From a country cook to a master chef

Lin Jue had a thought, and the sharp-nosed stone viper that received the command immediately darted out of his sleeve and bit at the three terrified Black Bamboo Gang leaders.

"Wait, as long as you let me go, I, Qin Chi, will give you whatever money you want."

"Excuse me, I want them all."

Lin Jue smiled slightly, but the next second his gaze suddenly turned cold. The sharp-nosed stone viper was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it poisoned and killed the five people.

After confirming there were no survivors, Lin Jue smiled, climbed out of the window, and drifted away along the planned route.

The screams from the private room quickly attracted the manager of Honghualou and the thugs sent by Wanhualou in Pingkangfang to protect the two top courtesans.

Upon seeing that the five people inside the house were already dead, the fat manager of the Red Flower Pavilion was so frightened that his eyes rolled back and he fainted instantly.

The two thugs from Pingkangfang immediately noticed the open window and quickly climbed out to chase after it.

At this moment, Lin Jue had already made his escape and returned to the tavern. He closed the door tightly and couldn't wait to go to his bedroom, dumping all the good stuff he had looted from the three high-ranking members of the Black Bamboo Gang onto the bed.

Lin Jue didn't miss the sachets on the two top courtesans of the brothel, which were filled with the strong scent of rouge. Inside, besides some loose silver and jewelry, there were only one or two women's undergarments and bodices.

Jewelry is alright; it can be used as money.

Lin Jue couldn't think of a suitable use for those strapless robes, and he couldn't very well give them to Yuan Rou.

If you ask him what he was most looking forward to after this assassination, it would have to be the treasures on the three members of the Black Bamboo Gang.

As the gang leader, Qin Chi must have a lot of good stuff on him.

"Hahaha!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Looking at the bed full of spoils, Lin Jue suddenly burst into laughter.

Laughter echoed in the room; at that moment, he had completely fallen in love with the world.

If this had happened before I time-traveled, doing these things would have undoubtedly landed me a life sentence in jail.

Qin Chi, leader of the Black Bamboo Gang.

The Deadly Scholar Li Tianxiong.

Fat Cat Ding Wei.

The three people who were feared by the refugees of Xiayuanfang all died at the hands of Lin Jue.

He won't offend others unless they offend him.

That's just how he does things!

Lin Jue felt much better. He knew when to be cautious and when to act decisively; this was his principle in life.

As the laughter subsided, Lin Jue took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly. The smile on his face faded, replaced by anticipation. His gaze swept over the book inch by inch, and he bent down to pick up an old book with a rustic, yellowed cover.

"A brief appraisal of talismans?"

"The art of talismans is divided into imperial edicts and decrees."

"The imperial edict talisman communicates with heaven and earth through runes and can invoke various powers through incantations. The command talisman, on the other hand, can directly command the many energy rules in the world to serve one's own purposes."

"Generally speaking, command talismans are more direct and convenient, and are often used to draw simple talismans with single attributes such as fire talismans and ice talismans, while imperial edict talismans require time to activate and are often used to create various powerful talisman treasures."

After reading the contents of the book, Lin Jue was shocked. He never expected that martial artists could also draw and use simple command talismans.

After searching through the belongings, he indeed found three low-level Fire Mandate Talismans carefully placed in a brocade pouch among Qin Chi's "relics".

The Fire Talisman is very easy to use. When fighting someone, just secretly stick it on the hidden weapon, and it will seriously injure the opponent along with the hidden weapon.

Lin Jue rested his chin on his right hand and gripped the three imperial edict talismans tightly with his left, a wave of fear washing over him.

Fortunately, he chose the Ten Fragrant Softening Powder. This medicine is colorless and odorless, and can make the poisoned person weak and powerless, making them vulnerable to being slaughtered. There is also an antidote available.

He had taken the antidote for the Ten Fragrant Tendon-Softening Powder beforehand, which prevented him from revealing his true identity when Qin Chi and the others asked him to test the poison.

If he had chosen another poison without an antidote, the consequences would have been unimaginable if Qin Chi and the other two, as martial artists at the Divine Power Realm, had desperately used the Imperial Fire Talisman when the poison took effect.

"That was close!"

Lin Jue breathed a sigh of relief. After putting the three fire talismans into his storage bag, his gaze was drawn to a parchment scroll next to his pillow.

"The Yellow Dragon Pill can accelerate the speed at which a martial artist at the Martial Master level condenses their internal energy. One Yellow Dragon Pill can quickly raise a martial artist's strength by ten levels."

Lin Jue never expected that Qin Chi possessed such a heaven-defying medicinal formula. If he could obtain ten Yellow Dragon Pills, and combine them with the Breakthrough Pills he hadn't been willing to take before, wouldn't he be able to advance to the Divine Power Realm?

At that time, when facing Qi Refining stage cultivators again, he won't have to be as cautious as he is now.

"It's a pity that we don't know what the Blood-Weeping Vine mentioned in this prescription is, and it's not recorded in the 'Great Martial Spirit Beast and Spirit Plant Illustrated Guide' either."

Lin Jue sighed, put the prescription into his storage bag, and was smiling as he sorted through the silver notes he had received when a letter suddenly fell out from among the large pile of silver notes.

Is this a letter Qin Chi wrote to the Gao family?

Upon seeing the signature and recipient, Lin Jue was startled and quickly sat on the bed to carefully read the contents of the letter.

After reading the last line, he frowned, feeling like he had been tricked, and angrily tore the letter into pieces.

He thought the Black Bamboo Gang would join forces with the Gao family to deal with him, but he didn't expect that the Black Bamboo Gang couldn't withstand the Gao family's suppression. Seeing that the businesses in both markets were about to plummet, Qin Chi had no choice but to write a letter to the Gao family to compromise. Both sides took a step back and stopped bothering each other.

Aside from the Yellow Dragon Elixir formula, the ancient talisman book, and the three imperial edict talismans, the only thing Lin Jue valued most among the remaining items was the large amount of silver notes and loose silver.

He roughly calculated that it added up to nearly a thousand taels of silver.

After years of painstaking management of Xiayuanfang, the Black Bamboo Gang has indeed become incredibly wealthy and powerful.

This is just the amount of money that the three senior executives usually carry with them.

An indescribable excitement welled up from the bottom of his heart, and Lin Jue's smile grew even wider.

Just then, the sharp-nosed stone viper wrapped around his arm suddenly flicked its tongue, its eyes fixed on a sachet woven with black thread, seemingly very interested in it.

Lin Jue opened the sachet and found a thumb-sized, jade-white, oval-shaped pebble inside. Before he could examine it closely, the sharp-nosed stone viper suddenly stood up and excitedly swallowed it whole.

"Um?"

Lin Jue was a little angry, but he didn't dare to pry open the mouth of the sharp-nosed stone viper directly. He quickly activated the Spirit Control Seal to make it spit out the stones.

Lin Jue observed it for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

With its hard texture and jade-white outer skin, it's just an ordinary stone.

The sharp-nosed stone viper stared intently at the stone in Lin Jue's hand, looking eager to try it out.

Seeing its behavior, Lin Jue hesitated for a moment, but still rewarded it with the stone.

After all, it was thanks to its mouth that Lin Jue was able to easily defeat Qin Chi and the other two without bloodshed.

The Zhao family's Blood Blade is infamous, and the knife wounds it leaves behind could easily be recognized, so Lin Jue would not use it unless absolutely necessary.

Pine Crane Long Fist is a close-quarters combat style. Although Qin Chi and the other two were affected by the Ten Fragrant Softening Powder, they were still martial artists at the Divine Power Realm. To be on the safe side, using the Sharp-nosed Stone Viper to kill the three of them was definitely the best option.

Fifteen minutes later.

Call ~

Lin Jue lay down on the bed and let out a long sigh. He had already tallied up everything he had gained that day.

The next thing to consider is when to leave Yucheng, rely on the golden pages of the cinnabar book, and enter Tianwu Mountain to focus on martial arts training, staying away from all kinds of intrigue and deceit.

Of course, if possible, he wouldn't mind refining the Reversal of Five Elements Pill as soon as possible.

For ordinary people, a hundred years is considered a long life, but for martial artists, it's different. As their martial arts level improves, their lifespan can be significantly extended.

Lin Jue remembered very clearly that Zhang Sanfeng lived to be 218 years old.

For him, a hundred years is too short. Since he has traveled through time, he should live as long as possible.

If he can refine the Reversal of Five Elements Pill sooner and then endure the hardship for another hundred years, perhaps he can also enjoy the pleasures of becoming a cultivator.