Chapter 1836: Old thing, you still have two faces

This middle-aged man is a steward inside the Cooking King Immortal City, an Emperor-level Spirit Chef, and has not yet entered the realm of the Immortal-level Spirit Chef.

And from him, Ye Zhangqing also gained a preliminary understanding of the situation of the Cooking King Immortal City.

First of all, this Cooking King Immortal City is one of the only four immortal cities located in a separate immortal domain among the myriad immortal cities of the Immortal Realm.

Only one month each year is it connected to the Immortal Realm, allowing two-way travel between the realms; for the rest of the time, the Cooking King Immortal City is equivalent to an isolated city existing independently.

And when Ye Zhangqing was sent here, it happened to be the final moment before the Cooking King Immortal City closed, so now wanting to leave is too late.

Hearing this, Ye Zhangqing's face immediately darkened—was he trapped?

Leaving is impossible, as is contacting the outside world; one can only wait until next year when the Cooking King Immortal City reopens to be able to leave or communicate with the Immortal Realm.

Regarding this, Ye Zhangqing felt speechless, always sensing that the Green Lord, that old thing, had done it on purpose.

Even if only a wisp of immortal soul remains, the Green Lord, having lived so long in life, surely cannot be unaware of this matter.

Besides that, there is also a general overview of the situation inside the Cooking King Immortal City.

The strongest in the city is the City Lord, below him are two Deputy City Lords, and further down are the numerous Elders.

Those who can become Elders are all Immortal Chefs, and the number of Elders is about twenty.

These Elders have the right to take on disciples and teach; each time the Cooking King Immortal City opens, the Elders select some promising seedlings to cultivate, and of course, disciples like Ye Zhangqing, who are second-generation, will also be taken under their wing.

Moreover, they do not look at talent or aptitude.

To get to the root of the cause, one must talk about the awkward position of the Immortal Chef.

How to put it? The Immortal Chef, like the Pill Master, Artifact Master, Formation Master, and Talisman Master, has low personal combat strength, and their cultivation basically relies on piling up various pills and heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

After all, they must daily study Chúyì, so naturally they don't have that much time for Xiūliàn.

However, the Immortal Chef's status in the Immortal Realm is not as high as that of the Pill Master or Artifact Master, let alone having their extensive networks.

Pill Masters and Artifact Masters greatly help cultivators, while Immortal Chefs—

Although the spiritual food they make does have some effect on cultivators, compared to pills and such, it is obviously far inferior.

This can be easily seen from the Hall of Longevity in the Azure Green Immortal City earlier.

The price is far cheaper than that of pills, and their main selling point is cost-effectiveness.

Their own combat strength is lacking, and they do not have the powerful networks that Pill Masters and Artifact Masters enjoy, where a single call summons a hundred responses.

Therefore, the Immortal Chefs' status in the Immortal Realm appears somewhat neither here nor there, quite awkward.

In short, it's simply that they have some respect, but not much, and they cannot compare to Pill Masters and Artifact Masters at all.

Therefore, as the holy land of Immortal Chefs, the Cooking King Immortal City has no choice but to use various means to win over the major powers of the Immortal Realm.

The most direct manifestation is that, like Ye Zhangqing and these second-generation disciples, as long as they are sent into the Cooking King Immortal City, the city accepts all comers without refusal, taking everyone who comes.

Anyway, it's just about forming good affinities.

Put bluntly, Pill Masters and Artifact Masters are sought after by others to form good affinities, but when it comes to Immortal Chefs, it becomes you seeking others to form good affinities.

While speaking, Ye Zhangqing, under the guidance of the middle-aged man, arrived at the Front Hall; after giving notice, the two stepped into the room.

Seated in the place of honor was a black-haired elder of medium build, whose appearance looked kind, inadvertently evoking a hint of goodwill.

"Greetings, Elder."

Seeing the elder, the middle-aged man performed a respectful salute; this elder was none other than Elder Ma Qiankun, whom he had mentioned earlier.

Upon hearing this, Elder Ma Qiankun also smiled gently.

"Hmm, let's register first."

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man respectfully took the jade tablet waved by Elder Ma Qiankun, then turned to look at Ye Zhangqing and said.

"This jade tablet is for registration; just follow the steps, it's very simple."

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhangqing nodded helplessly, then connected his mind to the jade tablet; however, the next second, Ye Zhangqing felt numb.

At first, it was indeed just some basic information, such as lifespan, bone age, cultivation, and culinary arts realm, etc.

But the subsequent content Ye Zhangqing could not understand.

Affiliated faction—well, that's fine, but damn, it actually listed all the powers of the Immortal Realm.

You don't need to fill it yourself; just tick the boxes.

Looking at the dense list of great and small powers of the Immortal Realm, Ye Zhangqing felt 'dazzled and his scalp tingling'.

In the end, having no choice, he could only select the Guo family, after all, he only knew the Guo family.

But that wasn't the end; after selecting the affiliated faction, there was still an identity selection to make.

【Direct line descendants, collateral descendants, Outer Door Disciple, Inner Door Disciple, Core Disciple..................】

Looking at that series of options, Ye Zhangqing felt numb; with no other choice, Ye Zhangqing could only select collateral descendant.

Then other options popped up.

【Connection to the main line by blood, within three generations, beyond three generations..............】

What the hell is this mess? Just select beyond three generations.

The information in this jade tablet can be described as leaving no detail untouched; after Ye Zhangqing filled it out, his complexion was complicated, it seems the Cooking King Immortal City truly has an awkward status in the Immortal Realm.

Even going to such lengths, they still have to form good karmic ties with the major powers of the Immortal Realm, build relationships—it really is difficult for them.

After filling in all the information, Elder Ma Qiankun took back the jade tablet, glanced at its contents, and said lightly.

"You're from the collateral branch of the Guo family? For now, just be a kitchen helper, do some prep work, learn to handle ingredients."

This old thing also judges people by the dish; seeing Ye Zhangqing's filled information, he is merely a collateral descendant of the Guo family, and his blood relation to the main line has already exceeded three generations.

That basically belongs to the collateral among collaterals, a definite fringe existence in the family.

So without further thought, they directly assigned Ye Zhangqing the identity of a kitchen helper, while they themselves could just play around.

If Ye Zhangqing were a main-line descendant of the Guo family, perhaps he could stay by their side and learn a few proper culinary skills.

Later, when returning to the Immortal Realm, he would also have a means to make a living.

As for this, Ye Zhangqing didn't think much about it, or rather, he wasn't given the chance to think much.

After learning Ye Zhangqing's identity, Ma Qiankun's attitude became noticeably colder; even that middle-aged man said a sentence lightly to Ye Zhangqing.

Follow me.

He then turned and walked straight out, with no trace of his earlier enthusiasm.

Not to mention actively briefing Ye Zhangqing on the situation; he didn't say a word along the way, a real case of looking down on people.

All the way they brought Ye Zhangqing to a side courtyard in the rear courtyard, without even entering the gate; the middle-aged man stood at the gate and said directly.

Just stay here; ask others inside about the bedding; from now on just follow the orders of Elder Ma or the various senior brothers.

Having said that, without waiting for Ye Zhangqing's reply, he flicked his head and left, a real two-faced person.

This warmth and coldness of human relations were fully manifested.