Chapter 11: Parent’s Occupations?

As the son of an Elder, Mu Yanxin also had a Spiritual Spring in his residence at the Magnificent Truth Sect.

Of course, every true disciple received such treatment, but he hadn’t expected even a small family like his to have access to Spiritual Water.

However, after carefully sensing with his divine sense, Mu Yanxin only felt the spiritual energy in the Spiritual Water, but didn’t sense the Spiritual Spring’s origin.

It seemed this was not a real Spiritual Spring, but simply water from a Spiritual Spring delivered to each home through a special pipeline.

Since the spiritual energy in Spiritual Water easily dissipated and turned into ordinary water, in Mu Yanxin’s previous world, unless Spiritual Water was sealed inside a magical Treasure Bottle, it couldn’t be carried far.

Even if one tried to transport it through special pipelines, refining the entire pipeline into a magical artifact was far too costly and technically demanding; no one would do such a thing just for so little gain.

It was better to fetch water directly from the Public Spiritual Spring.

He hadn’t expected that in this world, people had managed to transport Spiritual Water to thousands of households.

Considering the height of this building and that each floor housed more than five or six families, the scale of this Spiritual Water Pipeline was enormous.

If the entire Yuzhen City had such a system, it could truly be called a great achievement.

“Xin’er, why aren’t you coming yet? Do you really need so long to wash your hands?” His mother called from the hall.

Mu Yanxin put away his amazement, turned off the water valve, and walked back to the dining table to sit down.

A bowl of spiritual rice was already placed in front of him, and on the table was a plate of Fish Meat—apparently sliced from a large fish—a pot of soup, and three dishes of simple vegetables.

The plate of Fish Meat and the soup both brimmed with a rich water-attribute spiritual energy, clearly spirit dishes made from spiritual ingredients, but the small dishes and vegetables contained no spiritual energy at all, just ordinary fanmatter, making Mu Yanxin feel a bit of contrast.

And that was all.

“This child, why are you so absent-minded today? Normally you’d already be gobbling it down.” His mother looked at Mu Yanxin in confusion, smiling as she asked.

Mu Yanxin was startled and realized his behavior was showing cracks.

He hurriedly picked up his chopsticks and said, “No, I was just thinking about something for a bit.”

“Most likely you’re worrying about the surgery. It’s your first time encountering something like this—it’s natural to be a little nervous.” His father, for once, spoke in a gentle voice.

“It’s nothing, just bear with it and it’ll be over soon. Once the surgery is done, you’ll be able to join the Spiritual Moon Sect.” His mother also smiled.

Mu Yanxin was totally lost. He’d heard his father mention that tomorrow he’d have surgery, but he’d forgotten to ask the terminal ring what it actually was.

“That’s right. Being able to get into Spiritual Moon Sect is something to be proud of. You’re different from Cheng’er—without a spiritual root, you couldn’t get into a better Heaven-grade High Sect like your elder sister, but joining an Earth-grade High Sect is still the result of your hard work.” His father sounded genuinely pleased.

So there was an elder sister in the family, and she had a spiritual root.

Come to think of it, what exactly was a High Sect? Spiritual Moon Sect… it sounded related to the Lingyue Palace that produced the Young Gentleman Series, didn’t it?

Mu Yanxin didn’t dare ask a single question, because he didn’t know what the original Mu Yanxin should or shouldn’t know.

If he asked something too basic, he might be exposed right away, so he could only remember it and ask the terminal ring later when no one was around.

“Let’s not talk so much, let’s eat first. This is the Celebration Feast for your success in the Sect Entrance Exam and acceptance into Spiritual Moon Sect. For this, your father specially requested some spirit rice from the Manager.” His mother smiled as she spoke.

“Your mother did even more—this Five-Grains Spirit Salamander was brought home by her. Every time we have something good to eat, it’s thanks to her.” His father also smiled, clearly showing the couple’s deep affection.

“It’s just some kitchen scraps or leftovers from guests. I had to compete with the other girls for it.”

“This time, when I told them it was Xin’er’s success in the Sect Entrance Exam and the family was hosting a Celebration Feast, they finally let me have a share. Still, it was enough to make one dish and a pot of soup.” His mother said modestly.

This conversation revealed a wealth of information.

Mu Yanxin kept analyzing as he listened. Spiritual Moon Sect seemed to be a sect, so the Sect Entrance Exam must be the entry test.

The original owner had passed the Sect Entrance Exam and was about to join a sect, so the family was celebrating, and this meal was better than usual.

He’d heard of the Five-Grains Spirit Salamander in his previous life—a strange fish with innate lightning attributes.

An adult was a level-six demon beast, equivalent to the mid-stage Core Formation realm. If it lived long enough or was well-cultivated, it could even advance to level seven or eight—a rare and ideal spirit pet.

Such a precious Five-Grains Spirit Salamander had been killed and eaten? What a waste of heaven’s gifts!

Of course, it was also possible that some cultivator had encountered a wild Five-Grains Spirit Salamander beast and, unable to tame it, had killed it instead—which would make sense.

The most valuable parts of the Five-Grains Spirit Salamander were its demon core, the Lightning Tendon along its back, and the Lightning Horn on its head.

Those would certainly have been taken by the cultivator who killed it, and selling the rest of the corpse for food seemed reasonable.

If Mu Yanxin remembered correctly, an adult Five-Grains Spirit Salamander could reach twenty meters long, weighing hundreds of catties, more than enough to make several banquets.

Giving some scraps to his mother to bring home also made sense.

His mother mentioned kitchen scraps and leftovers from guests, so was she working at a hotel or restaurant?

Mu Yanxin recalled the many restaurants in the upper city district.

“That’s enough talk, eat quickly! This Sweet Wine Fish was made by a Seven-star Dragon Chef, maximizing the spiritual energy in the Spirit Dish.”

“As for the Wugu Fish Soup, I cooked it myself—not as good as a Culinary Dao Cultivator, so not much spiritual energy was preserved, what a pity.” His mother urged Mu Yanxin to eat.

So Mu Yanxin had no choice but to start eating.

Sure enough, the Fish Meat melted in his mouth, its sweet fragrance flooding his palate, so delicious that his eyes widened in surprise.

It surpassed any delicacy he’d tasted in his previous life—worthy indeed of being called a Spirit Dish.

After a few more bites, he confirmed that the sweet wine used in the Sweet Wine Fish was a spiritual brew, crafted from spirit rice, and the other ingredients were all extraordinary.

The chef, that so-called Dragon Chef, was extremely skilled. The amount of spiritual energy far surpassed anything like potato chips by hundreds of times.

It truly was the Dao of cuisine.

The Wugu Fish Soup had far less spiritual energy and flavor than the Sweet Wine Fish.

By rights, the fish bones of the Five-Grains Spirit Salamander should have contained more spiritual energy than the Fish Meat.

It seemed this world really did have cultivators dedicated to culinary arts—Culinary Dao Cultivators whose skills far surpassed ordinary cultivators, affecting not only the flavor but also the spiritual energy of spirit dishes.

***

After they finished every dish and not a single grain of rice was left, his parents were satisfied.

Mu Yanxin could finally return to his own room.

The original’s room was very simple—other than a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe, there was almost nothing else.

Only then did Mu Yanxin dare to look at the terminal ring, but he muttered in frustration, “So many questions—how long will it take to ask them one by one? Terminal ring, are there any books or Classics that record all kinds of local customs?”

“There are, Master, there are. You can look them up online.” The terminal ring replied.