Seven Kuns: Feed Me Peanuts

[Iron Cloth Shirt +2]

Time slipped away rapidly; the sun descended slowly from above Chen Zhuo's head, turning into a salted egg yolk hanging on the horizon.

Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Zhuo finally withdrew from his stance, his gaze falling once again upon the panel.

[Training Method: Iron Cloth Shirt: 120/150 (Proficient)]

"Not bad."

Chen Zhuo nodded in satisfaction.

He had practiced martial arts for less than two hours in total today, yet he had managed to gain thirty-two points.

Such incredible speed was something he wouldn't have dared to even imagine before.

The main limitation remained his physical stamina.

If he could practice for twelve hours a day without sleep or rest, his Iron Cloth Shirt would likely have reached Minor Accomplishment, or perhaps even Major Accomplishment, long ago.

But reality did not allow for that.

"I wonder if Senior Brother Yan Ming still has that liquid from last night."

Chen Zhuo pondered.

Although it had been agonizingly painful at first, the boost it gave to his Iron Cloth Shirt was truly terrifying.

If he could soak in it every day...

Chen Zhuo shook his head, immediately extinguishing the thought.

Something so useful for martial arts training, even if not a rare treasure, was certainly a hard-to-find commodity.

Besides being expensive, it was just plain expensive.

"Still poor."

Chen Zhuo thought of the pitiful five taels of silver in his pocket and sighed helplessly.

After putting on his clothes, he glanced up at the sky and hurried toward the kitchen.

"I'll ask about it later."

The entire kitchen was operating like a battlefield, as it always did.

Chen Zhuo's Vegetable Chopping Technique had reached the pinnacle of perfection.

No matter what meat or vegetables were placed on his cutting board, he could transform them into the prototypes of exquisite dishes.

Because of this, the kitchen had added quite a few fancy new items to the menu.

Having exerted himself to the limit practicing martial arts in the afternoon, Chen Zhuo's stamina was rapidly depleting, and the flurry of work left him exhausted.

He had originally thought that once the kitchen work was finished, he could have a good meal to replenish his energy.

Unexpectedly, Yan Ming tossed seven chickens in front of him.

"Slaughter these chickens. Discard the heads and tails. Separate the breasts, wings, legs, claws, innards, and necks one by one. Pay special attention: none of these can have any blood on them; the gamey smell is too strong."

"Keep the chicken blood and store it separately."

Chen Zhuo was stunned for a moment.

"I usually do these chores myself, but now I'm handing them over to you. Do you have a problem with that?"

Yan Ming glared at him.

Remembering that he still needed a favor, Chen Zhuo spread his hands helplessly: "I dare not."

"If you dare not, then get to work. Bring them to the courtyard when you're finished; I'll inspect them personally."

"Don't say I didn't warn you. If I find any blood on them, you won't be eating dinner tonight, kid."

With that, Yan Ming picked up his food box and left the kitchen first.

"Why is he suddenly being so harsh?"

Chen Zhuo frowned at the seven chickens on the floor, but after a moment of thought, he had no choice but to comply.

"My apologies."

Chen Zhuo muttered to himself, then grabbed a cleaver. After measuring the distance, he reached out, grabbed a chicken by the neck, and cleanly sliced a cut into it.

Fresh blood flowed slowly down the wound, dripping into a bowl prepared beforehand.

Then, he plucked the feathers and butchered the meat in one fluid motion.

However, when Chen Zhuo was processing the innards, he discovered that the chicken livers, kidneys, and intestines all had varying degrees of internal bleeding.

"The blood didn't drain completely?"

Chen Zhuo furrowed his brows slightly. After thinking about it, he realized that while Yan Ming's requirements sounded simple, they were exceptionally difficult to implement.

When killing a chicken, who could truly drain every last drop of blood?

It was completely impossible.

Just as Chen Zhuo was struggling with the problem, a line of small text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Dissection Technique +1]

"Hmm? Dissection Technique..."

Chen Zhuo instantly fixed his gaze on the chicken on the cutting board.

At the same time, a warm current flowed into his brain.

He had gained some strange knowledge.

So, dismembering a chicken also counted as dissection.

"Got it."

A flash of inspiration struck Chen Zhuo; he suddenly thought of a brilliant idea to ensure that every piece of meat and organ he separated would remain bloodless.

Thinking of this, he reached out again, grabbed a chicken, and placed it on the cutting board.

Instead of opting for a throat-slit, he rotated the cleaver in his hand by half a turn.

With a "thwack," he knocked the chicken unconscious.

"Now, this is what you call a proper dissection."

Chen Zhuo picked up a small knife from the side and carefully began his incision at the chicken's breast, slicing a wide opening across its chest and abdomen.

First, he removed the internal organs, then plucked the feathers and carved the meat.

With his foundation in Vegetable Chopping Technique, his steady hands were secondary; the main thing was that his blade work was incredibly precise.

In just a few strokes, he removed the still-wriggling chicken intestines, followed by the other organs.

However, a momentary lapse in concentration caused a blood vessel to rupture, and blood leaked out instantly.

"Again!"

Chen Zhuo realized his approach was correct, but he lacked experience. With a few more tries, it should be fine.

[Dissection Technique +1]

[Dissection Technique +1]

One chicken, two chickens, three chickens...

By the time he reached the final chicken, Chen Zhuo was fully focused and finally succeeded.

With the constant leveling up of Dissection Technique, his experience and technique improved rapidly.

He skillfully avoided the blood vessels, finally meeting Yan Ming's requirements.

"Wait, something's not right. Who goes to such lengths just to eat chicken? If it were really like this, the kitchen would have to hire a doctor."

Chen Zhuo wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, suddenly realizing that Yan Ming's harsh standards were more than just a little suspicious.

"Whatever, I'll head back first. I just don't know if there's any food left for me."

Looking at the fragmented yet neatly separated chicken meat on the board, Chen Zhuo sighed. Adhering to the principle that he might not get a meal if he returned late, he searched the kitchen thoroughly and finally found two leftover steamed buns from lunch.

Swallowing the buns whole, Chen Zhuo's stomach felt slightly better.

Afterward, he took the final, completely bloodless chicken meat, locked the doors and windows, and hurried back to his small courtyard.

Upon returning, Chen Zhuo immediately laid out the smoked chicken meat and organs before Yan Ming.

Yan Ming stared fixedly at the chicken meat and organs on the table, remaining silent for a long time.

"Seven chickens, and you've mastered it?"

Yan Ming inspected them meticulously, eventually uttering a redundant remark.

Chen Zhuo nodded and asked tentatively, "You went to such great lengths to make me dissect chickens—does this have something to do with demon food?"

"You didn't read the manual I gave you?"

Yan Ming sighed, speechless.

It was unclear whether he was surprised that Chen Zhuo had met the standard in only seven chickens, or if he was frustrated by Chen Zhuo's lack of attention toward the manual that felt neither like iron nor wood.

"You don't seem to be in a very good mood."

Chen Zhuo blinked his large eyes, feeling a bit confused.

"Eat first, read the contents of the manual carefully, and then come find me."

Yan Ming didn't look at him, rising directly to walk into the room where his master's spirit tablet was kept.

With a "bang," he shut the door.

Do middle-aged men have menopause too?

Chen Zhuo shook his head, too lazy to press the matter further.

"Eat first."

Although the three steamed buns had settled his stomach a little, with his current appetite, it was barely enough to fill the gaps between his teeth, especially after the extra walking he had done coming from the kitchen.

After a thorough sweep, his stomach was finally full.

At this moment, Chen Zhuo placed the booklet from his bosom onto the table and flipped to the first page.

"Blade-Catcher: the physical body is weak and impoverished; consume demons to glimpse the Heavenly Que. It is not to devour their flesh, but to swallow their souls."

"Not to devour their flesh, but to swallow their souls..."

Chen Zhuo chewed over these two sentences carefully before flipping to the second page.

Right at the top were four large characters.

"Five Desires Demon Soup"