The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 154: Preparing to Depart

Inside the inn, Li Lang and his friends sat around a table in the dining hall with Yun Ming. He was the creator of the Tracing Origin Art that Li Lang bought, and they were having an exchange about the technique until the food arrived. It caused Li Lang to be taken aback, pausing mid-sentence.

However, he was the only one who had such a strong reaction. Wei Ping simply gave it a curious look while Long Yi immediately dug into the food.

“There’s rice inside! It is actually pretty good!”

Seeing Long Yi’s positive response, Sima Xue quickly dug in too.

“You’re right! It is pretty good.”

Everyone else began to sample the dish at their words, and Li Lang was no different. After taking one bite, he immediately put his utensil back down and glanced around, looking to flag down one of the staff. That was because he wanted to ask a few questions.

“Is s-something wrong?” Wei Ping asked, noticing Li Lang’s strange behavior.

“Hmm, have you seen sauce like in this dish before?” Li Lang asked in return, pointing to the plate.

“No, but it t-tastes pretty good. It w-works up my appetite.”

Before their conversation could continue, the innkeeper lady walked back into the dining area.

“How are you kids enjoying our lunch special? Pretty good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” everyone but Li Lang replied cheerfully.

The proprietress smiled and then directed her gaze to Li Lang, asking him for his opinion with her eyes.

“Yes, it is good, but if I may, can I ask where you bought this red sauce?”

He took a spoon and scooped up some of the red rice for the innkeeper to see.

“Oh, ketchup. We made that ourselves for the first time today. Have you had it before?”

“...No. If you didn’t buy it, then where did you guys learn to make this?”

“Why, from the chef right beside you, of course.”

She grinned as she tilted her head toward Yun Ming, who just sheepishly smiled back.

“It’s something I ate since I was little.”

“I can see why. It is delicious,” the innkeeper immediately approved. “Our dear guest here asked to use our kitchen to prepare his own food yesterday, and the smell that came out made me salivate. He was nice enough to show me how to make it. I never knew you could use…”

As the woman explained the wonders of ketchup, Li Lang kept looking between Yun Ming and the plate of omelet rice before him. It was basically ketchup-flavored rice wrapped in an omelette, with some bits of vegetables and meat added into the mix. It wasn’t exactly hard to make, but it still caught Li Lang off-guard.

That was because it was a dish that stuck out like a sore thumb compared to everything else he’s seen. It was like nothing like the dishes of this world. Back in Yellow Qilin, the food was similar to Eastern cuisine of his world, with rice as the staple and focusing on steamed food and soy sauce for flavoring.

The food in the Luminescent Domain was mainly roasted protein that had simple spices rubbed on or stir-fried food.

It stood in contrast to the more Western-themed ketchup.

Well, there’s no Western or Eastern in this world. So I can’t think like that.

Li Lang directed his attention back to the innkeeper, who was still chatting about the new dish. He waited for an opportunity to interject.

“I never heard of this tomato you used for the sauce. Is it something rare?”

Instead of the woman responding as Li Lang expected, Yun Ming answered in her stead.

“It’s not that common around these parts, but it’s common up north where I’m from. I stocked up on it before I went on my travels. You’re welcome to have some if you want.”

A few familiar tomatoes appeared at the wave of his hand. It appeared identical to Li Lang’s memories.

Hmm, even if it’s native to the same Violet Isle we’re on, I guess the logistics of goods aren’t that developed here. Unless they have help from cultivators… Space rings that can prevent perishables from rotting away within days.

“Thank you. I appreciate it. I guess we’re lucky to be able to try this new dish out before you ran out,” Li Lang directed the last part to the middle-aged lady.

“Indeed, but I’m looking to see if some of the larger merchant groups are interested in helping me procure them. Hmm, if I get them to transport the sauce itself, it might not take up that much space in their space rings. That is, if you’re okay with this recipe spreading, of course,” she directed the latter part to Yun Ming.

“Oh no, don’t worry about me. I don’t mind. It’s not exactly any secret back where I’m from.”

“Oh geez, thank you.”

With the topic of food settled, the innkeeper went to tend to other matters while Li Lang and Yun Ming resumed their chat regarding Qi arts. With something to talk about, time flew by in the blink of an eye.

Li Lang’s group parted amiably with the eccentric creator, leaving the inn. They boarded Sima Xue’s Skyrunner and slowly navigated through the sea of people.

“So? Which auction do you want to check out today?” the young Nightmoon Valley disciple asked.

“I don’t have an opinion except for the one happening at the end of the night. You guys choose the ones for the afternoon, but I do want to get our shopping done first.”

Li Lang’s words made the other three exchange looks, waiting for each other to make a decision.

He left matters in their hands. As long as he got to all his objectives, he didn’t mind how they spent the remainder of the day. However, they needed to go shopping while the stores were still open, as he decided they would be leaving for the province of Vermillion Dragon the next day.

That meant leaving Sima Xue behind. It was too dangerous for her to venture out to the orthodox sect’s territory.

In turn, this meant their main mode of transportation would be gone. They still had their cheap Skyrunner in her space ring, but it went too slow for their tastes. Li Lang considered it to be worthwhile to purchase a new one as a replacement. After all, he had come into a great deal of money, and money was most useful when spent.

“Is there a Skyrunner auction, then?” Long Yi muttered. “Maybe we should go check it out?”

“There are,” Sima Xue replied, “but the ones found in auctions usually have other functions added to them or are luxuriously furnished, so I doubt it is what you guys are looking for.”

“Right. I prefer something practical for now. We don’t need anything fancy,” Li Lang confirmed.

Skyrunners were vehicles created by woodsmiths. They were significantly more common than artifacts, with their cost mainly being all the time it took to nurture them. That was why the gang’s next stop was a shop that dealt with these convenient vehicles. As Polarity City was a place for cultivators, it wasn’t particularly hard to find such a store.

To Li Lang, the place looked more like a stable, meant for selling horses rather than the vehicle dealerships he was used to. Still, there were dozens and dozens of Skyrunners, each parked behind a small enclosed room, all with roofing to protect them from the elements.

They found several other guests browsing the vehicles, and each group was accompanied by what appeared to be a staff member of the store. They wore the same beige robes with a red sash, and all were mortals with low cultivation.

Li Lang listened in on the conversations as he walked by, and none of them acted haughtily before the employees. It was evident from this that the store had quite the prestige to have gotten all the cultivators to behave.

Led by Sima Xue, the group entered into the store’s main building, which was a stone structure that the stables surrounded. There were just as many people inside, browsing through an assortment of wooden materials laid on dozens of racks.

“Is this where they can pick out the type of wood for their Skyrunners?” Li Lang muttered.

Having received training in the craft of woodsmithing, Wei Ping jumped to answer.

“S-should be. It should take q-quite some time for the order t-to be fulfilled, though.”

“What this guest says is generally correct,” a female employee stepped in and interjected. “But we can expedite the order if our clients want to shorten the wait time.”

Li Lang didn’t need to hear from Wei Ping to remember how he mentioned there were heavenly resources that could speed up the process of woodsmithing. He also knew they were usually exorbitantly expensive, to the point it wasn’t worth it in most situations.

Seeing how none of the new guests said anything, the employee continued.

“Please forgive me for intruding on your conversation, dear guests. I was too eager to assist you.”

“No p-problem. We were looking for help to f-find us a Skyrunner, anyway.”

The saleswoman beamed upon hearing that and swiftly stepped closer to Wei Ping.

“Of course. Please tell me more about what you’re looking for.”

Seeing as Wei Ping was the expert among them, the group left it all to him. Sima Xue even stepped away from the group, browsing the store playfully.

“I’ll wait for you guys here. Master usually picks everything for me, so I want to check out what I’ve been missing out on.”

As the saleslady brought the trio back outside where all the Skyrunners were, Li Lang prepared to record everything they would go over. He planned on learning all the crafts eventually, so it was never too early to learn about the topic.

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