Sect Benefits, Spirit Cuisine!

"Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Root, yet his cultivation speed is even faster than that of a superior-grade single spiritual root. This guy definitely has secrets." Zhang Biao was an expert ranked one hundred on the Spirit Elegance Ranking, and he too had sensed that Chen Huai'an was hiding something.

In truth, everyone had secrets.

Like Chen Huai'an. His decision to enter the Servant Disciple Challenge Tournament had not been a moment of hot-headed impulse. Once the roster landed on certain people's desks, his secret would no longer be safe.

Like the deaths of Zhang Long and Zhang Hu—anyone with eyes could tell that their deaths had something to do with him.

But because he had registered for the tournament, if the Zhang Family wanted him dead, they would not come looking for trouble in the shadows. They could openly use the rules to toy him to death. That was precisely the outcome Chen Huai'an wanted.

Enemies in the open were not frightening. What was frightening were enemies lurking in the dark, like venomous snakes poised to kill you at any moment, while you had no idea when that snake would launch its sneak attack.

As the saying went, an open spear was easy to dodge, but an arrow shot from the shadows was hard to guard against. That was the principle.

Now, he wanted to drag the troubles and dangers lurking in the dark into the open.

After registration closed, the participating servant disciples would be assigned initial rankings a month later. If one wanted a high ranking and the benefits that came with it, one could only keep challenging stronger opponents and leave one's name on the Spirit Elegance Ranking.

When Chen Huai'an returned to his residence, he began his daily water-carrying task.

Now, he carried water very quickly. He was not the fastest at completing the task, but neither was he the slowest. He could free up plenty of time for cultivation.

With sufficient cultivation resources, even if he did not cultivate, merely eating Spirit Rice made from Spirit Grain and carrying water would steadily advance his cultivation.

"Why is today's food so delicious? I feel like I'm about to break through." Liu Qiaogui went to the dining hall with Chen Huai'an. Steward Wu said that the sect was giving these servant disciples benefits today, improving their meals for one day, and that they had to attend.

After this meal, Liu Qiaogui actually showed signs of breaking through.

Even Chen Huai'an noticed that today's meal was somewhat different from usual. Though the rice was not as good as the Supreme-grade Spirit Grain in Chen Huai'an's space, it was still Spirit Rice made from Spirit Grain. The dishes in particular were unlike the usual meals they ate, which were just a haphazard stew from a huge pot. Yet after eating it, he felt warmth spreading through his body, and he faintly sensed signs of a breakthrough.

After returning to their residences, all the disciples who had eaten lunch chose to enter seclusion and cultivate.

It was through Steward Wu that Chen Huai'an learned what these sect benefits were really about.

Their meals had improved today because they were eating Spirit Cuisine. The rice was made from Low-grade Spirit Grain, while the accompanying dishes were Spirit Food—meat from spirit poultry raised by Outer Sect disciples. Even in the Outer Sect, such meals could not be eaten every day.

The reason these Outer Sect Servant Disciples could enjoy it was that the Servant Peak's Servant Disciple Challenge Tournament was about to begin. In order to raise the strength of these servant disciples and select a group worthy of focused attention and cultivation, the sect had used Spirit Grain and spirit poultry as ingredients in their meals.

This was all customary practice. After accumulating strength for some time, many disciples could use this opportunity to swiftly break through their bottlenecks.

"Brother Chen, I broke through! I'm now at the Body Tempering Realm, Second Layer. Before long, I'll be able to break through to the Body Tempering Realm, Middle Stage!" Liu Qiaogui came out of his room, dancing with delight.

"Brother Chen, I broke through. Did you break through too?"

"Thanks to the benefits provided by the sect, I was lucky enough to break through as well." Chen Huai'an replied with a smile.

Chen Huai'an's innate physique was simply too poor. Although this meal of Spirit Cuisine was excellent, it still could not help him break through to the Body Tempering Realm, Late Stage, Seventh Layer. He reckoned that if he could eat such Spirit Cuisine every day, he would break through to the Body Tempering Realm, Late Stage, Seventh Layer within a few days. He could not help sighing.

"Today's food was truly amazing. If I could eat a meal like this every day, breaking through to the Late Body Tempering Realm would only be a matter of time."

"Brother Chen, you sure know how to dream. I heard that even Outer Sect disciples cannot eat Spirit Cuisine like this every day. For servant disciples like us, getting it once a month is already a gift. Especially this spirit poultry—it replenishes qi and blood and helps us break through. If the Servant Disciple Challenge Tournament were not about to begin, the sect would never give us such generous benefits." Liu Qiaogui said with a grin.

Even one meal of Spirit Cuisine was no small expenditure for the sect.

Spirit poultry in particular was very difficult to raise. Only when the sect's hunting teams made major gains outside would servant disciples like them get a sip of the soup.

Even Outer Sect disciples could not necessarily enjoy spirit poultry often. They needed Spirit Stones.

"How can one obtain this spirit poultry?" Chen Huai'an asked curiously.

"This spirit poultry is actually raised by the sect, but the requirements are extremely harsh. Ordinary mundane things simply cannot raise spirit poultry; spiritual items containing spiritual energy are needed. And even then, raising them does not automatically make them spirit poultry. Our Servant Peak also has servant disciples assigned to breeding. They raise Five-Colored Chickens. If the Five-Colored Chickens are raised well, there is a certain chance of producing Five-Colored Golden Pheasants. Those are the spirit poultry we eat." Liu Qiaogui knew quite a bit about Servant Peak affairs and explained it to Chen Huai'an.

Through Liu Qiaogui, Chen Huai'an also learned how the sect obtained the ingredients for Spirit Food. One portion was raised by the sect, while another portion came from hunting demonic beasts in the Qingyun Mountains.

Demonic beast meat was also rich in dense spiritual energy, even more premium than spirit poultry meat. Such meat was generally supplied to Outer Sect and Inner Sect disciples, and it was not supplied without limit—only at fixed intervals and in fixed quantities.

"Brother Chen, if I had a choice, I'd choose to do servant tasks at the spirit poultry farm. I heard that if you're lucky there, you can even get eggs to eat. Those eggs might be Spirit Poultry Eggs. They're great nourishing treasures—one Spirit Poultry Egg works even better than one Low-grade Body Tempering Pill." Liu Qiaogui spoke with a face full of longing.

Though carrying water for the dining hall allowed one to drink Spirit Spring Water, it was certainly not as good as Spirit Poultry Eggs. If one was lucky, one could eat not only eggs, but chicken meat as well.

And the feed for the Five-Colored Chickens was not Spirit Grain, but the husks removed from Spirit Grain.

Chen Huai'an had plenty of Spirit Grain husks for raising spirit poultry in his space, and they were even husks from Supreme-grade Spirit Grain. If he used those things to raise spirit poultry, he would have more meat than he could ever eat.

Chen Huai'an had cultivation resources, but he had to leave the sect to turn them into money, and that carried considerable risk. Now that he could not leave the sect, what he considered was how to become self-sufficient.

Once the idea of raising spirit poultry took root in Chen Huai'an's mind, it became impossible to stop.

Back in Huai Tree Village, he had done both farming and animal husbandry.

"How can I get spirit chicken eggs?" Chen Huai'an asked Liu Qiaogui.

"Well, Brother Chen, if you want them, you can trade with the servant disciples at the breeding farm." Liu Qiaogui smiled as well.

Chen Huai'an thanked Liu Qiaogui, then prepared to go to work.

Raising them in the dining hall's rear courtyard was not realistic. What he had in mind was raising them in his space instead. That would be safe, convenient, and free from worrying about petty people setting their sights on them.

He could not do it now, but he could make arrangements for it later.

"Kid, let's see where you can hide this time." Just as Chen Huai'an carried his shoulder pole and buckets down the mountain to fetch water, Old Li, who had been watching him for days, finally found an opportunity and quietly followed after him.