MTLNOVEL Chapter 51: Tofu Cake is Made
The South Ming Li Fire was swallowed and exhaled, causing Yuyan's belly to swell and contract.
Accompanied by more and more rapid breathing, the gold and silver actually melted first, turning into two pools of liquid at the mouth of the cauldron, connected head to tail like a snake chasing its own tail, rotating endlessly.
Then, when Yuyan exhaled the thirty-seventh breath of South Ming Li Fire, the pale blue flames no longer encircled the base of the cauldron but entered the ring where the gold and silver met.
The scorching temperature circulated within the ring of gold and silver, and with the blue flames, the soybeans inside the cauldron flipped up and down in the mist, shedding their skins and turning into a yellowish-white powder.
And the bean husks were burned by the South Ming Li Fire.
The yellowish-white powder, along with the mist, flipped up and down on the ring of gold and silver. Occasionally, traces of South Ming Li Fire flowed through, giving a faint, dreamlike impression, as if hiding within clouds and mist.
"Inhale—"
Yuyan suddenly took in a deep breath, sucking in the South Ming Li Fire into her mouth and swallowing it into her belly, causing her stomach to bloat and her face to turn flush red.
Then,
"Exhale—"
She fiercely exhaled the South Ming Li Fire again, and the intensity of the fire was even more vigorous than before, with the pale blue flames containing specks of black and white.
That was the Yin Yang Qi!
Sun Wukong saw it clearly, this wasn't because Yuyan had mastered the Yin Yang Qi but because the South Ming Li Fire, during her swallowing and exhaling, interacted with the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth and was influenced by the aura of the gold and silver, passively gaining some Yin Yang Qi.
However, if she kept at it day after day, perhaps Yuyan could indeed cultivate a Spell related to the Yin Yang Qi.
As for time, it would probably take ten thousand years.
As the South Ming Li Fire mixed with the Yin Yang Qi once again entered the ring of gold and silver, the mist that tumbled around it turned half into milky white, half into deep black, surging like the Yin and Yang.
Unfortunately, there was no Yin in the Yang, and no Yang in the Yin.
When this mixture of black and white Qi transformed from liquid to solid, it became a large disc about thirty feet in diameter and about ten feet thick.
Smooth and clearly demarcated in black and white.
When tapped with chopsticks, it felt like jelly, resembling the skin of a young girl—crystal clear and smooth, so delicate it seemed it could break with a mere puff.
And the ring of gold and silver fell into the cauldron.
At the bottom of the cauldron, there was another ring of gold and silver, which turned into flowing water and merged into it, making the ring at the bottom even more extraordinary, glowing faintly and looking extremely mysterious.
"That ring of gold and silver, if it could be continuously infused with the essence of gold and silver, might become a Divine Weapon," Nezha, as a general of the heavenly court, had seen many Divine Weapons and recognized that the ring of gold and silver nurtured in the cauldron was already taking the shape of one.
But Sun Wukong thought of another Divine Weapon, the Vajra Bracelets of the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord.
If Yuyan's ring of gold and silver were refined and accumulated over the years and had a chance to be influenced by Alchemy, it could perhaps become a Divine Weapon like the Vajra Bracelets.
Unfortunately, with Yuyan's level of cultivation, who knows how many years it would take for her to achieve that.
Moreover, he estimated that even if this Divine Weapon was completed, it was unlikely to be used for ensnaring things.
"Burp—"
Yuyan retracted the South Ming Li Fire and let out a satisfied burp, rubbing her stomach, feeling full with the essence of plants and herbs.
Afterward, she used her Mana to lift the distinct black and white tofu cake onto a large cutting board, then cut it into two halves with a knife. The black went into one basket, the white into another, each piece the size of a baby's fist. The M|V|LE&MPYR team worked hard on this chapter.
Next, Yuyan poured the two baskets of tofu into a large jade plate with a diameter of ninety feet.
Rustle rustle.
Black and white tofu pieces met, automatically colliding together, sticking in pairs like magnets with opposite charges, a very peculiar sight.
"The tofu cake is ready!"
Yuyan placed one hand on her hip and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the other, proudly saying, "Try it, it tastes wonderfully good."
As she spoke, she took a pair of chopsticks and picked up three pieces of black and white mottled tofu cake, eating blissfully.
Nezha reached out, directly picked up a piece of black and white tofu cake, felt its gentle warmth, and took a bite. The warm bite was mixed with a refreshing coolness that lingered on the tip of his tongue.
Amidst the coolness was a hint of sweetness, hitting straight to his heart, making his taste buds bloom.
"Slurp!"
With a slight inhale, the jelly-like tofu cake turned into liquid jade and entered his stomach.
"Delicious!"
Nezha consumed several bites and finished the piece in his hand, then picked up another and savored it meticulously.
Tie Shan and Ao Yun also tasted it.
This kind of sweet treat was irresistible to girls.
As for the Bull Demon King, since he was the mount, Tie Shan simply took out some grass from the Qiankun Bag and fed it to him.
A bull should eat grass.
Bull Demon King: "..."
Sun Wukong also picked up a piece of tofu cake, took a bite, and said, "Clearly delineated Yin and Yang, you do have some talent for Alchemy."
Yuyan giggled, swallowing the tofu cake, her cheeks puffed out, and mumbled unclearly, "I did put a lot of effort into it."
In the blink of an eye, the large jade plate was nearly empty, with most of the tofu cake having gone into the bellies of the two food-loving girls, Yuyan and Tie Shan, while Nezha packaged some to take back for his father to try.
Sun Wukong saw that he was holding a paper-wrapped package and asked, "Why not put it in a storage bag?"
Nezha replied, "There are weapons inside. Food can't be stored with weapons. If my divine weapons damaged it, that would be a waste."
"Here." Sun Wukong handed over a Qiankun Bag.
"Thanks a lot."
Taking it, Nezha said, "This thing is much more useful than spatial spells like Qiankun. Speaking of which, your Huaguo Mountain seems to have quite a few Qiankun Bags, and even mortals without mana can use them?"
Sun Wukong smiled and said, "That was Ao Yun's idea."
Ao Yun explained, "I mainly thought that, with the growing volume of currencies like Eternal Coins and Heavenly Dao Coins, transportation and carrying would become inconvenient. So I gave it some thought, and then my brother gave me some inspiration regarding space. Using spirit talismans we crafted them; they are also quite cheap, selling for only three Red-patterned Coins."
Three Red-patterned Coins, equivalent to three jin of gold.
Indeed, privately, even ten jin of gold might not be enough to buy a Qiankun Bag, but at Huaguo Mountain, the value of a Qiankun Bag could indeed be bought with three jin of gold.
Moreover, this kind of Qiankun Bag could autonomously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and respond to the intentions of sentient creatures, thus allowing mortals to use it.
However, there were also problems.
That is, any living creature could open this thing, which is essentially just a bag or purse that can hold more items.
As a result, most merchants in Ao Lai, although they would purchase Qiankun Bags, generally would not use them to carry goods.
Although Qiankun Bags could hold more and reduce transportation costs, once they left Huaguo Mountain and entered Ao Lai, the risk of being robbed increased substantially.
If the Qiankun Bag was robbed or stolen, you would really be at a total loss.
Whereas if you're pulling a large cart of goods and encounter bandits, there's room for negotiation; if you encounter thieves, they can't steal an entire cart of goods, can they?
Moreover, some monsters that made their way into Ao Lai made a living by robbing Qiankun Bags.
Of course, they were mostly from other continents.
They did not dare to take lives, because Huaguo Mountain provided monster-catching services, and those external monsters who had killed were mostly reincarnated by now, leaving only the very cunning ones.
They robbed only wealth and did not harm lives.
Even if caught, the worst they would face was being sent to the mines.
For this kind of monster, the Qiankun Bag was the first choice for a quick fortune.
"That's actually a good idea." Nezha nodded, put the tofu cake into the Qiankun Bag, and after scrutinizing it, found that the material was just ordinary hemp thread.
This thing could be used to make Qiankun Bags?
Sun Wukong explained Nezha's confusion: "The Qiankun Bag's main feature is its spirit talisman that allows it to contain all things within the universe; the material is not important."
"Therefore, these Qiankun Bags will wear out after long-term use and can even be cut open with ordinary scissors."
"They're not magical treasures but rather quite special spatial artifacts."
Nezha nodded.
Only in this way was it reasonable. If such spatial treasures could be mass-produced, wouldn't that defy the heavens? Presumably, the so-called spatial spirit talismans could also only be drawn on this linen.
Although he did not understand the skills of drawing talismans and refining artifacts, he knew that runes had different effects on different materials, and this space spirit talisman, if engraved on other materials, would probably be much less effective...
In the following three months, Nezha enjoyed his time playing and frolicking around Huaguo Mountain, relishing his innocence.
But since he was, after all, a divine general from the heavens, he could not stay in the mortal realm for long. When the day of his departure arrived, he bid a reluctant farewell to Sun Wukong and ascended on a cloud.
However, he still ended up giving Sun Wukong that six-thousand-year-matured flat peach...
During this time, Yuyan was truly exhausted.
Because she had to make tofu cakes every day, and every time, Nezha would pack a small bag to put into the Qiankun Bag.
This prompted Yuyan to incessantly grumble, "Three months, a small bag every day, more than ninety packs in total, probably even the tofu cakes put in at the beginning have gone bad."
Gone bad?
That wouldn't happen.
Although tofu cakes are not elixirs, they are by-products of alchemy. As long as the black and white pieces are not separated, the spiritual energy within will not dissipate, and naturally, they will not spoil and emit a foul smell.
However, kept for too long, the taste might change somewhat.
Of course, Yuyan didn't just gain fatigue; her alchemy skills improved significantly. She could now refine the tofu cakes into spherical shapes, not just flat discs.
Even the alchemy cauldron, continually nourished by the essence of gold, silver, and grains, saw its gold and silver rings become more vibrant, already beginning to show the fledgling form of a magical treasure.
"Sister Yuyan, if you keep this up, you'll turn into the Tofu Cake Fairy," said the Iron Fan after she led the ox back to the pen and found Yuyan making more tofu cakes, teasing her.
After Nezha's departure, Yuyan's alchemy skills skyrocketed.
Now, she could make thousands of tofu cake pills the size of a fist in one go, without having to slice them with a knife and allow the black and white cubes to adhere naturally.
"Tofu cakes? These are Yin Yang Elixirs!" Yuyan corrected discontentedly.
"Alright, Yin Yang Elixirs," Iron Fan said with a chuckle, "Let me tell you something related to you. Three Lives Scholarly City has been built for over three months now, and enrollment has begun. Your father, the Eternally Living Fox King, has started enrolling students, and there's a big crowd of them wanting to be admitted. Shall we go have a look?"