Yang Qing watched Shi Hao silently in admiration as a little envy welled up in him when he imagined the amount of luck the king of the White Baobab Kingdom had. Though the Kingdom already had other cooks who had already touched up on the dao of cooking, they did not number more than the fingers on one's hands, and every cook was unique.

Painters, cooks, tea brewers, wine brewers, and musicians, usually in the early phases of their cultivation the improvements they made were through cultivation, while the occupation they chose had little to no impact in the beginning, though Yang Qing knew painting was a bit different, as it strengthened the cultivator's soul and tempered their hearts in the beginning, so it did provide some added advantages in the early phases, but for the rest, if the cultivators wanted to improve their cultivation base, they could only do it in the normal fashion which was to master their chosen cultivation art and use its profundities to absorb and refine spiritual qi.

However, if they wanted to pursue their occupation and use it as the foundation to improve themselves, the moment they reached the core formation realm, they could no longer use the cultivation techniques they had been using earlier, they could only improve their cultivation base through their professions, which was the only way they would be able to sense and maybe even gain the approval of the dao associated with their profession and use it to establish their path to the palace realm.

From the core formation realm, they could only rely on themselves, even though they could seek guidance and use the insight of their peers to help them, ultimately walking that step was up to them, the insights would only give them a sense of what to look out for, but parting that fog was up to them, and the process was usually unique to the individual.

For example in the White Baobab Kingdom, there were already a few chefs who had already stumbled onto the path of the cooking dao, the explanations they gave on how they stumble onto it were unique to them, for example, one stumbled onto it as she was processing a chalcedony scaled bass. The chalcedony scaled bass was one of the tastiest fish one could ever have, every single part of its body was a prized treasure and would usually go for at least 100 high-grade spirit stones. However, it was notorious for being highly strenuous to process and even cook, one slight misstep and the chalcedony-scaled bass would melt away as though it was thawed ice.

That particular cook spent close to three months without sleeping or stepping away as she processed the bass and somehow in that tense situation she stumbled onto the doors of the cooking dao. Another stumbled onto that pathway when he was cooking porridge for his expectant wife.

No one process was the same, and even the gravity of the scenarios were different, some were tense while others were light-hearted. The only commonality among the different experiences was one had to be cooking, as long as you kept cooking, wholeheartedly at that, the dao of cooking may be triggered. There was no structured guideline on how to guarantee it, you only had to cook and Shi Hao had triggered his.

Yang Qing's smile widened as he imagined the thought of what Shi Hai's meals would taste like. Before, his meals were already top-tier, but now with cooking dao involved, the experience would be pushed multiple levels higher kind of like Jiang Fu's famous oolong tea which left someone transported to another realm every time they took a sip.

Just like every cook had a unique experience with their cooking dao, the meals they made doused with that cooking dao provided a unique experience to whoever ate it. The cooking dao within those dishes made everything about it cater to the consumer's wild imagination. Some would feel like they have tasted heaven, while others would feel like they had tasted that one meal someone close to them once made for them but could never find that taste replicated anywhere else.

Afraid his presence would interfere with Shi Hai, Yang Qing left to one of the peaks which he was going to use to brew some wine using the bulk of the fruits and honey he had collected around the Deer Mountain Range.

While he wasn't an expert at it like Yi Jie, he knew enough to dabble in it, and for good measure, he had plans to add a tiny drop of the wine he had been given by that mysterious figure who joined him and Meifeng in their makeshift party. The figure he suspected was using the flames produced by a Bifang Niao to temper his sword. Considering the figure's means and abilities, the wine was anything but simple. Even if his skills in wine-making proved lacking, the wine he was given would no doubt make up for it.

Giggling with excitement, Yang Qing quickly made his way up the peak as he called over Haishi and Bolin for company as he brewed the wine.

A couple of hours passed by before he was finally done with his brew."These should be enough.." muttered Yang Qing with an excited smile as he put on the lid on the last remaining vat, he had made three in total, and though he didn't sample it and just used his palace sense to ensure it was okay, on a visceral level he could already tell it was bound to be spectacular, especially after adding the tiny drop of the mysterious wine to the four vats. The proof of this was the two spirit beasts who couldn't hide their greedy gazes as they watched Yang Qing store away the last vat.

Once he was done, Yang Qing made his way to the former territory of the Clear Sword River Sect, to invite the mountain jade serpent and the verdant firefly to see if they wanted to join him for the party. The former refused as he wasn't used to crowds, even amongst fellow spirit beasts, and was completely consumed by the atmosphere of the area, he didn't want to leave it even for a second, and as for the verdant firefly, Yang Qing could sense the conflicting within it when he made the offer. On one hand, it wanted to follow him, on the other it felt torn about leaving the plants growing around unattended.

Yang Qing eventually decided to let it stay, as for the aurora azalea, and the spiritual restoration oak tree, they couldn't move even if they wanted to. The only way to do so was if they stepped onto the palace realm where they would have esoteric means of venturing outside even if their main bodies were rooted in place.

Once he was done, he visited Gu Xing to extend his invitation. He had half expected her to refuse and was surprised when she agreed.

As he was leaving, on a whim Yang Qing decided he might as well try to invite the stoic gold eagle guard Ye Xun. Her social skills aside, she had helped him more than once without complaint, Yang Qing hoped he could return the favor with some good wine.

Yang Qing couldn't help but shake his head with a smile when he received a "mmmh" as a reply before she disconnected her communication talisman.

"That was a 'mmh' yes right?" he wondered out loud.

He didn't pay the matter any more heed as he would know whether it was a yes or no when the time came. She already knew where Meifeng's alcove was which saved him from the dilemma of having to confirm whether it was a yes or no.

With all the preliminary arrangements made, he paid a visit to Meifeng to calm her tense nerves with some rice wine and crab cakes and left for the branch.

By the time he came back, Shi Hai had already completed all the dishes with tears in his eyes as he sensed the gains he had made in the process. He could be considered to have finally embarked on the path to being a true world cook now. He couldn't help but rush toward Yang Qing and thank him profusely with tears in his eyes, and promise Yang Qing a lifetime's worth of free meals, which Yang Qing would definitely collect. He wasn't hypocritical enough to refuse. His conscience wouldn't allow him to.

With everything in place, the whole band assembled in place; Mo Guang, Su Jinjing, Bolin, Haishi, Ellie, Shi Hai, and Yang Qing, all gathered atop Ellie's back and left for Meifeng's place. Yang Qing had Gu Xing meet them when they were halfway through the trip. Her pristine sacred look was enough to turn some eyes, especially from Shi Hua who didn't blink even for a second.

As for rest, Luo Meili and Su Jinjing other than the small surprise of seeing a sacred flame swan in the flesh, weren't affected too greatly, while Mo Guang was calm wearing the genial elderly smile he always had,Haishi and Bolin were reserved when they sensed her aura, and for Ellie, she was behaved exactly the way Yang Qing had expected her to. She was smug, disdainful, and a little combative.

Yang Qing couldn't help but sigh at this as he wondered where she got such a nasty personality from.

...

Ellie's intrusive thoughts

[This damn Yang Qing, did he invite the whole range? How many mouths are these?! The food won't be enough! He has always been so undependable, a disgrace to gluttons. What glutton invites more people? And he has the nerve to beat me up every time I pick a few hatchlings from his pond now and then... he is so unreliable...Wait till we get back, mmph..]

...

Yang Qing who had been sighing at Ellie's behavior couldn't help but look perplexed when he saw her give him a look that was a mixture of aggrievement, disappointment, disdain, and vindictiveness.

"What's with her?" he wondered before he decided to push those matters to the back of his head. He had more matters to focus on rather than trying to think about what ran through Ellie's mind. He had long given up on her.

The journey over was smooth, with the company engaging in small talk to try and lighten the mood and ease the unfamiliarity with each other. Yang Qing was about the only commonality with all present, except when it came to Administrator Mo Guang. He was the only one who had a close relationship with Shi Hai, Gu Xing, Luo Mieli, and the rest, so he served as abridge between the groups tying them together. As for Mo Guang, he was an old fox familiar with making conversation even amongst strangers.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Meifeng's alcove.

"Is this really the same place?" asked Gu Xing with a slightly surprised look as she detected the slight pure yin energy that was leaking from the alcove.

Even if it was just a sliver, she could feel the vastness and the purity contained within it.

"It's the same place, it's just that something happened recently that transformed it.." said Yang Qing as he lept off Ellie's back and informed Meifeng of their arrival via his palace sense.

"She seems utterly terrified.." thought Yang Qing as he heard the muffled stammered reply from Meifeng that was a mixture of words and yelps.

Once inside, the crowd couldn't help but marvel at the beauty within it. Meifeng's flowers and fruits and even the tree as a whole looked more majestic and resplendent, as it radiated a sense of cool refreshing gentleness that matched the pond below it that filled the area with a refreshing coolness that relaxed the mind.

"Little bud?" Gu Xing inadvertently muttered in surprise as she struggled to reconcile her memory of what had been here with what she was seeing. The little sapling she had left, was now all grown, bearing the beauty and majesty of the heavens.

"Meifeng will you keep hiding there, or will you come to say hi?" said Yang Qing with a teasing smile toward Meifeng whose human clone had been hiding behind her trunk, sneaking a glance from behind it as she tightly clutched the diamond beetle in her bossom, which seemed to be trying to wrestle free.

Yang Qing's voice startled her, which gave the diamond beetle the chance to flee, as it rushed toward Yang Qing with the serenity melody river skylark and the crescent-winged moth having already beaten it in reaching Yang Qing. The trio swarmed Yang Qing as they circled him with clear joy, as the serenity melody river skylark even took liberties nesting on Yang Qing's head as it chirped in joyous melody, while the crescent winged moth circled his ear releasing white mist and the diamond beetle choosing to settle on one of his shoulders with a satisfied expression on his face.

"Traitors! I thought we were in this together.." said Meifeng with a low aggrieved tone as she wearily stepped out from behind the trunk with her shy gaze falling on her guests.

Seeing how utterly petrified she was, Yang Qing walked over and helped her along as he made the introductions.