Chapter 1: The Innocent Little Bun

“Boss Lu, you’re really setting up your stall?”
As soon as Lu Wu opened her door, the elderly man from next door strolled over, eyeing her as if she were a little fool.
“I really am,” Lu Wu replied with a smile.
Ignoring his dubious look, she pushed her snack cart out the door.
A month ago, Lu Wu had transmigrated into this cultivation world called Qingyuan Realm. She had been overjoyed, dreaming of embarking on the path of cultivation, summoning wind and rain like the other cultivators, and perhaps even attaining immortality.
But her hopes were dashed by the aptitude test. In Qingyuan Realm, a single spiritual root was best; the more roots, the worse the talent. Even the worst, those with five roots, were barely accepted by any sect—but at least five-rooted people could cultivate.
But her? She didn’t have a single spiritual root. She couldn’t even draw in spiritual energy—she was, by all accounts, a complete and utter waste.
Just when she had given up on her cultivation dreams, her golden finger finally arrived.
[Dingdong, the Culinary Cultivation System is now activated. So long as the host completes the tasks, you can gain cultivation base!]
That one sentence hooked Lu Wu like a fish.
The system’s tasks were simple: go to the designated location and sell food, one cycle every seven days.
This would be her first mission.
[Current task: Sell 1,000 buns within seven days]
[Designated location: Opposite the Hundred Flowers House in Xiaohe Town]
[Designated time: From 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.]
When she discussed the feasibility of selling buns opposite the brothel in the middle of the night with the old man next door, he looked at her as if doubting her sanity.
Fortunately, the system had provided her with various bun recipes. By day, she’d already prepared all the fillings, so Lu Wu set out for the brothel with high spirits.
Night had fallen, but the lantern-lit Willow Lane was bustling.
The air was thick with the cloying scent of powder and perfume. Laughter from courtesans mingled with the boisterous voices of men. Pushing her bun cart, Lu Wu couldn’t help but feel a little out of place.
This was the famed Willow Lane of Xiaohe Town, a street devoted to the flesh trade.
The clients here were looking for meat, but not the kind in a meat bun. At this hour, every customer was lost in a dream of beauty.
So when Lu Wu set up her cart, the courtesans leaning against the railing on the second floor of the Hundred Flowers House cast her puzzled looks.
Fighting down her embarrassment, Lu Wu lit the stove, boiled water, and began making buns.
She had prepared three flavors: Spicy Kidney Bun, Sweet Red Bean Bun, and Innocent Little Pork Bun.
Don’t ask—those were the system’s names.

Lu Wu sprinkled dry flour across her work surface, set down the well-risen dough, and began kneading with strong wrists.
The dough was snowy white, made from the finest spirit-wheat flour, which exuded a delicate fragrance no matter how it was cooked.
She pinched off the dough into evenly sized balls, setting them aside, then brought out the fillings.
All three kinds had been prepared in advance.
Two of the meat fillings were steeped in a savory broth, glistening with just the right amount of fat.
She stuffed the sweet bean paste into the dough, the pure white gradually wrapping around the red filling—a collision of colors that promised, once steamed, a mouthful of sweet bean melting into the bread, an exquisite flavor.
Lu Wu’s hands moved swiftly. Before long, fist-sized, plump white buns filled the steamer basket. As the water heated and steam swirled, she glanced at the passing crowd and hung up her menu.
“Sister, running short of spirit stones?”
A teasing voice drifted down from above. Lu Wu looked up to see a courtesan clothed in gauzy silk, leaning against the railing, her shapely figure half-revealed.
The sight made Lu Wu’s cheeks flush with heat.
It wasn’t that she lacked composure—it was just that the courtesan’s allure was simply too much for a mere mortal to withstand.
After all, even in a brothel, many of the women were cultivators.
And the disciples of the Hehuan Sect, who cultivated through the union of yin and yang, were especially fond of such establishments.
Lu Wu had heard rumors that this street was a stronghold of Hehuan Sect disciples.
Every morning, the men who left these houses did so with shaky steps, as if their essence had been drained.
But the service here was so good that men could never get enough.
And the Hundred Flowers House across the street was the busiest of them all.
“Sister, would you like a bun?”
“One lower-grade spirit stone each!”
Lu Wu blinked her eyes, trying to look cute and pitch her buns.
The price so stunned the courtesan that she stopped fanning herself, eyeing Lu Wu as if she were a shameless bandit.
Lu Wu kept up her most sincere, eight-toothed smile.
The system set the price—no bargaining.
“Are you selling buns or robbing people?”
The courtesan laughed, her body swaying like a flower in the wind, but at the sight of Lu Wu’s pitiful expression, she tossed her a spirit stone.
“Consider it a tip. When the buns are ready, bring one up to me.”
With that, she turned and went inside.
Task progress +1. Lu Wu quietly made a victory sign to herself.
As the buns gradually steamed through, a tantalizing aroma began to spread.
The scent drilled straight into people’s noses, impossible to ignore.

Other vendors nearby, who had been secretly mocking Lu Wu, now turned to look.
“What on earth is that smell?”
A drunken man happened to be passing by. His nose twitched, and he fixed his gaze on Lu Wu.
“A bun stall?”
“Little girl, you’re really selling buns here in the middle of the night?”
Yet another person who thought she had a screw loose—but Lu Wu didn’t care in the slightest.
“Yes, I’m selling buns. This basket’s almost ready—would you like one?” she said enthusiastically, not slacking off for a second.
Wasn’t it obvious? Completing the task meant she could raise her cultivation level—how could she not be motivated?
The man, belly full of wine, let out a burp and felt his stomach rumble, craving something to settle it.
“Alright, give me… an Innocent Little Pork Bun.”
His eyes flicked to the menu, expression a touch odd.
“Boss, are you really selling proper buns? These names are a bit… questionable.”
Under suspicion, Lu Wu opened the steamer and took out a bun.
The buns were perfectly respectable—she couldn’t say the same for the system.
“Here you are, sir. One lower-grade spirit stone, thank you for your patronage.”
The man, shocked by the sky-high price, sobered up considerably and opened his mouth to curse—
But the aroma wafting from the bun was as enticing as the little enchantresses in the brothel, clawing their way into his senses.
“Sir, pick me! Pick me!”
The drunken man was almost seeing visions.
How could he resist?
He couldn’t, not even a little!
His Adam’s apple bobbing, he eyed Lu Wu suspiciously, but still paid up.
“Fine, let’s see what’s so special about your buns, charging this much!”
At that price, he could have stuffed himself at any other bun shop in town.
“I guarantee you’ll be satisfied,” Lu Wu replied, confident in her skills.
As the man squatted nearby, ready to bite into his bun, Lu Wu picked up a Sweet Red Bean Bun and headed to the Hundred Flowers House to find the courtesan from earlier.