Chef God of the Wuxia and Fantasy World

Chapter Forty: The Perfect Tonic Soup

Dongfang Bubai: "..."

Seeing more and more followers lining up to buy chive boxes, Dongfang Bubai turned to Yang Lianting and asked, "Brother Lian, are those chive boxes really that delicious?"

"..." Yang Lianting's face darkened, and he said irritably, "How should I know!"

"Hmm, that's true." Dongfang Bubai thought for a moment and ordered one of his guards, "Buy two for me to try."

"Yes, Master!" The guard was about to buy some chive dumplings for the Master when Dongfang Bubai stopped him: "Wait, tell him that this Master wants to eat them, and ask him to make them delicious. If they are good, our Holy Sect will cover all the food he sells from now on."

The guard was taken aback, then clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes, Master!" and left immediately.

……

"The Eastern Cult leader wants to eat leek dumplings, everyone move aside! Move aside!" The guards rudely pushed aside the cult members in front of them, forcefully cutting in line.

These followers dared not speak out against their anger. Even if they cursed and swore, what could they do? The cult leader wanted to eat leek dumplings, and no matter how much they cursed in their hearts, they had to endure it.

The guard approached the stall, his arrogant attitude instantly changing, his face beaming with a wide smile: "Young Master Ling, our leader would like to eat two leek dumplings. Could you make them a little better? If our leader likes them, we'll make whatever Young Master Ling wants, not just leek dumplings, but anything else we can provide."

This means we've encountered a major client.

Ling Chi smiled brightly: "Of course, of course."

Two chive pancakes were quickly made, and Ling Chi took out two fragrant tiger meat skewers from under the cart and said with a smile, "These are gifts for the Eastern Cult Leader. I won't charge you this time, but next time it will be the original price."

"I will certainly convey Young Master Ling's good intentions." The guard took the chive pancakes and tiger meat skewers and went back to report.

……

"A gift?" Upon hearing that Ling Chi had given him two meat skewers, Dongfang Bubai couldn't help but smile charmingly: "Young Master Ling, you're so thoughtful."

"Hmph! Maybe it was poisoned!" Seeing his chrysanthemum looking all lovestruck, Yang Lianting became extremely jealous.

“He wouldn’t,” Dongfang Bubai said with a smile. “If he dared to poison her, she would certainly not leave Blackwood Cliff alive. Besides, her sister is still here.”

Even if he himself wasn't afraid of death, he wouldn't take his sister with him to her death.

"Hmph! Eat it if you're not afraid of dying!" Yang Lianting's face was very sour.

"Don't be angry, Brother Lian!" Dongfang Bubai smiled charmingly and said, "It's just eating some good food, people won't like him."

"Hmph! Who you like is none of my business." Despite saying this, Yang Lianting's expression softened considerably.

Knowing that his younger brother Lian was no longer angry, Dongfang Bubai smiled slightly. Looking at the chive pancakes and kebabs, he felt that the kebabs were more appealing to his sense of smell, so he took a bite of the tiger meat kebab first.

"Mmm, it's really delicious." Perhaps out of caution, the first skewer of tiger meat did not win over Dongfang Bubai's stomach, but its quality and taste still made Dongfang Bubai praise it repeatedly.

He casually handed the second string of skewers to Yang Lianting: "Brother Lian, you should try some too."

The fact that Dongfang Bubai could resist the temptation of such a delicious dish and share it with Yang Lianting shows that he truly loved him.

Unfortunately, Yang Lianting was not grateful: "Even if I, Yang Lianting, starve to death, die outside, or jump off this cliff, I will not eat a single thing from this pretty boy!"

Seeing that Yang Lianting was determined not to eat, Dongfang Bubai had no choice but to eat the last skewer of grilled meat himself.

"Ugh... Ah—!!"

……

"Ding! Conquered the stomach of the top-tier white-level diner, Dongfang Bubai. Conquest count +1. Top-tier white-level recipe dropped - Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup."

"Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup: Top-tier white recipe, Stamina +100, Energy +50. No cooldown time."

Upon hearing the system notification, Ling Chi immediately frowned.

After reading about the effects of the "Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup," I thought to myself: Is it really that bad?

Currently, he possesses two top-tier white recipes. One is a clay pot porridge that bursts from Feng Qingyang's body, which can increase one's true qi for a year. The other is tiger meat skewers, which are an improvement on lamb skewers and can increase one's constitution, agility by 0.5, and strength by 0.5. The effects are comparable to those of blue recipes.

His ordinary blue recipe for Squirrel Fish only adds two points to Agility.

One is a top-tier white recipe, and the other is a regular blue recipe. Both add 2 attribute points, but one is concentrated and the other is dispersed, thus creating the distinction between blue and white.

Ling Chi analyzed it himself and concluded that the minimum standard for a regular blue recipe is probably +2 to a single attribute. Although the tiger meat skewers have a total of 2 attribute points across all three attributes, the highest single attribute value is only 1 point, which is why it doesn't meet the requirements for a blue recipe.

That's quite interesting.

It turns out that dishes also have a distinction between generalists and specialists. But unlike schools, which value generalists and neglect specialists, dishes are the opposite. Specialization in a particular area can elevate a dish's status, while generalists are relegated to obscurity.

The predecessor of this God of Cookery system must have studied in China, and was a student who excelled in one subject but not another, otherwise he wouldn't have such a strong resentment.

Regardless of whether you specialize in one subject or excel in others, at least the clay pot porridge and tiger meat skewers provide real attribute points. But what does the "Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup" give you? 100 stamina and 50 energy?

This is such a small thing, and you dare to classify it as a top-tier white recipe?

Just as Ling Chi was complaining, the system suddenly dinged again.

"Ding! Hidden effects detected in the 'Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup'!"

"..."

Ling Chi was dumbfounded.

What is that?

……

"Brother, what's wrong?" Seeing Ling Chi suddenly lost in thought, Shuang'er tugged at his clothes.

“…” Ling Chi shook his head: “It’s nothing.”

He glanced in the direction of Dongfang Bubai: Could this be the resentment of the big boss Dongfang?

As expected of a big shot in the East, even the dishes he reveals are so unique.

"Shuang'er, do you know where I can buy a ruler?"

Shuang'er: "???"

……

As darkness fell, Ling Chi, having sold out of ingredients, was warmly welcomed into the Sun Moon Cult's headquarters by the radiant Dongfang Bubai to spend the night and replenish his supplies for another battle the next day.

As for Yang Lianting... I heard he was feeling unwell and was carried away to rest.

……

Twenty miles away from Blackwood Cliff, Ren Woxing, Xiang Wentian, and others, who had gathered tens of thousands of followers, were all stunned when they heard the news.

"What did you say?!" Ren Woxing grabbed the spy by the collar, his face contorted with rage. "Say it again!"

"Master, Master..." the scout said in terror, "Dong... Dongfang Bubai personally welcomed Ling Chi into the main altar, and all the people from the main altar have gone up the mountain."

Ren Woxing loosened his grip, and the spy fell to the ground with a thud, hurting his bottom, but dared not cry out in pain.

"You may leave now!" Ren Yingying said softly.

The scout was immediately filled with gratitude: "Thank you, Holy Maiden. I shall take my leave."

After the scouts left, Ren Yingying said, "Father, it seems that Ling Chi and Dongfang Bubai's plan to both suffer heavy losses has failed."

Ren Woxing's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty as he slammed his fist into a tree trunk: "Damn it!"

He turned to Xiang Wentian and asked, "Left Envoy Xiang, what should we do?"

Xiang Wentian sighed and said, "Master, for now, we can only wait."

"wait?"

“Good, let’s wait.” Xiang Wentian nodded. “Let’s wait and see what Ling Chi will be doing at the headquarters these next few days. Let’s wait and see how Dongfang Bubai will deal with Ling Chi. Only by figuring out their tactics can we formulate a countermeasure. Otherwise, just thinking about it will be useless.”

“Father, I support Uncle Xiang’s idea,” Ren Yingying echoed. “Plan carefully before you act.”

Ren Woxing remained silent.

……

Chapter 41 Settling Down and Buying a Property

A month later, with Dongfang Bubai and all the members of the Sun Moon Cult bidding him a reluctant farewell, Ling Chi left Blackwood Cliff and headed towards the capital.

Spies from various factions, hidden in the shadows, discovered this scene and reported it to the authorities.

Upon learning that Ling Chi had been personally escorted away by Dongfang Bubai unharmed, all the factions were utterly bewildered.

What? Nothing happened? Dongfang Bubai even personally saw him off?

Didn't we agree to go to the Sun Moon Cult to kill Dongfang Bubai?

What did Ling Chi do in the Sun Moon Cult during that month?

Could it be that Ling Chi never intended to kill Dongfang Bubai from the beginning, but instead went to surrender?

"..."

Thinking about it carefully, it seems unlikely, since it was Dongfang Bubai who personally saw Ling Chi off when he left Blackwood Cliff.

But why exactly?

What exactly is Ling Chi up to?

All factions were baffled.

……

At the headquarters of the Sun Moon Sect, Dongfang Bubai was astonished upon hearing Yang Lianting's expense report: "How much did it cost?"

Yang Lianting looked at the account book and said with a gloomy face, "In the past month, my sect paid a total of 182,620 taels of silver for Ling Chi's food expenses... This is half a year's income for my sect."

"How...how could it have cost so much money?" Dongfang Bubai had a headache.

“This is just the official cost. It is said that Ling Chi is secretly looking for people to sell the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup, and a bowl of soup costs one hundred taels of silver…” Yang Lianting’s hands trembled and his eyes turned red: “At least six hundred people have paid for the soup, and more than once.”

"..."

Dongfang Bubai covered his forehead and asked, "So, he's taken all the profits I earned in a year?"

Yang Lianting was panting heavily, clutching his chest, and slowly collapsed.

"Oh! Brother Lian, what's wrong?" Dongfang Bubai, her face pale, rushed forward to hug him. Yang Lianting's face was deathly white, and cold sweat was pouring down his forehead, as if some hidden illness had flared up.

"Quick...quick...quickly call...Ping...Ping Yizhi..." Yang Lianting's chest heaved continuously.

"Alright, alright! Brother Lian, hold on, I'll send someone to fetch Ping Yizhi right away!" Dongfang Bubai picked up Yang Lianting and placed him on the bed to rest, then ordered his men to bring Ping Yizhi.