The portly boss finally accepted the profit-sharing plan Zhao Yuan proposed.
He said with a wry smile, "Sigh… I've really broken my own rules this time. In the nearly twenty years I, Hao Li, have been cultivating, I've never met a customer as difficult as you, nor have I ever taken such a small cut. Even when I cooked ingredients for other Fellow Daoists, I still took a seventy percent cut as payment!"
Zhao Yuan ignored his dramatic sighing and just asked, "Have you met other cultivators before?"
Hao Li nodded. "Of course!"
Zhao Yuan's curiosity was instantly piqued. "Have you met many cultivators?" he asked.
"Not many, just three or five," Hao Li replied. "Cultivation isn't something just anyone can get into. First, you have to know a Cultivation Method; second, you need a massive amount of capital to support yourself before you can even begin. With these two high barriers to entry, it's inevitable that the number of cultivators will be small."
Zhao Yuan considered this and had to agree.
'If you don't know a Cultivation Method, how can you cultivate? It's not something you can just figure out by reading a few Buddhist and Daoist Scriptures and having a flash of insight! As for capital, that's even easier to understand. Without money, what are you going to use to buy medicinal herbs, Elixirs, and Magical Artifacts? Not every cultivator could be self-sufficient like he was! It's absolutely impossible to improve your strength and advance further without pouring in a massive amount of money!'
With these two barriers, and the fact that the path of cultivation itself is fraught with peril, forget becoming an immortal or a god—there are barely any who even reach the Innate Realm. Postnatal Realm cultivators are hardly any different from ordinary people when facing firearms. Consequently, the number of cultivators today is countless times smaller than in ancient times. To say they are exceedingly rare would be no exaggeration.
Take the Jinling Zhao Family, for example. They are considered quite wealthy, but even so, they've only managed to produce a single Martial Dao cultivator, Zhao Dekui!
Hao Li ran Lakefront House not only because he wanted people to bring him rare ingredients, but also for another simple reason: to make money!
He used the money earned from Lakefront House to sustain his own cultivation.
After a bit more small talk, Hao Li got straight to the point. "Did you bring the Snake Meat?" he asked.
Zhao Yuan nodded. "I did."
Hao Li eyed Zhao Yuan curiously. Seeing that he wasn't carrying a backpack or a bag, he had no idea where the Snake Meat could be hidden.
Puzzled as he was, Hao Li didn't ask.
Every cultivator has their own secrets.
"Alright then, follow me to the kitchen." Hao Li turned and led Zhao Yuan into Lakefront House, heading toward the kitchen.
They chatted happily on the way. Feeling as if they were kindred spirits who had met too late in life, they started addressing each other as brothers.
After passing through Lakefront House's long, antique-style corridor, the two entered the rear courtyard, crossed a bridge, and arrived at a small island in the lake. The island was surrounded by water and was only a few hundred square meters in size.
On this small island stood a beautiful, antique-style pavilion with ornate railings and jade-like masonry. Complemented by the lake, the solitary bridge, and the bright moon, the scene possessed a classical charm, as if lifted from a poem.
"This is the kitchen of Lakefront House. What do you think? Not too bad, huh?" Hao Li asked with a grin.
Zhao Yuan gave him a thumbs-up and praised him sincerely, "What a place. You really know how to live!"
"Haha, you flatter me." Hao Li laughed with particular delight, then let out a soft sigh. "To be honest, cooking is a form of artistic creation. If the environment isn't beautiful enough and it sours your mood, how can you possibly create delicious food?"
Led by Hao Li, Zhao Yuan stepped into this kitchen, so full of classical charm.
The kitchen was semi-open, allowing those inside a clear view of the beautiful scenery outside. One's mood would certainly be good while working in such an environment.
Seeing Hao Li return, the busy chefs in the kitchen all called out greetings. But when they saw Zhao Yuan trailing behind him, they froze in unison.
Hao Li rarely brought outsiders into the kitchen. In his own words, the kitchen was a chef's battlefield, a place of cultivation where outsiders were forbidden. Why the sudden change of heart today? 'Could this person be a new colleague?' they wondered.
While the chefs were still speculating, Hao Li led Zhao Yuan up to the second floor.
There was another kitchen on the second floor, but this was Hao Li's personal one. He lived and ate there. Of all the chefs on the first floor, only the two head chefs were occasionally allowed up; the rest couldn't even go near the stairs.
The chefs were completely stunned to see Hao Li invite Zhao Yuan to the second floor.
The two head chefs exchanged a look. They had worked here for a long time and had seen Hao Li bring people to the second floor before. Every single time it happened, Hao Li would personally do the cooking.
They immediately dropped what they were doing and barked at the other dazed chefs, "What are you all gawking at? Get back to work!" They quickly had others take over their tasks before rushing up to the second floor.
They had witnessed Hao Li's culinary skills before, and it was no exaggeration to describe them as divine. Naturally, they wouldn't pass up an opportunity to watch and learn. Hao Li never stopped people from observing when he cooked. After all, without understanding the profound principles, one could never learn the Tripod Eating Technique—they could only pick up a few cooking skills.
By the time the two head chefs made it upstairs, Zhao Yuan had already taken the Snake Meat out of his Storage Ring Space.
A flash of surprise crossed Hao Li's eyes when he saw Zhao Yuan seemingly conjure the Snake Meat out of thin air, but he didn't ask any questions. He merely guessed that Zhao Yuan must possess some kind of wondrous Magical Artifact.
Immediately after, Zhao Yuan took out the Snake Gallbladder and said, "Besides the Snake Meat, I have something else here. See if you can prepare it."
When Hao Li saw the Snake Gallbladder, his eyes lit up. He took it and said, "Of course I can prepare it! A Snake Gallbladder prepared by my hands will be at least five times more effective than if you were to just swallow it whole!"
Zhao Yuan nodded in satisfaction. "Then I'll leave it in your capable hands."
"No trouble at all!" Hao Li said. "For me, cooking *is* cultivation. I wish I could do it every day, but it's a shame there are so few Qi Containing ingredients in the world. I want to cultivate, but I just don't have the means!" At this, he sighed in resignation.
Just then, the two head chefs came upstairs. Hao Li immediately stopped talking about cultivation matters and changed the subject. "Little Brother Zhao, please make yourself comfortable. Preparing the snake soup and the Snake Gallbladder isn't a quick affair. I need to make some preparations before I can officially begin."
As he spoke, he walked to a corner of the room and picked up nine pieces of firewood.
Zhao Yuan glanced over and noticed that Hao Li was quite particular about his firewood—it was all high-quality cypress wood.
Dishes cooked over this type of wood would be imbued with a faint, pleasant fragrance. Moreover, in the hands of a Tripod Cuisine School cultivator, cypress wood could be used to harmonize ingredients and herbs, refining the essence and discarding the impurities.
Hao Li picked up a knife from a table and began to swiftly carve into the nine pieces of wood.
The two head chefs couldn't understand why Hao Li was carving the wood, but Zhao Yuan recognized it at a glance: he was carving Talismans.
Soon, the nine Talismans were complete. Hao Li carried them over to the stove in the center of the room.
The inside of the stove was immaculate; it would be no exaggeration to call it spotless.
It turned out that after every session, Hao Li would meticulously clean the ashes from the stove so as not to affect his next creation.
Hao Li crouched down and carefully placed the nine talisman-carved pieces of wood inside. The position of each piece was deliberate, and soon they were stacked in the shape of a pagoda.
A small Array had been constructed just like that.
"Wrong!"
At that exact moment, Zhao Yuan suddenly spoke, giving Hao Li a huge fright.