From a country cook to a master chef

"Senior brother, do you mean that Master is about to break through to the Divine Manifestation Realm?"

Upon hearing this news, Lin Jue was overjoyed. If that were the case, wouldn't he soon have a super strong master at the Divine Manifestation Realm?

It should be known that a martial artist in the Divine Manifestation Realm is capable of rivaling a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

With a Divine Realm martial artist protecting him, he wouldn't need to go through all the trouble and risks to find the Ink Crystal Stone and then borrow the Starry Sky Sect's ancient teleportation array to escape the Great Wu.

After all, having a Divine Realm martial artist as his master means that even if the Great Wu army is defeated, it will not have a significant impact on his cultivation.

Before Lin Jue could celebrate for long, Long Fei sighed softly, "The Divine Manifestation Realm is not something that can be advanced to so easily. Master has been preparing for this day for ten years."

"Ten years?" Upon hearing Senior Brother Long's words, Lin Jue's expression hardened, and he asked in confusion, "Senior Brother, do you know what the meaning is behind this?"

Long Fei spoke calmly and slowly, explaining:

"It is said that the most difficult part of advancing from the Divine Harmony Realm to the Divine Manifestation Realm is the condensation of the Dharma Manifestation. Once a Dharma Manifestation is successfully condensed, it means that a martial artist has officially entered the Divine Manifestation Realm."

However, this move is extremely dangerous. The so-called Dharma form is actually another form of a martial artist's soul and spirit. The process of condensing the Dharma form is the process of forging and reforging the soul. If there is the slightest mistake, the result will be the dissipation of the soul and the death of the body.

Therefore, over the years, the Great Wu Kingdom has only produced a handful of three or four Divine Phase Realm martial artists.

In most cases, martial artists at the Divine Integration Realm will not actively condense their Dharma Image to break through to the Divine Image Realm, because everyone is afraid of dying.

Furthermore, since martial artists at the Divine Integration Realm can live for at least two hundred years, many Divine Integration Realm martial artists will never easily attempt to break through until their lifespan is nearing its end.

In this way, when they try to break through when their lifespan is about to end, the chances of success will be even lower. This vicious cycle will leave very few martial artists in the world who can reach the Divine Manifestation Realm.

By the way, while the Nine-Bend Blood Spirit Ginseng, affected by the blood mist, can help martial artists break through to the Divine Aspect Realm, it's not guaranteed. This medicine itself is highly toxic; it can be considered a poisonous ginseng. Therefore, taking this medicine is largely a gamble with one's life—if one breaks through, one lives; if not, one dies.

Long Fei's recounting of so many secrets about the Divine Realm truly broadened Lin Jue's horizons, but it also raised other questions in his mind.

The most important point is that since taking this ginseng is so dangerous, why would Zhong Liang take the risk?

Could it be that my cheap master is also nearing the end of his life?

Upon hearing Lin Jue's question, Long Fei's face showed a slight sadness and worry. He explained softly, "To be honest, junior brother, our master has been affected by the witchcraft of the evil cultivators of Wushan. Only by breaking through to the Divine Manifestation Realm can he be cured. Therefore, our master has resorted to this desperate measure, preparing to use the Nine-Bend Blood Spirit Ginseng to fight for a sliver of hope."

As for why he had to resort to such a desperate measure, the master was forced to do so. As a high-ranking member of Tianwu Mountain, the Martial Emperor had already sent imperial pharmacists to diagnose the illness, but they were helpless. Even the Nascent Soul ancestor of Hengyue Sect who appeared later could not cure this witchcraft poison.

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue was startled, his expression freezing as he asked, "Senior Brother Long, how could Master have been poisoned by such a potent witchcraft? When exactly did this happen?"

"When Junior Brother Lin went to Hanzhou, Master went on a mission with the high-ranking members of Tianwu Mountain. When he returned, he was already infected with witchcraft."

After saying this, Long Fei sighed and pointed to a large mountain that appeared not far away, saying in a deep voice, "Junior Brother Lin, look, that is the Black Tiger Sect's lair, Black Tiger Cliff."

At this moment, Lin Jue's face was full of complicated emotions, and he smiled bitterly to himself. His cheap master was just like his father. He would rather disclose his secrets to outsiders than let his family know anything.

……

Late at night, Lin Jue and his senior brother Long Fei quietly crept to the vicinity of Black Tiger Cliff. The two climbed up the steep cliff to the heavily guarded forbidden area of ​​the Black Tiger Sect.

A stone tower built on the edge of a cliff.

"Junior Brother Lin, this tower is called the Black Heart Tower. It is said to be the place where the Black Tiger Sect leader, Black Heart Tiger, usually secluded himself. If we destroy this tower, it will definitely make the Black Tiger Sect suffer greatly."

"Alright, let's do as you say, Senior Brother." Lin Jue glanced at the dense forest around him, and suddenly an idea came to him. He chuckled and said, "There are many trees here. Why don't we gather some branches and set fire to the Black Heart Tower?"

Upon hearing Lin Jue's plan, Long Fei immediately perked up and nodded repeatedly, his face showing excitement.

As a disciple of Tianwu Mountain, he was required to set an example and promote the spirit of righteousness in everything he did. He had long been driven crazy by all the rules and regulations.

Long Fei had been itching to cause as much destruction as he could right now.

After discussing their plan, the two immediately split up to collect timber.

Unbeknownst to the two, their actions had already been overheard by Black Tiger, who was in seclusion in the stone tower. With a slight flick of the silk thread in front of him, the Black Tiger Cult Protector, who had received the message, immediately summoned a large number of people to come to the scene.

The Black Tiger Cliff was incredibly spacious. Lin Jue gathered timber while keeping an eye on his surroundings and observing the layout of the Black Tiger Cult's buildings.

Suddenly, he heard a large number of dense footsteps rushing towards the Blackheart Tower. Sensing that something was wrong, Lin Jue immediately dropped the wood in his hand and used the Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada to find the unsuspecting Long Fei.

"The situation has changed, we're retreating!"

Upon hearing this, Long Fei was shocked and immediately followed Lin Jue as they fled the Black Tiger Sect along the steep cliff of Black Tiger Cliff.

As soon as the two arrived at the bottom of the cliff, they saw countless torches suddenly light up on the cliff top, with figures moving about on them, seemingly searching for their whereabouts.

"We've been discreet enough, how could they have known?" Long Fei frowned, his face pale and weak, clearly genuinely frightened.

"Someone in the tower must have overheard our conversation." Looking at the suddenly bustling Black Tiger Cliff, Lin Jue rested his chin on his hand and speculated, "We climbed up from Black Tiger Cliff, so we couldn't have been discovered. The only possibility is that someone is in the tower."

"Who?"

"Of course it's Black Tiger Cult leader Black Heart Tiger!"

"Black Heart Tiger?" Long Fei said with some surprise, "According to the intelligence from the Black Tiger Cult's undercover agents, Black Heart Tiger's martial arts are extremely special. He goes into seclusion for three days at the beginning, middle, and end of each month. He shouldn't be in the tower today."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue thought to himself that his senior brother Long was truly simple-minded to the extreme.

Seclusion sometimes does require the right timing, location, and people, but this place belongs to the Black Tiger Cult, and the Black Heart Tower is Black Heart Tiger's private territory. He doesn't need a reason to appear in the tower.

After listening to Lin Jue's explanation, Long Fei nodded in deep agreement and couldn't help but give him a thumbs up:

"Junior Brother Lin is indeed meticulous and cautious. No wonder Master assigned you to carry out this mission with me. I originally planned to handle this operation by myself, but Master just wouldn't allow it."

The two lay hidden in the grass, whispering to each other. After a full cup of tea's time, seeing that Black Tiger Cliff had returned to calm, they breathed a sigh of relief and discussed how to wreak havoc on the Black Tiger Sect.

After pondering for a long time, the two turned their attention to two important locations within the sect.

Grain warehouses and storage facilities.

If these two places catch fire, the Black Tiger Cult will surely be thrown into chaos. At that time, they can take the opportunity to kill a few Black Tiger Cult members and deliberately leave clues about Tianwu Mountain. This will make it easier for the undercover agent to take action and eliminate the inner court traitor who has fled here.

The traitor from the inner courtyard has reached the mid-stage of the Divine Illumination Realm. At this moment, he is being taken seriously by the Black Tiger Sect, which has specially assigned powerful figures to protect him. Lin Jue and his companion's rampage within the sect will surely draw the attention of those powerful figures.

When an undercover agent takes action, even if they accidentally leave any clues, they can later blame it all on the suddenly appearing warriors from Tianwu Mountain.

After discussing their plan, the two found a comfortable place to sleep.

Their whereabouts were discovered by the people in the Blackheart Tower, and if they make a move again tonight, they will only be walking into a trap.

The two recalled their conversation on the stone tower, which seemed to have made no mention of Tianwu Mountain or the traitor, which put them at ease.

So for the next two days, Lin Jue and his senior brother did not appear near the Black Tiger Sect again, but instead wandered around the Ten Thousand Bones Mountain Range in an attempt to find the Nine-Bend Blood Spirit Ginseng, but both of them came up empty-handed.

As the sun set on the third day, the two emerged from a cave, intending to take action against the Black Tiger Cult that night.