Dinner

In the pitch-black night sky, besides the stars and the crescent moon, there was also a rather large shadow.

Something resembling a tiny firefly kept flickering atop the shadow, as though afraid no one would notice it.

When the large shadow slowly descended to the ground, everyone finally saw that it was actually a huge basket.

The lid was fastened tightly, and its handle was carved with rows of tiny patterns. Liang Zhonghuai, who was well versed in many things, recognized at a glance that those little patterns were formation marks.

But the long row of tiny formations seemed to serve no purpose other than flashing?

He sighed inwardly. He had never expected that the Lingxian Sect would have someone capable of carving formation marks so delicately—and so casually.

A note had been pasted onto the basket’s lid.

It bore two words: “Dinner.”

The people gathered around reached out and lifted the lid.

In an instant, an enticing aroma poured out of the basket, making everyone’s mouths water!

Someone in the crowd exclaimed, “It smells so good!”

The group, already ravenously hungry, immediately worked together to carry the basket of tempting food over to the large, flat stones in front of the thatched shelter.

Then they took the food out portion by portion.

Tietou and Lin Lei had spent quite some time busying themselves in the Artifact Refining Hall for this very purpose. Mo Yuanjiao would also occasionally go over to lend them a hand.

They had worked day and night before finally producing a large number of insulated meal boxes, along with this enormous basket specially designed to transport food by remote control.

Tietou and the others had made enough insulated meal boxes for everyone, so quite a few were left over.

They could be used for future disciples as well.

After all, even cultivators went through a period when they could not yet live without food. Preparing meal boxes for new disciples seemed quite necessary.

Besides, even after reaching the point where one no longer needed food to sustain the body, that did not mean one had to stop eating!

These meal boxes could also be taken along when traveling. They could keep food warm, after all.

Just imagine being able to eat hot meals from the sect while away from home in the future. What a wonderful thing that would be!

So Tietou and the others had put a great deal of thought into designing the meal boxes.

They had to consider how to store ordinary dishes, while also taking into account the different storage requirements of fried foods, frozen treats, and all kinds of other dishes.

For example, if fried food was merely sealed in to keep it warm, it would gradually turn soft.

The whole point of fried food was its crispness!

How could they let it go soft?

Once it softened, it just would not taste the same!

Thus, these meal boxes had an astonishing number of functions. They took nearly every type of food they could think of into consideration and designed different compartments according to each food’s needs.

After conducting repeated experiments, they selected the designs that best preserved the texture and original flavor of the food.

The meal boxes were therefore quite spacious, with many small compartments inside.

Of course, although the boxes had supposedly been prepared for the newcomers, the older disciples had not been forgotten. Everyone received one.

The new disciples each received a boxed meal and casually found a place to sit down before digging in.

They had no choice. Their stomachs could not hold out any longer. If they did not eat soon, they would be doing their stomachs a disservice.

Accompanied by the fragrance of delicious food, every bite was an ultimate delight for the taste buds, drawing sigh after sigh of satisfaction from the diners.

The meals Jiang Youfu had prepared for the newcomers were brimming with spiritual energy, yet remarkably gentle. They would not burst an ordinary person’s meridians or dantian. Instead, they would gently cleanse and regulate the body, while the excess energy slowly dissipated.

After finishing their meals, everyone felt a warm current rise from beneath their chests and spread throughout their bodies. The sensation was indescribably comfortable.

The older people felt that the fatigue they had carried in their bodies for years had vanished. Instead, they seemed to have returned to their youth, filled with abundant vitality.

The younger ones felt light as swallows and believed they could easily leap six feet into the air!

Even Yuan Jinsheng, a Golden Core cultivator, could feel the hidden ailments in his body being gently soothed and treated.

For most of his life, he had followed the Zhao imperial family into life-and-death battles. His cultivation had also been guided by the imperial family, so there were many things he actually knew very little about.

Spiritual food was one of them.

But not understanding something did not mean he could not estimate its value by comparison.

The spiritual energy contained in this single meal far exceeded that of a spirit stone! It even produced many effects that could never be achieved through absorbing spirit stones alone.

Food of this quality was certainly worth a great deal!

Yet the Lingxian Sect had served such generous portions to every newcomer on their very first day of joining.

This was truly…

Based on all the sects he had encountered over the years, none of them could have done such a thing, nor would any of them have been willing to.

He glanced at his son beside him, who was eating with great care, and silently let out a sigh. A glimmer of hope rose in his heart.

A sect like this might truly have a way to allow Yingzi to cultivate successfully.

Otherwise, with the sect accepting only a little over a hundred people in total, why would it admit someone unable to cultivate and waste a place?

They must have a solution. Otherwise, they would never have dared to accept him.

Thinking this, Yuan Jinsheng felt more relaxed than ever before. He raised his hand and cast a Dust-Cleansing Technique, cleaning the meal box in his hands.

Then he carefully placed it into his storage pouch.

In a corner near the thatched shelter, eight-year-old Xie Rong and eleven-year-old Yin Xiaoxiao held their meal boxes. They chewed slowly and cautiously, savoring every bite, while wearing deeply troubled expressions.

Only after carefully swallowing the food in his mouth did Xie Rong sigh and say, “Sigh… Fourth Sis, do you think Hua Xiao’er and Xu Duojin have already gone home?”

Yin Xiaoxiao likewise swallowed her food carefully before replying, “Definitely. Once they get home, they might even be whipped again.”

While she was speaking, Xie Rong hurriedly stuffed a mouthful of food into his own mouth. After hearing her answer, he wanted to respond, but he was afraid the food might accidentally spray out and go to waste. So he patiently savored it for a long while instead.

The instant Yin Xiaoxiao finished speaking, she also put a mouthful into her own mouth.

This was the most delicious thing they had ever tasted in their entire lives!

They had never even tasted anything one percent as delicious!

They had to savor it carefully. What if the sect did not provide such good food at the next meal?

Only when both of their meal boxes held just one final bite did the two of them finally stop eating. They exchanged a glance, then Xie Rong looked at the nearly empty box in his hands and sighed again.

“Sigh… I wonder if those two idiots will be able to find their way home without us leading them.”

After all, their families were in Liaoju Prefecture, quite a considerable distance from here.

And they had left without telling their families.

Yin Xiaoxiao, however, looked at him as though he were an idiot.

“When I left, I already found someone to notify their parents.”

Of the four children, she was the oldest, and she normally took her responsibilities as an older sister very seriously.

Besides, since she had secretly brought the three younger boys so far from home, there was no way she could leave their families completely in the dark.