In the small town, a few people emerged from the tavern. They were dressed in matching outfits and carried swords on their backs, clearly members of the same sect of cultivators.
"Senior Brother, I really don't know why you can't let go of this kind of stuff. There's nothing particularly delicious about it."
Lin Qing patted his belly. "Indeed, the taverns in small places really don't have anything good to eat."
"Although you are the Sixth Elder's disciple, there's no need to emulate the Sixth Elder in everything. I heard from the Sect Leader that if the Sixth Elder could give up his appetite, he might be the first in our Liuyun Sect to truly ascend to immortality."
Lin Qing glanced at the disciple next to him, sighed, and shook his head without saying much more.
The master doesn't care about achieving immortality at all. If he had to choose between cultivation and eating, he would certainly give up cultivation.
Lin Qing himself also deeply believed this after following his master on 'worldly travels.'
Whatever, what do these junior disciples know? Only someone like the master could truly find those truly good at cooking. Even he hasn't quite grasped this skill yet!
But that being said, the food here is indeed... beyond words.
"Shen Yao said someone here is selling Life Fruit?" Lin Qing looked down the street, which extended almost visibly to the end, and appeared quite doubtful.
"Yes, Senior Brother, Sister Shen was confident and seemed not to be lying."
Lin Qing squinted his eyes. "Here... across the mountain is the Qian Ding Sect, right? I heard their Sect Leader is only at the Foundation Establishment Fifth Rank, and the Qian Ding Sect is still intact. Could there really be someone here capable of obtaining a Life Fruit?"
After speaking, Lin Qing paused and added, "No offense to Qian Ding Sect."
"Senior Brother, this..."
"Of course, no offense meant toward the Foundation Establishment Fifth Rank either."
"Sister Shen said..."
"And certainly no offense to the people here."
A crow cawed as it flew by.
Brother Lin Qing was kind and amiable, strong but never bullied the weak, and respected everyone.
His only fault was that, sometimes, people really couldn't follow his train of thought, whether fast or slow...
"Did Shen Yao say that a woman carrying an iron wok not only hit her but also humiliated her?"
Lin Qing stroked his chin, pondering that a woman carrying a wok around might be quite serious about her cooking. Could her culinary skills be excellent?
Lin Qing, having followed his master around searching for good food, had encountered many quirky chefs; the more eccentric and stubborn they were, the better their cooking tended to be.
Of course, there were those who were just plain insane.
"What kind of extraordinary woman, living in this small town, has such impressive cooking skills and strength that she could shatter Shen Yao's cherished sword?"
As he pondered, Chen Muxue swaggered toward the tavern, carrying an iron wok and a basket.
"Uh, Senior Brother, I think that's the extraordinary woman."
Lin Qing followed his junior brother's finger, indeed seeing an iron wok gleaming in the sunlight.
Yesterday, Chen Muxue had made a pickled dish using white radish.
She just needed to peel the white radish, cut it into small strips, sprinkle a bit of salt, let it sit for half an hour to draw out moisture, then drain it, add a bit of ginger slices and some small spicy peppers. After that, boil some vinegar, mix it with an equal part of sugar to make a sweet-and-sour solution, pour it over the radishes, seal it, and then wait.
Note that even if the sweet-and-sour solution isn't enough, you shouldn't add water, or it won't pickle properly. The solution should be prepared beforehand, cooled, and then poured over the radish, otherwise, if poured while hot, it could turn the radish bitter, requiring a longer pickling time to achieve the intended flavor.
These pickled radishes are ready to eat after just ten hours of soaking, but they don't keep long, so it's best to eat them within ten days.
The sweet, tangy pickled radishes with a hint of spice were truly a divine artifact of rice accompaniment. If eaten cold, it was particularly refreshing in the summer, clearing away heat and stimulating the appetite.
White radish was cheap, only costing a bit more vinegar and sugar.
However, if consumed in large quantities quickly, like in a tavern, the sugar-vinegar solution could be reused several times after using up the radishes.
Chen Muxue planned to sell her recipe to the tavern.
Of course, to be more impressive, she heated her sweet-and-sour solution in an iron wok.
After dinner yesterday, little Hua vomited a bit of black blood, although she felt fine, Chen Muxue planned to buy some blood-tonic for her.
Surprisingly, after breakfast today, little Hu suddenly said that he felt a bit of spiritual energy flowing inside him.
That iron wok really was something; Chen Muxue hadn't advanced further, but she felt noticeably more spiritual energy within her compared to yesterday.
She didn't even know how to cultivate! Sigh, it was so troublesome having so much spiritual energy, yet only noticing a tiny change when sprinkling some with her pinky while cooking.
What if people found out she could advance without knowing how to cultivate~? Sigh~
Just as Chen Muxue was about to enter the tavern, she felt someone approaching from behind. Instinctively, she drew out her iron wok.
"Bang!"
Lin Qing only felt excruciating pain in his arm, as if it might break, his head buzzing from the shock.
She was fast!
Lin Qing hadn't anticipated that someone at Foundation Establishment Sixth Rank could react so quickly.
"Who goes there?" Chen Muxue stepped back, putting some distance between them, holding her wok in front as a shield.
Action guided by: Captain America.
"I am Lin Qing of the Liuyun Sect, may I ask if..." Lin Qing paused, "if there are other women like you who carry woks?"
Was the Qian Ding Sect's symbol using an iron wok as a weapon?
Considering Shen Yao had already reached the Golden Core Stage while the woman before him was only at Foundation Establishment Sixth Rank, Lin Qing didn't believe Shen Yao was injured by her.
Moreover, a mid-grade magic artifact couldn't possibly be shattered by someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Not far away, Cen Lizhui silently observed the scene. When Lin Qing moved forward, he'd cast a spell to change his coarse clothes into the white robes of the Immortal Sect.
Frankly, he wasn't fond of those white robes, even though the material was top-notch. To accentuate the 'immortal' look, the sleeves were wide and the hem long, making walking rather floaty.
But only heaven knew how much spiritual power it took to keep them spotless.
Cen Lizhui watched as Chen Muxue and Lin Qing faced off, ready to intervene at any moment.
Yesterday, he'd seen little Hua spit up that blood after eating, realizing that shock wasn't caused by the Life Fruit.
Cen Lizhui couldn't take his eyes off Chen Muxue. With the divine artifact and divine skill... until the mystery was solved, she couldn't be allowed to die.
Meanwhile, Chen Muxue rubbed her ear. "What did you say?!"
To be honest, the sound of iron wok against iron limb at such close range wasn't just something to brush off.
This person's hand was something else, this tough; this person was stronger than the protagonist.
Chen Muxue grew more cautious; after all, she'd hit the protagonist flying with one wok swing!
"Achoo!" Having survived a fall off a cliff and entered a mysterious cave, Xiao Feng pinched his nose. "Strange, I haven't caught a cold, so why have I been sneezing so much lately?"