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Chapter 1051: Come, Have a Taste

Li Daoxuan stood at the dock, a bottle of soy sauce in hand, looking rather comical.

If he'd held a wine gourd by the riverbank, he might have had a certain mystique, but with a bottle of soy sauce, it was...

The onlookers were baffled. What exactly was the Heavenly Lord up to?

Still, even doing that, the Heavenly Lord looked incredibly dashing!

It seemed that standing by the river with a bottle of soy sauce was a rather dashing act, surely popular in the celestial realm. Perhaps all the immortals did it this way, far more stylish than a wine gourd. We should emulate them.

Just as he stood there, perplexed, several large river-sea vessels appeared on the river. They moved swiftly. A sailor stood on the bow, holding a tin megaphone, shouting across the water: "Clear the way, clear the way! This vessel carries the Heavenly Lord's special decree, urgent cargo. Do not obstruct our passage, make way now!"

Upon hearing "Heavenly Lord's special decree," the merchant ships on the river dared not block their path. The vessels promptly gave way. The sailors on board pondered: Whatever the Heavenly Lord had specially commanded must be extraordinary. Perhaps it was a vital weapon, a secret immortal treasure, or a person of immense importance.

Considering this, everyone couldn't help but want to steal a glance. After all, this was a commercial dock, not a military one; stealing a few peeks here wasn't against the law.

The river-sea vessels swiftly pulled up to the dock. The sailors on board, seeing the Heavenly Lord waiting, scrambled off the ship and disembarked with lightning speed, standing before Li Daoxuan. They saluted crisply: "Reporting, Heavenly Lord, your subordinate has successfully fulfilled the mission and returned them with utmost speed."

The sailors were overjoyed. Third-Class Merit! Another bonus was coming their way.

With Third-Class Merit on the line, the sailors on board were instantly invigorated. Immediately, someone brought large vats and began filling them with seawater from the ship's hold. Once a vat was full, they hauled out the large abalone, lobsters, and crabs from the bottom hold, placed them into the vats, and carried them before Li Daoxuan.

"How many died?" Li Daoxuan asked.

"About... thirty percent," the sailor responsible for transport said, a little sheepishly. "We salvaged and ate the ones that were dying fast, to prevent their bodies from rotting and contaminating the water in the hold."

"Thirty percent? Acceptable." Li Daoxuan nodded. "Good. Take a selection of each, and prepare a table for us to taste first."

The sailors quickly got to work. They had already gained some experience cooking seafood during their journey. They prepared each type of seafood accordingly: some sliced raw, some steamed, others boiled, braised, or roasted. Before long, a lavish seafood feast was ready.

A truly extravagant seafood banquet!

In the modern era, such a table would cost tens of thousands.

Li Daoxuan deliberately set the table by the dockside so all the merchants could see it. He led Gao Yiye to sit down and smiled at Bai Yuan. "Come join us, too. Let's eat together."

Gao Yiye had eaten ordinary fish, shrimp, and crabs, but these strange creatures from the sea were truly new to her. Seeing the peculiar appearance of the mantis shrimp, she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. "What are these strange bugs? Are they really edible?"

Li Daoxuan chuckled. "These are called mantis shrimp, or 'prawn creepers.' They're a type of shrimp, not strange bugs at all."

Not only was Gao Yiye surprised, even Bai Yuan was a little bewildered. "These are shrimp? They look like that?"

Li Daoxuan picked up a mantis shrimp. He skillfully peeled its shell, extracting a piece of pure white shrimp meat. He dipped it in the soy sauce he'd brought and popped it into his mouth...

Pure bliss!

Gao Yiye and Bai Yuan mimicked him. They tried it, too. Immediately, a look of profound delight spread across both their faces.

The surrounding merchants, watching, their eyes were practically gleaming with envy. "Oh, if the Heavenly Lord enjoys this, we'd dearly love to try it too."

But knowing their humble status, they dared not approach.

Li Daoxuan waved to the merchant standing closest. "You, come here."

The merchant pointed to his own nose. "Me?"

Li Daoxuan confirmed, "Yes! You."

The merchant was ecstatic and hurried over. "Heavenly Lord, how may I serve you? To be called upon by you is an honor for this humble one."

Li Daoxuan pointed to the mantis shrimp on the table. "Try one."

The merchant, full of trepidation, carefully took a shrimp. He wasn't very skilled at peeling it and fumbled clumsily. Eventually, he managed to extract the shrimp meat. He carefully dipped it in the seafood soy sauce and put it in his mouth... A wide smile immediately blossomed on his face.

Li Daoxuan asked, "Well?"

The merchant exclaimed, "A wondrous taste I have never experienced before."

Li Daoxuan continued, "What do you think it's worth?"

The merchant replied without a moment's hesitation: "It could sell for at least twice the price of beef, no, more than that, five times the price, I'm confident I could sell it."

Li Daoxuan cautioned, "They die easily, you know. You have no experience keeping them alive. If they die during transport, you'll suffer a huge loss."

The merchant pondered seriously. "I'll just sell them all before they die. If you entrust them to me, I'll deliver them to the Prince of Fu's residence with the utmost speed. The Prince of Fu is a corpulent man who weighs over three hundred catties and absolutely adores such delicacies. I'm confident I can extract thousands of taels of silver from his hands in no time."

"Oh, and there's the Prince of Tang in Nanyang," the merchant added. "The Prince of Tang would certainly be willing to pay for them, too. Luoyang city has countless dignitaries and wealthy officials who can afford this price."

"If I genuinely can't sell them in time," the merchant continued, "I'll find some ice blocks and preserve them. That should keep them fresh for a few days."

At this, a peculiar smile spread across the merchant's face. "If I use ice blocks for preservation, the cost will increase significantly, which means this humble one dares to sell them for even more."

Li Daoxuan gave him a thumbs-up. "Excellent, I admire your ingenuity. I'll wholesale two vats of mantis shrimp to you at a low price, and a box of the accompanying seafood soy sauce. You figure out how much profit to make. In fact, I'll even give you a block of ice."

No sooner had he spoken, than a colossal golden hand reached down from the sky. It set down a massive block of ice. The ice block was easily twice a man's height, resembling a large house made of ice.

Li Daoxuan instructed, "You can chip off a few large pieces from it yourself and take them. In the future, I will frequently bestow ice blocks. If you run out, you can come here to collect more anytime."

The merchant was utterly ecstatic. "Thank you, Heavenly Lord! You are bestowing upon me an unimaginable fortune!"

Li Daoxuan waved his hand. The merchant, profusely thanking him, departed.

After he left, Gao Yiye asked curiously, "Heavenly Lord, why did you specifically grant this merchant such a fortune? Has he performed any service for you?"

Li Daoxuan smiled but remained silent, offering no explanation. However, Bai Yuan, who was nearby, interjected, "Saintess, the Heavenly Lord is fishing."

Gao Yiye blinked. "Oh? Fishing?"

Bai Yuan chuckled. "This merchant made money from these two vats of shrimp, but what happens next? When there are no more shrimp, what will he do if he still wants to earn that money?"