The black-robed manâs attitude stunned the people around him.
Just who was this guy? Why is he so arrogant?
The descendants lining up behind the old men were immediately displeased, not even the emperor would dare to speak so disrespectfully to these Venerable Elders of ours. Just who is this man in black to speak so to our Elders?
Just then, Shiyu happened to be done with her work and entered the unusually silent reception hall with Feng Luo.
Wei, why is it so quiet? Has something happened? [1]
Her eye was immediately drawn to the pack of Lius and she immediately understood. Oh my, it looks like both Elder Lius had rushed over with their brood. Er, is this supposed to be a friendly exchange?
Shiyu was busy pondering over this as she trotted up to the man in black, âTeacher.â
Her voice was very modest. She was a bit hesitant about calling this person âteacherâ. Even if no one else knows your background, I know, ah! [1]
However, though she was filled with uncertainty, the old man had little problem claiming her as a disciple. In fact, he was very pleased to do so. This little girlâs cooking skill was pretty good, having pleasure in the secular world kept him in touch with his five senses. It was just too bad that he could not enjoy the full experience of eating as a spiritâŚ
âOh, youâre done? Your martial brother brought some gifts on your behalf too,â the man in blackâs voice was very indulgent. He was clearly very keen to convey the message that âhere is my studentâ.
His sudden about-turn in attitude caused everyone to swing their eyes over to the two elders.
The cold attitude from before was clearly deliberate, ahh!
âThank you, martial brother,â Shiyu very naturally stepped up beside Lin Fan. This caused her to face Elder Liu, Gatekeeper Version directly, so she said respectfully to Old Gu, âTeacher, this person is Elder Liu from the College. He has kindly given me some advice before.â
Though the advice was a mere âplease donât simply take out your precious treasures like so many cabbages or youâll get into troubleâ, it was still done with good intention, right?
âI see,â the eyes of the people swing over the arrogant man. His voice had suddenly softened, âAllow me to thank you for the care youâve granted my disciples during their stay at the Capital.â
What the- are you trying to say that these two elders are only worthy of your attention if your students deem it so?! [1]
Everyone was speechless.
They held their breath.
Are the Liu Elders going to lose their temper over this obvious slight?
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
In truth, the Elder Liu Brothers were currently sweating away in their hearts. They were indeed, very angry at the obvious arrogance shown by this stranger. Especially in front of so many people. However, neither were little brats anymore. At the first sign of trouble, they had privately exerted Spiritual Pressure onto the other.
A Cultivator could suppress anotherâs will by virtue of his Cultivation alone, so long as their level was higher. The larger the gap, the greater the pressure. However, when Elder Liu exerted Spiritual Pressure, not only did the other man not bow down from the weight of his will, not even the corners of the manâs robes move at all! Undaunted, Elder Liu quietly signalled to his brother and together, they exerted their collective will onto the personâŚ
But⌠nothing happened, ah!
When the other party finally moved, it was to cordially thank them both for taking care of his two disciplesâŚ
There was only one explanation for this kind of situation. Their opponentâs Cultivation base was higher than both of their combine strength. But⌠they were both already at Great Perfection, Core Condensation Stage, unless, this man was at⌠Divine Transformation Stage?
Impossible!
Do you understand just how difficult it was to challenge the Divine Transformation Stage? It was rare even to see someone challenging the Divine Transformation Stage once every hundred years. News that the Feng Elder was attempting to challenge that stage had drawn all sorts of attention already. Therefore, how could there suddenly be a Divine Transformation powerhouse in their midst?
However, if not the Divine Transformation Stage, then⌠just how strong was this man?
Elder Liu was feeling a little muddled. Even the Liu Patriarch was feeling a little faint.
Nevertheless, all was not lost. The other party had offered an olive branch. They had thanked Elder Liu for taking care of their two disciples. This was an opportunity to win their friendship. No matter what kind of background these people came from, it would not be wrong to remain on friendly terms with them.
Once all the social calculations were done. Elder Liu stepped forward with a smile and said, âHow truly enviable to be the master of a great talent like your disciple.â
[3] Everyone nodded, Lin Fan was truly a great talent. A rare one-in-a-hundred-years talent. There was no question about this.
[3] Shiyu piped up innocently, âThank you elder for your exaggeration.â
[3] â⌠âŚâ
[3] Wei, whoâs talking about you, ah?
AwkwardâŚ
From the side, Mo Yin was fuming. She was already pissed off by the personal attention given to Shiyu by Elder Liu. Now that Shiyu had stuck herself into a social faux pas, she couldnât wait to stab her viciously and put this lowly little cook back in her place. However, before she could say anything, Elder Liu nodded, âYes, yes, Miss Shiyu certainly has a great talent for creating delicacies. I wonder if this old man would be able to taste your cooking today?â
âOf course you will,â
Well, if one stretches the definition a bit, one could assume that âa great talentâ could mean âa great culinary talentâ, allowing Shiyu to squeak past this faux pas with barely a hitch.
Being a sharp man of great tact and discretion, Ling Tianyi judged that this was his cue to start the next phase of the banquet. He loudly called for the start of the banquet, and dishes were brought out, breaking the increasingly weird atmosphere.
To be fair, the two Elder Lius should be served in a special private room, away from the hoi polloi or at least at the grand table. However, Patriarch Liu said, âWell, we did barge in uninvited. Thereâs no need to go through all that trouble, Patriarch Ling. We shall be comfortable here.â
âHereâ being Shiyuâs table.
The people currently seated at Shiyuâs table were as follows: Lin Fan, Old Lu, Feng Luo and birthday girl Ling Xiaoxiao. San Pang was seated on Shiyuâs shoulder, so he did not count.
Any other social climber might have insisted on making the Elder Lius sit at the grand table to increase their own social status, but Patriarch Ling did not get into his position by being weak and stupid. Knowing that there must be a reason for this request, Patriarch Ling could only escort them to Shiyuâs table, bowed them to their chair and urged his daughter again and again in tones that were really not exaggerated you know to properly look after this table. [4]
Ling Xiaoxiao smiled tensely at her father.
NoooâŚ
[4] This was meant to be a fun party with friends, nice presents and good food, you know? What is this social pressure pressing down on me nowâŚ
While Ling Xiao Xiao was crying on the inside. The two Liu elders began making small talk with Old Gu, intending to gather some information first. However, Old Gu was a pro when it came to verbal deflections. He was a master of The Verbal Tai Chi [5] and though he answered them amiably enough, they could not dig up anything of substance out of him.
Finally, Elder Liu cracked first, and inquired after Old Guâs gardening habits. Does this venerable old man, for example, happen to enjoy keeping a certain type precious Immortal Lotus treasures like pretty bonsaiâŚ
âEh, I came across some when I was at the Spirit Beast Mountain Range. Although it is a rare medicine, it is of no use to me.â
Elder Liu wanted to curse his mother.
Why could such great luck not befall on him? While it was true that regular Cultivators could not make use of the Immortal Jade Petal Lotus because it was an Arcane Grade [6] medicine, Cultivators at the Great Perfection Level of Condensation Core Stage could increase their chances of breaking through to the Divine Transformation Stage with this particular medicine.
However, Immortal Jade Petal Lotus was too scarce. It grew wherever it liked and luck played a great part in whether youâll encounter one in this lifetime or not.
Nevertheless, it looked like his luck was about to turn now. Elder Liu felt his heart settled as he asked probingly, âIf it is of no use to you, perhaps I may persuade you to part with it?â
âYou two are preparing to breakthrough?â Old Gu asked curiously.
âSurely it is every Cultivatorâs wish to keep breaking through? The rewards are many, long life, immense strength. Not to mention no one wish to see their hard work go to wasteâŚâ Elder Liu stopped speaking suddenly. Then, he stared at the robed man as though he had just seen some kind of hideous monster.
To think, this man knew the purpose of them coming hereâŚ
He dared not even consider it.
The man had just indicated that he knew the Immortal Jade Petal Flower could assist people who wish to breakthrough to the Divine Transformation Stage. However, he had also said that this thing was useless to him⌠it could only be useless if⌠if heâsâŚ
Elder Liu turned to glance at his brother and saw a similar look of horror on the otherâs face. âSurely notâŚâ
âHeh,â Old Gu barked a sharp laugh. âMy little disciple already told me your terms for the transaction. Hum, the girl is still too immature. How about this, let two people into the Third Floor. Each gets to pick out one item they like, how about it?â
[Gumihou: I think this chapter is one long âAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhhâŚâŚâ from everyone including Gumihou⌠please see Note 2]
[1] Change Structure for Dramatic Effect: Switch inner dialogue to more casual language.
[2] Hereâs a reference ~ Gumihou remembers it so you donât have to ~
<table>Chapter 39.3 English Characters ĺć°Ł Condensation Stage</tbody></table>
<table>Wen Xian, Gan Ping (soup shop) ĺ业 Core Transformation Shiyu, Lin Fan, Lin Xiaoxiao çľä¸š/ĺ业(46) Binding Core/Core Condensation Elder Lius (Great Perfection) ć台 Nascent Formation Elder Feng (Great Perfection??) 形çĽ/ĺçĽ(52) Spirit Shaping/Divine Transformation ĺéŤ Unification Stage čżĺ˘ Return to Ruins ć¸ç Return to Nature ćäť Becoming Immortal</tbody></table>
Great Perfection = Level 10
The â?â for the Elder Feng is because author kept talking about Core Condensation and Divine Transformation and no one seems to remember Nascent Formation is between them thereâŚ
The Elders Lius are at ĺ业ĺ˘ĺ¤§ĺćťż = Great Perfection, Core Condensation
Letâs double check Chapter 46.
<table>For Noobs & Gumihou New Level â Changed by Author at (38) College Class First Condensation Stage Yellow Second Core Transformation Arcane Third Binding Core  Core Condensation (46) Earth & *Heaven Fourth Complete Nascent</tbody></table>
<table>Fifth Spirit Shaping Divine Transformation (46/52) Sixth Unification Stage Seventh Return to Ruins Eight Return to Nature Ninth Becoming Immortal</tbody></table>
âThe Heaven Class is reserved for Great Perfection, Core Condensation Stage students aiming to Challenge Divine Transformation Stageâ
Okay Gumihou has checked. According to the above statement, as spoken by Shiyu in Chinese, but Gumihou had used âthe next stageâ in the translation at Chapter 46 because at that time Gumihou canât tell a fancy idiom from a made up Cultivation Stage nameâŚ
However, the one thing Gumihou can confirm is that we have just dropped an entire Cultivation StageâŚ
How!?
T_T
[3] Change Structure for Comedic Effect: The build-up towards the punchline was a little lacking, so I fixed it.
[4] Embellishment for Dramatic Effect: The italics are all Gumihou. Because itâs hilarious, hyaaaa hahahaa! Poor Ling XiaoxiaoâŚ
[5] Verbal Tai Chi â The Art of Verbal Deflection, lol!