After saying this, Manager Qian sat cross-legged on the ground and began to cultivate by forming hand seals.

The green spirit turtle he released spewed out a breath of green mist, enveloping them all.

The little fairy children guarding the cave had quietly arrived nearby on their swords early in the morning, and now they all covered their noses and ran away.

Zhao Xi's expression remained calm.

The flowers on the green tortoise's back look like garlic flowers, and it does indeed have a strong garlic smell.

But she had previously participated in a stinky cooking competition, where contestants had to cook dishes using canned herring, pickled bamboo shoots, and stinky tofu. As a judge, she had to go to the kitchen to score the contestants.

Since then, no smell has mattered.

She can wait as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Now that she knows her food attracts monsters from the Immortal Realm, she doesn't rely on Manager Qian to bring her business. Even if she doesn't find any immortals who know how to eat, she can still get what she wants by selling pet food.

The reason she lingered for an extra cup of tea was simply to get back at him and see what Manager Qian thought.

She took out the stove and the spiritual spring to start brewing tea, deciding that once the pot of tea was finished, she would leave no matter how much the other person tried to persuade her to stay.

The environment in the Immortal Realm is indeed different.

While both are green teas, the tea brewed here has a distinct, ethereal, pale green aroma that wafts out.

After the pale green spiritual energy was absorbed by the spirit-gathering array, it flowed into the dark green spiritual energy around Manager Qian.

The celestial energy was agitated and began to swirl rapidly.

Shopkeeper Qian: "Oh dear, I'm about to break through to a higher realm! No, I have to hold back!"

He let out a loud shout in the clouds and leaped lightly away from the dark green spiritual energy, casually retrieving the green spirit turtle.

The sour smell dissipated, and the spiritual energy was absorbed by the spirit-gathering array, flowing throughout the entire cave.

The little fairy boy's thanks came from all directions.

The baby voices rose and fell.

—Thank you, Master, for bestowing this spiritual energy!

—Master, I will work hard!

Manager Qian laughed heartily.

Zhao Xi thought that the pearl necklace around her neck seemed to be absorbing the spiritual energy of the spirit-gathering array, and it was even faintly getting hot.

This little guy fell into a deep sleep after leaving the Demon Palace and hasn't moved for several days. She doesn't know what's going on. She has to go back to the Beast Garden to see if Lin Che has returned.

How is my food?

"Excellent, absolutely excellent! If any great immortals from the Upper Immortal Realm were to come, I would certainly leave this dish for them as a treasure to ward off evil spirits! Miss Zhao, please stay and cook some more food. Whatever spirit stones or treasures you desire, I can find them for you! If your cooking suits the palate of a True Immortal, I might even give you a spirit treasure from the Upper Immortal Realm!"

Zhao Xi frowned and said, "No, since Manager Qian likes it, I'll use all the ingredients in the yard to make food. That way, I'll repay the favor I owe you. I'll take my leave now."

As she spoke, she summoned her spirit sword.

Manager Qian tried to persuade him to stay, and a little fairy boy ran over and whispered something in his ear.

His expression changed drastically. He grabbed Immortal Muqiu with a vine, lifted him by the back of his collar like a watermelon, and threw him at her feet. He then bowed to Zhao Xi and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Zhao. This immortal servant has spoken arrogantly and offended you. I will chop him down to avenge you!"

The little fairy boy knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly. His hair was disheveled, and his pitiful little voice cried out, "Please, young lady, spare my life! I deserve to die! Spare my life!"

Zhao Xi looked down at him, her brows furrowed.

This immortal is of unknown age, yet he wears the skin of a child.

Manager Qian was clearly not joking; he raised his hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning, as if he truly intended to kill him.

Seeing her pitiful little face, she really couldn't bear it: "Fine, anyway, I'm going back to the lower realm of immortals, I can't stay here to cook for you."

After pondering for a moment, Manager Qian cupped his hands and said, "Miss, how about this? You can come back to my place to cook in a while. I'll have time to prepare whatever you want. Refining weapons and alchemy both take time!"

Zhao Xi shook her head.

She stole three spirit snow rabbits from the kitchen of the Demon Palace and put them in her ring. However, after only one day of wandering around the Immortal Realm, the spiritual herbs were reduced to dust.

Lin Che had told her before that she needed a magical artifact to travel between different worlds. But the main material of this magical artifact box was a treasure called the Shadowless Stone, which was only found in the Upper Immortal Realm and was extremely rare.

But the shopkeeper clearly didn't have such a good thing.

The Hundred Beasts Garden has expanded the Five Spirits Hall, and a barrier needs to be set up there as well, but what is lacking is the corresponding crystal ore and spirit stones.

Although both are high-grade spirit stones, they can be further subdivided into different types. The spirit ore mined by the Kangnan demon clan has a texture similar to jade pendants, and it is not the same material as the most commonly circulated spirit stones in the Middle Immortal Realm. That is why it is stable in nature and too rare to be of much use.

But if it was found for her by Manager Qian, there wouldn't be enough time to refine it by the time it's transported back to the Beast Garden. And things like spirit stones, once refined, become spiritual energy, so there aren't many that can be brought over.

But after all, Manager Qian helped her rescue Xiao Jia, and he could indeed provide some of the materials that the Hundred Beasts Garden wanted.

"I have an idea." Zhao Xi took out the Transmission Mirror and touched its surface. "I can teach you how to cook."

The demonic beasts and spiritual plants in the Middle Immortal Realm are slightly different from those in the Lower Immortal Realm.

When cooking, cost must be considered. If the effects of food are not as good as elixirs, no one will be willing to sacrifice the reliable elixirs to make food.

However, if she could train a cook, it would not only allow more immortals to stop fasting, but also enhance her reputation in the immortal realm.

"Deal!" Shopkeeper Qian's eyes lit up, and he immediately had the little fairy boy exchange Zhao Xi's possession for a magic weapon that could transmit the five senses.

*

After this battle, Ling Mu finally believed that Xiao Jia wasn't alone and had powerful backers. After sharing the rations Tong Yue had brought, they recovered some of their strength and joined forces to return to the male demon's hideout, rescuing them all.

With nowhere else to go, they all wanted to come to the Hundred Beasts Garden with Xiao Jia.

After finalizing the deal, Manager Qian personally escorted the large group into the teleportation array. Before parting, he also gave Zhao Xi a spirit pet named Chongming.

The Chongming bird is very strong and can fight off fierce beasts. It is said to be a rare and auspicious beast.

It seems that Manager Qian has really gone all out on her.

With her spirit pet by her side, Zhao Xi planned to take the supplies back to the Hundred Beast Garden ahead of her, land on the mountaintop, and hand over the high-grade spirit stones and crystal ore to A Feng so that he could begin refining weapons.

"Headmistress, the Master is back! He went into seclusion as soon as he got back!"

Xiao Ding noticed the commotion at the mountaintop, flew over on his sword, and shouted with great joy.

That's really good news!

Not only did he return, but Shan Shan also returned from the Palace of Ten Thousand Demons. It is said that he and his master stayed on a mountaintop in the Five Spirits Hall.

However, once they finished setting up their cave dwelling, they went into seclusion and have not seen anyone so far.

Zhao Xi was overjoyed and decided to go find Lin Che first.