From a country cook to a master chef

The stone alley was deep and quiet. Lin Jue walked silently behind the woman in yellow, wanting to see what tricks she was up to.

The woman in yellow was very familiar with the place. She led Lin Jue into a more secluded corner and whispered, "Don't worry, husband, no one will see us here."

Under Lin Jue's puzzled gaze, the woman leaned against the wall.

"Phew~"

A wisp of white mist escaped from her mouth, and with a few careful movements, she successfully pried two bricks off the wall.

She tapped the bricks with her index finger, and with the sound of stone chips falling off, the two bricks turned into two ferocious venomous snakes.

"Sharp-nosed stone viper!"

Lin Jue couldn't help but call out.

What the woman was holding was completely unexpected to him.

The sharp-nosed viper, also known as the five-step snake, has a triangular head with a pointed, upturned snout and grayish-white square patches on its back.

According to the "Illustrated Compendium of Spiritual Beasts and Plants of the Great Martial World", the only creatures that can be seen near Yucheng are common sharp-nosed vipers. If bitten by one, the venom will enter the body and kill a person in no time.

If it were just an ordinary five-step snake, Lin Jue wouldn't be so shocked.

What he didn't expect was that the woman in yellow was raising two mutated sharp-nosed vipers.

This variant has scales all over its body that are as dark as stones, hence the name sharp-nosed stone viper. Its venom is several times more potent than that of the ordinary sharp-nosed viper.

Once bitten by this mutated sharp-nosed viper, its venom can instantly kill a person. Even a martial artist at the Divine Power Realm would surely die within five steps if accidentally bitten.

Only martial artists at the Divine Illumination Realm or above can forcefully expel snake venom from their bodies using their own blood and qi.

"If you wish to obtain this snake, my lord, you only need to grant me one small request."

Seeing Lin Jue's interest in the venomous snake in her hand, the woman in yellow looked earnest and spoke in a soft, cautious voice, "To be honest, my husband, Miss Fu from the Medicine Shop and I are childhood friends and relatives. She told me that you needed poison and directed me to my grandfather on Wenxiang Road, so I came here in advance to wait for you."

Upon hearing the woman's words, Lin Jue was taken aback for a moment, then asked unhurriedly, "So, your grandfather is the person Miss Fu directed me to find?"

The woman smiled and said in a mournful voice, "My lord, you may not know this, but my grandfather recently contracted a cold and is now seriously ill in bed. He urgently needs Five Poison Astragalus to save his life."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue asked in confusion, "If you're sick, you should see a doctor. Why did you come to me, young lady? Do you think I know medicine?"

"I implore you, my lord, to go to Huangni Pond and retrieve the Five Poisonous Astragalus to save my grandfather's life. In return, I will offer you the Sharp-nosed Stone Viper with both hands."

The woman in yellow suddenly knelt down before Lin Jue, holding the sharp-nosed viper in her hands. Her expression was full of anxiety and expectation. "I have heard that you, my lord, are a master of martial arts and a chivalrous man. You once braved the Wolf Smoke Valley to pick the Meridian Opening Grass for my cousin Yuechi. You are a man of great loyalty and righteousness. If I can get your help, I am willing to serve you like a slave."

Upon hearing the woman's request, Lin Jue felt somewhat annoyed.

Firstly, there was no affection or camaraderie between him and that Miss Fu, as the woman in yellow claimed. Their relationship was merely an exchange of interests, where each got what they wanted.

Secondly, if he didn't agree, according to what the woman said, he would seem to be a heartless and cruel person.

"That woman is really something. She would have been better off just asking for my help directly. I'd better stay away from her in the future!"

"However, I have heard Senior Sister Ruyan mention that mud pool. It seems that you can catch a kind of mudfish called Earth Yellow Dragon in that pool, which can help martial artists strengthen their tendons and marrow and temper their bodies."

Lin Jue inwardly grumbled, but his face remained unchanged as he helped the woman up, stroking his chin and feigning distress. "Huangni Pond is several miles away from Yucheng. The weather is bitterly cold now, and tigers roam the mountains. It's extremely dangerous, unlike the past few days."

"Then how about this? I'll give you one of the sharp-nosed vipers first, and if you bring back the Five Poison Astragalus, I'll give you the remaining one." Seeing that Lin Jue seemed interested, the woman smiled. "Grandpa can hold on for about half a month now. I only ask that you bring the Five Poison Astragalus within this time. I would be extremely grateful."

"..."

The woman's filial piety was touching. Lin Jue remained silent for a moment, then pointed to the sharp-nosed viper in her hand without any politeness and asked, "I saw that Miss Fu was able to take out the beast-repelling incense before. From what she said, it seems that her ancestors were quite skilled in repelling insects and controlling beasts."

Lin Jue deliberately muttered in a low voice, "You and Miss Fu are not only sisters-in-law, but you can also control sharp-nosed vipers. I'm quite curious about how you managed to do that."

The woman in yellow was taken aback for a moment, but then she reacted and said with a smile, "To be honest, my cousin Yuechi and I were Qi Refining cultivators in the past. We both studied under the Yu Ling Sect, a major cultivation sect. So we passed down some of the techniques of beast taming to our descendants. Anyway, it is just an incomplete manual. Since you are interested in it, I am willing to give it to you."

Seeing the yellowed old book in the woman's hand with its tattered cover and slightly curled edges, Lin Jue was overjoyed.

"In that case, I, Lin, can make a promise to you, young lady: I ​​will definitely bring the Five Poison Astragalus within half a month."

Thus, the sharp-nosed stone viper became Lin Jue's possession, and he also unexpectedly obtained a secret manual that seemed to have flowed out from the great immortal cultivation sect, Yu Ling Sect. Although it was incomplete, it was definitely of great help to Lin Jue.

Although the Yuling Sect is a cultivation sect, it does not mean that only Qi cultivators can use the things that come out of its sect.

If this girl, so eager to save her family, were a cultivator, she would have gone to the Yellow Mud Pool alone to gather herbs long ago; she wouldn't be so humble as to beg me for help.

Huangni Tan is several miles away from Yucheng. Right now, the land is frozen solid, and everywhere is covered in ice and snow. Not to mention that she also has to take care of her sick grandfather, she, a weak woman, would never dare to go to Huangni Tan to collect herbs.

Once you leave Yucheng, you'll face not only harsh weather, but also ferocious wild beasts and complex human nature.

While lost in thought, Lin Jue stuffed the ancient book into his pocket and jogged back to Qinghe Tavern.

Now that all the medicinal materials for preparing Qi and Blood Powder are available, the next step is to follow the steps in the prescription to prepare Qi and Blood Powder step by step in order to improve strength as soon as possible.

After crushing and mixing all the medicinal materials, you only need to patiently wait for their medicinal properties to blend.

Taking advantage of this break, Lin Jue's thoughts returned to the sharp-nosed stone viper that had been exposed to incense for a long time.

As the last bit of incense burned out, Lin Jue eagerly activated the Spirit Control Seal, and in a daze, he established a strong spiritual connection with the Sharp-nosed Stone Viper.

With a thought, Lin Jue slowly reached out his hand, and the sharp-nosed stone viper crawled up his palm and hid in his sleeve.

He breathed a sigh of relief and lay on the bed, flipping through the beast-taming manual he had obtained: all the spiritual beasts and plants in the world are classified into levels. Spiritual beasts can be divided into levels one to ten. The first six levels are demonic beasts, which can be tamed and used as spiritual beasts. Levels seven to ten are demonic cultivators, whose strength is at least comparable to a human Nascent Soul cultivator...

Lin Jue's expression shifted between solemnity and shock. After reading the entire manual, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he could easily control all insect beasts below level one by using the beast-taming techniques in the book.

Such as the sharp-nosed pit viper, the silver-ringed snake, the gray wolf, and birds.

Lin Jue leaned against the pillow and couldn't help but sigh, "I never imagined that even an incomplete manual could be so amazing."

"Of all things in the world, the other person's is always the best."

After the Qi and Blood Powder was prepared, Lin Jue did not rush to take it himself. He had to conduct an experiment first to see if it could, as the prescription stated, make the user's Qi and blood vigorous and their energy abundant.

After wandering around the tavern, Lin Jue set his sights on the tethered wolf cub.

As the vital energy and blood flowed into his body, the originally listless wolf cub instantly became radiant and full of energy.

Having witnessed the efficacy of the Qi and Blood Powder, Lin Jue was very satisfied.

After taking the Qi and Blood Powder and practicing martial arts diligently for two hours, the amount of internal energy in his body increased at an astonishing rate to twenty-two strands, marking that he had become a true seventh-level martial arts master.

With two-thirds of his Qi and Blood Dispersing Essence remaining, Lin Jue did not continue cultivating.

A good balance between work and rest leads to high efficiency. After two days without sleep, he was feeling the strain and desperately needed a rest, so he lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

"Manager Lin, open the door! Manager Lin!"

In a daze, Lin Jue heard someone knocking on the tavern door, seemingly very urgently.

He felt a little confused. He had just lain down and closed his eyes, so how could it be dawn already?

But looking out the window, it was indeed early morning.

Lin Jue clenched his fist, waved it, and slapped it against the quilt to vent his dissatisfaction.

The knocking at the door grew more urgent, and Lin Jue finally couldn't bear it any longer. He got up, put on his cloak, and went to open the door.

He suddenly froze on the spot when he passed Yuan Rou's room.

Something's not right. Yuan Rou couldn't possibly be away from the tavern at this time.

Could something have happened to her?