While Nina spent her time cultivating, Krune already started to receive orders. Sure enough, it was, as Oclo said. The moment the restaurant opened, there were already a few customers waiting. Most of them were at the Divine Path Realm or Divine View Realm, which are perfect for the two types of Spiritual Food that Krune can make. That made sense since Krune couldn't make Semi-Divinity Star Dishes yet.
"Two bowls of Golden Prawn Soup."
"Three servicings of Grilled Ice Sea Eel."
"Mist Mountain Fog Mushroom Salad, three portions."
The orders came at a regular pace. That's because Krune's restaurant wasn't known yet, so the majority first came to check the quality. They had to find out whether Krune's dishes were really worth the money on the menu.
Krune did his best with every order, and he was genuinely enjoying the feeling of cooking as always. Soon, four hours went by, and Nina finally came down from the second floor. When she appeared in the kitchen, she was able to see Krune using his Godly Energy and Mind Splitting Technique to work with five dishes at the same time!
Although Krune's restaurant has only twenty tables, each table had six chairs. Not to mention that the groups that came in would make different orders. That being said, it was normal for Krune to receive several types of orders simultaneously.
Krune glanced at Nana for a second before saying.
"Good, seems like you used the time in the formation well. 3rd Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm is a good start. Of course, the further you go, the slower it will become. However, with your talent and experience from before, you should reach your brother's level much faster than him. Anyway, I won't help you for free, so be ready to work for the rest of the day."
Nina's eyes were a little teary, but this time, not because she was afraid. She finally confirmed that Krune had no malicious intentions towards her. He only destroyed her Dantian so that she could rebuild it again. Still, she quickly wiped her eyes and stepped forward.
"Chef Krune, what do you need?"
"Good! You can't make Spiritual Food yet, but there is no problem with the side ingredients that aren't high level. Take that pan and fill it with Suran Earth Flowers. After that, add 3/4 of chilling pond water. I use them together because the cold attribute of the chilling pond water can prevent the flowers' properties from being lost. It will also help wit-"
Krune began to give a stream of orders, which Nina did her best to follow. He also explained in great detail why he did that. Still, he warned her that those were his ideas or the ideas of other chefs in the past. So if she thought she could add anything to it, she could tell him. Since she wants to become a Spiritual Chef, she will need to have her own ideas too.
Nina soon began to feel tired. There was no helping it. As ordinary as the ingredients she worked with could be, they still needed some Godly Energy to be used in the process. However, Krune was already expecting it. Or to be more specific, he wished for it to happen. The constant use of Godly Energy would help her to build a stronger foundation.
Cultivating with Godly Energy alone doesn't affect the Foundation. However, it doesn't make it stronger either. Nina will have to put a lot more effort into it is she wants to build a sturdy one. Every time she depleted the little Godly Energy she had, Krune ordered her to go to the side and recover. This process happened at least twenty more times during the rest of the day.
Suddenly, another wave of Spiritual Energy came out from Nina's body. Seeing that, Krune nodded in satisfaction. Nina had broken through into the 4th Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. Sure enough, the constant depletion and recovery of Godly Energy helped her a lot. But above all, she already passed through these stages before, so the experience made up for most of the speed.
Finally, the restaurant closed for the day.
"Alright, help me clean everything. Remember, a Spiritual Chef's Kitchen is his/her heaven; it must always be immaculate."
Nina didn't complain at all as she did her best to follow Krune's instructions. When they finally finished, only a few plates with dishes remained. Krune then went outside the kitchen with them.
"Bai, Lunika, Wanva, Ralor, come here. There are a few dishes for us to eat."
Those are the names of all Krune's employees, three waiters, and one cashier. They were also finishing cleaning everything up when they heard Krune's voice. Their eyes immediately lit up as they prepared a table for the six of them.
When Nina sat there, she seemed quite embarrassed as she dropped her head. That's because the dishes Krune prepared were made with her mistakes. In the end, they couldn't be sent out for the customers since they weren't at the level they paid for. However, Krune wouldn't let the food go to waste, so he kept it for them to eat at the end of the day.
The others were expecting some rich energy food, but it turned out to be quite ordinary.
"I thought Spiritual Chef food to be different."
"Wasn't it supposed to be full of energy?"
"It's free, isn't it? That's good enough."
Nina dropped her head even more after hearing those comments. Krune, on the other hand, simply kept eating his meal as if he didn't hear anything. Finally, Nina gathered enough courage to open her mouth.
"It... It was me who made those ones. They weren't good enough to be sent to the customers, so Chef Krune asked me to keep them for us later."
Krune also nodded in satisfaction. This was also a test of his.
"There is nothing wrong with feeling ashamed if your food tastes didn't meet the expectations. Sometimes it is not even your fault since everyone's preferences are different. However, you should never fear to admit that it was you who cooked something."
After saying that, Krune finished his plate and went back to the kitchen. The others then looked at Nina before saying.
"Well, you are quite lucky. It seems like Chef Krune thinks you have the potential to become a Spiritual Chef."
"I don't know anything about Spiritual Chefs, but it is a profession that pays quite well, so you should make sure to grasp this chance well."
Nina nodded, and she finally had the chance to talk with everyone. Slowly, they came to know each other. They have several things in common, like the fact that they are all young and came from poor backgrounds, so they understood each others' plights. They all have low cultivations too. Bai had the highest one, being at the 2nd Stage of the Divine Soul Realm. Considering that he is already 20 years old, that's is viewed as a little below average.
Of course, they noticed that Nina's cultivation disappeared. Nina then explained about her past problem and that Krune had her rebuild it again. Still, they had to admit that there has to be quite a resolution to restart from zero. Well, Nina didn't say that it wasn't exactly her choice to start it again...
Around thirty minutes later, Krune came back from the kitchen with another six plates of food. This time, there were real Spiritual Meals!
"Now then, let's start the real show, enjoy!"
Everyone was delighted to see that, and they immediately dived in. With their income, they couldn't possibly afford all of that, so they didn't dare to leave even a single grain behind.
That day, Krune made over five thousand Godly Stones! In fact, he did a lot more than that. However, he had to pay for the ingredients used as well. Of course, Krune wasn't the least bit disappointed by that. Before everyone left, he gave each one of them a few extra Godly Stones. Bai and the rest were obviously ecstatic. Even if what Krune gave out meant little for him, it was a lot for the others.
When Lino came to fetch his sister, he was alarmed. With his 8th Stage of the Core Formation Realm cultivation, he could easily tell that his sister lost her cultivation. Nina, of course, knew that it would happen.
"Don't worry. I simply decided to start cultivating from scratch again. You know very well that your sister had a deformed Dantian. If I want to become a Spiritual Chef, I will have to build a new foundation to fix that problem. Chef Krune is kind enough to help me with it."
Understanding what was happening, Lino quickly bowed to Krune in gratitude. Still, he felt it to be weird. Why would Krune help his sister to this extent? It was then that an idea popped in his mind.
"Thank you, senior Krune. However, I have no intention of giving my sister to you. I won't allow you to marry that easy!"
Nina immediately blushed. Her face was as red as a tomato!
*Pah!*
Krune immediately gave a slap on the back of Lino's head.
"Marrying your head! I'm already a married wis- cough, cough. I'm already a married man with a daughter. I have no love interest in your sister whatsoever. You can already drop this insane idea of yours."
Lino rubbed his backhead but still felt relieved. As long as Krune doesn't want to steal his sister, then that's fine. However, Lino caught a hint of disappointment on Nina's face for a moment.
"Sister! Could it be that youMhmhmhnnhmhmm..."
Before Lino could finish words, Nina already covered his mouth as she pulled him outside.
"Che-Chef Krune. We are leaving ahead, have a good night."
Krune nodded, not understanding very well what happened.
"Errr... Sure... see you tomorrow."
Just like that, the first day's opening was a big success.