Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...
The sharp kitchen knife sliced through the pork knuckle. The one wielding it was Li Shuidao, his face full of bitter resentment.
Li Shuilang squatted in the corner, diligently washing vegetables.
Mantou steamed on the stove.
Both of them looked thoroughly annoyed.
"That Wang Tiankun is a real bastard. He actually ran off, and now we two brothers are stuck doing all this lousy work for him. Damn him!" Li Shuilang cursed as he washed the vegetables.
Li Shuidao gave a bitter smile and nodded. "Yeah. How could he just run off? This is really..."
This really was a case of weaving a cocoon around himself!
If only he'd known, he should have shown mercy and spared Wang Tiankun's life.
Now look at him: the man was at the bottom of the pool, and all the work had landed on Li Shuidao.
Still, Wang Tiankun had been one of the chief culprits behind the attempt on his life. A man like that had to die.
There could be no reconciliation.
With no one left to handle the kitchen work, the Li brothers had no choice but to take over.
Fortunately, with both of them working, it didn't take too much time.
After serving the dishes, they still had to wash up.
Once the two of them had finished all the kitchen chores, they finally had time to return to their little courtyard.
More than a dozen first-tier Spirit Grass plants were drying in the courtyard: Three Immortal Grass, Rootless Ice Grass, and Blazing Fire Thistle.
The gourd of Evergreen Pills was still stored in the deep well in the kitchen.
Several days later...
Li Shuidao was busy alone in the kitchen. He poured seven or eight Evergreen Pills out of a black-skinned gourd, then crushed them with a copper mallet.
These Evergreen Pills were spoiled pills. Though the fire poison had been removed, they had lost nearly all their medicinal properties and were now completely useless.
Li Shuidao only needed them to balance water and fire.
As he ground them slowly, the pills clinked crisply beneath the mallet, gradually crumbling into finer pieces...
The pure white Rootless Ice Grass lay in a porcelain bowl.
The fiery-red Blazing Fire Thistle was gently torn into fine strands.
He mixed the two herbs with the Evergreen Pill powder.
Holding a mortar, Li Shuidao rubbed it between his palms. The powder he ground grew finer and finer.
The three ingredients blended into a fine powder, gradually giving off a delicate fragrance that seemed to seep into the heart.
Li Shuidao took out the fresh Three Immortal Grass he had prepared beforehand. He chopped it into tiny pieces and mixed it with the powder of the Evergreen Pills, Rootless Ice Grass, and Blazing Fire Thistle.
Over the roaring flames beneath the copper pot, he carefully turned the mixture with a spatula...
As the wooden spatula stirred the contents of the copper pot, the mixture gradually took on a hint of purple.
A smile appeared at the corner of Li Shuidao's mouth. Rootless Ice Grass and Blazing Fire Thistle really could replace toad gall and bitter snake sweetroot. That meant his systematic way of thinking was right.
The flames beneath the stove gradually died down, leaving a thick layer of purple powder at the bottom of the pot.
Li Shuidao took out the paper packets he had prepared and carefully portioned the Purple Poison Powder into thirteen little parcels.
At last, the Purple Poison Powder was ready. Next came clinical testing.
No matter how sound the theory, it still needed practice to prove it.
Dusk fell.
The setting sun spilled over the little courtyard in front of the brothers' house.
With a smile, Li Shuidao handed Li Shuilang a small paper packet.
"What's this?" Li Shuilang asked, looking confused.
"Purple Poison Powder."
"What?"
"I brought it especially for you," Li Shuidao said with a smile.
Li Shuilang took the packet and opened it. Sure enough, it was Purple Poison Powder. "I'll pay you back when I get my Moon Coins next month."
Li Shuidao waved a hand. "We're of the same clan. Why should brothers quibble over such trivial things? It's a gift."
Li Shuilang paused, his eyes brimming with gratitude as he looked at Li Shuidao. "What a good brother! You're so generous. I don't even know what to say."
"Brothers don't need to be so polite."
"Brother Dao, just give me the word if you ever need anything."
"If you're going to be so polite, then I'll leave the kitchen chores to you from now on."
"Deal! You've given me cultivation resources, brother. What's wrong with doing a few chores?"
With a thought, Li Shuilang summoned his scorpion Spirit Companion.
A yellow-brown scorpion crawled out of Li Shuilang's sleeve and began devouring the Purple Poison Powder with gusto.
Unexpectedly, the poisonous scorpion had only eaten half when it fainted, collapsing motionless on the spot.
Oh no!
The test had failed.
"Y-you didn't buy this from Hundred Herbs Hall, did you?" Li Shuilang asked.
"I did. It's too expensive at Hundred Herbs Hall, so I bought this from a street stall," Li Shuidao explained guiltily.
"How much did you pay?"
"Uh... fifteen Jade Coins a packet," Li Shuidao said offhandedly.
"Next time I get my Moon Coins, I'll give them to you. Get me two packets."
"If I bought it from a rogue cultivator, I might not be able to find his stall again," Li Shuidao explained awkwardly.
"Your Spirit Companion's all right, isn't it?" Li Shuidao asked anxiously.
"It's fine. It's just drunk on the poison. It reacts the same way to the Purple Poison Pills from Hundred Herbs Hall, just not as strongly," Li Shuilang explained.
After observing it for several days, Li Shuidao found that Li Shuilang's Spirit Companion showed no sign of discomfort. While Li Shuilang was off working in the kitchen, Li Shuidao began feeding his own Spirit Companion.
With a thought, he swept his wide sleeve, and a palm-sized Jade Toad leaped out. Its body was an exquisitely translucent green, and it gave off a faint fragrance. Li Shuidao took out a packet of Purple Poison Powder and was just about to open it when the Jade Toad before him rapidly grew bigger, bulkier, stronger, and harder...
The Jade Toad's body expanded at astonishing speed, swelling in an instant until it stood as high as Li Shuidao's knee, its body as large as a millstone.
Its skin hardened like rock, turning a deep earthy yellow. A layer of gleaming scales covered it, making it as unbreakable as granite.
Li Shuidao stared in astonishment at the massive creature before him. This was the first time he had seen his toad Spirit Companion transform like this.
The transformed toad swallowed the Purple Poison Powder in Li Shuidao's hand in one gulp, packaging and all. Its table manners were downright barbaric.
The giant toad's little eyes remained fixed on Li Shuidao, their gaze carrying a faint hint of impatience.
Li Shuidao sensed what it wanted and hurriedly took out a second packet of Purple Poison Powder to feed it.
Not enough!
Li Shuidao hastily took out a third packet.
At last, after being fed the third packet of Purple Poison Powder, the giant toad stopped gulping, satisfied, and its body gradually returned to normal. It shrank back into a palm-sized Jade Toad, giving off a faint fragrance.
Night fell. After a full day of work in the kitchen, Li Shuilang dropped into bed and was soon asleep.
Li Shuidao gripped a gleaming green sword and swung it in the courtyard.
There were no sword forms, only a mantra he couldn't quite understand.
The sword becomes nature; nature becomes the sword. Still your heart and breath; unite thought and intent.
Rather than a sword art mantra, it sounded more like a spell to put someone to sleep.
The faint buzzing of mosquitoes and flies filled the air.
Even under the moonlight, Li Shuidao's Divine Ability could easily track the flight paths of the mosquitoes and flies.
With a light Bamboo Sword, he could easily cut down the little insects dancing through the air.
But the heavy green steel sword was another matter.
Compared to the Bamboo Sword, this sword forged from refined iron was far too heavy.
He gripped the hilt with all his strength, sweat dripping from his forehead.
Every swing was powerful, every movement precise to the slightest hair's breadth.
And yet not a single one of the mosquitoes and flies filling the air had been killed.
Seeing them didn't mean he could strike them.
At the Battle of Dragon Spring Pool, Li Shuidao had managed to block Wang Xuanfeng's Flying Knives only because his Wind Catching Eye had predicted their trajectories, letting the knives fly straight into his path. It wasn't because his sword was fast.
His eyes were fast, but his sword wasn't. If he wanted speed, he had to train!
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