Chapter 10: Senior Brother, Do You Know?

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Senior Brother, Do You Know?

"To be honest, Grandmaster, I just came back from seeing Suyao."

Ye Linglong was stunned. She vaguely recalled Ji Suyao telling her that her master was a beggar, but it was just a passing mention. After that, all Ji Suyao ever talked about was her "Senior Brother."

So, after all this, they were fellow disciples in the truest sense of the word.

If it were just that, it would have been a simple coincidence. But Ji Suyao’s Senior Brother was a Spirit Chef, and now, he was her Senior Brother too.

"It seems you’ve already met Liu Chen. From now on, he is your Eldest Senior Brother."

Bai Qiulan said casually. She and Mo Xuan had discussed matters the previous night. The most important topic was formally accepting their disciples and training the three of them to become Inner Sect Disciples, or perhaps even True Disciples.

Under these circumstances, Liu Chen, as a Spirit Chef, could help his two junior sisters cultivate more quickly. Meanwhile, the two masters could live together again, just like they did before taking on disciples.

The first reason was for the disciples’ cultivation. The second, however, was a request from Mo Xuan. Bai Qiulan had no objection. They had been Daoist partners for nearly a century, and before Liu Chen’s arrival at Purple Bamboo Peak, they had always shared a room.

This time, however, Bai Qiulan seized the opportunity to request that Mo Xuan maintain his current appearance. After all, with disciples around, it was important to keep up a certain image. Besides, his current face was far easier on the eyes than his old, beggar-like visage.

"Get ready. This afternoon, you’ll come with us."

Mo Xuan said calmly. It was a given that Liu Chen would be Eldest Senior Brother. In terms of talent, temperament, and his status as a Spirit Chef, he was simply the best. Not just among the current disciples on Purple Bamboo Peak, but in the entire Purple Cloud Valley, no one had ever reached the beginner stage of Body Tempering in a mere half-month.

Moreover, with his identity as a Spirit Chef, he would be able to enter the Inner Sect directly during the annual disciple promotions.

If he managed to become a Second Grade Spirit Chef, his promotion to a True Disciple would be a sure thing. Fifty years from now, he would undoubtedly be a Steward in charge of his own garden.

"As you command, Grandmaster."

Ye Linglong was pleasantly surprised. While she hadn’t gained any inspiration from watching Senior Brother Liu cook, her new status as his fellow junior sister might open many doors for her.

’I never would have thought someone as unlucky as me could have such good fortune. What a wonderful, strange feeling.’

’Before I knew it, I was gaining an inside advantage.’

[Purple Bamboo Scripture Body Tempering Mastery +20]

Liu Chen slowly rose and assessed his condition. He strode into the bamboo forest and dug up a weed. Technically, his scheduled training was finished for the day, but since much of his Spiritual Power had returned after his Body Tempering session, he naturally wanted to use it to improve himself further.

Liu Chen snapped the weed’s stem, then used the Recovery Technique to restore it. After ten repetitions, his Spiritual Power was completely drained. The weed, now twisted into a monstrous shape from the repeated use of the Skill, finally fulfilled its purpose and collapsed to the ground as if in protest.

’I need to be mindful of the plant’s original form when using the Recovery Technique. Otherwise, it grows into a monstrosity, and a Spirit Plant like that would probably be useless.’

Liu Chen muttered to himself, then glanced up at the setting Sun. He returned to the Bamboo Garden, shouldered his basket, and prepared to gather Bamboo Shoots for dinner.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother! Master came back with Mistress! And did you know, Senior Brother? Mistress is Linglong’s master!"

Liu Chen had only taken a few steps when Ji Suyao, also carrying a bamboo basket, ran toward him, shouting what was—at least in her eyes—bombshell news.

"I know now."

Liu Chen nodded slowly. Though he didn’t know the whole story, his master’s relationship with Mistress was not his business, nor did he have any say in who Mistress accepted as a disciple. The only real surprise was that Ye Linglong was her student.

’This greatly reduces the potential threat she might pose, but it also means we’ll have to interact more often.’

’Still, what’s done is done. For now, Ye Linglong doesn’t seem like the type of junior sister who’s hard to deal with. She probably won’t cause any major trouble anytime soon.’

Those were matters for another time. Right now, the task for Liu Chen and Ji Suyao was to gather more Bamboo Shoots and head back to make dinner.

In the spacious Bamboo Garden outside the kitchen, Liu Chen and Ji Suyao bowed respectfully to their Mistress, Bai Qiulan. After this simple formality, Mistress and Master sat down to the side to wait for their meal.

Ji Suyao and Ye Linglong, each carrying a bamboo basket, followed Liu Chen into the kitchen.

Once Liu Chen began to prepare the meal, the scene from earlier that day repeated itself.

Ji Suyao’s gaze was fixed on the Bamboo Shoots. Ye Linglong, on the other hand, wasn’t fidgeting like she wanted to speak but couldn’t. She just watched in silence, the confusion in her eyes deepening.

"Do you think Linglong can learn it?"

Bai Qiulan asked curiously from her seat. Purple Cloud Valley’s last Spirit Chef had been active over ten years ago. For the past decade, the sect had been forced to buy all its Spiritual Cuisine from outside sources.

Within the Great Xia Dynasty, the only other two Spirit Chefs were retained by the two other great Immortal Sects. While what Purple Cloud Valley managed to acquire couldn’t be called table scraps, it was merely whatever the other two sects left behind. Even so, the supply was scarce and the price was high.

"It’s hard to say." Mo Xuan shook his head. "The disciple of that last Spirit Chef is still just a swindling Outer Sect Disciple. If he’d spent those twenty years of his apprenticeship just on Body Tempering, he’d be ready to attempt the Meridian Passage stage by now."

"The previous Spirit Chef was a decent person, but he chose a terrible disciple. Anyway, that guy is already on the Law Enforcement Hall’s radar. They won’t step in if he just swindles a few extra Spirit Stones here and there, but if he ever tries to harm one of the sect’s female disciples, he’ll be signing his own death warrant."

"Fortunately, the guy isn’t a complete fool. He knows what lines not to cross. The most he does is run his mouth, and that’s only when he’s sure he won’t meet any real resistance."

"Speaking of which, Linglong must have gone to the market. When she returned, she just sat in the garden, lost in thought."

Bai Qiulan nodded with a sigh. She couldn’t just ask what happened, and Ye Linglong clearly wasn’t the type of person to volunteer such information.

"I’ll go out after dinner."

Mo Xuan’s eyes narrowed. ’Ye Linglong is very interested in Spirit Chefs, so she might have crossed paths with the previous one’s disciple. If nothing happened, I’ll just go teach that punk a lesson and make him be more respectful to the disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak in the future.’

’But if he was actually involved in something... then there’s no need for him to remain among the living.’

"Bring back some other ingredients while you’re at it."

Bai Qiulan said nothing more. ’In the past,’ she thought, ’we wouldn’t have bothered. It wasn’t worth our time to get involved in petty squabbles. But now that we have disciples, certain things must be taken seriously.’

"Speaking of which, Spirit Chefs and Spirit Brew Masters should have something in common..."

Mo Xuan’s expression was full of anticipation. Spirit Wine was expensive, and Spirit Tea was no cheaper. Yet, there were no true Spirit Brew Masters to be found. Strictly speaking, all the Spirit Tea and Spirit Wine available were merely semi-finished products.

"We can give it a try."