From a country cook to a master chef

Faced with repeated questioning, Zhu Laizi stammered and couldn't get to the point for a long time.

The cave was a maze of intricate structures. Besides the five people currently under control, Lin Jue estimated there were still thirty to fifty bandits inside.

Zhu Laizi rambled on and on, clearly trying to stall for time.

Lin Jue snorted coldly and raised his foot to strike the man's face.

puff!

Before the kick could even land on Zhu Laizi, his body shuddered, he coughed up black blood, and slowly went limp.

"broken."

Lin Jue's vision blurred, and the Spirit Seal in his mind shone brightly, with countless rays of spiritual light bursting forth from it like a surging river, continuously washing over and tempering his muscles and flesh.

He recalled that Master Xu had mentioned that martial arts cultivation begins with martial artists. The so-called martial arts training involves constantly tempering the body to generate a kind of energy within the body, which martial artists also call "jin" (internal strength).

The process of cultivating internal strength is not easy. When ordinary people first come into contact with it, if they do not know the key points, they may experience mild symptoms such as backache, leg cramps, or even broken bones that make it difficult to walk. In severe cases, they may develop chronic illnesses and be unable to practice martial arts for the rest of their lives.

Lin Jue was furious. While he wasn't certain it was the process of refining internal energy, he was pretty close. He was absolutely livid...

"Damn it, it must be because I drank all the water from that spirit gourd."

Lin Jue immediately realized that it was because he had been forced to drink the Spirit Gourd Water. The gourd water was full of spiritual energy, which could not only make food exceptionally delicious, but also fill him up and strengthen his body when he drank it regularly.

He usually only dared to drink a small drop each time, but this time he was forced to drink the whole gourd, and unexpectedly this sudden situation occurred.

Seeing Lin Jue acting strangely, one of Zhu Laizi's men quickly shouted, "Damn it, take advantage of his weakness and kill him! Kill this little brat!"

"Yeah, let's all four of us do it together!"

The four of them simultaneously drew their short knives from their waists and attacked.

In the blink of an eye, a sweet and pungent smell filled the entire cave.

Zhu Laizi's eyes were glazed over, his body began to tremble uncontrollably, and his teeth chattered incessantly.

"This is impossible! How could you possibly be a master of internal energy...?"

In front of the stone table, four figures fell one after another, each with a bloody gash on their neck.

Lin Jue was panting heavily, his face filled with disbelief, just like Zhu Laizi's.

He was able to instantly kill four bandits with knives with his bare hands.

"When did I become so strong?"

Lin Jue was puzzled, feeling as if there was a mudfish inside his body, wriggling around uncontrollably.

He calmed himself down and sensed it, and his expression suddenly brightened with joy as a wisp of energy indeed appeared within his body.

"Master Lin is mighty! Master Lin is so domineering!"

Realizing his life was in danger, Zhu Laizi frantically kowtowed to the side, acting like a sycophant and showing no trace of the demeanor of a big brother.

Lin Jue was completely immersed in the wonderful feeling of comprehending the internal energy, and didn't even glance at Zhu Laizi, who was banging his head until it bled.

As the internal energy flowed, he could clearly feel the breath of every cell in his body, and his body became incredibly refreshed at that moment.

"Tell me, how did you get involved with Zhao Kun? When do you plan to take action against the Zhao family? And where did you get the elixir you possess?"

Lin Jue looked at Zhu Laizi, who quickly explained everything in detail.

He was able to kill four bandits in an instant. Not to mention that he was currently poisoned, even if he wasn't under Lin Jue's control, Zhu Laizi didn't have the confidence to fight such a master of internal energy.

"Two days ago, Zhao Kun personally formed an alliance with me. He promised me two benefits: first, after seizing Master Zhao's family property, he promised to give me two hundred taels of gold."

"The second benefit is that the second young lady of the Zhao family, who has the potential to become an immortal, can be used as medicine for me."

"Zhao Kun's plan is to get rid of the troublesome Xu Zhi and then immediately take action against the Zhao family. As for the magic formula, it was obtained from the corpse of a predecessor with a sinister aura located underground in this mountain."

Zhu Laizi spoke cautiously, not forgetting to observe Lin Jue's changing expression.

Seeing his furrowed brows, he immediately sensed that something terrible was about to happen. He thought to himself that his reputation for debauchery had been ruined today, and he regretted colluding with Zhao Kun.

Upon hearing that Zhao Kun had already taken action against the Zhao family, Zhao Xiaoyao, who was standing to the side, immediately became extremely anxious, stamping her feet on the spot, unable to contain her impatience.

"No, you're lying." After hearing Zhu Laizi's words, Lin Jue sneered, "If you don't confess honestly, don't blame me for killing you!"

As a bandit leader, Zhu Xinghe had chosen to join forces with Zhao Kun to deal with the Zhao family. If Zhao Kun had already made his move, Zhu Xinghe would certainly not have the leisure to capture him today to make the Beauty Jade Soup.

Moreover, the recipe for medicinal cuisine recorded in that immortal prescription was not difficult. Zhu Xinghe's capture of him into the mountains was definitely not just for making soup.

Master Xu's martial arts have reached the Transformation Realm, making him a true martial arts master. Apart from the town garrison commander who has been transferred elsewhere, no one in the entire Fish Scale Town can rival him.

After thinking it over, Lin Jue suddenly had some guesses.

Master Xu may not be dead.

His gaze was fixed on Zhu Laizi, making the latter feel a chill run down his spine and his scalp tingle.

"I suppose you're waiting for Zhao Kun!"

Lin Jue's words revealed what Zhu Xinghe was thinking.

At the same time, the stone door in the cave was pushed open, and a golden longsword flew out, aiming straight for Lin Jue's head.

The newcomer was dressed in a Taoist robe, his hair was as black as ink, he made a sword with two fingers, and he chanted incantations as he performed a sword control technique.

"Immortal, save me!"

Zhu Laizi, as if grasping at a straw, hurriedly and hastily scrambled toward the direction of the approaching person.

But when the long sword came straight at him, Lin Jue remained unmoved. Under his mental control, Zhu Xinghe's body moved uncontrollably to block the fatal blow for him.

He didn't expect that the person who came was not Zhao Kun, but the enlightened immortal he had met once before, who was respected and envied at Zhao's residence that night.

"Hand over the treasure you possess that allows you to control the Zhu Xinghe River, and I might spare your life."

The man in the Taoist robe entered the cave, followed by a large group of bandits who completely surrounded Lin Jue.

With tears welling in her eyes, Zhao Xiaoyao said pitifully and in bewilderedly, "My father treated you as an honored guest, and the Zhao family has never wronged you in any way. How could you, Immortal, collude with Zhao Kun and the others? Is this the behavior of an immortal?"

Before the Taoist man could speak, a rustling sound suddenly came from the top of the cave and all around, as if something was surging towards the cave.

The Taoist-robed man, sensing something amiss, turned cold. He was about to unleash his flying sword against Lin Jue when the latter's words made him hesitate.

"I wonder how many more times the immortal can use his flying sword? If it's only once or twice, I advise you to save it to save your life."

As soon as the words were spoken, black snakes emerged from the crevices of the cave, appearing from all directions and flicking their tongues as they attacked the bandits and the Taoist-robed man.

The Taoist-robed man used his flying sword to protect himself, cutting all the nearby venomous snakes into several pieces.

As for the bandits, they were all dead within three or four breaths.

Seeing the ever-increasing number of venomous snakes, seemingly endless, the Taoist man anxiously cried out, "I am Wuyanzi, and I bear the mark of my master, the Golden Light Master of Yucheng. If you kill me, my master will never forgive you."

The large number of black snakes stopped attacking and coiled up about three feet away from the man in the Taoist robe, swaying from side to side and constantly flicking their tongues.

Lin Jueqiang sat on the stone bench, struggling to control hundreds of black snakes. He felt as if his head was about to be torn apart, his mind was exhausted, and his eyelids were drooping.

Zhao Xiaoyao was so frightened by the sudden appearance of the swarm of venomous snakes that she fainted and is now lying at Lin Jue's feet.

Seeing that the snakes had stopped attacking him, Wu Yanzi was about to sit down and meditate to recover his spiritual power when he heard Lin Jue's voice in his ear, asking him to hand over a drop of soul blood.

Lin Jue had anticipated that ordinary spirit-controlling gourd water could not control immortals, but as long as he could obtain a drop of the other party's soul blood, he could still control the other party's life and death by relying on the spirit-controlling seal in his sea of ​​consciousness.

After learning that cultivators existed in this world, Lin Jue went to great lengths to find out about the existence of immortal soul blood.

He once encountered a three-meter-long catfish with four whiskers under the ice. In the dead of winter, he risked his life underwater to obtain a drop of the catfish's blood and successfully used the Spirit Seal to make it dredge a hole for him to catch fish.

Over the past few months, Lin Jue has gained considerable experience in using the Spirit Summoning Gourd Seal. For ordinary people who have not yet reached the Martial Master realm, the ordinary Spirit Summoning Gourd water is sufficient to control it.

For birds and beasts, whose size often exceeds fifty pounds, the Spirit-Controlling Gourd Water often becomes ineffective. Like martial artists and immortals, they can only control and drive them by using the Spirit-Controlling Seal by relying on the other party's blood.

Deep underground in the cave.

Lin Jue and Wu Yanzi were one in front of the other.

They quickly found the eerie corpse that Zhu Xinghe had mentioned. Just as they were about to touch the corpse, a black snake the size of a palm crawled out of the corpse's chest cavity.

Upon closer inspection, two horns could be faintly seen emerging from the black snake's forehead.