Chương 90: Chapter 89: Banquet Part 2

The side door opened and servers emerged in a line, distributing dishes across every table with practiced efficiency. One stopped at theirs and began setting down the first items.

"Crystallized Spirit Plum with Honeyed Glaze," he said, placing a plate of small luminous fruits at the centre.

"Preserved at peak ripeness, retains traces of wood-element qi. Good for qi circulation." He set down a second plate.

"Braised Phoenix Tail Mushrooms in Spirit Wine Reduction. Cultivated near fire-element spirit veins, mild warmth to the lower dantian, helps with minor meridian blockages." A third followed.

"And Cold-Cut Jade Serpent with Ginger Sauce. Cooling properties, calms restless qi, settles the mind before meditation. The ginger balances it." He moved to the drinks.

"Spring Dew Tea, aids qi circulation and helps the body absorb the meal. And Spirit Fruit Wine," he added, setting down small cups, "Opens the meridians slightly." Senior Brother Xu Kai looked at the rather exquisite spread in front of them and muttered, "Zhen Hao sure is being extravagant." Senior Sister Xing Fei waved a hand.

"Let it be. He achieved Golden Core decades before expected. I am sure his father increased his allowance by many times, not to mention the gifts he must have received from his master and senior brothers."

"Of course his master and senior brothers showered him in gifts," Senior Brother Lin Yi muttered.

"His eldest shixiong even gave him the Rainbow Lotus Cauldron." Senior Sister Shen Yue rolled her eyes.

"Enough with the Rainbow Lotus Cauldron. I am tired of hearing of it, whether it is Zhen Hao bragging or you crying at the injustice of it." Senior Brother Lin Yi, unhappy at the interruption to his grievance, retorted, "It ought to be a crime to give something like that to Zhen Hao. He does not know the A of alchemy." He turned to Senior Brother Liu Te, the only one at the table who looked genuinely sympathetic to a fellow alchemist's suffering.

"Can you believe it, he told me he plans to use it to make hotpot. It is a treasure. Alchemists all over the world would kill to have a cauldron like that and he plans to use it for hotpot." Ye Xuan and Yang looked at each other quietly across their plates and said nothing, eating while watching the seniors.

"He was joking," Senior Sister Shen Yue said firmly. Then after a moment, with considerably less firmness: "Probably. Maybe."

"Knowing Zhen Hao, he was likely serious," Senior Brother Xu Kai offered helpfully.

"I have seen him use a heaven-grade dagger as a skewer to barbecue meat while we were in a forest. Using another heaven-grade tool as a hotpot vessel is not much of a stretch." He paused, caught Senior Sister Shen Yue's incredulous look, and added, "I am probably mistaken." Senior Brother Lin Yi let out a sound close to a wail. Senior Brother Liu Te patted him on the shoulder, sharing his grief at the future treatment of a heaven-grade cauldron.

Yang and Ye Xuan continued enjoying the appetizers while watching the seniors discuss the shenanigans of the host of the banquet. The servers returned with the second course, setting down two soups.

"Three Treasure Spirit Root Soup," the server said, placing the first bowl.

"Ginseng spirit root, azure lotus root, crimson cloud mushroom. Light broth, gently nourishes the qi foundation, good for replenishing after training." The second followed.

"Thousand-Year Bone Broth with Cloud Ear Fungus. Simmered from cloud deer bones, strengthens the sinews, the fungus helps clear internal heat from heavy cultivation." Senior Sister Xing Fei turned to Ye Xuan and Yang.

"Make sure you drink all of the Three Treasure Spirit Root Soup. It is very good for Qi Condensation cultivators, especially at the lower stages." Ye Xuan, curious, asked the seniors whether the food was genuinely as helpful as the server was making it sound. Senior Brother Liu Te answered.

"The server is not lying, but he is exaggerating the effects. Since we are all cultivators the benefit to us would be minor. Even at your stage it is not worth spending on such dishes when the same spirit stones would get you spirit herbs or pills with a stronger effect. Only spirit food made by the highest grade of cooking cultivators can truly be comparable to a pill. And such a cook is beyond the means of many restaurants, even one as prestigious as the Heavenly Jade Pavilion."

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"Actually," Senior Brother Xu Kai added, "only we at White Cloud Sect have two such masters. Cooking cultivators are rare, and those at a high enough level are rarer still. If they were to prepare dishes with the appropriate ingredients, the effects could genuinely be as strong as the server implies." He looked at the soup.

"But that is not what this is."

"Drink it all anyway," Senior Sister Shen Yue said.

"It is still good." Then once they were done with the soups came the six main dishes, each placed at the centre of the table with a pair of serving chopsticks. The table reached forward, using the public chopsticks to take portions onto their own plates.

"Roasted Golden Pheasant with Spirit Berry Glaze," the server said, setting down the whole bird.

"Low-grade spirit beast, metal-element qi, sharpens spiritual senses temporarily. The glaze is spirit berry, tart-sweet." He moved along.

"Steamed Silver Bass in Lotus Leaf. Caught from spirit-infused streams, water-element qi, soothes the meridians, the lotus leaf adds a bit of fragrance." Then: "Braised Spirit Boar Belly with Star Anise and Spirit Bamboo Shoots. Braised for hours, replenishes qi reserves. The bamboo shoots help with digestion, prevents qi stagnation from the richness of the meat." He gestured to the next.

"Stir-Fried Crimson Spirit Vegetables with Aged Spirit Oil. Crimson cloud peppers, jade snow peas, golden spirit carrots, balanced five-element qi, helps cleanse minor cultivation impurities." The last two together: "Spirit Rice Cooked in Celestial Spring Water, grown near a spirit vein, steady mild qi replenishment throughout the day. And Hand-Pulled Noodles in Rich Spirit Bone Broth, hearty, good for the qi reserves." They ate to their hearts' content.

The dishes may not have been quite as potent as the server implied, but none of them needed to say so. The food was genuinely excellent regardless, a feast for both the eye and the tongue, and they talked through the meal while eating. Finally came the desserts.

"Honeyed Spirit Peach Compote," the server said, setting the first dish down.

"Spirit peaches with wild honey from spirit bees, traces of yang qi, good for blood circulation." Then: "Chilled Azure Lotus Seed Paste. Calms the mind, cools internal heat from the heavier dishes, the texture is smooth. Good before meditation." And the last: "Candied Spirit Ginger with Plum Wine Syrup. The ginger settles the stomach after a heavy meal, the plum wine adds warmth." All seven of them enjoyed the meal, sharing opinions on each dish and joking with one another.

Once done, they sat back contentedly as the servers came to collect the empty plates.

"We should go find Zhen Hao," Senior Brother Lin Yi said.

"It is only polite, since we enjoyed ourselves so much on his silver."

"Spirit stones," Senior Sister Shen Yue said.

"Whatever." Senior Brother Lin Yi waved a hand.

"Let us wait," Senior Brother Xu Kai said.

"Most people will be moving around after the last course, most likely in search of Zhen Hao as well. Better to wait for him to make his rounds instead."

"You are right," Senior Sister Xing Fei agreed.

"He was busy with his shixiong when I arrived. I greeted him once I got here but did not feel it appropriate to sit with all of them. They were all perfectly kind but I did not want to intrude, so I socialized with others until you four came." The seniors were happy to wait. Yang and Ye Xuan were happy to follow their lead. Yang was the stranger here after all, a hanger-on with Ye Xuan who had at least actually met Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao.

The topic turned to how Ye Xuan and Yang had come to meet Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao. Ye Xuan happily recounted the story to all five seniors, who let out laughs and chuckles throughout. Senior Sister Shen Yue laughed and shook her head at Ye Xuan.

"I am not surprised. Zhen Hao would never let go of an opportunity like the one you practically handed to him on a platter." She turned to Yang.

"What about you?" Yang admitted with some embarrassment that he had never met Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao. He had simply tagged along with Ye Xuan. The seniors let out a chuckle at his expression. Senior Brother Lin Yi said, "No need to be embarrassed. Zhen Hao has probably never met two thirds of the people here. He just likes to show off and is extremely generous, hence the open invite to anyone with a connection to his friends."

"He is right," Senior Sister Xing Fei added.

"Zhen Hao already had an official banquet hosted by his master where everyone who is anyone in the sect was invited. We went there as his friends. This is just an excuse to extend the celebration even further." They talked on. Some time passed in easy conversation before Yang noticed, at the edge of his attention, that quite a few people had gathered near the staircase, clustered around someone he could not make out. He tried to look but the crowd was too thick and the angle wrong to see who stood at the centre.

Then the group began to break apart. A figure separated from the cluster and started making his way across the floor toward their table.