Dietary Workshop

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

"I'm avoiding her? Ridiculous!"

"This is what I call a strategic retreat..."

Wu Tian muttered to himself. He wasn't like those stubborn fools who would charge headfirst into a fight to the death with their enemies.

Now that he had just entered the sect, the most important thing was to develop steadily. It would be idiotic to offend someone by causing trouble and attract the attention of the sect's higher-ups.

He possessed the Spirit of Wind talent and a keen sense of smell. He remembered the auras of Feitianyun and Guduo, so he could detect their tracks from afar and avoid them.

Wu Tian sensed the auras in the wind. After entering Skull Mountain, this talent had been improving at several times its previous speed.

The reason was that almost everything in Skull Mountain—the eight halls, thirty-six caves, and the disciples themselves—posed a threat to him.

These dangerous auras were mixed with the wind, transmitting to his mind through it, constantly stimulating the growth of this talent.

Skull Mountain was far more dangerous than the Savage Jungle.

Wu Tian didn't dare to be careless. Using his Spirit of Wind talent, he chose the safest route and cautiously approached the Hall of Transmitting Dharma.

Two days ago, Man Xiongmu had brought him to the Hall of Transmitting Dharma once and had greeted the disciples responsible for food and lodging, telling them to let him have some meals there in the morning and evening.

Of course, Man Xiongmu had paid a price: three feet of Yin Soul Silk.

Wu Tian silently noted all this. However, Man Xiongmu had gone into seclusion the next day, so he had to travel to the Hall of Transmitting Dharma alone.

Fortunately, with the Spirit of Wind talent, everything went smoothly, and no accidents occurred.

Before dawn, Wu Tian had already arrived at the small northern door of the Hall of Transmitting Dharma. After sneaking in, he saw the kitchen.

The two disciples in charge of the kitchen were fifth-generation disciples, but their talents were very poor. After decades of cultivation, they still hadn't broken through to the Cauldron Forging stage and were still in the Qi Nurturing stage.

There were quite a few such disciples. Some had gone down the mountain, while others worked as laborers in the various halls of the sect to earn merit and sustain their cultivation.

The two disciples at the kitchen were both over fifty years old, a man and a woman. The man was named Huang Ren, whom everyone called Master Huang, but privately referred to him as Fatty Huang.

This man was stout with a broad face, always smiling, but extremely stingy. He never gave the new disciples more than half a spoonful of food.

As for the female disciple, Wu Lian, who was now called Aunt Wu, although she was older, she had a bit of a fiery temper and a sharp tongue but a kind heart. When she poured food into Wu Tian's dog bowl, she was afraid he wouldn't eat enough.

When Wu Tian arrived at the kitchen, Wu Lian saw him and grumbled, "We haven't even eaten ourselves, and you, you beast, are right on time..."

Despite her words, she poured the prepared meal into the dog bowl. It was full of meaty bones, glistening with oil, and exuded a fragrant aroma.

Wu Tian rushed over and first nuzzled up to Aunt Wu, wagging his tail and rubbing his head against her skirt, acting affectionately.

Aunt Wu immediately laughed and scolded, "Stop being clever here, go gnaw on your bones. I still have a lot to do."

Fatty Huang grumbled from the side, "You beast, stop taking advantage of my wife. Get lost."

Wu Tian deliberately barked at him twice. Seeing Fatty Huang pick up a cleaver, he quickly tucked his tail and fled, running to the dog bowl to start devouring his meal.

Fatty Huang continued his work, muttering under his breath, "Ungrateful beast..."

Seeing him constantly muttering, Aunt Wu raised her delicate eyebrows and slammed her iron ladle onto the chopping board with a bang. "Fatty Huang, are you done yet?"

Old Huang immediately shut up. He couldn't afford to offend his fiery wife. When they were young, many male disciples had pursued her. He didn't know what had possessed Wu Lian to choose him, an ordinary fatty.

The couple, one stingy and the other fiery but kind-hearted, often bickered but lived a stable life. A few years ago, they had a child late in life, a little daughter who was now also cultivating in the Hall of Transmitting Dharma, giving them even more hope.

With his steel teeth, Wu Tian gnawed on the bones quickly. In no time, he had completely cleaned the dog bowl of meat and bones, even licking up all the oil. He lay on the ground, panting contentedly.

Soon, the disciples of the Hall of Transmitting Dharma would begin their morning class, reciting scriptures. Only after the morning class would they come to the kitchen for meals.

As expected, not long after, the sound of new disciples reciting scriptures came from the other side of the wall.

This scripture was called the White Bone Disaster Aversion Scripture. It was said to have been written by the founding ancestor and contained the profound truths of the Great Dao.

Of course, over the years, no one had ever heard of anyone comprehending anything from this scripture. It was mostly used as a text for new disciples to familiarize themselves with the sect's traditions and learn to read.

Wu Tian silently listened to the disciples' recitation. The entire scripture had over three hundred characters, not very long, but obscure and difficult to understand without interpretation.

He memorized each of the over three hundred characters.

When the disciples finished their morning class and came for their meals, he slipped away.

After returning to Qiyun Cave, he began his cultivation for the day.

Wu Tian did not go to the cultivation cave dwelling in the back; that was not a place he could stay yet. He found a stone chair in the front hall, leaped onto it, and comfortably lay down.

He began to recite the eighteen ancient sounds of the Tongyou Spell. At the same time, his Eating Radiance, Drinking Dew talent activated, and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth converged. Streams of azure radiance, like flowing silk, poured into his mouth and nose.

He breathed in the azure radiance, nourishing his body.

This feeling was intoxicating.

When he was mentally fatigued from cultivating, Wu Tian would find the White Bone Disaster Aversion Scripture on the cave dwelling's bookshelf and begin to learn to read. Although he had no one to teach him, which slowed him down, he already understood human language, so by comparing them, he naturally made progress.

When he got tired of reading and learning characters, he would run on the cliffs outside the cave to temper his talent.

With the Spirit of Wind sensing his surroundings, he wouldn't run into places he shouldn't go or encounter any danger.

In the evening, he would sneak to the Hall of Transmitting Dharma again. The disciples there would have already finished their evening meal, but Aunt Wu would specifically save some for him.

However, on this evening visit, Aunt Wu's daughter, Wu Xia'er, would also be there. This little girl was very fond of Wu Tian and would always hug him affectionately whenever they met.

"Wow, White Dragon, you're here again!"

The young girl is eight years old this year and has been cultivating in the Dharma Hall for three years. Her aptitude is considered top-tier, and with the extra tutoring from her parents, she has already cultivated the Tongyou Spell to a very profound level.

Wu Xia'er has a cheerful personality and inherited her looks from Aunt Wu, making her quite beautiful. She always wears red and chatters incessantly, full of life.

She scooped Wu Tian into her arms and stroked his snow-white fur.

Wu Tian nuzzled his head against the young girl's neck. Wu Xia'er was ticklish and would giggle uncontrollably every time, her laughter echoing like silver bells in the night sky.

After playing around for a while, Wu Tian would quickly gobble up the food Aunt Wu had left for him.

Then, he would practice the Tongyou Spell with Wu Xia'er. Wu Xia'er's immortal root was wind and fire attribute, allowing her to channel the spirits of wind and fire.

When Wu Tian cultivated with her, he felt it was a bit easier.

In fact, this was also why the sect had new disciples cultivate together. During cultivation, many disciples gathered the essence of heaven and earth, complementing each other and increasing their cultivation speed to a certain extent.

Of course, once one cultivated to a certain level, they could commune with heaven and earth on their own. At that point, gathering together to cultivate would instead lead to competition for the essence of heaven and earth, making the cultivation effect half as effective for twice the effort. This was when one needed to establish their own cultivation cave.

Wu Tian lay beside Wu Xia'er, diligently cultivating with her. The Spirit of Wind howled, and the fire radiance was brilliant, like the sunset clouds on the horizon.

After cultivating, the young girl would be mentally exhausted and her parents would pull her back to sleep and rest.

Wu Tian, on the other hand, would rush back on his night journey. For him, running was a form of cultivation itself...

"See you tomorrow, White Dragon," Wu Xia'er's voice drifted through the night wind, as if she were watching him leave.

"Woof woof!"

Wu Tian barked twice in response and quickly disappeared into the night.