Gou Zai Qingluo Cave Heaven Cultivation

It was approaching evening.

When Zhou Baoqing returned home, his family showered him with concern and care.

Ms. Chen was afraid that he would be wronged, so she held his hand and looked him over from left to right until she was sure that everything was alright before she felt at ease.

"Brother Bao, did you get a cold shoulder at the Zhou family mansion? Are there many rules in those wealthy families? Did you get a good meal?"

"Mother, don't worry, Uncle Zhou and Aunt Zhou treat me very well."

Zhou Baoqing smiled and reassured him, then recounted what he had seen and heard in the main hall of the Zhou family that day, as well as the interesting things that happened at the sumptuous banquet.

Hearing that Zhou Yandong was personally waiting to entertain them in the main hall, the family finally felt relieved.

As they were talking, Zhou Baoqing noticed that Zhao Yuanqiu was staring at the sandalwood food box in his hand, swallowing hard and looking extremely envious.

He laughed heartily, placed the food box he had brought back on the octagonal table, and gently opened it.

"Wow!" Zhao Yuanqiu couldn't help but exclaim.

The food box was divided into three layers, inside which were neatly arranged several kinds of exquisite spiritual pastries, a fragrant roasted spiritual chicken, a plate of spiritual vegetables, and a small jar of warm fruit wine.

The rich spiritual energy and aroma of meat instantly filled the entire main room.

Not to mention Zhao Yuanqiu and Zhao Fanghua, even several adults were staring intently.

This spiritual dish is far more delicious than the usual Azure Water Spirit Eggs and Semi-spirit Green-skinned Fish!

Zhou Changgeng frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "Brother Bao, how can you eat and take things when you're visiting someone's house? If word gets out, people will laugh at us for being unruly."

Zhou Baoqing quickly explained seriously, "Grandpa, I really didn't shamelessly ask anyone for this."

It's not that he's short-sighted; even if he cares deeply about his family, he wouldn't do something so disgraceful.

It was Uncle Zhou who insisted on giving it to him, and he simply couldn't refuse his kind offer.

After much persuasion, Zhou Changgeng finally believed him, and sighed, "The manners of wealthy families are indeed different."

The family was relieved.

"This spiritual food..."

Before Chen could finish speaking, Zhou Baoqing said, "We'll eat this spiritual meal together at home."

He knew his mother's thoughts; the good things "should" be kept for him, but he no longer wanted to live that kind of life of "eating alone".

Since Zhou Baoqing was able to "earn" spirit stones in the clan school, he no longer needed to make trouble; his words carried a lot of weight.

Unable to persuade him otherwise, Chen turned her face away angrily to cook rice.

The rice was cooked, and the family gathered together happily to begin their meal.

The food was indeed exceptionally fragrant.

Zhao Yuanqiu ate the chicken leg with his mouth full of oil, exclaiming how delicious it was.

Zhao Fanghua took a bite of the spiritual vegetable and her eyes narrowed with joy.

Even my usually restrained grandfather ate a few more times.

Even Chen, who was originally sulking, took a sip of the spirit fruit wine, her cheeks flushed slightly, and her eyebrows and eyes became gentle and graceful.

Zhou Baoqing then remembered that his mother was not yet thirty years old; in his previous life, she would have been in the prime of her life.

He smiled and took a sip of fruit wine.

The initial taste is lingering and refreshing, leaving a sweet aftertaste that lingers in the heart, accompanied by the laughter of family members, as if it will last forever.

…………

That night.

The moonlight was like water, and all was quiet.

In front of Zhou Baoqing were a small clay stove, a blue stone mortar, several pieces of spirit wood charcoal, and auxiliary materials given by Uncle Zhang.

"Let's begin."

He took a deep breath and, relying on the photographic memory granted by his powerful spiritual soul, recalled Uncle Zhang's techniques from earlier that day.

First, place the washed eggshells on a small clay stove and bake them over a strong fire until they are crisp. Then, put them into a bluestone mortar and grind them into extremely fine bone powder.

Next, a handful of vibrant, ice-blue duckweed was scooped out of the bamboo circle.

As they grow in the cave, these duckweeds feel cool to the touch, and their veins shimmer with a faint, icy blue light.

According to the original procedure, the duckweed should be crushed.

However, after discussing with Uncle Zhang today, Zhou Baoqing learned that spiritual herbs are inherently cold in nature, and directly crushing them for medicinal use would easily cause them to lose their spiritual energy.

He quickly washed the duckweed clean with both hands, placed it on the copper tray of the small stove, and let it "revive" in the water.

As the temperature gradually rises, the ice-blue duckweed not only doesn't get hot, but instead emits a strange coolness.

While the fire was still hot, he quickly chopped up the awakened duckweed, mixed it with bone meal and rice husks in the correct proportions, and poured it into a ceramic basin.

With both hands exerting force, the kneading and pounding are repeated in a smooth, flowing motion.

The scattered materials gradually merged together, transforming into a dark blue fish paste that emitted a strange, pleasant fragrance.

Finally, roll the fish paste into small, soybean-sized pellets and dry them on the edge of the stove.

Zhou Baoqing knew that Uncle Zhang's workshop had a high-temperature furnace, which could produce a lot of fish food at a time, and it was very efficient.

But having only a small stove, he could only wait patiently.

There was no rush, so I simply continued breathing exercises while waiting, treating it as a form of spiritual practice.

As the moon rose high in the sky, a strange fragrance wafted out. It didn't smell fishy like ordinary fish food; instead, it had a refreshing scent similar to mint.

Zhou Baoqing opened the stove lid with delight.

The light blue pellets were round and plump. Although they didn't look as good as the red or brown fish food, they were still quite tasty and shaped!

He breathed a long sigh of relief.

In any case, this is the first "product" I created with my own hands!

Many thanks to Uncle Zhang for his guidance. His true teachings were contained in a single sentence, and this recipe and method saved him from many detours.

Next, we'll test the results.

He crushed one and sprinkled it into the water.

"Splash!"

The blue-scaled fish seemed to have smelled an unparalleled delicacy, wagging its tail and opening its mouth to snatch the food, almost capsizing the raft.

"If I hadn't made it myself, I would have thought I added an appetite stimulant."

Zhou Baoqing made a complaint, but he felt relieved.

Who cares about the effect, at least it's effective!

It's attractive enough; now it will take time to verify its fattening effects and safety.

To test the effectiveness of this new fish food, he specifically set up a control group.

The twenty or so blue-scaled fish fry were divided into two groups using a bamboo net. One group was fed the fish food given by Zhou Changping, while the other group was fed the "secret fish food" mixed with ice-blue duckweed.

Now it's just a matter of waiting.

…………

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Baoqing observed the differences between the two control groups.

The group of blue-scaled fish fry that were fed with duckweed fish food had noticeably shinier blue scales, stirred the water more powerfully when swimming, and were slightly plumper than the ordinary group.

It turns out that the nourishing effect of the blue duckweed is indeed better!

More importantly, the fish fry were lively and showed no adverse reactions, which proved that the fish food I made was relatively safe.

After confirming that the new formula was safe and effective, Zhou Baoqing decided to try it out at the fishpond.

He filled a small cloth bag with his secret fish food recipe and handed it to Zhou Changgeng, saying mysteriously that it was a "highly nutritious fish food" that he had tried to make using the pharmacology taught by his master.

Zhou Changgeng took the cloth bag, his expression one of doubt.

He lowered his head and smelled it; it did indeed have a delicate fragrance, but he couldn't help but feel that his grandson's words were an exaggeration.

Everyone has their own expertise. Can something a ten-year-old tinkers up be better than the secret-recipe fish food sold in the market?

But he didn't discourage his grandson's enthusiasm, and agreed with a smile: "Okay, Grandpa will try Bao-ge's cooking later."

After Zhou Baoqing went to school, Zhou Changgeng, as usual, carried the fish food bucket to inspect the fishpond.

He sprinkled fish food, looking at the bluefin bream that had become slightly thinner due to "thinness" a few days ago, and then at the plump bluefin bream next to the water curtain, and couldn't help but feel worried.

The illness is cured, but it's a bit difficult to regain the weight I lost.

He remembered the small cloth bag his grandson had given him before he left.

"Let's give it a shot, even if it's a long shot."

Zhou Changgeng untied the cloth bag, grabbed a handful of dark blue fish food, and casually scattered it onto the water's surface.

Unexpectedly, the fish food had just entered the water.

"Splash!"

The water boiled instantly!

The skinny fish that had been hiding at the bottom of the pond suddenly surged upwards as if they had been injected with chicken blood, swirling wildly with the current.

They shoved and jostled each other, all for that tiny grain of fish food.

Zhou Changgeng was splashed with water all over his face, and his expression was full of disbelief.

Then his expression changed, and he personally crushed some fish food and tasted it. It tasted cool but was warm in nature, not some kind of poison that would drive someone insane. Only then did he feel relieved and exclaim in surprise:

"This fish food has such amazing effects?!"

He immediately realized that the thing his grandson had concocted was definitely a treasure.

At least take it out and let the fishermen use it as bait; they won't have to worry about not catching anything!

The more I think about it, the more excited I get.

All day long, Zhou Changgeng was absent-minded, pacing back and forth in the courtyard, impatiently waiting for Zhou Baoqing to return from school.