Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 66

After two more bowls of Bitter Jiji Grass Soup went into her stomach, Lin Mianmian could count as confirming that this soup really did have the function of restoring the ability power in her internal core. The effect was only a little weak.
Lin Mianmian estimated that if she relied only on Bitter Jiji Grass Soup to restore her ability power, she would need to drink nearly twenty thousand plates of this soup. The large plate where food appeared for her now was two palms across and one finger tall. Each serving of soup that appeared filled about one third of the plate.
Even if she had crossed into the body of a grass demon in this other world and gained the ability to eat more, drinking twenty thousand plates of soup in one sitting was something she could not do. Never mind her. Even Xiong Lanlan could probably only drink a few thousand plates. And that was not even counting how bad the soup tasted, or how eating too much of the same soup would make a person sick of it and affect their appetite even more.
Ability power was not something that, once filled, would stay worry-free for life either. As long as she used it in the future, she would need to replenish it. Relying only on Bitter Jiji Grass Soup was definitely not a long-term plan.
But this grass soup could still count as giving Lin Mianmian a new hint. The ability power that could not recover freely as it had during the apocalypse might be replenished by eating food from the cultivation world.
To keep testing this idea, when Lin Mianmian made her next move, she stuck a label for “Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig front ribs” onto the large plate.
Very soon, three neatly overlapping ribs appeared in the plate. A pair of chopsticks had thoughtfully been inserted on top. The ribs were white. Each piece was about the size of a palm, with a hard bone running through the middle. At the bottom of the plate was a shallow layer of clear meat juice. It looked like plain boiled ribs?
When the Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig front ribs appeared in Lin Mianmian’s plate, a hard-to-describe faint gamey smell appeared with them. It did not rush into the nose, but it easily made a person’s appetite drop.
Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig was also one of the mutated beasts that had been easier to hunt during the apocalypse. But because the Food Classic said eating Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig nourished earth, that meant it had a greater effect on earth ability users. When other ability users, mutants, or ordinary people ate it, the effect would definitely not be as good as it was for earth ability users.
Even if a mutated beast was easier to hunt, it was still a rare resource. Naturally, special things had to be used for their special purpose. So Lin Mianmian, as a wood ability user, had only eaten it twice.
It was this gamey smell…
Lin Mianmian frowned tightly, picked up one rib with her chopsticks, and took a bite.
To be fair, if she held her breath, the texture of these Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig front ribs was about the same as ordinary pork, and even a little more tender. But the moment she relaxed and began breathing, it was not right anymore…
The gamey smell in the meat was much stronger than it smelled from outside. As she chewed, instinct made her want to spit it out rather than swallow it.
During the apocalypse, clothes and food had been scarce. Lin Mianmian had worked diligently and still had to divide her rations with others. A person who was half hungry every meal could endure the taste of Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig meat even though it truly tasted awful.
But now, after being in this other world for so many years, especially after entering the Five Elements Sect, she could eat her fill every meal. She had even seen Yuan Zhaoyang’s astonishing seasoning. Eating this pork now… truly made it hard to swallow.
Lin Mianmian worked hard for a long time before she swallowed the pork in her mouth. It carried an awful smell, and the cooking method was clearly simple and rough. It had only been boiled with salt. Even Glow-Shell Salt, which could blend into meat, could not save this dish…
“Hahahaha, gamey, right? The first time I ate it, I was almost disgusted to death.” Ever since the Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig front ribs had appeared in Lin Mianmian’s bowl, Xiong Lanlan had been closely watching her reaction. Seeing Lin Mianmian take one bite and indeed look as if she was about to be smoked to death, Xiong Lanlan could not help laughing out loud.
But as a good bear who loved her companions, even though Xiong Lanlan could not stop laughing, she quickly poured the remaining orange-red fruits in her own plate into her mouth and stretched her empty plate toward Lin Mianmian.
“Come, come. The most beautiful bear will save our little poor thing. Pour it over. I will eat it for you in one bite.”
“Right. Your mouth is so big, you could eat all of us in one bite.” Gui Changshou kept up his daily bear-needling with his mouth, but his little claw pushed his plate toward Lin Mianmian. “Give me some too. You stick on something else to eat.”
“It is fine. I can eat it.” How could Lin Mianmian feel right about pushing something she had already eaten from, and something so bad-tasting, into someone else’s plate? She quickly hugged her plate tighter and took another bite of the rib in her chopsticks to show she could manage.
Ugh… Sure enough, the more she ate, the stronger that taste became…
Lin Mianmian estimated that once she finished the piece in her hand, she would not be able to go on. If she had known, she would have used orange-red fruit to test her idea.
Seeing that Lin Mianmian’s frown was about to pinch a Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig to death, Xiong Lanlan reached out a bear paw, preparing to take over the plate in Lin Mianmian’s hand.
In the blink of an eye, a pair of chopsticks beat Xiong Lanlan to it and speared away the two ribs left in Lin Mianmian’s plate.
“Do not mind the meat juice. Do not eat the one in your hand either. Wasting a little is fine.” With a cold face, Meng Tianhe began gnawing on the ribs.
Xiong Lanlan: “…”
Lin Mianmian: “…”
The remaining person and turtle: “…”
At the same time, Yuan Zhaoyang, who was adding materials into the earth fire, began to feel vaguely uncomfortable after her ears had strangely heated up. She kept feeling as if something somewhere was not quite right.
Meng Tianhe’s chopsticks had moved too fast. Lin Mianmian had lifted her hand to stop him, but could not block him in time. Seeing those two ribs stuffed into Meng Tianhe’s mouth the next moment, Lin Mianmian could say nothing besides a low thank you.
Although the taste of Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig was extremely terrible, after Lin Mianmian forced herself to finish gnawing the palm-sized front rib in her hand, she still clearly felt the recovery of ability power inside her internal core.
Only, the recovery from such a large piece of meat was not even one tenth of what she had gained from one plate of Bitter Jiji Grass Soup earlier…
As expected, although the Food Classic only listed Bitter Jiji Grass as a supplementary ingredient and did not mark its attribute, as a grass, it was still mostly wood attribute. The earth-attribute Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig meat truly had an even weaker effect. The fire-attribute Blood Vulture Rock-Bottom Orange-Red Fruit would probably be about the same…
Sure enough, without that thing, foods of other attributes had an even worse effect.
Lin Mianmian stuck on a Bitter Jiji Grass Soup label and got a plate of soup to clear the taste from her mouth. After hesitating for a moment, she looked at Xiong Lanlan, who was eating who knew which plate of orange-red fruit, and asked tentatively, “Lanlan, cultivators’ spiritual roots are divided by the five elements. Do spirit beasts and spiritual plants also have the five elements?”
“They do.” Xiong Lanlan tossed a bright red fruit into her mouth. “This Blood Vulture Rock-Bottom Orange-Red Fruit is really good. Aren’t you going to try it? The dishes on this menu might disappear while we are eating. Do you see? Seven dishes, and five are Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig. What does that mean? It means everyone dislikes eating it, so it was left over. I think this not-so-great soup and this fruit will disappear soon. If no new dishes come out, you will have to eat pork, Mianmian.”
So she only gave one “they do” and that was all?
“So dishes made from spirit beasts and spiritual plants should also be divided by the five elements, right? Then is there a saying that eating the same attribute has a better effect?” As Lin Mianmian asked deeper, under Xiong Lanlan’s burning gaze of hating iron for not becoming steel, she peeled off a label for Blood Vulture Rock-Bottom Orange-Red Fruit and stuck it to her plate.
Seeing the small pile of red fruits appear in Lin Mianmian’s plate, Xiong Lanlan nodded with satisfaction. “Of course there are differences. But whether you eat the same attribute or not, the difference is not that big. We eat these only because we have not practiced inedia yet and still need to eat. Rather than eating useless food from the mortal world, it is better to eat some spiritual plants and spirit beasts. At least we can absorb a little spiritual energy and strengthen our bodies a little.”
“But with these ordinary spiritual plants and spirit beasts, the bit of spiritual energy and body strengthening we can absorb is too small to be worth mentioning compared with what we get from cultivation. Eating these cannot compare with cultivation and pills in either speed or effect. Still, cultivation is originally a process of constant accumulation and then breakthrough. It is always good to have one more way to accumulate.”
“But in my opinion, for such a tiny bit of accumulation, there is no need to wrong yourself by eating something so awful just because it has the same attribute. Of course you should eat whatever tastes good.”
Too small to be worth mentioning?
Yes. During the apocalypse, people had neither cultivation methods nor suitable pills. They could only level up again and again through using up their abilities. The mutated animals and plants in the Food Classic were the only assisting method for strengthening abilities. Even the smallest growth might decide life or death at some moment, so people naturally valued eating mutated animals and plants.
But now, when cultivation systems were complete, spiritual energy was abundant, and there were many pills…
No, that was not right.
At least for Lin Mianmian right now, who needed spirit beasts and spiritual plants to replenish the ability power in her internal core, it was not like that.
“What decides when the menu updates? Does a new dish only appear when one dish is eaten up?” No matter what, Lin Mianmian still wanted to try other wood-attribute dishes.
“Not necessarily.” Xiong Lanlan shook her head. “Hurry and try the orange-red fruit! It really is delicious!”
“…” What a stubborn bear. Lin Mianmian picked up an orange-red fruit from her plate and put it in her mouth.
“Mianmian still does not know how these dishes come here, right?” Gui Changshou took a sip of the Bitter Jiji Grass Soup in his plate and smacked his lips. Under Lin Mianmian’s expectant gaze, he slowly said, “Actually, right now we are at the Qi Refining stage. These spiritual plants and spirit beasts we eat are all things we can bear. Of course, their effects are only like this. Their main purpose is to fill the stomach.”
“For higher-grade ingredients, with our current cultivation, we have no way to absorb them well. Whether in terms of what our bodies can bear or in terms of making full use of the ingredients, it would not be suitable. But the spiritual energy contained in high-grade ingredients, and their effects on the body, are naturally greater. So when one’s cultivation reaches a higher level, the cost of eating spiritual plants and spirit beasts increases accordingly. Then eating those with the same attribute as oneself is much more suitable.”
“As for what we are eating now, some of it is cooked by Clear Heart Hall, and some is handed in as tasks by fellow disciples.”
“Tasks.” Feng Liang raised her hand. “I know this one. Last time when I took a sect task, I saw a task to cook Yue Mountain Belly-Valley Lotus Sparrows.”
“Right, exactly like that. If someone hands in a task or sells these spiritual plant and spirit beast ingredients to the sect, the sect also gives out cooking tasks. After the finished products from tasks, or cooked dishes sold directly to the sect, are inspected, they appear on the menu for the matching cultivation level.” Gui Changshou pressed one small green claw on the menu. “So, the menu is very random. Today, perhaps someone handed in a large batch task for boiled Stone-Foot White-Skin Pig.”
“You really know everything.” Xiong Lanlan snorted.
“Read more books, wild bear.” Gui Changshou proudly lifted his neck.
“Ah, spiritual rice!” Xiong Lanlan had been about to needle Gui Changshou a few more times, but the menu suddenly pulled away her attention. She quickly peeled off one rice label after another.
“I was wondering why there was not even rice today.” Feng Liang lightly pushed Lin Mianmian, who was still digesting Gui Changshou’s words. “Take a few first. Later, when there are dishes to go with rice, we can eat them together.”
Lin Mianmian glanced at Xiong Lanlan’s bear leg. Xiong Lanlan had already quickly stuck twenty or thirty spiritual rice labels on it…
So was spiritual rice the mutated rice grain from the apocalypse?
Lin Mianmian peeled off a spiritual rice label and stuck it on her plate. A shallow bowl of white rice appeared. It looked much the same as rice from the mortal world, only the grains were bigger and a little more moist. The rice fragrance was also richer.
It looked like northeastern rice, but smelled even more fragrant than fragrant rice, with a faint sweetness too?
It did not seem like mutated rice grain…
Lin Mianmian picked up the small spoon that came with it and scooped a mouthful. It was sticky and soft in her mouth, every bite fragrant. Sure enough, there was a thread of sweetness. It was very delicious.
It was not the mutated rice grain she had researched for so long and still failed to improve…
One plate of spiritual rice was very easy to eat. Even without side dishes, it soon entered Lin Mianmian’s stomach. Lin Mianmian felt the change in the ability power inside her internal core…
So, one plate of spiritual rice and one plate of Bitter Jiji Grass Soup replenished about the same amount of ability power.
“Mianmian, stop eating for now. Peel off more rice labels first, in case it disappears later.” Xiong Lanlan, whose left bear leg was already covered with spiritual rice labels, waved a claw in friendly reminder, then continued sticking labels onto her right bear leg.
It should not be like this. Back during the apocalypse, Lin Mianmian had eaten wood-attribute Rotten-Wood Flower Vegetable Steamed Double-Eared Yunying Beans once, and the increase to her ability power had still been quite clear. It should not be as tiny as this now, less than one ten-thousandth.
Why?
Lin Mianmian held a new basin of spiritual rice, covered with a pawful of labels Xiong Lanlan had stuck on for her, and sank into thought.
At this time, Yuan Zhaoyang threw the last portion of materials into the earth fire and thought, Soon. Once the finished product is out, I can go to Clear Heart Hall to pick her up.