From a country cook to a master chef

"I didn't expect that Senior Brother Cheng and Elder Hu were the same; both of them comprehended the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand from innate physical techniques."

If it weren't for Senior Brother Cheng holding back today, I certainly wouldn't have been a match for him in a single blow, given his strength.

Now that we have the experience and insights of these two, it seems it's time to attempt to master the final three levels of the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand.

Lin Jue stopped thinking about it and took out the experience jade tablet that the Inner Court Dean Tiger Meng had given him to read carefully.

Before long, he compared the insights he had received from his senior brother Cheng Du today with the jade slip containing his understanding of the Six Directions Great Wilderness Hand. His understanding of the Six Directions Great Wilderness Hand gradually deepened.

The Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand technique is versatile in its palm strikes, unique in its footwork, and combines both strength and gentleness, as well as offense and defense.

Every move and stance of this palm technique possesses the subtleties of both offense and defense. It emphasizes flexibility and versatility, and one should not rely solely on brute force to fight the enemy, otherwise the exquisite nature of this palm technique will be lost.

After a moment of clarity, Lin Jue immediately began to practice in his mind. Once he had simulated it well enough, he broke down each move of the Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand into several details and stood alone in the snow to ponder them, trying to figure out the connection between each move and style, and striving to combine different moves into different attack patterns.

After a night of practice, by the next morning, Lin Jue was already able to unleash five levels of palm power, just one step away from unleashing the true Six Harmonies Great Wilderness Hand.

"I have finished taking the Yellow Dragon Pill and the Qi and Blood Powder. Although I have not been able to break through to the Divine Illumination Realm, with my current strength, dealing with ordinary early-stage Divine Illumination Realm martial artists should not be a problem."

Lin Jue shattered the wooden stake in front of him with a single palm strike, and a thought struck him, a secret joy creeping into his heart.

Aside from the herbs used to refine the Reversed Five Elements Pill, he had not enough herbs left to make the Qi and Blood Powder. After thinking for a moment, Lin Jue walked alone toward the salt flats and supplies station.

After arriving at the front lines, Lin Jue learned that the army had a special supply of pills called "Mighty Pills," which could help people break through bottlenecks and enhance their strength.

Ordinary soldiers can receive one per month, martial artists in the Divine Power Realm can receive three per month, and martial artists in the Divine Illumination Realm can receive six per month.

As for martial artists above the Divine Illumination Realm, the effects of the Power Pill are negligible to them.

Lin Jue had heard Xi Ning say that Dali Wan was similar to Huanglong Dan, but its effects were stronger and even more violent. There had been soldiers who died suddenly after taking large amounts of Dali Wan and could not withstand the effects of the drug.

Since then, regulations have been established within the military camp to restrict soldiers from abusing the "power pills".

With his Yellow Dragon Pill and Qi and Blood Powder exhausted, and at the crucial moment of breaking through to the Divine Illumination Realm, Lin Jue plans to exchange his accumulated battle merits for a Power Pill.

Now he can only hope that the powerful pill will bring him a surprise and help him advance smoothly to the Divine Illumination Realm.

After successfully obtaining the Strength Pill, Lin Jue, worried about being disturbed, secretly slipped out of the military camp and rode "Grow Fast" to a large mountain behind Yantan Pass, intending to break through the realm barrier.

But it can't really be called sneaking out. Now that Zhang Shiyou is personally guarding Yantan Pass, it doesn't matter whether he, the cheap captain, is present or not, even if the Zhanbo army attacks.

Even if he swaggered out of the military camp, no one would say anything about him.

Worried about any unusual effects on his body, Lin Jue did not take all the Strength Pills at once after arriving in the mountains. Instead, he took one first and then swallowed the remaining two after getting used to the effects of the pill.

As soon as the powerful pill entered his stomach, he began practicing the Six Harmonies Wilderness Hand and the Pine Crane Long Fist, quickly getting himself into the zone.

The "Grows Fast" continued to act as a lookout, standing on a high place and peering around, always vigilant about its surroundings.

After practicing for a long time, Lin Jue, who was about to take a break, suddenly turned around with a wary expression and looked straight at the bamboo forest in front of him.

Amidst the snow-covered bamboo grove, a beautiful woman carrying a medicine basket walked briskly towards them. The moment she saw the bamboo grove clearly, she immediately withdrew the sleeve dart she was about to fire, her expression filled with ecstatic joy.

"Brother Lin, it's you! I thought it was the sorcerer Zhanbo, and I almost shot an arrow."

Lin Jue stared blankly at the girl who had carefully put away the arrows in her sleeve, speechless for a long time.

"Brother Lin, why are you looking at me like that? I'm not going to offer myself to you!" The girl smiled and waved her small hand in front of Lin Jue's eyes, teasing him while making a joke.

Upon hearing the woman's joking voice, Lin Jue immediately snapped out of his daze and awkwardly clasped his hands in a respectful greeting:

"Miss Fu, please don't joke with me. It's just that after parting ways in Yucheng, I really didn't expect to meet you here again. It's truly a twist of fate that made me lose my composure for a moment."

It turned out that this girl was Fu Yuechi, the herb gatherer whom Lin Jue had met by chance in Yucheng.

It has been almost two years since Yucheng fell, and the two of them never expected to meet again in Lanzhou, hundreds of miles away.

However, compared to Lin Jue's absent-mindedness, Fu Yuechi appeared extremely natural. At this moment, she was captivated by the pet beast beside Lin Jue, and with a heart full of joy, she said with envy, "Yuechi really envies Brother Lin. If I had such a big dog, it would be so much more convenient for me to gather herbs every day."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue smiled slightly, beckoned "Grows Fast" to lie down, squatted down, patted its head, and laughed, "Miss Fu is mistaken. Growing Fast isn't a dog, but a genuine gray wolf. Speaking of which, I got it back in Wolf Smoke Valley, but it was just a wolf cub at the time."

"Its name is 'Grows Fast'? What a funny name." Fu Yuechi stared wide-eyed at the big gray wolf in front of her and chuckled, "It's grown this big in just two years, it really has grown fast."

Hearing the girl's teasing, "Grows Fast" rolled its eyes at her, then closed its eyes, looking helplessly at her mercy.

After talking with Fu Yuechi for a while, Lin Jue roughly understood why Fu Yuechi had appeared on the mountain near Yantan Pass.

It turned out that after the fall of Yucheng, she and her grandfather had been wandering around for a long time, and finally settled down in Yantan Town, Lanzhou, where they barely made a living by collecting herbs.

Upon learning that Lin Jue was the famous figure who had recently annihilated the Zhanbo Kingdom's surprise attack battalion and beheaded the Zhanbo Shaman, Fu Yuechi, who had been calm and composed, was momentarily stunned.

When she first learned that the person's name was Lin Jue, she thought there were many people in the world with the same name, so she didn't take it seriously. She never expected that the person was indeed the Lin Jue she knew.

"My goodness, Brother Lin, you're already a powerful expert in the Divine Power Realm!"

"Miss Fu, please don't flatter me. The path of martial arts is long and arduous, and the Divine Power Realm is nothing special."

Lin Jue smiled awkwardly, thinking of the girl's current predicament, and quickly took out ten taels of gold and handed it over, saying sincerely, "Miss Fu, it's important to get your grandfather treated. Take this money. If it's not enough, come find me at the Yantan Pass military camp."

Fearing the young woman might refuse, Lin Jue pondered and said, "I owe my current success to Miss Fu, who told me about the Golden Lotus. Compared to that, this amount of money is nothing. Please don't be so polite, Miss Fu."

Hearing Lin Jue's words, Fu Yuechi accepted the gold he offered, but still felt somewhat embarrassed. She clutched the ten taels of gold tightly, lowered her head to think for a moment, then slowly raised her delicate, slightly flushed face and said unhurriedly:

"Brother Lin, I saw the Zhanbo sorcerer in a pharmacy in Yantan Pass. I suspect that it is their secret stronghold."

How many of them are there?

Lin Jue was startled and quickly asked, "Miss Fu, have you seen the wizard Zhanbo there recently?"

"Yuechi doesn't know how many of them there are, but I'm certain that they are all Zhanbo Wizards. There's no mistake about that, because I saw one of them when Yucheng fell."

Fu Yuechi's eyes were firm, and he spoke his mind without hesitation: "Brother Lin, if we don't capture them quickly, Yantan Pass may face serious problems."

After thinking for a long time about Fu Yuechi's words, Lin Jue then mounted "Grow Fast" and took her back to Guanzhong along the way. He then returned to his camp to report the information he had obtained to General Zhang Shiyou.

Upon learning of the situation, and just in case, Zhang Shiyou immediately ordered Lin Jue to lead his troops to arrest all suspicious persons in Guanzhong and bring them back to camp.

After some interrogation, the intelligence was indeed correct; these people were all scouts from Zhanbo, who were specifically planted in Guanzhong to gather intelligence on Dawu.

Moreover, Lin Jue learned from these scouts which fortress the Zhanbo Kingdom's army was planning to attack next, thus passing on the intelligence in advance and making a great contribution.