Chapter 2790: Visiting the Element Ranch

By dusk, Xia Duo mentioned the news that Talafu had already woken up, and by this time the dinner had already been arranged, right in the banquet hall on the first floor of the Tower of Time.

Considering that Talafu had already attended several banquets in succession before coming to Daxia Territory, this dinner was kept as simple as possible; Xiaduoniya sat in the main seat, with Aiboke and Talafu sitting opposite each other.

The dishes were all those that Xia Duo usually ate, personally cooked by Kuke, the territory's head chef who had been temporarily summoned to the Tower of Time.

During the meal, Talafu also aptly commented on the culinary characteristics of Daxia Territory, Yierlan, and Calimshan, "Daxia cuisine is complete in color, aroma, and taste; Yierlan cuisine also possesses this, but compared to Daxia cuisine, Yierlan cuisine is overly carved, feeling less like food and more like pieces of art deliberately put on display, losing the original flavor of the food. Furthermore, the excessive pursuit of the food's original flavor is also too bland."

"As for Calimshan cuisine, it is nearly extreme in terms of sugar and dairy products, but in other aspects, it is far inferior to Daxia Territory and Yierlan."

Talafu's evaluation was quite fair, but it was also inevitably flattering. From Xia Duo's own experience, Daxia cuisine indeed had distinct characteristics, utilized a variety of cooking methods, and was complete in color, aroma, and taste, but after all, it had started late and its development was limited; compared to Yierlan cuisine, there was still a certain gap.

But just as Talafu said, Yierlan cuisine valued the original flavor of food more; when tasting Yierlan cuisine, as long as one could recognize what the ingredients were, one could almost imagine what it would taste like when eaten.

In addition, the most important point was that the dishes of Yierlan and even all Elf nations were more suitable for Elves and almost never made improvements specifically for humans.

And there were physiological differences between humans and Elves, so the experience of the same food would also be different. The reason Talafu thought Elf cuisine was acceptable was likely in large part because what he tasted were all the top-tier Elf delicacies.

Of course, the cooking methods of ordinary Elves might be closer to Daxia cuisine, otherwise, restaurants opened by Easterners would not be so popular in the Elf World.

Just like that ordinary Eastern restaurant Xia Duo once visited in Cormanthor, which even Yilisier Mianwang had eaten at.

In short, there was still a certain gap between current Daxia cuisine and the top-tier Yierlan cuisine, but there was great room for improvement, and the development prospects were broader and easier for the masses to accept.

……

After the dinner, it was still early, and Xia Duo and Talafu held their first meeting in the Reception Room.

"Regarding the technology transfer related to the Element Ranch, what requirements does the Mairide Family have?"

Xia Duo did not intend to beat around the bush and directly brought up the conditions. Previously, when in Taiweimansa, Talafu had mentioned that the Mairide Family did not oppose the technology transfer, but only needed to set conditions; beating around the bush now would simply be treating both sides like fools.

And Talafu was not surprised by Xia Duo's directness; in his impression, Xia Duo had always been this straightforward and sincere, "What the family wants most is a Mythallar, but Lord Xia Duo has already refused before, so this time I will not use such conditions to challenge the friendship between our two families."

"According to my grandfather's instructions, we only have two requirements: one is to increase the trade volume of Arcane Crystals, and the other is that all elemental spirits produced by the Element Ranch cannot be sold externally by the Tower of Time; they can only be used for self-consumption or sold to the Mairide Family."

There were indeed only two conditions, but how much the trade volume would increase, what the prices would be, and what the selling price of the produced elemental spirits would be—now only the basic framework for the negotiation had been determined, and further consultation would be needed next.

In addition, there were many details about the Element Ranch, not just the technology, but also the finished products and production cycles.

……

In the following days, Xia Duo accompanied Talafu to visit the Floating City and the ground territory, while also taking the opportunity to discuss the details of the Element Ranch technology transfer.

After the negotiations had been going on for a week, most of the key issues had been confirmed, so Talafu invited Xia Duo to go to Calimshan to visit the Mairide Family's Element Ranch.

Actually, since the Element Ranch was built in an Other Plane, it was not limited to where one entered from, but only by entering from Calimshan could it be ensured that the Plane Coordinate would not be Scried by Xia Duo during the process.

This was not a question of trust or lack thereof, but a necessary measure for a family that wanted to prosper for a long time, just as Xia Duo would certainly not take Talafu to places he considered sensitive.

Not testing human nature is often not just for the sake of others, but also for oneself.

Xia Duo accepted Talafu's invitation; after all, he was the buyer now, and would a buyer really dare to sign a contract and pay without seeing the goods?

Even though he had a high degree of trust in the Mairide Family, such a necessary process could not be omitted, and he had long wanted to see what the so-called Element Ranch was like.

During the negotiations, Talafu had already warned that even if the Tower of Time started building an Element Ranch now, there would be no results in the short term; if Xia Duo wanted to see the Element Ranch with his own eyes, he could only go to Calimshan.

And this trip to Calimshan, besides visiting the Element Ranch, was also to sign a cooperation agreement. If nothing went wrong, the Tower of Time's own Element Ranch could start construction in the 【Kuangfeng Weimian】 this month.

【Kuangfeng Weimian】 was the Wind Elemental Plane where the Kuangfeng Baolei, which the Mairide Family had previously gifted to Xia Duo in gratitude, was located.

That plane had once had a small Element Ranch in the past, which was only completely removed when it was gifted to Xia Duo; this point was also revealed by Talafu during the negotiations.

……

Before leaving, Xia Duo recalled his Saint Form Avatar from Evereska; he would use the avatar for the upcoming trip to Calimshan, while his main body would remain in the territory to conduct research related to the Order Force.

In addition, with Xia Duo accompanying, Talafu did not need to fly back slowly this time; instead, Xia Duo opened a Portal leading to the Guangyao Hai south of Calimshan.

The two passed through the Portal and arrived directly near Calimshan, after which it would not take much time to fly over.

……

Mairide Family Territory.

The set of procedures Xia Duo had previously used to receive Mairide was now his turn to experience: visiting the Mairide Family territory, the banquet, the meeting with Mairide's grandfather, and so on, only then reaching the stage of visiting the Element Ranch.

Beside a lake surrounded by three towers, Xia Duo and Talafu stood waiting. A moment later, a strange whirlwind blew over the lake, which was a rare sight in the desert.

As the whirlwind grew larger, it even pulled the lake surface, which had been like a mirror, into swirling ripples.

When the ripples expanded to the entire lake surface and even a small amount of lake water was spiraling upward, attracted by the whirlwind, Talafu on the side reminded him at the right time:

"It's ready, the Plane portal has been opened, let's go over."

Saying this, Talafu flew up first, heading toward the eye of the wind above the lake, and Xia Duo followed closely behind and flew up as well.

After entering the eye of the wind, Xia Duo could still clearly perceive the lake below at first, but as the two continued to go deeper, his Perception gradually blurred until only the boundless, raging wind remained.

A moment later, Talafu reminded him again: "We have arrived at the Element Ranch."

At the same time, Xia Duo's Perception gradually became clear, but the surroundings he perceived no longer had any shadow of a lake; instead, it was a void.

A void filled with raging wind.