty years older than Miss Lin, and only at the age of forty-five did he barely manage to establish his foundation.
Miss Lin, however, is a genius with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and is already in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage at just over twenty years old.
Ultimately, we must compete with those exceptional talents. I, Chen, am a humble and inexperienced scholar, and dare not accept such a title from Miss Lin.
Chen Yi was not fooled by her and invited her in, made tea, and sat down.
"Brother Chen is joking. As a rogue cultivator, you have achieved the Earth-grade Foundation Establishment. Now, the geniuses of various sects are all inquiring about your name."
As for the fact that I've served as my senior sister's spiritual cook over the years, ate some spiritual food, saved her life, and obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill,
These deeds have become legendary tales.
"Alas, if my sister hadn't left Miaoyinfang, perhaps Brother Chen wouldn't be here today."
Lin Xiaoyu forced a smile and exchanged pleasantries with Chen Yi.
In truth, she was deeply distressed. She had previously declared she didn't want to see him, and his presence today was a slap in the face.
Besides, she also has to apologize.
"Oh right, Brother Chen, it was my oversight last time, haha, I forgot to include the cultivation notes for the [Taiyi Longevity True Talisman] that I gave you."
As she spoke, Lin Xiaoyu handed over a jade slip, which gleamed with a lustrous sheen.
Chen Yi took the jade slip with a half-smile, as if unaware that Lin Xiaoyu had deliberately made things difficult for him.
"By the way, Brother Chen, I heard you've reached the Earth-Rank Foundation Establishment stage. What about your magical power?"
Although Lin Xiaoyu had already guessed it, she still wanted to confirm it in person.
Chen Yi smiled and explained:
"I guess it was luck."
This [Taiyi Longevity True Scroll] is indeed too difficult for me; at first, I just couldn't cultivate it no matter what I did.
Finally, I had no other choice but to decide that it was better to fight to the death than to live such a wretched existence.
So he made the difficult decision to open up more than a dozen new meridian pathways and tried out hundreds of different meridian circulation routes.
Finally, after countless attempts, one day I stumbled upon a solution that worked.
This [Taiyi Longevity True Scroll] was thus successfully cultivated by sheer coincidence.
"By sheer luck? They managed to get the magical circuit working after trying it hundreds of times?"
Lin Xiaoyu stared in disbelief, her mouth agape as she looked at Chen Yi with utter incomprehension.
The reason why the 【Taiyi Longevity True Talisman】 requires an earth-spirited root to cultivate is because its mana circulation path is relatively niche and complex.
Ordinary cultivators cannot open the meridians there.
As Chen Yi said, he fearlessly opened up more than a dozen meridians and tried hundreds of different routes for circulating his magical power.
By sheer coincidence, the correct answer was found.
That's too much.
Lin Xiaoyu was so surprised she couldn't speak.
The human body has an incredibly complex network of meridians, numbering in the hundreds, large and small, and the energy pathways formed by their interconnections are countless.
In theory, cultivators can use exhaustive methods to try each approach one by one, eventually finding the most suitable method that is complex, difficult, but yields extremely high-quality magical power.
However, this is almost impossible, because cultivators don't have that much energy, and their meridians can't withstand such strain.
As Chen Yi said, finding the correct answer after only a few hundred tries is simply a matter of incredible luck.
It took Lin Xiaoyu a long time to accept this fact.
"Brother Chen, to have reached this point as a rogue cultivator, you must have some good fortune."
I admire you!
Of course, Lin Xiaoyu wasn't so naive as to actually believe that Chen Yi had just guessed.
Chen Yi may have other secrets, such as the divination lineage, which can deduce the approximate range of magical energy circulation for an unknown cultivation method. Knowing some information before trying it will yield much better results.
After this matter was discussed, Chen Yi simply drank his tea without saying a word.
But Lin Xiaoyu didn't mention leaving.
Seeing that she had something else to do, I waited a while.
Chen Yi asked, "Miss Lin, you didn't come here just to deliver something, did you? Is there anything else you need?"
"Alas, Brother Chen has figured it out. I've come here this time to invite you to return to Miaoyin Pavilion."
She gave Chen Yi a detailed introduction to the Miaoyin Pavilion.
The Myriad Sounds Pavilion has now moved to the center of the Immortal City, occupying a second-tier high-grade spiritual vein cave dwelling, and recently it has been receiving talented cultivators from various sects and forces.
After listening to music to refresh their minds, some of them wanted to have a high-end spiritual meal.
Chen Yi's skills and reputation had already spread in certain circles. Her father thought that since Chen Yi came from Miaoyinfang, why couldn't she go back? So he asked her to come and invite her.
Chen Yi nodded; he had anticipated these things.
However, he didn't want to be subservient to anyone anymore, so he shook his head and refused.
"Chen just spent a lot of money renovating this cave dwelling and opened a private kitchen business, and so far the business seems to be able to maintain its daily operations."
Besides, it was Fairy Qin who did me a favor at Miaoyin Pavilion back then, and now, given the relationship between Fairy Qin and your father...
Mr. Chen's return to Miaoyin Pavilion would likely put him in a difficult position, so please forgive him, Miss Lin.
Chen Yi gave Lin Xiaoyu a reason that she could not refute.
She sighed softly, settling for second best:
"If any special guests at Miaoyin Pavilion request a high-class spiritual banquet, could Brother Chen lend a hand in preparing it?"
The materials used and the payment rules will follow those of Brother Chen's shop.
Chen Yi did not object to this:
"Chen opened the door to do business, and it made no difference whether the customer was a cultivator or a fairy from Miaoyin Pavilion."
As long as Miaoyin Pavilion follows the rules, and Chen is not in seclusion, it's fine if he has time.
Lin Xiaoyu continued, "Brother Chen, as you know, our customers can be quite demanding sometimes."
I was thinking, if Miaoyinfang needs anything, Brother Chen, could you possibly do us a favor, such as expediting the process or offering some preferential treatment in terms of quality?
Chen Yi glanced at the other party. Now that the previous cause and effect had been resolved, and the two sides were sitting down to discuss business normally, he would proceed from a businessman's perspective.
Want preferential treatment? That's not impossible, but you'll have to pay extra.
"Miss Lin, my customers are all quite distinguished. If I were to neglect them because of the orders from Miaoyin Pavilion, I, Chen, could not bear the consequences!"
"Our Miaoyin Pavilion needs at least one Tier 2 High-Grade Spiritual Food Feast every month. Could Brother Chen pull some strings to get this level of ingredients?"
Lin Xiaoyu was confident and composed.
Several years ago, Chen Yi was just a newly initiated second-tier spirit chef, barely able to handle special demonic beasts at the early second-tier level.
Now, in less than ten years, even if Chen Yi's cooking skills have improved dramatically, just as her father said...
With second-tier high-grade demon beast ingredients, that should be enough to satisfy his appetite, right?
"I apologize, fairy, I forgot to tell you that I no longer accept spiritual banquets that are not of second-tier high quality or above, or made with special ingredients."
Chen Yi smiled.
Lin Xiaoyu was stunned.
Chen Yi meant that even without her, he would only use ingredients of second-tier superior quality or higher.
What she considered rare and precious was nothing to Chen Li; he wasn't even qualified to use it as a condition.
She gasped slightly, looking at Chen Yi in surprise.
It's only been ten years or so, how come the chef in front of me has changed so much?
She scrutinized Chen Yi repeatedly, as if they were meeting for the first time.
"Alright. If there's any spiritual food to prepare, I'll send a message to Brother Chen in advance."
If there are any unusual or mutated ingredients, Brother Chen, could you please make an exception and give them priority processing?
"A second-tier superior mutated ingredient is negotiable."
Chen Yi nodded slightly. Second-tier high-grade mutated ingredients were already equivalent to the top-grade seafood brought by those two royal princes.
This is something Chen Yi can consume to directly generate high-energy golden light; such a thing can indeed allow one to jump the queue.
Moreover, Chen Yi's preparation of the spiritual food feast takes almost no time. Given his current physical condition, as long as the ingredients don't reach the third rank,
He can process the massive amount of energy within it in a short time using the system.
As for cooking methods, they will henceforth be limited to two types: stewing and grilling.
"If an important person were to come and request to sample third-tier food, would Brother Chen be able to handle it?"
Before leaving, Lin Xiaoyu tentatively asked.
"Third tier is definitely not feasible."
Chen Yi shook his head.
Although he hasn't dealt with it yet, he estimates that given his current physical condition, he can withstand absorbing a portion of the energy from a third-tier spiritual object.
But it would be too much to agree to that now.
"What about items that surpass the peak of the second tier and reach the near-third tier?"
Lin Xiaoyu asked again.
"I haven't tried this yet. We'll discuss it in more detail later, depending on the quality and properties of the ingredients."
In fact, he was already confident he could make it with near-Tier 3 ingredients.
But it's clear that we can't agree to that right now.
"Okay, it's settled then. If you need anything, I'll just send a message to Brother Chen."
This is my little sister's message talisman, Brother Chen, please keep it safe.
As she spoke, Lin Xiaoyu took out a communication talisman made of a special gold-plated material and handed it to Chen Yi with both hands.
Its material quality is higher than that of the original, and its communication capability is also stronger.
Chen Yi accepted it, with a touch of emotion.
Nearly ten years ago, he also received a communication talisman from Lin Xiaoyu, but at that time it was a gift from Lin Xiaoyu.
She also said that if you have this talisman, you can ask her for a favor, or you can sell it for at least a few hundred spirit stones.
Now, Lin Xiaoyu is offering a higher-quality communication talisman in order to contact Chen Yi.
It's true, things aren't what they used to be.
(End of this chapter)