For this meal, everyone really went all out.
From the venue to the ingredients, everything was personally arranged by the pampered and refined Dan Feng.
The Dragon Lord took this gathering very seriously.
After all, besides his close friends, Zero would be attending.
After all, he was Jingliu's beloved.
That same Jingliu, who could slay abominations as easily as breathing, who wielded a three-thousand-pound sword, had, for the sake of her beloved, specially plucked a flower from a peach tree.
When Dan Feng heard about this, he was utterly stunned. His usually expressionless, icy face nearly cracked.
For a moment, he couldn't even find the right words to describe his feelings.
Dan Feng immediately shared the news with his other three friends, and their jaws all practically hit the floor.
After the shock wore off, they hesitated for a long time before asking Jingliu how she planned to preserve the flower.
Jingliu frowned slightly, anyone who knew her could tell she was embarrassed.
Though her face stayed cold and stern, in the end, she still showed her friends the peach blossom, frozen solid inside a block of ice.
Using ice, the Swordmaster had frozen time itself, keeping the flower exactly as it was the moment she'd plucked it.
The four were amazed. From the bottom of their hearts, they were happy for Jingliu, and just as curious about how Zero would react once he received it.
But no one could have guessed that this peach blossom would end up waiting, and waiting, and waiting, remaining in Jingliu's possession for over a year before it was finally delivered to its true owner.
When they learned that the war had at last ended and only cleanup remained, they could no longer contain their excitement.
The four of them were practically more thrilled than Jingliu herself. Talking all at once, they helped the Swordmaster decide on a date to thaw the flower.
They settled on the day before returning to Luofu.
As for when they'd return to Luofu? Of course, with the first fleet.
Seeing how much more enthusiastic her friends were than she was, Jingliu couldn't help but sigh helplessly.
She hesitated a little, worried that abominations might revive.
But the other four all lifted their heads proudly, full of confidence.
What a joke. The war was already over, and with the four of them still there, what was there to be afraid of?
And so, the Swordmaster Jingliu was included on the first list of returnees to Luofu.
Nothing much happened during the journey, except one thing that puzzled Jingliu.
General Tengxiao's reaction.
The day after she submitted her name for the fleet, Tengxiao called her in.
He chatted about everything, from Cloud Knight pay to Luofu's prices, the conversation wandering all over the place.
But in the end, he abruptly changed the subject, and told Jingliu, as the Swordmaster, to cooperate well with the Alchemy Commission's post-war work and to take her psychological evaluation seriously.
Jingliu, "…"
She didn't quite understand, but as a Cloud Knight, obedience to superiors had long been second nature. So she simply nodded.
Jingliu returned to Luofu with the fleet, leaving the other four behind at the front lines, anxiously waiting and scratching their heads in suspense.
Finally, the news came.
Zero had accepted the gift.
Judging from the tone of Jingliu's message, everything seemed to have gone smoothly.
They all knew her temperament, no point asking for details.
When the four finally returned to Luofu and rested for a while…
They could at last use the excuse of "drinking together" to witness the drama in person.
Dan Feng, who was in charge of providing the venue, originally wanted to build a small house, just big enough to store some spare paintings, tables, and chairs from his private collection.
He had already arranged for workers, he just needed permission to bring them into this Realm for construction.
But the Dragon Masters were outraged, blowing their beards and glaring in fury, utterly refusing to agree.
"How can outsiders be allowed to enter the Sacred Land of the Illuminated?!"
"Dragon Lord, please reconsider! This matter must never happen!"
"If the Dragon Lord insists on this course, then we, we can only follow the example of the virtuous ministers in the old texts and bash our heads against this pillar in protest!"
Dan Feng, keeping his usual calm composure, argued with them as he always did, then turned on his heel and left.
A few days later, the Dragon Masters finally relented, allowing Dan Feng to bring his friends into the sacred Realm.
But absolutely no building was to be constructed nearby.
Dan Feng, face still as cold and unreadable as ever, left without a word.
This tactic, he'd learned from his former Commander in a dream.
Truly worthy of that man, his mind was impossible to read.
You'd think his demands were outrageous, but in truth, they were just a cover for his real goal.
To get what you want, you must first make an impossible request, then concede halfway.
And sure enough, the Dragon Masters had no choice but to give in.
Dan Feng later told his friends about the whole thing.
Jingliu, not one to gossip behind others' backs, stayed silent.
Beiheng and Yingxing, however, angrily cursed out the Dragon Masters on his behalf.
Dan Feng was the Dragon Lord, for heaven's sake.
The entire Vidyadhara race belonged to him.
And the sacred realm, more or less his private property.
He only wanted to build a single house next to his own domain.
Why shouldn't he be allowed to? Why did those Dragon Masters always bully their friend like this?
Suddenly, Jing Yuan spoke in a strange tone, "The 'house' you're talking about… it's not, like, hundreds, or even thousands, of square meters, right?"
At that, Beiheng and Yingxing both turned to look at Dan Feng.
The Dragon Lord didn't deny it, just kept that same perfectly justified expression.
The fox and the craftsman both froze.
One of them was drowning in debt, the other paying off loans, by the end of each month, their wallets were cleaner than their faces.
They truly hadn't realized that what Dan Feng called "a house" and what they meant by "a house" were two entirely different concepts.
They'd been picturing a small shed, something you could take apart anytime.
'No wonder. No wonder the Dragon Masters refused to agree!'
Jingliu sighed helplessly. "It's just a meal. There's no need to make such a big fuss."
Dan Feng let out a wistful sigh. He said that all those paintings, each worth tens of millions, and his nine-figure furniture sets would just have to stay locked up in his private vault, gathering dust.
The other four, "…"
Truly, that was Dan Feng for you, always managing to casually shatter their understanding of the world with just a few words.
Then the five of them began to discuss the menu.
Dan Feng suggested they could hire eighteen servants to cook, each of them would have three attendants assigned.
For someone like him, who normally had eight attendants following him everywhere, that was already quite a sacrifice.
But the other four didn't appreciate it at all, they tacitly ignored him and excluded him from the plan.
As one, they all remembered that fateful hotpot from before.
Yingxing said quietly, "This time, if we all work together, we're sure to create a dish that will make him look at us in a whole new light!"
Those words lit a spark that couldn't be extinguished.
All five became fiercely competitive, deciding they would personally cook the meal themselves.
Beiheng, whose friends were spread across the entire world, knew plenty of restaurant owners.
The fox immediately thought of something simple, easy to make, and delicious, grilled meat.
But since it would be held in the sacred realm, wouldn't barbecue be even more interesting?
Aside from the Dragon Lord, who frowned deeply, the other three's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
After all, who hasn't eaten grilled meat before? The difference between barbecue and skewers couldn't be that big, right?
Using her gift of gab as the world's top socialite, Beiheng successfully talked the cleanliness-obsessed Dan Feng into agreeing.
Next came the ingredients.
They all wordlessly agreed not to argue about it, and handed the task to the pickiest of them all, the Dragon Lord himself.
After all, how long had Dan Feng been living on nutrient solutions? Let him have this one.
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