Myriad Manifestation Water

After getting some fresh air, Xue Xi was grounded by the malicious World Virus. With nothing else to do, she reluctantly sent Little Wolf out to hunt on its own. The supplies in the storeroom were hardly enough to feed something of its size for more than a few meals.

Perhaps thanks to official confirmation, Martial Artists began arriving in groups over the course of the week to visit the restaurant in the Wilderness Zone. Before long, Cat Ear Technique had become famous among Martial Artists. Since it was the only dish on the menu, people started calling the place the Cat Ear Restaurant.

On Saturday night, the restaurant was spotless. After seeing off the last customers, Xue Xi excitedly hung the "Closed" sign outside, shut both doors, then dashed upstairs. She quickly showered and changed into fresh clothes, smelling sweet and clean.

She usually never prayed, but now she bounced onto the big bed, knelt down, and clasped her hands toward the window, praying fervently, "Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, Tathagata, Jade Emperor, Queen Mother of the West, please bless me with a dish that won't be too difficult on the next page. Ideally, one I already know how to make. And then, the more powerful the modified effect, the better! Please, please!"

Then, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, she focused her thoughts on the progress bar at the bottom right of the Red Grimoire in her mind: 100/100 (unlocked). She rubbed her hands together, ready to turn to the next page, but her sharp eyes caught a little red dot beside the Cat Ear Noodles entry in the recipe catalog.

Could a professional red-dot exterminator let that slide? She immediately tapped the glaring little dot: Cat Ear Noodles legacy completed. Reward: Myriad Manifestation Water (Desolate).

The picture on the page disappeared and turned into a vortex. A grayish droplet emerged from it. Xue Xi stared in surprise at the sudden change, but the next moment, the droplet vanished. She felt as though something had been added to her soul, cool and refreshing.

A stream of information entered her mind: Myriad Manifestation Water (Desolate). A single measure of water could transform into countless forms. Its properties could be freely selected; at the current level, the options were limited to Earth's special water types.

Xue Xi was overjoyed. Unlocking a page could earn her a treasure like this? She could freely choose the water's properties! That was outrageously powerful. Now she wouldn't have to scour the world whenever she needed water with special properties for a dish. It was a godsend for chefs.

Take the Cat Ear Noodles she already knew how to make. If she used water from Jin Northwest to knead the dough, make the sauce, and boil the noodles, they'd instantly have that authentic flavor. Maybe the food rating would even rise by a whole tier. She suppressed the urge to use Myriad Manifestation Water right away to make a pot of authentic Cat Ear Noodles. There was no harm in checking the next entry first.

Without further hesitation, she flipped open the third page of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Catalog. Her eyes lit up at the picture and description. It was another famous dish she'd learned to make: Crab Roe Soup Dumplings!

[Crab Roe Soup Dumplings] Crab Roe Soup Dumplings have a history of nearly two hundred years. They were already renowned during the Ming and Qing dynasties. With skins as thin as paper and so delicate they could burst at the slightest touch, their delicious flavor has won over food lovers throughout the country.

[Modified Effect] Sip the broth, bite the skin. Depending on the level, gain 10x, 100x, 1,000x, or 10,000x acceleration to Origin Force cultivation. The effect is halved when breaking through a major realm. Each dumpling's effect lasts seven natural days.

Note: It's not that Nutrient Pods are unaffordable; soup dumplings just offer better value. The effect will bring on constant hunger, so watch your diet and buckle up—the Soup Dumpling Accelerator is about to take off!

Ignoring the cheeky note, Xue Xi carefully recalled how to make Crab Roe Soup Dumplings.

Unlike ordinary buns, whose filling was the main attraction, these dumplings were all about the "soup."

The "soup" in Crab Roe Soup Dumplings wasn't some bland, ordinary broth. It was made by simmering thick-skinned pork shank from a local pig breed with free-range hens. Once the broth cooled into a jelly-like substance, it was mixed with minced pork leg meat—mostly lean, with just a little fat—and the meat and roe of fresh crabs weighing at least three liang, then stirred into a filling.

There was just one problem. Perhaps as a precaution, the ingredients delivered last time hadn't included any seafood or river crabs, so she didn't have what she needed to make the dish.

After thinking it over, she realized the ingredients in the storeroom had nearly run out after a week of use anyway. She checked the little fund she'd left with Sister Xin and figured she had a bit over ten million. That should be enough to buy the ingredients, right?

She immediately messaged Xu Xin: "Sister Xin, are you free? If you are, could you help me buy another batch of ingredients like last time? You can just deduct the cost from my little fund."

Xu Xin had just finished a call after spending some time chatting sweetly with Luo Feng, who was training in the Wilderness Zone. She received Xue Xi's message and replied by voice without hesitation. "No problem! Send me the list and I'll have someone take care of it. But you've made over ten million in just a few days, you little thing! I keep getting all these notifications about deposits of 100,000. If my family didn't have a little money, the Economic Bureau would probably have invited me in for tea by now."