One Sentence, Three Senior Brothers Break Down

"Smoking Method" isn't as simple as just putting meat in smoke; there's a lot of preparation involved beforehand.

Li Xiuchang was just trying it out, so he kept things simple. He smeared some auxiliary ingredients onto the surface of the yellow beef, marinated it briefly, and then placed it in dense smoke to cure.

Curing spirit meat takes time, but while the meat was smoking, it didn't delay him from continuing to practice the Blanching Method. One used fire, the other used smoke; they didn't interfere with each other.

"Perhaps I can even gain double the 'Length'," Li Xiuchang mused to himself.

He was essentially practicing both the Smoking Method and the Blanching Method simultaneously. Logically, he should gain double the experience as well.

Time trickled by. After failing the Blanching Method several times in a row, Li Xiuchang paused briefly, mentally summarizing his experience.

His "Length Cheat" only increased "Length" based on the proficiency of various skills; it didn't actually help improve skill levels.

It wasn't like a so-called "proficiency panel" where practicing a certain number of times would guarantee reaching a certain realm.

Therefore, improving his skill level still required Li Xiuchang to comprehend and summarize it himself.

Practicing without thinking was inefficient, yielding half the results for twice the effort, and it wasn't conducive to the growth of his "Length."

After summarizing his experience, Li Xiuchang took down the piece of meat that had been smoking.

The meat had already taken on a smoky color and smelled faintly of fruitwood.

More importantly, the Spiritual Power within hadn't dissipated. Instead of being as active and volatile as before, it had become gentler!

The faint toxins in the smoke hadn't penetrated the meat either.

Effective!

Li Xiuchang's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected his Charcoal Attribute Mana to actually be useful for curing spirit meat.

This could be considered a development and application of his Charcoal Attribute Mana.

At the same time, Li Xiuchang's mind became active, and various methods for earning Spirit Stones flashed through his head.

"Helping others cure spirit meat would definitely be the most profitable method. However, I don't know if the smoke generated by my cultivation can cure Demonic Beast meat. If it fails, I'd have to compensate them for the meat, and I can't afford that."

"It's safer to cure some dried meat myself and sell it first."

This definitely wouldn't be as simple and direct as earning Spirit Stones with his "Length," but it was safer and carried no risk.

While smoking the meat, he could also practice and accumulate some Length.

Li Xiuchang threw away the half-smoked piece of meat, which was only twice the thickness of a cicada's wing. He then cut off a two-finger-thick piece of yellow beef, coated it with spirit salt and various seasonings and spices, and placed it in a basin to marinate.

He then popped a Grain-Aversion Pill and continued practicing the Blanching Method.

A day passed. Once the spirit meat was well-marinated, Li Xiuchang took it out, dried off the moisture, and placed it on a rack above a stove, first using dense smoke.

After another day, he switched to slow smoking with light smoke.

Busy as he was, it was suddenly time for Li Xiuchang's disciple recruitment test.

In the past few days, Li Xiuchang had slept less than ten hours in total, spending all his other time practicing the Blanching Method.

By now, his Blanching Method was basically proficient, and he rarely failed.

The Length value had increased faster in the last five days, possibly because he was also practicing the Smoking Method.

Li Xiuchang glanced at the bottom left corner. The number there had changed to "1.49."

In five days, it had increased from 1.28 to 1.49, a gain of 0.21!

At this rate, he would be able to accumulate two inches of Length before long.

Li Xiuchang took down the smoked meat. After several days of smoking, this piece of beef was finished.

The surface of the smoked meat was a mixture of soot and oil, shining black. The meaty aroma was mixed with smoke and fruitwood scents, fresh and not greasy.

The Spiritual Power in the meat was stable. Not only had it not dissipated, but it had become even more abundant under the spirit smoke curing.

"It's done!"

Li Xiuchang's face was filled with joy, knowing that this smoked meat was basically a success.

Meat processed with the Smoking Method was already a semi-finished product. It only required simple processing to be edible.

Li Xiuchang washed the smoked meat clean, put it in a pot to steam, cut off a small piece, and chewed it. His lips and teeth were fragrant, and he felt immensely satisfied. The hunger in his stomach vanished.

"This spirit meat is indeed incomparable to ordinary dishes," Li Xiuchang smacked his lips, savoring the aftertaste.

"Eating a couple more bites has an effect comparable to a Grain-Aversion Pill, and it even slightly replenishes Mana."

Li Xiuchang's eyes gleamed; he smelled business opportunities.

There were two most important aspects of Spirit Delicacies made by Spirit Chefs:

First, their effect. Second, their taste.

Without an effect, it was just ordinary food.

If the taste was bad, it was better to just eat pills.

This smoked meat had the effect of a Grain-Aversion Pill and could even replenish Mana. As a non-grade Spirit Delicacy, its effect was acceptable.

The taste was also quite good.

It was already a qualified product.

Next, he'd see if there was any profit margin.

Li Xiuchang counted on his fingers.

Grain-Aversion Pills were unranked elixirs. A bottle of ten pills cost about one low-grade Spirit Stone on the market.

He had only spent one Spirit Stone on this large piece of Yellow Beef, and the smoked meat made from it was enough to substitute for fifty Grain-Aversion Pills.

Even if he sold it at the same price as Grain-Aversion Pills, that would be five Spirit Stones, a fourfold profit!

In reality, the enjoyment the smoked meat brought to the taste buds, the satisfaction of eating meat, was something Grain-Aversion Pills couldn't provide. Moreover, it had the added effect of replenishing Mana, which, though minuscule, was better than nothing.

Therefore, the value of smoked meat was definitely higher than Grain-Aversion Pills; this was beyond doubt.

"Selling it at 1.5 times the price of Grain-Aversion Pills should make it sell well. This would be a 6.5-fold profit. Even after deducting costs like auxiliary ingredients and losses, maintaining a sixfold profit shouldn't be difficult."

This had potential!

Normally, a Spirit Chef Apprentice couldn't create much value, and the materials used for practice were essentially a pure loss. Yet, Li Xiuchang had managed to develop smoked spiritual meat during his apprenticeship.

This way, he could earn Spirit Stones, practice his Spirit Chef skills, and accumulate Length, all at once. He was making a killing.

"I'll go to Wangping Mountain Peak first for the disciple recruitment test. After it's over, I'll head to the market to restock. Hmm, I'll buy more spiritual meat, and a few more stoves and cooking sets to increase production."

"This time, I can also try buying some first-tier Demonic Beast meat. If I can smoke first-tier Demonic Beast meat, I'll really be making a killing, the kind that makes your whole body tingle!"

As Li Xiuchang planned, he put the remaining smoked meat into his storage bag and extinguished the flame in the stove.

He walked to the entrance of the Eastern Geng District and looked up at the sky. He didn't see Senior Brother Wang Long descending, so it seemed he would have to walk to Wangping Mountain.

Good news: Wangping Mountain wasn't far.

Bad news: It had snowed for several days, and the snow on the road was already past his knees.

Although registered disciples had been organized to clear snow into the sect for the past two days, many sections were still covered in snow.

This didn't affect most Immortal Dust Sect disciples, only new disciples like Li Xiuchang who couldn't fly.

This also gave many first-tier Talisman Masters in the Outer Sect an opportunity to earn Spirit Stones, and they were moonlighting as "Flying Boat drivers."

Not long after Li Xiuchang started walking, three Flying Boats landed beside him.

"Junior brother, where are you headed? I'll give you a ride. It's only four Spirit Sand within the sect!"

"I'll only charge three Spirit Sand!"

"I'll take five Spirit Sand for door-to-door service."

The three of them started competing right in front of Li Xiuchang.

Li Xiuchang calmly asked, "Are you all first-tier Talisman Masters?"