Eat, eat, eat in the primordial world

"The most common one is this weed. Although its seeds are unpalatable, they can ward off evil spirits. Other things that can ward off evil spirits include the fruit of the anise tree, the bark of the cinnamon tree, and the leaves of the cinnamon tree."

As he spoke, the man took out some grass he had picked from the roadside on his way back as an example.

"This is……"

Jiang Yuan's expression was very strange at this moment. Indeed, it was quite common. This so-called "grass" was not exactly the same as the foxtail grass in his memory, but it was at least 80% similar.

Clearly, this grass is the ancestor of foxtail grass.

When he talked about foxtail grass and his ancestors, the memories of his past life, which he had buried deep in his memory, suddenly surged into his mind and became incredibly clear.

He remembered—he'd forgotten where he'd seen a report saying that foxtail grass was the ancestor of millet. And millet, in the context of the Chinese zodiac, was the earliest crop domesticated by humankind.

Can millet ward off evil spirits?

Furthermore, isn't the so-called star anise just star anise? And aren't cinnamon bark and cinnamon leaves just cinnamon bark and bay leaves? These are all spices commonly used in later generations to stew meat and remove its fishy smell.

Stewing meat! To remove the gamey smell!

Jiang Yuan suddenly realized that in the primordial era, the fishy smell was evil energy, and removing the fishy smell was equivalent to removing the evil energy.

In ancient times, the innate spiritual energy was abundant, and all living beings could live well without eating, so there was never any worry about food shortages.

But you don't need to worry about food; you do need to worry about whether you have enough resources for cultivation.

If we replace eating with cultivation, it becomes much easier to understand. Primordial beings did not need to eat, but they did need to cultivate.

To rapidly improve their cultivation level, they need cultivation resources. Therefore, cultivation resources are their sustenance.

The ancient creatures didn't not eat; they just ate in a more advanced way.

They ate the meat of ferocious beasts that contained a large amount of innate essence. However, this meat contained malevolent energy, just like raw meat in later generations was too fishy and unhealthy and needed to be cooked and the fishy smell removed before it could be consumed in large quantities.

In later generations, spices were used to remove fishy smells, and now spices can be used to dispel evil spirits. The harm of evil spirits is certainly greater than that of fishy smells, but modern spices are all spiritual medicines, and their medicinal power is incomparable to that of later generations, so they can naturally dispel evil spirits.

With this comparison, Jiang Yuan understood everything. Countless methods of neutralizing evil surged in his mind, making him wish he could write them down right now.

"Now that we have a way to remove the evil influence, we should not delay and go to remove the evil influence from the poisoned person, lest we cause problems if we delay any longer."

"Also, from now on, all the meat of ferocious beasts must be cooked thoroughly before eating. During the cooking process, all the spiritual herbs that can dispel evil spirits must be thrown in to neutralize the evil spirits in the meat as much as possible, so that no one else will be poisoned by evil spirits."

Suppressing the urge to write, Jiang Yuan instructed, "It's impossible to cure the evil spirit every time someone is poisoned; we must eradicate this problem at its source."

This involves cooking the meat of a ferocious beast with a mixture of spices to neutralize its malevolent energy, so that even if one eats a lot, there will be no risk of poisoning from the malevolent energy.

"cook?"

The man was taken aback, not understanding Jiang Yuan's meaning. It's understandable that he was confused; in the current prehistoric world, there was no concept of boiling, the only cooking method was roasting.

"You don't know what cooking is? That's my fault, I didn't explain things clearly. Come with me."

Jiang Yuan realized he had been prejudiced again, so he gestured for the man to follow him and prepared to fire a pottery jar for him on the spot.

Boiling isn't difficult; the main problem is the lack of a container. A clay pot will suffice. But this is no problem for Jiang Yuan; it's a simple matter.

As for why he hadn't thought of making pottery jars before, the reason was simple: he didn't need them.

First, Jiang Yuan doesn't need to drink water. Second, when he eats the meat of ferocious beasts, he doesn't need to cook it; he can simply circulate the Creation Profound Technique to transform it into wisps of primordial energy and absorb it into his body.

Things we don't need are subconsciously ignored, so we naturally become too lazy to bother with them. We only make copies of them when we remember them.

Finally, and most importantly, Jiang Yuan was only in his twenties in his previous life, but he had been in the prehistoric world for over a hundred years!

Moreover, the hundred years of the primordial era were longer than the thousand years of his previous life.

How can twenty years of experience compare to a hundred years in the primordial era? He had long since adapted to this era and the life of a cultivator, and naturally forgot many of the habits he had when he was a mortal in his previous life.

……

With his magical powers, firing a pottery jar wasn't difficult, and Jiang Yuan finished it in no time. He glanced up at the sky, but no merit descended, indicating that Heaven didn't find the pottery jar useful?

Although he was puzzled, Jiang Yuan did not say anything. Instead, he called the man over and taught him the cooking method of "boiling".

Set up the earthenware pot, add meat, water, and spices, then light a fire underneath to bring the water to a boil.

The process is very simple; you can learn it at a glance. Then you just wait until the beast meat in the pottery jar is stewed until it's tender, then it's ready to be served.

During the cooking process, the aroma of the ferocious beast meat is released, and a rich meaty fragrance spreads, making people unconsciously swallow their saliva.

"This is what cooking is like? It smells amazing!"

The man said with a look of surprise, "I didn't expect the meat to smell so good after being boiled."

"Did you learn it?"

Jiang Yuan didn't explain, but instead asked a question.

"I've learned it."

The man nodded; it was no problem at all.

"I asked about firing pottery jars. Have you learned how?"

Jiang Yuan emphasized.

"I've learned it too!"

The man replied, "That's not difficult either."

"Very good. From today onwards, the word 'Tao' will be both your given name and your surname. You have only one task: to teach your people how to fire pottery and use it effectively."

Hearing that he had already learned it, Jiang Yuan immediately made arrangements. As a very busy person, he certainly didn't have time to teach people how to fire pottery, so this kind of thing could only be left to others.

"Thank you, Master Yuan!"

Tao exclaimed excitedly that Jiang Yuan's single sentence had changed his fate.

"Alright, the meat is almost cooked. Bring all those people poisoned by the evil energy over here. I want to see the effects of this meat broth."

Jiang Yuan waved for him to get up and gave the order.

"yes!"

Tao dared not delay and immediately went to find someone.

Jiang Yuan stepped forward and began to carefully examine the beast meat inside the pottery jar.

He discovered that during the cooking process, the innate essence contained in the beast meat was further stimulated, making it easier for the human body to absorb.

At the same time, the harmful substances in the meat are rapidly reduced under the combined effects of high temperature and spices. While not completely eliminated, less than one-tenth remains, making it unlikely to pose any further harm to the body.

"Alchemy?"

"No, it should be called preparing medicinal cuisine!"

"There is great potential in the art of cooking. By harmonizing yin and yang and regulating the five elements, one can delve deeper into this field and develop the art of cooking to nourish the body through food."

Jiang Yuan seemed to be deep in thought. Even if the art of cooking is not as good as the art of alchemy, it is still one of the hundred arts of cultivation. If he could open up this path, he could at least achieve the Great Luo Fruit in the future, or even get a glimpse of the profound mysteries of the Quasi-Saint.

However, that's a long time from now; Jiang Yuan has more important things to do right now.

Turning his gaze away, Jiang Yuan looked at the foxtail grass in his hand, which was the ancestor of millet. If he could cultivate millet, the first of the five grains, ahead of time, wouldn't he gain great merit?