Pan Yu was deeply favored by her sect uncle, who had even gifted her an extremely precious Small Sumeru Bag. Even her senior brother, Pan Shi, was quite envious.
But that was his junior sister's good fortune. While Pan Shi coveted it, he wasn't actually jealous.
However, inside her Small Sumeru Bag, there were no cultivation treasures to be found—only an assortment of miscellaneous bottles and jars. In her own words, these were her treasures.
At first, Pan Shi felt his junior sister was being outrageously wasteful, and he was deeply grieved by her actions.
But on one chance occasion, after tasting his sister's cooking, even Pan Shi—who had entered the Fake Food Realm and could survive by Fasting—was completely blown away.
The core secret was that his sister used all of her "treasures," one by one, to create such a worldly delicacy.
Cumin and chili, in particular, were two ingredients that Pan Shi found unforgettable.
Unfortunately, his sister treated these spices like priceless treasures, so even he, her senior brother, had only tasted them a few times.
Seizing the opportunity presented by Fellow Daoist Yang's presence, Pan Shi asked Pan Yu to take out all her good stuff and let Yang An see what she had.
He thought, 'Don't be fooled by how profound and mysterious disciples from these Hidden Sects seem. This exquisite worldly flavor is sure to win his praise.'
Hearing Pan Shi's words, Pan Yu hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Although she couldn't stand her senior brother's fawning, and often teased him about it, she still had to give him some face.
But as she took out the Small Sumeru Bag from her waist, a pained expression of reluctance couldn't help but cross her face.
Ever since tasting the delicacies of another world in a vision, Pan Yu had been determined to collect the seasonings that could turn ordinary food into a delicious meal.
After a great deal of effort, coupled with the help of various disciples within Sansong Mountain, she had finally managed to gather some of the ingredients.
Only she had enough clout to leverage the Sect's resources for this task; any other disciple would have likely failed.
Yet even with the help of so many fellow disciples, she hadn't managed to obtain a large quantity of seasoning ingredients.
From her perspective, every bit she used was a bit gone forever, and she had no idea when she might find more. Therefore, Pan Yu cherished them dearly.
One after another, she took several bottles and jars out of the Small Sumeru Bag, each clearly labeled.
Fine Salt... Chili... Cumin... Pepper... Sesame... Crushed Peanuts...
At the sight, Pan Shi couldn't hold back a wide grin. The thought of tasting these delicacies again, especially the unforgettable chili, almost made him drool.
'My sister really came through for me!'
'All my efforts looking after you haven't been in vain!'
"Fellow Daoist Yang, these are treasures my sister doesn't usually bring out. Everyone on Sansong Mountain was busy for a long time helping her find them. In the entire world, I'd wager only my sister possesses such rare wonders. I guarantee the taste will be so good you won't want to leave. You must give it a proper try."
He didn't forget to add this reminder for Yang An, which also served as an indirect way of praising Pan Yu.
What Pan Shi didn't know, however, was that at this very moment, watching Pan Yu take out these familiar seasonings, Yang An was completely stunned. His mind was reeling.
'This...'
'How does she have these things?!'
'This shouldn't be possible!!'
In the memories left by his body's previous owner, the food of this era, while varied, had precious few seasonings to add flavor.
Regardless of the dish, from the tables of high officials and nobles to the meals of common street vendors, "freshness" was considered the peak of flavor.
In simple terms, this meant a taste close to the food's natural, original flavor.
The root cause was a lack of seasonings.
As far as his body's previous owner knew, the seasonings available to common folk were little more than salt, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar. Wealthier households might also have sugar, wine, chives, and plums, but that was the extent of it.
As a result, the food of this era tended to taste either sweet or sour, or just plain.
To put it nicely, it was called "fresh"; to be blunt, it was often fishy or gamey.
It had reached the point where, during his time in this world, Yang An missed the foods of Earth so much that he would sometimes wake from his dreams in the middle of the night, too hungry to fall back asleep.
But now, watching Pan Yu take out all these spices he was so incredibly familiar with, he could barely keep his composure.
As a well-educated person from a modern society, one was expected to have at least a basic knowledge of history, however minimal.
Forget about this world—even in ancient times on Earth, many of these items were foreign imports. They simply didn't exist in his home country back then.
If Pan Yu had only taken out one of these seasonings, Yang An could have chalked it up to a fortunate coincidence.
But to produce several seasonings that any modern person would be intimately familiar with could not be explained away by mere coincidence.
In that instant, the internet slang he'd heard Pan Yu utter right before he passed out last night flashed through Yang An's mind. A thought spontaneously arose.
'Could she be a transmigrator, too?!'
HISS!
The moment the thought occurred to him, Yang An couldn't help but suck in a sharp, cold breath.
Judging by the various signs Pan Yu had shown, the probability of this suspicion being true was astronomically high.
Meanwhile, the brother and sister, Pan Shi and Pan Yu, didn't notice Yang An's strange reaction.
Seeing that his sister had graciously brought out the treasures he'd been longing for, Pan Shi joyfully reached for the bottles and jars on the ground, ready to sprinkle the seasonings on the nearly cooked meat.
Pan Yu, however, hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and said through gritted teeth:
"Senior Brother, go easy on them!"
"Haha, don't worry, little sister."
Pan Shi smiled and nodded. He knew Pan Yu treated these spices as treasures and they were only being brought out for Fellow Daoist Yang to have a taste. Using too much would pain even him, so naturally, he wouldn't overdo it. He gave Pan Yu a reassuring look that said, 'I know, don't worry.'
Only then did Pan Yu let go. It pained her to share, but then again, who didn't want to eat something good?
'I've really been roughing it on the road these past few days, I've had it tough. In a bit, I'm going to go all out and give them a little taste of what a true foodie can do!'
As Pan Shi sprinkled the various seasonings one by one onto the roasted meat—golden-brown, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, sizzling as juices dripped from it—a rich aroma instantly filled the air and wafted toward them.
At that moment, all three of their stomachs rumbled in unison, as if they couldn't wait any longer.
When Pan Shi finally sprinkled on the chili powder his sister had ground, he could barely contain his drool as he turned the roast over the fire and inhaled the scent of the food before him.
But he did his best to maintain his composure, first tearing off a large, tender piece of hind leg meat and handing it to Yang An.
"Hurry and try it, Fellow Daoist. A worldly delicacy like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"Alright! Thank you, Fellow Daoist!"
Yang An accepted the roasted meat from Pan Shi. He had yearned for this fragrant aroma countless times over the past few days. For a moment, he had the dreamlike illusion that he was still on Earth.
Although he couldn't wait to taste the flavor he remembered so well, he was even more eager to confirm his suspicion. He turned to look at Pan Yu.
"Fellow Daoist Pan Yu, I have a question I was hoping you could answer. Would you be able to clear something up for me?"
Before Pan Shi could even make a move, Pan Yu was already preparing to tear off a piece of the roast for herself, completely disregarding her image.
Hearing Yang An's words, she turned her head and looked at him in confusion.
"Hm? What is it?"
This was the first time Yang An had ever initiated a conversation with her, so she nodded. Her hands didn't stop moving, though; rolling up her sleeves, she easily tore off the other hind leg.
Yang An took a deep breath before asking a question that could confirm his suspicion—a question only a person from modern times would know the answer to.
"Fellow Daoist, have you ever heard of the Pythagorean theorem?"