Myriad Laws Arise Naturally

The sky grew dark, and the kitchen stoves roared with fire.

Tonight, Lord Liu was hosting a banquet, and the entire kitchen staff was working themselves to the bone.

"Move your hands and feet faster! If anyone delays the dishes tonight, they can pack their bags and leave tomorrow."

Master Chef Yan's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the kitchen felt their hearts tighten at his words.

"Da, da, da."

Chen Zhuo was working his blade with vigor on the cutting board.

Having consumed the Blood Vitality Pill, his stamina had gradually recovered.

His hands were steady, and his knife fell with speed.

With the Qiu Family sisters gone, more than half of the kitchen's workload had fallen onto his shoulders.

Fortunately, his Vegetable Chopping Technique had already reached Great Success; for him, chopping vegetables was now as easy as eating or drinking.

[Vegetable Chopping Technique +1]

[Technique: Vegetable Chopping Technique: 19/50 (Great Success)]

As he continued to slice, the progress of his Vegetable Chopping Technique kept advancing.

"Tonight's menu is all heavy hitters."

While chopping, Chen Zhuo couldn't help but glance at the small pot reserved specifically for the magistrate.

Although Yan Ming's body blocked most of it, the waves of meaty and numbing-spicy aromas wafting from within still drew his gaze.

If his mouth couldn't taste it, his eyes would have to suffice.

"Stop looking. We have no business coveting what Lord Liu eats."

With a "slap," a pimply-faced Dunzi suddenly threw a block of tofu onto the cutting board. "Wensi Tofu, personally requested by Lord Liu. Be careful with your blade; if you ruin it, you'll implicate the entire kitchen, Master Yan."

Chen Zhuo didn't stop his work, instead glancing sideways at the pimply Dunzi. "Xiao Liu, didn't you sleep well last night? Let me tell you, men have hormones too. If you're bottling things up, it's better to let them out. It's bad for your health."

Xiao Liu's face darkened, and he stammered for a long time without being able to spit out a single word.

In the end, he could only return to his station in a fit of shame and anger, slamming his vegetables around to vent his frustration.

Chen Zhuo smiled faintly, not taking it to heart.

He knew it was because he had snatched the head position at the cutting board, causing the man to harbor resentment.

But strength determined status; that was the same everywhere.

Chen Zhuo shook his head, casting aside distracting thoughts, and fixed his gaze on the tofu on the board.

"Are you confident? This dish isn't easy."

Master Chef Yan's voice rang out from the stove, and Chen Zhuo nodded toward him.

"Rest assured."

Wiping his kitchen knife against the edge of the board, Chen Zhuo didn't hesitate and began to cut.

Turning tofu into threads was a true test of skill.

His speed was fast, and his hands were unnervingly steady.

Every stroke landed precisely where intended, and the thickness of every tofu thread was nearly identical.

Xiao Liu stared in a daze, his hands still clutching vegetables in the water basin, frozen in place.

The others also turned to look in unison, their gazes complex, their hearts filled with different thoughts.

Although it had been proven last night that this former assistant had extraordinary chopping skills, Chen Zhuo's performance at this moment brought them even greater shock.

With such knife work, he was surely no less capable than Master Chef Yan himself, right?

[Vegetable Chopping Technique +1]

[Vegetable Chopping Technique +1]

As he continued to slice, small characters kept popping up before Chen Zhuo's eyes.

He didn't look at them closely, focusing all his attention on the tofu on the board.

In the blink of an eye, the entire block of tofu was sliced and dropped into the water.

In an instant, thousands of fine threads swirled and coiled within, yet each one remained distinct.

"Good!"

Xiao Liu was the first to clap and cheer.

Everyone else followed suit, sighing in admiration.

"Master Chen's knife work is truly divine; it already carries a touch of Master Chef Yan's style."

However, Chen Zhuo did not respond at this moment.

This was because a panel had suddenly popped up before his eyes, and the small line of text at the very bottom had undergone an astonishing change.

[Technique: Dissection Technique: 0/20 (Not yet initiated)]

The Vegetable Chopping Technique had vanished, and in its place was a new technique.

Dissection Technique?

Chen Zhuo was somewhat bewildered.

Yet, a vague memory inexplicably appeared in his mind.

It was as if he were a beginner who had gained a concept of anatomy; his eyes had learned it.

Is this a quantitative change leading to a qualitative one? Do all methods arise spontaneously?

Chen Zhuo carefully contemplated this newly born technique, unable to help but wonder: if a practice method or a combat style were to reach perfection, what kind of cultivation method would it evolve into?

Chen Zhuo's breathing suddenly grew rapid, his chest heaving like a mountain during an earthquake.

He stared blankly at the shredded tofu in the water, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

It wasn't until a burnt smell drifted into his nose that Chen Zhuo twitched his nostrils and turned to look at the source of the odor.

Master Chef Yan calmly picked up the small pot and dumped the entire pot of burnt food into the slop bucket.

"What are you looking at? Is your work finished?"

At Yan Ming's reprimand, everyone hurriedly withdrew their gazes and buried their heads back into their tasks.

"Recut this pot of vegetables."

Yan Ming started the fire and heated the oil again, seemingly handling the ladle with practiced ease, but no one noticed that his hand was trembling with an astonishing intensity.

"Chen Zhuo, come find me when you're done."

"Alright."

Chen Zhuo swept his gaze over, a hint of strangeness in his eyes, but he didn't think too much about it and turned back to his work.

This work lasted until late at night.

The bright moon hung high, casting silver radiance into a small courtyard behind the kitchen.

Yan Ming and Chen Zhuo sat facing each other.

The dishes on the table were even more abundant than before; even without lighting a lamp, everything was clearly visible under the moonlight.

Even if there had been a promise of one meat dish a day, it shouldn't have been this lavish...

A sense of vigilance rose in his heart, and as he looked at the table full of delicacies, Chen Zhuo suddenly didn't know how to pick up his chopsticks.

"Eat."

Yan Ming was concise and to the point, offering no nonsense.

Everything on this table passed through my own hands and never left my sight for a moment; there shouldn't be any problems.

Chen Zhuo's throat bobbed as he swallowed; the aroma of the food was aggressively drilling into his nose.

In the end, he couldn't resist, picking up a piece of braised pork and putting it straight into his mouth.

The meat juices overflowed in his mouth, assaulting every one of his nerves.

Delicious.

This feeling was truly long-lost.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two of them had polished off the entire table, even mopping up the sauce with their rice.

"Are you full?"

Yan Ming suddenly asked.

Chen Zhuo nodded, patting his slightly distended belly: "I couldn't even fit a sliver more."

Yan Ming said indifferently: "If you're full, it's time to work."

"Huh? There's still work to do?"

Chen Zhuo didn't quite understand.

"Don't talk nonsense, get inside."

Yan Ming stood up first.

In this world, there truly is no such thing as a free lunch.

Chen Zhuo shook his head helplessly and followed closely behind.

With a creak, the door opened.

To Chen Zhuo's surprise, there was no furniture in the room.

There was only a small pool.

Roughly the size of four square tables pushed together, it sat solitary in the center of the room.

"No wonder they eat in the courtyard."

Chen Zhuo swept his gaze around, discovering several human-sized barrels beside the pool, all filled to the brim with broth.

Chen Zhuo's nostrils twitched, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Blood-Strengthening Soup? It's all Blood-Strengthening Soup?"

"That's right."

Yan Ming pointed to the large barrels and said indifferently, "Pour them all into the pool."