High-end ingredients often call for the simplest cooking methods

"Ah, the door~ in front~ a grapevine~ so tender~ so tender and green just sprouting~ a snail carrying that heavy shell~ climbing up step by step~"

"Chirp~ chirp~"

"Meow meow meow~"

Liang Shixian opened his eyes with a slight daze, an unfamiliar nursery rhyme reaching his ears.

He was still a bit foggy, only feeling that the voice singing the nursery rhyme was strangely familiar.

In a daze, he suddenly remembered what had happened before, snapped fully awake, scrambled up from the ground, didn't even get a clear look at the situation, grabbed Ji Ruo, and turned to run.

"Ji Ruo! How can you still be in the mood to sing! Run! That's a Wind God Falcon!"

In a daze, Liang Shixian caught a glimpse of that massive frozen ingredient storage, countless Monster Beast corpses inside making his scalp tingle.

"Hey, class monitor, you're awake?"

Ji Ruo was first delighted, but before he could say anything else, Liang Shixian dragged him away by force.

"Run, run!"

Ji Ruo: "?"

He glanced back a bit awkwardly at the one large and two small Wind God Falcons, coughed sheepishly, and said, "Sorry, Auntie, and Dabao, Erbao, my class monitor hasn't quite figured things out yet. I'll talk to him first."

Liang Shixian either didn't hear clearly or was too shaken mentally to care, single-mindedly pulling Ji Ruo to flee.

The Wind God Falcon watched the two receding figures with interest, making no move to stop them.

Ji Ruo had done a decent job looking after the chicks, and in that brief time together, thanks to the Immersion Sense, the Wind God Falcon had taken a liking to him.

Besides, her nest was built tens of thousands of meters up in the sky—these two humans had no way to escape, so she wasn't worried at all.

"Ahem, class monitor, listen to me. The situation now isn't what you think. We're perfectly safe." Ji Ruo chose his words carefully. In truth, if he hadn't experienced it himself, he wouldn't have believed it if someone told him.

Too absurd.

"Safe my ass! That Wind God Falcon is huge, probably fully grown—we can't stop it! Hurry up and run! You can mess around any other time, but not now!"

Liang Shixian ran for his life with all his might, not daring to look back. That one glance had already left him with enough psychological trauma.

"No, listen—we're the Wind God Falcon's personal chefs and tutors now. We're safe."

"What the hell are you talking about! You think this is some kind of make-believe game? Run faster!"

The Wind God Falcon's nest was built tens of thousands of meters high, its base a giant Floating Stone the size of an island.

Because of the extreme altitude, the air was incredibly thin, and Liang Shixian started feeling dizzy after running only a short distance.

But a strong will to survive kept his legs moving.

The high-altitude winds howled, making it hard to hear anything unless it was loud.

Ji Ruo: "."

A moment later, Liang Shixian stood at the edge of the nest in utter despair, staring at the sea of clouds ahead. His urge to flee had vanished completely.

Ji Ruo spread his hands and said, "See, class monitor? It's not that I don't want to run—it's that we can't. We can't fly, right?"

Just then, the Wind God Falcon, still two and a half meters tall even after shrinking, flapped its wings and landed before them. "Chirp~ (Since he's awake, start making food.)"

Liang Shixian tensed up as if facing a great enemy, nearly snatching the blade Ji Ruo had strapped to his back for a desperate fight.

Luckily, Ji Ruo was quick-eyed and held him back, smiling brightly at the Wind God Falcon. "Don't worry, Auntie. Our cooking will definitely satisfy you."

"Chirp~ (Mm, let's go.)"

Liang Shixian couldn't understand a word and looked completely lost. "Ji, Ji Ruo, what's going on?"

"Didn't I tell you? We're safe now. Why were you running?"

Ji Ruo trotted along behind the Wind God Falcon, turning back to wave at Liang Shixian. "Class monitor, don't just stand there. Time to eat."

Liang Shixian: "???"

"Auntie, let's start with these for now? Could you help thaw them out?"

Ji Ruo picked out a Kui Ox equivalent to the third realm of Martial Dao from the 'freezer,' then called Liang Shixian over to help choose 'seasonings.'

The two little Wind God Falcons followed beside Ji Ruo, peeking around curiously, looking quite adorable.

Countless spirit plants and precious herbs dazzled Liang Shixian's eyes, their rich fragrances making him slightly lightheaded—he couldn't even recognize many of them!

Ji Ruo grabbed a fiery red fruit, cut off a small piece with his knife, and stuffed it into his mouth. His face instantly flushed red.

"Sss—hot, hot, hot! This thing is so spicy!"

He panted heavily, shoving the fruit into the bewildered Liang Shixian's hands. "Class monitor, take this. It can work as chili."

Maybe because Ji Ruo's expression was too exaggerated, or for some other reason, the two little Wind God Falcons following him burst into laughter, wobbling so much that one of them fell flat on its back.

Little Rosie imitated Ji Ruo, found a spirit plant that looked like grapes but had intricate patterns on its surface, and carefully ate one.

"Woo!"

She instantly went stiff all over and collapsed to the ground.

Liang Shixian looked at the red fruit in his hand, then at the Wind God Falcon, which was flapping its wings to 'defrost' the meat, his eyes filled with deep confusion.

He took a deep breath, picked one of the grape-like fruits Rosie had just eaten, gently pinched off a small piece of the skin, and cautiously stuffed it into his mouth.

An intense numbing sensation made Liang Shixian's whole body stiffen slightly. After recovering, he smoothed his tongue and said, "Ji Ruo, this is Numbing Pepper."

Clearly, Liang Shixian had also settled into his role.

A moment later, the two of them, one cat, and the two young Wind God Falcons had gathered enough substitute ingredients, chopped them up, and mixed them into seasoning.

On the other side, the Wind God Falcon had finished defrosting the Kui Ox and, using its exceptionally sharp wings, cut it into strips as Ji Ruo had requested.

Then came a simple marination.

Preparation complete, Ji Ruo's palms turned crimson red as he began to roast.

High-grade ingredients often called for the simplest cooking methods.

His Iron Sand Palm was getting closer and closer to the fourth level, 'Pure Mastery.' The temperature was so high that the air around Ji Ruo carried an intense heat haze, and his palms even turned red to the point of blackening.

No matter how powerful a monster beast was, its flesh and blood were still just flesh and blood. Moreover, this Kui Ox had long since died and had been frozen by the Wind God Falcon for so long that Ji Ruo didn't even need to exert much effort before the meat strips between his palms began to sizzle with oil.

An enticing aroma spread out. Although Liang Shixian had said earlier that he was sick of eating meat, Kui Ox meat was on a whole other level! And the spirit plants and precious herbs used as seasonings were also far superior!

He couldn't help but drool again.

The two young Wind God Falcons were much the same, staring at the roasted meat in Ji Ruo's palms with longing eyes, drooling nonstop.

The Wind God Falcon: "Chirp~ (See? Mom didn't lie to you, did she? It really smells and tastes great.)"

"Chirp~ chirp~ (We want to eat!)"

Soon, Ji Ruo finished roasting one strip of meat and handed it to the two young Wind God Falcons—he still knew his priorities; let the little ones eat first!

Rosie was extremely eager, but after a glance at the Wind God Falcon beside her, she suppressed that desire.

Ji Ruo continued roasting. Taking advantage of the break between batches, he finally asked the question that had been on his mind: "By the way, Auntie, about that 'long-standing cooperation' you mentioned earlier—could you elaborate on that?"

Thanks to reader 'Book Friend 150919015355240' for the 600-point coin tip~