Chapter 194 Grilled Buttered Corn (b)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

 

[1] After leaving the Dean’s room, the youths walked together in silence for a long while. Their feet subtly taking them towards the Villa.

Their minds were in a delicate state right now. Not too long ago, all of them had been mentally preparing themselves for long separations after their reunion at the Imperial College, but now? Thanks to the Dean’s meddling, they would be fighting as teammates for the foreseeable future.

Fighting as a team, now that was an interesting thought.

“This is a good thing,” Feng Luo gave voice to all their thoughts. “Fighting is also a way of Cultivating. I think it’s not a bad thing to fight together as friends.”

“I think so too. I used to Cultivate on my own a lot, but it’s not a bad thing to Cultivate together. However, we’re not only teammates, we’re rivals too. I, for one, will not be the one who drags the team down.” Dong-Fang Zhen sounded quite proud of himself. He was now a Core Condensation 3 Cultivator.

Aside from Lin Fan, Feng Luo, Qing Chen and Shiyu, only Xuan Yin and Qi Chuyun were lower than him in terms of Cultivation level. Qi Chuyun had just barely achieved the 1st Level, Core Condensation stage. However, Xuan Yin was still at the 6th Level, Core Transformation stage. A whole realm lower than the rest of them.

Nevertheless, Shiyu was sure that Xuan Yin would catch up very soon.

.After Dong-Fang Zhen’s little boast, Xuan Yin narrowed her eyes at him. Then, her finger and thumb grabbed the skin on his waist and twisted 180 degrees. Dong-Fang Zhen hissed but remained quiet. That was the end of his boasting.

If you’re a wife slave, you should have the consciousness of a slave and not speak out of turn or drag your wife’s face down.

“Qing Chen, Chuyun, what do you think?” Shiyu had been keeping an eye on these two and noticed that neither of them had said anything from the beginning until now.

“Good,” said Qing Chen shortly.

A little behind Qing Chen, Qi Chuyun said, “Yes,”

“Well, there are seven of us now, so we can have a seven-man team. Naturally, since this is a team, there should be a team captain and vice-captain too. Shall we decide who gets the position now?”

Right now, the person with the highest Cultivation was Qing Chen at Core Condensation 7. Next was Shiyu at Core Condensation 6, followed by Feng Luo and Lin Fan at 5th Level etc.

[2] “Leadership based on strength of Cultivation is a bad idea,” said Qing Chen flatly.

[2] “I only know how to cook and nothing else,” declared Shiyu.

[2] Clearly, these two were rejecting the leadership position outright.

“Propose Lin Fan to be captain,” said Qing Chen. He had not known Lin Fan for long, but he could see that the younger man, though quiet, has leadership qualities, a stable temperament and climbed the Cultivation stages very quickly.

His proposal was met with unanimous approval.

“Since Lin Fan is team captain, you should be vice-captain,” said Shiyu to Qing Chen. “You have more experience than the rest of us and the highest Cultivation stage too. So I think it’s well deserved, what do you guys think?”

“Yes!”

“Good,”

“Accepted!”

Again, the proposal was unanimously approved. Don’t think that these young people were being generous or supportive. They were all, in a word, lazy. None of them wanted leadership obligation on top of their Cultivation duties. They were all very happy to push the burden of being captain or vice-captain to someone else.

[3] Hurrah!

Lin Fan and Qing Chen exchanged a glance, both feeling a little helpless by the added responsibilities.

[3] Nevertheless, there should be some benefit to becoming a captain, right?

“Now that we’ve been promoted, shouldn’t you treat us to a meal?” said Lin Fan.

“Sure! Let’s go to the canteen, choose whatever you want. I’ll pay!” said Feng Luo generously.

[3] In fact, the general mood of the group was rather cheerful, if a little quiet due to the taciturn nature of the majority of their members. It was quite rare to be acknowledged by one’s elder after all. Let alone a whole bunch of elders who were prepared to go out of their way to organise a tournament for the sake of polishing their skills.

[4] They arrived at the cafeteria just before the evening rush. Nevertheless, the smells of various food greeted them as soon as they entered. The lines of stalls were just as brightly lit and inviting as before.

Shiyu, who had not been to the cafeteria for a long time felt a little nostalgic as she stepped through the entrance. [5] It was as though she had stepped back in time and returned to the moment when she had just started at the College.

Out of habit, she made a beeline to the corner Soup Shop. Gan Ping was still the same, working on his slicing technique at his kitchen table. Compared to before, his Cultivation seemed to have improved a little more.

When he saw Shiyu, he was surprised and pleased. Without saying a word, he served up a bowl of soup for everyone in Shiyu’s group. He now mainly sold Sashimi and Radish Soup and only collected CP for his food. It was thanks to these CPs which he was able to exchange for medicinal herbs at the Hidden Treasure Pavilion and increase his Cultivation.

Shiyu was very grateful for his care in the past and asked him to take a break and eat with them. Gan Ping was also astute enough to realise that this group of youths would likely become great people in the future. To eat with them at the same table… maybe, once he’s old, he could even brag about this day to his grandchildren. Telling stories about how he had once eaten and drank with so and so great person. Hence, he gladly accepted the invitation.

[6] These so-called future great people had not wanted to attract too much attention, but there was no avoiding the eyes that followed them wherever they go. Even if they happened to occupy the remotest corner of the cafeteria, it would be illuminated by their fame. There was no helping it, the other students could not help but looked in their direction and exclaimed in hushed voices.

“Every one of them brokethrough Core Condensation stage!”

“That Lin Fan had only been at the College for one year, but I heard he’s already at Core Condensation 5 expert now,”

“Didn’t he personally guaranteed in a Condensation Stage girl just last year? I heard she’s a Core Condensation Cultivator now. Could this be true?”

“Just a year ago, Young Liege Feng and I were at Core Transformation stage, but he’s now a whole realm above me. How sad, ah! Give me that plate of meat. Only meat can heal my sorrows!”

“… …”

Envious eyes continued to sweep over that particular corner of the cafeteria. On the other side of the dining hall, Meng Li stared at the happily chatting people, her hand tightening around her chopsticks.

Core Condensation… she was only a Core Transformation 5 Cultivator. Feng Luo had surpassed her by a whole realm. If… if she had not been so confused back then, would she have been one of them now?

By her side, Shen Lingfei also has a rather bad look on his face.

He had not expected to see the demoness at the Eastern Empire. Fortunately, that Xiao Shu was not here, otherwise, he had no idea what to think…

[6] Just then, as though called by his thoughts, the very person he was thinking of came in and his mind went blank.

Shi Yuanshu! How could that woman be here?! Had she came to stalk him? How disgustingly sticky, just like a lingering ghost!

He glanced over at Meng Li and said, “Since we’re done with our food, shall we leave?”

Meng Li glanced up at her companion. After having seen Feng Luo again in all his brilliance, this man did not seem as easy on the eyes as before.

[6] Nevertheless, she stood up and said, “Let’s go, I’m still short of a piece of herb for a meditation pill. You may accompany me to the Hidden Treasure Pavilion.”

“Alright,” Shen Lingfei quickly agreed.

 

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~

 

When [7] Tan-Tai Chu returned to her temporary abode, she could not help but think back to the person she had seen earlier.

Surely it cannot be a mere coincidence for their faces to be so similar? However, mother and father had never mentioned a sister, let alone a twin sister. For so many years, she had been the only child.

If there really had been a sister, why had she never heard of it before?

Just who is that person? Had… mother and father deliberately hidden that person’s presence…?

Should she bring that person back and confront her parents?

As soon as the thought occurred to her, [7] Tan-Tai Chu stepped out of her room. She scanned the horizon and paused in the direction of the Imperial College. Then, she launched herself into the air.

 

[Gumihou: Ohohoho, trouble is coming!]

 

 

Gumihou is keeping track so that you don’t have to ~

 

凝氣	Condensation Stage	Stage 1
化丹	Core Transformation	Stage 2
凝丹(46)	Core Condensation	Stage 3
化神(52)	Divine Transformation	Stage 4
成嬰	Nascent Formation	Stage 5
合體	Unification	Stage 6
返墟	Revert Decay	Stage 7
歸真	Original Purity	Stage 8
成仙	Become immortal	Stage 9

 

[1] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: Use movements and distance to denote them working out their mental realisation of what’s happening.

[2] Adjusted Sentence for Aesthetic purpose: Not sure why it’s not in dialogue form since it’s ‘Qing Chen said…. Shiyu said…’

[3] Added Details for more Natural Structure: Just little extra things to make them more human.

[4] Changed Details for Logistic Purpose: Original text “when they arrived at the canteen, it was noon”

They set out at noon in chapter 191, marched around town for a couple of hours, had a meal at the restaurant and rushed back to the Dean, heard the news of the competition, decided captain and vice-captain ship and came to the cafeteria at… noon?

Timing, author-san, timing is very important.

Did they, I don’t know, tromp about the entire College for more than 12 hours to do their thinking after the Dean dismissed them?

Patched with ‘evening rush’ since it could be any time after sundown.

[5] Shiyu’s Thoughts: Some Nostalgia to quietly slip in some reminder of what happened before this.

[6] Added Minor Details for Embellishment: To make the flow of the story more natural.

[7] Unnecessary Faffing: Replace ‘Girl in Green Robes’ with ‘Tan-Tai Chu’. Especially since Tan-Tai Chu probably doesn’t think herself as ‘Girl in Green Robes’.

 

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