Strange World Little Cooking Saint

Chapter 49 Sashimi (n)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

Wen Xian was on the verge of breaking through into Condensation Stage – 8th Level. Unfortunately, not everyone could breakthrough within a week or 10 days. For most people, it would take at least three or four months of hard work and dedicated Cultivation to accumulate the necessary Spiritual Energy to breakthrough safely. Once they reached the Transformation Core [1], it would take them even longer to level up between each of the ten levels.

Moreover, Wen Xian had always been a little weaker than the average person.

Gan Ping was the one who told her about Wen Xian’s past. The young man hailed from an impoverished mountain hamlet and had always been on the weaker side due to the lack of proper nutrition when growing up. A passing College Instructor spotted his potential to Cultivate and thought it would be a pity to let him waste his talents there. The Instructor kindly brought Wen Xian over to the College and proceeded to dump him there before traipsing off to continue with his own cultivation journey, leaving Wen Xian to fend for himself.

It’s been a year since then and Wen Xian had only himself to depend on. Life had been hard for a young man with no power, money or connections. Gan Ping his best to help the young man whenever he could out of sympathy for his unfortunate situation.

Once she had his back story, Shiyu felt no pity for Wen Xian. There was only admiration in her heart for this young teen. If he had been born in the 21st century, he’d still be the spoilt apple of mommy and daddy’s eye. For him to be able to survive thus far in such a dangerous and competitive environment with so little to back him up was very admirable.

On the very last day before the rent was due for their nice little villa, Lin Fan returned.

Shiyu was at the loft when she heard the gate opened. A peek out the large windows showed Lin Fan striding across the stone pathway. It had been 10 days since she had last seen him, but it was clear to her amateur eyes that his Cultivation had improved. His Spiritual Essence had been refined to the point where she could no longer see through him anymore.

“You’ve broken through?” called Shiyu from the balcony.

“En,” Lin Fan answered.

“Many hearty congratulations. Ah yes, I am pleased to inform you that I have earned the necessary Contribution Points to keep our villa for the next month. You may take care of the rent for the following month.”

“Very well,”

Once back, Lin Fan did not look like he was in a hurry to Cultivate. When he heard that Shiyu wanted to visit the College’s Treasure Pavilion, he decided to tag along.

As the two strode along the path together, they attracted the eyes of many. When these people saw Lin Fan, it was as though they could not help but let their eyes linger upon his person. Some have nothing but admiration and respect for the promising young man, but there were also a few who cast disdainful looks at him.

Whether they were gazes of admiration or disdain, Lin Fan ignored them all in favour of speaking to Shiyu, “What do you intend to exchange for?”

“A knife, and a few medicinal herbs.” The Fat Cat was the one who told her to fetch a knife from the College’s Treasure Pavilion. When asked ‘what kind of knife?’ Fat Cat’s answer was typically cryptic: ‘You’ll know it when you see it’.

“En, if you don’t have enough points on your person, you may use mine. There’s no need to hold yourself back.”

“Don’t you worry, if I don’t have enough points, I’ll definitely bum some off you,” when it came to Lin Fan, she did not feel the need to hold herself back. After all, this guy was the generous, if slutty, male lead who was always spreading his favours around various women and adding them to his harem list. So, she might as well get some advantage out of it before he moved on to some real female interests. [2]

As they chatted amiably together, they soon reach the Treasure Pavilion.

The building that served as the Treasure Pavilion of this illustrious College was three storeys tall and dark with age. Aside from looking as though it had been standing there for over 500 years, there was nothing truly special about the building. However, that changed when they stepped past the entrance. Shiyu could feel her Spiritual Power being suppressed, and she had the sensation of being watched. Clearly, someone was monitoring their every movement in the background.

There was an old man in charge at the door. Well, Shiyu assumed he’s an old man due to his white hair, but his plump and smooth cheeks looked like a child’s. Considering his position as the Gatekeeper of the Treasure Pavilion, this old yet young-looking person was probably a low-key master.

“If you’re looking for a knife, we should go to the Spiritual Tools section,” said Lin Fan.

There were all kinds of interesting stuff at the Treasure Pavilion ranging from precious medicines, elixirs, herbal grasses, and of course, Spiritual Tools.

Shiyu trailed after him, looking left and right and all around her at the crystal cabinets filled with precious treasures of all kinds. Even while admiring the precious items here like a casual observer admiring flowers on horseback, the impressions she had of the number of treasure shocked her to the core. “Why are there so many things here? The College sure is rich.”

At this, Lin Fan explained, “It’s not that the College is particularly rich, students could gain Contribution Points for contributing precious tools, items and medicines. That is why there are so many things at the Treasure Pavilion.”

Ah, so that’s why. Hence the ‘contribution’ in Contribution Points. How convenient, she has plenty of precious medicinal grasses and herbs in her space, she could exchange them for Contribution Points in the future if she had to.

But for now, she was more interested in getting a Fat Cat approved knife.

Soon, they arrived at the Spiritual Tools section.

Rather than just Spiritual Tools, it would probably be more appropriate to call the items here Magical Weapons. Naturally, the weapons could be graded according to the following [3]: Magical, Precious, Spiritual, Celestial and Divine. Like most things in this xuanhuan world, they are further split into Low, Middle, High and Ultimate grade.

The area they were in now housed the College’s Spiritual Level tools, and Shiyu felt nearly blinded by the number of shiny weaponry on display. However, no matter how sharp or shiny they were, none of the more obviously weapon-ish items caught her eye. Instead, she made for the list of items here and began looking through it for the section where smaller daggers and knives were placed

“Cabinet D, fourth shelf…” she murmured and began walking towards it. Lin Fan followed after her.

They were making a bee-line for that cabinet when someone stepped out from behind one of the cabinets and into their way. The person blocking them was a beautiful young woman dressed in all white, not a single speck of dust could be seen on her clothes, not a hair out of place. Her brows were clear and her eyes cold enough to freeze one’s bones. Her white clothes reinforced her cold and remote aura. If Meng Li was the image of a pitiful peach blossom trembling in the wind, this woman was a single plum blossom blooming defiantly in the snow.

Anyone who saw this woman would have the irresistible urge to shut her away in a safe place. Keeping her gorgeous cold beauty to themselves…

“Elder Martial Sister Xue,” said Lin Fan.

As soon as she heard the name, Shiyu immediately knew who she was.

The College’s first beauty, Xue Qingge and Lin Fan’s future second wife. At this, Shiyu’s stared at this great beauty with some mockery in her gaze. After all, how could a 21st-century woman who had excelled in a male-dominated industry respect any woman who would be contented, no, to fight for the dubious right, to be harem member? [4] She was curious to see how the love between First Beauty Xue and Lin Fan began.

Xue Qingge nodded slightly at Lin Fan, “What are you here for?”

“I’m just accompanying a friend,”

Xue Qingge’s cold gaze finally fell upon Shiyu. Shiyu felt as though she had been stung the first snow that fell upon her cheeks when she looked into the sky, “I see,” a little pause, “your friend is only at the Core Condensation Stage [5], I happened to have some surplus Magic Pills. Your friend may have it.”

Shiyu quickly rejected the offer, “No need, no need,” she really wanted nothing to do with whatever this kind lady wish to give her. After all, she has plenty of money and other precious items on her person.

“It’s fine, it’s not like I can make use of it. It would be a waste not to use it. You may come to my estate and fetch it.”

Shiyu said nothing after that, it looked like this offer was done not out of kindness but insistence. This woman had no intention of letting her reject this kind offer, ah. As the weaker party, it would probably be detrimental to her health to reject this ‘offer’ again.

As for Lin Fan, the guy merely thanked Snow Sister for her kindness.

“That’s right, I saw an ancient book just now and was looking for someone to have a look at it for me. Lin Fan, do you have time?”

Lin Fan looked a little awkward, but Shiyu maintained her silence. She was interested to see what kind of decision he would make.

After some time, Lin Fan turned to Shiyu, “Pick out what you want first and meet me at the entrance.”

Looks like he had chosen to leave with Xue Qingge.

The corner of Shiyu’s lips twitched upwards as she nodded. Though she felt a little uncomfortable, it was not like she has any monopoly on Lin Fan. Moreover, she had also just received some promised benefit from Xue Qingge. So, of course, she had no right to stop him from leaving.

As surname Lin and Xue left together, seeing their tall and taciturn figures walking side by side made her even more uneasy. Shiyu decisively turned her back to them and headed for the Cabinet D.

She had never interfered with Lin Fan’s affairs before this and had no intention of starting now. That guy is free to do whatever he likes, she refused to be burdened with the thought of holding him back or forcing him into situations he didn’t want to.

Her conscience is clear.

However… she had to admit that Xue Qingge did give her some really bad vibes.

While ruminating over all these random thoughts, Shiyu finally arrived at the desired Cabinet D, she narrowed her eyes to count the shelves, but before she could fully process her thought, her eyes had already been attracted to one of the daggers. It was frost blue in colour, flawless and there was actual frost around it.

“Frost Condensation, Mid-Level Magical Tool, carved from Ice Jade.” Shiyu read the inscription under the knife. “This is it, right?” Shiyu looked at the price. This good fellow cost 150,000 CP.

At the moment, she has about 20,000 CP. She still needed an additional 130,000 CP. Well, since CPs could be had from contributing things, let’s see what the treasures in her space would get her.

She stopped at the front door and addressed the gatekeeper, “Sir?” she held out a Cinnabar Fruit. “How many CP would I get for a Cinnabar Fruit?

The old master eyed the fruit, “35.” Then, he narrowed his eyes, “No, for the quality of your fruit, 50.”

Shiyu flicked her mental abacus, she has about 100 of those little fruits, but that would only net her 5,000 CP. After considering the matter, she thanked the old master and left the Treasure Pavilion. She stopped at the nearest toilet, disappeared into her secret space and began pulling up various medicinal herbs and grasses.

[6] She carefully washed off the dirt with water from the Spring of Life and packed the precious things into various jade boxes before tucking them into her space ring. Once done, she popped out of her secret space, got out of the toilet cubicle to wash her hands and make her way back to the Treasure Pavilion. She greeted the old master again and placed a jade box on the table.

“Sir, what would I get for this?”

The old master must have sensed something unusual, because he gave the item a close look, “A 300-year-old Ice Lingzhi, as a Mid-Tier Yellow Grade medicine it’s worth 20,000 CP.”

Wow, that’s pretty valuable.

Shiyu glanced around once more and took out several jade boxes and laid them one by one on the table.

“A 300-year-old Blood Moss, 15,000 CP.”

“300-year-old Soul Dream Grass, 30,000 CP”

“An 800-year-old White Jade Fruit? Tsk, 80,000 CP.” At this, the old master finally turned to gaze at Shiyu, “Little friend, you are full of secrets. However, do remember not to be so open-hearted next time. If someone else were to catch wind of your ability…”

Shiyu felt that this old master was really not bad and smiled, “Well, there is no one else here but us, is there? Nevertheless, I shall heed sir’s advice and be more careful in the future.”

Now that she has exchanged the goods, there was more than enough Contribution Points to barter for the knife. Once the knife was secured, she spent some time looking at interesting low-level herbs and bought those as well. When there was nothing else, she made to leave.

As she was about to step out, she suddenly remembered the promise she made with Lin Fan, and settled down to wait by the entrance.

[Gumihou: I translated this all by myself, not too bad, eh?]

[1] Transformation Core – Second Stage for Noobs and Gumihou

[2] Added more details: Okay, I need reason for Shiyu to casually make use of LF’s resources as though they are her own. Treating him like a slutty Male Lead who would eventually pay court to other women seems sound enough reason.

[3] More grading: It’s alright, Gumihou will keep track for you~