At this critical moment, Lin Chen hurriedly called out in his heart, System, exchange for one year of cultivation.
[Ding! One Spirit Stone deducted. Cultivation exchange successful.]
In an instant, Lin Chen's depleted spiritual energy was replenished.
At that moment, he was less than ten meters from the ground.
The next moment, he regained control of his Flying Sword, dove, and shot back into the sky.
"So it can be done like this?"
Lin Chen was thrilled. As long as I have Spirit Stones, my spiritual energy will never run dry.
This was something no one else could do.
Halfway up the mountain, Ming Bufan and the others looked up at Lin Chen flying back and forth, all of them feeling a surge of emotion.
"Eldest Senior Brother, when you were learning to ride a Flying Sword, you fell more than eighty times, didn't you?"
"Third Junior Brother, I think you fell a hundred and ninety-eight times."
"He didn't fall once, just like me." Jian Rushuang's eyes blazed with fighting spirit, and the long sword on her back quivered and hummed.
"Second Junior Sister, Lin Chen couldn't withstand even one of your sword strikes. If you cleaved him in two, no one would be left to cook."
At Ming Bufan's words, the fighting spirit on Jian Rushuang slowly faded.
Then she said, "Eldest Senior Brother, I want roast chicken."
"No problem," Ming Bufan replied with a smile.
Seeing this, Qi Ruming hurriedly rubbed his hands together. "Eldest Senior Brother, I want roast goose..."
"Get lost!" Ming Bufan's expression changed at once.
Qi Ruming promptly fell silent. "Sure thing."
He turned and left with an ingratiating grin.
Only after Qi Ruming was out of sight did Ming Bufan's smile return. "Second Junior Sister, don't worry. I'll tell Lin Chen right away that we're having roast chicken for lunch."
A moment later, Lin Chen received a message by Paper Crane.
"Roast chicken? Just wait and see the power of a Sealed Pot roaster."
Lin Chen landed and hurried to get busy.
After receiving so many precious gifts from them, making a meal was nothing.
"System, I wonder if I can exchange this cooking skill for cultivation?"
[Host, you should get to know the Universal Exchange System.]
"I can use gold coins to exchange for a life skill like this, right?"
[Yes, Host. Gold coins are sufficient for life skills.]
"Good. Max out my cooking skill."
[Ding! Twenty-eight gold coins deducted and exchanged for twenty-eight years of cultivation. Cooking skill perfected. With this skill, any food the Host makes will make people's mouths water.]
Lin Chen quietly absorbed the memories.
To his delight, he discovered that his sense of smell, taste, sight, hearing, touch, and even his general perception had all become sharper.
The improvement wasn't great, but it played a crucial role in his cooking.
He only had to sniff the air to know what a smell was and where it came from.
One taste was enough to tell whether the flavors in a dish were balanced.
Likewise, his improved sight, touch, and hearing gave him perfect control over the heat, cooking times, and everything else.
"Not bad! Looks like I'm not completely useless after all."
Lin Chen watered the vegetable garden.
Then he checked on the eggs that were being incubated.
Earlier, Third Senior Brother had set up a Flame Gathering Array for him.
It was a simple, basic Formation that kept the temperature inside constant.
A single Spirit Stone could power it for ages.
It was comparable to a modern automatic incubator.
With nothing else to do, Lin Chen carried a recliner into the courtyard.
Then he brewed a pot of tea and lay back in the chair, basking in the afternoon sun as he drank.
"If only I had some barbecue, a little beer, and some meat roasted in a Sealed Pot... Tsk, tsk..."
At the thought of it, Lin Chen sat right up. He took out a Jade Slip and used the Divine Seal Art to engrave images of all the equipment he wanted into it.
Once he was done, he checked it again to make sure everything was in order.
"I'll give this to Third Senior Brother tomorrow and ask him to forge it for me. As for brewing alcohol..."
He looked at the few large vats in the courtyard. "I'll add a set of brewing equipment, too."
His perfect cooking skill included knowledge of brewing, so making these things would be a piece of cake.
After finishing the engravings, he stood up. "I also need to make a lot of charcoal. I'll go chop wood now and buy a batch of spices."
Lin Chen decided to bring all the delicacies of the modern world here.
They said cultivators could abstain from food. Let's see if you can resist the temptation of delicious food and fine drink.
If this plan worked, it would give him another way to make a fortune.
If he could expand it someday, he would open a chain of restaurants and make a killing.
Only with a steady supply of Spirit Stones could he grow quickly.
Lin Chen had already started planning his business empire.
He acted as soon as the idea struck him and headed straight down the mountain.
He happened to pass Third Senior Brother's cultivation grounds, so he stopped.
"Third Senior Brother..."
Lin Chen called out from the doorway, but before he could say anything else, Qi Ruming grabbed him and pulled him inside.
"Hahaha... Lin Chen, you've come at just the right time." Qi Ruming stared at him, eyes shining.
Lin Chen swallowed. "Third Senior Brother, do you need something?"
"Hahaha... It's actually nothing much." Qi Ruming gave Lin Chen a heavy pat on the shoulder. Thump, thump.
He nearly drove Lin Chen into the ground.
"You've got a sturdy build. It's just... it's just..."
The burly man fidgeted awkwardly. Lin Chen couldn't bear to watch. "Third Senior Brother, we're brothers. Just say what you mean. If it's something I can do, I won't turn you down."
"Good! That's the spirit. Here's the thing: Eldest Senior Brother asked you to make roast chicken. Can you make roast goose, too?"
"Of course!" Lin Chen took out the Jade Slip. "Third Senior Brother, that's exactly why I came. Take a look. These are the designs. Can you forge them?"
Qi Ruming took the Jade Slip, and Lin Chen added, "Ordinary iron will do."
"No problem at all. I can make these in an hour," Qi Ruming promised.
To a proper artifact refiner, this stuff was child's play.
There were no Formation patterns to inscribe, and no materials to hunt down. He only needed to make the appropriate molds, cast the pieces, and polish them.
"Third Senior Brother, I also need some iron skewers, like these..."
After discussing it for a while, Lin Chen left.
Qi Ruming told him where to chop wood, and Lin Chen flew there on his Flying Sword.
With transportation, he was much faster.
It took less than fifteen minutes to reach the place.
Before he even landed, he heard the thud of axes chopping wood, one blow after another.
When he touched down, he saw more than a hundred people chopping trees.
Lin Chen was puzzled. Why didn't the sect make some saws for felling trees?
Chopping like this was slow and tiring. It was all effort for no results.
Was this simply meant to torment the servants?
Lin Chen didn't understand, and neither did the servants. One by one, they cursed their lot.
"When will this ever end?"
"I thought I'd be somebody once I joined the sect. Who knew I'd be working day and night? We're treated worse than animals!"
"If we don't finish our quota, they won't give us food. I've been here three days and gone hungry seven times. I feel like I'm going to die!"
"Do you all want a taste of the whip?"
Just then, the Servant Manager cracked his whip and shouted at them.
"Your talents are poor, and your bodies are full of impurities. This labor isn't exploitation—it's meant to purge those impurities. If you can persevere, you'll surely gain something."
Crack! Crack!
The Servant Manager lashed out with his long whip. "If you don't want to work, leave right now. The sect won't stop you!"
At those words, everyone fell silent.
Standing some distance away and watching, Lin Chen couldn't help sighing inwardly.
Compared to his own days spent sweeping the courtyard, tending flowers, planting vegetables, drinking tea, and basking in the sun...
These people had it a world apart from him.
Lin Chen shook his head and went off by himself to choose trees suitable for making charcoal.
"Manager, there's a servant over there standing around instead of working!"
Just then, a sharp-faced servant pointed at Lin Chen and shouted.
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