Chapter 2

Upon Ye Gui Feng reaching the age of 15, it quickly dawned on him that he had no hope of ever becoming an immortal. He could only continue to remain at his pathetic 0.5th level of Qi Condensation.

Despite Ye Gui Feng's best efforts in trying to raise his cultivation, he found himself unable to increase it even after five years of painstaking hard work. Ye Gui Feng had no clue as to why it took him so long to realize this, but ultimately, it had taken him five years to set his ambitions down

Day after day, Ye Gui Feng would tie himself to a listless routine of working around the kitchen to prepare food for the outer sect disciples. There was a lot of manual labor involved that Ye Gui Feng didn't wish to think about.

All of the senior members of the kitchen had been promoted, and they were now respected members of the Outer sect. Occasionally, they would come to visit every now and then.

"Sigh... Why didn't I realize this before?" Sitting around in his room, which contained only a desk and a hard bed, Ye Gui Feng sighed.

"I don't have a tragic background. I don't have a female childhood friend. I don't have some sort of prop to my name. I am not the main character. Isn't it obvious that I won't get a cheat-like talent?"

"Like talent coming to me? Hahahaha..." Ye Gui Feng laughs, as if being mocked by his own miserable negativity.

Perhaps this was a truth that Ye Gui Feng had known deep down but refused to admit to.

Recalling the amount of xianxia novels he had read, where the main character, despite being born with poor talent, would always be blessed with some kind of heavenly, divine treasure. After 15 years of living in this world, Ye Gui Feng had never encountered such a thing.

"It means to say that I'm simply not destined to be the main character of this world's legends."

"Aard, screw my ass... No matter how hard I've worked, it's never worked out for me!"

Even now, Ye Gui Feng still hasn't gone past the boundaries of the 0.5th level of Qi Condensation. Most of those he had worked with in the kitchen have already moved on, leaving him as the senior member of the marketplace.

"Forget it... I'll just be happy with my status as the kitchen manager."

The only time Ye Gui Feng can boast is when giving a newly recruited disciple a rundown of the place and a tour of the mountain base. But even that didn't last long, as those disciples would also move on from the kitchen.

Each time that happened, Ye Gui Feng felt like a dagger was cutting away at his self-esteem, making him lose confidence in his own abilities.

Those disciples, at most, would only need three years to move up the ladder of promotion to become an outer sect disciple. At this point, Ye Gui Feng can only cry about his shattered ambitions alone at night."

Indeed, Ye Gui Feng has realized that he is not the main character of this world's story. As that is the case, he has come to gradually accept his circumstances as a talentless mortal.

"_Sigh_ I should sleep soon. Tomorrow is another long day..." Ye Gui Feng quickly tucks himself into bed and sleeps for the night.

Of course, he wasn't receptive to some sort of dream where a divine being would appear in his sleep, granting him unique knowledge or fortune.

"Ugh... The fate of being a fodder is so cruel."

"I'm sorry to all the side characters I've bashed on in the past..."

The early morning arrives as the sound of a chicken's cry acts as the alarm clock, waking up the kitchen staff members. Each of them gets out of bed, gets dressed, and heads to their responsible stations to begin preparations for breakfast.

"Big brother, we're running low on meat. At this rate, the outer sect disciples will grill us..."

To be called "big brother" by the kitchen staff has truly become one of Ye Gui Feng's only joys in life.

"I see that the beef supplies are running low."

The kitchen staff used beef sparingly by cutting up a single steak-sized meat into rice-sized grains before placing them into a soup with actual rice. This increased the consumption of meat for the kitchen staff but led to the outer sect disciples' complaints.

However, being able to hoard the meat for themselves was something that the kitchen took great pleasure in, so they naturally wouldn't care about complaints.

"How many chickens do we have? If their numbers are sufficient, we'll just butcher a few to substitute for the lack of beef."

"That should be enough. But this doesn't solve the long-term issue..."

"It's fine. I'll head to town tomorrow to buy more and have them delivered here by supper."

Over the years, Ye Gui Feng has grown more and more accustomed to being a kitchen staff member. His connections with the people in charge of supplying the sect with food ingredients are extremely good.

Each time he walks down the town's marketplace, Ye Gui Feng would feel like a celebrity as all the aunties and uncles would warmly welcome him, providing him with freebies every time they see him.

"Sorry to have to bother you with this."

"It's fine, it's all good. I'm good for..." Ah..."

A weak laugh comes from Ye Gui Feng, who feels a mix of embarrasment and gratitude

He hunches his back in the manner of a worthless member of society. The junior disciple realized too late that attempting to make his words sound comforting had the opposite effect instead.

"Big Brother Ye, cheer up. In our hearts, you'll always be our senior."

Another one of the juniors in the kitchen speaks up readily.

"You've always treated us very nicely over the years, haven't you?"

As his eyes moisten, Ye Gui Feng is overwhelmed by the warmth he receives from his junior staff members.

"I took care of you all very nicely, didn't I? It looks like that was indeed worth it."

As his eyes moisten, Ye Gui Feng is overwhelmed by the warmth he receives from his junior staff members.

"I treated you all very nicely over the years, haven't I? It looks like that was indeed worth it."

"Of course," one of them says. "Within the kitchen workplace, there are only a few senior members, including Ye Gui Feng. But the one who is most respected by them all is definitely the one who has worked here the longest."

"Alright, let's finish up today's tasks. Tomorrow, we'll have a feast – a steak each."