Chapter 425: Chapter 271: Shameless Recruitment

In the end, Zou Feng squeezed eighty-five points of Immortal Fate from Wu Cong’s Token.

The guy had only transferred fifty points of Immortal Fate at first, but after a single glance, Zou Feng simply continued to stare at him with a smirk.

With a miserable look on his face, Wu Cong hurriedly transferred another thirty-five points. He then proactively let Zou Feng check the balance on his Token; he was truly tapped out.

After many years as a Dining Hall Steward, Wu Cong had earned a fair bit, but he’d also spent a lot. He really hadn’t saved much.

Seeing that this was about all he could get, and since he wasn’t a complete demon, Zou Feng didn’t force Wu Cong to sell off his Spiritual Artifacts or other possessions.

Squeezing Wu Cong’s Immortal Fate out in public was also meant to set an example, to make all the lackeys who had participated in the workplace bullying obediently offer up their own tributes.

This wave alone would likely net him a considerable amount of Immortal Fate.

The "generous gift" he’d given He Wenxuan earlier could now pretty much be recouped.

Seeing Zou Feng accept the Immortal Fate, Wu Cong finally let out a long sigh of relief.

In the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, any problem that could be solved with eighty-five points of Immortal Fate was a trivial one.

Wu Cong looked bitter, but in reality, he was more afraid that Zou Feng *wouldn’t* accept the payment.

"Chef Zou, so... about your personal menu..." Now that the grudge was settled, it was naturally time to discuss business.

In the Dining Hall, every Head Chef had their own personal menu.

This menu was specifically for disciples who were willing to spend Immortal Fate to order better, more delicious Spiritual Food.

In reality, making food more delicious was only the most basic reason why being a Spirit Chef was considered one of the Hundred Skills of Immortal Cultivation.

The most crucial aspect was their ability to draw out the maximum efficacy of ingredients rich in spiritual energy.

While it certainly couldn’t compare to Elixirs, the effects were still quite substantial if consumed regularly.

Thus, the Dining Hall not only provided free, ordinary Spiritual Food, but also offered more high-end Spiritual Food for a fee.

The very reason He Wenxuan had so readily agreed to make Zou Feng a Head Chef was because Zou Feng had maximized the nourishing effects of the spiritual rice.

One could even say he had used his culinary arts to elevate the very quality of the spiritual rice.

But now, faced with Wu Cong’s question, Zou Feng was a bit stumped.

He truly hadn’t considered the issue.

"For the menu... just put up the Celestial Comet Fried Rice for now. As for the rest, let me do some more research," Zou Feng said dismissively.

’There’s no real rush. It’s not like there’s a rule that a new Head Chef has to come up with a full personal menu right after starting.’

’Besides, having the Celestial Comet Fried Rice is more than enough for the time being.’

’After all, it’s a fried rice that even He Wenxuan couldn’t find any fault with.’

’Of course, to earn respect in my position as Head Chef, I’ll need to serve a similar fried rice for the free meals. The ingredients will be a bit inferior, though—a stripped-down version, so to speak.’

He went into the back kitchen and introduced himself to the other Head Chefs one by one. In the end, just as he’d expected, Zou Feng was assigned to the fried rice station.

Clearly, the other Head Chefs had all heard the news from He Wenxuan.

While he was cooking, Zou Feng deliberately gathered a crowd of prep cooks and kitchen hands to watch him.

He planned to select a few apprentices from this group to work under him.

His goal, of course, was to become a hands-off manager as quickly as possible. He would delegate all the work for the free meals to his apprentices and would only be responsible for supervising them.

In the future, Zou Feng wouldn’t cook himself unless it was for a paid order. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

This way, he could free up more time for his Cultivation.

Even without using his Hand of Poisoning, Zou Feng had genuine culinary talent, so his first day as Head Chef went very smoothly.

After a long day of work that lasted until nightfall, Zou Feng finally returned to Courtyard No. 9.

The moment he walked in, Teng County rushed over, beaming. "Brother Feng, seventy-three points of Immortal Fate came in! Is being a Head Chef always this profitable?"

Earlier that afternoon, Teng County had sent Zou Feng a message with his Token.

Apparently, several people had suddenly shown up to visit, saying they wanted to give Chef Zou a congratulatory gift.

Teng County hadn’t dared to accept them, so he messaged Zou Feng to ask what to do.

Zou Feng, however, knew these were the people who had previously targeted him. After hearing that Wu Cong had paid to settle his debt, they were all following his example.

Of course, a few of them were giving gifts in the hopes of becoming his apprentices.

"This is just a perk of being newly appointed. It’s not normally this much," Zou Feng said casually.

Gongsun Jinghong, who was meditating nearby, commented, "It’s certainly a lucrative post. It just takes up too much time that could be spent on Cultivation."

"No problem. Let’s start our practice right now!"

With that, he immediately pounced on Gongsun Jinghong.

Gongsun Jinghong had been waiting impatiently. Since she was already wearing nothing underneath, she just had to shrug off her outer robe to begin practicing the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill.

Meanwhile, Teng County hurried off to close the door, shut the windows, and boil some water.

’For Zou Feng, life in the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect was quite different from his time back in Great Yan.’

’In Great Yan, ever since joining Biyou Palace, he never had to worry about money.’

’But here in the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, while he couldn’t neglect his Cultivation, earning Immortal Fate was almost equally important.’

’This was especially true for someone like him, who had no intention of taking things slow. He wanted to advance to the Inner Sect as quickly as possible, and maybe even become a Core True Disciple.’

’Life seemed decent enough now, but he couldn’t get complacent.’

’If he were to be conscripted one day and forced to join the army to conquer the Outer Realms, his fate would be uncertain.’

’After all, Outer Sect Disciples, and even ordinary Inner Sect Disciples, were nothing more than cannon fodder in the campaigns to conquer the Outer Realms...’

Before long, their first round of cultivation with Gongsun Jinghong was over.

Just as they finished, a knock came from the door.

This was no coincidence. The person outside had clearly been waiting for Zou Feng to finish his business before daring to knock.

Zou Feng knew that anyone disturbing him this late wouldn’t be coming for some trivial matter. He had Teng County and Gongsun Jinghong go into the inner room while he went to the door himself.