Ninety-Seventh Flame Spirit Fruit

  "Hurry up and put it away, this thing can't be exposed to the air for too long, or its effect will evaporate!" The old man in the dragon ring didn't answer Tang Yan's question, but instead told him to use a jade bottle to store the fruit that looked like a fire spirit pearl.

  "Oh!" Tang Yan poured the fruit into a jade bottle and said.

  After putting it away, Tang Yan stored it in the spatial ring to prevent losing it. Then he asked the old man, "What is this thing? It looks like the Fire Spirit Fruit recorded in 'Ancient Dan Techniques'."

  "Hmm, not bad, it's indeed a Fire Spirit Fruit, and this thing is at least several tens of thousands of years old. Unfortunately, being sealed in the stone for too long has reduced its effectiveness to less than two-thirds of its original!" The old man replied to Tang Yan.

  Huǒ Líng Guǒ, generally grows in the mouth of a volcano or in a magma cave. A high-temperature resistant plant, recorded in "Shàng Gǔ Dān Shù", about one meter tall, with red trunk and leaves. No flowers bloom, after fifty years of growth, it bears one fruit, which matures in five hundred years. During these five hundred years, no one knows how much fire element the fruit absorbs. Once a person with a fire-based physique eats the Huǒ Líng Guǒ, their power greatly increases, at least breaking through one rank, not just one star. If it's someone with a water-based physique who eats it, they can only be buried in yellow soil afterwards.

  Many fire spirits are also found in rocks, the fire spirit falls into the magma, and with the eruption of the magma, it is sprayed out and then solidified in the rock.

  The old man then said: "This thing is much stronger than ordinary fire spirit fruit, perhaps because it fell into the magma and sank in the magma for many years, absorbing a lot of earth fire. It's a good medicine to refine Dan fire, kid. This time you've made a profit, even if you didn't swallow the dragon soul, you can still refine Dan fire. With the top-grade Dan fire secret recipe I gave you last time, plus the fire spirit fruit, at the very least, it can help you reach second-rate Dan fire in a short period of time!"

  In the alchemy world, the stronger the dan fire, the higher the level of the elixir produced. Both dan fire and elixirs have nine grades, and those above nine are sacred and imperial elixirs. Second-grade dan fire can produce second-grade elixirs. With Tang Yan's soul power, third-grade shouldn't be a problem either. The problem is that he currently doesn't have any dan fire.

  There is a top-grade Danhuo Heart Method, but there's no time to practice it. Practicing in the snowy realm is feared to lead to walking fire entering madness, and practicing outside would be too wasteful of time. Who knew that even after a month of refining, there was still no Danhuo? If Tang Yan had spent a month's worth of time in the snowy realm, his strength would have at least advanced to three stars or more.

  Upon hearing the old man's words, Tang Yan began to feel delighted. Since he could practice alchemy ahead of time, this was a good thing. Even if he couldn't refine anything, he could still learn and gain some experience in alchemy.

  "When are you going to refine that Fire Spirit Fruit into a pill for me to eat?" Tang Yan asked the old man.

  "What's your hurry? I'm not going anywhere!" said the old man.

  "I didn't mean it that way, I just wanted to inherit your pot of radish quickly!" Tang Yan patted his horse's buttocks and said.

  "Alright, you little scamp, don't think I'm unaware of your schemes!" the old man said to Tang Yan.

  "Haha, it's great to meet you! Now I have money and beautiful women!" Tang Yan said with a embarrassed smile.

  "But you didn't say that before, encountering me was your bad luck, it's me who made you live a life worse than a beggar for two years!" the old man said.

  "Those things in the past are over, now I'm thanking you!" Tang Yan said.

  Soon, Zilan came up to call Tang Yan down for dinner, to eat the big meal they had made with their own hands. When Tang Yan arrived downstairs, he only then knew what a fish feast was like. Red braised, steamed, deep-fried, boiled... each of the large fish weighed two or three kilograms, looking just right, like those in a star-rated hotel. Color, flavor, fragrance, beauty were all there, only missing was the taste.

  "Are these all done by you?" Tang Yan asked, looking at the five fish next to which were carved with his own name.

  "Really? Let's try it then!" Nangong Xiangxue said with a happy expression, wiping the soot from her face.

  Especially Dongfang Wan'er, ten fingers, nine of which are wrapped in white cloth. Except for Dongfang Wan'er, Xuan Yuan Peng is the same. As for Nangong Xiangxue, she's a princess, and this is her first time cooking, so having only one finger unwrapped is already not bad.

  She made a red-roasted fish, and it was the best-looking among the five, with scales-like pieces of fish meat, vividly lifelike. According to her, the fish bones inside had been removed, leaving only a head-up fish head as decoration.

  To be honest, if Tang Yan had a choice, he really didn't want to eat the red-braised fish that Nangong Xiangxue had made. Looking at the surface of the dish, those bright red oils weren't cooked out, but rather were fried out with chili oil. Although there weren't any chilies on top, the pungent and nose-stinging spiciness was truly not ordinary.

  For those who can't even cook steaming and boiling dishes well, Tang Yan could still eat them, but he just couldn't eat the braised fish made by Nangong Xiangxue.

  "Hmm. Little sister's craftsmanship is getting better and better!" Tang Yan liked to eat the fresh fish she steamed with her own hands, it had been almost two years since he last tasted her cooking.

  "Really?" Zi Lan asked with a smile after hearing Tang Yan's praise.

  "Uh, it's delicious, but I couldn't finish yours all at once, I still have to eat theirs, you know!" Tang Yan looked at their watery eyes and then at her bandaged fingers.

  There's no way around it, if Tang Yan doesn't eat their dishes, they will definitely hate Tang Yan to death. Just now, they spent dozens of gold coins to book the kitchen in the wine house and were busy for almost an hour. And those carvings and so on, every dish, they put their heart into making them, just like Zi Lan, wanting to get Tang Yan's praise.

  After eating a few bites of the dish made by Zi Lan, it was Xuan Yuan Yue's turn. The steamed fish looked snow-white and appetizing, but when Tang Yan ate it, it tasted like sugar water, extremely sweet with a hint of fishiness. Want to vomit? Tang Yan really wanted to spit it out, but he endured and continued eating, then smiled at Xuan Yuan Yue, the white tiger girl, saying: "Hmm, not bad, comparable to the skills of the imperial chef!"

  "Really? I think so too, come on, let me feed you, eat a bit more!" Xuan Yuan Yue heard Tang Yan's words, patted the injured jade hand and said, then scooped up a bowl for Tang Yan.

  "Wait a minute, I'll try this super beauty's craftsmanship first. If it's good, I'll spare her family!" Tang Yan said, pointing at Dongfang Wan'er's craftsmanship and avoiding Xuan Yuan Yue's sugar water fish.

  "Oh!" said Xuan Yuan Yue with a look of loss.

  Dongfang Wan'er's sugar vinegar sweet and sour red braised fish is almost the same as Nangong Xiangxue's, both are bright red in appearance, but there is one difference: Dongfang Wan'er's fish emits a faint sour smell of vinegar, while Nangong Xiangxue's has a pungent spicy flavor.

  Tang Yan took a small piece and put it in his mouth, chewing it. Dongfang Wan's originally calm mood became very tense, because Tang Yan had just said that if it was delicious, he would let her family go. So she was extremely nervous, hoping in her heart that she could pass the test, while thinking: "There shouldn't be a problem, I did it according to my family's head chef's method!"

  One mouthful in her mouth, Tang Yan was like eating a mouthful of vinegar, sour to the roots of her teeth. She didn't know if she had forgotten to add sugar or did it on purpose. Just like Xuan Yuan Yue, she didn't know if she took sugar as salt or cooked fish with sugar water, one dish more inedible than the other, only Xiao Shimei's cooking was delicious.

  "Are you intentionally making things difficult for me? You try some yourself, I don't want to hurt your feelings!" Tang Yan handed a piece over to Dongfang Wan'er's mouth.

  She didn't expect Dongfang Wan'er to be eating the fish meat handed over by Tang Yan with a sensual little mouth, and as Tang Yan gazed at her fragrant lips, he really wanted to kiss his own mouth over and kiss this national beauty.

  "Hmm, it's too sour!" Dongfang Wan'er said with a frown after eating the meat fish handed over by Tang Yan. Then she looked very wronged and said to Tang Yan: "I didn't want to put sugar, but the sugar in the kitchen was used up by Yue Jie!"

  "I know, so I don't mind eating sugar water fish!" Tang Yan said with a smile as he looked at Xuan Yuan Yue.

  "Ah?" Xuan Yuan Yue heard Dong Fang Wan Er's words, immediately took back the food she had just served to Tang Yan, and then said with a embarrassed expression: "It's really sweet, I thought sugar was salt. By the way, why did you say it was delicious earlier?"

  "As long as you make it, I'll love eating it." Tang Yan smiled and said to Xuan Yuan Yue, the white tiger girl.

  "Really?"

  "Ah, really!"

  "Tang Yan, you're too good to me!" Yue Er said with a happy expression.

  "It's enough for you to know!"

  Nangong Xiangxue, who had been waiting beside Tang Yan to try the dish, finally couldn't bear it anymore. Why did they all get to try it, but not her? Moreover, she thought she had done a great job with the presentation, and as for the taste, it looked pretty good too. Getting angry, she pointed at Tang Yan and said: "I made this dish for you, hurting all ten of my fingers, and it's also the first time I've ever cooked, no matter what, you have to eat it!"

  Joking, Tang Yan looked at this plate of red chili oil, he knew that if he really ate this plate of things, he would really spit fire. To escape this disaster, Tang Yan quickly set his sights on the two teachers, Nan Gong Xiang Xue.

  "Are these two old men your teachers?" Tang Yan asked.

  "Yes, what's wrong?" asked Nangong Xiangxue.

  "Of course, there's a problem. Think about it, I'm just an outsider, how can I be worthy of eating the first dish you've ever made? And your two teachers, who have been guiding and teaching you day and night, even if they don't have any merit or hard work to show for it. Shouldn't you show some filial piety towards them? Later on, when we go treasure hunting together, we'll naturally get to eat more of your cooking. But this time is different, this is your first dish, you should take it to offer to your teachers as a sign of respect. People say, 'one day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father', so in a way, they're like half-parents to you!" Tang Yan was just rambling on to avoid the little devil's spicy oil fish.

  The two elderly men sitting next to him, upon hearing Tang Yan's words, were very excited in their hearts. However, when they saw the princess's dish of red pepper oil fish, they silently cursed Tang Yan for being such a know-it-all. From any perspective, they had not done anything wrong to Tang Yan. It was these two elderly men who had helped him fend off the attacks from numerous sect leaders that day. And during his usual meditation periods, it was also them who stood guard beside him.

  They really didn't think that this hypocritical Tang Yan, not only didn't show gratitude, but also wanted to harm them to death because of the dish made by Nangong Xiangxue, which was truly inedible. Spitting fire was a small matter, if they lost their sense of taste it would be troublesome.

  "You're right, but aren't you going to take a bite first? Someone has put in a lot of thought to make this for you!" Nangong Xiangxue's tone softened as she replied to Tang Yan.

  "Alright, I'll eat a fish eye!" Tang Yan knew that not eating was not an option, so he simply picked up his chopsticks and ate a fish eye.

  "Teacher, what's wrong with you? This is the student's first dish, can't you at least give me some feedback?" Nangong Xiangxue said, looking at the two teachers' not-so-good expressions.

  "Princess, your teacher is just too moved, hurry up and serve them the braised fish without fish bones that you've made, it's most suitable for old people to eat!" Tang Yan said.

  "You, you're great! You've made the princess understand many things!" Nangong Boya wanted to scold Tang Yan, but didn't want to spoil the princess's fun, so he pointed at Tang Yan and praised him instead.