Chapter 945: The Restaurant in the Immortal City
Translator: Zenobys, CatatoPatch
The Immortal Tree sat in the middle of the Immortal City. Rising above the sky, diving into the sea of clouds, the dense clouds floated around it as it wrapped around the tree, causing that Immortal Tree to seem even more faint and misty.
The closer the Netherworld Ship was, the more it could feel the greatness of that Immortal Tree. It was as if a huge giant was supporting both heaven and earth, taking up a great half of the land of the Immortal City.
There was a majestic city wall around the Immortal City. The city walls were simple and unadorned, filled with the smell of the passage of time.
On the city walls, there were dots of moss growing on it. With a lush green spread over it, it caused the city wall to seem extremely olden.
But on such an olden city wall, many marks were engraved on it. Those marks formed a mysterious magic array, protecting the Immortal City.
“The Hidden Dragon Continent is actually considered as the Mundane Continent of the Immortal Cooking Realm. In the Immortal Cooking Realm, every continent has its own name. However, most have forgotten about it,” explained Lord Dog as he laid on the Netherworld Ship, continuing to impart knowledge of the Immortal Cooking Realm.
Lord Dog was also helpless. Actually, he wanted to sleep, but seeing the eyes that were filled with curiosity and desire for knowledge, he could only continue explaining.
The Hidden Dragon Continent was considered the Mundane Continent of the Immortal Cooking Realm?
Bu Fang nodded his head, a little more clear on why the people of the Immortal Cooking Realm called them mortals.
This Immortal Cooking Realm was like a place in a novel from his previous world, a world that ordinary people would see once they ascended.
Actually, Bu Fang was still a little curious. Lord Dog said before that the chefs of the Immortal Cooking Realm were judged according to their ability to cook the ingredients plucked from that Immortal Tree.
But it couldn’t possibly be that all the ingredients had to come from that Immortal Tree, right?
“The reason that the Immortal City city walls in the Immortal Cooking Realm were built so high is to protect themselves from the invasion of those savage and barbaric monsters. And some of the chefs of the Immortal Cooking Realm would head outside the Immortal City and hunt for those savage and barbaric monsters. Of course, they would go to pick up ingredients as every Immortal City has its own fields where they can plant fruits and vegetables,” Lord Dog continued.
Hearing Lord Dog’s explanation, Bu Fang understood now. So that’s how it is.
While they were chatting, the Netherworld Ship was now approaching the Immortal City, getting closer and closer to it.
Rumble.
Finally, the Netherworld Ship descended.
In the distance, the city gate of the Immortal City towered, and outside it, many armored experts stood.
“Those are the city guards. They belong to the guards under the administration of the City Lord…” Lord Dog said in a faint voice, as though he was exhausted.
Lord Dog felt that with this journey, he had spoken enough words for this whole eternity. He may have gotten a little fatter, but he was still cold and noble, so whenever he spoke, it would always be only one or two sentences.
“They are not the same as those who tried to kill us. These people are wearing golden armor.” The Black Dragon King rubbed his bald head as he said that.
Everyone rolled their eyes. Obviously. Who couldn’t see that?
“The ones who attacked us earlier should be the guards of an aristocratic family in the Immortal City… There are many aristocrats in a single Immortal City. Those families, together with the City Lord, check and manage the city. After all, there are many resources in an Immortal City, so if no one maintained the balance, then the City Lord would hide the truth from the masses. If he made a decision that went against the natural order, then it could cause a huge change and disorder,” Lord Dog said.
“So, every aristocratic family has quite some power. That is the reason why I, Lord Dog, want to remove the weed at its root. To become an aristocratic family of an Immortal City, the family has to have a very powerful expert overseeing it. The culinary skills of that expert might not be as great as the City Lord, but they definitely do not lose out on combat ability…”
Bu Fang and the rest nodded their heads.
The Immortal Cooking Realm was indeed different from the Hidden Dragon Continent. The strongest combat ability on the Hidden Dragon Continent was only a foundation here.
No wonder the people of the Immortal Cooking Realm considered the people of the Hidden Dragon Continent mortals.
When they arrived, Nethery kept the Netherworld Ship, then slowly followed the rest as they walked towards the Immortal City.
The city gates opened on a very wide street, and there were many people on that street.
Some of these people held vegetable baskets, and within those baskets were spirit vegetables that scattered a dense spiritual energy.
Some carried a wicker basket, which was piled up with Spirit Bamboos that were like jade.
Without question, these people were commoners. But even though they were commoners, the cultivation of these people had all reached Divine Physique Echelon.
A city could not only contain cultivators, so having these commoners were normal. Otherwise, it would make Bu Fang and the rest seem overly suspicious.
The guards in front of the Immortal City city gates did not prevent Bu Fang and the rest from coming in.
There were so many people entering and leaving the city gates every day, and sometimes, they weren’t even able to handle it. Furthermore, they believed that no one would dare to cause trouble in the Immortal City.
The danger that the Immortal City faced, in reality, was the stampede made up of the savage and barbaric monsters outside the Immortal City. Those savage monsters that had gone crazy would sometimes group together to attack the Immortal City, wanting to snatch away the ingredients grown on the Immortal Tree.
Almost every time the Immortal Tree matured, it would cause a stampede of beasts. At that time, the guards were most cautious.
Hence, Bu Fang and the rest had successfully entered the Immortal City.
The Black Dragon King originally intended to display his divine might in the world inside of the Dragon Gate, but after taking a closer look, even the guards of the city gates were no weaker than him. He still wanted to be all that, but he needed to obediently tuck his tail and just be a dragon for now.
Once they entered the Immortal City, the chattering within the city had utterly shocked them.
The Immortal City was really too prosperous. Every single building was incomparably exquisite, and both sides of the street were filled with hawkers and restaurants.
As they walked further on the vast street, there were more and more people.
The Immortal City was split into two, the inner circle and the outer circle. The outer circle was where the commoners lived, while the inner circle was where the aristocratic families and the City Court resided.
Of course, there was an existence that was exempt from it, and that was the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion.
This Immortal Kitchen Pavilion was built on the boundary connecting the inner circle and the outer circle, and behind the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion was the City Lord’s residence.
Restaurants were commonly seen in the Immortal City. Of course, there were other stores, but most of them were related to food.
Moreover, almost all the restaurants in the outer circle were under the management of a few great aristocratic families. That was because in most cases, the resources of the chef belonged to the aristocratic families.
To obtain the right to open a restaurant in the Immortal City, one must first enter the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion to obtain a chef grade.
To open a restaurant in the outer circle, although one’s culinary skills need to reach the Immortal Chef grade, the ability of the chef still had to be special grade at least.
Those chefs that had obtained the judging of the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion would mostly be absorbed by the aristocratic families when they step out of it, becoming a member of an aristocratic family.
In the Immortal City, the resources of chefs were the greatest resource.
This way, the resources earned by the business in the outer circle and the restaurants forming chain businesses would all fall into the hands of the aristocratic families.
Aristocratic families would always be aristocratic families, and commoners would find it difficult to find a chance to rise.
In the inner circle, the area where aristocratic families stood, one could not be ordinary to open a restaurant there. Every chef in the restaurants there was an Immortal Chef.
In reality, most were First Grade or Second Grade Immortal Chefs.
Third Grade Immortal Chefs would not come out to open a shop for business. What they needed to do was to rush into the Qilin Chef grade, so they were mostly under the Immortal Tree where they would continuously cultivate their culinary arts.
Hence, the closer one neared the Immortal Tree, the greater the chefs were.
Bu Fang, as of now, would naturally not know of this. At this moment, he was having a headache over how to open a branch in the Immortal City.
According to what Lord Dog said, if he wanted to open a restaurant in the Immortal City, he had to first go for a test at the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion and obtain the relevant chef rights.
If one did not have the chef’s rights, they were not allowed to obtain a storefront and open a restaurant.
Currently, Bu Fang was still not familiar with everything in the Immortal City, so he wanted to see everything first and postpone taking the test for now.
A group of people walked within the Immortal City.
Flowery was picked up by the Black Dragon King, riding on his neck.
Nethery and Nether King Er Ha followed at Bu Fang’s side. Nether King Er Ha held a Spicy Strip in his mouth, shoving it in and out of his mouth with a blissful expression.
Lord Dog strutted elegantly with his cat-like steps. Every step was not fast, but he was still able to keep up with Bu Fang and the rest.
“Bu Fang little friend, we have walked for so long. Why don’t we go to a restaurant and eat a meal? Walking aimlessly like this is also not a solution.”
The Black Dragon King sniffed at the fragrance lingering in the air, and his drool had already started leaking.
When it came to delicacies, the Black Dragon King had a very weak resistance. After all, he had eaten only raw seafood in the Endless Sea, so when he smelled the fragrance of cooked food, he was unable to control himself.
Go to a restaurant?
When Bu Fang heard the Black Dragon King’s suggestion, he recovered from his deep thought.
That’s right. Rather than wandering around like this, it’s better to go directly to a restaurant to observe.
Hence, everyone walked towards a restaurant in the distance.
“This restaurant has no name?”
After looking for a while for the name of the restaurant, Bu Fang raised his brows before leading everyone inside.
Lord Dog was behind Bu Fang. Looking at Bu Fang’s figure advancing forward courageously, his mouth smacked down playfully. Then, he sauntered in with his graceful cat steps as he explained, “The restaurants here are not allowed to have a sign if they don’t have an Immortal Chef.”
Once they entered the restaurant, the bustling atmosphere inside captivated Bu Fang and the rest.
The interior of the restaurant was very simple. Blue bricks and red pillars adorned the walls, and square tables for eight were placed within the dining area.
The space was huge. From outside, the restaurant looked small, but once they stepped inside, it was as if there was actually heaven and earth inside it.
There were about a few dozens of tables, and people were eating on every table.
There were vegetable fragrance, alcoholic fragrance, and fragrance of condiments lingering in the air. The mixture of the various aromas formed a smell that Bu Fang was familiar with.
“In the Immortal Cooking Realm, almost no household knows how to cook, so when it comes to food, they always go to a restaurant to eat. They even use the delicacies in the restaurant to replace practicing…” Lord Dog said.
Bu Fang nodded his head.
After waiting for a long time, they finally found an empty table and sat around it.
At this time, a waiter had finally come to greet them.
The one that greeted them was a young girl with hair pinned up like a meatball. Looking at Bu Fang and the rest with a smile, she said, “Welcome. What do you guys want to eat?”
“What does your restaurant… have?”
The rest did not open their mouths. They all looked at Bu Fang as though they wanted him to speak first and order for them.
That young girl slightly froze. She did not think that the one in charge would be this expressionless youth.
However, it did not matter who was in charge. She did not care anyway as these people had all come to this restaurant to eat.
The young girl gave a faint smile, then pulled out a wooden menu from her bosom, passing it to Bu Fang as she said, “This is the restaurant menu. Please take a look at our dishes.”
The menu?
Bu Fang received the menu, then swept his gaze over it.
However, the moment his gaze landed on the menu, his eyes instantly shrank.
“Stir-fried Divine Spirit Bamboo, one immortal crystal for one portion… Red Braised Fire Spirit Twin-Headed Snake, two immortal crystals for one portion…”