18 18. The Sudden Appearance of Great Uncle_1

Guided by the palace-dressed woman, Song He was brought to an exquisite room.

The design of this room was even more refined and elegant, and it was also furnished with incense burners that could refresh the spirit, along with some special Spirit Plants.

For instance, the Water Cloud Jasmine, whose fragrance could help Cultivators relieve mental stress and also had a calming and sleep-inducing effect.

There was also a cluster of Fresh Wind Bells at the corner of the wall.

They moved without wind, and the bell-shaped blossoms gently swayed, producing a crisp and ethereal melody.

Besides, there were three or four other special Spirit Plants.

But without exception, all were of the kind that relieved fatigue and eased stress.

This caught Song He by surprise, and he glanced at the palace-dressed woman who had led him here, saying with a hint of a smile, "Why have you brought me to this particular room?"

The woman bowed again and replied, "This servant noticed that the senior seemed somewhat weary and specially led you here. Should the senior be dissatisfied, we could switch to another room."

Her tone was neither humble nor overbearing, and she did not grovel despite the vast difference in their Cultivation Levels.

Heh, this is interesting.

Song He became curious about the owner of the restaurant, noting that the staff had been trained in a customer-first service attitude similar to that of hotel waitstaff from his previous life.

Anticipating the needs of the guests, attending to their thoughts.

Upon closer thought, Cultivators like Song He, at the Late Qi Refining Stage, often had not yet severed worldly thoughts and deemed themselves superior; such service truly hit the spot.

It had to be said, it was indeed a very good idea, a profitable one too.

Even Cultivators have their desires and emotions.

Perhaps even more so than ordinary people.

But he did not ask anything further and took his seat unhurriedly, sitting on the soft cushion, as the woman brought him a menu.

"Senior, please take a look."

The menu was replete with a dazzling array of Spirit Foods, including "Spirit Fire Stewed Cloud Fish," "Lake Beef Stir-fry," "Chilled Spirit Enhancing Lotus," "Misty Sugar Cake,"…

At a glance, there were easily hundreds of different dishes on the menu, and without exception, all were made from Spiritual Materials and Spiritual Beasts.

However,

Song He looked at the prices listed at the back, and his expression became rather calm.

A plate of Spirit Enhancing Lotus Cake, which he had once eaten at Senior Brother Jiang's, was actually priced at fifty Spirit Stones!

If he remembered correctly, a plate at Senior Brother Jiang's was only about five Spiritual Cakes, which would be ten Spirit Stones per cake.

A single plate was even more expensive than an elixir.

Since he was cultivating Spirit Enhancing Lotus himself, and would definitely need to plant more Spirit Plants for his Cultivation in the future, Song He decided to carefully read the descriptions of these dishes.

The ones that could be sold here were definitely popular sellers.

When the time came, he could get some seeds and plant one of them to earn some Spirit Stones as well.

As he looked, the woman stood silently by his side.

It was as if her breathing had stopped, not making the slightest sound, like a sculpture.

The room was filled only with the ethereal sound of the wind chimes.

After a while,

Song He finally finished looking through the menu and made a note of the names of these Spirit Plants, planning to buy some seeds after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

After all, he had a Class I spirit field and a vast expanse of land that would be a waste to leave empty; it was essential to utilize it fully.

"I'll have the Lake Beef Stir-fry, two bowls of Fragrant Spirit Rice, a pot of Spring Chicken Spirit Soup…"

He gritted his teeth and ordered seven or eight dishes.

"Please wait a moment, honored guest, it will be served shortly."

The woman noted everything down, then smiled, bowed, and briskly turned to leave.

It wasn't long before the dishes were served.

The interval didn't even surpass the time it took to burn a stick of incense.

Looking at a table full of delicious cuisines, Song He's appetite was whetted, and he began to eat and drink heartily. He didn't need to worry about appearances and was decisive when it was time to start.

At last, like the wind sweeping through fallen leaves,

he cleaned the entire table of dishes until it was spotless, and after using the Spirit Spring Water to wipe his hands and the grease from his lips, he rang the bell to summon the woman from before.

Just as he intended to pay, her face showed a respectful expression, and her attitude seemed even more careful and restrained than before.

"Senior, the owner of our establishment has said that your meal has been paid for by someone else in Spirit Stones, and the person who paid is waiting for you at the Cloud Flower Pavilion."

"Ah?"

Song He furrowed his brows as a figure in white quickly flashed through his mind.

It seemed likely that only he would pay for his meal, right?

But why would he do that?

They had met by mere chance; at best, it was a fleeting encounter. There shouldn't be any reason for that person to pay his bill, right?

Puzzlement swirled through his mind, but since someone had already paid the bill and had specifically mentioned the place, it would be clearly impolite not to check it out.

Thus he spoke with a deep voice, "Lead the way. Take me to the Cloud Flower Pavilion."

"Please follow me, Senior."

Without another word, the woman led Song He through several twists and turns, up and down numerous sets of stairs and corridors, finally stopping in front of a small courtyard shrouded in mist.

"Senior, this is the Cloud Flower Room. I will take my leave now."

Her departure was hurried, and within a few steps, she had disappeared from sight, as if she dared not linger in this place.

Song He was left alone, gazing at the little courtyard with its white brick and jade tiles.

It was indeed hard to imagine that within Spirits Arrival Building, there could be such a place? It seemed that the area occupied by the Spirits Arrival Building was much larger than he had thought.

'I must see what this is all about.'

Song He reached out and knocked on the door.

Before he could speak, a familiar voice came from inside—

"Is that Junior Brother Song? Please come in."

After the words were spoken, the door automatically opened.

A refreshing mist washed over him, prompting Song He to involuntarily blink his eyes.

Inside the door, there was actually a vast lake, with only a path made of enormous lotus leaves leading straight to the small pavilion at the lake's center.

Such a vast spatial lake and the outwardly modest courtyard couldn't possibly align under normal circumstances.

For some reason, Song He felt his heart beating irregularly; he had a premonition... that what awaited him was definitely not just Senior Brother Jiang.

Or rather, definitely not only Senior Brother Jiang.

A cultivator's premonition was always accurate. He took a deep breath and started walking carefully over the lotus leaves.

Forward he went.

Soon, he reached the small pavilion in the center of the lake.

As expected, inside the pavilion, apart from Senior Brother Jiang in white, there was also an old man in white robes who was looking up at him.

The old man's eyes, clear and lucid like a child's rather than clouded with age, were filled with kindness, and the whole person appeared to be like an ordinary mortal.

Of course, he was a different kind of mortal.

The more ordinary they appear, the more extraordinary they are.

'Could it be that powerful figures all favor this trend of returning to simplicity without any frills?' Song He thought to himself.

Without a doubt, this elder was Uncle Jiang who had once given him the Wood Gourd seed; it turned out that Senior Brother Jiang did indeed have a connection to him.

For some reason, Song He felt more at peace.

Perhaps because he had always been worried that Uncle Jiang had plans for him, his heart had been somewhat uneasy, but now that the individual had appeared,

he felt reassured.

Finally, whether there were plans for him or some assignment, he was about to get an answer.

Moreover, Song He didn't think that as a superior senior figure, he would go through so much trouble to deal with a mere Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator like himself.

So then... why had he suddenly appeared? For what reason?