From a country cook to a master chef

Lin Jue clenched his fist.

If we let Zhao Kun go tonight, we might face retaliation in the future.

His ability to cooperate with a Foundation Establishment cultivator like the Liu family troupe leader, even if it's due to the immortal book mentioned by Old Master Zhao, is enough to show that this person is extraordinary.

The town of Yulin has a population of about one hundred, many of whom are blood relatives of the same lineage.

They kill without hesitation, showing no humanity whatsoever.

"The silver-ringed snake is dead. Although the mutated black snake spirit is strange, I have never seen its power. Whether it can deal with Zhao Kun is still uncertain."

I pondered it over and over again.

After glancing at the four Zhao Kun men groaning on the ground, Lin Jue immediately had an idea.

These people are aiding and abetting evil, and if they can be used to deal with Zhao Kun, the mastermind, it wouldn't be a bad idea to let them go.

After promising them benefits, Lin Jue led the four men straight to the Zhao family's backyard. As for the notorious thief Zhu Xinghe, they received the bronze cube he offered. Although they promised not to kill him, they still tied him up in the courtyard. If they could find Miss Zhao Er later, they would hand him over to her; if not, they would deal with him separately.

"Master Lin, judging from the noise, that bastard Zhao Kun is definitely blowing up the warehouse!"

"Just watch how we deal with that beast later, you don't need to lift a finger."

"Old Six is ​​right. Zhao Kun is worse than a pig or a dog, not even a fraction as good as Master Lin."

The four of them took turns praising Zhao Kun, making him sound utterly worthless. Their ability to change their tune with the wind was truly a testament to their expertise in flattery and fawning.

Lin Jue didn't have time to think and hurried towards the Zhao family's storeroom. He had lived in the Zhao family's residence for several months and knew the layout of the house inside and out like the back of his hand.

Before long, the five men appeared at the warehouse door, just as Zhao Kun was walking out carrying a box.

"Kill him!"

Lin Jue gave a cold shout, and the four men beside him rushed aggressively towards the astonished Zhao Kun.

"Are you all crazy? Look closely who I am!"

Seeing that these four dared to make a move, a ruthless glint flashed in Zhao Kun's eyes. "Get out of my way, all of you!"

The next moment, veins bulged on Zhao Kun's face, overlapping and forming shapes resembling tortoise shells, completely disfiguring him.

At the same time, two long sticks struck his left and right temples respectively.

The tortoise shell spread across his entire body. Zhao Kun's expression turned cold. He grabbed two long sticks and pulled them, immediately grabbing the necks of his two former subordinates.

While snapping the necks of the two men, two other men, each wielding a short knife, stabbed Zhao Kun in the waist and abdomen from the left and right.

Clang! Clang!

The short knife struck, but a metallic clanging sound was heard.

Zhao Kun burst into wild laughter, his fists shooting out like two spears, instantly piercing through the chests of the two men.

Lin Jue was stunned by what he saw.

"How is this possible? A long stick hit his temple and he's completely fine; a short knife pierced his abdomen and he's unharmed. Is this guy even human? I didn't see him take any medicine."

Lin Jue snapped out of his daze and, seeing that something was wrong, immediately fled in the direction he had come from.

"Linju!"

Zhao Kun roared. He didn't want to become this inhuman and monstrous state, but now that things had come to this, he would never give up and let Lin Jue escape.

Impervious to swords and spears, his body covered in hideous tortoise shells, resembling a demon, Zhao Kun's eyes were filled with murderous intent, wishing he could tear him to pieces.

Feeling uneasy, Lin Jue turned to look at the monster chasing after him, only to be surprised to find that its speed was really nothing to brag about, like that of a seventy-year-old man, posing no threat to him whatsoever.

"It can't be without flaws. The eyes? The armpits? The belly button? Or...?"

"If I were to unleash a full-force attack using all the energy within my body, I wonder if I could succeed?"

Just as Lin Jue hesitated whether to stop and retaliate, Zhao Kun twisted his neck and spoke:

"Lin Jue! If you have the guts, don't run away. Fight me! Don't you want the immortal book that old man left behind?"

Zhao Kun struggled to catch up, standing several feet away from Lin Jue. His face, like a tortoise shell, emitted an evil black light, filled with a fierce expression, and he continued to provoke him.

"No matter what you do, you can't stay in this state forever."

Listening to what Zhao Kun said, Lin Jue was able to calm down and gradually regain his composure.

The opponent was worried that he would escape and was eager to fight him, so it was clear that he could not maintain this state for long.

"Hmph, try me if you dare! I won't be satisfied until I tear you apart tonight!"

Zhao Kun got into position, ready to make a big move, but the next second he saw Lin Jue fleeing into the distance without looking back.

Zhao Kun's eyes were bloodshot upon seeing this, but he was helpless.

"Damn it! Coward! Wimp!"

Hearing the extremely unwilling roars from behind, Lin Jue sneered and showed no intention of stopping, quickly heading towards the tiled houses along the street next to the Zhao family compound.

Since Master Wuyanzi is Jin Guangshangren, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from Yucheng, the Liu family troupe leader certainly wouldn't dare to do anything to him.

If we can find Wuyanzi now, with his magic, taking down Zhao Kun will be no problem at all.

Lin Jue arrived in front of the tiled house and, through the window, saw Wu Yanzi and Zhao Xiaoyao pacing back and forth inside, their faces full of anxiety.

"Brother Lin, be careful. This place has been set up by Master Liu. The Second Miss and I cannot leave here unless Master Liu..."

Before Wu Yanzi could finish speaking, he suddenly froze on the spot, because Lin Jue had already entered the house and stood in front of him.

"No, Brother Lin, how did you get in here?"

Wu Yanzi's heart skipped a beat. Could this guy really be that monstrous? Even the formation set up by a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't stop him?

Lin Jue walked out of the tile-roofed house, puzzled, and then walked back into the house in front of him. "I just walked in like this."

"..."

With a hint of doubt, Wu Yanzi cautiously approached the door of the tiled house. After several attempts, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the formation inside had been broken.

He couldn't wait to ask what had happened at the Zhao family compound. When he heard that the head of the Liu family troupe had been poisoned by a silver-ringed snake and was being chased by the Zhao family's red-scaled python, his confusion suddenly disappeared.

"Brother Lin, you may not know this, but with the formation-breaking talisman bestowed upon me by my master, Venerable Jin Guang, ordinary formations cannot trap me at all. It is only because the formation here has been reinforced by the Liu family troupe leader with his divine sense that if one's cultivation is not as good as his, the only way to break the formation is for the Liu family troupe leader to die."

After listening to Wu Yanzi's explanation, Lin Jue roughly understood what was going on.

The three returned to the Zhao family compound, but Zhu Xinghe was nowhere to be found, and the ropes binding them on the ground had been cut into several pieces.

Zhao Xiaoyao lay on the old man's body and wept bitterly. Overwhelmed with grief, she immediately fainted.

Lin Jue led Wu Yanzi to the backyard. Although Zhao Kun was nowhere to be seen, there was a strange green bloodstain on the ground, which was probably left by Zhao Kun.

The two followed the trail of blood and found Zhao Kun, who was now delirious and had completely turned into a beast, in a house.

Without hesitation, Wu Yanzi decisively killed him, and Lin Jue took the opportunity to find the octagonal box he had been longing for in a corner.

"Brother Lin, look at this."

Suddenly, Wu Yanzi pulled out a yellowed ancient book from Zhao Kun's corpse and called Lin Jue over to look at it. "Tortoise Shell Technique, it seems this is what turned him into this state."

"Judging from this, it should be a martial arts manual."

Seeing that Wu Yanzi could flip through the ancient book without any problems, Lin Jue finally took it over to examine it with peace of mind.

Zhao Kun became a monster by practicing this martial art, so Lin Jue was naturally not foolish enough to follow suit. He accepted the manual, planning that he could sell it for a few taels of silver when he arrived in Yucheng.

Wu Yanzi had no objection.

Back in the courtyard, Miss Zhao Er carried a bundle and a torch, set the entire Zhao mansion ablaze, and then kowtowed three times expressionlessly.

The fire blazed fiercely, illuminating the night sky and melting the nearby ice and snow.

The next morning, the three of them each led a horse and stood on the snow.

"Brother Lin, I've been away for too long, it's time for me to return to Yucheng, otherwise my master will be looking for me everywhere."

With firelight reflected in his eyes, Wu Yanzi said with deep remorse, "This time, I was misled by Zhao Kun and blinded by greed, and almost made a grave mistake. When I return, I will definitely devote myself to seclusion and cultivation, and strive to establish my foundation as soon as possible."

"Brother Lin, farewell. We hope to meet again someday."

"Hey, here you go!"

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Jue returned the soul blood.

After seeing Wu Yanzi off, the cold Fish Scale Town fell into a deathly silence.

After a long while, Zhao Xiaoyao looked into the distance and said gently, "Thank you. Without you, perhaps not a single person in the Zhao family would have survived."

"Where do you plan to go next?"

"I'm going to Yucheng to seek refuge with my uncle, who is the head of the Yucheng Four Symbols Martial Arts School." Zhao Xiaoyao said calmly, "My uncle wrote to me before, saying that he has a way to let me join the Yanxia Sect for cultivation, on the condition that I agree to marry a Yanxia Sect disciple. If nothing unexpected happens, I will become that person's dual cultivation partner."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue was taken aback, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

Looking back now, it seems that not long ago, Old Master Zhao sent Master Xu to escort the Second Miss to Yucheng, so he must have known about this and tacitly approved it.

After all, once one becomes a cultivator, their future achievements are limitless, and the Zhao family might be able to rise to prominence through this opportunity.

"Brother Lin, please take care."

Zhao Xiaoyao didn't say much, and rode off towards Yucheng on his own.

Watching them depart, Lin Jue let out a long sigh of relief and led his horse to the mass grave where he had obtained the Spirit-Serving Gourd.

The horse carried two bags of gold and silver jewelry, all left by Zhao Xiaoyao.

"The piece of cloth clutched in the hand of the corpse underground at Wufeng Mountain looks like it came from the corpse I saw in the mass grave. If that's the case, then the Spirit-Controlling Gourd, Zhu Xinghe's magic formula, and the bronze cube must be related."