From a country cook to a master chef

The tavern doesn't even have a sign; does anyone not know it's closed today?

Lin Jue frowned and muttered something, then found a rope and tied Qin Kuai to the plum tree in the yard before jogging towards the tavern's entrance.

The moment the door opened, a strong smell of blood hit us.

Lin Jue stared wide-eyed at the person in front of him in disbelief.

"Xiang Ping!"

At the tavern entrance, Xiang Yuan's adopted son, Xiang Ping, was covered in blood, his hair disheveled, a dagger embedded in his chest, blood dripping from the tip. He was barely breathing, his voice so weak it was almost inaudible: "Help...help me."

Before Xiang Ping could finish speaking, his body went limp and he collapsed onto the threshold.

Lin Jue had studied traditional Chinese medicine for a year with a local doctor when he was in middle school. Now, as he took the other person's pulse, he couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.

The pulse is lifeless, the vital energy gate is closed, and there is no cure.

Remembering Xiang Yuan's dying words, asking him to help Xiang Ping to the best of his ability, he never expected that such a disaster would occur in less than half a month.

Lin Jue was momentarily lost in thought, and after a long silence, he slowly came back to his senses.

The incident happened suddenly, and he was just an ordinary person. It was not his fault that he could not save Xiang Ping.

Lin Jue sighed and bent down to examine Xiang Ping's body. Apart from a few taels of silver, he only found a mysterious book with a black cover and an old-fashioned prescription.

Lin Jue tossed the obtained book pages and prescription into his storage bag, then carried Xiang Ping's body into the backyard.

He had amazing eyesight and noticed Qin Kuai's expression when he saw Xiang Ping's corpse: the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and his eyes revealed a hint of cunning that was hard to detect.

Could this matter also be related to the Black Bamboo Gang?

Lin Jue secretly pondered to himself.

Qin Chi, the leader of the Black Bamboo Gang, possesses unfathomable martial arts skills. From their perspective, the fact that Xiang Yuan is missing and the Qinghe Tavern has been transferred to another party strongly suggests that something has happened to Xiang Yuan. Therefore, they are eager to take a bite out of this lucrative opportunity.

The distribution of power in Yucheng is complex and intertwined. If there is even the slightest hesitation, the duck that is about to be eaten by Qinghe Tavern may fly away.

Thinking of this, Lin Jue quietly found a straw mat in the storeroom, wrapped Xiang Ping up, laid him on the cart, and planned to take him out of the city for burial once the snow subsided.

Around noon, Lin Jue pushed his cart out of the city and encountered many other people like him who were burying corpses.

Death is fair to everyone, but not absolutely so.

Some are heavier than Mount Tai, while others are lighter than a feather.

Some were buried with dignity, in coffins, while others were simply wrapped in straw mats and hastily buried. Still others were buried in mass graves, with the sky as their roof and the earth as their coffin.

The heavy snow showed no signs of stopping, and as time went on, the Dawu government became powerless to provide relief supplies. With the forests being cleared, more and more people were starving and freezing to death.

Lin Jue specially buried Xiang Ping next to Xiang Yuan, so that the two could keep each other company on the road to the underworld.

Looking at the mound of earth in front of him, he found it hard to imagine that this was the final resting place of a martial artist in the Divine Illumination Realm.

Lin Jue clenched his fists. He didn't want to become a mound of earth like that in the future. Even if it was unavoidable, he wanted to be a large tomb with a coffin made of nanmu wood and a wall of white marble.

It's definitely not just a handful of yellow earth.

"Senior Xiang, you are a peerless hero who slaughtered the Gao family, allowing me to enjoy this brief period of peace. I will never forget this for the rest of my life."

"You asked me to help Xiang Ping, but I failed to do so. However, this is not my fault. I, Lin Jue, hereby promise that if I ever find out who killed Xiang Ping, I will avenge him."

Lin Jue stood quietly in front of Xiang Yuan's tomb, took out a tinderbox, lit three sticks of incense, and bowed calmly in worship. He secretly vowed that if he had the chance, he would avenge Xiang Ping and repay the debt of gratitude owed to him by the tavern.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, when passing through Nanping Gate, Lin Jue ran into Han Wenqiao, who was returning to Yucheng. The latter seemed to have suffered a serious internal injury and was in a hurry to enter the city to find someone to treat him. Therefore, he only greeted Lin Jue briefly and did not say much.

"He invited me to explore the cave of a Foundation Establishment cultivator before, but judging from his current appearance, he obviously suffered a great loss in that cave."

Watching Han Wenqiao head towards the Tower of Babel in the outer city, Lin Jue shook his head slightly. "The difference between the Foundation Establishment stage and the Qi Refining stage is truly like heaven and earth. It's just an abandoned cave dwelling for Foundation Establishment cultivators, yet it was able to injure a Qi Refining cultivator so severely."

For a martial artist to contend with a Qi Refiner, they must at least raise their strength to the Divine Power Realm, relying on their internal energy to unleash martial arts supernatural powers in order to be able to match a Qi Refining cultivator.

Lin Jue returned to the tavern just in time for dinner. Yuan Rou had prepared the food and invited him to eat.

At the dining table, both of them buried their heads in their bowls of white rice, creating an awkward atmosphere.

"I'm done eating!"

"Um."

Lin Jue ate quickly, and after putting down his chopsticks, he immediately turned around and ran to his dormitory.

Qin Kuai was tied to a tree in the courtyard, seemingly certain that Lin Jue would not dare to touch him, and was sleeping soundly at the moment.

Lin Jue only glanced at him and ignored him. After entering the room, he immediately took out the black book and ancient prescription he had obtained from Xiang Ping.

"Qi and Blood Powder can help martial artists nourish their qi and blood, condense their internal energy, and advance to the Divine Power Realm within three months. Ordinary people can also take it to strengthen their foundation, prolong their lives, and improve their health."

Upon seeing the various effects described in the prescription, Lin Jue was immediately excited. Right now, what he needed most was something that could quickly boost his strength.

In this chaotic world, where heroes vie for power, all schemes and plots are nothing but illusions. Only by possessing great strength can one stand firm amidst the turbulent waves.

Medicine prescriptions are precious. If an ordinary family could obtain a prescription, although it cannot be guaranteed that they would become rich and powerful, they could at least live a life free from worries about food and clothing.

For a martial arts school, the prescription is like its lifeblood; though small, it weighs a great weight.

Every master in a martial arts school can be considered a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Every prescription they have is closely related to the martial arts taught at the school. Some even have different prescriptions specifically for each set of martial arts techniques.

If the wrong prescription is used, the effect will be greatly reduced.

It is said that some martial arts, if not practiced with the corresponding medicinal formula, may not only fail to produce results, but may also damage the body, leading to depletion of qi and blood, making it a losing proposition.

Overjoyed that his blood and qi had been released, Lin Jue was beaming with delight, unable to stop smiling.

When he looked at the dark book again, he was overjoyed.

The book not only records Xiang Yuan's practice of the "Xiang Family Sword Technique," but also records a sword move he comprehended on his own called "Heavenly Reversal," as well as his various insights and experiences in the path of martial arts.

With this manual, Lin Jue essentially had a martial artist at the Divine Illumination Realm as his teacher, and for him, its long-term value exceeded the formula for the Qi and Blood Powder.

"Hmm, this is..."

Just as Lin Jue turned to the last page of the manual, a long, rectangular, gold-colored page fell out of the manual.

He picked it up and was immediately shocked.

The back of the book was covered with all sorts of dense, strange patterns, making one dizzy from looking at them; on the other side were three large, gleaming gold characters:

Tianwu Mountain!

If he remembered correctly, he had heard his senior brothers from the Four Symbols Martial Arts School mention this place before. At that time, he had advanced to the Martial Master level, and his senior brothers all said that he, like his senior brother Wang Lingzhi, was qualified to join Tianwu Mountain.

Lin Jue had a deep impression of Tianwu Mountain, but unfortunately, Master Liu told him that he would be informed about Tianwu Mountain at the appropriate time.

However, things didn't go as planned. The Four Symbols Martial Arts School was ostracized, and Master Liu had no choice but to lead his fellow disciples to leave for Xiaoyao Mansion.

Unexpectedly, these golden pages are related to Tianwu Mountain.

Upon realizing this, Lin Jue became interested and, upon closer inspection, indeed discovered some clues.