6: Perfume, soap, medicinal food, mahjong, and liquor

Chen Cuo once again had an Awakening of a talent: "Chef God."

【Chef God: Superb culinary skills, as if processing ingredients is a natural instinct. The combination of foods allows them to exert greater efficacy, and deliciousness increases by 70%.】

【Fate Points: 22 → 20】

How to put it? The effect of this talent was indeed powerful. He knew his cooking was terrible.

However, after this talent's Awakening, even foxtail grass could be made delicious by him, but it cost 2 Fate Points, more than the Basic Fist Technique. Chen Cuo guessed that the number of Fate Points required for a talent's Awakening was related to the talent's potential. For example, the talent "True Spirit Indestructible" used a full 50 Fate Points, and it even had some relation to the quality of the Cultivation Technique.

It was a pity that the proficiency accumulation for brewing was too slow. Brewing wine once only added a dozen points of proficiency to Liu's Brewing Recipe, which was too uneconomical.

Moreover, what he wanted was not the brewed wine, but only to purify higher purity wine and alcohol. White wine bought from outside had the same effect.

Chen Cuo went into seclusion again to make some special gadgets. Another two days passed, and he finally completed his work.

He called Ding Xiang, Gu Pang, and Hong Feng over. As soon as the three entered the room, they saw Chen Cuo wearing an apron and a mandarin jacket, with all sorts of messy things piled around him.

Among them, the most eye-catching items were the few things in front of him: a sealed large jar, an earthenware pot, and several yellowish, round "mud blocks." Beside them were two glass bottles, where a rose-red liquid could be seen gently swaying, and one bottle contained pure white liquor.

Scattered on the ground were bamboo pieces carved with various numbers and pictures, looking like a set of something.

These were the fruits of Chen Cuo's busy days: perfume, soap, mahjong, as well as medicated cuisine and purified white wine.

Using glass bottles and self-made conduits, he purified white wine through condensation distillation. High-proof white wine was not something everyone could adapt to. He only purified it once or twice, with a purity of about 75%. At the same time, a small amount of alcohol was purified. Ordinary grain wine bought from outside was only 30% pure, and each purification almost reduced the volume by nearly half.

With highly purified white wine, he could initially make perfume. First, he washed fragrant roses, mixed and soaked them with high-proof wine, boiled for an hour, filtered them out, and used alcohol to roast and distill to obtain the condensate, which was the perfume in the bottle.

Soap was relatively simpler. He used purchased fats to boil, added plant ash and alcohol, then added salt and water, and took the precipitate to make soap, which was then pressed into bamboo tubes.

As for medicated cuisine, it was entirely due to his sufficient talents. With the blessings of Medicinal Herbs General Knowledge and Chef God, Chen Cuo used purchased tiger bones and medicinal herbs to independently develop a medicinal soup, "Tiger Bone Nourishing Soup."

Mahjong was something he drew and carved from memory.

The talent for Blade Affinity was not only applicable to weapons; even kitchen knives for cutting meat and carving knives were used skillfully by Chen Cuo.

"You're all here. Come, quickly try these things. I'll teach you." Chen Cuo chose to go into seclusion to research himself and didn't let them participate, not intentionally hiding it from them. There were many brothers outside, and too many mouths. It was better to let them know only after everything was done.

Then Chen Cuo took the lead, scooping a mouthful of soup from the earthenware pot with a spoon. A rich aroma mixed with medicinal fragrance, along with many exquisite flavors, bloomed between their lips and teeth, leaving an endless aftertaste.

Seeing their boss's expression of enjoyment, Ding Xiang and Fatty immediately followed suit, doubtfully scooping out soup, pouring it into bowls, and drinking it.

Immediately, a strong sense of happiness enveloped their bodies, and a warm sensation flowed out from their Dantian, circulating throughout their entire bodies, making them feel warm and cozy.

Moreover, these energies flowed rapidly within their bodies, and every cell seemed to be cheering, restless.

"I seem to have entered the Skin Refining Stage?" Fatty exclaimed.

Ding Xiang: "Me too!"

"This is too amazing!"

"Actually, the effect isn't that strong. The reason you two could Breakthrough is that you were both just one step away. Also, this medicated cuisine works best the first time you consume it; afterward, it can only be used as a regular nourishing tonic," Chen Cuo explained.

He could make even better medicated cuisine, but he wouldn't reveal it now, because he was currently just a small leader of the Vajra Sect, a small fry in the Skin Refining Stage. He couldn't be too ostentatious. He could also make better perfume and soap, but the current versions were already sufficient.

The few of them widened their eyes, their gazes burning as they looked at the other items, eager to pick them up and play with them.

Ding Xiang: "Boss, what is this? It smells so good!"

"Boss, this thing is slippery. What's it for?" Fatty asked, picking up a piece of soap.

"So strong, so spicy!" Hong Feng drank a mouthful of white wine, his entire face turning red.

Chen Cuo explained them one by one, and their faces all showed expressions of admiration. Even Hong Feng, who rarely spoke, praised these things profusely and showed much more reverence for Chen Cuo.

"Boss, are you planning to use these things to increase the monthly fees from the street shops?"

"What are monthly fees? What I want is their shares!" Chen Cuo finally spoke his mind. The Si Hai Tea House was like this. At that time, because he was short on money, he chose to copy and resell books. Relying on his identity as a small leader, he got half a share of the Si Hai Tea House, and his monthly income increased from 500 taels to 800 taels.

"Boss, you want their shares? These old guys probably won't agree!" Fatty said with some surprise. Merchants valued wealth as much as their lives and would never give their wealth to others.

"They will! Otherwise, don't blame my quick blade."

Initially, to live peacefully, he handed over every penny of the monthly fees he received to the old man without a single cent missing. Except for necessary expenses and money to support his subordinates, he barely kept any money.

But now that his talents had Awakened, he no longer intended to endure. "True Spirit Indestructible" could only ensure that he wouldn't truly die, but to achieve an indestructible Physical Body, he needed to Cultivate powerful martial arts and forge the strongest Physical Body, which required a lot of money and a lot of resources.

This was also the reason he brought these things out now. On one hand, he didn't remember much of what he had thought of back then. On the other hand, if he had thrown these things out a year ago, he would inevitably have to deal with all sorts of troubles. At that time, what he needed was a stable life, but now he had the confidence to face trouble.

It was true that merchants valued wealth as much as their lives, but if giving up a portion of their wealth could lead to greater profits, they would absolutely not miss out. Merchants were all shrewd.

"Fatty, Ma Zi, Ding Xiang, go invite the owners of each shop on Jingshui Street. Set the time for the winter solstice night, and invite them to a banquet in the warm room of the tea house."

"Yes, Boss!"