My Ingredients Are All Over the Cultivation World

Du Heng, a modern university student preparing to inherit his family's private restaurant, awakens in an unfamiliar cave to face a two-meter-tall aggressive rooster. After a brief struggle, he kills the bird, only to learn from Yun Zhonghe, an inner disciple of Medicine King Valley, that the creature was the spiritual pet of the Demon Lord Yan Buhui. Du Heng realizes he has transmigrated into the body of a dull outer disciple who shares his name. This original owner had accidentally swallowed the Phantom Sky Pearl, a treasure the Demon Lord sought to refine into an elixir for breaking through to the Out-of-Body Stage. Trapped in the Demon Realm, Du Heng faces immediate execution, but Yun Zhonghe, who harbors guilt for his role in the abduction, stalls the Demon Lord's orders.

While imprisoned, Du Heng uses his culinary skills to cook the Brahma Chicken, creating a meal that inadvertently triggers a breakthrough for Yan Buhui. The Demon Lord, now on the verge of transcending his cultivation limits, decides to test the loyalty between Yun Zhonghe and Du Heng by forcing them to fight to the death with a Soul-Severing Blade. During the ensuing thunder tribulation that accompanies Yan Buhui's breakthrough, Yun Zhonghe and Du Heng escape through a hidden cave passage, leaping from a cliff into a freezing river below. They are rescued by Fang Lin and other senior disciples from Medicine King Valley, who had coordinated a rescue mission.

Upon reaching safety, the cultivators face a difficult reality: Du Heng possesses a treasure coveted by powerful enemies, making him a liability to the entire sect. Medicine King Valley lacks the patriarchal protection necessary to defend against the Demon Lord or other factions seeking the Pearl. Consequently, they decide they cannot take him back to their sect. Yun Zhonghe provides Du Heng with talismans, a storage bag, and directional guidance, urging him to flee eastward toward the Dongji Mountains, which serve as the boundary between human territory and the demonic realm. Du Heng accepts this abandonment, understanding it is the only way to ensure the safety of his former sect brothers.

Du Heng travels alone for half a month, enduring the harsh winter and the dangers of the wilderness. He eventually reaches the base of the Dongji Mountains, where he sets up a temporary shelter. His solitude is interrupted when a fluffy yellow chick, named Xiao Xiao, wanders into his hut seeking food. Du Heng feeds the chick, unaware that it is a demon cultivator. Shortly after, a tall, handsome man named Xuan Yu arrives, revealing himself as Xiao Xiao's guardian. Xuan Yu is a member of a powerful demonic clan. After Xiao Xiao devours Du Heng's entire supply of chicken soup and rice, Xuan Yu offers compensation for the consumed food.

Du Heng, lacking resources and protection in the hostile demonic territory, accepts an invitation to accompany Xuan Yu and Xiao Xiao back to their village. The journey reveals the vast wealth and power of Xuan Yu's family, as they travel in a spacious, magically expanded carriage pulled by a spirit beast ox. Du Heng, a mere Qi cultivator with no combat prowess, finds himself in the company of high-status demon cultivators. His primary asset appears to be his cooking ability, which has already endeared him to the young chick. As they travel, Du Heng must navigate the complex politics of the demonic realm while hiding the location of the Phantom Sky Pearl within his body, all while trying to survive in a world far more dangerous than the one he left behind.