Sitting with her friends in the canteen, Mei looked outside. Though the windows were far away, with a sea of disciples seated and eating, she could still see the downpour.

It was the first time she had seen it rain in the sect. And right after she planted the seeds this morning too.

In the past, Mei didn't particularly enjoy the rain. But strangely, she was feeling particularly energetic and satisfied. Su Qing would normally be idly floating around as she ate, but today, he was outside, frolicking in the rain.

"It's rather rainy today, huh?" Xiuying said, chewing on a fishball.

"Yeah." Wang Wei said. "I actually feel kind of irritated. It's a bit sad, honestly. I used to like rain a lot..."

He sighed.

"What about you, Xiuying? You cultivate fire too, even if it's only a little, right?"

Eh? What was he talking about?

"I feel pretty fine, actually. Probably because I'm focusing on wood for the most part." Xiuying said.

As they talked, Mei thought for a bit and pieced together the puzzle.

"Wait..." she started. "So the element you cultivate, affects how you feel about certain things?"

Her friends turned to look at her.

"Yeah," Wang Wei said, giving her a strange look.

"Hah. Mei Xiu, weren't you listening during the sect master's lectures?" Yingyi smirked.

Grr... She wanted to smack him.

"Haha... I didn't know either." Liu Qiang laughed awkwardly, scratching his head.

Mei shot him a grateful look. Now that she knew, she wasn't sure how to feel about it.

With that, Yingyi shifted the teasing to Liu Qiang, who was much more accustomed to it. It seemed he only talked to Liu Qiang most of the time anyway.

As if nothing happened yesterday, Ming Jiang stood before the disciples with a face as emotionless as iron. To his side, a young man with a ponytail stood, smiling widely.

Across the training room, most of the disciples sat up straight and kept silent, afraid to rouse his anger.

"Disciples! As an elder, I am busy and can't always attend to you. My apprentice here, Hon-"

The young man hurriedly stopped him.

The body elder shook his head.

"Sorry. He's a bit uncomfortable about his name. In any case, I leave him in charge of selling the body refining materials here." he said. "Nobody will be supervising you, so feel free to cultivate your body whenever you feel like it. If you're lacking in funds, feel free to work for a few days before coming back. That's all."

And with that, he left the room.

"Ahem!" the unnamed young man shouted. "Please line up and pay the fee of 30 Jade from yesterday! Feel free to buy refining materials from me in the meanwhile too!"

Sitting to the side, Mei was wondering what his name could be. Why would he be so embarrassed? Hmm... maybe it would be fun to try to find out what his name was.

As the students started to line up, the young man started to set up shop. He pulled a huge metal counter out of his storage bag and slammed it on the ground, followed by a shelf to the right, which he started lining with assorted jars of powder and flasks of elemental essence.

Finally, he dumped a huge stove to the left and placed a black pot on it, much to her surprise. It was massive, about half her height, and fat enough that it would take 2 people to wrap their arms around it.

"I believe many of you have already read up on it in the jade slips, but body cultivation requires that you consume solutions too!" he yelled enthusiastically. "Drinking solution is nasty, so I'll prepare soup for anyone who doesn't want to drink it!"

Huh. Okay, she was going to nickname him "Soupmaster".

"Trust me, that stuff is ABSOLUTELY nasty! I tell you, I'll give you 20 Jade if you dare to drink it and don't throw up immediately." he continued. "If you want a soup for your body path, order it now, and I'll have it all ready soon!"

It was that nasty? Hmm... maybe she could try the bet to skim on Jade.

A rotund disciple walked up first, dropping 30 Jade on the table.

"Soup for the Glacier Body and a jar of Ice Refining Powder, please!"

It was actually Zhang Ming, the ice fatty from the tournament!

"Hmm, Ice body..." Soupmaster said. "Alright, that will be 20 Jade."

Ice fatty looked a bit displeased but paid up without a word. Meanwhile, Mei was stunned.

Everything was getting so much more expensive! She really needed to find a better job to pay for her expenses. Thinking about how much harder than chopping vegetables a better paying job would be, she felt a little distressed.

"I'll get everyone's order first before I start, please wait a bit!" Soupmaster said, still smiling widely all the while.

As all the disciples placed their orders, even the reluctant Mei paid up. How tragic... just like that, all 50 of her prize Jade from the tournament was used up. It hadn't even been a week!

Nodding happily, Soupmaster went to work, taking out ingredients. While a few disciples had already left, heading to the body refining rooms, most disciples, like Mei, were curious and stayed behind to watch him.

"Ice soup first, huh? This one is kind of annoying..." he mumbled.

From his bag, he took out a massive blue gourd, uncorking it and pouring a light blue liquid into the pot. From its coldness, an icy fog could be seen in the air. He proceeded to toss the pot off the counter nonchalantly, before replacing it with another similar pot.

He began taking out various ingredients: vegetables, herbs, bones and tossed them into the pot and turning up the flames, which engulfed the entirety of the pot. Mei could feel the air in the room warm up.

Finally, after a minute of cooking, he tipped the pot over, pouring the contents into the 1st pot. To her surprise, despite Soupmaster not having added any water to the 2nd pot, only a thin and clear broth flowed out.

From the disparity in heat, loud scalding and bubbling sounds could be heard, a cloud of steam billowing out. The apprentice threw in the finishing touches, several ice crystals before throwing the lid on.

"Sorry, please wait a little. It needs to sit for an hour before it's ready, so please be patient," he said, his hands already preparing the ingredients for the next pot of soup.