Chapter 163 A New Approach to Cultivating Immortality for All! Can Growing Vegetables Lead to Immortality?
The portal behind them slowly closed.
"Come on, I'll show you what a surprise is." Cheng Gan patted her shoulder, a mysterious smile on his lips.
Zhou Jue's curiosity had been piqued.
"What exactly is it? Sister Cheng Gan, can you just give me a little hint?"
"I won't disclose it." Cheng Gan refused decisively.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."
Zhou Jue pursed his lips and had no choice but to follow her. The two crossed the restricted area and headed towards the core area of the base.
Along the way, whenever the soldiers they encountered saw the two of them, they would immediately stop and stand at attention to salute.
Zhou Jue keenly noticed that the soldiers' mental state was completely different from before she left.
Their eyes were brighter, their steps were more steady, and they exuded a vibrant vitality.
It seems that the promotion of basic exercises has been very effective.
"Where's Qi Si? Is he at command post?" Zhou Jue asked.
"No." Cheng Gan shook his head and pointed to a building not far away.
“It’s over there.”
Zhou Jue looked in the direction she pointed.
canteen?
Why is Qi Si, the commander-in-chief, coming to the canteen instead of going to the command post to oversee the overall situation?
Inspecting the meals?
Zhou Jue followed Cheng Gan inside, full of doubt.
The windows inside the canteen are large and transparent, even more spacious than those at the Blue Star Base.
The kitchen, in particular, is almost a semi-open space, separated by a huge glass wall, where everything inside can be seen clearly.
At this moment, Qi Si, dressed in military uniform and standing upright, is standing outside the glass wall, quietly looking inside.
Beside her stood several researchers, each holding a tablet and constantly recording something.
This setup... is a bit strange.
"Qi Si".
Upon hearing Cheng Gan's voice, Qi Si turned around.
When she saw Zhou Jue, a smile involuntarily appeared on her usually serious face.
"Xiao Jue, you've finally arrived."
"Qi Si, what are you guys doing..." Zhou Jue pointed inside the glass wall: "What's going on? Watching a food show live?"
Inside the glass wall, there was only a middle-aged man dressed in a white chef's uniform, busy at the stove.
His movements were not fast, even somewhat slow.
Washing vegetables, chopping vegetables, blanching vegetables, putting them in the pot... doing everything step by step, meticulously.
Zhou Jue recognized him. Wasn't this Uncle Zhao, the chef with superb culinary skills from the Blue Star Valley Base canteen?
"Old Zhao, make a bowl of your best Yangchun noodles for Comrade Xiaojue." Qi Si didn't answer directly, but instead said this to the kitchen.
"Alright!" Uncle Zhao replied cheerfully, his hands still moving methodically.
soon.
Uncle Zhao brought out a steaming bowl of plain noodles.
The clear broth, a few bright green scallions, a pinch of glistening shrimp roe, and the distinct strands of noodles neatly arranged in the bowl all exude a wonderful aroma.
"Try it," Qi Si gestured.
Zhou Jue was even more confused. This mysterious surprise was just a bowl of noodles? But I just ate it this morning. Why didn't they just let me come to the apocalypse to eat breakfast?
She looked at Qi Si suspiciously, then at Cheng Gan.
Both of them wore a mysterious expression that seemed to say, "Eat quickly, you'll understand once you eat."
Okay.
Zhou Jue picked up his chopsticks, took a mouthful of noodles, and put it in his mouth. The noodles were smooth and chewy, with a pure wheat aroma. The soup was delicious but not greasy.
tasty!
It really is Uncle Zhao's cooking; it's still that familiar taste that makes you so happy you squint your eyes.
But... it's just delicious.
What a surprise!
She took another sip of soup.
Um?
Just as the warm soup slid down her throat into her stomach, a faint yet incredibly pure warm current suddenly rose from her stomach. This warm current flowed through her limbs and into her meridians, then transformed into wisps of sparse spiritual energy!
Although it's only a tiny bit, so small as to be almost negligible, it truly exists!
Zhou Jue's pupils suddenly contracted, and she abruptly looked up at Qi Si, her face filled with disbelief.
"This...this noodle contains spiritual energy?"
Qi Si's lips finally curled into an uncontrollable smile.
She nodded emphatically: "Yes!"
"What's going on?!" Zhou Jue felt his worldview had been refreshed once again.
“Old Zhao, he has spiritual roots,” Qi Si explained slowly.
"He was on the list of the second batch of cultivators. However, his spiritual root talent was only of the low grade wood element, and he was also older, so his cultivation progress was always very slow."
"A while ago, the post-apocalyptic base was short-handed in logistics, so we asked the experienced Lao Zhao to temporarily take charge of everyone's meals."
"As a result, just a few days ago, a warrior who had just begun to cultivate Qi said unintentionally after eating the meal prepared by Lao Zhao that he felt that the spiritual energy in his meridians seemed to have increased slightly during his cultivation that day."
As Qi Si said this, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.
“At first, no one paid any attention. But as more and more people talked about it, it caught our attention.”
"We immediately organized a test."
"Divide ten warriors with similar cultivation levels and talents into two groups. One group eats regular military rations, while the other group eats meals prepared by Old Zhao himself. Then they will all undergo the same amount of training."
"The result! The group that ate Old Zhao's food absorbed and refined an average of one percent more spiritual energy than the other group!"
One percent!
This number may sound insignificant, but what if it increased by just one percent every day? What would it add up to in a year? What would it add up to in ten years?
The significance behind this is immense!
"We checked the ingredients, which were the most common ones. We also checked the water source, and there were no problems. The only variable is the chef."
Qi Si's gaze fell on Old Zhao once again.
"We speculate that during the cooking process, Lao Zhao unintentionally incorporated his own cultivated wood-type spiritual power into the food."
"This may be a completely new way of cultivation that we don't understand."
"So, we're waiting for you to come back and give us an answer."
Zhou Jue's brain was working at lightning speed.
Cook...cooking...spirit...
She suddenly remembered the settings in the cultivation novels she had read.
Alchemy, weapon crafting, talisman crafting, array crafting...
These are all auxiliary techniques for cultivating immortality.
Then... why can't cooking skills be one of them?
"Brother Tongzi! What's going on? You can even create spiritual energy while cooking?"
"Yes, host, this belongs to the 'Food Cultivation' lineage among the various arts of cultivation, also known as 'Entering the Dao through Cooking'." The system's voice was as professional as ever.
"Everything has its own way. Cooking is itself a transformation and recombination of energy. A novice chef transforms the physical form of the ingredients. But a high-level 'culinary cultivation' transforms the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, as well as the life essence contained in the ingredients themselves."
"Through specific methods, one can integrate their understanding of the 'Tao' into food. After eating it, one can increase their cultivation, cleanse their physical body, and even comprehend the laws."
Zhou Jue listened, completely bewildered.
Goodness.
So, the ultimate goal of being a chef is to become a god of food!
"Then what about Uncle Zhao..."
"He possesses a wood-type spiritual root and is naturally compatible with life energy. In the process of cooking, which transforms the essence of life, he may have unintentionally met the threshold of 'entering the Dao through cooking.' Although it is currently only the most rudimentary application of instinct, he has already embarked on the right path."
"Besides food cultivation, there are also ways to enter the Dao through sound, painting, chess... In theory, any skill, as long as it is studied to its extreme and its essence is understood, can become a path to the Great Dao."
Zhou Jue was completely stunned. She had always thought that cultivating immortality was about meditating, absorbing spiritual energy, and fighting.
In retrospect, she was narrow-minded.
China's five thousand years of civilization have produced countless amazing and ingenious skills.
Calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, Go, guqin (a seven-stringed zither), traditional Chinese medicine, various crafts...
If all these people could embark on the path of cultivation, it would truly be a flourishing of diverse talents!
"System, is there any way to make Uncle Zhao's cooking even better?" Zhou Jue suddenly thought of the key point.
"Ding! It has been detected that Uncle Zhao has a wood-type spiritual root. His 'Dao' is related to life and growth. It is recommended that the host let him try to grow ingredients himself."
“Ordinary seeds, nourished by his spiritual power and nurtured by the ‘Dao,’ have a very high probability of transforming into ‘spiritual plants’ containing spiritual energy.”
"Cooking with spiritual plants will increase the effect by more than ten times, and long-term consumption can even improve the spiritual root aptitude of the consumer."
!!
Zhou Jue's breath caught in his throat. He could grow his own spiritual plants?! Wasn't this the epitome of a sustainable cultivation logistics system?!
She suddenly looked at Qi Si, her eyes flashing with an unprecedented light.
"Qi Si! I understand!"
She quickly and clearly repeated what the system had said, adding her own understanding.
From "entering the Dao through cooking" to "cultivating immortality through various arts" and finally to "cultivating spiritual plants".
The entire cafeteria was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Qi Si, Cheng Gan, and the researchers nearby were all dumbfounded. Uncle Zhao was even more unsure whether to be happy or shocked first. He thought he was lacking in talent and just wanted to cook well for everyone, but he never expected this surprise!
Their minds were still stuck on the surprise of "the food having a spirit within it," but Zhou Jue opened a door to a new world for them!
“Spiritual plants?” An elderly researcher wearing glasses asked in a trembling voice, “So, we can grow ‘heavenly treasures’ on this planet?”
“Theoretically, that’s right!” Zhou Jue nodded vigorously.
Qi Si's breathing became heavy. Her gaze fell on the bowl of unfinished noodles, as if she were seeing not noodles, but mountains of gold and silver, the inexhaustible strategic reserves for China's future!
After a full half minute, she slowly raised her head and looked at Zhou Jue.
"You mean, it's not just Uncle Zhao." Her voice wasn't loud, but it sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
"Can all warriors with wood-type spiritual roots be cultivated into 'spiritual plants'?"
“Yes!” Zhou Jue affirmed.
In Qi Si's eyes, a flame called "ambition" suddenly burst forth!
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