Walking into the Essence Sea Restaurant, Ning Cheng almost wanted to stay here and cultivate. Since coming to this place, the surrounding Essence Qi remained very thin, almost non-existent. But stepping into this restaurant, he could immediately feel a slightly richer Essence Qi.
As the fragrance wafted through the restaurant, Ning Cheng’s gaze immediately moved towards the other cultivators feasting inside and once again started to feel hungry. Plates of steaming and fragrant meats from various sea demons, as well as spiritual fruits and grasses cooked with multiple herbs, made people want to eat plate after plate after just looking at it. From this, one could tell that the chefs in this restaurant knew what they were doing and were also very skilled at their craft.
Ning Cheng rubbed his nose out of helplessness. Even he had forgotten how long ago he went to a restaurant for dinner. But as he thought about coming to a restaurant, Ning Cheng also couldn’t help but think of Tian Muwan.
If anyone had accompanied him to a restaurant, it was Tian Muwan. But at that time, his wallet wasn’t loaded, which meant that he could only take Tian Muwan to cheap, fly-infested eateries. Thinking of all those things, Ning Cheng once again lamented how a small misunderstanding had completely changed Tian Muwan. Because of that misunderstanding, Tian Muwan, who willingly came with him to those fly-infested eateries, decided to sever all ties with him.
As soon as the five people entered the restaurant, the restaurant’s waiter greeted them, “Several guests, would you like a booth, or do you want to…..”
Without waiting for the waiter to finish, Li Siyan waved her hand and said, “We just came to eat a few things, no need for a booth.”
Seeing that Tao Xing did not comment, Ning Cheng understood that this fellow most likely didn’t have too much money.
After the five sat down, the waiter then brought over the menu. Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness scanned the menu and felt surprised that this place had quite a high price for each dish. Even the least expensive items had a dozen spirit crystals as the listed price. The slightly better plates cost hundreds of spirit crystals. He even saw a few items priced at several thousand spirit crystals. Ning Cheng also found that these prices were all in high-rank spirit crystals.
“Spirit-fired Ground Eagle’s tongue, roasted Starless Flower Rabbit’s paw, stewed Phoenix Ferry Buds…..”
Tao Xing ordered more than ten dishes before passing the menu to Nalan Ruxue. “Junior Apprentice Sister Ruxue, you can also order a few.”
Nalan Ruxue hurriedly waved her hand and said, “That’s alright. I’m already very grateful for Senior Apprentice Brother Tao helping me out and even inviting us here to eat. Besides, I’ve never thought to come to this place, let alone come here to eat.”
Nalan Ruxue didn’t say anything false. The prices of Essence Sea Restaurant went beyond her pocket. Even in the past, she and Yan Ji only ate in small and cheap restaurants, and would never come to such a place.
Tao Xing, seeing Nalan Ruxue decline, passed the menu to Ning Cheng with the same polite words. Ning Cheng already knew that Tao Xing had seen him go through the menu before and understood that he wanted to put up an act of politeness.
“No need. I don’t care much about food.” Ning Cheng gave a flat-out refusal.
Tao Xing’s eyes flashed with a hint of unhappiness. In his opinion, since Ning Cheng and Nalan Ruxue were friends, it meant that his cultivation would also not be too high. But now, Ning Cheng showed no respect to him, and even spoke with an ordinary tone.
After taking a few more orders from Yue Cheng and Li Siyan, the waiter then took away the menus.
Ning Cheng noticed that the dishes Tao Xing ordered were relatively average in price. Even the most expensive one was just a bit over a hundred spirit crystals. All the plates didn’t add up to more than 1,000 spirit crystals.
The server brought the dishes quickly, and they truly looked delicious with the rich Essence Qi oozing out of it. One would immediately realise that eating those dishes would not only fill your stomach but also improve your cultivation.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, have a bite.” Nalan Ruxue didn’t forget about Ning Cheng and immediately spoke up.
Tao Xing also smiled and said, “Yes, Junior Apprentice Brother Ning, you’re welcome to help yourself. Say, have you come to this place before? It’s hard for rogue cultivators like us to come here for a meal. The prices here are not something many people can afford. Sure, the roasted Starless Flower Rabbit’s paw is the most expensive dish here. But it’s more suited to Junior Apprentice Sister Ruxue and Junior Apprentice Sister Siyan’s taste. Let them have it. We’ll eat something else.”
Ning Cheng was going to fork a piece of Starless Flower Rabbit’s paw, but when he heard Tao Xing’s words, he suddenly felt irritated. His words indirectly implied that Ning Cheng came here to scrounge off them. From the looks of it, he should have already seen Ning Cheng reaching for the Starless Flower Rabbit and spoke those words purposefully.
“Waiter, come here.” Ning Cheng put down the fork in his hand and called the server.
“Pardon the intrusion, can you let me know what else you need?” The server immediately came up.
Ning Cheng took out a pot of wine and handed it to the server and said, “Go and show it to your boss and let me know how many spirit crystals he will give me in exchange for this pot.”
“Yes.” The server quickly picked up the pot and walked away.
Seeing Ning Cheng not eating anything, Nalan Ruxue also felt a little embarrassed. She couldn’t decide whether to start eating or not.
“Junior Apprentice Sister Ruxue, you don’t have to be so polite. Please ask your friend to dive in and eat.” Tao Xing and the others had already started.
But in just the next moment, the server brought an eager-looking middle-aged male cultivator to their table.
“This Dao Friend, please excuse my intrusion, but is that pot of wine yours?” The middle-aged male cultivator came up to Ning Cheng and spoke with cupped fists. Even his tone was of a very polite one.
Ning Cheng nodded, “Yes, it’s mine. I got that pot from a friend. I’ve kept it with me for many years but wasn’t willing to drink it. I just happened to have an eye on a few of your restaurant’s dishes today and wanted to taste them, which is why I took it out.”
Hearing what Ning Cheng just said, the middle-aged male cultivator immediately felt disappointed. Ning Cheng’s words implied that he only had that one pot. Regardless, he still took out a storage bag and handed it to Ning Cheng. “This contained 10,000 high-grade spirit crystals, and we will also give this dao friend a pick of five of our dishes, as long as it doesn’t exceed 10,000 spirit crystals in value….”
Ning Cheng understood from the look on this male cultivator’s face that he had no plans of returning the pot of None-to-depend-on Wine. In any case, since Ning Cheng had taken it out, he didn’t plan on taking it back. It was just a pot of the real top-rank None-to-depend-on Wine; he still had more than half a barrel of it in his ring.
“Sure. Help me add a few dishes to the table, then ground-fire stewed golden ox-tail, spirit spring stripped Rain Pomegranate…..”
Ning Cheng ordered five dishes in one go. Even the cheapest of those five costs more than a thousand spirit crystals. The five plates, however, roughly totalled 10,000 spirit crystals.
Seeing Tao Xing’s disbelieving stare, Nalan Ruxue pursed her mouth. Ning Cheng was still the same Ning Cheng, even after so many years, nothing had changed within him.
The waiter quickly brought the five dishes, and Ning Cheng grabbed his fork once again and said, “Now we can eat.”
Biting down on a piece of spirit spring-skinned Rain Pomegranate, Ning Cheng could acutely feel the concentrated Spiritual Qi dissolving into his mouth. Ning Cheng sighed while refining it. No wonder so many people willingly came here to eat. These dishes not only filled one’s stomach but also helped in improving one’s cultivation. Moreover, Ning Cheng had a vague feeling that after going through this course, he might even advance to the middle-stage Eternal Realm.
Tao Xing, seeing Ning Cheng order several dishes that were more than ten times the price of his, didn’t continue with his antics. Even though he felt upset, he couldn’t just look for even rarer and more expensive dishes to eat when he couldn’t even afford it.
Although these people also wanted to have a taste of those dishes that cost several thousand spirit crystals, Ning Cheng hadn’t even bothered to ask Tao Xing and the others. At the same time, Tao Xing and the others also felt quite embarrassed to ask for a bite out of the dishes ordered by Ning Cheng.
As for Nalan Ruxue, just a few spoonfuls of spirit spring-stripped Rain Pomegranates had saturated her to the limit, and she couldn’t even look at the other dishes. Tao Xing wanted Nalan Ruxue to have a taste of his dishes. But unfortunately, the dishes he ordered couldn’t even compare to that of Ning Cheng.
It wasn’t until everyone finished their dishes that Tao Xing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After eating those dishes, Ning Cheng started to feel even more clearly that he was about to break through to the middle-stage Eternal Realm. Therefore, after talking with Nalan Ruxue, he decided to look for a place to break through immediately.
“Junior Apprentice Brother Ning, what kind of wine was in your pot? How was it worth 20,000 spirit crystals?” After the server took away the dirty plates, You Cheng, who was a late-stage Heaven Seated cultivator, couldn’t help but ask.
“It was given to me by a friend, but I didn’t think it would be so valuable.” After Ning Cheng answered the question, he stood up and looked at Nalan Ruxue.
But before Nalan Ruxue stood up, Tao Xing quickly said. “Junior Apprentice Brother Ning, three days from now, we plan on forming a team to explore the Scarlet Branch Island. I heard that someone found Wood Origin Crystals there….”
Ning Cheng initially had no interest in teaming up with these people. But when heard the words ‘Wood Origin Crystals’, it immediately caught his interest. Wood Origin Crystals were a good thing for him. Moreover, Wood Origin Crystals were also the best treasure for evolving the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan.
Nalan Ruxue thought that Ning Cheng would refuse without hesitation. But then she heard Ning Cheng’s reply, “Okay, after these three days, I will team up with you to go to Scarlet Branch Island. I’ll be leaving now…..”
“Senior Apprentice Brother Tao, Senior Apprentice Brother You, Senior Apprentice Sister Siyan. Me and Senior Apprentice Brother Ning have some catching up to do. I will come to look for you when it’s time.” When Nalan Ruxue saw Ning Cheng walk away, she also stood up and walked out of the restaurant after saying those words.
Tao Xing looked at Ning Cheng’s back and murmured to himself, “This person can take out a pot of wine worth 20,000 spirit crystals, and even squander it like this. It seems he’s not someone simple.”
You Cheng showed a slight smile, “Simple or not; we’ll find out in a few days.”
……
Nalan Ruxue guided Ning Cheng around the public square and entered the Boundary Essence Spirit Sea City. The two walked for more than an hour before they arrived at a simple residential area.
“This is the place where Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji and I live. Since Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji left, I live here alone.” Nalan Ruxue led Ning Cheng to a cave on the outskirts before taking out a jade card to open the cave’s defensive restrictions.
After walking into the cave, Ning Cheng immediately understood why Nalan Ruxue had to go out and team up with others. The Essence Qi in this place couldn’t even compare to the Boundary Essence Restaurant. Cultivating in this place would only produce slightly better results than the street outside. However, the biggest gain wasn’t in cultivation, but in having a place to live.
The cave couldn’t be any simpler. The entrance of the cave only had an open space about three feet in radius, with only a few weeds and grasses growing around the area.
Walking into the cave, he saw only two chambers.
After bringing Ning Cheng into her room and sitting down, Nalan Ruxue spoke up. “Yan Ji and I have been cultivating here since we reached this place from Thorn Tooth Lake’s teleportation array….”
“Wait-Wait…..” Ning Cheng interrupted Nalan Ruxue, “You said you and Yan Ji came here from the teleportation array under the Thorn Tooth Lake?”
When Nalan Ruxue heard Ning Cheng’s words, she understood that Ning Cheng also knew about the teleportation array. She quickly spoke about everything that had happened since then. From her words, Ning Cheng also understood that Yan Ji had broken through the shackles of Heaven’s Mandate Realm and advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm. Later, she went to explore the Grand Essence Ruins.
After hearing Nalan Ruxue’s words, Ning Cheng frowned and asked. “Since Yan Ji advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm, why didn’t she go back using the original teleportation formation, and instead go to the Grand Essence Ruins?”
