Chapter 154: Grandeur Of Spirit Hall
Ye Jun was devastated to hear the terrible news. Although it sounded reasonable, he still hated it. Apparently, due to the emergency caused by the Lord, disciples were sent on a mission to search for clues and check if there were more regions affected like Greywood Village.
Disciples with low Cultivation bases were obviously out of the equation, since they couldn’t even protect themselves. And if his theory was right, then the best people to investigate the Lord were Soul Tempering Realm Cultivators and above.
Once one formed a Soul, they could interact with the metaphysical plane, which technically gave them more resistance to the Lord’s abilities.
That was why most of the Soul Tempering Realm disciples were deployed on this mission. But it also meant he didn’t have anyone to fight and try to see if they would drop Soul Attributes.
All of it did make him wonder why the Lord didn’t use his ability on him. After all, he was barely in the Qi Condensation Realm, so unless there was something stopping him, the Lord could have affected him too.
Previously, he assumed it was because the Lord needed that mist or something, but things were different now that he understood how the whole Soul concept worked.
’It is definitely weird.’
He decided to search for it later, maybe even asking Meihui and Song Liangxue. Shaking his head, he headed towards the Spirit Food Hall, where Mountain spent his time every day.
It was on the same plateau as the Dining Hall, which made sense, and also not far from the Alchemy Hall. Apparently, many principles of Alchemy were used in making Spirit Food too, like the fact that both used exotic herbs and parts of Spiritual Beasts.
’Hmm, is he free or not? Maybe he’s busy in training.’
If that was the case, then he would have to postpone his ascension. There was no way he was going to try that without having good food in his belly.
Soon, he ascended a set of more than five hundred stairs carved into the mountains and reached the Spirit Food Hall. The sight of it made him pause, making him question if this was the main hall of the White Gale Pavilion.
’What the hell?’
Ye Jun had expected something like the Dining Hall, practical, functional, maybe a notch nicer given who it served. What stood before him was something else entirely.
The Spirit Food Hall sprawled across the plateau like its own miniature sect, three wide tiers of dark sandalwood and pale jade climbing the mountain face, connected by covered walkways and stone bridges that arched over channels of running spring water.
The lower tier was clearly where the real work happened, wide arched openings revealed rows upon rows of stoves and cauldrons, each station tended by an apprentice in pale green robes, the air above them rippling with heat distortion and the faint shimmer of Qi being coaxed into rice and broth.
Smoke vents along the rooftop exhaled thin, fragrant plumes that smelled like nothing Ye Jun could name, and his stomach betrayed him with an audible complaint before he had even reached the steps.
The middle tier looked to be where the apprentices were drilled. Through the open screens, he could see disciples lined up at long preparation counters, knives moving in rhythms too precise to be human, an older chef in dark green pacing behind them and occasionally rapping a counter with a wooden ladle when someone’s tempo slipped.
Crates of exotic herbs were stacked along the outer walls in carefully labeled rows, and a pair of disciples were hauling what looked like the leg of some enormous Spiritual Beast up a side staircase, sweating profusely and trying very hard not to drop it.
The upper tier was quieter, private kitchens, Ye Jun guessed, where the Spirit Chefs themselves did whatever it was Spirit Chefs did when they weren’t yelling at apprentices.
A plaque hung above the main doorway in flowing characters he didn’t bother trying to parse.
’Right,’ he thought, watching the leg-haulers stagger past a third disciple carrying a tray of glowing mushrooms in the opposite direction. ’Okay. This actually makes more sense. Is this how they all live? Rich fucks.’
He knew Spirit Chefs were very rich, even matching Alchemists, so he could understand this grandeur. They were probably the richest people in the sect.
Ye Jun went ahead but was soon stopped by a guard, "Where do you think you’re going?"
He had to raise his head to look at the guard, which was a feat because he was very tall himself, "I’m here to meet a friend, Brother."
"No one is allowed inside, not even elders." The guard scoffed. "The hall is a pure land of food, and only someone who knows their way around food is allowed."
"Umm, then can you tell him I came to meet him?" Ye Jun didn’t mind it and asked. "He goes by the name Mountain."
A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes as he said, "You’re his friend? That’s surprising. He doesn’t befriend anyone."
"Yes, I’m that exception. Please tell him Ye Jun came to visit him," Ye Jun said. "I tried contacting him, but..."
"That’s understandable. He is currently busy," the guard’s voice was softer now. "If you don’t mind, you can wait for him in the dining hall, the one we have here."
"I’ll do that then." Ye Jun smiled in relief.
The guard took him around the lower tier to a long hall connected to it. It was mostly empty, but Ye Jun could smell the lingering delicious aroma.
"I thought people weren’t allowed inside," Ye Jun asked, a bit curious.
"Meh! That’s just to kick away the useless disciples who come here to waste our time," the man shrugged. "If you noticed, we also grow herbs here, so just spending time here is beneficial to your body and Cultivation."
’Ah! That’s why I felt a bit weird,’ Ye Jun thought. ’Interesting. Well, only the rich halls like them can afford it.’
When he passed by the disciples working on stoves and cauldrons, he noticed bubbles around them and smiled. Without any hesitation, he picked them.
[Cooking
2]
[Knowledge of Herbs
4]
[Knowledge of Beast Anatomy
5]
[Qi Control
3]
There were a few more, all related to cooking Spirit Food. The more he absorbed the attributes, the more knowledge he gained about it. If he stayed here a few months, he might even become a master chef.
Meanwhile, the guard continued talking without noticing his actions, "And we also have a high collection of Spiritual Beast corpses and Beast Cores, so many times they come to steal. Heck, sometimes they just ask for leftovers."
Ye Jun couldn’t blame them. Forget proper Spirit Food, even the leftovers would help the disciples a lot, especially those with poor Cultivation bases.
"In any case, you can wait here," the guard stopped and said. "I’ll inform Mountain when he’s free. Shouldn’t be for long."
Ye Jun nodded in understanding, and the man left him alone in the long dining hall. Looking around, he sat down on the ground, noticing something, ’They all eat on the floor?’
That was quite surprising.
He closed his eyes and focused on the flowing Qi around him. Just as the guard said, the Qi here was denser and also mixed with many elements likely released by the herbs.
’What a place.’
Then, he went through the knowledge he had acquired about Spirit Food. When he was finished, he sighed and thought, ’What a mess! I can never go through all of this.’
There were simply too many things he would need to be careful about. He needed to study and learn many things. As if that wasn’t enough, he also needed to practice a lot. And the worst part was that he still needed to focus on his Cultivation.
A weak Cultivation couldn’t produce a good Spirit Chef.
In the end, Ye Jun threw aside the idea of becoming a Spirit Chef. Or at least, he wouldn’t try to become one himself. Collecting Attributes was another matter.
Still, there was something useful in it. The Knowledge of Herbs. Even if he didn’t want to become a Spirit Chef, he did have ambitions of becoming an Alchemist, and that required deep knowledge of herbs.
Unlike Spirit Chefs, being an Alchemist was very useful and could help him in his Cultivation journey. Not to mention they were valued more than Spirit Chefs by the world.
’I should visit the Alchemy Hall too. Maybe I can drag Wenxin there. That woman gets too excited when the topic of discussion is her profession.’
Soon, he heard heavy footsteps approaching him, so he opened his eyes and raised his head. Just as expected, his giant of a friend stood in the doorway, wearing loose green robes tied together with a long sash.
Upon seeing him, Mountain laughed, "Did not expect seeing you here. Am glad. Welcome."
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