The Fairy's Kitchen

Lu Yang could not help but recall the immortal treasures held by the Immortal Cult: The Yellow Millet Pillow. A toothpick. Poisoned chopsticks. Aged vinegar. A bedsheet. A plate. It truly looked as though someone had stumbled into a kitchen and made off with whatever they could grab. Their power went without saying—they certainly lived up to the name of immortal treasures—yet their origins were truly beyond words. "As a chef, what I hate most is people barging into the kitchen and interrupting my cooking. You understand the feeling, don't you?" the Immortal Fairy asked Lu Yang. As a roadside barbecue master, he was practically in the same trade as her, so he ought to relate. Lu Yang wanted to point out that a roadside grill vendor had no kitchen to speak of, but considering the unpredictable consequences of disagreeing with the Immortal Fairy, he could only nod against his conscience. "I do." Delighted to find someone who sympathized with her, the Immortal Fairy then sighed. "To think that even after I shut the door, someone still broke in. Logically, that shouldn't have been possible." "Aside from you, Fairy, could anyone else open this door?" Lu Yang suspected that the mastermind behind the scenes had secretly opened the door back then, allowing the founding cult master to take a few treasures to serve as the Immortal Cult's sacred relics. "Immortal Ying Tian and the other three could. I was worried they'd grow impatient waiting for my meals, so I told all of them how to open it." "Still, they were too polite—not a single one of them ever came in." Yun Zhi shook her head in secret. The seal placed by the Immortal Fairy was not difficult to break; given enough time, any celestial could decipher how to open it. How strong could the seal on a kitchen possibly be? Without doing anything elaborate, the Immortal Fairy simply stood before the entrance. The arcane symbols dispersed on their own, and the door swung open, revealing the true celestial ruins—the fairy's kitchen. This was likely the first celestial ruin ever opened in history, an event of immense significance. Befitting the sole celestial chef, her kitchen was spotless and brightly lit, completely free of stains, likely maintained by dust-clearing formations. Once they entered, the door shut behind them, cutting off the outside light. The light of immortality illuminated the room. "It's so quiet. It feels completely severed from the outside world." "Hehe, that's thanks to the soundproofing array I set up! When I prep ingredients, they're always screaming and screeching, disturbing the guests. So I laid down a soundproofing array and a divine-sense barrier, making it impossible for the outside world to peer inside." Lu Yang wore an odd expression. No matter how one looked at it, this sounded like a soundproofed murder room. "Do not touch anything in the kitchen. It is very dangerous for you," Yun Zhi warned, knowing Lu Yang was intensely curious and deliberately cautioning him. Hearing this, Lu Yang hastily pulled back his outstretched hand. These were all items used by a celestial; the stray aura emanating from any random object could crush him to dust. With Yun Zhi present, he could naturally be saved, but it was hardly an experience worth having. The Immortal Fairy scoffed at the caution, full of confidence. "Oh, come on, it's fine! With this immortal protecting Lu Yang, what could possibly happen?" Hearing that, Lu Yang's restless curiosity settled down. "Speaking of which, Fairy, why were the Yellow Millet Pillow and a bedsheet in your kitchen?" Lu Yang remembered two of the Immortal Cult's great treasures, which had no business being in a kitchen. The Immortal Fairy took it as a matter of course. "That's completely normal, isn't it? I love cooking, and I love sleeping. When I wake up, I research new recipes; when I tire from cooking, I lie down to sleep. In such a virtuous cycle, both my culinary skills and my sleeping prowess improved by leaps and bounds!" As she spoke, she gestured toward the heavens, mimicking a soaring ascent. "Immortal Jiuchong even urged me not to push myself so hard in the kitchen every single day, saying there was no end to the culinary path and that I should go out for a walk." "Outsiders might think it looked exhausting, but I found it quite relaxing." "...Is there a chance," Lu Yang ventured, "that Immortal Jiuchong wasn't worried about you being tired, but simply didn't want you to keep researching your cooking?" The Immortal Fairy looked astonished. "Why would that be? Whenever I invented a new dish, I always had them taste it first!" Yun Zhi spotted a collection of bottles and jars in the corner of the kitchen. She casually lifted the lid off one of them. A pungent stench shot straight toward her crown, so shocking that she almost thought she was under attack and nearly struck out with a palm strike. "Senior, what is this?" Yun Zhi asked, pointing to the red liquid inside the jade bottle. "Chili oil! Haven't you seen it before? I remember there's hot pot in the Dao Seeking Sect, isn't there?" Yun Zhi fell silent. Of course she knew what chili oil was, but chili oil potent enough to trigger her combat reflexes was a first. An eye-opening experience indeed. Lu Yang was even more stunned. What kind of chili oil could remain preserved for three hundred thousand years? "I refined this chili oil using countless heavenly treasures and gathering the essences of the sun, moon, and stars!" The Immortal Fairy tapped the side of the bottle. "Look at this bottle. I had to seek out numerous artifact-crafting grandmasters just to forge a magic treasure capable of holding this chili oil!" "And getting back to the chili oil itself—don't look down on it just because it seems ordinary, no different from regular chili oil. Add just a few drops while stir-frying, and it elevates the dish to an entirely new level!" "What's more, my chili oil can detect lies! I didn't realize it had that property when I refined it; it must have come about by pure fluke." "How so?" "Immortal Kirin loves spicy food. When I heard about that, I invited him over as a guest and specially added a few drops of chili oil to his meal, while leaving none in the dishes for Immortal Ying Tian and the others." "After just a few bites, Immortal Kirin waved his hands frantically, insisting that he actually hated spicy food and begging me to cook another dish." "Let me tell you, this immortal's culinary skill is universally acclaimed! Even before I attained immortality, I was wildly popular. Immortal Jiuchong, for instance, asked me to cook for him multiple times!" Lu Yang was dumbfounded. Immortal Jiuchong truly was worthy of being the first to attain immortality—what grand magnanimity! His sheer courage alone far surpassed the likes of Immortal Ying Tian. "Really? Something like that happened?" "Of course! That was the first time I ever cooked for Immortal Jiuchong. After tasting it, his expression changed drastically, as if he'd witnessed a divine miracle, and he told me I had a great future ahead of me!" The Immortal Fairy spoke with vibrant enthusiasm. Originally, she had not been particularly confident in her cooking, but that incident gave her tremendous faith, spurring her to venture further and further down the path of a celestial chef until she reached unprecedented, insurmountable heights—a master revered by spiritual chefs through the ages. Alas, she had died early; otherwise, she would have long since become the ancestral patriarch of spiritual chefs, worshipped and offered incense by mortals. At celestials' gatherings, she often brought this story up, making a point to thank Immortal Jiuchong for his support. Whenever the other celestials heard it, they always gave Immortal Jiuchong knowing, benevolent smiles. Lu Yang wore an odd look. "Did Immortal Jiuchong truly say that?" The Immortal Fairy planted her hands on her hips, pouted, and knitted her delicate brows, displeased by Lu Yang's skepticism. "When has this immortal ever lied to you?" "A few days later, he came to me and asked me to cook another meal for him so he could take it to go. I asked him what he needed it for, but he dodged the question, muttering something about 'the prisoner's mouth is too tough; every torture has failed to make him confess, so we need to resort to unconventional methods.'"