Chapter 6: The Path to Entry

Thanks to the recent harvest, a bountiful supply of game, and the high-grade monster meat provided by the local gourmands as payment, Mu Tong’s restaurant remained open for ten consecutive days.

By offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she threw the food lovers of the small town into a frenzy. Every mealtime, the shop was packed; those lucky enough to have a seat remained motionless, while those waiting outside hoped for a last-minute cancellation. In short, even if they couldn't get a bite to eat, just lingering in the aroma of the dishes was enough for them.

At night, after closing up shop, Mu Tong retreated to the small building behind the restaurant. The house was equipped with various formations that effectively shielded it from prying eyes, so she had no fear of her secrets being discovered within its walls.

Once inside, she took out the earnings from the past ten days and began organizing the storage bags, placing them onto their corresponding shelves or into designated cabinets within her storage space.

The income for these ten days was quite substantial. Thinking of the madness of those immortals, the corners of her mouth curled up: these beings focused solely on cultivation and were truly far behind the people of Earth when it came to the art of cooking.

In truth, Mu Tong’s culinary skills were only average—at best, slightly above mid-level—back on Earth. Yet, in this small town, she was a peerless chef whom no one could match. Her diverse cooking techniques, combined with the wide variety of spices she had brought from Earth and the high-quality ingredients found in Hidden Immortal Town, left the local chefs—who relied solely on the four traditional methods of boiling, steaming, roasting, and stewing—far behind.

Most immortals spent their time on cultivation; where would they find the time to hunt for so many spices or study complex cooking methods? They couldn't even imagine the existence of methods like braising, stir-frying, quick-frying, simmering, dressing, deep-frying, braising in sauce, glazing, blanching, pickling, potting, flash-frying, pan-frying, crisp-frying, braising with thick sauce, smoking, slow-stewing, sauce-marinating, clay-pot cooking, or baking.

The mere thought of such complex techniques was too much for the immortals. It was far simpler to just eat what "Little Tong" prepared.

Mu Tong was naturally happy to see this, as the restaurant was her greatest source of income. If any of the immortals actually learned these skills, her business would likely suffer. Therefore, the kitchen was strictly off-limits to everyone but her; no immortal, not even Yun Feng, was allowed to set foot inside.

After organizing her earnings, Mu Tong slipped into her personal space. To be honest, she did not enjoy staying there, but since the time for her return to Earth was approaching, she wanted to take a look.

The one-hundred-cubic-meter space was filled with wooden shelves of varying heights. Whenever she entered, she would appear directly on the large bed she had set up in the center. The bed, two meters long and 1.8 meters wide, rested on several short cabinets and was surrounded by railings. She had built it herself out of pear wood from Xiaoyao Mountain when she was twelve. Back then, she lacked a sense of security and feared rolling off the bed while sleeping, hence the railings.

Although she didn't care to live in this enclosed space, she kept it prepared as a place to rest in case of emergencies. Lying on the bed, she could take in the entire ceiling. Unlike the other four walls, the ceiling was covered in gray, dim patterns. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a star map featuring countless celestial bodies.

On this map, the only two distinct, glowing points represented Hidden Immortal Town and Earth. She had first arrived in Hidden Immortal Town after accidentally touching a glowing point that had appeared on the otherwise gray ceiling. With a mere touch of curiosity, she had been transported into the courtyard of this very house.

After she had spent a year in the town, another small point lit up. She touched it and found herself back in her room on Earth. To her amazement, not a single second had passed since the moment she had left. When she returned to Hidden Immortal Town, it was exactly one month after her return to Earth.

Later, Mu Tong discovered the pattern: she could enter Hidden Immortal Town once every month while on Earth, and after living in the town for a year, she could return to Earth. A month later, the point representing the town would light up again.

Apart from these two dots, the other gray, hazy spots had never illuminated. Mu Tong secretly wondered if those points, once lit, would lead her to other mysterious places—perhaps to the various civilizations the immortals spoke of, scattered across the stars and galaxies of the universe. However, she still hadn't figured out how the point for Hidden Immortal Town became active, so she had no way of knowing how to trigger the others.

Mu Tong touched the point representing Earth. There was one month left before she was due to return. When the point wasn't glowing, not even touching it would trigger any trans-dimensional travel. Each time she crossed over, the point would dim, remaining dark until the next scheduled time.

With her return to Earth nearing, she decided to close the shop tomorrow to purchase some necessities in town. She also needed to refine some pills and magical artifacts. Even if she rarely used them on Earth or in the town, one could never have too many; life was full of surprises, and she preferred to be prepared.

A sound-transmission talisman flew into the room. Mu Tong frowned. Who would be sending a talisman this late?

Outsiders were not permitted to trespass into others' courtyards; visitors were expected to send a talisman to the homeowner. The owner would know the moment the talisman entered the courtyard—unless, of course, the house was empty.

Mu Tong stepped out of her storage space and walked outside, where the talisman was darting back and forth in the air. She reached out and grabbed it. Immediately, Yun Feng’s voice rang out: "Little wifey, hurry and open the door! My mother said she wants to trade for some of your delicacies. Open up, quickly! If I don't, my mother is going to beat me."

Mu Tong rubbed her temples. These two gourmands constantly found ways to trade for her food in private. Fortunately, she always prepared plenty of finished dishes and kept them in her storage bags—food she had originally made for days when she didn't feel like cooking.

Reluctantly, she opened the door. If she had a choice, she certainly wouldn't have. But based on past experience, if she didn't open it, this guy would continue to send talismans until she couldn't take it anymore.