Chapter 113: Who is cooking spirit rice?

Lin Meng did not refuse and accepted the Yellow Dragon Pill.

In the modern world, spiritual qi is thin; she hasn't yet found a place with abundant spiritual qi, and this Yellow Dragon Pill exactly meets her early-stage cultivation needs.

Ye Fan successfully completed the task assigned by Shenxian Jiejie this time, feeling pleased; seeing the rice and various vegetables Lin Meng had bought for him stored in the corner of his space, he decided to cook a pot of rice to treat himself well.

Actually, the sect has a dining hall, situated at the foot of the outer sect.

Most inner sect disciples have cultivated for decades and are long accustomed to abstaining from grains.

However, many outer sect disciples, especially menial laborers like Ye Fan, may never attain higher cultivation in their lifetimes; for them, eating rice remains a necessity.

However, Ye Fan had long set a goal in his heart: within three years he must break into the inner sect and become an inner sect disciple.

Therefore, he has never gone to the outer sect's dining hall.

Moreover, he receives provisions from Immortal Sister; how could the dining hall's dishes compare to what she gives him?

Ye Fan took out the rice and several kinds of vegetables from his space.

The rice seemed to be sealed in a special material layer, feeling hard to the touch, but the moment he cut open the seal, the rice poured out all at once.

As for the vegetables that looked fresh, they were neatly placed in a transparent soft box.

To Ye Fan, these novel packages all seemed quite special.

He was reluctant to throw away the plastic box that held the vegetables; after washing it, he placed it on the shelf in his cave dwelling.

In his own cave dwelling, he had specially dug an earthen stove for cooking rice.

For someone like him, born a mountain farmer, tasks such as chopping firewood, lighting a fire, and cooking rice posed no difficulty at all.

Soon, cooking smoke rose, and the aroma of rice began to waft out.

Ye Fan, who was chopping vegetables and preparing to stir-fry, smelled the rice aroma; his movements suddenly halted, his expression shifting from surprise to shock, and he almost at top speed sprinted to the stove.

He leaned in and sniffed again, confirming that the aroma he had just smelled came from this pot of rice before him, and couldn't help but stand frozen in place.

Immortal Sister had secretly sent him more good things again!

This is definitely spirit rice, no mistake!

The rice aroma quickly drifted out of the cave dwelling and spread in all directions.

The cave dwellings where outer sect disciples live are simple and lack any isolating formations, so privacy is poor.

Ye Fan's cave dwelling is in a remote corner, the terrain is poor, and few people live in the nearby cave dwellings.

But the rice aroma is so pervasive that it drifted all the way through the outer sect.

The outer sect disciples who smelled the rice aroma were all greatly astonished.

"Who is cooking spirit rice?"

"What a rich and pure spiritual qi! I've heard that some spirit rice contains spiritual qi even superior to a fifth-grade spirit-replenishing pill, but the cultivation conditions for spirit rice are harsh, and growing it requires as much effort as those precious spiritual herbs, so few people cultivate it."

"Behind our sect's herb garden there seems to be a small plot of spirit rice field; it's said that even if the sect leader wants to eat it, he must obtain approval from the grand elder, showing how precious it is."

"It seems some big shot in the sect wants to eat spirit rice and had it cooked; I'm really envious—if I could also have a bite, I might just break through my cultivation bottleneck in one go."

"……"

But some people who are more familiar with spirit rice find this suspicious.

The outer sect's territory and the inner sect's are still separated by a natural barrier, and the dwelling place of the sect's high-ranking elders is even farther from the outer sect.

No matter how potent the spirit rice, its aroma could not possibly drift this far.

Could it be that someone in the outer sect is secretly cooking spirit rice?

Ye Fan quickly realized the seriousness of the problem.

He never expected that the rice given to him by Immortal Sister would be a one-in-ten-thousand spirit rice!

Now that the spirit rice aroma has spread, it's likely that someone will soon follow the scent to find him.

Ye Fan dared not delay; he immediately stored the spirit rice together with the pot into his space.

He also stored all the vegetables in his space, then extinguished the fire, tidied the stove, and made everything look as if he had never cooked.

Finally, Ye Fan circulated his spiritual energy, condensing several gusts of wind in his palm, and blew out all the air inside the cave dwelling.

In an instant, an even richer spirit rice aroma burst forth, startling even the outer sect elders who were in closed-door cultivation.

Not long after, several sonic booms sounded, and several figures appeared above the cave dwelling where Ye Fan was.

The leading cultivator had white hair and beard, and an immortal aura surrounded him.

He stroked his long beard, surveyed the cave dwelling before him, and Ye Fan, who was holding his breath in anticipation, suddenly felt as if he were being stared at.

Zhou Changeng frowned slightly, silently pondering.

Strange, the spirit rice aroma clearly emanated from here, yet as he approached, the scent vanished.

At that moment, an outer sect steward respectfully saluted Zhou Changeng.

"Elder Zhou, you have emerged from seclusion."

Zhou Changeng paid no heed to the other's meaning; having been in seclusion for nearly a century, he had emerged early today, drawn by the spirit rice aroma.

Over the past century, the outer sect's layout seems to have changed somewhat, so he pointed to the mountain path ahead and said:

"What place is this?"

The outer sect steward hurriedly replied: "Reporting to Elder Zhou, this is the lowest-grade residence cave dwelling in the outer sect, inhabited mostly by menial disciples and registered disciples."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Changeng's frown deepened.

In that case, the spirit rice aroma could not possibly have originated from here.

Menial and registered disciples are mostly of poor talent, or impoverished commoners who barely manage to cultivate; their gaining entry into the Cloud Heaven Sect is already a favor from the sect—how could they possibly possess spirit rice?

At the same time, many disciples searched the entire outer sect but found no spirit rice, and the aroma did not reappear.

Everyone could only return disappointed.

Zhou Changeng also departed, and the outer sect returned to its former tranquility.

However, Ye Fan dared not be careless; he did not take out the spirit rice again, nor did he cook rice, sitting cautiously in his sealed cave dwelling for a whole day. Seeing that no one came to investigate, he finally relaxed a little.

——

Lin Meng's day wasn't busy.

She was worried about her grandfather's affairs; during the day she drove out and visited several ritual supply stores, finding nearby elderly ladies who chant sutras and fold paper ingots.

These elderly ladies usually believe in Buddhism, and sometimes they take jobs folding paper ingots for people.

Lin Meng paid them a deposit and ordered a batch of silver paper ingots, then returned to the villa to lie low.

She ate the takeout meal she had brought back, thinking that Ye Fan had previously asked her for rice and vegetables, so she planned to leave some for him.

But the next second, Lin Meng discovered a steaming pot in the second space, inside which a pot of rice was cooking.

Out of curiosity, she contacted Ye Fan.

"You've cooked the rice, why aren't you eating it?"

Ye Fan was nervously staring at the outside of the hole, ready to deal with any possible search.

Hearing Lin Meng's voice, Ye Fan finally became excited.

He recounted what had happened to him today, then added:

"Immortal Sister, I never expected that what you gave me would be spirit rice—it's so precious; spirit rice is a treasure even for Transformation Spirit experts. You could just keep it for yourself—how could I let it be wasted on me?"

"I'm only at the Qi Refining stage; I don't deserve to eat such precious spirit rice—please take it back."

Lin Meng blinked, indicating she understood.

After cola, modern world again has something that doubled in value in the cultivation world.

Organic rice is surely like cola; I never imagined that one day I would become a delicacy in cultivators' eyes!