Merit Seemed Easy to Obtain

With the clay basin, Wu Chu taught Little Moon Spirit her first stir-fried dish: shrimp with bamboo shoots.

Compared to an iron wok, the clay basin heated up much more slowly. Also, a clay basin could not be rinsed with cold water after being heated red-hot, or it could easily crack.

But that applied to ordinary clay basins. This one was now a Merit Spiritual Treasure, so it presumably would not shatter so easily.

If it broke that easily, it would truly be unworthy of the name Spirit Treasure.

As for cooking oil, it could only be extracted from the fat of those plump lake fish. The amount of fish oil they could get was limited, though, since they had not slaughtered any large fish.

Yet whether they were rendering oil or stir-frying, a wisp of Merit seemed to descend each time.

Most of that Merit went to the clay basin serving as a wok, making it even more extraordinary. A smaller portion fell upon Wu Chu and Little Moon Spirit, though Little Moon Spirit received the least. Even so, Wu Chu was surprised, while Yibao secretly went wild with frustration: How could rendering oil and stir-frying vegetables both earn Merit? Was Merit really this cheap?

Little Moon Spirit more or less shared Yibao's thoughts.

But after thinking it over, Wu Chu calmed down. Rendering oil and stir-frying were both things that could be called groundbreaking. Since the Heavenly Dao was aware, was it not natural for it to bestow a little Merit? Even the appearance of toilets had earned Merit, let alone the beginning of the Dao of Cooking! Once the Human Clan appeared in the future, this could become one of the cultural traditions upon which schools and sects could be founded among them.

"Oil can be extracted from animals. I'm sure that big Azure Dragon has plenty of dragon oil in it. Shame I can't cut through its hide yet."

"..."

Yueling's thoughts were in complete disarray at that moment. There were many things she simply could not understand.

Especially Wu Chu, this strangely dressed living being. How could there be a creature in this land that had already taken Transformation Form, yet possessed such meager cultivation?

But if Wu Chu was not Ordinary, why had he never made a move against that Azure Dragon? Could Dragon Meat possibly taste worse than shrimp? Surely not!

As for Merit, Yueling now understood that Wu Chu would not have much difficulty obtaining it.

"Brother A Chu, do you know how to use Merit?"

Wu Chu froze at the question. Weren't they supposed to be cooking? How had they drifted over to that topic?

He had no idea that Little Moon Spirit's thoughts had already become like dandelion seeds drifting in the wind, floating far, far away.

At that moment, he was still thinking about how to make a shrimp, octopus, and shredded bamboo shoot stew later. If he could split open that Azure Dragon and get some dragon liver, that would be even better.

At the thought of it, Wu Chu could not help recalling Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms. He was practically drooling. He wondered whether mushrooms could be found in the Primordial World during this season.

As for chicken, there should be wild pheasants in the mountains, right?

Should he catch a few and raise them, specifically so they could lay eggs?

Wild scallion omelets were delicious too!

It was just a pity that he had no other grains or cereals.

The Primordial World was vast. Such things might exist somewhere, but he did not dare go looking for them.

Hearing Little Moon Spirit's question, Wu Chu paused, then shook his head. "I don't know, but I've heard that some powerful cultivators can refine it into a Merit Golden Wheel for defense."

Wu Chu had merely made that up casually based on his memories of Investiture of the Gods.

But in Yueling's eyes, that made him exceptionally knowledgeable.

A small basin of stir-fried shrimp and bamboo shoots was certainly not enough for the two of them, so Wu Chu also used a bamboo section split in half as a pot and boiled a "bamboo-pot" of meat soup.

The clay kettle was placed on another stone stove to boil water, thoroughly solving their drinking-water problem.

Although that spirit spring was supposedly the Primordial One-Qi Pure Spirit Spring, who knew whether there were parasites in it? To be safe, it was better to boil the water before drinking it.

"Little Moon Spirit, have you ever seen mushrooms in the forest?"

After the meal, Wu Chu lounged in the shade beside a tree root, picking his teeth with a wooden splinter. He then explained to the thoroughly baffled Little Moon Spirit what mushrooms, those fungal plants, were.

Little Moon Spirit suddenly understood. "I've seen them! Can they be eaten too?"

"Of course, but... right, Little Moon Spirit, do you have a way to tell how poisonous those mushrooms are?" Wu Chu asked again.

He guessed that the types of mushrooms in the Primordial Land were surely different from those on Earth. Even on Earth, he could recognize only a few kinds of mushrooms, much less in this Primordial World. So he could only ask Yueling. Though Little Moon Spirit's small appearance was highly deceptive, she was, after all, genuinely a little demon.

Sure enough, Little Moon Spirit patted her flat little chest and promised, "Don't worry, Brother A Chu. Identifying poison is easy. Just taste them and you'll know whether they're poisonous."

"..."

Wu Chu stared at her in astonishment. "You're not afraid of poison?"

Little Moon Spirit looked at Wu Chu, her large eyes blinking. At last, she said, "I'm not immune to all poisons, but ordinary toxins have no effect on me. Is Brother A Chu very afraid?"

"Yes, of course I am," Wu Chu said bluntly.

Though he had no idea whether the little girl believed him.

She merely gave an "oh" and prepared to get up to search for the mushrooms Wu Chu had described.

Wu Chu added, "If you come across wild chickens—Brocade Pheasants—you can catch a few and bring them back. Later, I'll make you Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms. Hens would be even better. They can lay eggs, so we can raise them. Maybe we'll have eggs to eat in the future."

When Little Moon Spirit heard Wu Chu mention all that food, her eyes lit up again, sparkling as she transformed into a fragrant breeze and vanished before him.

Wu Chu paused, then began washing the utensils.

After giving it some thought, he felt they could build an open-air kitchen.

Hmm, tables and chairs, a kitchen, paved paths...

That should keep me busy for quite a while!

He glanced at the Little Wolf Cub dozing in the corner, then at the absent-minded Yibao, and could not help asking, "Yibao, what are you thinking about?"

"Yibao is thinking about how we can quickly obtain Merit Power. If Yibao had enough Merit Power, perhaps Yibao could grow up."

Wu Chu looked at the little figure and smiled. "Why do you want to grow up?"

Yibao looked at Wu Chu and threw her a seductive glance. "Doesn't Master like the idea of Yibao becoming a normal human? Then you could... Yibao won't refuse any request from Master!"

Wu Chu looked at her. Her fiery red lips, her blinking large eyes, and the way she coquettishly threw him flirtatious looks all made her seem utterly seductive.

But Wu Chu could not help rolling her eyes at her. "We're all decent people. Don't say such improper things, or people will laugh at us."

After a pause, he added, "But if you want to become human, it's not as though there's no chance. There's still a long time before Lady Nuwa creates humans in this era!"

"That may be true, but I'm afraid Master won't live to see that day!" Yibao said as she brushed back her golden hair again. "Who knows who Yibao will end up benefiting by then? Sigh!"

"..."

Gritting his teeth, Wu Chu snorted. "Whoever dares take my phone, I'll fight him to the death!"

"Heehee, Master, you look absolutely adorable when you're jealous!"

Wu Chu said, "Jealous? No, I just don't want anyone else touching my phone!"