When Yang Qing made his way out of his abode he met Mao Yunru waiting for him by the main pathway of the blue valley.
Yang Qing who was busy thinking up all sorts of free services he would score from Dean Zhu Lao the moment he had him hooked with the clay tablet couldn't help but pause when saw Mao Yunru.
Her hair which hung loosely in the back was now hung on the front which somehow managed to make her purple limpid eyes stand out which added more levels to her otherwise exquisite look.
Just like Yang Qing she chose something a little ceremonial but not official. She had on a white inner robe and coat that had images of a purple vine flower sparsely spread about.
Yang Qing had decided to go with her to Dean Zhu Lao's welcoming party since she was there when Meng Chao extended the invite. Yi Jie and Su Jinjing could have come too since they were there but Yi Jie was about to start preparing for his seclusion and eventual breakthrough to the palace stage so he had to get all his work affairs in order before he left. Su Jinjing mentioned something about celebrating the quenching birthday of her spear so she could not make it.
So that only left Mao Yunru. She and Yang Qing decided to head off together hence she had come to fetch him in his abode once she was done with her preparations.
Her cheeks turned red once she saw Yang Qing's dazed look. However, instead of looking away for some reason she decided to be bolder and stared at Yang Qing straight into his eyes.
In his short but eventful life over the years, Yang Qing had gained various skills and perfected various crafts one of them being talking out of his nose, mouth, and ears. He could speak on cue and make any nonsense seem righteous as evidenced by his early years as an outer core court judge when he run both overtly and covertly a few protests to make the Order add some more benefits.
He may have failed thunderously in those endeavors but none could deny he had phenomenal skills when it came to flapping his gum. It was a skill he thought would never fail him except now.
The moment Mao Yunru dead-eyed him, the words he wanted to say evaporated along with the saliva on his tongue. All he was left with was a dry tongue and sweaty palms and back.
"Yang Qing say something, It's Mao Yunru. Gossip hoarder Mao Mao. You have worked with her for countless months besides if you chicken out now she may mock you endlessly...say something, say something, anything will do," Yang Qing internally psyched himself but the more he stared at those big purple cloud eyes the less his internal voice had any sway over his body.
It finally reached the tipping point when his mind completely blanked for a few seconds. When he came to, he found Mao Yunru staring at him strangely and with the clay tablet in his mouth for some reason almost as if he was chewing on it.
Despite the tablet looking like even a small gust of wind would blow it away to dust due to its aging look, it once again proved its mysteriousness by almost chipping Yang Qing's tooth. Every part of a cultivator's body could be considered a tempered weapon. From their hands and feet down to their eyes, ears, teeth even nails. In Yang Qing's case if he wanted to he could chew through sky-grade weapons like they were biscuits but when it came to the tablet it didn't budge an inch even though he took a bite out of it subconsciously and not with intent.
Though he wasn't sure, he seemed to have heard a minuscule sound of disgust coming from the tablet. But he quickly dismissed that thought as he had other matters to address like why he ate a tablet in front of Mao Yunru instead of just saying hello.
With things having already reached this point, he decided to pull a page out of the celestial nesting weaver's book.
"Mmmh the chefs didn't lie. This clay tablet cake really is sturdy enough to deflect even a sky-rank weapon. I even feel reluctant to give it away. Oh well a junior must do what he must to celebrate their seniors," said Yang Qing as he looked reluctantly at the clay tablet. He even made his stomach grumble and made the most sincere 'I want to eat it' look so he could sell the ruse.
It seemed to have worked as Mao Yunru's earlier look of confusion and a little shock had changed.
"That cake seems so lifelike, I wonder what ingredients they used. Should I start taking recordings of cooking too….Mmmh that wouldn't be a bad idea. I can sell some to Yang Qing and Feng Xin for a good fee and keep some to myself. Win Win, I get additional funds for my ho.. research while adding a little versatility to my collection," thought Mao Yunru as an excited glint flashed in her eyes which confused Yang Qing as he didn't know what to make of her reaction.
"Now the only problem is how do I get the restaurants to agree to me recording them cook?"
There were a lot of factors Mao Yunru had to consider when making the recordings. For one it was quality. She would only be able to exploit Yang Qing and Feng Xin for all their spirit stones if the chef being recorded was skilled in their craft. But this presented another problem. Chefs of this caliber will have already set their path on cooking as their dao, to them cooking was no different than cultivating, and recording them was no different than recording a cultivator practicing their precious technique.
It was for this reason that most chefs especially the seasoned ones who had touched upon their own form of cooking dao would have a separate secluded room for cooking with the only people being allowed to those rooms being their disciples or those whom the chef has deemed worthy to be there such as their peers. Not even the restaurant owners or managers had any right over who was allowed into that room.
This was just one of the problems Mao Yunru had to consider. Another was the restaurant refusing due to a potential leaking of food recipes. A long list of problems kept piling up the more Mao Yunru thought of it but instead of throwing in the towel at the end of it, she seemed even more pumped with her clenching her fists with a valiant aura surrounding her.
"What's up with her?" Yang Qing worriedly wondered.
What he or Mao Yunru didn't know was this was the spark that ignited the cooking era from innovative recipes, competitions, and continent-wide accolades that transformed what chefs could do. Frying mountains, making soups of rivers, and plucking the stars as condiments. What chefs could do turned endless to the point Soul formations experts who proved their dao through cooking rose from this era something that was completely unheard of, as only those mainstream dao could help someone reach the soul formation stage.
There were soul formation experts who were chefs but they only dabbled in cooking as a hobby or secondary occupation while their true dao lay in something else. It was usually difficult for non-mainstream dao to reach the peak as it was an unwalked road where the users would have to pave it themselves which for most led to nothing but endless darkness as was the case with cooking dao that was until Mao Yunru with her thirst for entertainment cooked up a storm that she never saw coming. But that ladies and gentlemen is a story for another day.
….
"Mao Mao, hey Mao Mao? Are you listening?
…We are going to be late for the party. We don't want to keep supervisor Lei Weiyuan waiting for long otherwise if he leaves without us we may miss the party altogether," Yang Qing said as he waved his hands in front of Mao Yunru's eyes.
"Oh sorry about that," said Mao Yunru who suddenly came to as she smiled in embarrassment.
"By the way where did you have that cake made? It's really lifelike," said Mao Yunru with two parts interest and two parts trying to deflect so the embarrassment from losing herself to her hobbies AGAIN could quickly dwindle away.
Yang Qing who had turned to continue walking paused mid-turn at Mao Yunru's question.
"Did she figure it out?" Yang Qing couldn't help but wonder as he nervously turned to face Mao Yunru but on seeing the sincere expression on her face he quickly dismissed the thought.
"Eeh it was a commission job I asked one of the wandering chefs to make. One of the chefs from soup soul restaurant introduced me to him," Yang Qing said as he nervously laughed.
"We will be late Mao Mao. Please hold on tight."
Yang Qing hurriedly said quickly grabbing her before she could dig holes in his story.
Mao Yunru who was about to ask more questions quickly froze when Yang Qing grabbed her hand and the next minute she knew they were up in the sky flying at an alarming speed toward the junction where the roads that led to the four different valleys met.
Within a few minutes, they were already at the junction where Lei Weiyuan was calmly standing with his hands behind his back waiting for them. He seemed to have detected them from miles away as his eyes were already in their direction before they even appeared.
"Sorry for keeping you, supervisor Lei Weiyuan," said Yang Qing as he landed with Mao Yunru in tow.
"You haven't kept me waiting. I only just arrived a few minutes ago. Let's set off then," Lei Weiyuan calmly said as his gaze paused briefly on Yang Qing and Mao Yunru's hands that were still clasped together.
It was only when the duo noticed Lei Weiyuan's glance did they realize they were still holding hands which they hurriedly let go with Yang Qing showing a guilty expression that had a mix of pleasantness hidden in there as for Mao Yunru well there was not much time to figure out what was going on in her mind as Lei Weiyuan covered them with his domain before they disappeared off in a silver streak in the direction of the dark valley, the home of the domains.
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