“Sizzle—”
The numbing, spicy, and aromatic flavors instantly erupted, making her cough twice, but her eyes sparkled brightly.
After stir-frying for a while longer, the fragrance grew increasingly rich. Seizing the perfect moment, Shen Ci poured in a pot of clear stream water and brought it to a boil over high heat.
While it simmered, she sliced the lotus root, potatoes, chicken thighs, noodles, and greens she had bought the day before, arranging them neatly on plates.
She then swallowed her saliva, pulled over a small stool, and sat waiting for the water to boil, her eyes fixed eagerly on the stove.
Before long, the red broth in the pot bubbled vigorously. The aroma of beef tallow blended with the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns and the spiciness of chili peppers, wafting wildly through the kitchen.
“Gurgle, gurgle—”
Shen Ci’s eyes lit up: “It’s bubbling—it’s ready!”
Just as she was about to add the ingredients, she suddenly remembered something and pulled out a culinary talisman from her bag to verify it.
“Huh?”
Why wasn’t the talisman reacting?
She tried another one, but it still showed no response.
“What’s going on?”
Shen Ci’s small face scrunched up in confusion, utterly baffled.
“I followed the recipe exactly! Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, beef tallow, spices… not a single step was wrong!”
“Why…”
No sooner had she spoken than the talisman seemed to understand her puzzlement. It slowly floated into the air and dissolved into four large characters:
“N—O—C—I—L—A—N—T—R—O.”
“Huh? What’s cilantro?”
She had never heard of it before.
Wait—the attic!
Clutching the jade pendant at her waist, Shen Ci focused her divine sense and slipped into the attic. She glanced around, muttering, “Cilantro, cilantro, where are you…”
Sure enough, in a corner of the attic’s first floor, she spotted the cilantro symbol, still dim and locked.
“It actually needs to be unlocked.”
She reached out and touched the symbol. A faint spiritual pattern emerged, accompanied by a few lines of small text:
Unlock Condition:
Reach the Great Perfection stage of Qi Refining to unlock all seals on the first floor.
Shen Ci rested her chin on her hand, as if understanding something. “So, every time I break through a major realm, I can unlock another floor?”
The attic had seven floors in total, corresponding to Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refining, and Ascension.
However, across the entire Central Continent, aside from a few legendary figures who had barely reached the Spirit Transformation stage—such as the previous sect leader of the Heaven Sword Sect—the most powerful cultivators only reached the Nascent Soul stage, like her biological father, Shen Rong, the sect leader of the Shangyun Sect.
As for Void Refining and beyond? No one even knew if such realms truly existed. And this attic… pointed directly to the secrets of Ascension!
Shen Ci’s heart raced as she gazed at the spiraling staircase:
Second floor: Unlocked at Foundation Establishment, where the faint shadow of a pill furnace could be glimpsed.
Third floor: Unlocked at Golden Core, with the echoes of sword resonance.
The fourth floor and above were shrouded in chaotic mist, revealing only faint spiritual light, their outlines indiscernible.
Her hand trembled slightly as she touched the jade pendant. “Could it be… that the original owner of this attic was an ancient immortal?”
Shen Ci recalled the strange encounters since her rebirth: first, stumbling upon a miraculous immortal fruit that granted her blood the power to revive withered wood, and then accidentally obtaining this jade pendant space…
But what had she, Shen Ci, done to deserve such favor from the heavens? She was merely an orphan despised by her parents and elder brother, abandoned by her Sect.
Though she had no cilantro for now, Shen Ci’s hotpot base was already mouthwateringly fragrant.
Exiting the space, she picked up a slice of meat as thin as a cicada’s wing, swished it in the red broth for three breaths, dipped it in sauce, and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Mmm!”
The numbing spiciness exploded on the tip of her tongue, while the soup brewed from Clear Stream water carried Spiritual Qi flowing down her throat, warming her entire body.
“Though there’s no cilantro… this is incredibly delicious!”
She was so moved she nearly cried.
“Right! Milk tea!”
The “Heavenly Record of Spiritual Cuisine” stated: “Hot pot and milk tea are the perfect winter pairing.”
Shen Ci scratched her head. She remembered the Cultivation World didn’t have distinct seasons—those who cultivated immortality weren’t much bothered by heat or cold.
But she had lived in the mortal world until she was six. She couldn’t imagine how blissful it would have been to eat hot pot during those freezing winters back then.
Without another word, Shen Ci took out the milk tea recipe: “Light a small fire, stir-fry tea leaves until fragrant, then pour in cow’s or goat’s milk…”
She followed the instructions. Compared to hot pot, milk tea was much simpler. Shen Ci stood on a small stool by the stove, stir-frying the tea leaves until they released a rich aroma, then poured in a pot of cow’s milk. As the milky liquid bubbled in the pot, she sprinkled in some osmanthus flowers and honey.
She pondered for a moment—in the future, she, Shen Ci, would open a food shop catering to cultivators. Ordinary fare wouldn’t do. The hot pot at least used Clear Stream water, but for the milk tea…
A spark of inspiration struck Shen Ci. She tossed a few Moon Glow Flowers into the pot. The moon-white petals melted upon contact with the heat, instantly making the entire pot of milk tea shimmer with starlight.
Carefully, she used another culinary talisman. “Ding!”
It finally gleamed with golden light!
Shen Ci eagerly ladled a bowl of milk tea, holding the bowl and taking a sip, “So fragrant.””
The gentle lunar energy soothed the heat from the hot pot, and Shen Ci felt the circulation of Spiritual Qi within her body become noticeably smoother.
Just as Shen Ci was gulping down the milk tea, suddenly—
“Bang!”
The kitchen door was violently thrown open, and a dark figure accompanied by an excited wolf howl burst in!
“Awooo~!”
“Ouch!”
She fell hard on her rear, half the milk tea in her bowl splashing out, the rest splattering all over the face of the suddenly appeared wolf-man.
“Awoo!”
Instead of getting angry, the wolf-man stuck out his tongue and frantically licked the milk tea off his cheeks, his fluffy tail wagging like a propeller:
“Delicious! More!”
Rubbing her head, Shen Ci looked up and noticed Mo Cheng standing at the doorway.
He was also dressed in snow-white robes today, his features sharp as a blade, an aura of cold solitude surrounding him. At this moment, he was tilting his head, staring at the wolf-man. Though his eyes were veiled with plain silk, Shen Ci could sense his exasperation:
“Xiao Lie, you’ve utterly disgraced me!”
The wolf-man paid no heed, instead lying on the ground lapping up the milk tea from the bowl, his fluffy ears twitching: “Mo Cheng, this is better than blood!”
Shen Ci: “…”
Well… this was just absurd.
She stood up and brushed off her skirt. “Senior, there’s plenty in the pot. No need… to drink from the floor.”
As she spoke, she ladled another bowl for him. Xiao Lie’s eyes lit up strikingly at the sight of the full pot of milk tea.
When he tilted his head back to drain his eighteenth bowl and slammed the empty bowl onto the stone table,
“Refill!”
Shen Ci’s hand holding the ladle trembled slightly: “…Senior, this is the last bowl.”
The wolf ears drooped instantly, his pupils glistening with moisture: “But you said there was plenty just now…”
She suspected this guy wasn’t a wolf but a gluttonous beast!
But she couldn’t afford to offend him.
“Um, Senior, I made something else too.”
No sooner had she spoken than she saw Xiao Lie’s previously drooping ears perk right up.
And so…
Shen Ci then brewed another pot of milk tea and moved the hotpot to the courtyard, where the three of them sat around the stone table.
Mo Cheng’s chopsticks suddenly sliced through the air, smacking down on Xiao Lie’s claw as it reached for the hotpot. With a faint smile and a gentle voice, he said:
“Reach again, and I’ll stew you in the pot.”