Spontaneous Myriad Laws

The sky was growing dark, and the kitchen stoves roared with flames.

Tonight, the county magistrate, Lord Liu, was hosting a banquet. The entire kitchen was so busy that everyone was running around like headless chickens.

"Move those hands faster! Whoever holds up a dish tonight can forget about coming back tomorrow."

Master Chef Yan's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the kitchen tensed when they heard it.

"Clack, clack, clack."

Chen Zhuo was working furiously at the chopping board.

After taking the Blood Vitality Pill, his strength had gradually returned.

His hands were steady, and his knife fell swiftly.

With the Qiu sisters gone, half the kitchen's workload had fallen on his shoulders.

Fortunately, his Vegetable Chopping Technique had reached Great Mastery. If all he had to do was chop vegetables, it was as easy as eating or drinking.

[Vegetable Chopping Technique +1]

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

With every stroke of his knife, the Vegetable Chopping Technique's progress continued to climb.

"Tonight's dishes are all the good stuff."

As he chopped, Chen Zhuo couldn't help glancing at the small pot reserved especially for the county magistrate.

Though Yan Ming's body blocked most of it from view, the waves of meaty aroma and numbing, peppery fragrance wafting from within still drew his gaze.

If his mouth couldn't have a taste, his eyes could.

"Stop looking. We don't get to covet food meant for Lord Liu."

With a smack, a pockmarked kitchen helper suddenly tossed a block of tofu onto the chopping board. "Wensi Tofu. Lord Liu ordered it himself, so watch your knife. If you ruin it, you'll drag the whole kitchen down with you, Master Yan."

Chen Zhuo kept working without missing a beat, sparing a glance at the pockmarked kitchen helper. "Xiao Liu, didn't sleep well last night? Listen, men have hormones too. If something's weighing on you, you're better off getting it off your chest. Bottling it up is bad for your health."

Xiao Liu's face darkened. He stammered for ages but couldn't get a single word out.

In the end, he could only retreat to his station in a fit of embarrassment and anger, beating the vegetables in his hands to vent his frustration.

Chen Zhuo smiled faintly and didn't make an issue of it.

He knew that the man resented him for taking the spot at the chopping board.

But strength decided who came out on top. That was true everywhere.

Chen Zhuo shook off his stray thoughts and looked down at the tofu on the chopping board.

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

Master Yan's voice came from the stove. Chen Zhuo nodded at him.

"Don't worry."

Chen Zhuo wiped his cleaver a few times along the edge of the chopping board. Without the slightest hesitation, he began cutting.

Cutting tofu into threads was a true test of skill.

His knife moved swiftly, and his hands were remarkably steady.

Each stroke landed exactly where he intended, and every thread of tofu was nearly identical in thickness.

Xiao Liu stared, frozen, with the vegetables still in his hands and submerged in the washbasin.

Everyone else turned to look as well, their expressions complicated, their thoughts varied.

Last night had already shown them that this former kitchen helper's chopping skills were no joke.

But Chen Zhuo's performance now shook them even more.

With knife skills like these...

Was he already nearly the equal of Master Chef Yan?

[Vegetable Chopping Technique +1]

[Vegetable Chopping Technique +1]

...

With every stroke, little lines of text appeared before Chen Zhuo's eyes.

He didn't bother to look closely. All his attention was on the tofu on the chopping board.

In the blink of an eye, he had finished cutting the entire block and dropped the shreds into the water.

In an instant, over a thousand fine threads swirled and tangled together, yet each one remained distinct.

"Wonderful!"

Xiao Liu was the first to clap and cheer.

Everyone else followed, praising him without restraint.

"Master Chen's knife skills are truly miraculous. He's already got some of Master Chef Yan's flair."

Yet Chen Zhuo didn't respond.

The panel had suddenly appeared before his eyes, and the final line of text had undergone a shocking change.

[Technique: Dissection Technique: 0/20 (Not Yet Initiated)]

The Vegetable Chopping Technique had vanished, replaced by an entirely new technique.

Dissection Technique?

Chen Zhuo couldn't make sense of it.

But an indistinct memory had inexplicably surfaced in his mind.

It was as if a beginner had grasped the basics of dissection. His eyes had learned the technique.

"Is this qualitative change brought about by a quantitative accumulation? Spontaneous Myriad Laws?"

Chen Zhuo carefully contemplated the newly born technique. He couldn't help wondering: if a training method or fighting method reached perfection, what kind of technique would it evolve into?

Chen Zhuo's breathing suddenly quickened. His chest heaved like mountains in an earthquake.

He stared blankly at the tofu threads in the water, unable to come back to himself for a long time.

Only when a burnt smell drifted into his nose did Chen Zhuo twitch his nostrils and turn toward its source.

Master Chef Yan calmly picked up the small pot and poured the entire scorched dish into the slop bucket.

"What are you looking at? Finished your work?"

At Yan Ming's scolding, everyone hastily looked away and bent their heads over their work again.

"Chop the ingredients for this pot again."

Yan Ming started a fresh pot of oil and picked up the ladle with an air of practiced ease. But no one noticed that his hand was trembling violently.

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

"Sure."

Chen Zhuo glanced over, faintly puzzled, but didn't dwell on it. In the next instant, he got back to work.

The work dragged on until late into the night.

The bright moon hung high, its silvery light spilling into the little courtyard behind the kitchen.

Yan Ming and Chen Zhuo sat facing each other.

The dishes on the table were even more sumptuous than before. Even without a lamp, the moonlight made everything clearly visible.

Even though Yan Ming had promised him a meat dish every day, there was no need for a spread this extravagant...

With a little more wariness in his heart, Chen Zhuo looked at the feast before him and suddenly didn't know where to put his chopsticks.

"Eat."

Yan Ming was terse, offering no further explanation.

"He handled every dish on the table himself and never took his eyes off them. There shouldn't be anything wrong with the food."

Chen Zhuo's throat bobbed as he swallowed. The aromas of the food kept drifting into his nose.

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

Meat juices burst across his mouth, sending a jolt through every nerve.

Delicious.

He hadn't felt this way in so long.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the two of them had polished off everything on the table. They even ate the sauce with their rice, leaving nothing behind.

"Are you full?"

Yan Ming suddenly asked.

Chen Zhuo nodded and patted his slightly bulging stomach. "I couldn't fit another bite, even if I tried."

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

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

Chen Zhuo didn't understand.

"Don't waste words. Come inside."

Yan Ming stood up first.

As expected, there was no such thing as a free meal in this world.

Chen Zhuo shook his head helplessly and followed right behind him.

With a creak, the door opened.

To Chen Zhuo's surprise, the room was completely unfurnished.

There was only a small pool.

It was about the size of four square tables pushed together and stood alone in the middle of the room.

"No wonder we ate in the courtyard."

Chen Zhuo glanced around. Beside the pool were several barrels about the height of a person, filled with liquid.

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

"That's right."

Yan Ming pointed at the barrels and said coolly, "Pour it all into the pool."