Does Heavenly Court Mud Come with Fertilizer?

The sun had begun to grow more and more scorching, bathing the ground in glaring brightness. Standing outside for any length of time made one feel as if their skin were burning. Of course, that was a bit exaggerated, but judging by the steady stream of people entering the building, more and more were indeed coming in to enjoy the air conditioning.

Qin Fen closed his chat window with Matchmaker Yue. As for how Gold-Bearded Daoist would respond afterward, he did not care. His move had been a risky one; perhaps once the other party learned of it, he would even help fuel the flames, never realizing he had fallen into Qin Fen's trap.

Man proposed, Heaven disposed. Since he could not predict the variables, Qin Fen stopped dwelling on it. To put it bluntly, better a fellow Daoist die than a poor Daoist. His 2,000 Merit had already been credited.

Dong. Food God's avatar trembled.

"Immortal, Matchmaker Yue just sent word and asked me to prepare a banquet. Should we still use roast duck this time? I don't think that would be ideal, but ordinary dishes may not be appealing enough either, so I'm having trouble deciding."

They were sick of it lately, huh? No matter how good something was, it could not stand being eaten every day.

"You could make hot pot," Qin Fen suggested. No banquet did more to bring people together than that.

Hot pot? Food God frowned again. What kind of pot was that?

"May I ask, Immortal, what sort of pot is a hot pot? What does it look like? Is it difficult to make? Are the materials rare? Is it troublesome to forge?"

"If it needs Samadhi True Fire, that'll be a little difficult," Food God muttered.

What the hell is Samadhi True Fire?! Qin Fen's face darkened. Another gap in understanding, was it? He immediately gave Food God a rough explanation of what hot pot looked like and how it was made.

Food God immediately came to a realization. "So what you mean is antique broth, Immortal. But that is more common among mortals. I fear it may be somewhat improper."

Antique broth? Qin Fen understood. It must have appeared early in ancient times and already had a name.

"Improper? No, no, no. Skewer the ingredients on bamboo sticks, then sort them by category. Everyone can take whatever they want to eat and cook their own. Don't use small pots; make it one big pot. That creates a good atmosphere and makes it easier to chat. If you do it yourself, you'll have food and clothing in abundance."

If you did it yourself, you would have food and clothing in abundance? Food God was covered in black lines. It would be great if that bunch of old masters knew how to cook. But on second thought, eating while preparing it themselves would indeed be much more enjoyable. With the food skewered on bamboo sticks, it would not fall apart in the pot either. This idea was truly the finishing touch. At the very least, he would never have thought of it.

"Thank you, Immortal. This humble one understands. Your attainments in cuisine run exceedingly deep; those of our generation greatly admire you. I only hope you will not begrudge me your instruction in the future." Food God meant it sincerely. If Qin Fen were merely stronger in cultivation and broader in knowledge than him, that would be one thing. But being able to inspire and guide him in professional expertise was entirely different. As someone at the top of his field, Food God believed that the accomplished should be teachers.

Heh, since hot pot already existed in the past, Qin Fen was no fool. He would simply give them a variation and let skewered spicy hot pot invade the Heavenly Court in full force.

Just imagining all those immortals holding handfuls of skewers and cooking them in a pot gave Qin Fen an inexplicable sense of amusement.

Sun Yating had been absent all day, apparently busy with personal matters. Without their backbone, the pace of the whole restaurant seemed to slow by several beats, leaving Qin Fen exhausted like a dead dog.

The moment work ended, several apprentices immediately gathered around him and said they were going out to eat. They would not cook at the restaurant; they would find a decent open-air eatery and have some drinks. Qin Fen had no energy for that. He could barely lift his arms, so he simply chipped in fifty yuan and slipped away.

The moment Qin Fen got home, he said nothing and pulled a stalk from the refrigerator, taking a bite.

When he stepped out of his room, night had fallen. Clouds covered the moon in the sky. He pulled back the sack covering the large plastic basin, and his eyes immediately widened. Damn, bean sprouts grew quickly, but not like they had been pumped full of hormones.

He stepped closer, crouched beside it, and measured them with his hand. They had already sprouted, and they were growing wonderfully. They were over a finger's length already. The buds at the tips had not fully developed, but they were already ready to harvest. If he waited any longer, they would probably become old.

Bean sprouts generally grew fast. Qin Fen had made them when he was little. Back then, his family did not have much money, and making these was easy. But what was going on now?

He pulled out several sprouts, turned, and headed into the house. After rinsing them clean, he cooked a packet of vermicelli, added seasoning, and tossed in the bean sprouts.

He picked up a little with his chopsticks and quietly studied the plump green bean sprouts.

"Does Heavenly Court mud come with its own fertilizer? I wonder what things grown here on Earth taste like," Qin Fen muttered to himself. He was following the usual webnovel formula. Didn't webnovels always say that anything produced in the Celestial Realm had to be top quality? Anything grown from it was bound to make a fortune.

Since he did not know, he might as well try it. He had planned this from the start. Maybe he could open a farmstay or a breeding farm in the future. If he wanted peace and quiet, he could start with a farmstay that also served private dishes. In any case, he now had the ingredients and the cooking skills. Everything was ready.

He took a bite and put it into his mouth. Qin Fen chewed slowly, then suddenly widened his eyes. Delicious. They were sweeter and fresher than ordinary bean sprouts. The flavor was somewhat strange, not one people commonly recognized, as though other flavors had mixed into it.

Because of the Heavenly Court mud, these bean sprouts had likely absorbed its faint spiritual energy—or perhaps immortal energy. Taking a bite felt like breathing the fresh air of nature. After swallowing it, his whole body felt as if it were floating. It was not the floating sensation of taking drugs, but one of relaxation and tranquility.

It calmed the mind, refreshed the spirit, and felt incredibly soothing. No wonder those Heavenly Court fellows had such picky tastes. They had developed these eating habits long ago. Mortal food simply could not enter their mouths. Fortunately, he had not sent ingredients over last time and had only provided a relatively new cooking method. Otherwise, Food God would have been finished.

The source itself was already incredibly high-end.

Looking at the bean sprouts in the bowl, Qin Fen wolfed them down in a few mouthfuls. Then when he went back to eating the noodles, damn, they were several levels worse.

"Following the usual novel formula, I should start marketing them next, right?" Qin Fen chuckled. This would not be difficult for him. He already worked at a restaurant. But he decided to limit the supply. Bean sprouts were cheap and grew quickly, but he understood the principle of rare goods being valuable. In short, he could not sell them at cabbage prices.

With Food God's cooking skills added in, Qin Fen grinned. He was not selling ingredients; he could sell finished dishes. Bean sprouts were worthless? Fine. His, Chef Qin Fen's, cooking skills were valuable. Heh, this was what it meant to play it high-end, classy, and sophisticated.

"I'm looking forward more and more to staying in contact with the Heavenly Court. Peaches of Immortality... when will my wish finally come true?"