Ye Ju tidied up the room and took out everything that needed to be arranged from the spirit ring.
She put away all the kitchen items she bought, replacing them with new pots and pans. All the seasonings were put in place. She also bought shelves for various bottles and jars. Once everything was organized, the kitchen, filled with a sense of daily life, made Ye Ju feel as if she were back in the world of Hua Xia, not some cultivation realm, without any cultivation techniques or conflicts.
"Sister, I'm hungry. I'll go catch fish and make dinner!"
Xiao Bai's voice pulled Ye Ju back to reality.
"Alright, I'll cook a home-style meal for you all today," Ye Ju said, letting go of past events, as she didn't know if she could even return. Living in the present was the most important thing.
She used the newly bought pot to cook the spiritual rice first. She went out through the kitchen door to fetch a large缸 of spirit spring water for the kitchen.
The path to the spirit spring was mostly overgrown with vegetation, lush and green, with various wildflowers blooming vibrantly. The spirit spring pool remained unchanged. Likely due to the barrier, the plants around the pool were well-behaved. The bathing pool downstream from the spirit spring, however, was largely covered by wild grass.
Ye Ju took out a large stone缸, filled it with water, and easily hoisted it onto her shoulder.
Chao Yangzi, sitting on the rooftop, saw Ye Ju carrying the water-filled缸 from behind the house. The scene was somewhat amusing, a petite woman carrying a water缸 that could hold both of them.
As she approached, he sensed a rich and familiar spiritual energy, and he jumped down from the rooftop in surprise. When he saw that the water缸 was full of spirit water, he became numb. He didn't ask any further questions and flew back to the rooftop to drink.
Seeing a corner revealed the whole, with spiritual plants in front of and behind the house, it wasn't surprising that fellow Daoist Ye had a spirit spring pool.
However, it seemed that fellow Daoist Ye was in a treasure mountain but unaware of it.
Xiao Bai returned with fish, three blue-scaled fish and over twenty crabs.
Ye Ju quickly stir-fried beef with chili peppers and braised spiritual beasts, which were essentially pigs with spiritual energy. The eggplants and gourds were similar to common vegetables in Hua Xia, just a bit larger. Due to the spiritual energy, their taste was more delicious. With minimal pollution, impurities were easily removed.
Therefore, ordinary people in this world had higher physical strength and combat prowess than those in Earth's Hua Xia. Because the food they ate contained a bit of spiritual energy, their lifespans were also longer. While ordinary people in this world couldn't cultivate and lacked spiritual roots to absorb spiritual energy, they all practiced martial arts, and it was a world where martial arts were almost universally practiced.
Ye Ju quickly stir-fried the dishes, while Xiao Bai was responsible for tending the fire. All the pots were cooking almost simultaneously. In less than fifteen minutes, half an hour later, a large table full of dishes was ready. The crabs were prepared in two ways: stir-fried with spicy seasoning and steamed. One blue-scaled fish was steamed, and another was grilled. The remaining one was used for soup. There was also one dish of green leafy vegetables. A total of ten dishes.
When they sat down to eat, there was Ye Ju, Chao Yangzi, Xiao Bai, Wang You, and A You. Xiao Mo hadn't transformed yet, so a large basin was prepared for him. The Qilin could transform into a human, but it was also not allowed to sit at the table. The reason was that it would suddenly transform into its true form while eating, and with a sweep of its tongue, it would devour all the dishes in seconds. Everyone would get angry and want to beat it up. It had done this repeatedly, despite being punished, and it was also tough to beat! Eventually, even its owner, Chao Yangzi, strictly forbade it from sitting at the table.
Every time Ye Ju watched the Qilin devour the food and get chased by Xiao Bai, she couldn't help but sigh, truly a relative of the Taotie, so gluttonous. Therefore, a bucket of food was prepared for it. It couldn't eat more if it wasn't enough, as spiritual pets only ate for novelty, and they wouldn't starve even if they didn't eat.
After eating, it was still early, and Ye Ju and her companions came to the purple bamboo forest. They decided to cut bamboo to build houses. Not to mention that Chao Yangzi was only staying temporarily, but Xiao Wang You and A You were now islanders and also needed their own houses. They couldn't live on the boat every day. Xiao Mo would also need one after transforming in the future.
Along the way, they started picking fruits. For those on trees, Ye Ju asked Xiao Bai to pick them. Xiao Wang You and A You were responsible for packing them. The two little ones picked happily and adapted well.
Ye Ju was also worried that they might not adapt to this isolated island after coming from a bustling place. Now, it seemed her worries were unnecessary!
The fruit picking area was a small patch of fruit forest with seven or eight types of fruit trees, not just one. Ye Ju had already eaten these, and Xiao Bai had confirmed they were non-toxic and edible for ordinary people.
Chao Yangzi remained aloof throughout the journey. He now understood why fellow Daoist Ye could bring so many spiritual fruits; it was as if they were grown by her. The entire front and back of the house were filled with spiritual fruit trees. If these were brought to the cultivation world, any auction house would cause a stir. Some of them had long disappeared from history, yet they were found on this island.
Ye Ju suddenly saw a peculiar fruit tree among a patch of short shrubs, bearing only one fruit. The fruit looked familiar, resembling the sour and sweet fruit she picked when she first arrived on the island, with a very similar appearance.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, that's a Zhu Li fruit, also known as Zhu Guo. When consumed with a transformation grass, it can help spiritual beasts transform ahead of time."
Chao Yangzi followed out of curiosity when he saw Ye Ju stop. He was also very surprised to see the Zhu Guo. What secrets did this island hold, why could it allow spiritual plants and fruit trees with different growth habits to flourish…
Ye Ju suddenly realized why it looked familiar. It was introduced in the spiritual treasure illustrated book given by Chao Xiangzi. She probably gave this fruit to Xiao Bai as a sour and sweet fruit before, which is why Xiao Bai transformed early. No wonder Xiao Bai said she helped it transform!
As for the transformation grass, Ye Ju felt she had lost out greatly; there was a small patch near the spiritual pool, and she didn't need to buy any…
Before encountering Ye Ju, Xiao Bai must have eaten a lot of spiritual grasses. Without developing intelligence, it only instinctively sought spiritual plants with spiritual energy to improve itself. It was truly a misstep that led to a fortunate outcome!
After filling two large bamboo buckets, A You and Xiao Wang You volunteered to carry them back and organize the garden. They wouldn't come along anymore. Ye Ju smiled and agreed. There was no danger on the island, so she let them go.
Finally, they arrived at the bamboo forest. What met their eyes were towering purple bamboos, with a closer look revealing purple hues tinged with gold, and they were extremely thick. They had cut quite a bit of it when building the boat, and after sprinkling it with spirit spring water, who knew it would grow like this? Spirit spring water had a special magic for plants; it was likely that the life force contained within was even more potent than Ye Ju had imagined!
Chao Yangzi, upon seeing the purple bamboo, could no longer maintain his aloofness. Ye Ju felt a gust of wind blow past. Chao Yangzi was already in the purple bamboo forest over a dozen meters away.
Chao Yangzi reached out and stroked each purple bamboo, his eyes filled with fervor. Any artifact refiner would go mad at this scene, seeing so much of the coveted purple-gold bamboo. It had long since vanished from the Tian Chen Continent, impossible to find even for a thousand gold and ten thousand stones.
"Fellow Daoist Chao, cut as many as you want? Pick them yourself." After speaking, Ye Ju ignored him. She called out to Xiao Bai to get to work.
The person and the beast activated their ice spiritual power to quickly cut bamboo. Ye Ju planned to cut enough bamboo today and start building the bamboo houses tomorrow.
Chao Yangzi watched his master and spiritual pet cut bamboo like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, then put away his thoughts and also began to move. Otherwise, the best artifact refining materials would be wasted.