Chapter 166: Raising Chickens
Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Raising Chickens
A breakthrough?
Everyone was startled.
Who here wasn’t a Second Realm master? Who didn’t know how difficult a breakthrough was?
Everyone here had eaten at this restaurant multiple times. They might even have this steam pot chicken a few times a year.
The problem was, they’d never had a breakthrough from it!
This led them to a certain speculation.
’Could this be Zhu Ge’s first time eating a high-grade Spirit Level delicacy?’
"Excellent, excellent! A breakthrough is a wonderful thing," Mr. Langhao laughed heartily.
"We old-timers had to eat these delicacies countless times to break through to the Second and Third Realms. Younger Brother Zhu has reached the Mountain Shattering Realm after only a few pills and fine meals. Excellent, excellent! What incredible talent!"
Seeing this, Zhu Ge smiled as well and said gratefully, "This is all thanks to the City Lord."
"Not at all, not at all! We’re all family here." A gust of alcohol-laced breath escaped Mr. Langhao’s mouth as he spoke.
"Come, come, drink up, drink up! Hahaha."
He was drunk.
Zhu Ge smiled and shook his head, though he had also drunk a fair amount of the Spirit Wine.
The people around him were either Second Realm Confucian Dao Scholars or Mountain Shattering Martial Artists, with one or two who followed other paths.
These individuals were all acquaintances, and they chatted happily over the meal.
Zhu Ge, however, remained vigilant and never let his guard down, constantly using his Blood Qi to dispel the effects of the alcohol.
In the end, everyone, including City Lord Mr. Langhao, was passed out drunk on the floor. The reek of alcohol filled the air.
Most of the food on the table was untouched, which was all to Zhu Ge’s benefit. He polished off every last bit.
When the door to the room opened, Zhu Ge was in the middle of gnawing on the braised trotter of a First Realm Demon Beast wild boar.
"Ah?"
Li Hao opened the door and was startled by the sight of people sprawled haphazardly all over the floor. Her Blood Qi flared up reflexively to protect her.
But a moment later, she realized they weren’t corpses—they were just drunk.
Her Blood Qi naturally receded back into her body. She patted her chest and then chided, "You scared me to death! I thought you’d finally killed my father..."
This time, it was Zhu Ge’s turn to look bewildered. "Shopkeeper, what are you doing here?"
"I’m here to clean up!" Li Hao said, annoyed. "You’ve been eating until now, and I have many other customers with reservations. I need to get this room ready."
"Others? You still have more customers?" Zhu Ge teased.
Li Hao shot Zhu Ge a look, then clapped her hands toward the doorway. "Hurry, hurry! Clean this place up. Be careful not to bump into these ’corpses’ on the floor!"
In the next instant, a line of workers filed in, carrying basins and bowls to clear away the leftover soup, cold dishes, and scraps.
Li Hao, however, walked directly to Zhu Ge’s side. As she moved, her expression became coquettish, and her body swayed as if boneless.
"Sir, I heard everything very clearly from downstairs. It seems I’m to be married to you now..."
Li Hao sat right down next to Zhu Ge and leaned against him, intending to blow softly on his earlobe.
Zhu Ge tossed aside the pig trotter he’d finished gnawing on and, in the same motion, jabbed his right elbow toward Li Hao’s chest.
Li Hao’s face fell. She arched backward in shock, her tender, pale feet instinctively kicking up, only for one to be grabbed by Zhu Ge.
"Tsk." Zhu Ge clicked his tongue. The combination of greasy filth and the warmth of his hand was like a branding iron, startling Li Hao.
Li Hao’s Thief Dao heart pounded, and her body dissolved into a shadow, vanishing from the spot.
Seeing this, Zhu Ge raised an eyebrow and commented, "Not bad."
Li Hao’s form immediately reappeared. The grease on her ankle was gone, likely shaken off by her Blood Qi.
She was about to get angry, but when she saw Zhu Ge’s smiling face and clear eyes, devoid of any lust, she realized she’d been played.
She glanced around and saw that the workers all had their heads bowed, pretending they hadn’t seen a thing.
"Alright, alright, I’m done with all that." Li Hao sat down, pouting. "You’ve killed so many Demon Beasts out there. Why haven’t you come to sell the flesh?"
’Sell the flesh?’
Zhu Ge couldn’t help but smile wryly. "I ate it all."
’I eat way too much!’
He hadn’t expected to have such a massive appetite himself; he’d eaten through his entire existing stock.
That Demon Beast Flesh was all money.
Martial arts training really burns through cash!
Although Zhu Ge’s current physical strength far exceeded that of his peers due to the Great Sun Glaze Body...
...it came at the cost of having to eat much more than an ordinary person.
Otherwise, the Wind Refining process alone would have been enough to wear down his physical body.
This also made Zhu Ge all the more eager to develop the Six Paths Palace’s livestock and agriculture industries.
"Ate it all?" Li Hao was astonished. She then sized up Zhu Ge’s body—his arms, his thighs—and for some reason, her face flushed red.
Zhu Ge didn’t understand why.
Li Hao lowered her gaze and said, "Why don’t you hire a Spirit Level Kitchen? With many Spirit Level foods, if they’re prepared properly, eating just one chicken might be enough for a whole meal."
"Most of the Martial Arts Halls in the city do this. They keep two or three Kitchens on staff. Otherwise, with how much Martial Artists eat, wouldn’t they devour all the food in the city in just a few days?"
’Hire a Kitchen?’
Zhu Ge was immediately lost in thought.
It was actually a very good option.
"How does one typically hire a Kitchen? Do you have any here?" Zhu Ge asked.
"The Kitchens I have here are never enough!" Li Hao sighed. "It’s not just Kitchens. Alchemists, tailors, Artifact Refiners—when are there ever enough?"
"Then how can one obtain these legacies?" Zhu Ge asked.
This time, Zhu Ge’s expression turned serious.
Just as Shihu Pavilion was famous for Alchemy, Tongfu Restaurant was famous for its Spirit Meals.
Logically, for Li Hao to have achieved her current success, she must have her own legacy.
This legacy was likely unrelated to Mr. Langhao. Otherwise, he would be the true power behind the scenes, the real shopkeeper.
Although in essence, the situation was similar, it was different when it came to the Kitchen legacy.
If it belonged to Li Hao herself, she would have the authority to decide whether to sell it.
"I can part with a Kitchen legacy," Li Hao said thoughtfully. "But I have a condition: you must supply me with meat. You’re out fighting every day, and the Six Paths Palace is outside the city, so you should have plenty of Demon Beast Flesh."
"Is the shortage really that bad?" Zhu Ge asked, surprised.
"It is!" Li Hao glanced helplessly at the people sleeping on the floor. "These men are either masters of Martial Arts Halls or teachers from the academy. They either eat a ton, or they’re incredibly picky about their food. They’re a difficult bunch to serve!"
"They have so many subordinates, and on top of that, there are all the traveling merchants and soldiers in Jianshui City. They all love to eat at my restaurant. Ordinary poultry, pork, and lamb are manageable, but Demon Beasts are the problem."
"In previous years, the easiest Demon Beast Flesh to get was chicken, and that was only because a few villages were raising First Realm Demon Beast poultry. But now... that village is probably gone."
Zhu Ge understood upon hearing this.
Indeed, Demon Beasts weren’t that easy to hunt. But the mention of raising them stirred something in him.
"You said a village was raising chickens?" Zhu Ge’s expression grew interested. "What are these chickens like?"
’Farming!’
Zhu Ge had considered this strategy before, but the problem was that once animals became Demon Beasts, they gained Spiritual Wisdom and became dangerous.
At that point, they weren’t so easy to slaughter.