ARLQLCC chapter 19

Su Ji and Yun Che ate and chatted the whole time, and it was not until the sun was setting that they finally waited for Yun Xicheng to return.

Dragging his exhausted body, Yun Xicheng slowly shuffled into the courtyard. The moment he saw the tempting pastries on the stone table, his originally dull eyes instantly lit up. He crossed the distance in a few quick steps, sat down heavily on the empty stone stool, and grabbed a fragrant pastry.

He seemed to be starving. He stuffed them into his mouth one after another at an astonishing speed.

From the moment he returned until now, Yun Xicheng had not said a single word, focusing entirely on wolfing down the food. Afraid he might choke, Su Ji poured him a cup of tea.

Yun Che looked at him in disgust. “What’s with you… Didn’t you eat lunch?”

After swallowing the pastry in his mouth, Yun Xicheng waved his hand. “Don’t even mention it. So many people came for the Sword Trial Tournament. I had to greet every sect I recognized and exchange a few polite words. Some sect masters and elders can really talk. I didn’t even get a sip of water all day.”

Yun Che clicked his tongue. “Good thing I didn’t have much to do. Socializing is the scariest thing.”

Su Ji asked, “It’s already getting dark. Are Yue He and the others still not done?”

Yun Che replied, “They should be back soon.”

Estimating that it was nearly time for dinner, Su Ji stood up. “You’ve all had a tiring day. I’ll go make dinner. I’m also planning to try selling this snack during the Sword Trial Tournament.”

Yun Xicheng instantly burst into tears of gratitude. “Chef Su, thank goodness you came. Otherwise, I don’t know how I’d survive half a month without your cooking!”

Yun Che asked, “Do you need our help?”

Su Ji shook his head. “This dish isn’t difficult. Just wait here.”

The two of them sat back down and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to waiting for dinner.

The snack Su Ji planned to make was called dough drop soup¹Dough drop soup is a traditional Northern Chinese comfort soup featuring small, chewy flour dough pieces simmered in a flavorful broth with vegetables, eggs, and optional proteins.. It came in many flavors, was easy to prepare, and was filling, making it very suitable for setting up a food stall.

All he needed to do was prepare the broth in advance. When selling it, he could simply add the dough and boil it before serving.

Tonight, he was making shrimp and mushroom dough drop soup. It was fragrant and fresh, perfect for a bowl in the evening.

The small kitchen in the courtyard had already been cleaned by the servant disciples, who had thoughtfully prepared pots, bowls, utensils, and a full set of seasonings.

There was no dining table in this kitchen, so Su Ji tucked Chu Zhaoye into his robe and brought him along while cooking.

He directly took out the storage artifact Shopkeeper Chen had given him and placed it in an empty spot in the kitchen.

From it, he took out fresh river shrimp and skillfully cut off the heads, peeled the shells, and removed the veins. He marinated the shrimp meat with cooking wine and starch. The shrimp heads and shells were not discarded but were added to hot oil and stir-fried to release shrimp oil.

He minced garlic, then added it to the pan together with mushrooms and stir-fried until softened before pouring in an appropriate amount of water and bringing it to a boil.

At this point, the broth was ready. All that remained was to pour the batter into a colander and let it naturally drip into the soup, where it cooked into small dough lumps.

Once the dough lumps gradually took shape, Su Ji added the marinated shrimp and continued simmering. During the process, he seasoned it with light soy sauce and salt.

In no time, a full pot of rich and fragrant shrimp and mushroom dough drop soup was ready. The entire cooking process took less than half an hour.

If various broths were prepared in advance, the time needed for on-site sales would be even shorter.

At that moment, the sounds of Yan Shao and Yue He returning came from the courtyard.

“I’m so tired today. My legs are numb from walking.”

“Thankfully the opening ceremony is tomorrow, so we won’t have to run around anymore!”

“What’s that smell? It’s so fragrant! Chef Su isn’t in the courtyard—don’t tell me dinner’s ready already!”

“It really is coming from the kitchen. I’m going to take a look!”

“Wait for me, let’s go together!”

The next moment, a series of footsteps rang out in the courtyard.

The four of them rushed into the kitchen, all inhaling deeply in unison before exclaiming together, “Wow! It smells amazing!”

Yun Xicheng, who was the hungriest, charged to the front and dashed to the stove. “Wow, that’s a huge pot. What are we having tonight?”

Su Ji said, “Shrimp and mushroom dough drop soup.”

Yue He licked her lips and set six pairs of bowls and chopsticks on the counter. “Who cares what it is? I’m starving. Let’s eat already! I trust anything Chef Su makes!”

Her suggestion was met with unanimous approval. Each person took a large bowl, and the pot of dough drop soup was quickly divided up.

Since there was no dining table in the kitchen, they carried their dinners to the courtyard and sat around the stone table beneath the camphor tree.

Aside from Su Ji and Yun Che, the other three had truly been busy all day. The moment they sat down, they buried their heads in their bowls, and the sound of slurping filled the air.

Because he was cooking for his own people, Su Ji had added a generous amount of shrimp. Aside from the dough lumps, shrimp was the most abundant ingredient in the soup. Yun Xicheng was particularly fond of seafood and ate one shrimp after another with great satisfaction.

The soup base was rich and flavorful, and combined with the freshness of the shrimp oil, one bowl was enough to fill the stomach with a comforting warmth, no less satisfying than any mountain or sea delicacy.

Su Ji had diced the mushrooms into tiny cubes so their flavor completely melded into the soup. By the end of the meal, even Yue He, who had a relatively small appetite, finished every last drop.

Su Ji had not worked as hard as they had, so he let them have most of the soup and served himself only a normal-sized bowl.

But since he had added plenty of ingredients, one bowl still left him about eighty percent full.

Chu Zhaoye was the slowest eater of the group. As a kitten, he could only lick up this semi-liquid food with his tongue, which was rather difficult.

After finishing his own dinner, Su Ji took out a spoon, picked up the kitten’s bowl, and fed him one spoonful at a time.

Yun Xicheng, now full and satisfied, patted his round belly. “I feel like I’ve come back to life!”

“When we came back, everyone was wailing because they could only eat Chef Lin’s food,” Yue He recalled. “When they saw that Yan Shao and I weren’t going to the dining hall, they thought we’d be going hungry.”

Yan Shao laughed. “With Chef Su here, who would go eat at Chef Lin’s?”

Yue He said contentedly, “We’re in for a treat for the next half month. Just thinking about it makes me happy.”

After eating and drinking their fill, the group chatted in the courtyard for a long time. At one point, servant disciples came to clear away the bowls and chopsticks.

The sky grew darker and darker, and countless lights lit up throughout Yunxian Sect, illuminating this entire sect.

As they talked, the topic drifted to the opening ceremony of the Sword Trial Tournament. Yun Xicheng slapped his thigh, pulled a token from his robes, and stuffed it into Su Ji’s hand.

“This is a spectator token I got from the elders. In principle, no one except participating disciples is allowed to enter, but if someone else wants to watch, the participating sect can request a spectator token from the organizers. With this token, you’ll be able to freely enter and leave the central martial arena tomorrow.”

Su Ji glanced at the token in his hand. It was entirely black with a smooth texture, and three golden characters were engraved on it: Spectator Token.

He could vaguely sense spiritual power flowing through the characters. The spiritual energy carved into it was linked to the organizers and served as the means of verification.

“Thank you.”

Yun Xicheng waved his hand. “No need to be so polite. We invited you here, so naturally we have to be good hosts. At tomorrow’s opening ceremony, the sect masters and elders from every sect will be present. The disciples of each sect will be divided into four groups according to their cultivation realms. You can just find a comfortable seat in the spectator area.”

The opening ceremony of the Sword Trial Tournament would take place in the morning, with the sect masters and elders delivering encouraging speeches and announcing the tournament rewards.

In the afternoon, the martial arena would be divided into four platforms for the Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation divisions. Disciples who were not scheduled to compete could sit in the spectator area and choose whichever platform they wished to watch.

Most people chose to remain near the platform of their own realm, since those competitors might become their future opponents.

Even disciples from the same sect sometimes fought fiercely on the platform. The more one could observe another person’s techniques and cultivation methods, the more useful it might be in future matches.

The platforms were arranged in order from lowest to highest realm. The Soul Transformation platform was not far from the Golden Core platform. Since Yun Xicheng and the others were all Golden Core cultivators, Su Ji planned to sit between the two platforms so he could both watch his friends compete and observe Soul Transformation battles up close.

In previous tournaments, disciples who had already been eliminated or whose matches were scheduled much later often went to watch the Soul Transformation platform.

After all, it was the highest-level competition of the entire Sword Trial Tournament. Whether in terms of spiritual power reserves or combat experience, it was something other disciples could only admire from afar.

Some people had even entered a state of sudden enlightenment and broken through their bottlenecks after watching an evenly matched Soul Transformation battle.

During their conversation, Su Ji also learned that betting was a part of the Sword Trial Tournament.

Before each match, people could wager spirit stones on the outcome. In past years, many had either lost everything or made enormous profits through betting.

Su Ji had earned quite a few spirit stones from the cafeteria over the past few days. He planned to set aside some to bet on the matches of Yun Xicheng and the other three. Whether he won or lost did not matter much—it was mainly for good luck.

Since the opening ceremony was the next day, they chatted for a while longer before each returning to their rooms to bathe and rest. Su Ji had not been very tired, but after hearing them yawn one after another, he found himself growing sleepy as well.

After carrying Chu Zhaoye back to his room, he spread out the bedding and took the kitten’s exclusive little pillow from his storage artifact, placing it beside his own pillow.

“Originally, I wasn’t very busy today, and I planned to cultivate tonight.” Lying on his side in bed, Su Ji raised one hand and tapped the kitten’s nose. “But maybe sleepiness really is contagious. Seeing how tired they were made me sleepy too.”

Chu Zhaoye let out a meow and raised one paw to pat the pillow.

If you’re sleepy, then hurry up and sleep.

Su Ji gave a small yawn and slipped under the covers.

A flash of cyan spiritual energy passed through the room, and the bright candlelight was extinguished.

Su Ji’s breathing gradually evened out until he fell asleep.

Chu Zhaoye quietly lay on the small pillow Su Ji had specially brought for him. He gazed for a while at Su Ji’s peaceful and gentle sleeping face, then closed his eyes with peace of mind.

…

As the rising sun illuminated the six peaks of Yunxian Sect, its light filtered through the camphor tree in the courtyard and woke Su Ji from his dreams.

It was still early, but there was already considerable activity throughout Yunxian Sect. With the opening ceremony of the Sword Trial Tournament approaching, aside from the reception disciples who had been exhausted the previous night, few people had likely slept well.

Su Ji, however, had slept quite well. When he awoke, his mind was clear and he felt completely refreshed.

He washed up with Chu Zhaoye and, upon stepping out of his room, found that Yun Xicheng and the others were already fully dressed.

The group exchanged smiles and stepped out of the courtyard into the morning sun.

The Sword Trial Tournament was about to begin.

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  Dough drop soup is a traditional Northern Chinese comfort soup featuring small, chewy flour dough pieces simmered in a flavorful broth with vegetables, eggs, and optional proteins.