All expressions of doubt ceased the moment the cultivators swallowed their first bite of Put Chai Ko.
"Not bad."
"Pretty epic."
"Boss, give me ten more!"
"Get lost! Didn't you hear it's a purchase limit? The boss is far-sighted, otherwise I wouldn't even have gotten any."
[Cool Point +1] x...
Under Yan Xiaosan's condemning glare and Meng Yanzhuo's strict stick-wielding discipline, Meng Haize obediently went about promoting the snacks, welcoming their first batch of customers.
Just as Yan Xiaosan had anticipated, they all came because of Meng Haize's status as a Human Rank cultivator. A dignified ranked cultivator would surely not risk his reputation just to peddle cheap, trashy food.
Meng Haize, the official brand ambassador for Put Chai Ko.
After finishing their food, the customers began calling upon their friends, mimicking the exact same behavior Meng Haize had displayed earlier.
Before long, the stall was surrounded by cultivators.
The very same cultivator who had previously questioned the dignity of setting up a stall and doubted the quality of the goods now shoved his friend, urging him to hurry up and join the line.
"Whatever you want to ask, ask later. Go line up and help me buy two pieces of Put Chai Ko right now. Yes, those pastries right on the stall! Otherwise, once the crowd gets bigger, we won't get any."
Left with no choice, his friend followed the line to buy two pieces of Put Chai Ko, turning back to meet a gaze filled with both surprise and a hint of ravenous hunger.
Driven by a sense of rebellious perversity, he instinctively picked up one of the reddish-brown Put Chai Ko and took a bite.
It was slightly springy, soft and chewy with a sweet fragrance as he chewed. The beans embedded within the pastry were smooth and mealy, offering a rich texture that compelled one to take a second bite.
Before he even had a chance to take that second bite, a pure surge of spiritual energy bloomed within his body, flowing along his meridians to converge upon his dantian.
"!"
Good stuff!
"!"
How infuriating!
Taking advantage of his friend's stunned daze, the cultivator reached out and snatched the other piece of Put Chai Ko, his eyes repeatedly darting toward the half-eaten piece his friend was holding.
Actually, if you just cut off the bitten part, it was still edible.
His friend quickly stuffed the remainder into his mouth, terrified that the green-eyed monster before him would pounce the next second.
"Give that back to me, I bought it."
"Pay me back, I'm the one who made you buy it."
Having arrived in the Penglai Realm only recently, their cultivation levels were low, and the benefits brought by the Put Chai Ko were far more pronounced for them than for the higher-level cultivators near the stall.
The commotion they kicked up was equally striking.
Yan Xiaosan: "..."
Before long, amidst the flourishing trend of people dragging their friends along, the Put Chai Ko sold out in no time.
Ignoring the grievance-filled cries of the crowd, Yan Xiaosan stowed the pushcart into his Myriad Things Ring and vanished. Meng Haize bade farewell to his sister and swaggeringly followed along.
[Host, a lot of people are secretly following you.]
"Can't be helped. We can't fight in the Penglai Realm, so let's ignore them for now."
Meng Haize also sensed people lurking in the shadows, but since Brother Yan didn't speak up, he couldn't say much either.
As far as he was concerned, Brother Yan had his own methods and completely looked down on those people.
Right until they reached Yan Xiaosan's wooden cabin.
"...So... so returning to simplicity and truth... hahaha."
Had this been his past life, the wooden cabin built by Yan Xiaosan could be considered decent pastoral scenery, but they were just ordinary mortal logs. Placed in the Cultivation World, though...
Meng Haize immediately changed his perspective; this must be what his Master called cultivating a mortal heart and refining one's state of mind.
So Brother Yan's realm was that high after all.
Yan Xiaosan turned back to instruct Meng Haize: "If you want to live here, you'll need to build your own place."
"No need to build, no need to build." Meng Haize raised a hand and summoned a luxurious palace, shrinking it to the size of a wooden cabin as it landed right opposite Yan Xiaosan's dwelling.
The palace looked small on the outside, but it contained a mustard-seed spatial dimension inside. Setting aside its other features, housing a hundred people inside was effortless.
"..."
He hated this!
Yan Xiaosan narrowed his eyes slightly, swept a glance over the palace, and then looked back at Meng Haize.
I'll give you a chance—invite me in.
Meng Haize gazed up at the sky, took a stride forward, and hid inside the palace. Message not received.
"Well, uh, I'll go inside first, haha. I don't have Brother Yan's realm; I'm terribly vulgar, so I won't be staying in a wooden cabin. Call me when dinner's ready~"
Fine, he was playing the lute to a cow.
"System, set up a small barrier to block the probing of those people hiding in the shadows."
[Understood, Host.]
Closing the wooden door, Yan Xiaosan opened the system interface.
[Dragon-Absolving Heaven's Beginning: Cool Points 101/100]
[Mission: Dragon-Absolving Heaven's Beginning completed, distributing rewards]
[Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasure: Building Wood Green Vine]
[Mission: Dragon-Absolving Heaven's Growth unlocked]
[Dragon-Absolving Heaven's Growth: 1/1000]
Combined with the Put Chai Ko he made during his breakthrough this morning, it was just enough to meet the mission requirement.
"Building Wood Green Vine?"
A cluster of vine seedlings suddenly appeared inside his body, taking root in his dantian.
As the vine seedlings emerged, the surrounding spiritual energy grew much closer to Yan Xiaosan, as if they would surge into his body en masse at the mere nod of his head.
[Rest assured, Host, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasures are things every cultivator dreams of, and they offer immense benefits to cultivation.]
"Why do I have a familiar feeling?"
[......]
"Hmm?"
The system suddenly fell silent.
"Speak!"
Yan Xiaosan raised an eyebrow slightly; untrustworthy things really did keep secrets from him.
Gathering his focus, he looked inward at his dantian.
The moment the green vine appeared, he sensed something summoning him from the depths of the void.
Very familiar, very close.
......
Meng Haize abruptly opened his eyes, halted his cultivation, stepped out of the palace, and looked toward the wooden cabin.
All the surrounding spiritual energy was rushing toward the wooden cabin, and the plants growing close by were actually shooting up at high speed toward it.
In the blink of an eye, several trees behind the house grew into towering giants, their gnarled roots lifting the earth, and their lush branches spreading out to embrace the wooden cabin.
Flowers and grass climbed up the wooden cabin along the wooden strips, filling the originally plain and barren wooden cabin with a vibrant, verdant vitality.
Viewed from afar, they looked like a group of loyal guards protecting the king at the center.
Many of the plants even showed faint signs of evolving into spiritual plants.
"Is this... an epiphany?" Meng Haize's mouth hung wide open. "Heh heh, my sister was smart after all; it's definitely not a loss to recognize such an epic boss."
A wave of divine senses swept over from afar.
Frowning, Meng Haize blocked them, spreading his own divine sense to issue a warning.
Yet, there were still divine senses far more powerful than his own that ignored him and swept right past.
"Shameless old fogeys!" Meng Haize cursed with a livid face.
forcefully probing someone while they were experiencing an epiphany could interrupt their opportunity, or even cause them to harbor resentment, suffer a cultivation deviation, and trigger a backlash.
Just as Meng Haize was burning with anxiety and wanting to ask his elders for help, the next second—
"Presumptuous!"
To everyone who had released their divine sense to probe, their seas of consciousness felt as though they had been struck by a heavy club right on top of the head. They let out muffled groans as they suffered heavy blows.
They couldn't help turning pale with fright—to inflict heavy damage upon them without even showing a face, this kind of method...
An Integration Stage cultivator?!
Which academy was willing to send such a figure to protect a disciple?
"Leave your things and get lost!"
Able to ignore Meng Haize's warning and effortlessly bypass his divine sense, these were naturally people of some status and repute. Knowing the rules, they left behind compensation gifts and fled in a hurry, terrified that they would be seized and settled accounts with if they caused any displeasure.
"Watch your mouths!"
Leaving behind that final warning, the storage rings in the void vanished.
......
Clutching a pile of storage rings, the system felt deeply wronged.
"Stinky Xiaosan, actually yelling at me! What are you yelling for?!"