Formal Disciple

As though he had sensed Jiang Shu was in a poor mood.

Usually rather talkative, Zhou Yang rarely said much. He simply led the way in silence, heading straight to the Zhou Family Restaurant.

"Young Master."

Seeing Zhou Yang arrive, the waiter at the restaurant entrance hurried over to greet him.

Zhou Yang nodded, beckoned him over, and spoke a few quiet words. Then he led Jiang Shu into a private room.

After the time it took to burn two sticks of incense, a waiter finally carried over a tray and set dish after dish upon the table.

"Brother Jiang, let me introduce this one. This is Red-Haired Sheep meat. Red-Haired Sheep are especially combative, and their meat is delicious and tender. It has to be cooked over a fierce flame for more than half an hour each time."

"Too gamey."

Zhou Yang introduced a dish, and Jiang Shu sampled one, continuously giving his verdicts.

"Too astringent."

"Too bitter."

"Too bland."

Whether on Earth in his previous life or Xuanxing in this one, countless delicacies had emerged over the years.

Though he could not be called a true gourmand, Jiang Shu could still cut straight to the heart of the matter when judging the dishes at the Zhou Family Restaurant.

In terms of Martial Dao, this world might stand far ahead of Xuanxing.

But when it came to food, it seemed far inferior.

At the very least, Pingling County was like this.

Table salt, monosodium glutamate, and spices would absolutely have an enormous market here.

As he silently considered his next plan for making money, Jiang Shu set his chopsticks aside.

"Brother Jiang... surely it isn't that bad?"

Zhou Yang picked up a few pieces of meat as well. No matter how he ate them, he felt that the chef's cooking today was exceptionally fine.

He looked at Jiang Shu, the bitterness on his face refusing to fade. If he had not known Jiang Shu's character, if he had not been the one to invite Jiang Shu to the restaurant, he would have thought Jiang Shu had come deliberately to make sport of him.

The dishes at his Zhou Family Restaurant were bad?

Then there would hardly be any restaurants worth eating at in all of Pingling County!

"Let's leave it for today. Once I become a formal disciple, I'll come to your restaurant and make a few dishes for you. If you think they taste good, then we can sit down and discuss business."

"If you think they taste worse than the dishes on this table, then just pretend I never said anything today."

Jiang Shu smiled and did not explain further.

To those who had never tasted fine food, no matter how others described it, the words would remain pale.

Only when they tasted it themselves and felt their taste buds leap could they understand what true deliciousness was.

Table salt, monosodium glutamate, and spices—he could take them one step at a time.

This business should work.

"Hehe, then Brother Jiang, you have to tell me in advance when you're coming, so I can have the kitchen prepare the ingredients early." Zhou Yang did not truly believe that Jiang Shu could cook.

Cooking was a genuine skill.

In his eyes, a chef capable of preparing good food was even more impressive than a martial artist who had achieved Qi and Blood Sensing.

Brother Jiang might be highly gifted in martial arts.

But cooking... without seven or eight years of hard practice, what sort of wonders could he possibly create?

Still, there was no helping it. Who told Brother Jiang to have such extraordinary martial talent?

He was bound to become a formal disciple.

Zhou Yang had better curry favor with him.

When the time came, even if the food turned out poorly, he would have to finish every last bite!

"Enough of that. Let me first toast Brother Jiang. May Brother Jiang soon achieve the Whole Body Qi and Blood Great Circulation and become a formal disciple!"

Pouring a small cup of wine into a wine cup, Zhou Yang raised it toward Jiang Shu.

"I won't drink."

Jiang Shu raised his own cup. His empty cup clinked against Zhou Yang's as he said, "And may the Zhou Family Restaurant's business flourish in the future."

Five days later.

A fine drizzle blanketed all of Pingling County.

Within the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall.

A dozen or so apprentices were still standing in their stances, breathing like tigers.

After reaching Qi and Blood Circulation, even a light rain would be instantly evaporated by their surging Blood Qi the moment it landed on their bodies.

Martial artists would not catch a chill merely from being rained on.

Jiang Shu emerged from Crooked Snake Alley and walked all the way to the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall through the rain.

This time, he did not stand in his usual spot to hold his stance and breathe as he normally did.

Instead, he walked directly to the maid outside Old Man Chou's room and said, "Please trouble yourself to announce me. Apprentice Jiang Shu has, as of today, mastered the Refining, Nourishing, Striking Three Methods and achieved the Whole Body Qi and Blood Great Circulation. I wish to request an audience with Old Man Chou."

Recognizing Jiang Shu as the apprentice Old Man Chou had constantly praised over the past two months, the maid said nothing more. She knocked on the door, then pushed it open a crack and turned sideways to squeeze in.

After a long while.

Old Man Chou's phlegm-laden, somewhat muffled voice came from within the room:

"Come in."

The door creaked open.

The maid stood to one side, her body slightly bowed.

Jiang Shu stepped inside, his gaze instinctively sweeping over the surroundings.

It was unlike what he had imagined. Old Man Chou's room was exceedingly plain. Though it was nearly thirty square meters in size, it contained only a bed and a table, making it seem especially empty.

A Hungry Tiger Descending the Mountain Painting hung upon the wall.

He did not know who had painted it.

"Greetings, Old Man Chou."

Jiang Shu respectfully bowed to Old Man Chou, who sat on the bed, and spoke in a low voice.

He tried hard to calm his heartbeat. Though he had imagined this moment for a long time, now that he stood here, his heart still churned like waves crashing against the shore.

After all, if he successfully became a formal disciple,

it would mean that he could continuously take Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine to improve himself and truly learn the martial arts of the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall.

He simply did not know how high the martial hall's arts could reach.

Bone Forging?

Or Organ Refining.

How did they compare to the Guidance Technique in the future Academy?

"You have mastered Refining, Nourishing, and Striking. You want to become a formal disciple?"

Old Man Chou paused, glanced at Jiang Shu, and continued:

"But you must think this through. A formal disciple of the martial hall is not like an apprentice. As an apprentice, you may come to my Hungry Tiger Martial Hall to practice today, then go to the White Crane Martial Hall or the Antelope Martial Hall tomorrow. So long as you pay, the martial hall masters will accept you."

"But for a formal disciple, not only must I register you with the County Government, I must also announce before the masters of every martial hall in the county that I have accepted you into my school. From that day onward, you will be a formal disciple of the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall. When you travel outside, you must uphold the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall's honor. Whoever insults it, kill them."

"I'll ask you one last time. Are you willing to enter the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall and become a formal disciple under me, Chou Hai?"

"I am."

Jiang Shu answered succinctly, without the slightest hesitation.

In Pingling County, he had no other road to take.

If he wanted to practice martial arts, apart from a martial hall, he could only turn to wealthy households or the County Government.

The martial hall was the path most suited to him.

It was also the only path he could walk.

"There is only one matter I must first report to Old Man Chou. I am not from Pingling County. After I was separated from my parents in my early years, I followed a band of refugees all the way to Pingling County... If I am to be registered with the County Government, then regarding household registration..."

Jiang Shu lowered his head. This matter was still somewhat difficult for him at present.

But for Old Man Chou, it was likely no more than a few words.

The identity provided by household registration was extremely important.

With household registration, he could enter the Academy in the Inner City and soon raise his proficiency in the Great Jing Dynasty's language and writing to mastery.

In the future, he would also be able to leave Pingling County.

And travel to larger prefectural cities.

Or even provincial capitals.