Barcas' wedding was still two months away, so Leyvi decided to use this free time to go sightseeing with everyone.
After all, when else would they have the chance to visit the Central Region like this?
The cultivator city that the Leyan Family arrived at was called Arivu City, also widely known as the City of Knowledge.
This was the place where many scholar cultivators from all over the continent chose to migrate to and settle down.
Why? Because the southeast area of the Central Region had become the main hub where most research and studies about cultivation and related fields were conducted extensively for many years. Most of these projects were heavily funded by the Protectors in order to accelerate the overall cultivation progress of the continent.
The Institute of Universal Energies, where Barbara and Barcas worked, was also located in this region and was considered one of the most prestigious institutions.
This institute was just one of many research organizations in the area. There were groups dedicated to developing new or improving existing cultivation methods, martial skills, medical techniques, alchemy, array formations, and many other fields.
There were also teams that studied the various effects of spirit plants and unique materials, demonic plants and their powers, demonic beasts and their bloodlines, Unique Heavenly Bodies, and many more specialized topics.
For example, the Alchemy Association also had a major branch here called the Alchemy Association Research and Development Department. They focused on studying and creating new alchemy formulas and methods. Anda had once been recruited by them, but she had turned down the offer.
If there was anything a cultivator wanted to research or study, this region was the place they would come to. It offered an abundance of academics, scholars, advanced facilities, and extensive knowledge that could hardly be found anywhere else on the continent.
And located within Arivu City was a famous institution that had been producing many brilliant academics and scholars for generations.
This renowned place was called Cloud Origin Academy. It was an academy fully funded by the Protectors and open to all cultivators across the continent.
As long as they could pass the extremely difficult entry exams, they could enroll completely free of charge. All necessary expenses while studying there would be fully covered by the academy.
Those who managed to join were considered elites even among the intellectuals. Both Barcas and Barbara had once been students of this prestigious academy.
"So this is the city for the intellectuals, huh?" Leyvi said as the Leyan Family walked through the bustling city center. "I feel even more stupid just by being here. Look at them staring at me."
He saw many people dressed in scholarly outfits similar to what Barcas and Barbara usually wore, all of them looking very intelligent and refined. Meanwhile, he was wearing his usual simple and casual clothes, which made his country-bumpkin appearance stand out even more among them.
With his spiritual sense, he could also clearly hear what the people nearby were saying. Not that he really cared, but it seemed the locals here had many creative ways to describe someone as stupid, like birdbrain, buffoon, dim bulb, low brain cells, and plenty more. Leyvi could not help but think that Mr. Bison should be added to that list as well.
"Hehe." Anda giggled while carrying Leylin in her arms. "We really do look out of place here."
At the same time, little Leylin was staring intently at Anda's face with his innocent eyes, or more specifically, at the birthmark around her left eye. Ever since he had started recognizing faces, he would always fixate on it whenever Anda carried him, probably confused about why she was the only one who had it.
As for Leyana and Leyina, Fifi and Nikita were carrying them respectively, both babies nestled comfortably in their arms.
"Although these people are smarter than most, their behavior isn't all that different from ordinary folks," Caterina said calmly. "Some of them think that because they have higher intelligence, they can look down on others. It's just another version of the strong looking down on the weak. We should just ignore those stares."
In a lawless place, these scholars would not dare act so arrogantly, or they would have been killed long ago by hot-tempered cultivators. Thankfully, the law existed here to prevent such things.
"Where are you bringing us, Rina?" Leyvi asked.
It turned out that Caterina was a regular visitor to this city, so she had naturally taken on the role of their tour guide for the day.
"Hehe. I want to meet my friend first," Caterina replied with a smile. "She's the one who made the pills I gave you. She's an independent medical alchemist who opened a shop here, specializing in custom alchemy products. Long ago, I hired her to help solve some issues with my body condition, and she has been assisting me ever since."
"Oh, I see," Leyvi nodded. It made sense that this would be the place for that kind of specialized research.
"I wonder if they conduct culinary research here?" Tasya asked hopefully. "With so many fields being studied, cooking must be one of them, right?"
"About that, you'll be a little disappointed, little Tasya," Caterina said gently. "They don't consider culinary essential for cultivation, so there really isn't much research on it here."
She had tasted Tasya's food before and knew just how incredible it was. Not only did the dishes taste heavenly, they also provided various beneficial effects to the consumer's body functions.
In her many long years of living, Caterina had only met a few people capable of achieving this level. They were legendary master chefs in their old age who had honed their skills through decades, even centuries, of dedicated culinary arts.
Tasya, on the other hand, was incredibly young, yet she had already reached the same level as those legends. How could Caterina not be impressed?
"Is that so?" Tasya pouted, clearly annoyed. "Hmph. Cooking might not be considered essential to cultivation, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't explore it. It brings many benefits too."
Valenia blinked. This conversation reminded her of Lumine, one of the members in the female group she had traveled with in the Mystic Realm.
Unlike the Cloud Continent, the Protogaea Continent had a specialized chef profession for cultivators called Spirit Gourmet Maestro, which was quite popular there. Lumine had once stalked her just to meet Tasya after learning about her talent. Valenia wondered if Tasya could establish a similar path here.
That said, she recalled that Lumine had stayed in the pyramid and followed them back to the Cloud Continent instead of returning to Protogaea. But after being dropped off at one of the cities, there had been no news of her since. Was she still trying to popularize Spirit Gourmet Maestro in this continent?
"Master, how about you fund me?" Tasya asked jokingly. "I'll start my own culinary institute here. I will teach cultivators my own brand of cooking while exploring new possibilities."
"Sure. Why not?" Anda replied with a smile, then turned to Layla's clone. "Layla, is it possible for you to handle this? Use my money."
"It's not a big deal," Layla nodded calmly. She was already very familiar with setting up new ventures. "I just need to gather information and learn everything about this place first."
"Are you sure, Master? Yay! I love you so much!" Tasya jumped with joy.
She had earned quite a lot of money from her cooking over the years and was considered a wealthy cultivator by normal standards, but it was nowhere near enough to start something as big as her own institute. Her master, however, was on an entirely different level. Her wealth had reached heights that most people could not even imagine.
"However, once everything is set up, you will have to manage the rest yourself," Anda continued. "You can call your profession Spirit Gourmet Maestro to make it sound more impressive instead of just 'chef.' And make sure to promote it as cooking specialized for cultivators. Can you do it? Don't fail and come home crying later."
She naturally already knew about Spirit Gourmet Maestro from the Protogaea Continent. The reason she agreed so quickly was because she knew it was bound to be successful, just like it had been there.
When the continents eventually became more connected in the future, Spirit Gourmet Maestro as a profession would spread and become popular here too. Why not let Tasya pioneer it first? By the time that happened, she would already have a deep foundation established.
"Master, I am your disciple after all. How can I fail and bring shame to you?" Tasya said confidently. "Also, I can't fall behind Tal. If he becomes a Grand Inspector one day, I must become someone of similar standing too."
"Great. As expected of my disciple," Anda said with approval. She then turned to Cempaka and Bodo. "Cempaka, Bodo, please accompany Layla and Tasya while they settle this matter."
"Dohoho! Leave their safety to me!" Bodo replied enthusiastically, while Cempaka simply nodded with her usual emotionless expression.
Leyvi was surprised. He had not expected everything to be decided so quickly and decisively.
Then Anda's smile turned mischievous. "Also, Layla. The person I told you to keep an eye on… you can save her from her predicament now and bring her here to assist Tasya."
"Oh, her. I see," Layla chuckled. "It seems you have been waiting for this moment, Big Madam."
Leyvi blinked in confusion. What are they talking about?