From a country cook to a master chef

A cold wind swept across the barren mountains, carrying heavy snow. A huge gray wolf sat on a rock, peering around cautiously, much like a scout on guard duty.

Behind it, on the snow, were numerous messy yet somehow patterned footprints.

At this moment, a young man dressed in a black cloak is practicing his stake training in the snow.

Suddenly, the gray wolf raised its head and puffed out a long, desolate howl, the sound shaking the snow off the branches and echoing through the mountains.

The young man in black showed no change in expression, and was not surprised at all.

"After mastering the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand, one can layer palm force up to six times when facing an enemy. The hidden force is like a tidal wave, making it impossible to defend against. Now I have only mastered the Three Harmonies Palm Force. The palm technique is just beginning to take shape, but it is enough to deal with martial artists at the Divine Power Realm."

If one cultivates this technique to its peak, one can stack six layers of palm force; a single strike from such a force would likely be too much even for a Divine Illumination Realm martial artist to withstand.

Thinking of this, the young man, who was extremely satisfied with the power of the Six Harmonies Wilderness Hand, breathed a long sigh of relief and then waved to the gray wolf sitting cross-legged on the rock.

This person is none other than Lin Jue, who is cultivating innate physical techniques here.

He was able to appear on this deserted hill thanks to the gray wolf's "fast growth".

It turns out that ever since he left Tianwu Mountain with Elder Hu of the Inner Court, he had been looking for an opportunity to cultivate the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand.

Later he discovered that "Grow Fast" had amazing speed; even when carrying him, its speed was no less than that of fast horses.

Therefore, every now and then, Lin Jue would separate from the inner court team and find a quiet place to practice his physical skills.

Each time he was close to finishing his training, he would ride "Grow Fast" to quickly catch up with the group. After several days of practice, he had now mastered the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand technique to the point where all three energies could be unleashed simultaneously, and his strength was once again enhanced.

While practicing the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand, Lin Jue studied the Tortoise Shell Technique manual that had been gathering dust in his storage bag. He was surprised to find that practicing this technique required the use of a strange human talisman.

This reminded him of the strange runes that appeared on Feng Yucheng's skin when he used the demon transformation technique in the Netherworld.

Connecting the two, Lin Jue became even more convinced that the Tortoise Shell Technique and the demonization secret method of the evil cultivators of Wushan originated from the same source.

Of course, these are just his own speculations.

Lin Jue was unaware of the actual situation.

However, there is no doubt that the Tortoise Shell Technique originated from the Twelve Divisions of Wushan.

When Yucheng suddenly fell in a short period of time, Lin Jue guessed that there was an inside agent in this important border town.

Now he has even more reason to believe that Zhao Kun, the third young master of the Zhao family, is a spy from Wushan.

Before the Zhanbo Kingdom launched its large-scale invasion of Dawu, it had already dispatched a large number of spies to lie in wait in the important border cities and towns of Dawu.

The successive defections of garrison commanders throughout the Great Wu region undoubtedly confirm this point.

For a time, the people in the Dawu army were filled with panic.

On the battlefield, a soldier's defection can sway the course of the battle.

With frequent reports of victories, the morale of the Zhanbo Kingdom's army soared, and they successively conquered several checkpoints in Dawu, making the previously stalemate even more intense.

Lin Jue, riding "Grows Fast," quickly caught up with the group. At this moment, they had joined forces with a 50,000-strong army dispatched by the imperial court from Haoran Prefecture.

Zhang Shiyou, the general in charge of this army, was discussing the strategy to defeat the enemy with Elder Hu, who was leading the Tianwu Mountain troops.

Since leaving Tianwu Mountain, Elder Hu's two disciples, Diao Qian and Diao Qian, had both chosen to avoid Lin Jue because of a previous conflict with him in the inner courtyard.

As a result, the three of them did not have any direct contact for half a month.

Faced with Lin Jue's current strength at the late stage of the Divine Power Realm, Diao Qian was filled with complex emotions. He never expected that he would offend such a capable person unintentionally.

In less than half a year after entering the mountain, he broke through from the Martial Master realm to the Divine Power realm. Not only did he manage to return alive from the Netherworld Ghost Land, but he also became a disciple of Zhong Liang, the vice dean of the Inner Academy. Furthermore, he comprehended the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand, one of the ten supreme physical techniques, from the innate physical techniques of Tianwu Mountain...

At this moment, Diao Qian's face was extremely ugly, with a series of emotions such as envy, regret, surprise, and jealousy appearing on his face.

Seeing this, Lin Jue was overjoyed and felt a surge of pride.

Thinking it over, Diao Qian, who knew he could never avoid Lin Jue, gave a bitter smile, sighed, and then bowed to Lin Jue with a complicated expression, calling him "Senior Brother Lin".

Tianwu Mountain values ​​strength above all else. Although he joined the sect early, his current strength is not as great as Lin Jue's. Calling him Senior Brother Lin is not an exaggeration.

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue readily agreed, smiling broadly, "Senior Brother Diao, there's no need for that. Just call me Junior Brother."

"Senior Brother Lin, you mustn't. That's the rule of the inner courtyard." Diao Qian quickly shook his head, his aloofness and arrogance completely gone from when they first met.

"By the way, Senior Brother Lin, you may not know this, but when I left the inner courtyard, I returned the spirit sword to Junior Brother Zhang. After this incident, you and I became acquainted through a fight. Now that we are going to the front lines together, we will have to support each other on the battlefield in the future."

Diao Qian's words surprised and delighted Lin Jue.

Speaking of which, he and Zhang Kuang were from the same hometown and had a life-or-death friendship. Since the other party had regained the spirit sword, his cultivation path would surely be smooth sailing. He couldn't help but feel happy for him.

Thus, Lin Jue and Diao Qian had a pleasant conversation, and the estrangement caused by their past conflicts was gone, which can be considered as a truce.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and Lin Jue and his group finally arrived at their front-line base, Xiaoyao Mansion, Xuanlu Mountain.

After spending a peaceful night in the army camp, early the next morning, armored soldiers came to summon Lin Jue, shouting loudly outside the tent:

"By order of Lord Hu Meng, Lin Jue is to proceed to the central command tent to await further orders."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue felt a chill run down his spine. It was only his first day, and he already had a mission assigned to him. He then walked out of the military tent with a solemn expression.

"Lin Jue, listen to my command. I hereby appoint you as a commander. You shall lead three hundred reinforcements to Yantan Town, Lanzhou, Xiaoyao Prefecture, immediately. You must capture the head of the traitor Pan Ren, defend Yantan Pass, and await further orders."

Inside the central command tent, Elder Hu of the Inner Court, who had already been appointed as a deputy general, pondered for a moment before pointing to a strategic pass on the sand table and issuing a military order.

Lin Jue was taken aback and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Uncle-Master Hu, am I leading the team to Yantan Pass alone?"

Upon hearing Lin Jue's address, Hu Meng's expression hardened, and he corrected him, "We are in the army now, you should call me General."

"Yes, General Tiger."

Upon hearing this, Hu Meng's expression softened, and he said earnestly, "I just learned that most of the disciples sent to the front lines by the inner court have already died in battle. It was a near-death experience. The cruelty of this battle far exceeded my expectations."

Last night, Dunjun reported that a force of nearly a thousand men from Zhanbo was about to launch a surprise attack on Yantan Pass. Although the inner court sent a hundred disciples to help, the army is still short-handed. I believe you can defend this pass.

The general guarding Yantan Pass is named Pan Ren, a martial artist in the late stage of the Divine Power Realm. According to scouts, he has the tendency to surrender and rebel, but he has not yet taken any action. You should set off immediately and try to kill Pan Ren and take control of Yantan Pass before it falls.

When the troops from Jambo arrive, they will feign surrender and, together with another force I have arranged, launch a pincer attack to completely annihilate the enemy chieftain.

After Lin Jue received his order and left the tent, a captain who had been waiting for him approached him and respectfully greeted him, saying:

"This humble general, Xi Ning, greets Commander Lin!"