Chapter 3: Junior Sister’s Request

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Junior Sister’s Request

The next day, as the first light of dawn touched the sky, Liu Chen leisurely awoke in his bamboo house.

"Once I master the Purification Technique, I won’t have to clean by hand anymore. I hope that day comes soon."

Grumbling to himself, Liu Chen fetched some water from the Spiritual Spring. After tidying up a bit, he headed deep into the bamboo forest. While gathering Bamboo Shoots, he also completed his twenty daily practice sessions of the Withering Skill.

[Withering Skill: Beginner, 280/500]

’I still have Spiritual Power to spare. Looks like I’ll have to replan my training log.’

Liu Chen couldn’t help but ponder this as he carried the Bamboo Shoots back. However, it was getting late, so he decided to cook first.

Inside the Bamboo Garden’s kitchen, Liu Chen prepared a simple cold dish with the Bamboo Shoots and cooked a pot of congee. Once everything was ready, he sat at the table and felt that something wasn’t quite right. It seemed he had forgotten something.

[Spirit Chef Proficiency +50]

[Spirit Chef: First Grade, 175/500]

Glancing at the increase in Proficiency, Liu Chen finally felt at ease. ’To think my Proficiency increases even after reaching the Beginner level of Spirit Chef... that’s a surprise.’

Just as Liu Chen picked up his bowl, ready to eat, he noticed two empty bowls sitting unused to the side...

"Junior Sister, time to wake up and eat~"

Ji Suyao was having a dream. Her senior brother, who had seemed so reliable, had secretly crept up to her Bamboo Garden in the middle of the night, seemingly studying how to break the Array her master had left behind.

The sinister expression on her senior brother’s face sent a chill down her spine.

"Ah~"

Ji Suyao woke with a start. After realizing it was just a dream, she quietly sighed in relief. But right then, her senior brother’s slightly unsettling voice drifted in from outside the Bamboo Garden.

Ji Suyao shivered all over. ’Could it be... it wasn’t a dream?!’

"Junior Sister~ Breakfast is ready! If you don’t get up, I’m going to feed it to the dogs."

Another call came. Ji Suyao felt something was off. Peeking cautiously through a crack, she finally saw Liu Chen outside her Bamboo Garden.

"Wait~"

Ji Suyao blurted out, but immediately regretted it. The moment her senior brother heard her voice, he turned around and started to walk away.

Ji Suyao fell silent for a moment. Awkwardly, she straightened her clothes and walked out of her room. She saw the full moon hanging high in the sky and her senior brother walking further and further away under the moonlight.

Ji Suyao frowned slightly, a chill rising in her heart. She hesitated, watching her senior brother’s retreating figure, unsure of what was happening.

Before Ji Suyao could react, a gentle, fresh fragrance wafted over from the direction of the kitchen. Drawn by the scent, she walked out of her Bamboo Garden. By the time she came to her senses, she was already sitting in the same spot as yesterday.

As a piece of Bamboo Shoot entered her mouth, Ji Suyao felt a refreshing and pleasant aura seep through her entire body, as if she had become one with the Bamboo Shoot itself.

Ji Suyao’s mind cleared. She glanced at her senior brother, who was already eating, and then at the moon in the sky. She had finally shaken off the effects of her nightmare, but a greater question now surfaced in her mind.

"Senior Brother, why are you up so early?"

Having accepted the reality of the situation, Ji Suyao couldn’t help but ask. If she remembered correctly, there were no morning classes on Purple Bamboo Peak. She wouldn’t have been able to get up this early even back in the mortal world, let alone during her cultivation.

"If you can’t get up, Junior Sister, I can prepare some food that’s easy to store and leave it for you for tomorrow."

Liu Chen glanced at the moon. Waking up at this hour wasn’t intentional. When he first started Body Tempering, he would pass out directly afterward, and over time, it just became a habit.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Senior Brother."

Ji Suyao, who had originally wanted to ask more questions, simply nodded in agreement. She wanted to rest a little longer, but she also wanted her senior brother’s cooking. His thoughtfulness was a pleasant surprise.

"It’s no trouble."

Liu Chen nodded. ’All I care about is the Proficiency, anyway,’ he thought. ’Nothing else matters.’

-----------------

"Senior Brother, could you make a little extra for lunch?"

Ji Suyao put down her bowl and chopsticks. Seeing Liu Chen before her, preparing for Casting, she couldn’t help but ask. Her friend, who had entered Purple Bamboo Peak with her, was also a cook, but she always felt her friend’s food wasn’t as delicious as her senior brother’s.

’That girl laughs at me all day for not knowing how to cook. It’s time to show her what it means to have someone who’s always better!’

"I can."

Liu Chen didn’t understand what his junior sister was thinking, but the Bamboo Shoots grew in the Bamboo Garden. Even if they exceeded the standard allotment for an Outer Disciple, their master would cover for them. As for the Spirit Rice and other things, their master had left those behind.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Ji Suyao immediately looked at him, her eyes filled with disbelief. ’Senior Brother really is a good person,’ she thought. ’The dream was definitely fake.’

"Junior Sister, go back and clean up first. Then come find me in the bamboo forest."

Leaving her with those words, Liu Chen immediately began using the Purification Technique to clean the bowls and chopsticks. Ji Suyao didn’t disturb him and turned to leave.

[Purification Technique: Uninitiated, 66/100]

An hour later, Liu Chen was sitting in the middle of the bamboo forest, looking at his junior sister who had finally arrived. He was at a loss for words. Taking a whole hour just to "clean up" was completely beyond his comprehension.

"The biggest difference between Purple Cloud Grass and Purple Bamboo Grass is their leaves. You can tell from their names. The leaves of Purple Cloud Grass look like clouds, while the leaves of Purple Bamboo Grass look like bamboo leaves... No, that’s wrong. What you’re holding is an actual bamboo stalk."

The morning’s lesson passed with Liu Chen’s explanations and Ji Suyao’s embarrassment. Next came Ji Suyao’s favorite part: digging for Bamboo Shoots. It wasn’t the digging process she enjoyed, but the eating that came after.

[Spirit Chef Proficiency +75]

At Noon, after he finished cooking, Liu Chen stared at the Proficiency bonus that appeared before him, momentarily stunned. After a moment of thought, he understood: his Spirit Chef Skill Proficiency was tied to the quantity of food he made.

’In that case, I have to find a way to get Master back. Even though I feel like he’s not very reliable, at least I could get more Proficiency for the same amount of effort.’

"Senior Brother, you don’t eat dinner?"

After lunch, Ji Suyao carefully packed up the portion she had prepared for her friend and asked curiously. Last night, she had gone to her friend to solve her hunger problem, but with her senior brother’s masterpiece as a benchmark, her friend’s cooking was now lacking.

"I’m not in the habit, but I’ll prepare some tonight."

Liu Chen shook his head. After Body Tempering, it was difficult to even use Spiritual Qi, and his whole body would be sore and weak, so he had given up on dinner. However, now that he understood how Spirit Chef Proficiency worked, the loss was more than just a little. He had to resume the routine of three meals a day. ’I just wonder if Junior Sister has a habit of eating a midnight snack,’ he mused.

"I’ll be troubling you then, Senior Brother."

Ji Suyao breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t really appropriate to always be mooching food off others. Besides, according to her friend, there was already an elder mooching meals every day at her Bamboo Garden.

Under those circumstances, Ji Suyao felt too embarrassed to go over every day. Now that her senior brother had offered, there wouldn’t be any problem.

-----------------

"Linglong, guess what goodies I brought for you?"

On another part of Purple Bamboo Peak, within a different bamboo forest, Ji Suyao’s voice arrived before she even stepped into the Bamboo Garden, startling Ye Linglong, who was reading a book.