Amid the noisy atmosphere of the dining hall, I seriously began carrying out the mission.
I did not head directly into the kitchen. Instead, just like the other ordinary disciples, I picked up a tray and walked through the food serving area. My calm gaze swept across each abundant dish before me. I took a little of everything before finding a relatively quiet seat beside the window.
Then I began the tasting work. As I ate, I silently scored everything in my heart while simultaneously observing the reactions of the surrounding disciples. The vast majority ate with great enjoyment, proving that the overall quality today was quite good. But the more stable and problem-free things appeared on the surface, the less the details could be ignored.
After finishing the meal, I stood up and walked into the kitchen area. The assisting disciples and chefs inside were all stunned the moment they saw me enter. They then hurriedly saluted.
"Why has Senior Brother Shen come here?"
I smiled warmly. "No need for such courtesy. Everyone, continue working. I'm only here for a routine inspection. You've all worked hard today."
A middle-aged chef with a gentle appearance walked over while wiping his hands. It was Master Li, who was in charge today.
"Senior Brother can rest assured. Today's ingredients are all freshly supplied. Us old fellows have personally overseen everything. There absolutely won't be any mistakes."
Naturally, I trusted Master Li's cooking skills. My gaze slowly swept across every corner of the kitchen. Everything was clean and orderly, even much better than the previous times I had come to inspect.
But just as I was about to leave, the corner of my eye suddenly noticed a miscellaneous duty disciple carrying a tray of cleaned and pre-processed cucumbers walking past.
With the enhancement granted by the system, my observation ability had now become extremely refined. With just a single glance, I immediately noticed several yellowing cucumbers mixed in among the tray. Their spiritual energy had clearly weakened.
"Wait a moment," I called out.
That disciple instantly stopped, his expression somewhat tense.
I walked over and gently picked out the substandard cucumbers. My voice remained as gentle as ever. "The spiritual energy in these has already weakened. They are not suitable to be used in dishes. You need to be more careful when selecting ingredients. A dish not only affects the taste, but is also related to the cultivation of fellow disciples. At the same time, it also represents the sincerity of the sect. There can be no carelessness."
Hearing that, the disciple immediately blushed and hurriedly lowered his head to admit fault. "This disciple was negligent. Please punish me, Senior Brother."
Beside him, Master Li also frowned as he looked over. "How many times have I reminded you already? Open your eyes wider. Luckily, Senior Brother discovered it. Otherwise the entire dish would have been ruined. Go replace them immediately."
I merely waved my hand with a light smile. "It's fine. Just pay more attention next time. Everyone continue working. I won't disturb you any further."
Returning to my seat beside the window and looking at the food that had just been rescued from the risk of quality decline, I could not help but sigh. The relaxed feeling of enjoying delicious food at the beginning had already been more than half destroyed by the sudden mission interruption.
As expected, the fate of a babysitter senior brother was that even eating a meal required simultaneously serving as the food safety inspector for the entire sect.
Very quickly, the system's voice rang out in my mind.
Random mission, dining hall quality inspection, completed. Rewards successfully distributed. Slight cultivation increase. Beginner spirit beast enlightenment fragment.
I remained silent for several seconds before lowering my head to stare at the empty air before me, as though trying to see through the system and demand a proper explanation.
Another fragment? What was the purpose? I wondered whether, after collecting enough of these things, the system would truly throw me some kind of divine-grade recipe book. Judging from its bizarre style up until now, such a thing was entirely possible. Other people cultivating immortality would obtain ancient inheritances. As for me, I might someday unlock one hundred and eight spiritual nourishment dishes for spirit beasts.
Just thinking about it already made me feel that my fate was drifting farther and farther away from the orthodox path of a sword immortal.
I let out a sigh before picking up my chopsticks once more, seriously enjoying this lunch that had been preserved with great difficulty.
Three years ago, Sect Master True Lord Mo Yuan personally brought back to Lingyun Sect a mortal youth with no foundation and no cultivation. He had not even learned how to guide spiritual energy into his body. Yet immediately afterward, the sect master directly announced that this youth would become his personal eldest disciple, as well as the senior brother of the entire sect.
That news nearly caused the entire Lingyun Sect to explode at the time. Countless negative emotions quietly spread throughout the sect. There were far too many people who refused to accept it. Among them, a newly admitted inner sect disciple at the time, Chen Fan, was one of those who reacted the most strongly.
Chen Fan came from a mid-level cultivation family. At sixteen, he entered the early stage of Qi Refinement, and by twenty he had reached the middle stage of Qi Refinement. Among his peers, he could absolutely be considered an outstanding talent. He originally believed that as long as he continued working hard, he would definitely secure his own position within the sect in the future.
Yet suddenly, out of nowhere, appeared someone with no background and no cultivation. In a single step, that person ascended to become everyone's senior brother. The feeling was exactly like studying day and night in preparation to rank first in an exam, only for the school to suddenly announce that the class monitor position had already been handed to someone specially admitted. It would have been strange not to be angry.
At that time, Chen Fan's heart was almost overflowing with dissatisfaction. A person who did not even know how to guide spiritual energy into the body — what right did he have to stand above them? Just because he was personally brought back by the sect master?