Building a sect from scratch.

Dozens of miles away, in a grove sparsely planted with many tender fruit tree saplings, a beam of light flashed a few times, and Lü Wenyuan and his three companions appeared in a teleportation array hidden in the woods.

Upon exiting the teleportation array, what greeted them were two enormous "mushrooms".

To be precise, they were two huge, mushroom-shaped houses.

The roof is a round mushroom cap, decorated with irregularly sized white dots. The main body of the house is a creamy white mushroom stem, plump and round overall, looking quite cute.

"Hu Hu Leisure Bar?"

Kui calmly looked at the several Central Continent characters on the mushroom house and read them aloud.

Above the several Central Continent characters, there was another type of script with fewer strokes and a more regular appearance, but Wei Congrong did not recognize it. She guessed that it might be the script of the Blue Star Realm or the secret script of the Taiyin Sect.

As expected, Lü Wenyuan explained, "This is a general snack shop opened by fellow Daoists from the Chiyuan Sect. The one on top is the Zhonghua script, which is a script from the Blue Star Realm. The disciples of the Taiyin Sect are used to using that script. The Zhongzhou script below is to cater to fellow Daoists from the Guixu Realm."

What does "general snack shop" mean?

"They sell everything, fried chicken, milk tea, and all sorts of random things, like carpets and plush toys. Senior Sister Chaoyan even bought a little fox pendant from them, which is said to be made from fox fur shed by fellow Daoists of the Chiyuan Sect during the spring."

Jiao Xueling stared at a group of lazy foxes whose figures were vaguely visible through the window for a long time before asking, "The fried chicken shop you and Chaoyan were talking about, is this the one you meant?"

"No, that's not it. The fried chicken shop is called 'Gugu Chicken,' and it's run by Gugu Chicken Society. It's a mobile restaurant. In the evenings, it goes to the night market in Chang'an City, and during the day it's usually near Huhu Leisure. Because the fellow Daoists of Chiyuan Sect especially love fried chicken, they buy a lot every day. Sometimes, customers even buy fried chicken and bring it to Huhu Leisure to give to the fellow Daoists of Chiyuan Sect, so Gugu Chicken is usually just located here!"

As they talked, they walked a short distance forward and, sure enough, saw the "simple" wooden house hidden behind two giant mushroom houses.

Although it was simple, it actually had everything you needed. There were strange yellow patterns painted on the walls, and odd food sculptures were placed at the entrance. Kui Congrong recognized one of them as the fried chicken leg that Jiao Xueling had brought her before. It had a crispy skin, thick meat, and was tender and juicy. The taste was absolutely amazing.

However, the overall architectural style is very strange. There are no hanging fish-shaped beasts or carved railings and jade steps. It is so simple that it is not even as simple as the homes of wealthy ordinary people!

Lu Wenyuan didn't notice Wei Congrong's expression when he saw the fried chicken shop. He simply pushed the door open to hold it for everyone and said, "This is it. There aren't many people here now. It'll be packed tonight! If you want some, you won't be able to get any even if you queue up!"

Although Lü Wenyuan said there weren't many people at the moment, Wei Congrong was still taken aback when she entered. The restaurant was almost completely full, with hardly any empty seats. In fact, presumably to accommodate more customers, the tables were long and narrow, several meters long, with a row of chairs on each side to save space. The chairs were also round and tall, making it look very cramped, with diners less than half a meter apart!
Even the most unrefined teahouses and restaurants in ordinary towns wouldn't be arranged like this!
Jiao Xueling had no complaints. She had long been accustomed to this "custom" that was so different from the style of the Guixu Realm when she secretly frequented the night market in Chang'an City. She took the lead and found a table with four empty seats. She plopped down on a chair and sat down.

"Senior Sister, Senior Uncle, Elder Lu Ying, please have a seat. I'll go order the food," Lu Wenyuan said dutifully. Before leaving, he asked, "I roughly know Senior Sister and Senior Uncle's tastes, but does Elder Lu Ying have any dietary restrictions?"

Elder Lu Ying hurriedly said, "No, no, I don't have any dietary restrictions. I'll go with you. How can I let you pay to entertain your senior sister and senior uncle?"

Lu Wenyuan quickly stopped Elder Lu Ying from going to the ordering counter with him, and pushed her to a chair, saying, "Hey, hey, no need, no need! Elder Lu Ying, please sit down! It's just a meal! Besides, it's my own senior sister and senior uncle, I would never let you pay for it!"

Jiao Xueling chimed in, "That's right, that's right, just let him go! It's only right for a disciple to do what's necessary! It's only right that he takes care of his senior uncle!"

Kui Congrong also said, "That's right. This kid and his fellow disciples have been plundering countless pills and herbs from my Thousand Herbs Peak. This mere meal is too good for him!"

Upon hearing Kui Congrong's words, Lü Wenyuan blushed with embarrassment and hurriedly ran to the ordering counter.

Elder Lu Ying hesitated for a moment, then didn't insist any further. He simply smiled and sat down, saying, "Well, alright then, I'll take advantage of Fellow Daoist Qianzhi's kindness!"

However, she felt quite helpless—as the de facto "Minister of Foreign Affairs" of the Taiyin Sect, it was one thing to serve fast food to high-ranking officials from other sects, but to make their disciples pay for it! It was fortunate that she hadn't taken on this job in China, otherwise she would have had to hold ten criticism meetings and write a month-long self-criticism report.
Fortunately, considering that the sect leader of the Taiyin Sect, whose thoughts are so unpredictable, even entertains distinguished guests from foreign races and establishes diplomatic relations, does so at least at a barbecue stall, she is at a fast food restaurant this time, which is at least indoors!

Even so, this was the most dramatic setback she had experienced in her diplomatic career!

Jiao Xueling chimed in enthusiastically, “Not at all! We’ve broadened our horizons at the Taiyin Sect! Sigh, I never realized it before during my cultivation, but after eating at the night market in Chang’an a few times, I discovered how painful fasting really is! If a person isn’t eating or drinking, what’s the difference between them and someone who’s dead? Of course, the main problem is that the food the Taiyi Sect makes for those disciples who haven’t fasted is just awful. It’s not as convenient as taking fasting pills! If it were even half as good as the food at the night market in Chang’an, I probably wouldn’t have fasted for so many years! No wonder mortals often say that life is all about eating and drinking!”

Seeing the man's humility, Elder Lu Ying couldn't very well agree, so he could only casually say, "Hehehe, it's probably because on Earth, one can't abstain from grains, so one can only study food..."

Kui Congrong, however, was somewhat curious: "In cultivation, there is also a path of culinary cultivation, where food is used to nourish the spirit, and it has many wonderful uses. Since the Taiyin Sect has such a unique approach here, why haven't we seen many disciples who cultivate culinary arts?"

Elder Lu Ying replied, "Yes, there are some, but fewer in number. Firstly, cooking and simply eating and drinking are not the same thing. Secondly, the disciples of the Taiyin Sect pursue food and drink primarily for their taste, not for their benefit to cultivation. Therefore, while there are many instances of using food to supplement one's spiritual energy, they are often mixed with ordinary food and are not differentiated. However, the most famous one seems to be the Duck Duck Milk Tea Shop, which specializes in selling two types of milk tea: one more expensive, made with spiritual ingredients, and the other less expensive, made with ordinary ingredients, at most with a specific ratio of spiritual spring water. As for the taste, each has its own merits, and many cultivators actually prefer the less expensive drinks… drinks!" (End of this chapter)