Cave Refuge

Dong Tianyu and Ye Liuyun walked into the restaurant together, where dinner was served in the form of a buffet.

For some unknown purpose, not only the names of the dishes but also the specific origins of the main ingredients were listed on the placards next to each dish.

Seeing the variety of origins listed above, not only Dong Tianyu and Ye Liuyun, but also everyone else who entered the restaurant for the first time and saw the dish introductions were slightly shocked.

Kyoto truly lives up to its reputation. They hadn’t even met with the person officially in charge, and just a simple dinner had subtly shown everyone their place.

However, it seemed that they could only show off the origins of the food ingredients. Dong Tianyu carefully observed and confirmed that although the restaurant served a buffet and the variety of dishes was extensive, the cooking methods were mostly roasting or stewing, which do not require too many seasonings.

It was certain that Dong Tianyu and the others would not believe that Kyoto could not afford the seasonings for their meal. The way Kyoto was doing things seemed to imply to Dong Tianyu and the other outsiders in a rather perfunctory manner that they were openly looked down upon, and what could you do about it?

After all, everyone needed to take the transportation arranged by Kyoto to come and go, so whether it was the Imperial Court or the Kyoto government who pulled this move, Dong Tianyu and the other outsiders had to silently bear it.

The situation in Kyoto was not much different from ancient times; the majority of the Imperial Court Officials were not responsible for specific matters in Kyoto, which were handled by the Officials of the Kyoto government.

Although both were based in Kyoto and had a hierarchical relationship, the Imperial Court and the Kyoto government were indeed two different teams.

This gathering of people from all over the country in Kyoto was arranged by the Imperial Court. If the Kyoto government had held this trade meeting on their own without the Imperial Court, it’s likely that not so many people would have participated.

If that was the case, then the current situation encountered in the restaurant was explainable.

The people who could come to Kyoto were doing well in their own cities and were not lacking food. Although the restaurant offered a rich variety of dishes, because of the uniform cooking techniques and the sparing use of condiments, the attendees just casually picked up a bit of food and formed small groups to chat while eating.

Unlike the others, the plates of Dong Tianyu and Ye Liuyun were heaped with meat.

In the restaurant, there were others like them, so naturally, they sat together.

The people here all knew that those who could come to this place certainly did not lack food. If their plates were filled with so much food, it surely wasn’t because they were greedy or petty, maybe they usually ate that much.

The unusual gazes other people cast at them were not of contempt but of envy because nowadays, being able to eat like this meant they were either about to become Martial Artists or had already become Martial Artists.

Actually, Dong Tianyu and Ye Liuyun weren’t aware that becoming a Martial Artist, which was easy in Pengcheng, was extremely difficult in other cities.

To become a Martial Artist, one first needed a Cultivation Method. However, after the satellite launch and the arrival of transportation in every city, Cultivation Techniques for the Body Tempering Realm and Inner Breath Realm had been made available to every city.

Besides the Cultivation Method, aspiring Martial Artists must consume a lot of food to compensate for the nutritional extraction during body quality improvement. Although Spirit Energy in the air was increasingly abundant, during the Body Tempering Realm cultivation, one still needed to eat a lot to compensate for the nutritional deficiency that appeared in the body.

The best nutritional supplement for the body was produced in Pengcheng, which not only could compensate for the nutritional deficits occurring during cultivation but also could slowly enhance physical qualities, resulting in a passive improvement effect.

The only issue was that these supplements could be made only using Bugs from the unique Bug Nest in Pengcheng, and so far, no other substitutes had been found.

Moreover, because these Bugs would actively attack ordinary people, Pengcheng had already formed hunting squads well before the Kyoto transportation arrived. Regardless of the usefulness of the Bug Nest, they were determined to eradicate it.

As a result, at one point, nutritional supplements had become so common in Pengcheng that anyone could exchange them for contribution points, and the required contribution points weren’t too high either.

And because Pengcheng initially lacked a mature method to preserve the supplements, as long as one provided a guarantee from the streets, it was even possible to use them first and compensate for them later to clear the inventory.

Besides nutritional supplements, the best way to compensate for one’s nutrition was through meat. Before the resurgence of ancient creatures, the Giant Scorpion meat from Saxon County provided a large amount of meat for the survivors in Pengcheng. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Especially when the Giant Scorpions attacked the camps, a lot of their carcasses would be scattered around after they withdrew.

It was for this reason that Martial Artists became common in Pengcheng. It wasn’t that other cities couldn’t have a situation like Pengcheng’s, but such instances were still the minority.

After all, during the Body Tempering Realm, one not only needed to eat a lot but also had to dedicate a great deal of time to cultivation.

Most people in high positions were often extremely busy and found it difficult to allocate a lot of time for cultivation. Without the nutritional supplements, it would have been impossible for all the Officials in the Pengcheng Government to have become Martial Artists.