Sheng Sheng Apprentice

After chatting with everyone for a while, Lin Xiao first pulled out a Silver-tail Fish over a meter long from his private storage and handed it to Jiang Youfu, saying,

"Fuzi, this is for you. This fish is called the Silver-tail Fish, a specialty of the Ice Plains Secret Realm. Its taste is incredibly delicious, so take it and practice your skills."

Jiang Youfu happily took the massive Silver-tail Fish, patting his chest and promising to cook it right away. He guaranteed he would whip up a whole-fish banquet that everyone would thoroughly enjoy!

Then, Lin Xiao took Baldy to the entrance of the mountain path.

Seeing the drastically changed mountain path entrance, Liu Yunan was utterly astonished.

This shocked him much more than the ice pool he had seen appear next to the large boulders earlier.

After all, this was an entire mountain path lined with peach blossom trees!

Moreover, they were all organized into neat steps, even paved with bluestone slabs!

"Wow—Brother Xiao, this is just too beautiful!"

Saying that, Liu Yunan rushed onto the mountain path, running back and forth while spinning in circles.

"From now on, this is our sect's mountain path!"

Seeing how much he liked it, Lin Xiao smiled faintly.

He then began to use his divine sense to set the parameters for the Path of Heart-Questioning's character screening.

As he started setting it up, he realized that this thing wasn't quite what he had previously thought—it wasn't just about adding tags like 'kindness' or 'justice'.

It was a conceptual feeling.

What Lin Xiao needed to do was input the feeling of what he considered 'qualified' into this Path of Heart-Questioning.

The rest would be handled by the Path of Heart-Questioning itself.

So, after Lin Xiao finished setting up his concepts here.

Liu Yunan, who was happily spinning in circles on the Path of Heart-Questioning, suddenly realized at some point that he had somehow spun his way back to the village.

Right in front of him was actually his eldest uncle's house, a place he had utterly despised since childhood.

...

Lin Xiao opened his eyes and saw Baldy standing frozen on the Path of Heart-Questioning.

Ah.

He had forgotten about this.

Never mind, it wasn't a big deal. They would have to walk this path every day from now on anyway.

He would just treat it as giving Baldy a head start on tempering his character.

He wondered if walking this Path of Heart-Questioning every day would gradually turn them into psychopaths?

Probably not...

After all, this was the Path of Heart-Questioning; it should only make their minds increasingly resolute.

However, he originally brought Baldy over because he had something to discuss with him.

Now it seemed he wouldn't be able to say it for a while.

He could only wait until he came out.

Thus, Lin Xiao first headed to the Return-to-Nature Mountain Residence to find Liao Pantu.

Having spent day and night with Senior Liao for ten days or so, he was actually a tiny bit unaccustomed to this sudden separation.

On the other side, the crowd that had gathered near the ice pool had already dispersed to do their own things.

The weather had been too hot recently, and Old Master Lin was suffering from the summer heat. For the past few days, Lin Dayou and Lin Yun would run down the mountain every noon, taking turns using their spiritual energy to soothe the old man's body.

Lin Yun even specifically learned to carve a minor cooling array to place in Old Master Lin's room.

Nowadays, because they had become proficient in using farming spells, their daily agricultural workload had suddenly decreased by more than half. The burden on the shoulders of the few farmers lightened considerably, giving them an abundance of free time each day.

The others had also arranged tasks for themselves.

Some went to learn talisman crafting, while others went to learn array carving.

Among them, Mo Yuanjiao was the busiest.

Not only did he have to cultivate and learn the four arts of immortal cultivation, but he also had to find time to go down the mountain to teach martial arts classes to the students at the private school.

The most leisurely one was perhaps Jiang Youfu.

Because he wasn't particularly interested in the four arts of immortal cultivation.

After the initial novelty wore off from his first attempts, he began to slack off, working in fits and starts.

However, he remained full of enthusiasm for cooking.

Every day, he spent all his spare time running to the stove built below the Return-to-Nature Mountain Residence to study various dishes and flavors.

With Jiang He's financial support from the outside, the seasonings on this sect's stove had everything one could wish for.

To Jiang Youfu, this was simply paradise.

Right now, he was standing in front of the stove, ready to process the large fish called the Silver-tail Fish that his Brother Xiao had just handed him.

And behind him trailed a little shadow.

Liu Shengsheng.

For some unknown reason, despite there being so many fun activities, this girl would inevitably follow behind Jiang Youfu whenever she saw him come to the stove.

Yang Jinshu had privately asked her youngest daughter for the reason.

And the answer she received was extremely plain and simple.

Following Fuzi means getting good things to eat.

When Yang Jinshu heard that this was the reason, she didn't scold her daughter.

Instead, she almost burst into tears.

She knew that her daughter was traumatized by the hunger she had suffered in the past.

Not long after Liu Shengsheng was born, she lost her father.

Later, due to the bullying from Eldest Uncle Liu's family, their household was constantly short of food and clothing.

Because the family lacked food, her son would always run out right before mealtime, finding who knows what outside to make do with.

Therefore, both siblings, Liu Yunan and Liu Shengsheng, were as skinny as beanpoles.

The same was true for Yang Jinshu herself.

So now, Yang Jinshu completely understood why her daughter would act this way just for the sake of eating good food.

Thus, she did not stop Liu Shengsheng's behavior.

Instead, she told her to watch closely how Fuzi cooked.

If she really liked it, she could learn a thing or two.

She had also brought some gifts to visit Jiang Youfu, hoping that he could teach Liu Shengsheng a bit during his free time.

As a result, Jiang Youfu gained this little shadow trailing behind him every day.

Now, she could be considered his half-apprentice.

Liu Shengsheng seemed to have quite a talent for cooking as well.

Especially when it came to preparing ingredients.

Her hands were much more nimble than Jiang Youfu's chubby little hands.

Often, Jiang Youfu preferred letting her debone meat and handle the ingredient preparations suitable for someone her age.

After all, this little girl was only seven years old.

Then, whenever Jiang Youfu cooked a dish, he would teach her.

He also discovered that this little girl listened very attentively and learned exceptionally fast.

This gave Jiang Youfu a great sense of accomplishment.

As a result, he became even more dedicated to teaching her.

Two figures, one large and one small, stood in front of the stove. The smaller figure was barely tall enough to reach the counter, standing on a small stool.

As the two engaged in teaching and learning, they cooked methodically.

Cooking smoke curled up from in front of them, leisurely drifting and dissipating into the air.

Meanwhile, inside the Return-to-Nature Mountain Residence located right above this stove, Lin Xiao was sitting face-to-face with Liao Pantu at a table, drinking the clear tea Liao Pantu had brewed.

"What? You're saying you want to enter secluded cultivation in one breath all the way to the Golden Core stage? And you'll try to keep the time within half a year?"

Liao Pantu wondered if he had misheard. Or had this kid's ego inflated because he cultivated to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage in just over two months?

Otherwise, why would this kid be daydreaming out loud in broad daylight!