"My Lu Clan Imitation Fist is vast and profound, far beyond what someone with a Bachelor Spiritual Root like yours could ever comprehend."
"As the old saying goes, the heavens are nine levels high and the earth nine levels deep; the Lu Clan Imitation Fist likewise has nine distinct tiers."
"Right now, I have only just barely reached the first tier. Once my cultivation reaches deeper depths, I will be able to acquire the strength, spells, and even cultivation of whatever I transform into! If in future days I attain the ninth heaven, with a single thought I could become a Tribulation Transcendence grandmaster—suppressing Eldest Senior Sister would be child's play!"
Lu Yang spoke with immense smugness, so much that Man Gu took it as gospel truth. Man Gu quietly asked Meng Jingzhou, "Is what Brother Lu said true?"
Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. "True, my ass! Anyone can tell it's total nonsense. If you like listening to that sort of thing, I can make up eight different versions for you."
Man Gu gave an understanding "oh," marveling at how formidable Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were at casually spinning lies off the top of their heads.
Several days had passed since Lu Yang gave Imitation Fist its new meaning. With each passing day, more customers arrived. Some, dining in high spirits, even tipped spirit stones.
"Didn't we raise our prices? Why are there still so many people?" Lu Yang gritted his teeth. Just yesterday, the largest restaurant in Yanjiang Commandery had even offered to buy their recipe.
He was the only one gnashing his teeth; Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu were both quite delighted.
Today was Man Gu's turn to head upstairs to watch Qin Yuanhao, while Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou worked downstairs as waiters.
Holding back his urge to perform cross-talk comedy, Meng Jingzhou sent a voice transmission: "I heard that a few days ago, one table of guests were cultivators. After eating, they were full of praise, claiming our food tastes better than what any spiritual chef they know makes."
"Just like that, word spread from ten to a hundred, and now tons of cultivators know about our restaurant."
Though Dao Seeking Sect had mountains full of spiritual chefs, in reality, spiritual chefs were an exceedingly niche type of cultivator. In Yanjiang Commandery, one could count them on the fingers of a single hand, and most were only at the Qi Refinement stage, with just one at Foundation Establishment.
Spiritual chefs emphasized the mutual generation of the Five Elements, producing food that was both delicious and capable of boosting cultivation, uniting both effects into one.
Man Gu's skewers certainly couldn't boost cultivation, but their great advantage lay in how delicious they were. The cultivators of Yanjiang Commandery figured that since they couldn't get spiritual chefs' food to raise their cultivation, couldn't they at least eat skewers that tasted even better than a spiritual chef's cooking?
Even at ten times the price of ordinary skewers, to cultivators it was an absolute bargain.
"We've gained a bit of fame among Yanjiang Commandery's upper-middle class, and lots of ordinary folks who don't lack money are jumping on the bandwagon to dine here, treating it like bragging rights. Promoting our business model across the whole continent is just around the corner! Aren't you thrilled?"
"Thrilled, my hammer," Lu Yang rolled his eyes, turning to welcome a new batch of customers.
"Boss, the ground floor is packed. Can't we go upstairs to the second floor?" a customer asked, noticing the lights on upstairs and thinking it seemed like a good spot.
"The second floor is undergoing renovations and isn't open to guests. Please forgive us," Lu Yang replied. Even though he had no intention of turning this barbecue joint into a grand enterprise, he still focused on his duties as a waiter without slacking off.
Left with no choice, the customers dutifully went to line up at the back of the queue.
"Haha, finally our turn! Boss, I've brought the boys back again!"
Several government officers clad in black civilian clothes arrived at the barbecue shop. Waist tokens indicating their status and long sabers hung at their hips, radiating an imposing aura of authority.
The people queuing behind them were reluctant to stand too close, feeling an innate psychological dread.
"Constable Wei, you're here," Lu Yang greeted with a smile, seemingly quite familiar with them.
These men were constables of Yanjiang Commandery. The man in the lead was surnamed Wei, bearded and carrying himself with tremendous presence. People called him the "Iron-Faced Constable." His cultivation was not low, sitting firmly in the Foundation Establishment stage. Not only street thugs and scoundrels, but even demonic cultists avoided dealing with them, terrified of being targeted and dragging a mountain of trouble upon themselves.
The constables behind him were no ordinary mortals either, the lowest among them being at the sixth level of Qi Refinement.
In a cultivation world, one couldn't be a constable without some cultivation under their belt.
This was already Constable Wei's fourth visit. Back and forth over time, Lu Yang had grown quite familiar with him.
Originally, some individuals had tried to cut the queue relying on their status or superior cultivation, but upon learning that Constable Wei often came here for late-night snacks, they no longer dared to throw their weight around.
"We just finished our shift and handed over, so I brought the boys here for skewers. Gotta say, your skewers really are something special—once you've had a bite, you can never forget it." Constable Wei smacked his lips, salivating at the mere thought of the shop's skewers.
"Public service isn't easy, pulling a night shift every two days," Lu Yang remarked sympathetically as he led them to a private room.
Once inside the private room, Constable Wei and his men took off their outer coats.
"Sigh, it's a headache just talking about it. Who knows what's going on lately, but plenty of cultivators have poured into Yanjiang Commandery, and none of them look like decent folk. It's putting tremendous strain on public security."
"The commandery governor issued repeated orders that no chaos can be allowed. Having no choice, I have to lead the boys on extra patrols. Once we're done patrolling, I bring them here to treat them."
Seeing that Lu Yang was quite busy, Constable Wei didn't dwell on small talk and began ordering.
"The usual set from last time?" Lu Yang asked. For his first three visits, Constable Wei had ordered the exact same skewers.
"Let's get something fresh this time. I wanted to try them last visit, but the boys held me back. Give us ten skewers of grilled eyes, ten skewers of grilled silkworm chrysalises, and ten skewers of centipedes." Constable Wei told Lu Yang to hurry and prepare them, giving his men no chance to object.
A chorus of groans rose from his men. None of those sounded like anything fit for human consumption.
"Look at you lot, so pampered and soft! Just wait until I take you into the wilderness on a half-month mission without Fasting Pills—let's see what you eat then!"
Once the good wine and skewers arrived, Constable Wei and the others dug in heartily, eating with tremendous relish.
As the food and drink put them in high spirits, a few of the men began airing their grievances, grumbling and cursing.
"Dammit, that gang of thieving rats running around lately is slick as grease. They didn't leave behind a single clue."
"It's definitely the work of cultivators. Otherwise, even veteran thieves couldn't pull it off so cleanly."
"My guess is it's those out-of-town cultivators."
"Once we catch those bastards, I'm personally going to whip them eighty to a hundred times, then toss them into the water dungeon!"
With the thieves stirring up trouble and remaining uncaught, Constable Wei had lost considerable face. "The commandery governor ordered me to crack this case within a month! If he's so capable, why doesn't he do it himself?! Today, that bunch of little thieves hit both the wealthy Li and Lü households. Master Li is even related to the governor. Tomorrow the governor is bound to press me on this again."
In the adjoining private room:
A guest who looked like a gang leader laid today's haul out on the dining table: "Today's job was well worth it. Same old rule: I take forty percent, and the rest is split evenly among the brothers."
The brothers beamed with joy; today was truly a bumper harvest. "Before coming here, I heard all about how terrifying Constable Wei was, dubbed the 'Iron-Faced Constable' and all that. Looking at him now, he's nothing special—he can't even eat our farts!"
"Now that's just too cruel. At the very least, the man can eat our farts."
"Those Li and Lü families sure are wealthy, especially that fellow surnamed Ma—not much cultivation, but plenty of good stuff."
"Come, come, eat and drink to your heart's content today! It's my treat, and nobody's allowed to dispel the alcohol with cultivation! Today, we brothers drink until we drop!"
The thieves drank with wild abandon. One of them stepped out to use the latrine, but on his way back, he accidentally took a wrong turn and barged into Constable Wei's room.
"Ugh... Big Brother, how come you guys changed your looks? And got uglier, too?"
"Where did this drunken lunatic come from? Scram, scram, scram!" one constable snapped impatiently. They were already racking their brains over where to catch the thieves, and now some drunkard was causing trouble.
The man flew into a rage and moved to strike, but how could he be a match for a roomful of constables? In a matter of seconds, they tossed him out.
The constables could tell the man had some cultivation, but paid it no mind, returning to their drinking and complaining.
Feeling wronged, the man returned to his own room to complain to the boss.
The thieves were already dead drunk. Hearing that one of their brothers had been bullied, the booze rushed straight to their heads. The boss was particularly fiercely loyal; slamming his hand on the table, he declared arrogantly: "Well, well! Daring to walk all over me? Go tell next door: if they've got the balls, come right over here! Whoever doesn't show is a coward!"
Chapter 60