Ye Jun was happy to see his friend, especially since they were meeting after a long time. He guessed that once he entered the Heavenly Frost Palace, he wouldn’t see him for quite a long time.

While he was confident in Mountain’s speed of cultivation, he also knew that the man wouldn’t leave this place until he learned everything this place could teach him.

He was stubborn like that.

Smiling, he stood up and patted Mountain’s broad shoulders, "I wanted to eat something good, so I directly came to you."

Mountain stared at him for a moment before laughing out loud, "Good thinking. I have learned from my Master here. He is good."

"Is he the Hall Master?" Ye Jun guessed.

"Indeed. How do you know?"

He shrugged in response, "You’re very talented, my friend. Your hands have that magic that can turn anything heavenly."

"Hmm." Mountain hummed and looked at him up and down. "There is more."

"Well, I reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, so I am planning to try ascension to the Soul Tempering Realm soon," Ye Jun smiled and said. "So I thought, how can I do it without having a proper belly full?"

"Oh! Congratulations! Am happy for you," Mountain laughed again, patting his back.

In the past, it would have made Ye Jun stumble forward, but he remained rooted this time. His physique easily absorbed the force behind those gigantic hands.

"You thought well. A good meal can help you advance more easily," Mountain said. "Come with me. I will have you eat the best meal of this sect."

Although a little confused, Ye Jun nodded and followed Mountain. As they passed by the many disciples working on their tasks, he noticed all of them bowing in respect toward Mountain.

"Famous, eh?" Ye Jun said. "You became the best of them?"

"Not quite." Mountain replied calmly. "Master has better disciples. But he recruited me too, so they respect me. Also because of my food they ate."

"I can understand the last one."

To Ye Jun’s surprise, Mountain took him to the highest floor, where a tranquil silence reigned in the atmosphere. He found a few disciples studying as they moved toward the back side.

’I guess this is their Scriptures Pavilion.’

He took him around the wooden floor, then they exited the hall completely and headed upward toward a different structure that sat atop the mountain peak.

"That is my Master’s residence," Mountain said. "He makes the best food."

"If even you’re praising him," Ye Jun’s lips curled up, "I can’t wait to meet him."

Soon, they reached the top and entered the structure made from dark sandalwood. However, the atmosphere was completely opposite to what Ye Jun expected from a top master of a cultivation sect.

Instead of a tranquil atmosphere, he found various fragrances of food ingredients mixed in the air, along with curses coming from the back.

Mountain didn’t seem surprised. He just moved further in and soon stopped, making Ye Jun stop too.

’What the hell!’

Before him was a vast kitchen the size of a football field. It was a behemoth, containing all kinds of herbs, materials from dead Spiritual Beasts, and as if that wasn’t enough, Ye Jun even noticed a few Spiritual Beasts resting in their respective cages.

That wasn’t all. Along with the numerous ingredients used in Spirit Food, there were also the equipment required for it, like cauldrons, stoves, big ovens, knives that looked like the blades of guillotines, and so much more.

All set in their respective places, but the mess created around the kitchen told another story of its owner.

However, what truly surprised Ye Jun was the old man standing at the centre of everything, holding a giant knife that looked like it was used to cut boulders. He was using it to cut some deer-like Spiritual Beast.

Though, he soon became speechless when he saw his face, ’That is the most Chinese face I’ve ever seen.’

"Master!" Mountain called out. "I brought my friend."

The Hall Master finally stopped and looked up, "So, what am I supposed to do? Dance? Just pick up something, give him a good time, and send him away."

"He is preparing for ascension to the Soul Tempering Realm," Mountain said, and Ye Jun noticed that the man could speak more fluently now. "If you can give him a piece of your cooking, I will work extra hard for the next two months."

That finally got the old man’s attention as he threw aside the knife, which dug a metre deep into the ground upon landing. Then, he came toward them, with hands clasped behind his back.

He observed Ye Jun for a moment before asking, "Are you Ye Jun?"

"Yes, I am," Ye Jun nodded and clasped his hands before him. "Greetings, Hall Master. I didn’t expect you to know my name."

"You can call me Old Lan," the Hall Master said. "That brat Zixuan has been bugging me for a while, asking me to prepare a special meal for you."

"He did?" Ye Jun asked in disbelief. ’Why would the Pavilion Master do that?’

It was only then he remembered Han Yuexin’s words. She did tell him that the sect would prepare everything for his ascension, which might have included a special Spirit Food too.

"Master comes from Pavilion Master’s father’s generation," Mountain said. "He has seniority, so Pavilion Master also respects him."

"Respect, my ass," Old Lan spat and said. "That brat just knows how to flash his ugly teeth and ask for favours. If he wasn’t my nephew, I would have kicked him from his mountain myself."

Ye Jun said nothing. It wasn’t his place to comment on these powerhouses, and he was also surprised to see a Hall Master with such a personality.

’No wonder he chose Mountain as his disciple.’

"I was planning to refuse him," Old Lan said, stroking his long beard. "But considering you’re this giant’s friend, I’ll make an exception. Still, are you really ready for the ascension?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"As ready as one can be," Ye Jun smiled and said. "I’ve been preparing a lot for this, so I’m not doing this recklessly. I’m confident in breaking through successfully."

"Good. I don’t want my food to go to waste otherwise," Old Lan scoffed and turned around. "Now go and sit there. I’ll prepare something, and it’ll also teach the giant some lessons."

Both of them nodded and went to the corner to stand there and watch everything. Mountain leaned sideways and whispered, "He cannot remember names, so he calls them anything. Especially a name like mine."

Ye Jun chuckled softly, but a fierce glare from the old Hall Master shut them up. There was no way they were going to offend this short-tempered man.

Finally, the cooking began, and Ye Jun witnessed Spirit Food being prepared before his eyes.

Ye Jun watched as Old Lan rolled up the sleeves of his robe, revealing forearms that looked like they belonged to a blacksmith rather than a chef.

Veins as thick as ropes ran along them, and faint scars criss-crossed the skin in patterns that suggested decades of close encounters with very angry ingredients.

’Is he really old? Fuck, I can’t trust the cultivation world. Second rule of surviving in the cultivation world, never mess with old men in cultivation worlds.’

The first thing Old Lan did was walk over to the cages. He stopped before one holding a slender, fox-like beast with three tails, each one glowing a faint amber. The creature took one look at him and started thrashing wildly, slamming itself against the bars.

’Smart beast.’

Old Lan didn’t bother with formalities. He reached in, grabbed it by the scruff, and the creature went limp instantly, whether from shock or from some pressure the old man was exerting, Ye Jun couldn’t tell.

"Three-tailed Ember Fox," Old Lan said, walking back. "A beast at the level of the Soul Tempering Realm. Its meat carries the essence of fire and spirit, perfect for someone trying to refine their Soul. Eat it raw, you die. Cook it wrong, you also die. Cook it right—"

He tossed the fox onto the central counter without finishing the sentence.

What followed was less cooking and more controlled violence. The giant knife came down in a single arc, and the fox was suddenly in eight perfectly portioned pieces, the cuts so clean that Ye Jun didn’t even see blood until a moment later.

Old Lan’s hands moved in a blur after that, tossing herbs into a stone mortar, grinding them with a pestle that hummed with faint Qi, ladling something dark and viscous from a jade jar that hadn’t been there a second ago.

A cauldron the size of a small carriage was already heating on its own, glowing faintly red along its rim. Old Lan dropped in the meat, then the herbs, then a fistful of something that looked like crystallised starlight.

The air above the cauldron shimmered, and the fragrance that rose from it nearly made Ye Jun’s knees buckle.

’I’m going to advance just from smelling this.’

Though that was definitely an exaggeration.

"Don’t faint, brat," Old Lan said without looking up. "You faint, I feed it to the giant instead."

Mountain perked up beside him, looking far too hopeful. Ye Jun straightened his back immediately.

He wasn’t losing his ascension meal to anyone, friend or otherwise.