“Really? Are you playing with me Li Bo?” Zhang Wuli asked “I find it hard to believe that any place in the city would require you to be a Spirit Chef just to have a meal.”

Wen Ai laughed, shaking his head as he organized the beef on the tray. The thin metal heated up almost immediately when exposed to Li Bo’s spirit flame, and the meat began to sizzle.

“Zhang Wuli, I thought I told you earlier that mere cooking with Spirit Flame was not Spirit Cooking.” Li Bo replied with a sigh, “Anyone can control some flame to heat up meat. If it was that easy would the profession of Spirit Chef exist?”

“Well…”

“What do you think a Spirit Chef does?” Ding Da asked

Wen Ai produced a small bag from inside his robes as Zhang Wuli thought about his answer, opening it to reveal several tightly-sealed finger sized bottles. Each bottle was filled with a different liquid or powder and he fingered through them for a moment before pulling out two, one filled with white crystals and the other filled with black powder.

“Isn’t it just that?” he answered meekly, at last.

“How did you get a job with Ma Cheng if you don’t even know this much?” Wen Ai asked. He broke the seals on the tiny bottles and lightly sprinkled some of the contents on the sizzling meat.

“It’s not so simple.” Li Bo continued with a shake of his head, “This is a good opportunity to show you the difference. Wen Ai do you have any Blacksteel Root?”

The rotund man jerked in surprise and glared at Li Bo.

“Li Bo, I’ll thank you to not have any designs on my ingredient stash. Do you know how much trouble I went through to get these?”

“Aren’t you the one that said we shouldn’t be stingy? This is for Zhang Wuli’s welcome and development. You already gave some salt and pepper, what’s a little Blacksteel Root more?”

Wen Ai snorted like an angry bull and swept up his small bag, replacing the salt and pepper bottles in them. “If I use them up now, what will happen when I need some later?”

“Brother Ai, stop being difficult.” Ding Da interrupted, “We can pick up some more on the way back tomorrow.”

“Aya, betrayed by my own station partner. Fine, but don’t blame me if you’re blocked up and we don’t have any on hand!” Wen Ai declared. With that, he produced a bottle of Blacksteel Root from his bag and passed it to Li Bo before returning his attention to the meat.

Li Bo unsealed the bottle and poured out a number of small black thorns. With deft fingers he coiled up half the slices of meat into tight rolls and pierced them through with a single thorn each to hold the roll together.

Zhang Wuli watched in growing alarm as the brisk trade concluded and Li Bo lifted the tray up to put the rolls of beef directly into the spirit flame underneath. “H-hey, isn’t Blacksteel Root a Spirit Herb? Can you really use something like that here?”

“Blacksteel Root is a Spirit Herb only in name,” Ding Da interrupted, “It is actually the seed of the Tier 1 Spirit Herb Blacksteel Rose. If allowed to mature the seeds would naturally accumulate qi before falling off and drilling into the earth to become the roots for another full Blacksteel Rose.”

“When the Rose is harvested before the seeds can mature,” he continued, gesturing at the bottle of black thorns, “they become like this. You can get them cheaply from the Alchemy shops on the third level.”

Zhang Wuli breathed a sigh of relief. “I only knew it was a Spirit Herb. To me all such things are hard to get, I never would have expected there to be a cheap and plentiful Spirit Herb”

“Not if you tell everyone in earshot where to get them” Wen Ai grumbled

“Raw Blacksteel Root is only good for dealing with stomach aches.” Ding Da replied as he crossed his arms before his chest, “It is too tough to eat without at least a Foundation Establishment Cultivation, and by that time it would already be useless. Even if everyone in the city knew where to get them the shops would still be overflowing.”

“You’d better hope so!” Wen Ai snapped. “If I can’t get any next time… hmph! Watch your back. In any case, here the beef is ready.”

Wen Ai flipped the four slices of beef remaining on the tray one last time before the four men reached out with their chopsticks and each grabbed a piece and began to eat. The beef had been seared on the tray and as such the outside was crisp and the inside was soft and chewy. Without a doubt it would have been juicy on the inside if it wasn’t so thin. As it was it only just avoided being dry but the salt and pepper drew out the taste.

Wen Ai made a displeased face and took a sip from his drink. “Not bad, not bad. I left it on too long but the Kumis helps the final score. Take a sip.”

Zhang Wuli complied eagerly taking a drink of the cloudy liquid. The first thing he noticed is that the drink was chilled and slightly sour, with a mild alcoholic bite. As he drank, the flavour transformed in his mouth until it was a smooth, refreshing coolness that danced down his throat.

“This is pretty good!” Zhang Wuli exclaimed, taking another gulp.

“Don’t finish it all, you’ll need it for the next part.” Li Bo cautioned.

The bald-headed man placed his chopsticks aside and took a quick gulp of his Kumis before he returned his focus to controlling the spirit flame. The metal tray jumped and rattled as Li Bo continued his work hidden from view.

“Hasn’t it been too long already?” Zhang Wuli asked. The beef they just ate had been cooked for just over ten minutes. With how thin it was any longer would have had the beef begin to burn. The rolls Li Bo made had continued cooking as they ate and would surely turn into bits of fragrant charcoal if he continued.

“Ha! Just watch and wait. I’ll show you something good!” Li Bo cackled.

“Zhang Wuli, what Li Bo is doing now is using the principles of Spirit Cooking.” Wen Ai spoke up. He was slowly sipping his Kumis as he watched Li Bo at work. “This beef is normal beef, but even though Blacksteel Root is a weak Spirit Herb, it still barely qualifies for these techniques.”

“Wasn’t Blacksteel Root too tough to eat?”

Ding Da snorted in amusement before adopting a lecturing tone. “Blacksteel root is a Yang-Metal aligned Spirit Herb. When consumed raw it strengthens the stomach and can suppress nausea. Due to its toughness it is impossible for mortals to consume without hurting themselves, but with Spirit Cooking you can make use of it as an additive.”

Ding Da dipped his finger in his drink and used the wet digit to draw five small circles on the table before connecting them with one larger circle.

“By the principles of Wu Xing, we understand the basic interactions between the five elements. Fire creates Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal collects Water, Water nourishes Wood, and Wood feeds Fire.”

He dipped his finger in the bowl one more time and drew lines between the circles, connecting each one to the two that were not directly next to it.

“There are other interactions, but only two are important right now. Fire destroys Metal, and Metal collects Water. Li Bo will use his flame to overcome the metal element in the Blacksteel Root and release its spirit energy into the meat. This is too simple to be called real Spirit Cooking but it should give you a taste.”

“Well, Ding Da has ruined the surprise but I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Li Bo sighed “Come on, it’s just about ready.”

Li Bo snapped his fingers and the now glowing red hot plate rose up half and inch on a wobbling cloud of fire, exposing four crisp rolls of meat shimmering with green flame. Wen Ai moved instantly, grasping each roll with his chopsticks and flipping them up unto the tray with deft movements. As soon as they were in place, Li Bo cut the flame and the plate clattered to the surface of the table.

“Quickly, before the energy escapes. Use the drink if its too hot.” Li Bo said. He grasped the meat with his chopsticks before plopping it into his mouth in one piece, Ding Da and Wen Ai quickly following suit. Seeing this, Zhang Wuli immediately joined them.

Hot, Hot! A weak spirit flame was still around the meat when Wuli began to chew, but thoughts of pain quickly fled his mind as a tide of flavour burst in his mouth. The meat was crisp and succulent like a side of thick bacon and unlike the earlier set was juicy as well! A smooth, savoury taste danced over his tongue and as he chewed the meat more and more of the flavour was released.

He swallowed and as the meat slid down to his stomach he felt the faint tickle of qi trying to fill his channels. The tiny thread of qi from the meal filled him with warmth before encountering his blocked channels and faltering. After a moment, the qi flowed out of his body and dissipated into the environment.

Zhang Wuli sighed, partly in disappointment and partly in pleasure. While it was sad that his condition blocked the qi, the meal itself was so tasty that he could hardly feel bad about it.

With the qi gone, Zhang Wuli was suddenly reminded of the minor burns in his mouth. He quickly gulped down the rest of his Kumis before speaking. “What was that? The meat was so… juicy.”

Li Bo grinned. “Like Ding Da said, Fire destroys Metal and Metal collects Water. Basic transformation like this is one of the basic building blocks of Spirit Cooking. It’s no big secret.”

“It’s no secret, but that doesn’t mean everyone can do it.” Wen Ai grudgingly admitted, “Li Bo is the best among our little group at this thing. One could say he is halfway to being a Spirit Chef already.”

A boisterous laugh cut across the cramped space, drawing the eyes of everyone in the restaurant. A wild-eyed man in dusty clothes sat with two other similarly dressed men a few tables away from Zhang Wuli and the others. He clapped his hands together in a mocking applause as he glared in their direction.

“Ah, a half-step to Spirit Chef already, Li Bo? Your star is indeed bright.” The man shouted.

Zhang Wuli glanced at Li Bo. Did he know this madman? Li Bo was frowning, all signs of his earlier enjoyment gone as he glared in the man’s direction. Wen Ai swiftly grabbed the bottle of Blacksteel Root and slid it back into his pouch before securing the entire thing back in his robes.

“In fact, such an exalted countenance shouldn’t be eating among us mere mortals. A half-step Spirit Chef!” The wild-eyed man shouted again before breaking into laughter once more.

The patrons eating at the tables next to his quickly scarfed down whatever they had, placed a couple coins on the table and squeezed their way out of the restaurant. As if waiting on a signal, other groups in the restaurant began to do the same, quickly making their way out of the cramped space with the laughing madman.

“Li Bo, what’s happening? Who is this?” Zhang Wuli asked as the groups began to trail out. Soon their two groups were the only ones remaining, the bartender had seemingly vanished into thin air.

“Li Bo!” The man interrupted, angrily slamming his fist against his table, “How could you bring someone new here and not tell him who told you about it! Hurry up and introduce us.”

Li Bo rolled his eyes and gestured dismissively at the man. “That loud fool over there is Chang Biren. He and his brothers work in the Earth’s Blood Mines.”