Chef God of the Wuxia and Fantasy World

"This story is about a shepherd boy who enjoys deceiving people..."

The story was short, and Ling Chi finished telling it quickly. After listening, Huang Rong hesitated for a moment, then honestly apologized to Ling Chi: "Brother Ling, I'm sorry."

Ling Chi smiled slightly: "It's good that you know your mistakes and can correct them. I forgive you this time."

"What a profound little story!" Shuang'er remarked with emotion, and asked, "Did you read this from later generations, brother?"

"I read it in my elementary school textbook." Ling Chi smiled slightly and said, "There are many more, I'll tell you about them slowly later."

"Yes." Shuang'er and Huang Rong nodded repeatedly.

“However, Rong’er’s question just now…” Ling Chi sighed, “Perhaps so!”

"I don't care," Huang Rong quickly said. "Anyway, we can live forever, so having children isn't important." She paused, then added, "Besides, we still have Xiang'er! Brother Ling is Xiang'er's godfather!"

Seeing Huang Rong comforting him, Ling Chi smiled slightly and said, "That's right. Having children is just for the purpose of continuing the family line. But we can live forever, so the family line can't be passed down. It doesn't matter whether we have children or not."

"Mmm-hmm." Huang Rong nodded repeatedly and said, "That's exactly what I think. Besides, I'm very happy every day now, so I don't want to have a child and hold me back!"

Although he knew Huang Rong was just trying to comfort him, he still chuckled lightly: "I'm just afraid you'll get tired of it later."

"No way!" Huang Rong said, "As long as I play with Brother Ling, I'll never get tired of it."

"I enjoy listening to this." Ling Chi felt refreshed, and Wuliang Mountain was not far away.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Holy Envoy of Lingjiu Palace

The standoff between the Shennong Gang and the Wuliang Sword Sect continues on Wuliang Mountain. Ling Chi's return fills Sikong Xuan with immense excitement: "Young man, you are truly a man of integrity!"

almond?

Ling Chi was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and thought: It should be 'trusted person'!

"Not at all. Since I promised you, I will naturally keep my promise," Ling Chi said with a smile.

"Young man, you are indeed righteous." Sikong Xuan immediately invited Ling Chi and the other two to sit under a tree not far away. In just a few days, the Shennong Gang had whittled a lot of wooden stakes to make benches. Although it was autumn now, the late summer heat was still fierce, and the sun was high in the sky. It was best to cool off under the trees.

"These are summer-cooling pills that I made myself. They can not only clear away heat and relieve summer heat, but can also be brewed with hot water to quench thirst." After the four people sat down, Sikong Xuan took out a medicine bottle from his pocket, poured out four dark brown pills, put them in a bamboo tube, and then brewed them with boiling water: "Young man and the two young ladies, please have a taste."

Ling Chi and the other two looked at the red tea emanating from the bamboo tube and smelled it. Ling Chi looked at Huang Rong and Shuang'er and asked, "What did you smell?"

Shuang'er shook her head: "I only feel that it is mixed with some herbs, but I can't tell exactly what they are."

Huang Rong chuckled and said, "I can smell honeysuckle, locust flowers, hawthorn, patchouli, and dandelion."

Ling Chi nodded with a smile and said, "Being able to smell five different scents is already quite an achievement."

"Where's Brother Ling?" Huang Rong asked. "How many scents did you detect?"

“Hmm, if I’m not mistaken, there should be eleven kinds of flowers in this, including honeysuckle, kapok flower, sophora flower, charcoal, gardenia, artemisia capillaris, hyacinth bean, bitter orange peel, hawthorn, patchouli, and dandelion,” Ling Chi said.

"Are there that many?" Huang Rong was surprised.

Ling Chi smiled slightly, turned to look at Sikong Xuan, and asked, "Am I right?"

Sikong Xuan was already stunned and speechless: "Young... how did you know?"

Ling Chi smiled slightly: "As an excellent chef, being able to distinguish the types of ingredients and seasonings by smell is a perfectly normal skill and nothing to mention."

Huang Rong pouted: "That's easy for you to say. I've practiced for over ten years and I still can't completely distinguish them by smell."

Shuang'er comforted her, "Rong'er is already very good. At least she can distinguish some kinds. I, on the other hand, am completely unable to do it."

Sikong Xuan exclaimed in amazement, "In terms of medicinal herbs, I thought I was unmatched in the world, but today I realize that there are always people better than you, and there is always a higher mountain to climb. Young man, you are truly a genius."

Ling Chi smiled slightly, picked up the bamboo tube, and tasted the tea brewed with the summer heat-relieving pills.

He took a sip of the tea and frowned: "The taste isn't very good; it's not even as good as the coarse tea from a regular inn."

Sikong Xuan smiled wryly: "After all, what I make are pills, how can their taste compare to real tea?"

Ling Chi shook his head: "Who says pills can't taste good? Try adding some honey when you brew them."

"This... young man, you're putting this old man in a difficult position." Sikong Xuan looked troubled: "My Shennong Gang is on a long expedition and didn't bring any honey with us?"

“I have one.” Ling Chi took out a white porcelain bottle, opened the lid, and a sweet aroma of honey wafted out.

Sikong Xuan took a deep breath, his mouth practically watering: "The honey smells so good."

"Of course." Ling Chi poured two drops of honey into the bamboo tubes for himself, Shuang'er, and Huang Rong. Seeing Sikong Xuan's eager expression, he poured two drops for him as well: "Try it!"

Sikong Xuan watched the honey dissolve in the tea and smelled its sweet aroma. He took another deep breath, then sipped the tea slowly.

"Well--"

"Ding! You have conquered the stomach of the high-level white-class diner, Sikong Xuan. However, the diner's level is too low and will not be counted in the conquest count. Since he had already dropped the recipe, no recipes will drop in this conquest."

"Ding, the host has created a honey summer tea, which has been identified as a top-grade white tea."

"Honey Summer Cooling Tea: A top-tier white recipe that instantly relieves summer heat, with no cooling time."

"..." Ling Chi was in a bind. This honey was the 2.0 version of Little Dragon Girl's Jade Honey, which was originally of blue quality. But after being combined with the Summer Heat Relief Pill, it turned into top-grade white honey. Wasn't that ridiculous?

The recipe was deemed useless, and Ling Chi henceforth labeled honey-based summer tea as something she would never use again.

"Good tea, truly good tea." Sikong Xuan's face was flushed, and he felt a cool sensation from head to toe. He sighed, "To be honest, after eating your pancakes, nothing else tastes good these days. After drinking your honey tea today, I'm afraid that even the finest wines will taste like cold water in the future."

Ling Chi glanced at him, feeling both distressed and annoyed, and said, "Sir, you drank ten thousand taels of silver in one gulp. Of course you won't be able to drink anything else in the future."

"Huh!?" Sikong Xuan's jaw dropped: "Ten...ten thousand taels..."

"My honey is the only one of its kind in the world; even emperors of various countries can't get their hands on it. If it weren't for observing the condition of the life-and-death talisman on your body, do you think I would have given it to you?" Ling Chi took a sip of tea, frowned, and although it tasted much better, it was still only of the white grade. The thought that his jade honey had been dragged down a grade made his heart ache.

A violent thing!

"..." Sikong Xuan remained obedient and dared not speak for the rest of the time, afraid that if he accidentally said something wrong, Ling Chi would ask him for money.

……

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Perhaps to make up for the shortfall of ten thousand taels of silver, under Sikong Xuan's encouragement, the Shennong Gang disciples emptied their purses and bought only meals prepared by Ling Chi for three meals a day.

Although they had to spend between fifteen and thirty taels of silver every day, the three meals were so delicious that every Shennong Gang disciple felt a sense of happiness, thinking, "It's so good to be alive."

But early that morning, the Shennong Gang disciples looked at their empty money bags and were on the verge of tears: They had no money left, what should they do?

Fortunately, Ling Chi, who had steamed several trays of buns, saw that they really couldn't afford any money, so he changed the payment method: "There are herbs all over the place here, so you can use the herbs to pay for your meal!"

Afterwards, Ling Chi made a list, writing down the names of the herbs he needed and their buyback prices.

"Look carefully, these herbs are sold in batches: one pound for ordinary herbs, half a pound for slightly better quality herbs, and two half a pound for very good quality herbs. If there are any rare herbs, the price is negotiable. Now, you can come with me to collect your buns. You'll need to exchange the same number of herbs for the amount you collect. Settlement will be made on the same day, with penalties for late payments."

The Shennong Gang disciples were immediately thrilled. This was fantastic for them. If they had started exchanging herbs for meals from the beginning, they could have eaten Ling Chi out of house and home.

The Shennong Gang disciples each received between six and twelve steamed buns, and then, with Sikong Xuan's permission, they entered the mountains in batches to pick medicinal herbs.

The Dali Kingdom may not have much else, but it is rich in medicinal herbs. Almost every mountain has abundant reserves of Chinese medicinal herbs. What ordinary people consider weeds are, in the eyes of the Shennong Gang disciples, valuable things that can cure diseases and save lives, or even poison people.

The Shennong Gang, despite its seemingly righteous name, is actually a shady gang led by Sikong Xuan, primarily engaged in the production of poisons. Why was Sikong Xuan cursed with a life-or-death talisman by the Heavenly Child Granny? Besides the need to control him, the most crucial reason was actually the Shennong Gang's shady dealings.

Although the Heavenly Child Granny is capricious, she is not a demon who indiscriminately kills good people. The thirty-six cave masters and seventy-two island masters she controls are actually leaders of gray forces in society. They are all unruly and will not obey unless extreme measures are taken.

Fundamentally, Tianshan Tonglao was actually a kind person. It was just a pity that she was harmed by Li Qiushui back then, and coupled with her heartbreak in love, it made her become eccentric and unpredictable.

In the end, Tianshan Tonglao was nothing more than a pitiful strong woman.

……

By the end of the day, Lingchi had received several hundred kilograms of medicinal herbs, most of which were of average quality, a smaller quantity of medium quality, and only a very few of superior quality. Unfortunately, there were no unexpected surprises like century-old ginseng or thousand-year-old he shou wu.

These medicinal herbs had just been harvested and still required a lot of processing, so Ling Chi simply hired the Shennong Gang disciples who were temporarily free to help him process them.

If these Shennong Gang disciples were in later generations, they would be high-level employees working in pharmaceutical companies, middle-class people with monthly salaries of tens of thousands. But Ling Chi hired them, and the price he paid was three meals a day.

He's not as ruthless as Zhou Bapi, but he's even worse.

Unfortunately, Lingchi could only collect the medicinal herbs for one day before he had to stop.

The next morning, as Shennong's disciples were helping him process the medicinal herbs, a group of women arrived at Wuliang Mountain.

First came twelve women, all wearing emerald green cloaks embroidered with black eagles. Six of these women stood on either side, followed by another woman in a green cloak who walked in from behind.

The woman was in her early twenties, with delicate features, but her eyes held a hint of menace.

Upon seeing the woman, Sikong Xuan and all the Shennong Gang disciples trembled and immediately knelt down: "We were unaware of the arrival of the Holy Envoy of Lingjiu Palace. We have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive us."

The woman looked at the Shennong gang members kneeling on the ground, her eyes cold yet surprised: "What are you doing?"

"This...Reporting to the Holy Envoy, we are processing medicinal herbs," Sikong Xuan said tremblingly.

"Medicinal herbs?" the young woman said coldly. "Grandma Tong ordered you to wipe out the Wuliang Sword Sect, and here you are dealing with medicinal herbs? Do you know your crime!"

Sikong Xuan trembled even more violently.

Just then, a plate of freshly made fried pancakes appeared in front of the young woman, and a young man dressed in white asked with a smile, "Sir, would you like some fried pancakes?"

"..." The young woman looked at the plate of tempting fried pancakes, which looked even more appealing and smelled even more enticing, and swallowed hard: "How much are they?"

"It's not expensive, five taels of silver a serving. If you don't like it, you don't have to pay," Ling Chi said with a smile.

"Five taels of silver?" the young woman sneered. "A swindler."

“What you’re saying makes no sense, sir,” Ling Chi said. “You think it’s expensive because you’ve never tasted such delicious fried pancakes before. I’ve said it’s free if you don’t like it. Why don’t you try it first and then decide if it’s worth it?”

The young woman pondered for a moment, then nodded: "That makes some sense." She paused, then added: "Then I'll try it. If it's not worth it, I'll be careful to smash up your stall."

Ling Chi smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir, it won't happen."

"..." This was the first time the young woman had encountered such an arrogant person. She wondered where he got his confidence.

Having harbored all sorts of pent-up desire for torture, the young woman changed her mind after her first taste.

Salty, savory, fragrant, spicy, and with a hint of sourness, in short, it's delicious.

A few minutes later, the young woman looked at the empty plate, licked her lips, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Of course," Ling Chi said with a smile. "However, do you think five taels of silver is worth it, sir?"

The young woman nodded: "Although I hate to admit it, it is indeed worth the money to eat such delicious food for five taels of silver."

"Thank you for your patronage." Ling Chi held out his hand: "Five taels of silver."

"..." The young woman took out ten taels of silver and gave it to him: "Give me another serving." She paused, then turned her head and said, "Sisters, you must be hungry too! Let's eat some together!"

The twelve women had already swallowed their saliva countless times after seeing her wolf down her food. Although they hadn't eaten any, the aroma of the fried pancakes was tempting their stomachs. When the leader spoke up, they couldn't wait to walk to the cart and watch Ling Chi cook a pot of fried pancakes like an art form, and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

At the same time, they also greatly admired Shuang'er, who, despite her young age, possessed remarkable knife skills. It was truly admirable that she shouldered such a heavy family burden at such a young age. The round, unidentified vegetables and meat were cut so beautifully.