When Apollo woke up from his cultivation, the sun's rays assaulted his eyes, and voices entered his ears, incoherent, and he could only understand small words.
He reached out with the back of his hand to scratch his eyes. The glaring sunlight returned to normal, but the voices still remained. He took a deep breath and focused only on himself. A few seconds later, the murmur disappeared.
Bringing up his Status Screen, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Spirit Cultivation: None.
Physique Cultivation: 2nd-Step Foundation Building.
He was still at the 2nd-Step, but his senses had already advanced along with his strength. However, his Cultivation remained the same. Still, this gave him an idea that this night or tomorrow morning he would reach the 3rd-Step Foundation Building stage.
Apollo had also received an additional 6 Alm points over the past two days, which is not a lot, but it's better than nothing.
Raising his hand, he clenched it and punched the air. He heard the air explode under his fist, causing winds to appear around him. Such a simple punch could already produce this much force. Just imagine Gail's strength if she didn't hold back. Just that thought caused Apollo to shudder in fear.
He stood up and decided to buy something to eat. As he walked out of his beggar spot and into the streets, he couldn't help but glance inside Filly's restaurant. "Oh? There are more customers than before?" Although it couldn't be compared to the time when there was no Skyline Savory branch in front of their restaurant, this is still great progress.
His eyes then landed on the menu situated beside their door.
"So they managed to create the oil, that's good," Apollo muttered with a smile on his face. The menu was entirely different from before. There were extra words to each dish with meat on them.
Two-Headed Goat Meat Cooked with Oil.
Scavenger Cooked with Oil.
Bronze Reinforced Cow Cooked with Oil.
"Oil is essential; this is a great start,"
Apollo turned around and walked to meet up with Big Chub. That vendor also knows a lot of gossip, and Apollo has learned a lot from him regarding the city.
After talking with him, I should get back to cultivating.
Filly glanced at the diners eating merrily below. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of new customers. This is a great sign. Suddenly, footsteps echoed, and she turned to the sound. She saw Gail walking towards her with excitement in her eyes.
"Did he do it?" Filly asked expectantly.
"Yes!" Gail answered.
The two of them walked down the stairs and went into the kitchen. When the door opened, a strong smell caused them to be dazed. Filly's eyes landed on the plate. Golden brown-coated chicken legs lay on it. The rocky texture and the exposed white meat invited them to take a big bite.
But she held herself back, though she couldn't help but sniff again, and the smell caused her to stand in front of the plate.
"I've managed to recreate it," Temor said, a proud smile on his face. "Although we still don't have black pepper and paprika, I think this is still considered Fried Chicken."
"So only flour, salt, eggs, and oil?" Filly asked.
"Yes," Temor nodded his head. "I haven't tasted it yet, but looking at its appearance, I know it won't disappoint us."
Filly nodded and reached out her hand. She picked up one piece of the fried chicken and held it in front of her. The texture in her hand was very rough and crispy at the same time. When she applied pressure to it, a crackling sound echoed, and she noticed that the rough texture had lifted, exposing some of the white meat.
Temor couldn't wait any longer, so he took his own piece and started eating it. A crunching sound reverberated in the room, causing Filly and Gail to glance in his direction. That sound… that crunchiness! Just hearing that made the two of them gulp.
Without dilly-dallying any longer, Filly took a bite of the fried chicken in her hand. That crunchiness echoed again, followed by the juices exploding in her mouth. Her eyes widened, though her mouth didn't stop its movement. At first, the texture was rough, but as she swallowed and took another bite, the softness and tenderness of the meat filled her mouth.
Filly closed her eyes to savor the taste, especially as the crispiness and tenderness mingled with each other.
Seeing the two of them enjoying the food so much, Gail didn't wait another second to take her own piece of fried chicken. Soon, the three of them finished the food on the plate.
"If this goes on, I will double in size," Temor said with a chuckle.
The two women laughed.
After calming themselves down, Filly sighed. "We're only using normal chicken, and the taste is already so great."
"Yup, we could even sell this now, even with just normal chicken. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a popular dish soon!" Temor said with a clenched fist. He is the chef of the Kleinford family and now works under Miss Filly Kleinford. Of course, he wanted the best for them.
"Yeah, we could even defeat that restaurant in front with just this," Filly nodded in agreement. "But what I want is for my restaurant to be the best, so that even Skyline Savory won't stand a chance."
Hearing the determination in her voice, Gail and Temor looked at her in surprise before they smiled.
"Then let's use the Scavenger next," Temor said. "When are we going to sell this?"
"We wait until people know that our dish is new compared to before. After we have enough hype, we will proceed to sell this. We move one step at a time, take the 'beast' down by its legs before we hit its head," Filly said, a smirk on her face.
"Hahaha! I like that!" Temor laughed while Gail chuckled.
Then Filly turned to Gail. "How is your progress?"
"I found some, but there's only a few of them. If we want to use them as ingredients, we will need to have our own garden to cultivate the spices ourselves," Gail explained.
"I see. Well, it makes sense. Most of the ingredients in the journal are unknown to most of us, let alone others," Filly said with a nod.
"I'll go take the Scavenger out," Temor said. He soon returned with a two-meter-tall black chicken with a razor-sharp beak and claws. Using his skilled hands, he started peeling off the feathers while also using his fire technique to easily pluck them out.
The two women watched with amazement at how easily Temor dismantled this giant bird. Soon, a freshly cleaned and cut Scavenger lay on the table.