From a country cook to a master chef

Lin Jue was startled. The energy within his body surged, causing his hands and feet to become completely uncontrollable.

"Senior Brother Sun, get out of the way!"

"Don't worry, Junior Brother Lin, go ahead and use all your strength!"

As soon as Sun Guo finished speaking, he was sent flying backward by a punch.

"Powerful energy! How is this possible!"

Sun Guo steadied his steps, grabbed Lin Jue's wrist, and after a brief moment of sensing, his expression changed from surprise to joy. He clasped his hands in congratulations:

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Lin, on breaking through your cultivation barrier and officially becoming a Qi Martial Artist. With just one more step, you will be able to enter the Transformation Realm and advance to the Martial Master level."

Lin Jue scratched his head, puzzled, and asked, "Breaking through! What exactly does breaking through mean?"

"Junior Brother Lin hasn't been involved in martial arts for long, so it's normal that Master didn't tell you these things."

Sun Guo smiled and continued, "Martial arts cultivation, like Qi cultivation, also has realm divisions. The process of advancing from a martial apprentice to a martial artist is called breaking through a barrier."

"Martial arts apprentices train their bodies and bones through tempering and using medicine until they generate a wisp of internal energy. By circulating this energy throughout their bodies, they can break through the barriers and become a martial artist."

Sun Guo sighed, "It would take an ordinary person at least a year or two to cultivate internal energy. But my junior brother is exceptionally talented, reaching this level in just a few days. No wonder our master was willing to pay out of his own pocket to take him as a disciple."

"With Junior Brother Lin's talent, his future achievements are limitless and beyond our reach."

Lin Jue's advancement to martial artist caused a sensation at the martial arts school.

Liu Yue personally examined his physical condition and, after confirming that there were no problems, immediately decided to take out the Breakthrough Pill treasured by the martial arts school to help him break through to the Martial Master realm as soon as possible.

"Master, wasn't the Breakthrough Pill prepared for Senior Brother? If we give it to Junior Brother now, what will happen when Senior Brother returns?"

"Yes, Master. Senior Brother is already at the peak of Martial Master. After taking the Breakthrough Pill, he will be able to step into the Divine Power Realm in one fell swoop. At that time, the martial arts school will have two Divine Power Realm experts in charge."

The disciples tried their best to dissuade him, not because they didn't want their junior brother to break through to the Martial Master level, but because, comparatively speaking, it would be more beneficial for the martial arts school's future to leave the Breakthrough Pill for their senior brother.

"If Lin Jue can defeat me with his stance training, I will give him the Breakthrough Pill."

Liu Ruyan's voice rang out as she gracefully approached, smiling at the crowd. "You all know my strength perfectly well. If Junior Brother can defeat me, I'll give him the Breakthrough Pill."

Seeing that no one reacted, Liu Yue said in a deep voice, "Since no one has any objections, let's do as Ru Yan said and let her test Lin Jue's strength."

Soon, Lin Jue and Liu Ruyan arrived at the center of the training ground. The latter smiled and said, "Lin Jue, use all 72 stances of the Eight Paths of Pine Crane Long Fist. As long as you can force me to use my feet, you win."

As Liu Ruyan spoke, she spread her legs apart and assumed the Hunyuan stance.

"Senior Sister Ruyan, then I'll have to offend you!"

Lin Jue smiled slightly, moved his body quickly, and practiced five stances in a row, but Liu Ruyan did not move an inch.

Seeing this, Lin Jue took a deep breath and once again used his stance training technique at close range. Gradually, his movements became faster and stronger.

Liu Ruyan's expression gradually became serious, after her initial nonchalant demeanor.

"Senior sister, be careful!"

I felt the energy surging within my body, as if it would burst out of my body at any moment.

Lin Jue shouted loudly, and the Songhe Long Fist Eight Paths Seventy-Two Gates Stance Skill was completed in one breath, reaching the last move.

With a single punch, Liu Ruyan's delicate body could not withstand it and she flew sideways like a kite with a broken string.

At this point, the outcome is decided.

Liu Yue reacted quickly and caught his daughter, Liu Ruyan.

In contrast, Lin Jue seemed to have exhausted all his strength after throwing that punch.

Sweating profusely, utterly exhausted.

After lunch, it was already 2 p.m.

In just a few days, Lin Jue mastered the stance training and was highly regarded by Liu Yue, who began to explain to him the true cultivation method of Pine Crane Long Fist.

"You have now grasped the basics of body movement, hand techniques, eye techniques, and footwork. As for techniques, you can practice them on your own, combining them with the seventy-two stance training exercises."

Liu Yue led Lin Jue to a dark room, where a stick of pine resin was lit, its smoke curling upwards and stinging the eyes.

"As the saying goes, the first thing to do is to strike the eye, the second to strike the courage, the third to strike the strength, and the fourth to strike the dodge. From now on, you will try to train your eyes here."

After explaining the method, Liu Yue left Lin Jue to practice alone in the dark room.

With his eyes fixed on the red incense stick, Lin Jue soon burst into tears. He repeated this process over and over until he had cultivated for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Then he left the dark room to adjust himself before resuming his cultivation.

Several days passed, and Lin Jue's eyesight improved, his night eyes shining brightly.

……

"Brother, I heard that kid has already become an apprentice of Liu Yue, the 'Quick Fist', and learned kung fu. Should we just give up?"

"You're kidding me. That kid can come up with eight taels of silver to get a certificate and nine taels of silver to learn martial arts. He must have some money to be made out of him. He's a piece of meat."

"Brother is right. If you count the days, even if that kid went to learn martial arts, he's only been learning for ten days. What kind of skill could he possibly have achieved?"

In the dim light of night, four young men dressed in black squatted in the corner of Jiming Alley. One of them was holding a dagger, another was carrying a brick, and the third was holding a sack. They were all staring at Lin Jue's house with ill intent.

Pan Mang squatted in the middle of the four men, his voice icy cold: "Last time, that stinking Taoist priest surnamed Han helped him. This time, Han is too busy. Tonight, let him know that this Chicken Cry Alley belongs to only the Pan family!"

"They're here! Someone's here! Big brother, look! That kid over there looks like him!"

Rubbing his eyes, Pan Mang squinted at the direction of the person who had come from. "It's him. Everyone be alert and don't let him get away."

"Don't worry, brother. As soon as he comes over, I'll put the sack over his head. I guarantee he won't be able to escape."

The four men secretly separated and hid in secluded corners, waiting for the newcomer to walk right into their trap.

"Everyone keep a close eye on things, don't let that little bastard find out."

"Never mind, give me the bag. I don't feel comfortable leaving it with you."

Pan Mang whispered a few words, took the sack, and with a sinister smile on his face, hid himself in the darkness.

At the entrance of Chicken Cry Alley, Lin Jue frowned. After finishing his cultivation of the Dark Chamber Incense Observation, his night eyes, like those of an owl, spotted four furtive figures in the alley from afar. Judging from the figure of one of them, it was clearly that damned Yellow Ox Pan Mang.

"We haven't combined the Pine Crane Long Fist techniques with stance training yet, but dealing with these four shouldn't be a problem."

Lin Jue secretly calculated in his heart that he had now mastered the Eight Paths and Seventy-Two Gates of Stance Technique. He only needed to break through the last three levels of Body Technique, Hand Technique, Eye Technique, and Step Technique to advance to Martial Master with the help of the Breakthrough Pill. Dealing with four street thugs would be a piece of cake.

In the alley, Pan Mang and his three companions waited quietly, completely unaware that they had transformed from hunters into prey.

Lin Jue climbed over the wall and quietly approached Pan Mang, who was carrying a sack.

"Who?"

Pan Mang reacted quickly; upon hearing a sound above him, his words startled the three of them.

Looking up, I saw it was a big black cat.

Lin Jue hung on the wall, and the black cat stepped over his hand, gracefully leaping from the wall to the other corner.

Taking advantage of Pan Mang's momentary lapse in attention, he leaped down, punched Pan Mang until he was dizzy, then slipped a sack over his shoulder, kicked him away, and shouted in Pan Mang's voice, "Got it! Got it!"

Seeing this, the other three rushed forward and punched and kicked the sack on the ground, venting their humiliation at being beaten up by the stinky Taoist priest that night.

"Wait a minute, where's my older brother?"

"Stop! Why is Big Brother's voice coming from inside the bag?"

Hearing the familiar sound coming from the bag, the three immediately realized something was wrong and quickly opened the bag.

Pan Mang, his head bleeding profusely and panting heavily, struggled to speak when he saw Lin Jue appear behind the three of them, stammering and unable to utter a word.

Lin Jue held bricks in both hands, striking each of the three men's heads with tremendous force, causing blood to fly from their noses, teeth to shatter, and cries of agony to erupt.

Pan Mang was dumbfounded, never expecting Lin Jue to be so brave, and was so frightened that he scrambled out of the alley.

Lin Jueye's eyes widened, his imposing aura terrifying the three men, who dared not resist.

Master Liu is right. If you train your gaze to be authoritative without being angry, you will gain the upper hand in terms of momentum when fighting with others.

"Serves you right for wanting my money! Serves you right for coveting wealth! Serves you right for resorting to sneak attacks!"

Seeing that he couldn't escape, Pan Mang tried to resist, but Lin Jue grabbed his hair and slammed his head against the ground. Not satisfied, he grabbed him by the neck and gave him three more hard blows.

Pan Mang was beaten so badly he was terrified and passed out.

Lin Jue, afraid of getting his hands dirty, refocused his gaze on the three people trying to escape out of the alley.

"Some people are born without being taught, they don't learn the good things, they only learn the bad things. I'll teach you how to be good people right now!"

Lin Jue became more and more enthusiastic as he fought, grabbing the three men and using them as wooden dummy stakes to practice the Pine Crane Long Fist continuously.

In an instant, cries of agony echoed throughout the entire Chicken Cry Alley.

The commotion was so great that it attracted the attention of the soldiers on night patrol.

"Lin Jue?"

"Arrogant?"

The patrol leader was actually a familiar face whom I hadn't seen in a long time.

Zhang Kuang glanced at Pan Mang and the others who were still barely alive on the ground, then pretended not to see them and led his team away.

However, before leaving, he leaned close to Lin Jue and whispered, "Don't kill anyone. Just break their limbs. There are plenty of people to deal with them."

Lin Jue's face was cold and gloomy. After seeing Zhang Kuang off, he broke the hands of the four men and threw them all out of Jiming Lane.

At this moment, a crowd of people attracted by the sounds of fighting gathered outside the alley. They clapped and cheered, and some even dared to step forward and kick the person a couple of times.

Lin Jue let out a long sigh of relief and clapped his hands, saying, "Fellow neighbors, everyone, please disperse! Go back and rest!"

The next morning, as soon as Lin Jue stepped out, someone told him that four people had died on Ping Street.

He was killed by hoes and sickles.

Lin Jue walked calmly toward the martial arts school. Today, Liu Ruyan was going to take him to the East Market to browse the medicine and stone shops. If they were lucky, they could find a lot of precious medicines that could be used to refine flesh and blood.