I hurriedly reached out to catch it. The moment I touched it, a stream of extremely pure water-attributed spiritual energy immediately flowed into me. It was cool and abundant, like a deep stream beneath a snowy night.
My heart stirred slightly. This was the cold core pearl, an extremely rare treasure for cultivators practicing water-attributed cultivation techniques. At the same time, it was also a top-grade forging material coveted by countless artifact refiners.
I immediately bowed in gratitude.
Ling Shuang said nothing more. He merely slowly walked toward the lake behind the cave dwelling. He elegantly lowered his head to drink water. That lazy posture clearly signaled that it was time for guests to leave.
I understood the meaning. I bowed once more in farewell before leaving the cave dwelling alongside Tailai.
Outside, Steward Wang was still anxiously waiting. The moment he saw me walk out safely, with Lord Tailai leisurely following behind me, he was instantly stunned. But when he saw the cold core pearl in my hand, his expression nearly froze on the spot.
"Senior — Senior Brother Shen, did you succeed?" His voice trembled with excitement to the point of stuttering.
I smiled and nodded. "Lord Ling Shuang no longer has any problems."
Hearing that, Steward Wang felt as though a huge stone had finally been lifted from his heart. He nearly clasped his hands together to thank the heavens on the spot.
Seeing this, I casually added a few reminders. "If a similar situation happens again in the future, Martial Uncle Wang should pay more attention to Lord Ling Shuang's spiritual energy circulation on that particular day. The techniques need to be adjusted more flexibly. They cannot be applied entirely the same way as usual."
"Yes. Yes. Yes. Many thanks to Senior Brother Shen for the guidance." Steward Wang nodded repeatedly like a pecking chicken.
I gave a few more small instructions before following Tailai away from the Spirit Beast Garden and flying toward Falling River Peak.
Along the way, Tailai glanced at me before suddenly sneering with a grin. "You brat really know how to serve others. Even Ling Shuang's difficult temperament can be handled by you."
I could only smile bitterly. "You flatter me too much, Lord. This disciple merely happened to learn a few small tricks."
Tailai snorted, his crimson-gold fur swaying imposingly in the wind. "There aren't many people in this sect who can satisfy both Ling Shuang and me. Do your job well. In the future, there may be even more old ancestors who need your service."
Hearing that, a bad premonition suddenly rose in my heart. The complete fur care manual that the system rewarded me with back then — perhaps it truly was only the beginner's edition.
After sending off the two spirit beast old ancestors, I finally raised my head toward the sky and let out a long sigh of relief.
A cultivator was still human after all. Although my cultivation had already reached the point where I could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to sustain my vitality without depending on mortal food, enjoying delicious meals was still one of the few genuine pleasures left in the life of a senior brother and all-purpose babysitter like me. Sometimes I felt that I was not cultivating immortality at all. Rather, I was simply struggling to survive day by day as a steward for a group of psychologically troubled geniuses along with several noble spirit beasts.
With that thought in mind, I changed direction and headed toward the inner sect dining hall.
It was currently peak dining hour, and the place was extremely lively. The sounds of conversation and clattering bowls and chopsticks, along with the fragrance of spiritual food, blended together and filled the area with life.
But the moment I stepped through the entrance of the dining hall, the familiar voice of the system immediately rang out in my mind.
Random mission activated. Inspect the dining hall meal quality. Requirement, conduct sample evaluations of taste, spiritual energy content, and sanitation condition. Reward, slight cultivation increase. Beginner spirit beast enlightenment fragment.
I fell silent for several seconds. As expected. This system had never once allowed me to live peacefully for even a single day.
Half a year ago, a little disciple had come running over while crying and clutching a bowl of spiritual rice, saying that the rice in the dining hall seemed to have been overcooked that day. I merely stopped by to check and casually suggested that the kitchen staff cook another fresh pot. From that moment onward, all kinds of food complaints began continuously flying toward me through communication jade slips, and somehow I gradually became the unofficial food quality inspector of the inner sect.
After observing for a long time, I even discovered that the operating pattern of the dining hall was incredibly metaphysical. If today's head chef was Master Wang, an expert in fire-attributed cultivation arts, braised and roasted dishes would become incredibly fragrant, with the heat controlled perfectly, delicious enough to make people want three extra bowls of rice. If tomorrow it changed to Master Li, who specialized in water techniques, then the soup would definitely reach the pinnacle of culinary art, but the stir-fried dishes would lack a bit of soul.
The entire place operated exactly like some kind of quantum mechanical instability. Before opening the pot lid, nobody knew whether today's meal would be heavenly cuisine or a test of one's Dao heart.