As time went by Cheng Yuan lost his earlier reserved display and grew more comfortable as he dug into the remaining dishes with Yang Qing. They chatted and laughed as they enjoyed their meal together like two old friends though with the disparity in how they looked it looked more like a grandfather and his grandson.
Cheng Yuan was shocked to discover as he ate the different dishes that they were all made of ingredients that were at the peak of the foundation realm. He couldn't help but wonder about the identity of the owner of the restaurant. From the red starlight wood which just a single log would cost over a thousand mid-tier spirit stones to the chef who was half step into the palace realm and now the ingredients which were all in the foundation realm, he couldn't help but wonder if the owner was a member of the Order.
"No member of the Order owns any business establishment within these grounds. To reduce the risk of infighting and competition for such a prime location, all members of the Order are prohibited from owning a business here. Every single owner is an outsider who had to pass a few tests here and there to prove they were upright individuals and had a certain level of capability," Yang Qing said as if he read his thoughts.
"Does Yang Qing read minds?" Cheng Yuan couldn't help but shiver in fear when that thought crossed his mind as he stared wearily at Yang Qing.
"I don't read minds either," Yang Qing said with a playful smile as they went on to the penultimate dish of the dim sum which was the steamed lotus root stuffed with sticky sweet rice. Yang Qing showed an excited voracious expression that had been raised a notch when it came to this dish. His reaction was much more exaggerated than when he was about to eat the other dishes. Cheng Yuan couldn't help but wonder what was special about this dish. It looked just like a regular dish nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was yellow with some hints of white on the base like it had been sprinkled with snow and below the stuffed lotus roots was a red-brown thick sauce which Cheng Yuan assumed was made of sky wolf berries and jujubes.
What he did find weird was even after Yang Qing had picked the plate from the tray and placed it on the table there was absolutely no scent coming from it. The plate may have very well been bare. He couldn't help but find it suspect.
"You're in for a treat Cheng Yuan. This steamed lotus root stuffed with sweet sticky rice was made by someone who is close to the level of the chef who brewed the oolong tea. Though she is younger and in the middle stages of the core formation realm she has already started walking her path. It's still in the early stages though but it is something interesting. Her dishes would be more beneficial to you than the oolong tea since she is closer to your rank than Jiang Fu. It's easier for you to grasp some concepts. The best part is this dish is really delicious." Yang Qing said in excitement as he quickly fished out two small bowls faster than Cheng Yuan's eyes could follow. He split the soup between the two bowls and then started dipping the steamed lotus root in his own soup as he gently chewed it.
"Mmmmm," Yang Qing couldn't help but groan in pleasure when he chewed on it.
"Qi Shan you've really outdone yourself this time," Yang Qing muttered as he quickly grabbed another steamed lotus root. Cheng Yuan seeing Yang Qing's reaction got curious and hurriedly dipped his in the soup before he chewed on it.
Boom
The taste and even the scent exploded instantaneously. Cheng Yuan had never thought he could taste scent but here he was doing exactly that. His tongue tasted the flavors and the smell of the steamed lotus root stuffed with sweet sticky rice. They didn't overwhelm each other but instead complemented each other pushing the dish to a higher level. The dish was soft that just the movement of the tongue would dissolve it and had a sweet flavor accompanying it which was later complemented with a hint of sourness from the wolfberry soup. Even though the dish were mixed together the dishes managed to maintain their individuality which was perfectly used to add to each other and form a revolving balance of taste, flavor, and scent.
Cheng Yuan felt his qi circulate automatically using his cultivation technique the green water light saturation sutra. With each completed revolving cycle his operation of the technique became smoother and quicker. He was shocked as he had been using this technique ever since he established his foundation more than 80 years ago but in all his time using it he had never felt as familiar with it as he did now. It felt like the cultivation sutra was adjusting itself to suit his body and not the other way around, which was why his qi circulation currently felt more natural to him than he had ever felt before. His qi was boiling and felt more alive than ever, his whole body even seemed rosier and younger.
After a few minutes, his qi calmed down as it flowed at a gentle pace like a slow river. He blew out turbid qi from his mouth before his face froze n fright. He had forgotten where he was for a moment and did what he did instinctively in his own abode after a cultivation session. Blowing out turbid qi was like farting for cultivators and here he was doing it absentmindedly in front of a judge in a classy restaurant. He hurriedly tried to suck it back in but it was too late, it was already out. He stared nervously at Yang Qing's reaction as he prepared to be slapped to death but what he waited for never happened.
"Maybe my turbid qi isn't that bad and there was that aroma from the lotus root that may have drowned it out. Saaaaaaafe." Cheng Yuan silently thought to himself as he gently stroked his beard with a relaxed expression.
"There are isolation arrays built specifically for targeting turbid qi which is why it didn't reach me. Due to the quality of the food here and those even weaker than yourself eating here, a reaction like yours isn't that uncommon. To help preserve the dining experience the restaurant commissioned a formation master to carve turbid qi isolation arrays below each chair and table around this restaurant. I don't know why you had a smug expression like your turbid qi was roses here." Yang Qing couldn't help but snidely remark once he saw the prideful look Cheng Yuan was having before he went back to eating.
Cheng Yuan's face flushed red in embarrassment as he tried to bury his head in the small bowl like Zhang Qingge at the other table. After a quarter of an hour, the last of the dish of the dim sum was finished. It was the yellow radiance egg tarts. Cheng Yuan felt his body filled with bursting energy due to the high quality of the ingredients and the technique used to create the dishes. He would need to go into short closed-door cultivation to fully digest that energy and the other fruits of realization he had harvested from them. He couldn't wait to get this case over with and head back to the sect. He felt he would breakthrough to the sixth stage in the core formation realm in one go.
Cao Ying came and cleared the food tray and the last of the plate leaving only the parasol teapot at the table. Yang Qing poured the final cup for himself.
"In your current blotted state drinking the tea would be detrimental. It would drown out your other harvests." Yang Qing patiently explained which Cheng Yuan understood as he felt if he dared drink that oolong tea the fragile balance of thought and energy in his body would be broken and he knew the real reason which Yang Qing was kind enough not to say out loud was he wasn't talented enough to swallow all the harvest at once. He would have to sacrifice one for the other. The insights from the steamed lotus roots were much more beneficial to his current state than how much he could glean from the oolong tea.
Cao Ying came later to give the bill which was at a whopping 3,500 mid-tier spirit stones which left Cheng Yuan the penny pincher with a gaping mouth full of shock. This was just the bill for a single meal. He couldn't believe it as he used that same amount to maintain the formations at the lecture halls and inner sect disciples' courtyards for a month. His eyes were green in envy. Mid-tier spirit stones had fewer impurities and multiple levels of stored energy than the low-tier spirit stones. Cultivators at the core formation stage and even those in the palace realm could use them to speed up their cultivation as opposed to drawing qi from the environment. Just a single mid-tier spirit stone could power a dozen low-tier formation arrays so it was easy to imagine how valuable mid-tier spirit stones were.
In the blue origin planet the value of a spirit stone was as follows;
1 mid-tier spirit stone= 1,000 low-tier spirit stones
I high-tier spirit stone= 100 mid-tier spirit stones
Yang Qing ignored Cheng Yuan's look which looked like he wished he could pull Yang Qing aside by the ear and give him a lecture on the importance of not squandering mid-tier spirit stones. He pulled out a black jade talisman from his robe. The jade was palm-sized and rectangular in shape with a few golden symbols that Cheng Yuan couldn't recognize. From what he could deduce the jade looked like a special kind of storage treasure.
"Deduct 2,500 spirit stones from here and the balance Dai Chen will cover it," Yang Qing said as he pointed behind him. Cao Ying nodded as he took the black jade and went over to Dai Chen's table where he was given a similar-looking black jade talisman by Kang Huilang who was grieving as he handed it over. Cao Ying then disappeared to a room upstairs then came back and handed the talismans to Yang Qing first and then to Kang Huilang. As Cao Ying was passing by to head to the kitchen Yang Qing called him over and handed him 10 mid-tier spirit stones which caused Cheng Yuan to almost rupture the capillaries in his eyes.
"All the best as you return to the institute Cao Ying," Yang Qing said as he patted his back to which Cao Ying responded by smiling and offering a bow of gratitude.
"I guess I'll have to go to the institute and tell them to send the kid my way when his work experience period comes up." Yang Qing silently thought to himself as he prepared to get up and leave.
"You couldn't be thinking of leaving without saying hi, young master Yang Qing?" a short stout man with brown short hair and a gruff beard said as he came out of the kitchen.