Chapter 1

"System, are you sure you're not screwing me over? Opening a restaurant in the middle of nowhere—do you think I'm an idiot, or do you think the customers are?"

Chen Nuo sat bored at the counter, looking at the half-hearted renovation and the towering trees outside, his face full of helplessness.

It's been seven days since I got here—anyone with sense knows you open a shop in a bustling area; only an idiot would open one in this desolate wilderness!

"Forget it, system—let's do a lucky draw."

Since I transmigrated here, I activated a West Journey Chef God System. Though it gave me a Newbie Gift Pack, the location for opening a shop is truly unimpressive.

Fortunately, I still get one free draw each day—what I get depends on luck.

"Ding, congratulations, host! You've drawn the Cookware Three-Piece Set (Post-Heaven Lingbao, also known as Divine Astonishment, including a non-stick pot, iron ladle, and kitchen knife)."

"Post-Heaven Lingbao?" Chen Nuo's eyes lit up.

He gazed at the floating Divine Astonishment before him, clicking his tongue in amazement—this was his first encounter with a lingbao.

Turning it over in his hands, Chen Nuo fell into thought: Post-Heaven Lingbao—this world isn't as simple as it seems.

Suddenly, inspiration struck: if this is a lingbao, can I use that system function?

Immediately, Chen Nuo picked up the iron ladle and headed to the kitchen. His Newbie Gift Pack contained only one thing: egg fried rice.

Without further ado, Chen Nuo walked straight into the back kitchen and got busy. The restaurant the system gave him is decent—everything's there, and as for ingredients, they're all available.

Meanwhile, outside the Oblique Moon Three Stars Cave.

"Disciple sincerely seeks the Dao—please, Immortal, accept me as your disciple!"

A monkey dressed in human clothes kowtowed outside the cave entrance, his face full of sincerity.

After a few breaths, a clear voice came from within the cave: "Go back. Master said he won't take you as a disciple."

The monkey immediately grew anxious, knocking his head harder: "Immortal, immortal, please—accept me as your disciple!"

He had wandered for so long, and now he'd finally found the immortal's trace—how could he possibly give up?

"Alright, go back." The person behind the cave sighed, still refusing to open the door.

Though he looked like a child, his true age wasn't young either.

"If the immortal won't take me as a disciple, then I won't leave!" The monkey's furry face showed determination—he would learn the Immortal Cultivation Technique at all costs!

But inside the cave, there was no sound—presumably, the person had already left.

The monkey knelt properly outside the cave, believing that if he kept kneeling with sincerity, he would surely move the immortal and succeed in becoming a disciple.

"Is that monkey still not gone?" Bodhi Patriarch closed his eyes, sitting on a futon, holding a horsetail whisk.

The young Daoist said respectfully: "I just peeked— the monkey is still kneeling on the steps; he probably won't leave anytime soon."

Bodhi Patriarch nodded slightly. The monkey is naturally mischievous, and since he will later endure the Journey to the West Calamity, we must start tempering his nature now.

Thinking this, Bodhi Patriarch stopped paying attention, flicked his whisk, opened his eyes, and continued lecturing the disciples sitting properly below.

The monkey is naturally restless—even kneeling on the ground, he can't stay still, always scratching his ears and cheeks.

Suddenly, the monkey caught a whiff of fragrant aroma, which made him dizzy with delight. He knew—it was the smell of food.

Gurgle-gurgle, his stomach growled in protest, and he unconsciously smacked his lips, touching his shrunken belly.

To hurry on his journey, he hadn't eaten all day, and this aroma even made his knees twitch involuntarily a few times—but he still didn't stand up.

One who seeks longevity naturally knows what truly matters.

But heaven does not follow human wishes—another wave of fragrance drifted over, this time,

even stronger.

Hunger surged instantly— the monkey could no longer stay kneeling: "Damn it, immortal old man—I want to eat rice now!"

He stood up, followed the drifting scent, wandered around the mountain face, and finally arrived before a small shop.

The shop's facade was small, with a large signboard bearing three big characters: Chaos Residence.

The monkey didn't understand the meaning of "chaos," but inexplicably felt this place was impressive.

"Who would open a shop in these deep mountains and old forests?"

The monkey muttered, walked straight in—the aroma was drifting from inside.

The interior was simply decorated, no different from the small human shops the monkey had passed during his wanderings.

"Excuse me, is anyone here?" the monkey shouted loudly.

Then, a youth in white robes lifted the curtain from the back kitchen and stepped out, one hand holding something steaming hot.

The moment the man and monkey saw each other, they both froze.

Monkey and man share the same ancestors—indeed, it's not without reason. Look—you both speak human language and even wear clothes.

Chen Nuo felt a bit dazed, while the monkey stared fixedly at the object on Chen Nuo's plate.

Smelling that soul-stirring flavor, the monkey felt his day-long travel fatigue fade considerably, and he unconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Where are you from, monkey?" Chen Nuo spoke first, breaking the silence.

"I come from Flower Fruit Mountain Water Curtain Cave in Aolai Country of the Eastern Victory Divine Continent," the monkey said.

Water Curtain Cave?!

Chen Nuo frowned: "You have no parents, right? And you were born from stone, weren't you?"

The monkey's face showed utter shock: "How did you know? I really was born from stone!"

"You're Sun Wukong?!" Seeing the monkey before him, Chen Nuo couldn't help blurt out—so this means I've arrived in the Journey to the West world?

"Sun Wukong?" The monkey blinked, repeated the name twice, and found it grew smoother and more pleasant the more he said it.

Then he laughed: "Great name, great name—thanks, shopkeeper, for giving me this name!"

By human aesthetic standards, this young man is so handsome, refined and cultured—he must be the legendary cultured person.

He surely picked a good name—from now on, I'll be called Sun Wukong!

The monkey thought happily.

Chen Nuo twitched the corner of his mouth, never expecting the monkey to adopt this name because of him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to become a disciple and learn the arts!"

"Then where is this place?"

The monkey looked at Chen Nuo in surprise, thinking: "This shopkeeper is really strange—he opened his shop here, yet doesn't even know where this is."

"This is Lingtai Fangcun Mountain."

Indeed, it's Journey to the West, and the timeline is still when Sun Wukong came to become a disciple—Chen Nuo now fully believed it.

"Lingtai Fangcun Mountain..."

Chen Nuo murmured to himself.

"Oblique Moon Three Stars Cave..."

Damn!

So he didn't end up opening his shop right next to the Bodhi Patriarch, did he?

Awesome, the system is awesome!

However, compared to Honghuang and Fèngshén, Journey to the West is less brutal—at least my safety margin is a bit higher.

"If you're not here to become a disciple, what are you doing in my place?"

Sun Wukong gave an embarrassed smile: "I was originally kneeling at the cave entrance, but I smelled the fragrance of your food, and being extremely hungry, I followed the scent all the way here."

Turns out it was my egg fried rice that caused the commotion.

Chen Nuo looked at Sun Wukong gazing pitifully at his egg fried rice and couldn't help but say with a smile: "You want to eat this?"

The monkey nodded frantically, almost leaving an afterimage.