From a country cook to a master chef

"Arrogant! What are you doing here?"

As soon as Lin Jue opened the door, he saw Zhang Kuang standing with another elite disciple of Tianwu Mountain.

"I heard that your strength has reached the forty-fifth level, and since I was resting for the next couple of days, I came to see you."

Zhang Kuang smiled slightly and pointed to the man in front of him, introducing him: "By the way, this is Senior Brother Xiahou Dun, a 62nd-level intermediate martial artist."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue quickly cupped his hands and said, "Junior Brother greets Senior Brother Xiahou."

Xiahou Dun nodded and said, "Junior Brother Lin, right? I've come today on orders to inform you of an important matter."

"Is it about the Yellow Dragon Pill?"

Lin Jue said expectantly, "If it's the Yellow Dragon Pill, Senior Brother can just give it to me directly."

Xiahou Dun shook his head and calmly looked at Lin Jue: "Junior brother, you may not know this, but according to the academy's arrangement, this batch and all subsequent Yellow Dragon Pills must be sent to inner court disciples for consumption. In other words, outer court disciples will no longer enjoy Yellow Dragon Pill cultivation resources."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue glanced at Zhang Kuang, and seeing the latter nod, his spirits plummeted. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded and whispered:

"Thank you for coming to inform me, Senior Brother. Since it's an arrangement by the academy, I naturally have no questions or complaints. By the way, I have some good tea here. If Senior Brother Xiahou doesn't mind, I'll go and brew some right away."

"Junior brother, wait a moment. There's no need for tea. I need to inform the other fellow disciples. I'll take my leave now."

Xiahou Dun beckoned to Lin Jue, who was about to make tea, but after refusing, he turned and walked over to the next room.

"Yucheng and other places have been successively occupied by Zhanbo Kingdom. In the past two months, the academy has sent three inner court disciples to the front line as reinforcements. I think the academy's arrangement this time is to do its best to help those advanced martial arts disciples break through to the supernatural power realm as soon as possible." Zhang Kuang walked into the house with a smile and said his guess.

Tianwu Academy divides its mountain disciples into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. The first three levels are all inner court disciples. If a Yellow-level disciple cultivates to the level of advanced martial master, he/she can be promoted to an inner court disciple.

Lin Jue looked Zhang Kuang up and down, then grabbed his wrist and sensed it briefly. He exclaimed in surprise, "Fifty-eighth level? You've broken through again?"

"It was just luck, just luck. Why don't we take advantage of this time and practice a bit?"

"Get lost! You're already at level 58! I was wondering why you came to see me out of kindness, turns out you just came here to show off!"

Hearing Lin Jue's warm greeting, Zhang Kuang was not angry but pleased, and said with a smile, "Don't rush to scold me, look at what I brought you."

Upon hearing Zhang Kuang's words, Lin Jue curiously looked at his hands and became excited, wishing he could snatch the items immediately: "Rehmannia, ginseng, Blood-Refining Grass... Where did you get so many medicinal herbs? Did you steal them from the Hundred Herbs Garden?!"

Lin Jue counted the spiritual plants on the table; they were all medicinal materials for preparing Qi and Blood Powder. Such a large quantity was enough for him to prepare ten doses of Qi and Blood Powder.

Based on his past experience with Qi and Blood Powder, if he could fully digest one dose of the medicine, it would be enough for him to condense eighteen strands of martial arts energy, thus increasing his strength by six levels.

With the medicinal herbs sent by Zhang Kuang, and assuming his body doesn't develop drug resistance, ten doses of Qi and Blood Powder would be enough for him to advance to the Divine Power Realm.

Even though the effects of the Qi and Blood Dispersing Pill were reduced, he still had the Breakthrough Pill and the Earth-Emerging Golden Lotus in his storage bag.

He was determined to reach the Divine Power Realm.

"On the way to Tianwu Mountain, I noticed you seemed very attentive to these medicinal herbs, so I memorized them all. Now that I've collected them all, I've brought them to you." Zhang Kuang said with a laugh, patting Lin Jue on the shoulder, "How about that, pretty good buddy, right?"

"Hmph, you wouldn't come here without a reason." Lin Jue snorted coldly, stood up and arranged the medicinal herbs. "What is it? Just say it."

"Good brother, you're really straightforward. I won't beat around the bush either."

Seeing that Lin Jue really liked the medicinal herbs he had given him, Zhang Kuang cut to the chase and said, "Let's be frank! I want to borrow Miss Yuan Rou this time."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Rou was so startled that she dropped the basin of clothes she had just washed onto the ground with a thud.

Lin Jue stared at Zhang Kuang in astonishment, finding it hard to believe what he had just heard.

Borrow Yuan Rou for a while?

How do you use it?

Zhang Kuang, fearing Lin Jue would refuse, quickly explained, "It's like this, I'm currently forging a weapon, and the senior brother from the Ironware Hall said he needs a woman to assist me. We're new here, and apart from you and Yuan Rou, no one else on Tianwu Mountain will help me, so you understand."

"This is the first time I've ever heard of a blacksmith needing a woman's help to forge weapons. If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, you can take these medicinal herbs back."

Upon hearing Zhang Kuang's arrogant words, Lin Jue was first taken aback, then heartbrokenly pushed the medicinal herbs back in front of him.

Seeing this, Zhang Kuang quickly pushed the medicinal herbs back to Lin Jue and stood up to explain: "The weapon I am going to forge this time is not an ordinary weapon, but a spiritual weapon with amazing power. Therefore, it is necessary to combine the right time, place and people when forging it, and use a woman's blood to melt water and quench it at the critical moment."

But Brother Lin, please rest assured, this will absolutely not harm Miss Yuan Rou. Of course, if all else fails, I will have no choice but to seek help from other kind-hearted fellow disciples.

Lin Jue's expression softened considerably after hearing Zhang Kuang's words; he could sense the sincerity in the other's words.

But he seemed to have chosen the wrong person; he should have said that to Yuan Rou.

Thinking of this, Lin Jue remained calm, pushed the medicinal herbs back to Zhang Kuang, and said softly, "Since you're asking Yuan Rou for help, just ask her. As long as she's willing, I naturally won't stop you."

Before Zhang Kuang could speak, Yuan Rou, holding the clothes she had picked up, smiled and said, "If Brother Zhang needs anything from me, I will certainly not refuse. As for these medicinal herbs, Brother Lin, please keep them if you need them!"

"Thank you, Brother Lin. Thank you, Miss Yuan Rou."

Zhang Kuang was overjoyed and repeatedly bowed to the two of them to say goodbye, then strode away with a smile.

Seeing this, Lin Jue first put away the medicinal herbs, then informed Yuan Rou, and ran towards the academy's scripture cave.

Right now, the last thing he lacks is money. With the proceeds from the sale of the tavern, he has nearly two thousand taels of silver in his pocket.

He had been taking Qi Xue San for several months. If he hastily prepared it, it would be a loss if his body developed drug resistance.

Therefore, Lin Jue, who possessed the formula for the Yellow Dragon Pill, decided to purchase the medicinal materials and refine the medicine himself as a backup plan.

The most urgent task now is to find out what the "blood-weeping vine" in the prescription actually is.

With this goal in mind, Lin Jue stayed in the Library Cave for several days, searching through almost all the medical books and classics, but he couldn't find any record of the Weeping Blood Vine.

His strange behavior caught the attention of the old man cleaning the Library Cave. Seeing his absent-minded and dejected appearance, the old man couldn't help but ask curiously, "Young man, if you have any questions, why not ask me? I've been in this Library Cave for decades and know quite a bit. Maybe I can help you solve your doubts."

A weathered voice sounded from behind Lin Jue. He immediately turned around and was surprised to find that an old man with a hunched back had appeared behind him at some point.

He was completely unaware of this.

"When did the old gentleman arrive at this library cave?"

"I can't remember, it might have been fifty years ago, or it might have been eighty years ago."

"..."

Lin Jue was slightly taken aback by the old man's irrelevant answer.

The old man leaned the broom against the wall, wiped his hands with his sleeve, and while arranging the scriptures on the bookshelf, he said with a smile, "Since you came to the Library Cave, you've been so focused on reading that it's normal that you haven't noticed this old man."

A hidden monk?

Lin Jue was startled and immediately realized that the old man in front of him was definitely no ordinary person. He quickly clasped his hands in a salute:

"This humble one, Lin Jue, is an ordinary disciple of the Yellow Rank from Tianwu Mountain. I pay my respects to the senior!"