Squeeze the Old Man for Every Coin

"Mm... smells wonderful."

He had merely stood before the earthenware jar and sniffed through the lotus leaf sealing its mouth.

Already, Chen Ping felt an intoxicating fragrance enter his nostrils and rush through his organs, as though all thirty-six thousand pores on his body had opened in response.

[Food prepared: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall]

[Preparation time: three days]

[Final score: 7]

[Analysis: a rich, velvety broth, a full-bodied flavor, an enticing aroma, tender and fresh on the tongue, and a silky texture. A rare delicacy.]

[Effects: slightly increases strength, slightly increases vitality, slightly increases the concentration of blood energy after consumption.]

[Evaluation: congratulations. With this jar of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, you have begun to touch upon the truest essence of ingredients, rising beyond the realm of an ordinary cook.]

[Perhaps many culinary prodigies were born with this ability, but for you, this is already a respectable achievement.]

Even Chen Ping could not help being startled when he saw that long string of text.

This was the first time he had seen an "Effects" entry in his food evaluation.

If he remembered correctly, special effects such as increased strength or a higher concentration of blood energy should only have been available from dishes made with Soul Beast meat.

And even then, dishes made with Soul Beast meat offered only one effect at most. Yet the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Chen Ping had prepared actually produced three different effects at once?

Although the system's text said that all those improvements were only "slight," so what?

A mosquito's leg might be tiny, but it was still fucking meat!

At that moment, Chen Ping had only one thought: this truly lived up to being a delicacy that had taken eighteen rare ingredients and three days of work to prepare.

Even without Soul Beast meat, slow simmering had produced effects almost on par with dishes made from it.

Did that mean he could charge even more for his Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?

Looking at the four jars of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall before him, Chen Ping felt a surge of ambition.

Surely he could rake in a hundred, or even several hundred, Gold Soul Coins a month with this.

Bang!

Just as Chen Ping was imagining a wonderful future of making a fortune every day from Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, a tremendous crash rang out, making him whip his head around in alarm.

The next moment, the already flimsy door creaked and toppled over, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Holy shit!

Chen Ping nearly pissed himself from the fright.

Wasn't this inside Shrek City? Why was someone kicking doors down?

Or was Teacher Wang Yan actually a massive embezzler, and his scheme of siphoning off Shrek's funds to line his own pockets had finally been exposed?

Countless thoughts flashed through Chen Ping's mind, but his hands did not slow.

As he summoned the Touch Dragon Staff, he discreetly lifted a pot of hot oil with his other hand and placed it beside him.

"Stop fishing out your key. I can already smell what's inside. Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

As the dust gradually cleared, a shabbily dressed old man withdrew the stinking foot he had used to kick down the door and waved for Wang Yan to put away his key.

Then the old man twitched his nose a few times and drifted straight over to Chen Ping, following the scent.

"You're Wang Yan's distant nephew?"

The old man sidled up to Chen Ping with a beaming smile, sniffed carefully, and revealed a satisfied expression.

Taking in the man's greasy grayish-brown clothes and disheveled appearance, Chen Ping immediately guessed who he was. He breathed a sigh of relief, returned the pot of oil to its original place, and withdrew his Martial Soul.

"Chen Ping, let me introduce you. This is Elder Xuan Zi, one of our Shrek Academy's senior elders... just think of him as an elder of mine."

"Elder Xuan Zi, this boy is Chen Ping, the one I told you about earlier."

Wang Yan stepped forward and introduced them to each other.

Chen Ping had never expected that tonight's dinner would be more than a meal between uncle and nephew. Xuan Zi, that honorary grand elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, had come along too.

This old fellow's unreliability was a reputation that thundered in Chen Ping's ears.

The first time he acted, he got eight Inner Court disciples killed. The second time, he nearly wiped out both the old and new generations of the Shrek Seven Devils.

Faced with such a dangerous man, Chen Ping had instinctively swallowed the moment he guessed his identity.

"Hello, Elder Xuan Zi."

Although he was deeply wary of Xuan Zi, he still had to show Wang Yan some respect, so he greeted Xuan Zi very politely.

Ultimately, however fucking unreliable Xuan Zi was, he had not screwed Chen Ping over yet. Keeping a little extra vigilance in his heart would suffice; there was no need to keep him at arm's length.

"Mm-hmm, hello, hello. It would be even better if we could eat right now."

With Chen Ping blocking his way into the kitchen, Xuan Zi craned his neck to look at the four earthenware jars inside, his eyes practically glowing.

Naturally, Xuan Zi did not know the dish's name.

But he had been so impatient that he could not even wait for Wang Yan to unlock the door, instead kicking it down to pursue the fragrance. That alone proved Buddha Jumps Over the Wall lived up to its name.

"Well..."

Chen Ping hesitated. All four jars of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall had been accounted for: one each for himself and Wang Yan, while he had originally planned to give the remaining two to Bei Bei and Tang Ya.

Repaying kindness was a basic principle of being a decent person, and Chen Ping understood that much.

Fortunately, Chen Ping generally disliked going around talking about things before he had accomplished them, so he had not mentioned this to Bei Bei or Tang Ya. Using those two jars to entertain Elder Xuan Zi first was not out of the question.

Unfortunately, Bei Bei and little Ya would have to wait a few more days to enjoy this treat.

Chen Ping brought out three jars of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Barely had he set them on the dining table when Elder Xuan Zi reached out with his big, greasy hand, pulled one of the jars in front of himself without fearing the heat, and tore off its lotus leaf seal.

The next instant, an extraordinarily rich fragrance surged upward, almost forming a tangible mist. The aromas of all those different ingredients had now melded into a single savory fragrance that conquered everyone present almost instantly.

Wang Yan was a little more reserved. He restrained himself long enough to accept the chopsticks from Chen Ping and tear open the lotus leaf before picking up an abalone and tasting it, irrepressible admiration shining in his eyes.

Elder Xuan Zi, on the other hand, observed no such niceties. Even his normally cloudy eyes instantly became clear.

With a curl of his finger, the sea cucumber, winter bamboo shoots, and pigeon eggs in the jar actually followed the broth, flying into Elder Xuan Zi's mouth in a line.

Only when he could fit nothing more into his mouth did Elder Xuan Zi snap his great jaws shut. He chewed a few times, then gulped down nearly half a jin of ingredients in a single swallow.

Chen Ping stared, dumbfounded. As expected of someone with the Godly Taotie Bull Martial Soul, his way of eating really was different from that of ordinary people!

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"

After swallowing the food, Elder Xuan Zi closed his eyes, seemingly still savoring it.

Only after the distinct layers of lingering flavor in his mouth gradually faded did he finally speak, offering those three exclamations of praise.

"What is this dish called?"

Elder Xuan Zi opened his eyes again and studied Chen Ping carefully, growing more satisfied the longer he looked.

"Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

"What a fine Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

Elder Xuan Zi nodded, thoroughly approving of the name. "Boy, how about I supply the ingredients and you make this dish for me from now on? As for your payment, just name your price."

At those words, Chen Ping suddenly felt as though, just when mountain upon mountain and winding waters seemed to leave no path forward, everything had fallen into his lap without the slightest effort.

That's right. Instead of selling Buddha Jumps Over the Wall to the academy's rich boys and girls, why not make money straight from the old man?

Even young women who livestream knew old men could be squeezed for serious cash, and this one was a genuinely wealthy old man!