Five Supreme-Grade Treasures, Coconut Trees, Seafood (7/10)
Young Hao stayed in Purple Jade Mountain for more than ten years, mainly to further his culinary skills with Little Moon Spirit and learn how to grow those 'new crops'.
After the young Hao left last time, Purple Jade Mountain had some new crops that he was unfamiliar with. Only by learning how to plant them could he transplant them to Jade Capital Mountain.
Wu Chu didn't know if, after turning this man into a cook, his ancestor might one day make him the Heavenly Emperor. Would he still be capable of doing it?
However, now that I've become the patriarch's eldest disciple, what if the patriarch asks me to become the Heavenly Emperor future...?
Wu Chu unconsciously stroked his chin. If such a thing really happened, should he agree to it?
The Heavenly Emperor! He is the supreme ruler of the Three Realms!
Although those Sages who later became saints didn't really take the Heavenly Emperor seriously, they still had to show him the respect they were entitled to.
But thinking about the pressures and trivial matters that the Heaven Realm must face, Wu Chu felt that being the Heavenly Emperor wasn't so great after all; not only was he not free, but he also had to put up with all sorts of mistreatment.
If I fail to become a saint by then, and my Sage junior brothers and sisters don't give me, their senior brother, any face, wouldn't I be incredibly humiliated?
Wu Chu shook his head silently, then chuckled to himself, wondering what he was thinking.
The key is to survive until that period safely; you don't want to accidentally die halfway through and end up with no one to even collect your body.
Let Junior Brother Haotian have fun with the Heavenly Emperor thing! I can be the Heavenly Emperor's senior brother without having to worry about anything. I'm free and have a transcendent status. When I have nothing to do, I can even have tea and chat with those Sage junior brothers and sisters. Isn't that great?
Looking forward to a bright future, Wu Chu suddenly felt that the days ahead were full of hope.
"Senior brother, I'm heading back now. Don't bother seeing me off, go on your way!"
More than a decade later, young Hao, carrying the gifts that Wu Chu and Little Moon Spirit had given to the Ancestor and Junior Sister Yao, embarked on his journey home.
The gifts weren't anything valuable; aside from a few Purple Jade Spirit-Pattern Apple, most were food items. This was the only presentable thing he had from his Purple Jade Mountain.
As for what he gave to Junior Sister Yao, it was some musical instruments that he made himself.
Wu Chu nodded, sat down cross-legged, and said, "Then let me play a tune for you, junior brother! I wish you a safe journey!"
Listening to the music Wu Chu played for him, young Hao couldn't help but feel a little sad. He strolled slowly among the clouds, lingered for a long time, and finally transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the distance.
After the young Hao left Purple Jade Mountain, Wu Chu went into seclusion again to refine the two Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure: the Central Wuji Apricot-Yellow Banner and the Five-Element Origin Spirit Heaven-and-Earth Sword.
With these two items, Wu Chu now possesses four Supreme-Grade Spirit Treasure: three Innate, one Acquired, and the Yibao, Yi Merit Supreme Treasure.
After doing the math, Wu Chu realized that he wasn't actually that poor!
Suddenly, his confidence soared.
Time passed in this 'busy yet leisurely' state.
After an unknown amount of time, Wu Chu had successfully refined the two Supreme-Grade Spirit Treasure, his cultivation level had increased slightly, and his combat power had soared significantly.
On this day, while Wu Chu was resting after leaving the pass, Houtu came to Purple Jade Mountain and brought Wu Chu several spiritual plants, as well as some food for Little Moon Spirit.
Looking at those spiritual plants, Wu Chu understood where she had gone, because among them he saw a familiar yet unfamiliar plant—a coconut tree.
It was familiar because of its appearance, yet unfamiliar also because of its appearance. This coconut tree, hundreds of meters tall, straight with only green leaves at the top and a ring of blue fruits hanging from it, was also a Spirit Root, albeit a low-grade one, but Wu Chu was still delighted by it.
The other trees, though fruit trees, did not possess Innate Spirit Root.
"Did you go south?" Wu Chu asked. "Or did Brother Zhurong send it?"
Houtu smiled and said, "I went south. My fourth brother's Zhurong Tribe had some trouble; they almost got into a fight with the Phoenix Clan of the Undying Volcano. In the end, we chose to back down, and the Zhurong Tribe moved southwest. I took the opportunity to visit the sea in the south..."
Wu Chu's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "So this was found on the South Sea coast? All those ingredients are seafood? It's been so long since I've tasted seafood!"
Wu Chu planted the Spirit Root coconut tree on the lakeshore, planning to set up a few more formations for it later. After all, this was a place in the far north of the Primordial World. Summer was fine, but the winter climate was definitely not something this Spirit Root could adapt to. Even if it could adapt, the coconuts that grew would probably be different.
After all, Wu Chu knew the saying, "Oranges grown south of the Huai River are sweet oranges, but those grown north of the Huai River are bitter oranges." If a coconut tree comes to the land north of the Great River and isn't given a similar climate to grow in, can it still be a coconut tree? It's questionable whether it can even bear fruit.
Wu Chu had always assumed she was in seclusion cultivating, so he hadn't gone to look for her. He never expected that she would actually take a trip to the south.
"Wait a moment, I'll go to the kitchen to check on the seafood you brought."
Seeing Wu Chu and Chu's attitude, Houtu smiled and let him do as he pleased.
Upon entering the kitchen, Wu Chu saw Little Moon Spirit smilingly instructing Little Cai Niang on how to process the seafood. The kitchen had also undergone some renovations; it didn't look very big from the outside, but the interior space was surprisingly large, especially the slaughtering area.
At this moment, under the guidance of Little Moon Spirit, Little Cai Niang began to deal with a strange fish.
As for the salt on the seafood, it no longer needs to be extracted as it was before. After all, with their current cultivation level, finding rock salt underground is no problem for them.
Various kinds of shrimp, crabs, and fish, with strange and fierce appearances, were mostly types that Wu Chu couldn't recognize. In addition, there were many shellfish, clams, oysters, mussels, and so on.
Wu Chu even saw a giant geoduck clam...
"A Chu, you've come at the right time. Do you know what these things are? How should I cook them?" Little Moon Spirit asked, pointing to the shellfish.
Because the creatures of the Primordial World era were very different from those of later generations, Wu Chu could only imagine and deduce from thin air, and then apply the names of the sea creatures in his memory to them.
"This should be called razor clams. You can boil them in soup or steam them, adding ginger, scallions, and cooking wine to remove the fishy smell... This is good. This should be oyster sauce; you can extract oyster sauce from it... You can try it. If you can extract oyster sauce, write it down. Next time someone goes to the beach, we can ask them to bring some back..."
After giving a long lecture in the kitchen, Wu Chu returned to the pavilion and asked Houtu, "Brother Zhurong, how did you almost get into a fight with the Phoenix Clan? Are they alright?"
Houtu shook her head and said, "Fourth Brother also cultivates fire-attribute divine abilities. The Phoenix Clan, just like the Qilin Clan back then, also wants Fourth Brother to join them. You know Fourth Brother's temper."
Wu Chu nodded slightly; the Fire-Passing Youth did indeed have a rather explosive temper.
"I have a feeling that the Phoenix Clan's next step might be to expand northward."
"..."