From a country cook to a master chef

"Does the master intend to deal with Pan Ren alone?"

Xi Ning looked at Lin Jue in disbelief, frowned, and said somewhat awkwardly:

"It's not that I don't trust you, sir, but Pan Ren is also a late-stage Divine Power Realm martial artist like you. I've heard that his skills are vast and complex, and I'm worried that you might suffer at his hands."

Such risky matters should never be undertaken by an adult.

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue laughed and said, "Commander Xi, you flatter me. I have my reasons for daring to have this idea, and it is not just a rash decision."

Lin Jue lowered his head and pondered for a while, then pointed to the Tower of Heaven in the city and said, "I have learned that the Tower of Heaven in Yantan Pass is guarded by cultivators from the four major families of Lin, Wang, Xiao and Chu. Among them, the cultivators from the Wang and Lin families are the strongest, and coincidentally, both families serve Pan Ren as their master."

At this point, Lin Jue suddenly turned to look at Xi Ning and said with a cold laugh, "Pan Ren is obsessed with cultivating immortality. Every night, he would go to one of these two towers to ask the Wang and Lin families for advice on how to refine qi."

Because of the presence of a qi refiner, Pan Ren always travels alone, without any bodyguards. This is the perfect opportunity for us to make our move.

Upon hearing Lin Jue's words, Xi Ning was overjoyed. He hadn't expected that this newly arrived commander would be even more adept at gathering intelligence than he, a seasoned veteran who had fought on the battlefield for many years.

With this young captain's talent, he has a bright future ahead of him. It seems that if I work for him, I might be able to become a captain or garrison commander someday.

Xi Ning couldn't help but let her mind wander.

"Immediately gather some men to keep a close watch on the Tower of Babel belonging to the Wang and Lin families. As soon as Pan Ren appears, take action immediately."

Lin Jue rested his chin on his hand and chuckled softly, "Instruct the remaining men to do everything in their power to stop the approaching city guards."

Pan Ren is cunning and treacherous; a direct confrontation will not defeat him. You only need to create chaos, and once he escapes, leave the rest to me.

Upon hearing Lin Jue's arrangements, Xi Ning's expression shifted between surprise, fear, and worry.

Lin Jue ordered them to do their utmost to stop the city's defenders, which was no easy task.

The Yantan Pass alone had nearly 10,000 soldiers under the official government establishment, not to mention the additional troops recruited and expanded by the four major families and Pan Ren in private.

With only three hundred men, even though the Tower of Babel was far from the barracks, it was almost impossible for anyone to withstand the swarm of thousands of city guards.

Seeing the worry on Xi Ning's face, Lin Jue took a sip of wine and said with a cold smile, "Whether you succeed or not depends entirely on whether you can stop the salt flat guards tonight. If you fail, you will simply die. But if you succeed, I will give you a great reward. The squad leader will be promoted to captain, the captain to sergeant, and so on. All of you will be promoted one rank."

Upon hearing Lin Jue's promise, Xi Ning immediately straightened his expression, clasped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said solemnly, "Since you have said so, sir, I am willing to take the risk and give it a try. I will follow your orders."

"Alright, then go and relay my instructions." Lin Jue nodded in satisfaction, then, as if remembering something, he called back Xi Ning, who was about to leave, and said in a deep voice, "One more thing, if this operation goes smoothly, each survivor will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, which can be used to find flowers in the city for a day."

"This subordinate obeys!"

Xi Ning withdrew with a look of excitement on her face.

If promotions and advancements are long-term benefits, then what Lin Jue just said is undoubtedly the most exciting short-term benefit for his subordinates.

With this promise, they wouldn't hesitate for a moment even if it meant sending three hundred men into a formation of ten thousand.

After Xi Ning left the private room, Lin Jue also stood up. After watching her leave through the window, he walked around the tavern and left through the back door after the waiter filled a pot of wine.

Lin Jue had already clearly observed the terrain and urban layout of the entire Yantan Pass.

As long as Xi Ning leads his troops to engage the city's defenders near the Tower of Babel, the soldiers in the barracks several miles away will also be drawn to the battle.

At that time, the general's servants and guards will also go to the Tower of Babel, leaving only the maids and women in the entire general's mansion.

Pan Ren was cunning and shrewd. Knowing that someone wanted to kill him, he would never stay where he was and wait for reinforcements from the Guanzhong garrison. He would definitely retreat back to the general's mansion along the familiar path, since the most dangerous places are often the safest.

Lin Jue smiled slightly. Once he entered the general's mansion, killing him would no longer be difficult.

Thinking of this, Lin Jue strolled through the salt flats and quietly approached the general's mansion, then activated the Spirit Servant Seal.

Soon, several women from the household secretly left the mansion to see him, bringing with them a set of clothes meant for the household servants.

After disguising himself, Lin Jue successfully infiltrated the general's mansion as a servant.

The first thing he needed to do was to go to the snake pond where Pan Ren kept venomous snakes, and use the Spirit Control Seal in conjunction with the Beast Taming Sect's methods to make them all his own.

Upon learning that Pan Ren had a penchant for raising venomous snakes, Lin Jue conceived a plan to eliminate him.

Pan Ren had someone specifically tasked with testing the food for poison every day, making it virtually impossible to kill him through food poisoning.

This person is very vigilant. Except for his two personal maids and on some special occasions, he strictly forbids anyone from getting close to him.

According to the women in the household, whenever Pan Ren was feeling depressed, he would go to the snake pond and confide in the hundreds or thousands of venomous snakes inside.

If Pan Ren were to be assassinated in the Tower of Babel, he would surely come to the Snake Pool to vent his anger.

Soon, Lin Jue quietly arrived at the snake pond of the general's mansion. To his surprise, there were more than a dozen iron cages parked near the snake pond.

Each cage contained seven or eight slaves, totaling no fewer than a hundred men and women.

"They are all nourishment for the General's snake pool. All those who disobey will be thrown into the snake pool by the General as food for the poisonous snakes to devour."

Following behind Lin Jue, the woman controlled by the Spirit Seal explained, "There are many kinds of poisonous snakes here, numbering over three thousand, and they eat quite a few slaves every day."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue couldn't help but sneer, thinking to himself that Pan Ren truly deserved to die. He was so cruel that even being torn to pieces wouldn't be an exaggeration.

"Take these incense sticks and replace the incense in the mansion. After you've done that, stay in your room and don't go out easily."

After pondering for a moment, Lin Jue handed the woman the incense he had prepared.

She was Pan Ren's third wife, a woman he had forcibly married. She hated Pan Ren to the core and had long hoped that someone could rid the people of this scourge.

After the woman left, Lin Jue had an idea and immediately began to subdue the snakes in the area.

To his surprise, a giant black python was hiding in the snake cave directly below the snake pool.

Its size was even larger than the red-scaled python that had been seen at the Zhao family's house.

Fortunately, Lin Jue is now a late-stage Divine Power Realm martial artist. Even when facing such a behemoth, he did not expend too much effort and quickly subdued it.

Once everything was in place, Lin Jue looked around, worried about not finding a suitable hiding place, when his gaze suddenly fell on the snake hole at the bottom of the snake pool.

This cave can accommodate a giant python that is several meters long and weighs over several hundred kilograms. Even if Lin Jue were to hide inside, he would not feel suffocated.

No matter how vigilant Ren was, he would never have imagined that someone would be hiding in a snake pit teeming with venomous snakes.

After entering the snake cave, Lin Jue sat cross-legged on the black python's head, staring at a corner of the sky above the cave.

As darkness fell, Lin Jue soon heard hurried footsteps approaching the Snake Pool.

"Damn it, this damned court dares to send assassins to kill me! Guards, throw all these slaves into the snake pit!"

Pan Ren said angrily, completely unaware of the strange look in the servant's eyes.

Lin Jue hid in the snake cave. In order to prevent Pan Ren from discovering anything, he quickly and secretly activated the Spirit Summoning Seal, causing his servants to push all the slaves in the cages into the snake pool.

With his eyes closed, listening to the wailing sounds around him, Pan Ren couldn't help but reveal an extremely enjoyable expression on his face.

It seemed that the screams and wails of these slaves were the most pleasant sounds in the world.

"Hmm, that's not right!"

Pan Ren opened his eyes with some surprise, looked down at the snake pool, and his expression suddenly changed drastically.

He was about to speak when he saw countless venomous snakes shoot towards him. Before he could react, thousands of snakes swarmed him and bit his entire body.

Pan Ren's painful roar instantly replaced the terrified wails of the slaves in the snake pool.

Lin Jue sat silently atop the black python's head until he heard no more movement from Pan Ren. Only then did he urge the black python to lift him up slowly from the snake pool.

"Disperse!"

Lin Jue gave a soft shout, and the venomous snakes that had been coiled around Pan Ren immediately scattered and crawled into every corner of the general's mansion.

At that moment, Pan Ren, who should have died, trembled and slowly opened his eyes, staring intently at Lin Jue, his eyes filled with resentment and anger.

Lin Jue's expression was cold, and his words carried a hint of self-mockery: "I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to survive after being poisoned by so many snake venoms."

At this moment, Lin Jue's gaze was entirely focused on Pan Ren. He hadn't expected that the venom of thousands of poisonous snakes would not have killed Pan Ren; this was truly unbelievable.

But soon, Lin Jue discovered the reason.

As Pan Ren's skin writhed, he used his own internal energy to force all the venom out of his body through his pores, large and small.

This scene left Lin Jue dumbfounded.

"Although I hate to admit it, you are indeed different from others, and your methods are far more sophisticated than others. However, judging from the aura emanating from you, you are not a cultivator. To have achieved this, among all the different kinds of people I have met in my life, you are among the top three in terms of your intelligence."

Pan Ren's throat was bitten by a venomous snake, so his voice was hoarse and his expression was unpredictable.

"Tell me, who exactly are you?" Pan Ren struggled to his feet and slowly stood up, staring at Lin Jue with a sinister look in his eyes. He sighed and was about to continue speaking when Lin Jue interrupted him.

"There's nothing to say. Don't try to stall for time. Dead men don't need to know much," Lin Jue said coldly and without any politeness.

The next second, the gray wolf "Grows Fast" jumped over the wall and pounced on the weak and listless Pan Ren wolf.

The latter's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected that the other party would hide such methods in the mansion. Pan Ren had never seen such a huge gray wolf before, and he couldn't help but widen his eyes.

However, as a late-stage Divine Power Realm martial artist, Pan Ren would not sit idly by and wait for his death. He frowned, his expression suddenly changing, and said, "I see that you are a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. If you can spare my life, I am willing to offer you a spirit beast."

"A spirit beast?"

Lin Jue was taken aback, then immediately ordered "Grows Fast" to step down.

So-called spirit beasts are domesticated demon beasts that do not possess the wildness and ferocity of demon beasts, but retain the bloodline abilities and powerful physique of demon beasts.

Spirit beasts are usually only possessed by Qi-refining sects, either as mounts for travel or as guardian spirit beasts for mountains.

When a wild beast condenses a demon core, it can become a demon beast, just like a mortal becoming a Qi Refiner—it represents a leap in strength and social class.

If only I could tame a spirit beast to use as a mount...

Thinking of this, Lin Jue was secretly delighted, then looked at Pan Ren seriously and said, "Where is the spirit beast? If you can tell me, I can spare your life."

Upon hearing this, Pan Ren was overjoyed. After hearing Lin Jue swear not to kill him, he remained silent for a while before saying in a deep voice, "To be precise, that spirit beast should be an injured beast spirit. I once learned from a rogue cultivator that if a beast pet can devour a beast spirit, there is a high probability that it will develop intelligence and become a spirit pet."

Pan kept venomous snakes so that he could select the best one to devour the beast spirit.

Pan Ren sighed, secretly glancing at Lin Jue. Seeing the murderous intent on Lin Jue's face gradually subside, he said helplessly:

"The beast spirit is currently hidden by me in a secret room in the general's mansion. I am willing to take you to that secret room to retrieve the beast spirit."

Upon hearing Pan Ren's words, Lin Jue didn't say anything. He silently took out a jade bottle from his pocket, took a small sip himself, and then threw it to the other party, saying coldly, "The contents of this bottle are healing medicine, not poison. As for what kind of medicine it is, I cannot say more. You should take it and then take me to retrieve the beast spirit."

Seeing this, Pan Ren grabbed the jade bottle without saying a word and drank it all in one gulp.

"What courage! Truly worthy of being the garrison commander of Yantan Pass!" Lin Jue couldn't help but applaud and praise.

"Impressive! Impressive!"