Not long after, a very faint purple steam began to rise from a steamer basket.
Gu Ningyun had been watching the steamer closely; the moment the steam appeared, she noticed it immediately.
She cautiously fanned a bit of the steam toward herself, and her eyes lit up.
It smelled incredibly savory. Just one whiff made her mouth water.
As the fire stone continued to heat the steamer, the food inside neared completion. More and more purple steam was produced, gradually spreading throughout the entire kitchen.
Wen Xuan, who was positioned closest to her, was quickly drawn over by the aroma.
"Ningyun, what are you making? It smells amazing."
Gu Ningyun felt like her brain was becoming lightheaded from the fragrance. Hearing Wen Xuan speak to her, she replied subconsciously, "You'll find out in a moment."
"So mysterious."
Wen Xuan muttered, "Why do I feel a bit sleepy..."
Gu Ningyun forced her eyes open, wanting to adjust the heat, but her hand slipped, and she slumped onto the counter.
"Ningyun? What's wrong..." Wen Xuan felt the world swaying before her eyes. In a daze, she seemed to see her friend collapse and reached out to pull her up.
"Why do my limbs feel so weak..." Her voice grew softer and softer until she finally collapsed beside Gu Ningyun.
...
Gu Ningyun's station was in the southeast corner of the kitchen, while Martial Uncle Chen, who was in charge of the Introduction to Food Cultivation course on Qixia Peak, happened to be answering a question for a new disciple in the northwest corner.
Once he finished answering yet another question, he habitually swept his divine sense across the entire kitchen.
Martial Uncle Chen: ??
He scanned again.
Martial Uncle Chen: !!!!!
He instinctively cut off his five senses.
The disciple who had asked the question said, "Martial Uncle Chen, there's still one part I don't quite understand... Huh, what's that smell? It's so fragrant..."
Quick as a flash, Martial Uncle Chen caught the last disciple as they slumped over. His divine sense also zeroed in on the culprit behind all this—a steamer basket billowing thick purple mist.
Placing the disciple down to rest against a table, he cast a protective barrier around himself and used a movement technique to teleport to the steamer. His fingers moved in a blur, casting several spells in quick succession to seal the steamer basket tightly.
Looking at the continuously heating fire stone and the thickening purple mist inside the sealed barrier, he removed the fire stone from beneath the steamer.
Once he saw that the color of the purple mist was no longer deepening, he cast another spell to collect the mist that had spread through the kitchen, storing it inside a porcelain bottle.
Looking at the dozens of new disciples who had been knocked unconscious in the kitchen, Martial Uncle Chen took a deep breath, barely maintaining his composure.
He scanned them once more with his divine sense. After confirming they were only unconscious and their bodies were unharmed, he finally looked at the raw ingredients next to the steamer.
His gaze paused when he saw the shells of Blue Demon Shrimp and the roots of Purple Sun Mushrooms.
He took a small bowl and mixed the remaining shrimp meat from the shells with the roots of the Purple Sun Mushrooms. The two combined into a small ball of purple shrimp paste.
Martial Uncle Chen held the bowl, carefully observing the mixture.
The condition was stable, with no abnormalities.
On the contrary, once mixed, the two had a mind-clearing effect when consumed.
He cast a sealing barrier, set aside half of the shrimp paste, and brought a fire stone close to heat it. After a short while, the familiar purple mist rose from the paste.
With a wave of his hand, he extinguished the fire stone and threw the remaining half of the raw shrimp paste into the sealing barrier.
The moment the cold shrimp paste touched the purple mist, the mist dissolved rapidly, as if it had met its natural enemy.
Martial Uncle Chen let out a slow breath. He thought he knew how to solve this now.
Looking at the culprit who lay slumped on the table nearest to the steamer with an innocent expression, Martial Uncle Chen took fresh Blue Demon Shrimp and Purple Sun Mushrooms, fashioned a small shrimp ball, and fed it to her.
After using spirit energy to dissolve the shrimp ball into the culprit's body, he crossed his arms and waited for her to wake up.
...
Gu Ningyun felt a cool sensation enter her mind, clearing the chaos as she slowly regained consciousness.
Enduring the numbness in her arms, she pushed herself up from the table. Her heart sank when she saw the sealed steamer surrounded by purple mist, the floor covered with her unconscious peers, and Martial Uncle Chen leaning against the table in front of her.
Uh oh. It looks like I've caused a disaster.
Seeing her wake up, Martial Uncle Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed his deduction was correct.
This little girl certainly had a knack for spirit plants, but she was far too bold. He had to make sure she learned her lesson.
This time it happened in class where he was present to help, but if she were to mess around in the Cloud Residence kitchen by herself in the future and poison herself or those around her, the consequences would be unthinkable.
At this thought, he put on a stern expression, his voice unreadable. "Little girl, you're quite creative, aren't you?"
Hearing him say this, Gu Ningyun felt both guilty and apologetic.
She had indeed been negligent this time.
She only knew that the spirit plant section of the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 stated that Purple Sun Mushrooms were hot in nature and could be used to refine Warm Sun Pills. However, when mixed with water-attribute spirit plants or water-attribute beast meat, their properties could change upon heating.
Out of curiosity, she had mixed the Purple Sun Mushroom with the water-attribute Blue Demon Shrimp.
The two were originally non-toxic, and Blue Demon Shrimp even had a mind-clearing effect. She had checked the Purple Sun Shrimp Balls after mixing them; not only were they non-toxic, but they also had the effect of nourishing the body and clarifying the mind.
Therefore, she had thought to heat the Purple Sun Shrimp Balls to see what kind of changes this mixture would undergo.
Who could have guessed that after heating, the Blue Demon Shrimp would change in the exact opposite direction? The resulting purple mist actually gained a hallucinogenic and dizzying effect.
And she had been foolish enough to lean in and fan the scent toward herself.
The strange things of the cultivation world weren't meant to be sniffed so casually.
Now, not only had she fallen victim to it, but she had also affected all the disciples of her batch on Qixia Peak and caused trouble for Martial Uncle Chen.
Fortunately, the purple mist wasn't a lethal poison, and there was still a chance to make amends.
She would have to be extremely careful from now on.
With that in mind, she said to Martial Uncle Chen, "Martial Uncle Chen, I know I was wrong. I'll detoxify them right now."
Martial Uncle Chen's stern expression stiffened, a flash of surprise and admiration crossing his eyes.
This little girl was quite responsible and remained calm in the face of trouble.
Faced with such a massive mess, she didn't panic but immediately looked for a solution.
Moreover, from the look of it, she seemed to already know the cure for the purple mist.
It made sense. This girl was naturally gifted with spirit plants, and since she was the one who had cooked up this purple mist, it wasn't surprising she would know the cure.
However, just to be safe, he still questioned her.
Gu Ningyun said, "The purple mist is a mutation of the Blue Demon Shrimp caused by the influence of the Purple Sun Mushroom and high heat, resulting in hallucinogenic and dizzying effects."
"The one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it. Blue Demon Shrimp naturally have a mind-clearing effect, but they are cold in nature, so consuming them directly is harmful to the body. Therefore, they need the Purple Sun Mushroom to neutralize them."
"The pill Martial Uncle Chen fed me earlier to detoxify me must have been a Purple Sun Shrimp Ball made from a one-to-one mixture of Blue Demon Shrimp and Purple Sun Mushroom, right?"
A trace of a smile flickered across Martial Uncle Chen's face. "Correct. Although they would wake up on their own after a day of unconsciousness, it's not right to just leave them slumped here."
"Since you have a plan, go ahead and detoxify them."
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