Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

While the vast majority were focused on the revolutionary new and delicious bread, some of the stronger Spirit Initiates and the few Spirit Adepts present all had their attention stolen by something else.

The fruit jams.

To most people, these were just typical spread, perhaps a bit sweeter than normal, but nothing out of the ordinary.

To the top masters, however, it was something else entirely.

"Did you notice?"

"En, you too?"

"How could I not when it’s this obvious?"

"What do you think? High-Rank Tier 1?"

"Closer to Peak-Rank I’d say."

"Could they have used some kind of special fruit? Something from the Peak First Order or even the Low Second Order?"

"If it was just one type of jam, that might make sense, but all 5 of these flavours are of similar Tier..."

"Then... how did they do it?"

Similar hushed conversations were happening all over the grand hall, with the powerful Spirit Realm Cultivators trying to figure out just how the Balfour Family managed to produce so many different high Tier jams.

To Cultivators of their strength, the difference between a Low-Rank Mortal Grade Tier 1 food, and one that was Mid or High-Rank, was basically inconsequential, but the same wasn’t true for the forces they represented and not just because high Tier food tended to taste better.

Eating higher Tier foods was a fast and easy way to absorb large amounts of World Qi and increase cultivation speed, which was why wealthy families and forces tended to prefer the higher Order beast meat, produce, or grains.

The gains might be slight compared to actual cultivation, but repeatedly consuming such items was time-tested and proven method of improving one’s strength.

However, as the Tier of a food increased, so did its cost and rarity, putting something of a cap on this shortcut.

Now, though, the Balfour Family seemed to have discovered a way to produce significantly higher Tier dishes from common fruits, and from just how much of this jam they were serving tonight, it seemed they had no concern about cost at all.

Even at the head table, where the most important guests were seated, several individuals couldn’t help raising their eyebrows in curiosity, wondering just what kind of secret the Balfours had come across that made this possible.

Celestina naturally noticed the inquisitive gazes being directed her way, but in typical fashion for her, she completely ignored them, even obnoxiously spreading large spoonfuls of redberry jam, sweetened with a hefty amount of High-Rank Tier 2 Maple Sugar, on a slice of bread before popping it into her mouth.

As far as she was concerned, if these people didn’t even have the guts to ask her directly, she wasn’t going to offer up the answer; not that Celestina was planning on spilling the secret even if they did ask.

Of course, there were always exceptions.

Glancing over at the woman with shoulder-length sky-blue hair sitting beside Christina, Celestina figured she would need to have a talk with her after the banquet to explain.

This wasn’t because this woman was the Royal Family’s representative here tonight, or because as the Second Queen she was technically Celestina’s superior, but rather because securing Natasha Summers’ cooperation would make selling the Balfour Family’s new sugar much easier both inside and outside the nation.

In fact, Celestina was very much looking forward to what kind of price Tasha could negotiate with the Vast Ocean Trading Company for their kingdom’s newly produced Low and Mid-Rank Tier 3 sugar.

Second Queen Natasha Summers also seemed to have understood something was up, the knowing glance she briefly gave Celestina speaking volumes despite the two women not exchanging any words.

That, however, was a conversation for another day; something both Celestina and Natasha well understood.

Tonight was for celebrating, work could wait until tomorrow.

In keeping with that spirit, the second course was quickly served.

Ever since they were first domesticated, short-winged ducks and the eggs they laid had been a common staple in the Rockwell Kingdom, with duck soup becoming a standard banquet dish among the nobility of the nation.

That being said, seeing the world-changing Redwood Bread appetizer being followed up by ’ordinary’ duck soup left a few people somewhat disappointed, until they tasted it.

"How did they make the tough duck meat so tender? It practically melts in your mouth!"

"Forget the tenderness, what is this exotic taste? It’s not just the spices, there’s some kind of deep, earthy flavour, with a hint of... sweetness? I’ve never had anything like it!"

Short-winged duck was eaten even by commoners as many farmers throughout the kingdom raised them; however, most people found their meat gamey and chewy, despite also containing quite a bit of fat.

Frying, boiling, and roasting short-winged duck always led to either its toughness, greasiness, or both becoming more pronounced, so despite it being relatively cheap and easy to acquire, most people could only stomach a few bites of short-winged duck before feeling a bit put-off by it.

This wasn’t a problem for commoners as ’relatively’ cheap still meant a big family would eat duck maybe once or twice a year. As for the wealthy and noble-class, they simply avoided serving it too frequently or only cooked it in small portions.

However, the soup prepared tonight was an entirely different story as it was filled with large cuts of meat, a fact that confused many at first.

After nervously taking a few bites, though, all the guests began devouring their small bowls of soup before smacking their lips and debating whether to set aside propriety and ask for seconds.

Many were also wondering just how the Balfour chefs had transformed the short-winged duck meat so dramatically.

The truth?

The chefs had certainly participated in this upgrade, but the improvement in taste and texture was mainly the result of another one of Lucas’ random experiments.

The young boy had eaten enough short-winged duck in his brief life to understand its characteristics very well, and he fortunately had some relevant knowledge from his inherited memories on how to prepare such meats.

Lucas’ otherworldly benefactor must have been something of a chef and had many memories of cooking and sampling all kinds of dishes from different worlds.

Among all those myriad styles of food, however, there was one he seemed particularly fond of, barbeque.

Celestina understood that there was a literal trove of culinary knowledge inside Lucas’ head, so upon arriving in Misty City, she granted her First Disciple unlimited access to the Manor’s kitchen, the ability to order around any of the chefs, and free reign to experiment as he pleased.

With this nearly absurd amount of power and freedom, Lucas quickly decided to rope some of the apprentice chefs into his plans to recreate BBQ in this world.