In the entire Yunjiang Prefecture, which master is the best at pastry making?

This question was brought up by Master Hong, but he insisted on keeping it a secret, refusing to give a direct answer.

In the end, he merely gave Chen Xu a meaningful look and said with a chuckle, "Mr. Chen, if you are going to Qihai Mountain tomorrow, you will surely find the answer."

At night, Chen Xu practiced his knife skills in the Fire and Smoke Kitchen, while contemplating the various spiritual ingredients he currently possessed and the path he needed to take in the future.

After a thorough check, he realized that his spiritual materials were still not ample enough.

Rare and peculiar items like the Formless Lotus and Life-Reflected Fiend seemed plentiful, but in reality, there were only a few.

And items like the Red Blood Spirit Ginseng and Profound Yang Fire Dates, which are conventional spiritual materials for replenishing Qi Blood and Divine Soul, had been largely used up, leaving hardly any in stock now.

Though these conventional spiritual materials might seem to have ordinary effects, and Chen Xu had Attribute Points on hand, appearing to have little use for them.

Yet in truth, these items are the real foundation for Chen Xu's long-term progress.

He couldn't possibly visit the Ghost Market every day, capturing ghosts and slaying demons, dealing constantly with ghostly affairs.

If that were truly the case, could it still be considered mastering all flavors of the Mortal World?

The path of the ghosts can be taken, but not exclusively; if truly taken without variation, the path would deviate.

The vast market of the Mortal World is the part that cannot be forsaken.

However, Chen Xu was previously preoccupied with exams and had no time to address these issues specifically.

Now that the academy test was over, although the provincial exam was pressing, Chen Xu had to dedicate some of his Heart and Spirit to ponder how to maximize the value of the Food Cauldron Celestial Book?

Opening taverns throughout the world?

That was still unrealistic at the moment; his strength and influence were insufficient.

Or perhaps, temporarily choose to cooperate with a certain family—

For instance, the Cui Family.

If Chen Xu was willing, he would surely persuade Cui Yunqi with ease. There'd be no need to open taverns throughout Great Li; even opening one within Yunjiang Prefecture should provide significant aid to Chen Xu's growth.

But Chen Xu couldn't possibly just remain in the tavern kitchen as a chef from then on, could he?

And if the food was not prepared by his own hands and didn't receive worldly acclaim, what meaning would there be in countless taverns flourishing?

Chen Xu pondered for a long time, pacing back and forth in the Fire and Smoke Kitchen, then selecting ingredients to try creating something: MSG.

Chen Xu wanted to see if MSG made by his own hands, when used in dishes, could earn him appreciation when praised by diners.

There might be, or there might not; thus, Chen Xu also prepared a backup plan.

He took out a small jug of Flowing Clouds Wine that had already become spirit wine, mixing it into a large vat of ten catties of ordinary Flowing Clouds Wine, to see if the wine mixed with spirit wine could retain some spirituality and provide him with praise.

The Bright Heart Gourd has three storage spaces, each capable of storing one hundred catties of liquor.

According to the entry explanation, storing liquor in the gourd and letting it bask in moonlight each night: [after three days, a fine brew; after half a month, spirit wine; after a month, Jade Liquid; after a year, Jade Dew... after ten years, Immortal Brew.]

Chen Xu also wanted to try the Immortal Brew, so the liquor in the storage space labeled "Immortal" was not to be touched.

It must be brewed for ten years—

Perhaps more than "ten years," as the moonlight doesn't always shine every night, and Chen Xu might not always have the opportunity to take the gourd out every moonlit night.

The second storage space, the liquor in the space named "Jade," must at least be stored for a month.

According to the entry explanation, "Jade Liquid Heart-Clarifying Wine" differs from ordinary spirit wine in that it has the ability to probe the Dao Heart and enlighten the drinker.

Of course, if unable to achieve enlightenment, drinking this wine might instead provoke a Heart Demon.

These effects far surpass ordinary spirit wine, so of course, Chen Xu wouldn't give it up.

The last storage space, named "Spirit," is filled with Half Moon Spirit Wine. Simple calculations show that even if Chen Xu swapped batches of spirit wine in the gourd every half month, he could still only get one hundred catties of spirit wine within that time.

Though the number seems sizable, it's far from enough for large-scale sale in a tavern.

Moreover, spirit wine is not cabbage; it has always been precious, unsuitable for mass sales in ordinary taverns.

Thus, Chen Xu thought of trying diluted spirit wine with reduced spirituality.

Of course, he could also choose to make "Three-Day Brew" using only the Bright Heart Gourd, which is a route worth attempting.

However, for large-scale wine sales, the current situation of Chen Xu temporarily residing in a guesthouse is surely unfeasible.

Firstly, Chen Xu cannot conjure a large amount of fine wine out of thin air, and secondly, there's still the "Wine Guide" issue.

Just because Chen Xu has now become a Scholar, it doesn't mean the Wine Guide issue is easily resolved; such a strategically significant item isn't easily manageable by a Scholar's title alone.

Even adding Chen Xu's current poetic talent and literary renown is still far from enough.

To avoid continuous trouble, it is indeed better to cooperate with local aristocratic families like the Cui Family, the Ning Family, or even include Feng Yuanbai and others.

The wine materials Chen Xu has left were, after all, gifted by families like the Cui Family and the Ning Family in Yunjiang.

With plans in mind, he took paper and pen in the Fire and Smoke Kitchen to jot down his various plans:

Which ones are feasible, which ones need testing, which ones should be done soon, and which ones are for the long term...

All sorts of ideas, penned down one by one.

Interestingly, things like paper, ink, and pens can also be included in the Fire and Smoke Kitchen.

As per the entries: [Pine Smoke Ink, a supplementary material for spiritual food making, possibly used in Literary Dao Spiritual Food creation.]

[Xuan Paper, when burnt to ash and consumed, has a mild hemostatic effect, possibly used in Literary Dao Spiritual Food production.]

[Bamboo pen, one of the tools used for making pastries, or potentially used for Literary Dao Spiritual Food preparation.]

...

Even certain books nowadays can be incorporated into the Fire and Smoke Kitchen, with the entry also showing [possibly used for Literary Dao Spiritual Food preparation].

Chen Xu suddenly realized that his ability to [see food entries] seems to have expanded.

The types of items that the Fire and Smoke Kitchen can accommodate seem to be increasing!

For example, when he picked up a kitchen knife in the inn's back kitchen earlier, the entry surprisingly also showed: [One of the kitchen utensils, ordinary iron material, edible by certain Demon Race].

This means that this kitchen knife can also be incorporated into the Fire and Smoke Kitchen.

And when did this change begin?

It seems it was just these past two days. In detail, it should have started when Chen Xu's cultivation broke through to the [Late Stage of the Meridian Passage Realm], and the world in his eyes appeared somewhat different than before.

But what exactly is [Literary Dao Spiritual Food]? Chen Xu temporarily couldn't find a clue about this, and there were no new related recipes to unlock in the Fireworks Collection.

Although the Food Cauldron Celestial Book provided Chen Xu with many exceptional conveniences, there were still many things he needed to explore on his own.

Oh right, Cui Yunqi sent over a bunch of gifts yesterday, among which seemed to be a few spiritual materials.

Chen Xu suddenly remembered this, and after sending everyone off, he casually stored all the gifts in his Profound Nether Ruins—

The so-called Profound Nether Ruins is the name Chen Xu gave to his personal storage space.

Since this space was created by relying on the Netherworld Divine Power, Chen Xu, following the example of the Shejun Ruins, named it Profound Nether Ruins.

Recently, with his progress in cultivation, the Profound Nether Ruins has also expanded, now totaling a volume of thirty cubic meters.

It's now the size of a small ordinary room, which is a rather delightful advancement.

Chen Xu organized the gifts sent by Cui Yunqi, with the Four Treasures of the Study like brush, ink, paper, and inkstone being mainstream, along with exquisite food boxes of snacks and dried fruits.

The highlight was three spiritual materials: one Guiyuan Spirit Ginseng, three liang of Red Patterned Donkey-hide Gelatin, and ten Profound Yang Fire Dates.

All of them are items for nourishing Qi and health, showing how much Cui Yunqi was concerned about Chen Xu's injury.

Honestly, for a long time before, Chen Xu always thought the Cui Family was excessively courteous to him, surely with some ulterior motives, or perhaps even plotting his downfall.

But a gentleman judges by actions, not intentions.

So far, all of Cui Yunqi's actions have been altruistic, so even though Chen Xu still harbors caution, he should reciprocate appropriately.

He made a mental note of this and then focused on making MSG.

In one night, he went in and out of the Fire and Smoke Kitchen three times.

It might be to prepare for tomorrow's journey to Qihai Mountain, to review recent gains and losses, to plan for the future, or just for routine cultivation.

In any case, no matter the situation, Chen Xu would never stop his daily routine cultivation.

Since he had the convenience of the Fire and Smoke Kitchen, there was no reason to slack off in cultivation.

Chen Xu checked his current accumulation of likes.

[Total likes: 17913]

[Free Attribute Points: 103]

[Fireworks Value: 2359]

The total number of likes was not small, but the Fireworks Value seemed never enough.

Additionally, Free Attribute Points were also a case of the more, the better.

Chen Xu's Free Attribute Points were consumed quickly, and now his Tri-Attribute had unknowingly surpassed [290] in a single attribute.

Essence, Qi Blood, and Divine Soul all exceeded [290] points, what concept was this?

Without a clear comparison, Chen Xu didn't quite understand.

But through a faint Qi Mechanism Sensing, he gained a kind of confidence: currently, just in terms of physique, he should be far stronger than Master Wu.

Next target: make the Divine Soul also stronger than Master Wu!

Following that, for example, there's a new prompt from the Food Cauldron Celestial Book:

[1. You have collected 10000 likes, and you can unlock the second volume of the Food God Cultivation Technique Scroll at any time.

2. Upon accumulating 30000 likes, you can choose to unlock a new direction for Spiritual Food.

3. Upon accumulating 100000 likes, you can unlock the third volume of the Food God Cultivation Technique Scroll.]

Chen Xu originally felt quite confused about [Literary Dao Spiritual Food]. Now with the new prompt, he immediately felt like the clouds parted, and the sun shone through.

So he could unlock a new direction of [Literary Dao Spiritual Food] through accumulating likes!

The so-called Literary Dao Spiritual Food was indeed something to look forward to.

The next day, Chen Xu once again used the Life-Reflected Fiend to awaken Little Mouse Ashi.

He fed it some Profound Yang Fire Jujube Soup and then placed Little Mouse into the newly acquired Spirit Garden Pouch.

The Spirit Garden Pouch was sent by County Magistrate Feng yesterday, a small brocade pouch about palm-sized, with an interior space of one square foot.

It could be used to house small spirit pets and had a slight nurturing ability, but couldn't be used as a Storage Pouch.

Chen Xu activated his own Sea of Literature Aura and stamped a small imprint using his Scholar Seal on the Spirit Garden Pouch, thus forming a peculiar connection with it.

He hung the Spirit Garden Pouch on his waist and could observe Little Mouse's condition at any time.

Then, he took the MSG to the inn's back kitchen.

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