The losses suffered by the Jinwu Li Clan this time could be described as utterly devastating. More than ten of the Li Clan's descendants were dead, injured, or crippled, and all their magical treasures had been looted clean. In normal times, the Li Clan would have mustered their forces to tear the people of the Little Luo Secret Realm to pieces.
However, this time, the Jinwu Li Clan was exceptionally quiet, showing no movement at all.
Many speculated that the Jinwu Li Clan must be wary of the identity of that nouveau riche upstart from the Little Luo Secret Realm.
Thinking about it, that was indeed the case.
Leaving aside the identity of the nouveau riche upstart, even if he wasn't some Great Lord in the past, the fact that a single powerful roar from him could scare four Taibai Golden Immortals to death was enough. Such mysterious and bizarre strength was sufficient to make the Jinwu Li Clan deeply apprehensive and not dare to act rashly.
After leaving the floating island, Gu Qingfeng, while enjoying Little Qiānniǎo's massage, thought about first finding a place to have a grand feast. After all, since arriving in the Fengyue Small World, although he had drunk his fill of wine, he hadn't yet sampled the local special delicacies.
At the mention of fine food, Little Qiānniǎo immediately perked up, clamoring to go eat the Eight Treasures Feast at the Eight Treasures Manor.
She said this Eight Treasures Feast was cooked from eight kinds of heavenly treasures like Purple Heart Lotus, Shimmering Light Flower Stamen, and Water Cloud Essence. Eating it could not only strengthen bones, tendons, skin, and the five viscera and six bowels, making the Physical Body more powerful, but also purify Immortal Energy, making immortal power cultivation more refined. Most importantly, the Eight Treasures Feast was delicious and fragrant.
Little Qiānniǎo grew more and more excited as she spoke, her mouth watering so much she was almost drooling.
"I say, little sister, it's just a meal. Is it worth it? You're practically drooling."
Little Qiānniǎo wiped her mouth somewhat awkwardly and said, "Little drunkard, if you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. Do you even know who refines the Eight Treasures Feast?"
"Who?"
"It's Imperial Chef Niang."
"Imperial Chef Niang? Never heard of her."
"She's the most famous Food Immortal in our Twin Polar Heavenly Domain. The fact that you haven't heard of her just shows how ignorant you are."
"So it's a Food Immortal."
Gu Qingfeng wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the term 'Food Immortal'.
Although Food Immortals only became prevalent in the modern era, they weren't absent in the ancient era either.
In the mortal world where he was born, there was the Food Immortal Town at the foot of the Shangqing Sect. Old Man Luo Xuan there could indeed be considered a Food Immortal.
The so-called Food Immortal had a long history.
It was said that a long, long time ago—perhaps in the remote antiquity, or maybe the primeval antiquity, or even the primordial antiquity—an ordinary mountain dweller, by chance, entered an immortal sect. His aptitude wasn't great, and his hopes of achieving immortality were slim, but he possessed extremely high talent in alchemy. He became obsessed with refining Pills all day, neglecting his cultivation until it fell into disuse. Later, because he tested Pills on himself, not only did he lose all his cultivation, he almost lost his life.
To nurse his Physical Body back to health, this mountain dweller began refining Pills again. However, while Pills were good, they couldn't be eaten as food. More importantly, just eating Pills wasn't enough; one had to refine and absorb the medicinal potency contained within. If the medicinal potency couldn't be refined, it would not only waste resources but, over time, stagnate in the body, becoming not a great supplement but a great poison instead.
Finally, this mountain dweller took a unique path. He gave up refining Pills and began refining spiritual food to nurse his Physical Body.
Surprisingly,
he not only nursed his Physical Body back to health with the refined spiritual food but ended up eating his way to immortality.
Later, this person established his own sect, widely accepted disciples, and was revered by later generations as the Ancestor of Food Immortals.
The Food Immortal lineage had been passed down since ancient times. Although it declined at times, it never died out. Not only did it not die out, but by the time it reached the remote antiquity era, it was very prevalent. It was said that back then, Food Immortal sects flourished like a hundred flowers blooming, even surpassing miraculous elixirs in popularity for a time.
Passed down to the present day, all kinds of spiritual food were available. Even the Spiritual Tobacco Gu Qingfeng smoked was actually a type of spiritual food, no different from fine wines. The only distinction was that one was for drinking and the other for eating.
In Gu Qingfeng's view,
spiritual food and miraculous elixirs each had their pros and cons.
Miraculous elixirs had strong medicinal potency and worked quickly. Whether the Physical Body or Immortal Energy was damaged, taking a miraculous elixir could provide timely treatment. Usually, for opening acupoints, clearing meridians, breaking through cultivation levels, and so on, one could rely on the medicinal potency of miraculous elixirs to make a push.
Spiritual food, on the other hand, had milder medicinal potency and slower effects, suitable for gradual nurturing.
Especially for serious injuries, after taking a miraculous elixir to stabilize the condition, using spiritual food for further nurturing worked very well. And for mental setbacks, which were very fragile and couldn't be treated with Pills, one could only rely on spiritual food to slowly calm the mind and nurture it.
One shouldn't take miraculous elixirs indiscriminately if one was healthy and uninjured. Spiritual food was different; this stuff could be eaten as a meal. Eating more of it not only had no harm but actually had benefits. Aside from purifying impurities from the Physical Body, it could also gently nurture Immortal Energy. There might be no noticeable effect in a day or two, but over ten or a hundred years, the effects would be unimaginable.
For example, descendants of immortal families started consuming spiritual food from childhood to remove impurities from their Physical Bodies and nurture their Immortal Energy. Over time, their Physical Bodies would become purer, their Immortal Energy stronger, and their own immortal power naturally more refined.
Of course,
this was only for descendants of immortal families. For a poor mortal immortal like Horse King, he couldn't afford it. Some top-grade spiritual food cost tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions.
Not only could he not afford it, but even people like Qiānlíng and Qiānniǎo, who had the resources of the Little Luo Secret Realm supporting them and were usually considered well-off, would only occasionally eat a meal when going out on training trips. For instance, Qiānniǎo had cultivated for several decades, and the number of times she had eaten spiritual food could be counted on one's fingers.
As for the Eight Treasures Feast she mentioned, Little Qiānniǎo had never eaten it before, only heard about it. The Eight Treasures Feast was hailed as the number one delicacy in the Fengyue Small World, something she had long coveted. Unfortunately, it was far too expensive. A single meal cost a whopping million. Eating a few meals would be enough to buy a Heaven-grade magical treasure. At such a price, she could only dream about it.
She thought she might never get to eat the legendary number one delicacy, the Eight Treasures Feast, in her lifetime.
She never expected Gu Qingfeng to win 1.8 billion in one go. Now, no matter what, he could be considered a nouveau riche. Eating an Eight Treasures Feast was absolutely more than enough.
To get to eat the Eight Treasures Feast, Little Qiānniǎo resorted to both coquettish pleading and massage, putting in great effort.
Gu Qingfeng was in an excellent mood and said, "Hearing you talk about it makes my mouth water too. It's just an Eight Treasures Feast. Let's go! This Great Lord is happy today. My treat! Eat as much as you want, stuff yourselves until you're full!"