Chapter 12: Very Good, Meng Yingxing, You Make My Sword Tip Spin

“Eating?” Meng Yingxing only then realized that it was almost afternoon, and he hadn’t eaten anything since morning.
Now that Xiu Qingcheng brought it up, he felt a soul-striking hunger emanating from his stomach.
Someone once said that the best way to show concern for a person is to ask them three questions:
Have you eaten breakfast?
Have you eaten lunch?
Have you eaten dinner?
If your love for the person is even greater, you could also ask: Have you had your midnight snack, dear?
Meng Yingxing couldn’t help but shed tears like a tough guy, unexpectedly his master cared for him so much!
He was so touched!
Xiu Qingcheng watched Meng Yingxing, who for some reason seemed to be experiencing self-pity, her eyes betraying a hint of bewilderment.
She merely wanted to test if she had a sense of taste; she had no idea what kind of emotional drama Meng Yingxing was imagining.

“Can you cook?” Xiu Qingcheng asked.
In Jintian Jiuzhou, cultivators did not abstain from food or practice inedia.
In fact, some cultivators even specialized in dishes, making them possess special effects, much like alchemy.
So, for the cultivators of Jintian Jiuzhou, eating was still necessary.
In the forty-eight hours Xiu Qingcheng had known Meng Yingxing, she had only seen the bowl of porridge he cooked last night, so she didn’t know if he could make proper meals.

“Yes.” Meng Yingxing nodded, walking towards the kitchen.
“I used to learn from the uncle in charge of Tianfeng Sect’s meals for a while.
I can make some not-too-complicated dishes.”
Finally, Meng Yingxing added, “Provided there are ingredients.”
Meng Yingxing, like other ordinary people who came to Tianfeng Sect to make a living, lived in the lowest-grade handyman’s room.
Although it was a handyman’s room, compared to the houses of truly poor people outside, it was quite good.
Though a bit dilapidated, it came with a courtyard, an independent kitchen, and a latrine, fully equipped.
Xiu Qingcheng thought it was better than the university dorm she lived in back in her modern life.
Xiu Qingcheng floated beside Meng Yingxing, following him into the kitchen, and only then did she understand what Meng Yingxing’s last sentence meant.
In the kitchen, there was only a large bunch of green vegetables and a tiny bit of pork.
As the saying goes, a clever housewife cannot cook without rice; even a chef god in this kitchen could at most make a few dishes.
Stir-fried greens, vegetable soup, stir-fried greens with pork.
Why no sliced pork stir-fry?
Because all the pork was in the greens.

“The sect said it’s because I grew up here and used the sect’s resources, so even if I help out with chores in Tianfeng Sect, the sect won’t give me corresponding remuneration.
Basically, it’s just a little bit of ingredients each month… but occasionally, Senior Sister Liu brings me some, so it’s not a big problem.”
Meng Yingxing even smiled at Xiu Qingcheng.
Smile?
Smile my ass!
“Tianfeng Sect is PUAing you, do you know that?
A grand sect can’t even support a small child!?” Xiu Qingcheng, upon hearing this, got so angry she immediately started rapping on Meng Yingxing.
“And you’re not even sixteen yet, they’re employing child labor!
If I report them to the Industry and Commerce Bureau, they’ll be shut down immediately!
You idiot!”
Although he didn’t understand his master’s strange words, Meng Yingxing still understood that she was criticizing Tianfeng Sect.
He quickly defended the sect that had raised him: “N-no, it’s not that serious, is it?
The sect is actually quite good…”
Xiu Qingcheng truly wanted to slap her forehead.
This Meng Yingxing had been PUAed since childhood; it was deeply ingrained now!
She would have to find a way to correct him later.
How could he let the sect’s ideology dominate his thoughts?
He wouldn’t even know how he died then!
Miss Sword Spirit silently set a KPI for herself, deciding to make sure this human kid wouldn’t be full of thoughts about the sect anymore.
She didn’t even want to help Meng Yingxing get a rank in the Divine Weapon Trial now!
Rather than being a good dog for Tianfeng Sect, he should just roll down the mountain and be an ordinary person!
Or he could be her dog, that works too.
Miss Sword Spirit still didn’t know that Meng Yingxing’s mind would indeed no longer be full of the sect, but instead, completely full of her.

After a small interlude, Meng Yingxing began to get the pot ready and cook, picking and stir-frying vegetables.
But Xiu Qingcheng felt that the amount of ingredients Meng Yingxing was using for cooking was a bit small, so she casually asked, “Is this small amount enough for two people?”
Unexpectedly, Meng Yingxing’s answer was one of incomprehension: “Does Master want to eat too?”
Xiu Qingcheng: “?”
Indeed, in Meng Yingxing’s common sense, a sword shouldn’t need to eat.
“Of course I’m eating!
I’m a sword spirit, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to eat, isn’t it?” Xiu Qingcheng enunciated each word.
‘Fainting from anger because of this single-celled organism.’
Xiu Qingcheng again decided to properly chastise Meng Yingxing later, to make his single-celled brain smarten up!
In reality, Xiu Qingcheng didn’t feel hunger.
She just wanted to try if she had a sense of taste, and… she wanted to eat.
She just wanted to eat, eat, eat, eat!
Xiu Qingcheng hadn’t touched human food in a very long time.
The only things she had ever been able to “taste” were the fresh blood of enemies, their severed limbs.
Although they had no flavor, she could feel them as soft as a beautiful dream.
But—it truly made Xiu Qingcheng nauseous.

After receiving Xiu Qingcheng’s instructions, Meng Yingxing began to add more ingredients, focusing on cooking, striving to make a good impression on his master.
Watching Meng Yingxing work so diligently, Xiu Qingcheng planned to leave all the dishes and rice for him after she tested her sense of taste.
He ate too little, and he was at a growing age; he needed to supplement his nutrition.
Meng Yingxing was clearly shorter than his peers now.
‘Can’t even eat his fill, and the sect is still good?
This ungrateful little disciple!’
Xiu Qingcheng again scoffed at Tianfeng Sect.
Meng Yingxing was busy cooking, and Xiu Qingcheng felt a bit awkward.
She wanted to help him cut some vegetables or something, but Meng Yingxing always blocked her, saying it was “using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken” for an elder with a precious body.
Helplessly, Xiu Qingcheng had to stick herself into a wooden stool in front of the dining table, quietly waiting for Meng Yingxing to finish cooking.
Xiu Qingcheng thought about her earlier attempt to help, and secretly chuckled at herself.
‘There was once a rumor, “Under the Ting Tian Sword, a thousand blades retreat.”
Now, I am actually willing to help a kid cut vegetables.
If those who once flocked to the Ting Tian Sword saw this… I wonder what they would think.’
When Meng Yingxing brought the dishes and rice, he saw Xiu Qingcheng poking herself into the long stool and spinning left and right, her sword tip carving a large pit into the stool.
He quickly spoke up, lest Xiu Qingcheng drill a hole through his poor furniture.
“Master, the food is here, please try it quickly.”
Meng Yingxing was also quite curious: how does a sword eat?
Xiu Qingcheng then gave Meng Yingxing the simple and crude answer to this question.
“Oh~ the presentation isn’t bad, is it?” Looking at the glistening, oily stir-fried greens with pork before her, Xiu Qingcheng praised it.
Even such an ordinary dish could be appetizing; Meng Yingxing was quite good at cooking.
Then, Meng Yingxing watched as the Ting Tian Sword flew up, its tip poking into the dish.
Meng Yingxing was momentarily dumbfounded.
His chopsticks even dropped.
‘A sword… eats like this!?’
Immediately afterward, he heard Xiu Qingcheng click her tongue in disgust: “As expected, I can’t taste anything.”