For several days, Orion and Wang Lingxin explored the city, visiting various restaurants and shops. Wang Lingxin was thrilled, never having had this much fun before. Currently, they were having lunch after leaving an auction house, with a steaming bowl of noodles in front of Wang Lingxin.

"Hello... My name is Wang Lingxin... Now we are going to review the famous noodles from...," Wang Lingxin trailed off nervously.

"Stop," Orion interjected. "Why are you so nervous? Just do it like usual."

"Yes, Master. I will try," Wang Lingxin cleared her throat. "Hello... My name is Wang Lingxin... Now we are going to review the famous noodles from..." She hesitated again.

Well, this won't work, Orion thought internally.

Orion and Wang Lingxin had been visiting many places to eat and trying different foods. Orion asked Wang Lingxin to give her opinion about the food as she ate, which she did. Meanwhile, Orion recorded her.

Everything was going well until one day when Wang Lingxin asked Orion why she was being asked to review the food. Orion explained that it was recording her eating and reviewing the food. Orion also explained to Wang Lingxin about mukbang and food review videos.

Orion's AI easily created videos of mukbang and food review, using Wang Lingxin's face. Wang Lingxin was truly impressed to see someone who looked like her doing this "food review" thing. She asked Orion to create more videos like that and enjoyed watching them.

Now Wang Lingxin also wanted to do those mukbang like in the videos. However, she seemed nervous that she was being recorded, which was very different from before when she could naturally review food without worry.

"Let's try again. No need to be like in the videos I showed you. You can do it as you like, just like usual," Orion reassured her.

Finally, after several takes, Wang Lingxin finished the review and ate the noodles. They left the restaurant.

"Uh, Master, it's not easy to make food review videos. It's stressful," Wang Lingxin commented.

"Well, you'll get used to it later," Orion replied.

Orion decided to return and finish exploring the city for the day. They rode in the carriage back to the residence.

While in the carriage, Orion received new data from the Orbiter that was currently on its way to Asteroid-1. The Orbiter's camera picked up several long and large creatures swimming close to the ocean surface. Hm... dragons? Now it's confirmed that they exist, Orion thought internally as it analyzed the images taken by the Orbiter in detail.

Not long after, the carriage arrived at the residence.

"Welcome back, Master Orion. Welcome back, little Lingxin. How was the journey?" Chunhua opened the front gate and welcomed them.

"Big Sister Chunhua, I'm back! We visited lots of places today, and I tried many different foods," Wang Lingxin eagerly shared her experiences.

Wang Lingxin got along well with Chunhua, and she treated her not just as a maidservant but more like a big sister. Chunhua wanted to address Wang Lingxin as "Little Miss," but Wang Lingxin insisted that she keep calling her "Little Lingxin." Orion was very satisfied with Chunhua; she had vast and varied work experience and was kind to Wang Lingxin, and able to build a good relationship with her.

...

Very early in the morning, before the sun had risen, Chunhua already woke up. She tidied the bed, cleaned herself, and then dressed in her maidservant clothes.

After a few days of working in this residence, she found her master to be kind, despite his not being very talkative. He also seemed to enjoy conducting many weird experiments. The payment was generous; her master even gave her the first payment in advance. Chunhua used more than half of it and gave it to the orphanage where she had grown up.

The room where she stayed in the residence was very comfortable, unlike any she had ever had before. Although there were about six rooms for servants, apparently, she was the only one working as a servant. She wondered why her master didn't hire more servants.

Her daily routine involved waking up early and cooking for herself. She didn't need to cook for her master or Wang Lingxin as it was not required in the job contract. From what she heard, her master was a high-level cultivator, so it was normal for him not to need to eat. Wang Lingxin only ate food purchased from high-quality restaurants and stored in her master's storage ring.

Surprisingly, Chunhua found her job to be very easy. She did laundry for Wang Lingxin and kept the residence tidy. Her master even gave her a day off every week, which he called a "holiday." She wondered if it was okay for her to work like this. In her previous jobs as a maidservant, the workload was much heavier, and there were no holidays. Now, the work was light, the payment was good, she could cook any meal she wanted using any ingredients in the residence, and even have a day off.

Chunhua once raised the issue with her master, but he just shrugged it off, saying not to think too much about it and that everything was fine. Chunhua could only thank Orion and swore to work hard to repay her master's kindness, determined not to disappoint him.

...

In the Liu family residence in Yanjing City, the Liu family patriarch, Liu Ming, sat reading a scroll. Several scrolls and books were spread out on the table in front of him. An old man sat at another table, sipping tea. Liu Ming closed the scroll and placed his right hand on his chin, deep in thought.

"Father, it seems that Mr. Orion is a very careful person. Even when looking for a candidate for a maidservant, he is very strict," Liu Ming remarked after reading a report from Fengxian City sent by his brother, Liu Mingzhen.

Liu Xinyi set down his tea cup. "Of course, someone like him is not simple. Otherwise, how could he have reached where he is now? Cultivation also requires a bright mind to advance further and not be fooled by others," he said, reflecting on his own experiences.

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"But I still don't understand the reasons why he seems to hide his strength and always stay low profile. He didn't even use his power when dealing with the Black Armor Crocodile. I wonder if he has some trouble with his cultivation, some kind of injury, or something else," Liu Ming pondered.

"There's no need to dwell on the reasons. He must have his own reasons. We don't need to pry about it. He's not someone we can afford to offend, understand?!" Liu Xinyi's tone was stern as he glared at his son.

"Understood," Liu Ming replied.

"Even if he has some troubles with his cultivation or other issues, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. It would be easy for him to eliminate our Liu family. We should do our best to maintain a good relationship with him and establish friendly ties. If not, we should at least avoid becoming enemies," Liu Xinyi asserted.

"Um, Mingzhen also mentioned cooperation with Mr. Orion," Liu Ming added.

"Then we must do our best with it. As for the cooperation, it's fine for us to sacrifice a little and not focus solely on the benefits. As long as Mr. Orion is satisfied, understand?" Liu Xinyi concluded as he rose from his seat and left the room.

"Understood, Father. I will arrange it," Liu Ming affirmed.

Liu Xinyi made his way to his abode, intending to enter secluded cultivation. He sighed, burdened by the weight of his age and the slim chance of breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. With his lifespan nearly exhausted, he feared the consequences of failure for the Liu family.

Liu family currently possesses a few Golden Core realm cultivators. The addition of a Nascent Soul cultivator could elevate them to new heights. However, losing even one Golden Core cultivator would be a significant blow.

Now, with the appearance of the enigmatic figure named Orion, the Liu family needed to tread carefully. While befriending him could bring benefits, offending him would spell disaster for the family. Liu Xinyi had much to worry about, and he could only hope to witness the Liu family's growth before his time came to an end.

...

Orion, Chunhua, and Wang Lingxin sat around a table in the kitchen of the residence. On the table, there were bowls, sacks of flour, jugs of water, and other tools, creating a slightly messy scene.

"Stop playing around with it and do it properly," Orion instructed.

"Yes, Master," Wang Lingxin replied, with some flour on her face. She stopped fooling around and began to work seriously with the dough. Having studied all morning, she was bored and tired, and played around with the dough to relax, after Orion's admonishment, she started seriously working with the dough.

Chunhua watched from the side, chuckling softly as she worked on her own dough.

Meanwhile, Orion also mixed the dough in front of it, wearing unique gloves made from slime skin to cover its metallic arm. Chunhua couldn't help but wonder why her master didn't remove his metallic armor, but she kept her curiosity to herself.

Previously, Orion was busy in the kitchen when Chunhua arrived and offered her help. Wang Lingxin joined them shortly after. Orion then explained the task to them.

Chunhua couldn't help but wonder why her master, who was supposed to be a high-level cultivator, was busy making dough. Wang Lingxin, on the other hand, was excited to see her master working on something related to food and eagerly offered her assistance, curious about what kind of food Orion would make.

Both listened carefully to Orion's instructions, mixing the wheat flour with water to make dough. After letting it rest for a while, Orion instructed them to wash the dough with water in the bowl and keep changing the water until it was clean.

Although Wang Lingxin and Chunhua were initially dumbfounded by the idea of washing dough, they followed Orion's instructions. After a while, they noticed the dough becoming smaller and rubbery, and Orion explained that it was called "gluten". Orion stored the dough called "gluten" in the storage ring before instructing them to make another one, apparently needing a lot of it, though not specifying its use.

Orion spent the rest of the day making "gluten" dough with Chunhua and Wang Lingxin's help, and they managed to produce a significant amount of gluten. After they finished, Wang Lingxin couldn't help but feel disappointed that her master still hadn't revealed the purpose of the dough. Because Wang Lingxin had been working with dough for hours, she craved buns. Orion retrieved steaming hot buns from the storage ring, and she ate lots of them during dinner.

As night fell and Wang Lingxin drifted off to sleep, Orion closed the book and rose from the table. Quietly, Orion checked on Wang Lingxin in bed, tucking her in before leaving for the adjacent room to begin the experiment with the gluten.

The ingredients, materials, and tools had already been prepared by the Liu family and delivered by Liu Jin, Orion very pleased with how fast Liu family work. Orion began preparing the tools and ingredients, retrieving them from the storage ring.

With Wang Lingxin's help, Orion roughly understood the culinary level of this world, and Orion had a secret weapon to gain an advantage over others. With it, Orion believed it could elevate the culinary level even further. And now, Orion was working to make that secret weapon. To create the secret weapon, Orion employs a hydrolysis reaction. The necessary ingredients include gluten, hydrochloric acid (HCl), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH).

The preparation and process were as follows: First, the gluten was obtained from wheat flour by mixing it with water. The mixture was then washed to remove the starch, leaving only the gluten behind. Chunhua demonstrated remarkable skill in producing gluten, followed by Orion, while Wang Lingxin, who was more preoccupied with playing around, only managed to produce a small amount.

Next, to create hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid was first produced by roasting sulfur-containing minerals, which results in the production of sulfur dioxide. This sulfur dioxide then reacts with oxygen in the air to form sulfur trioxide. The sulfur trioxide is then dissolved in water to make sulfuric acid. After that, table salt is mixed with sulfuric acid to produce hydrochloric acid. Orion asked the Liu family for help and provided them with scrolls containing the instructions to make sulfuric acid, leveraging their connections and manpower to easily acquire the necessary ingredients. Orion just needs to add the salt to complete the process, producing hydrochloric acid through the Mannheim process.

For lye (sodium hydroxide / NaOH), Orion enlisted the help of the Liu family to obtain trona. After acquiring trona, Orion processed it into Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate) and then used electrolysis to obtain sodium hydroxide.

After ensuring all the necessary ingredients were ready, the experiment began. Orion started by mixing the extracted wheat gluten with a solution of hydrochloric acid and water in a large pot. The hydrolysis process commenced, with hydrochloric acid breaking down the peptide bonds in the gluten proteins over time, releasing amino acids including glutamate.

Once hydrolysis was complete, Orion added lye (sodium hydroxide) to neutralize the pH, ensuring it was safe for consumption. The solution was then meticulously cleaned of any contaminants and residues before being concentrated by boiling off excess water, resulting in a concentrated glutamate solution.

For the final step, drying, using the sun would take too long, so Orion improvised by previously ordering a metallic box and inscribing it with inscription to generate heat. Additionally, a fan and a DC motor were installed for airflow, effectively transforming it into a drying oven. Orion put the concentrated glutamate solution into a bowl and placed it in the drying oven.

A few hours later, as dawn approached, a loud reverberating thunder boom echoed in the sky, surprising many, including Orion. People immediately checked the sky, but it remained dark, with no clouds obscuring the stars.

Orion opened the window to investigate, pondering internally, That's odd. Perhaps not natural thunder, but maybe some cultivator fighting? Hopefully, it won't lead to any trouble.

Orion then closed the window and checked the drying oven. After waiting for a few hours, it should have been done, but Orion was shocked by what it found. What the?! Orion thought internally, puzzled by the unexpected result.

Orion retrieved the bowl from the drying oven, finding white crystalline powder that glowed. Is there something wrong with the ingredients, the process, or is it caused by the uniqueness of this world? Orion wondered internally, examining the glowing substance.

Weird... Orion thought, deciding to repeat the experiment to understand this phenomenon.