Early morning.
Chu Xingchen held a bowl of hot porridge, with several reasonably delicate-looking side dishes before him. Four plates of Four Delicacies, their presentation fairly meticulous.
In Central Province, these side dishes would hardly have counted as exquisite, but in the Western Ox-He Continent, arranging them like this already amounted to the kitchen delivering top-tier flattery.
One glance at the side dishes on the other tables made the difference clear-the other diners' dishes looked as though someone had scooped them up with a foot and tossed them carelessly onto the plates.
The guiding principle was: never mind how it looked, could you eat it or not?
Chu Xingchen picked up some vegetables with his chopsticks and said:
"This is the health-preserving set meal jointly recommended by two of the Sect's leading disciples. Hot porridge and pickled mustard stems. You really came to the right place this time."
Guangming Buddha nodded in satisfaction, gently stirring his hot porridge with his chopsticks:
"One taste tells you it really does preserve your health."
Wukong also held a bowl of hot porridge, listening to this founding Buddha of Mahayana Buddhism heap on the flattery.
Cultivators had already achieved grain avoidance. What health-preserving porridge did they need?
Still, he was no longer quite so nervous. Things had already come to this; if trouble really struck, he could only count on the taller ones to hold up the falling sky.
There was no use in him being so anxious.
As Wukong thought this, he brought some hot porridge to his mouth and sampled the finely prepared side dishes.
Business practices in the Western Ox-He Continent were not that elaborate. They had not set up any VIP dining area either; rich or poor, everyone had to eat in the main hall.
Thus, Chu Xingchen's table, with