Chapter 9: I Am Not Fooling Junior Sister Ye

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: I Am Not Fooling Junior Sister Ye

[Spirit Chef Proficiency +75]

"Please, you two Junior Sisters~"

Liu Chen sat at a dining table made of Cyan Bamboo and spoke with a hint of resignation. Ever since he started cooking, Junior Sister Ye had worn an expression of someone who wanted to speak but was holding back. She still looked that way now.

Ji Suyao was eager to start eating, but the atmosphere was so strange that she hesitated as well.

"Linglong, if you have something to say, just say it."

Ji Suyao finally couldn’t take it anymore. Even being friends for many years wasn’t a reason to make her wait forever. ’Delicious food is right in front of me, but I can’t enjoy it. This is pure torture!’

"Linglong has a few questions I must get off my chest. I hope Senior Brother Liu will forgive me."

Ye Linglong took a deep breath, finally ready to speak. She had personally observed Senior Brother Liu’s methods, but after watching him once, she found his technique far inferior to her own. He didn’t use any of the processing methods or specific knife skills she had once learned.

And yet, he had successfully created Spiritual Cuisine. Meanwhile, she couldn’t even retain a sliver of the Spiritual Qi in the ingredients, let alone preserve it all.

"Please speak freely, Junior Sister Ye."

Liu Chen didn’t think much of it. ’I saw this coming, anyway.’ Her hesitant expression had already given it away.

"Senior Brother Liu, your cooking methods are vastly different from what I learned in the past. To be blunt, even among mortals, your skills wouldn’t measure up to a common apprentice. But why..."

Ye Linglong didn’t finish her sentence. She wanted to ask, ’Why do you get to be a Spirit Chef? Isn’t that a bit unfair?’ But he had agreed to her arguably impolite request. No matter what, he was her benefactor.

’I definitely can’t ask him like that.’ Even if she was filled with resentment, it had nothing to do with the Senior Brother Liu before her. It wasn’t him who was stopping her from becoming a Spirit Chef; it was her own inability.

"I don’t know. I’m not trying to fool you, Junior Sister Ye, but I truly don’t know how I did it. After that one day, I just naturally became a Spirit Chef. It’s like Breathing; people are born knowing how to do it. After that day, it was as if I was a newborn who had just mastered Breathing—I had grasped the Spirit Chef Skill."

Liu Chen wasn’t one to lie, at least not when there was no need to, especially over something so trivial. If she were to become a Spirit Chef, it wouldn’t affect him in the slightest.

The Spirit Chef Skill wasn’t something Liu Chen felt he had to master. It was simply a skill he could grind by cooking every day. If he could use his status as a Spirit Chef to get promoted to the Inner Sect, that would be great. If not, it wouldn’t really matter.

’Junior Sister Ye probably has her own reasons for wanting to become a Spirit Chef, but that has nothing to do with me,’ Liu Chen thought. If he actually understood the secrets of the Spirit Chef Skill and she made a suitable offer, he wouldn’t be against teaching her.

The problem was, Liu Chen himself had no idea how it worked. He had some vague ideas, but he couldn’t consolidate them into key points. And if he thought about it deeply, he’d realize those "key points" were just the most basic techniques of mortal cooking.

’In that respect, it’s more likely Junior Sister Ye could be teaching me.’

"It was presumptuous of me."

Ye Linglong felt a sense of helplessness. Although the disciple of that former Spirit Chef had ulterior motives, she had still managed to coax some useful information out of him. That was how she knew Senior Brother Liu wasn’t trying to fool her.

’It can be understood but not explained in words.’ That was a phrase the Spirit Chef’s disciple often used to sound profound. Looking back, he did have some value after all. However, his pretentious act was enough to prove he had no chance of ever becoming a Spirit Chef himself.

"It’s no trouble."

Liu Chen nodded slowly and picked up his bowl and chopsticks. Seeing this, Ji Suyao immediately began devouring her food like a whirlwind.

Ye Linglong, who had just picked up her own bowl and chopsticks, was stunned for a moment. ’This girl has the same terrible table manners even in front of Senior Brother Liu.’ She wondered if their instructor would see this and lament what a failure she was.

Lunch eventually came to an end. After using the Purification Technique to clean the dishes, Liu Chen bid farewell to the two Junior Sisters and returned to his Bamboo Garden to begin his planned afternoon cultivation.

[Purification Technique: Uninitiated, 81/100]

[Recovery Technique: Uninitiated, 60/100]

Liu Chen glanced at the progress of the two Magic skills that had yet to reach the Beginner level. His gaze ultimately fell on the Purification Technique. With his current reserves of Spiritual Power, he could probably get the Purification Technique to the Beginner level right away.

Without much hesitation, Liu Chen took action. Under his control, the water from the bucket flowed out and meticulously cleaned the entire Bamboo Garden.

The Bamboo Garden, which had once looked rather rustic, became visibly refreshed. A sense of pride welled up in Liu Chen’s heart.

As the last bamboo chair was cleaned, a strange sensation washed over him. When the feeling faded, Liu Chen opened his eyes to find a stream of water flowing over his entire body, bringing with it a cool, refreshing sensation.

The dirty water flowed into a nearby drainage channel. Liu Chen felt comfortable all over, but the feeling didn’t last long before he started to feel uncomfortable again.

His clothes clung to his skin, which was still damp with a trace of water, and an unpleasant stickiness followed.

[Purification Technique: Beginner, 2/500]

After drying himself off and changing into fresh clothes, Liu Chen glanced at the notification in front of him, a flicker of pride in his heart.

The feeling was fleeting. Liu Chen sat cross-legged and began his Cultivation for Body Tempering. Wisps of Spiritual Qi entered his body through the engraved bamboo leaf patterns, further strengthening the corresponding patterns and simultaneously replenishing the energy he had consumed practicing the Purification Technique.

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

After bidding farewell to Ji Suyao, Ye Linglong returned to her own Bamboo Garden, her mind filled with bewilderment.

"Disciple, come here."

She hadn’t even sat down when her master’s voice drifted in on the wind.

Ye Linglong didn’t dare to delay and hurried toward her master’s Bamboo Garden.

In a bamboo grove, two people sat facing each other, surrounded by swirling green mist and the fragrant aroma of tea.

Her master was as peerlessly elegant as ever, like a Fairy living in seclusion in the mountains. The other person, a man with a handsome, jade-like face, would occasionally smile. The scene before her was like a painting of a scholar and a beauty.

Having arrived, Ye Linglong stopped in her tracks. She felt she shouldn’t disturb her master, but at the same time, she was curious about who this man was. ’Could this be the ’Grandmaster’ my master spoke of? If so, then who was that man I saw before?’

"Come in."

Her master’s voice brought Ye Linglong back to her senses. With a hint of timidity, she slowly entered the Bamboo Garden. Observing him up close, Ye Linglong realized the man sitting across from her master bore a striking resemblance to the unkempt old man she had seen in the past.

"This is your Grandmaster. He’s also the old beggar who was mooching meals from us not long ago."

Bai Qiulan didn’t even need to look to know what Ye Linglong was thinking. After all, Mo Xuan’s appearance had changed so drastically. If she didn’t explain, there was no telling what kind of wild stories her disciple would concoct in her head.

"Disciple greets Grandmaster."

Ye Linglong was taken aback, but she quickly recovered. Though shocked by the discrepancy between his two appearances, she collected her thoughts and slowly bowed in respect.

"Please rise, Linglong. Speaking of which, I am also Ji Suyao’s master. It seems you two are truly brought together by fate."