Chapter 23: The Restaurant

"Dong, dong, dong—"

On this day, the bronze bell of the clan, which had not been struck for a long time, emitted a series of heavy, muffled sounds. The sound was not loud, but it reached the ears of every clansman on the island.

"What happened? Why strike the bronze bell to summon all the clansmen?" Li Zhirui stopped playing with Da Qing and looked toward the main hall with a face full of confusion.

"Stay at home and behave. I'll be back shortly," Li Zhirui said before getting up to leave.

Because of the distance, by the time Li Zhirui arrived at the plaza in front of the main hall, most of the clansmen had already gathered.

"Brother Hao, do you know why the clan is summoning us?" Li Zhirui asked curiously.

"You brat, you spend all day in your room and didn't even know the clan is opening a restaurant in the market?" Li Hao looked at Li Zhirui with a strange expression.

Li Zhirui gave an awkward laugh. He indeed didn't like going out much, mainly because he didn't know how to interact with unfamiliar clansmen.

Logically speaking, they were all part of the same clan and were relatives by blood, but in reality, they had rarely met and were not close at all.

This was especially true after Li Zhirui learned Water Refinement Alchemy and taught it to several clansmen. Those clansmen, whom he had almost no impression of, would look at him like hungry wolves seeing fresh meat every time they saw him, lunging straight toward him.

Immediately following that would be a barrage of praise, calling him a "heaven-blessed prodigy" or a "once-in-a-century genius"—basically, they would exaggerate as much as possible, giving Li Zhirui goosebumps.

Thus, Li Zhirui, who already disliked going out, became even more reluctant. Now, aside from handing in his spirit pills, he hardly ever stepped out of his door.

He had originally thought that teaching the clansmen alchemy would improve his standing in the clan, but in reality, nothing had changed.

Hearing Li Hao say the clan was opening a restaurant, Li Zhirui did a quick calculation in his head and realized it had been nearly a year since they left Bailang County!

During this year, the Li family had developed extremely well, earning a significant amount of spirit stones every month.

If they were still in the oppressive and feudal environment of the Beast Taming Sect, what the Li family was doing now would either have been forcibly seized by the sect or would have resulted in them working for the sect—essentially being exploited in a different way.

Thinking of this, Li Zhirui couldn't help but feel grateful that the White Jade Sect had a Nascent Soul cultivator who destroyed the Beast Taming Sect; otherwise, far from expanding, the Li family would have been lucky just to maintain their current state.

Once all the clansmen on the island had gathered, Li Shiqing and several elders emerged from the main hall.

"I presume everyone already knows the reason for this summons," Li Shiqing said with a smile. "Through a year of hard practice, the clan has successfully trained two Tier-1 Spirit Chefs!"

In truth, the two clansmen trained by the family had been able to prepare spirit food as early as six months ago. However, at that time, they only knew how to make one simple dish, making it impossible to open a restaurant, so it wasn't widely publicized.

It wasn't until half a month ago, when the two had mastered all the spirit food recipes previously purchased by the clan and Li Shiren had leased a restaurant in the market, that the news was made public.

Though many clansmen had known for a while.

"The restaurant opens tomorrow. Any clansmen wishing to go to the market should arrive here before the Hour of the Dragon tomorrow morning. Elder Li Shilian will lead you to the market."

A cheer went up among the crowd. After all, according to clan rules, many clansmen who did not meet certain criteria were not allowed to leave Big Rong Island. Since everyone was allowed to go this time, they were naturally delighted.

The next morning, except for the clansmen of the "Shi" generation, everyone else had arrived. The younger clansmen, in particular, were incredibly excited.

Because they had not yet turned eighteen and their cultivation had not reached the late stage of Qi Refinement, they were not permitted to apply for travel. To be able to leave the Big Rong Island they had grown tired of today, how could they not be happy?

When the group arrived at the market, Li Shilian led them toward the restaurant. Seeing that there were already a few customers inside, he did not lead the group in, saying, "Go and play on your own."

"But you must return here before the Hour of the Rooster, otherwise, you will be punished according to clan rules!" Fearing that everyone would get too carried away and forget the time, Li Shilian said with a stern face.

The crowd responded loudly and quickly dispersed.

Li Zhirui did not leave with the others. Having been to the market several times, he didn't find it novel, so he stayed behind, wanting to see how the restaurant's business was doing—after all, it was his idea.

"Cloud Pavilion" was the name of the Li family restaurant. Located on a branch road of the market, there were quite a few passing cultivators. The location wasn't the absolute best, but it wasn't bad either. It was a two-story wooden building with a small courtyard behind the kitchen for housing spirit beasts, preparing ingredients, and providing rest for staff.

It was said that a restaurant had operated here before, but that spirit chef's skills were poor, failing to retain customers. The business was dismal, and it eventually ended in closure.

This actually made things convenient for the Li family; they didn't need to renovate. They only needed to clean it thoroughly and buy some tables, chairs, and utensils to start business. After all, every day delayed was a day of wasted rent.

However, for some reason, the passing cultivators hadn't noticed that the restaurant had changed owners, resulting in an empty hall with very few customers.

"Grandpa Shilian, this won't work. No one is coming at all," Li Zhirui said, leaning close to Li Shilian.

Li Shilian had also observed the situation and was anxious in his heart, but he didn't know how to solve it. He immediately asked, "Boy, have you thought of a way?"

"Publicity and opening discounts," Li Zhirui said, reciting the two most common marketing tactics for new shops from his previous life.

Li Shilian understood more or less, but he didn't bother listening to Li Zhirui's explanation. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Since you have an idea, go do it."

"I need a Sound Amplification Stone," Li Zhirui said. He couldn't refuse, and he would have to do it himself.

"What do you need that little thing for?" Despite his words, Li Shilian rummaged through his storage bag and produced a stone about half a palm in size.

Without explaining, Li Zhirui personally recorded a message into it in front of Li Shilian.

"Cloud Pavilion is newly opened! Today, there are discounts across the board: get two spirit stones off for every thirty spent! Furthermore, every purchase of spirit food comes with a free bowl of spirit rice!"

As the voice was amplified by the stone, it immediately attracted many cultivators. A rogue cultivator asked, "Is what you're saying true? You're not trying to trick us, are you?"

"You know the Li Family Grocery Store, right? This is a restaurant opened by my Li family; naturally, we would not deceive you all," Li Zhirui promised, patting his chest.

"How can you prove this is a Li family restaurant?"

Fortunately, the shopkeeper, Li Shihua, was known to some people, and he immediately stated his identity.

Only after Li Zhirui used the Li family name as a guarantee did the man reluctantly believe him and walk into Cloud Pavilion.

Seeing that many cultivators were still hesitating, Li Zhirui added, "The restaurant is new, and the amount of spirit food is limited. Once it's sold out, the discount will no longer apply!"

Hearing this, several of the previously hesitant cultivators immediately entered Cloud Pavilion.

The area on the first floor was not large. To ensure it wouldn't become too crowded, only twelve square tables were placed there.

Under Li Zhirui's promotion and salesmanship, the first floor was quickly filled with cultivators.

As for the second floor, it consisted of eight private rooms. Because they were equipped with soundproofing formations, exquisite decorations, and other amenities, they required a certain fee, which ordinary rogue cultivators were unwilling to spend.