Mo Caihuan understood. The Multi-Level Teleportation Array converted spirit stones into spiritual Qi, which was equivalent to scrambled eggs. Meanwhile, ordinary Teleportation Arrays were like boiled eggs, with several slots into which a few spirit stones were placed.
Boiled eggs could not be stolen by the chef because the quantity was fixed. But with scrambled eggs, the chef could steal; if a few were missing, nobody would know.
Mo Caihuan was speechless. Food Immortal really is an old fox, she thought. I've been in the kitchen for so long without ever thinking of stealing spirit stones, yet he has already thought of it.
Stealing High-Grade Spirit Stones? This seemed like a way to acquire High-Grade Spirit Stones. Otherwise, even using Low-Grade Spirit Stones made it difficult to exchange for High-Grade Spirit Stones.
"If we refit it into a multi-level magic array, it requires recalculation and takes time," Mo Caihuan said.
"Then don't waste time. Hurry and get it done before the young lady still has feelings for you," Food Immortal said.
After that, every time she saw Chen Bufei, Mo Caihuan pitied him even more, toyed with in the palm of her fiancé's hand. As for facing Chu Fangfang's flattery, it made Mo Caihuan's hair stand on end.
After all, she was not a pet dog and would not unconditionally trust her feeder simply because of their gentleness.
"Perhaps I should thank Chu Fangfang for making me realize that I am merely a mortal, who fancied she could control cultivators, only to unknowingly become a plaything in the hands of cultivators without even realizing it," Mo Caihuan said.
"Then do you have any other alternatives?" Food Immortal asked.
Mo Caihuan gave a bitter smile. "Whether playing the pet or the clown, cultivators at least still need me to provide emotional value, and I can still earn some money from them."
"You take what you need from each other. You are just a mortal, not a white lotus. Mortals do not equal good people, much less white lotus flowers. You have desires and ambitions as well, which is why you are standing here." Food Immortal criticized Mo Caihuan's mentality-viewing mortals as victims and white lotus flowers-from a cultivator's perspective.
In his view, mortals were merely weak, not kind.
Many people thought the weak were good, but that was obviously not the case. The Farmer and the Snake, Master Dongguo and the Wolf; the snake was frozen, the wolf hunted, and when they were found they were both very weak, yet they were not kind.
Food Immortal never considered mortals to be kind souls, as one could tell just by looking at Mo Caihuan.
Mo Caihuan gave a bitter smile. Mortals and cultivators stood on two different sides. "Thank you for your guidance, senior," she said.
"Heh, you're welcome. Let's still do it according to my plan: refit the Multi-Level Teleportation Gate. And also, make some money off that young lady, Chu Fangfang."
"Alright." Mo Caihuan stopped her wild thoughts and prepared to return to the Great Jin.
Earlier, she had already procured medicinal herbs and books through cultivators of the Confucianism Cultivation Method, and although she hadn't found the "Star Tear Cultivation Method", she was already able to go back.
She paid for the procurement expenses herself. As for why she had Low-Grade Spirit Stones, she simply claimed they were given by her master. She fabricated a mysterious master who came and went without a trace, leading everyone to believe she was a cultivator's disciple who merely lacked spiritual roots.
People assumed that Mohism was the ideological fruit of some great cultivation master, borrowing the guise of a disciple to spread it in the mortal world. Such things had happened before, so people didn't find it strange.
Therefore, when Mo Caihuan produced spirit stones, everyone understood them as pocket money given by her master.
Today, Mo Caihuan sought out Chu Fangfang and Chen Bufei, deciding to invite them to the Mo Kingdom.
"Why does younger sister's complexion look so solemn today?" Chu Fangfang wore a beige-long dress today, appearing youthful and bright.
"Apologies, but actually I've deceived you two about some things," Mo Caihuan said shamefacedly.
Chu Fangfang asked, "What is it? Younger sister must have had a reason to deceive us. As long as you honestly confess, I can forgive you."
Chen Bufei said, "Is it about your master? Rest assured on that count; we won't pry into his senior's affairs."
Mo Caihuan said, "It has a little to do with my master, but not much. I'm actually not a native of the Great Jin."
Chu Fangfang said with sudden realization, "No wonder I felt younger sister had a bit of an accent, thinking it was the dialect of some commandery-it turns out to be a foreign accent. Could younger sister hail from the Heavenly Lan Grassland?"
"No."
"That's true, the grassland couldn't nurture a tender maiden like younger sister. Could you be an overseas visitor?" There were also many mortals living on various islands off the coast of the Great Jin.
"Neither."
Chu Fangfang shook her head. "Then I can't guess it. Younger sister, tell us."
"I come from the Heavenly South."
"The Heavenly South?" Chen Bufei said immediately, "Impossible. Could your master be powerful enough to cross the Mulan Grasslands and the Heavenly Lan Grassland? That would at least make him a Nascent Soul expert, wouldn't it?" He was well-read and knew the general location of the Heavenly South.
Chu Fangfang thought for a moment and also realized that the Heavenly South was a place very far from the Great Jin, a journey that took mortals several decades to finish, while even a Nascent Soul powerhouse would have to fly for several years.
Mo Caihuan said, "This is what I wanted to tell the two of you, and I hope you won't be surprised."
"Go ahead," Chen Bufei said earnestly.
"Actually, my master and I arrived in the Great Jin through a Teleportation Gate, and now I'd like to ask you two to help reactivate the teleportation. Furthermore, I invite you both to go to the Heavenly South and enter the world." Mo Caihuan said, "Actually, I'm not a chef, I'm the Empress of the Mo Kingdom of the Heavenly South, and I invite you two to go to the Mo Kingdom to serve as ministers."
Chu Fangfang and Chen Bufei both wore expressions of shock, unable to accept it immediately.
"This is my lie. If you two are angry, I completely understand," Mo Caihuan said. "I'm merely a mortal, and to have received the help of you both, I really shouldn't have lied to you."
Chu Fangfang and Chen Bufei were not angry at all, seeing as they had lied too.
Chu Fangfang looked Mo Caihuan up and down, as if trying to find a trace of an empress's majesty amidst her fair skin, tall stature, dignified temperament, and soft, beautiful features. She truly couldn't find any; the chef's five flavors were much more prominent.
"Younger sister looks less like an empress and more like a master chef," Chu Fangfang bantered.
"Thank you for the compliment," Mo Caihuan said.
"While it wasn't teasing, you can't really call it a compliment either, can you?" Chu Fangfang said, puzzled.
"If you said I looked like an empress, it would mean I had detached myself from the common people and grown aloof. If I look like a chef, it means I can understand the trials and hardships of the common folk, and my way of thinking hasn't gone against the wishes of the people," Mo Caihuan said earnestly.
Chu Fangfang was startled. It was her first time seeing an emperor like this. Of course, the emperors she had seen were few-she had only laid eyes on the Great Jin Emperor once. The feeling was completely different; could Mo Caihuan be a legendary benevolent ruler? A feeling of heartfelt submission welled up within her.
Meanwhile, Chen Bufei was still pondering the matter of the Teleportation Gate, and he said, "You mean there is an intact Teleportation Gate between the Heavenly South and the Great Jin? But as far as I know, communication between the two places has been cut off for thousands of years, with only occasional information flowing through."
"That was because a Righteous-Demonic War broke out in the Heavenly South thousands of years ago, and the Teleportation Gate was destroyed in the conflict. However, earlier I gathered over a thousand scholars of the Mo Kingdom to restore the dilapidated magic array together, and ultimately repaired it," Mo Caihuan said.
"Scholars can repair magic arrays?" Chen Bufei asked quizzically.
"Scholars of the Mo Kingdom don't just study Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism; they also study mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Although mortals cannot cultivate, they can still verify and calculate magic arrays," Mo Caihuan said. "The matter of the magic array is of great importance, and I hope the two of you can keep it confidential. Of course, I also know that once the Teleportation Gate is exposed, it could trigger a scramble from various parties. It would be better for your senior elders behind the scenes to take control of the Teleportation Gate on the Great Jin side."
Chu Fangfang turned serious as well. This was a Teleportation Gate, after all, and she knew full well that mastering one could completely build a power. If her master could control the Teleportation Gate, he wouldn't just be a rogue cultivator; he could entirely establish a city.
She couldn't help looking at Chen Bufei and saying, "Brother Chen, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime. If my master can control the Teleportation Gate, he will certainly rise to even greater heights. I hope you can bear to part with it." She secretly activated her restrictions, hoping the other party would agree.
"Sorry, no," Chen Bufei said.
Chu Fangfang was alarmed, because her restrictions had surprisingly failed; logically speaking, the other party should have obeyed her every command.
Chen Bufei said sincerely, "Sorry, I lied as well. Actually, your Cherish-the-Fragrant Restrictions didn't work at all."
The two beauties present were shocked simultaneously.