Chapter 31: Cat out of the bag

After Wei Chen agreed to Mo Xingyao’s offer, he said his goodbyes and parted ways with Jian Xiaoyao’s group. They had other matters to attend to in Thousand Treasure City, such as purchasing a batch of U-Phones for their sect and looking for cultivation resources.

In the upper district stood the most eye-catching building in sight. It looked far more opulent and much larger than the surrounding structures. The wood used to build it seemed more like stone than actual wood.

Wei Chen wasn’t a craftsman, so he had no idea what kind of material it was made from, but one thing he was certain of, it must have cost a lot fortune. And by a lot, he meant a very, very lot.

The building was a mix of wooden structures and blue bricks. Wei Chen had no idea what kind of brick it was, but it looked far more pleasing to the eye than the ones he had seen in large buildings back in his previous world when he visited China to enjoy the scenery.

The Chinese-style architecture appeared grand and opulent. The sign in front of the entrance was engraved with the words “Thousand Treasure Pavilion.” Each character looked bold and commanding, and compromised with no one, clearly showing that this place belonged to the demonic path.

From this mountaintop, one could see the surrounding lands stretching for hundreds of kilometers.

“Damn, this place is over the top,” Wei Chen muttered. The feeling he had was the same as when he first visited Fanjingshan Temple. The view back then had been unforgettable, but this place was even larger and more majestic, with a cliff so vast that an entire city could be built upon it.

While Wei Chen was admiring the view and the grand building, a maid servant came out through the crowd of people entering and leaving the pavilion to greet him.

“Hello, Mr. Wei. The Young Mistress has invited you to meet her. Please follow this servant,” the maid said with a polite bow.

“Oh, okay,” Wei Chen replied and followed her inside.

As he walked through the building, he noticed many halls and rooms used for trade and meetings. Some rooms were designed to display various kinds of merchandise, and he even saw spirit beasts kept in cages.

To him, the place felt like a shopping mall that also served as a trade center and exhibition hall. It was a combination of a marketplace, a conference building, and a showroom all in one.

The higher floors were filled with offices, most of them staffed by mortals. After asking the maid, he learned that these mortals also lived here, with their dormitories located in smaller buildings nearby.

He also found out that Mo Xingyao was surprisingly kind. The maid mentioned that she allowed her mortal employees to take a leave once a year to visit their families with the help of their flying ark.

Considering how vast this world was, that privilege was quite generous. Traveling between prefectures could take as long as traveling between the United States and China, so the distance was enormous.

While Wei Chen was lost in thought, they reached the topmost floor using an elevator powered by spirit stones.

Passing through the double doors, he entered Mo Xingyao’s office. The room was large and luxurious, but it also had a touch of personality that showed it was where she spent most of her time. One corner had a tea table, several half-read books, and snacks that were only half-eaten. Sitting there was Mo Xingyao herself, with a man dressed like a chef standing nearby, waiting for her instructions.

Mo Xingyao waved at him. “Oh, you’ve finally come! Over here!”

The maid excused herself and left. Wei Chen walked toward the corner where Mo Xingyao sat. The chef gave Wei Chen a respectful bow before stepping back to a distance that showed proper respect.

In this world, people respected strength above all else.

“Can you sell me your recipe for that sauce?” Mo Xingyao asked with hopeful eyes.

“What sauce?” Wei Chen asked in confusion.

“The secret sauce you used to grill that drumstick, the one you gave me back at the Sword Manor!”

“Oh, the barbecue drumstick?” Wei Chen said.

Mo Xingyao eagerly says. “Yes, that one! Can you sell me the recipe? I can’t forget the taste. I tried describing it to my chef, but he couldn’t make it the same way you did,”

Wei Chen thought for a moment. He had made those barbecues simply because he craved them. Even now, he still missed dishes that did not exist in this world, such as bratwurst, cheeseburgers, and simple fried chicken back in his home world.

Although he liked Chinese food, but those cravings never went away just because this world had no cheese or bratwurst.

“I could give it to you for free, but can you promise to share some with me when your chef makes it? I crave it from time to time, but I’m too lazy to make it myself,” said Wei Chen.

“It’s a deal!” Mo Xingyao said with a wide smile.

Wei Chen then began explaining the ingredients and the preparation process to the chef.

“Listen carefully, the first step is to prepare the paste…”

The reason why Mo Xingyao couldn’t forget the taste was because the barbecue recipe was something his dad had taught him when he was a child. He used to help his father prepare the sauce whenever they went on family picnics.

His father had been a chef at a five-star hotel. Although he wasn’t as famous as Gordon Ramsay or Thomas Keller, he always did his job well, and his dishes met professional standards.

Some of his father’s recipes had stayed with Wei Chen over the years. Even now, he still remembered many of them, though he could only make the simpler ones. His talent in cooking wasn’t as good as his father’s, which was why he never chose to follow that path.

After ten minutes of explanation, the chef nodded in understanding. He memorized the notes in his hand before using his spiritual fire to burn them into ashes, making sure they couldn’t be recovered. Then, he politely excused himself and left to prepare the barbecue for Mo Xingyao.

“Huh? Your chef is a cultivator?” Wei Chen asked curiously.

“Of course he is. How else could he make good food if he couldn’t control the flame with spiritual fire? Can’t you sense his cultivation?” Mo Xingyao replied matter-of-factly.

Hearing that, Wei Chen was startled. He had completely overlooked that detail. To sense someone’s cultivation, one must either have a stronger spiritual sense or a higher cultivation level, and he had neither.

Though alarmed, he quickly calmed himself and smiled as if nothing had happened.

“I don’t usually sense other people’s cultivation. I think it’s rude to pry into someone’s realm like that,” Wei Chen said, coming up with an excuse.

But Mo Xingyao wasn’t buying it. As the head of a major conglomerate, she was far too perceptive not to notice his momentary alarm. Even though he covered it up quickly, she still caught on.

“Oh? Really? Then tell me… what is my cultivation realm right now? You’re a Soul Transformation realm cultivator, you should be able to tell,” she asked, her gaze sharp with suspicion.

Wei Chen was speechless. He really wanted to say, “I hate kids with good instincts like you.”

But he had to answer. Since she said she needed a Soul Transformation Realm bodyguard as her trump card, that meant she definitely wasn’t one herself.

He couldn’t sense her cultivation at all, which meant one of two things: either she had a higher realm than him, or she cultivated a method that concealed her power. But that didn’t make sense, she wasn’t some secret operative who needed to hide her strength.

That left only one conclusion: she was stronger than him. There were two likely possibilities, Eitehr it’s Nascent Soul or Core Formation.

His own cultivation was at the half-step Core Formation stage, yet he still couldn’t sense her level. That could only mean she was at the Nascent Soul Realm.

“Of course, you’re at the Nascent Soul Realm!” Wei Chen said confidently.

“Wrong… I’m at Soul Transformation,” Mo Xingyao said with a smirk.

“Huh!? You’re lying! If you’re at the Soul Transformation Realm, then why would you need a Soul Transformation Realm bodyguard as your trump card?” Wei Chen retorted.

Mo Xingyao’s smile widened. “Whether I’m lying or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you completely duped that old dog Elder about your true cultivation.”

She leaned forward slightly, her voice calm but sharp. “You clearly have a lower cultivation than me, yet I can’t sense your realm. That means you must be cultivating a technique that conceals your true cultivation, right?”

Her eyes narrowed. “So tell me, what is your real cultivation realm?”

Wei Chen felt like he had just chewed on a fly. The feeling of being seen through was never pleasant. It was like someone suddenly opened his door and caught him watching an action movie while sliding his own anaconda.

That kind of feeling!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep