The way of the Sages was no different from the daily needs of the common people!
At those words, Yun Zhongzi abruptly fell silent. His gaze fixed on Di Xin, an ever-shifting expression deep in his eyes.
The meaning was simple: only things suited to the needs of the common people of the Human Race could truly qualify as principles of the Sages' way.
Combined with what Yun Zhongzi had just said, it meant that only implements suited to the everyday needs of the common people of the Human Race were truly objects of the Great Dao.
Undoubtedly, these words from Wang Gen, the great scholar of the Ming dynasty's Taizhou School, were not particularly suited to this era of the Primordial World, where Sages stood high above all and everyone beneath them was an ant. Had Di Xin said this to the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chan Sect or the Ten Heavenly Lords of the Interception Sect, they would certainly have scoffed. They might even have struck him to teach him what it meant that all beneath the Sages were mere running dogs. But to Yun Zhongzi, who truly cared whether mortals lived or died and could not bear to see living beings plunged into misery, the impact was tremendous.
In the past, whenever he refined magical treasures, he had pursued formidable power, attempting to create treasures that surpassed the originals he copied. Yet he had never considered what benefits the treasures he refined could bring to the world's people.
Di Xin's words now made him feel that he had discovered an entirely new line of thought.
"Hahaha, I was merely speaking off the cuff, Senior. Please don't take it to heart. Come, I happen to have another little trinket. Let me show you!"
Di Xin knew perfectly well that, given his current status and cultivation, he could at most stir a little understanding in Yun Zhongzi's heart. He could not instantly draw him to his side and cling tightly to the thigh of Chan Sect's foremost Golden Immortal of Fortune and Virtue. Laughing it off, he took Yun Zhongzi along and continued into the palace.
Hearing this, Yun Zhongzi abandoned his earlier intention of departing gracefully after presenting the sword. He wanted to see what else Di Xin had devised.
"How are the preparations coming along?"
After entering the palace, Di Xin glanced at several young palace maids and asked in a low voice.
"We have prepared the pork, malt sugar, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, and ginger, just as Your Majesty instructed."
The young palace maids immediately bowed respectfully to Di Xin as they answered.
Di Xin nodded, then looked at Yun Zhongzi with a smile. "Please wait a little, Senior. Making this takes some effort."
"No matter. This humble Daoist has plenty of time." Hearing the young palace maids list nothing but cooking ingredients, Yun Zhongzi could not help growing curious. He wanted to know what new article for the common people's daily use Di Xin had come up with.
Reassured by those words, Di Xin led Yun Zhongzi to the kitchen and nodded in satisfaction at the stove they had built.
Next, he blanched the chopped wild boar meat with ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns. After all, the wild boar meat of this era had such a strong gamey smell that it would be difficult to suppress without blanching.
Who would have thought this fellow, though a king, would be so proficient in kitchen work!
Watching Di Xin's practiced movements, Yun Zhongzi nodded slightly.
But how could he have known that, as a lone bachelor living by himself in his previous life, Di Xin had naturally become thoroughly adept at cooking, handling it with effortless ease?
The pity was that he had always heard that to capture a woman's heart, one first had to capture her stomach. Unfortunately, though he had honed his cooking skills, he had never found a woman whose heart he wanted to capture.
I wonder if I can capture the stomach and heart of a mighty expert like Yun Zhongzi this time!
Then Di Xin took out a dark-looking vessel, semicircular and hollowed like a pit, its surface covered in hammer marks and gleaming with oil, and set it over the blazing stove.
Yun Zhongzi stared at the dark object, bewilderment in his eyes. It differed from every cooking utensil he had ever seen.
"I call this a wok. It can pan-fry, stir-fry, cook, deep-fry, stew, and boil. One implement handles everything." Seeing the confusion in Yun Zhongzi's eyes, Di Xin explained with a smile. Then he scooped a spoonful of lard into the wok. Once it melted, he added malt sugar and cooked it into a reddish-brown caramel.
"Sssizzle..."
Next, Di Xin tipped the blanched pork into the wok along with scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and the other seasonings. Picking up the spatula forged alongside it, he began stir-frying briskly.
"This smell... so different... but so fragrant..."
In an instant, the fragrance of fat mingled with caramel, along with the aroma of seasonings frying in oil, spread outward from the iron wok in every direction. That rich aroma left even Yun Zhongzi momentarily dazed as he stared at the chunks of meat being rapidly tossed in the wok.
Beyond that mouthwatering fragrance, he also discovered that, just as Di Xin had said, this vessel called a wok was indeed an excellent implement for the common people's daily use. Not only did it combine numerous cooking methods, but the flavors it produced far surpassed those of cauldrons, tripods, and steamers...
At that moment, after stir-frying briefly until the pork began releasing its fat, Di Xin added a ladleful of boiling water. Once it came to a boil, he lowered the heat, picked up the matching Pinewood Wok Lid, and covered it.
"Wild boar meat isn't easy to stew. It needs to simmer for two to four hours..."
Once he had finished, Di Xin saw Yun Zhongzi beside him staring at him in bewilderment and explained with a smile.
"Then cooking with this is rather slow." Yun Zhongzi nodded, then shook his head.
"This is just a special case. Once this dish is done, I'll make another, and you'll see, Senior..." Di Xin chuckled and shook his head. Then, after his eyes flickered briefly, he looked at Yun Zhongzi and smiled. "There is a way, though. I can't do it, but you can, Senior."
"Hmm?" Yun Zhongzi paused and looked at Di Xin in confusion.
"You could try applying some pressure to this iron wok, Senior. Just control it carefully so you don't crush the wok or the stove. That will make it faster, and even tastier!" Di Xin told Yun Zhongzi with a chuckle.
"If you dare deceive me, watch your ankles!"
Yun Zhongzi was already curious about all this, so he naturally had no objection. At those words, he carefully activated a secret technique and applied pressure to the iron wok.
Sure enough, this Primordial World version of a pressure cooker proved effective. Before long, the bubbling inside the wok immediately grew more rapid, while the rich aroma of Immortal-Brand Braised Pork began wafting out.
After continuing like this for a little while, Di Xin asked Yun Zhongzi to withdraw the pressure. Once all the pressure inside the wok had dissipated, Di Xin opened the lid and began reducing the sauce.
"This..."
"Gulp... gulp..."
The instant the lid came off, a chorus of furious swallowing broke out. Not only Yun Zhongzi, but the young palace maids around them all stared fixedly at the chunks of braised pork inside the iron wok-oily, gleaming, rosy-red, quivering, and giving off waves of rich fragrance. Their drool, betraying them, streamed from their eyes.
Especially once the sauce had finished reducing, the Immortal-Brand Braised Pork, coated in its thick, dark sauce, shone with a translucent luster that left Yun Zhongzi and all the young palace maids unable to sit still.
"When can we eat it?"
Though Yun Zhongzi still tried his utmost to preserve the bearing of an accomplished Daoist master, his eyes could not leave the wok for even a moment. Even his words came out somewhat muddled. He could not help it-his mouth was producing far too much saliva.
Indeed, he could no longer even sit still. With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced about aimlessly, yet his gaze remained firmly locked on the iron wok.
It was not that this Golden Immortal of Fortune and Virtue was shallow; the Primordial World was simply too harsh and barren. Even as a second-generation disciple of Chan Sect, when had he ever encountered such flavors?
"It's ready."
Di Xin chuckled, transferred the Immortal-Brand Braised Pork into an earthenware pot, and set it over charcoal to simmer gently and stay warm.
Next, he had a palace maid scrub the iron wok, cracked a few wild pheasant eggs, and sliced some scallions. In a few deft moves, he stir-fried a dish of mingling white, green, and yellow. Were it not for its fresh fragrance, it would have looked less like food than a work of art!
And just as Di Xin had said earlier, stir-frying was indeed extraordinarily fast, a hundred times faster than roasting or stewing!
Thousands of years in the Primordial World, all lived in vain!
Watching Di Xin's movements flow like drifting clouds and running water, Yun Zhongzi stared, transfixed, as a thought suddenly arose in his heart.
"Senior Yun Zhongzi, let me demonstrate how to eat this braised pork."
Seeing Yun Zhongzi's expression, Di Xin's eyes shifted, and he spoke with a chuckle.
Naturally, Yun Zhongzi could hardly wait and nodded repeatedly.
Di Xin chuckled, picked up a piece of braised pork, and lightly closed his teeth over it, drawing it into his mouth. Then he looked at Yun Zhongzi with a beaming smile. "Have you learned how, Senior? Perhaps I should demonstrate again..."
[Negative Emotion Points from Yun Zhongzi: +1,000. Total: 33,767...]
"Bastard!"
Yun Zhongzi stared dumbfounded at Di Xin's behavior and cursed. Then, without a second thought, he rushed over to the earthenware pot, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up a chunk of braised pork, and brought it to his mouth...
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