Xiang Zhili had no particular destination in mind. He simply wandered here and there, taking in the sights. As a Deity Transformation cultivator, he already had a lifespan of several thousand years. As long as he withstood the minor Heavenly Tribulation that came once every three hundred years, he faced little danger.
Normally, one could ascend upon reaching late Deity Transformation. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy of the Lower Realm was so thin that reaching that stage through cultivation alone was no longer possible. Ascension was now out of the question; the only option was to sneak across.
Xiang Zhili traveled everywhere in search of spatial nodes through which he could make that crossing.
In Great Jin, cultivators and mortals lived in closer contact. Cultivators who practiced Confucian cultivation methods, in particular, treated involvement in worldly affairs as part of their cultivation. They entered the halls of government and held posts at court.
Unfortunately, body tempering remained an unconventional path in Great Jin. Although some followed it, they generally cultivated both their spiritual power and their bodies, rather than practicing body tempering as mortals.
Body tempering remained a road strewn with thorns.
A month later, Xiang Zhili asked, "The time is up. Have you decided where to go?"
"I want to join White Dew Academy."
Xiang Zhili smiled. "I thought you would choose a monastery with more body-tempering techniques. I never expected you to choose an academy. Can you tell me why?"
"I want to recruit a few cultivators who practice Confucian cultivation methods for the Mo Kingdom. If they're willing to return with me, the Mo Kingdom will have the confidence to negotiate with the cultivation sects of the Heavenly South," Mo Caihuan said. "Besides, White Dew Academy has abundant spiritual energy. I can temper my body there just as well."
"I see. That's a good idea. Finding out about White Dew Academy in just a month shows how shrewd you are. But although White Dew Academy isn't a major sect, it's still a cultivation sect. You're a mere mortal; they won't accept you. No sect that controls a source of spiritual energy will take a mortal as a disciple." Xiang Zhili said regretfully, "If you want to attend a school, you can choose a mortal private school in nearby Taichang City."
Mo Caihuan frowned, but did not insist. "Please take me to Taichang City, Senior."
"Have you decided?"
"I have," Mo Caihuan said.
"Then let's go." Xiang Zhili took her to a secluded alley in Taichang City, then vanished.
An expert was an expert, like a divine dragon whose head appeared while its tail remained unseen. Being able to stay by such an expert's side for a month had already been a blessing.
"That old monster has finally left. Staying around him was suffocating." Once Xiang Zhili was gone, Food Immortal could finally breathe freely. "Great Jin's delicacies, here I come! Let's start by eating our way through Taichang City."
Mo Caihuan did not answer. She left the alley and first wandered around the city, thinking that she still needed to find a way to bypass spiritual energy and cultivate directly.
The original story seemed to offer only stellar power and secret bloodline techniques, neither of which would be easy to find.
As for hiring a few Confucian cultivators willing to involve themselves in worldly affairs, that goal would not be easy to achieve either. Of course, she also needed to buy medicines to save lives, which would be just as difficult.
The city had monasteries, Daoist temples, and academies, giving it a strong scholarly atmosphere. The people of Great Jin lived fairly comfortable lives. After all, with cultivators willing to engage in worldly affairs, ensuring favorable winds and timely rain for Great Jin was relatively simple.
Once mortals had enough to eat, they would seek more from life. Studying and taking the imperial examinations made a good choice. Governing a country as vast as Great Jin required a great many capable people, allowing it to absorb more talented mortals.
In Great Jin, cultivators were not simply divided into righteous and demonic factions. Instead, they were classified according to the different schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Cultivators did more than cultivate immortality; they also put the teachings of those schools into practice. It was very different from the Heavenly South. Of course, demonic cultivators existed too, but even they had to study.
"The Lin Family is hiring a private tutor? Is that the Lin Family of Lin Half-City?"
"Lin Half-City is old history from over a decade ago. The Lin Family declined long ago, or they wouldn't be recruiting publicly. Ten years ago, who knows how many great scholars would have lined up and begged to enter their household? Now the Lin Family has to beg great scholars to teach at their family school. The wheel of fortune turns."
"What great scholar would apply for a job? I think the Lin Family is finished."
"I'd say so too."
In front of a public noticeboard, quite a few people were catching up on news from around the city. Many job notices had been posted there, including one from the Lin Family seeking a teacher.
Mo Caihuan stood among the crowd like a crane among chickens. Many men stole sidelong glances at her. Although she was already over fifty, her face still looked like a young girl's.
That was the advantage of an indestructible body: her appearance could remain youthful forever. Of course, although her appearance did not change, her remaining lifespan dwindled with each passing day.
Mo Caihuan had no interest in teaching. Instead, her eye fell on a notice for chefs beside the teaching advertisement. The Gan Family's twenty-first restaurant would soon open, and they were sincerely seeking three chefs. Interested applicants were to interview at the Full Fragrance Restaurant on Heavenly Fortune Street.
A line of small print appeared below: As long as this notice remains posted, recruitment is ongoing. Applicants are welcome to interview between seven in the morning and five in the afternoon.
"Let's go." Mo Caihuan headed toward the Full Fragrance Restaurant.
The Gan Family was enormously wealthy. They attached considerable importance to opening their twenty-first restaurant and had high standards for its chefs, so the positions had yet to be filled.
They had recruited two chefs, but had not settled on the last.
More than ten chefs had come to apply that day. Mo Caihuan was among them, drawing every eye.
"Young lady, are you here to apply as a chef too?" the manager asked with a strange look.
"Is that not allowed?" Mo Caihuan asked.
"Of course it is. I was only asking," the manager said. He thought she would have better prospects working in a brothel. Putting her in a kitchen would be a complete waste of her beauty.
"Everyone, the requirement is simple. Make a dish that satisfies our head chef, and you'll pass. You may take any ingredients you like from the storeroom. Each person has two hours. Anyone who runs overtime will be eliminated, so please make good use of your time." The manager said, "Begin."
Everyone immediately rushed toward the kitchen. Chicken, duck, fish, and meat were all available, along with a wide range of other ingredients.
Mo Caihuan remained unhurried, browsing the storeroom as though she were walking a runway. In the end, she chose a vat of river shrimp and took a bowlful.
Everyone else wanted to make an impressive dish that would captivate the head chef's palate, yet she had chosen tiny shrimp. The manager could not make sense of it at all.
The other chefs laughed as well. "Women should stick to cooking at home. A restaurant kitchen isn't your own kitchen-it's a battlefield for men."
She paid them no heed and began cooking at a leisurely pace.
"Aren't you a good cook? Why are you falling short today?" Food Immortal asked. He knew Mo Caihuan had popularized many delicious dishes in the Mo Kingdom. To increase food production, she had even followed Shennong's example of tasting a hundred herbs, setting out three basic questions: Could it be eaten? Did it taste good? How should it be eaten?
She had sought out new ingredients and flavors, conducting all kinds of experiments to enrich everyone's tables and fill gaps in the food supply.
Mo Caihuan's cooking had earned Food Immortal's approval. That alone proved her ability.
She ignored him and simply spent two hours cooking the little shrimp.
Next, the chefs brought their dishes before the head chef one by one and waited for his judgment.
The head chef was an old man dressed in black, his hair snowy white. He had served as chef since the Gan Family opened its first restaurant, making him the sea-calming pillar of the Gan Family's restaurants.
The head chef looked over dish after dish, each appealing in color, aroma, and flavor, but was not particularly satisfied. He rejected them all after a single small taste.
The chefs all knew how formidable he was and dared not argue. They could only leave reluctantly.
Mo Caihuan came before him and set down her blanched river shrimp. The dish was plain and unadorned, with nothing distinctive about it compared to her competitors' creations.
"Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish. Please try my blanched river shrimp."
The head chef's eyes lit up. He picked a prepared river shrimp out of the sour-and-spicy dipping sauce and took a bite. It was pleasantly sour and spicy, appetizing and delicious.
Of course, its good flavor was secondary. The key was her remark about governing a great nation being like cooking a small fish. A grand restaurant could not merely sell delicious food; it had to sell meaning. This young lady was rather interesting.
"What is your name?" the head chef asked.
"Mo Caihuan."
"Mm, you're hired." The head chef smiled. "Manager Liu, you can take down the notice. We've found all three chefs."
"I'll send someone to take it down right away." Hearing the decision, Manager Liu breathed a sigh of relief as well. Finding the final chef had dragged on for several days, and now it was finally settled.
The other applicants could only leave dejectedly.
The Full Fragrance Restaurant would open next. The head chef gathered the three chefs and had each write a menu. The dishes for their opening battle would be selected from those three menus.
They were to submit them three days later.
Mo Caihuan first tasted the various ingredients, using her keen tongue to determine their flavors. Then she wrote a lengthy, flowing piece titled the Treatise on Original Flavor.
Recipes accounted for only a fifth of its contents. The remaining four-fifths discussed the five flavors, control of heat, and governing a country. The point was to convey meaning.
Many restaurants offered delicious food, so how could the Gan Family's restaurants stand out? Their number was growing, but they had plenty of competitors too.
When others saw restaurants making money, they would compete.
The Gan Family also had to find a way to distinguish itself. Delicious food alone was not enough; they had to give it deeper significance.
Mo Caihuan wanted to distinguish herself too. Other Confucian scholars held that "a gentleman keeps his distance from the kitchen," but she intended to do the opposite. She would link governing a country with cooking and make a name for herself.