The First Meal

Night had grown deep.

Before the rickety, half-collapsed gate of the Wentian Sect, the evening breeze swept fallen leaves across the ground.

Clutching her wooden sword, Yu Ruyan stood in the weed-choked courtyard, her large eyes filled with bewilderment.

She looked at the draft-ridden thatched main hall.

Then at the Wentian plaque lying broken into three pieces on the ground.

Finally, her gaze settled on Qin Lin, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking every bit the transcendent immortal.

“Master…”

“Our Wentian Sect… isn’t it… just a tiny little bit… simple?”

The girl carefully chose the most tactful word she could think of to avoid saying that the place looked even worse than a ruined temple.

Qin Lin turned around without the slightest change in expression.

The Sect Master’s Robe shimmered with a sacred glow beneath the moonlight.

Fixing Yu Ruyan with the profound gaze of one who had long seen through the mortal world, he calmly asked,

“Ruyan, what do you believe a sword is?”

“A sword…”

“It’s… a sword.”

“A weapon used to slay demons and eradicate evil.”

Yu Ruyan scratched her head.

Right on cue, her stomach let out another long, unmistakable growl.

Qin Lin slowly shook his head.

“How shallow.”

“A true dragon does not dwell within a gilded cage.”

“A peerless Sword Immortal does not reside in a palace of white jade.”

“If your heart yearns for ornate halls and lavish pavilions, your Sword Heart will forever be shackled by worldly attachments.”

“Our Wentian Sect takes heaven and earth as its dwelling and the sun and moon as its bed.”

“Only by living in harmony with nature can one’s heart constantly perceive the supreme Sword Intent that permeates the world.”

“Do you understand now?”

Yu Ruyan was completely overwhelmed by his righteous speech.

Although she barely understood half of what he’d said, seeing Qin Lin’s back silhouetted beneath the moonlight, as though he had become one with heaven and earth itself, filled her with overwhelming guilt.

“Master is absolutely right!”

“I was far too shallow!”

“I actually judged such a sacred cultivation ground through the eyes of an ordinary mortal!”

The young girl clenched her fists.

‘Master must be testing my Dao Heart!’

Excellent.

Simple-minded people really were easy to fool.

Qin Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief before turning toward the campfire in the middle of the courtyard.

“But, Master…”

Yu Ruyan sniffled as she looked at him with watery eyes.

“My Dao Heart may be steadfast now…”

“…but I’m still so hungry.”

“What kind of spiritual cuisine are we having tonight?”

“The Dao follows fate.”

“Go gather some dry firewood from the back mountain.”

“I shall procure the spiritual ingredients.”

A short while later, Qin Lin returned carrying two ordinary wild mountain chickens he had painstakingly caught in the nearby brush.

No cooking pot?

Qin Lin untied the Abandoned Low-Grade Alchemy Furnace from his waist and placed it over the fire.

“Master!”

“Y-You’re… going to cook in an alchemy furnace?”

Yu Ruyan stared in disbelief.

If the alchemists of the cultivation world saw this, they’d probably cough up blood on the spot.

“Don’t make such a fuss.”

“Everything beneath heaven can serve as a cauldron.”

“Using it to preserve the spiritual essence of the chicken is the true meaning of returning to simplicity.”

Qin Lin lied with a perfectly straight face.

He deftly cleaned the chickens and chopped them into bite-sized pieces.

Although he lacked modern seasonings, he crushed several aromatic wild herbs he had gathered on the mountain into a paste, using them as a marinade before coating the meat with finely ground wild grain flour.

Next, he filled the alchemy furnace with rendered beast fat.

Once the oil reached the proper temperature, he carefully lowered the coated chicken into the bubbling oil.

Sizzle—

Golden oil churned violently.

An irresistible aroma rich with the comforting scent of crispy batter and sizzling fat instantly spread throughout the dilapidated courtyard.

Yu Ruyan had never smelled anything like it.

She squatted beside the alchemy furnace, drool nearly dripping into the fire.

Standing with his back to her, Qin Lin concealed his movements beneath his wide sleeves.

He quietly took out the bottle of Minor Spirit Gathering Elixir hidden inside his robes.

With extreme care…

He added only a tiny drop to the boiling oil.

The instant the elixir touched the oil—

Boom!

A faint seven-colored spiritual radiance blossomed from within the alchemy furnace.

“It’s ready.”

Using a pair of wooden branches, Qin Lin lifted out the perfectly golden, crispy fried chicken.

With an excited cheer, Yu Ruyan grabbed a piece without hesitation and stuffed it into her mouth.

The crispy coating shattered between her teeth, revealing tender, juicy meat beneath.

The instant it reached her stomach, the trace amount of Minor Spirit Gathering Elixir hidden within transformed into an incomparably pure stream of spiritual energy that surged through every meridian in her body.

Buzz!

A clear sword cry echoed from within Yu Ruyan.

The cultivation bottleneck that had held her back for so long…

Actually began to crack from a single bite of fried chicken.

As she devoured one piece after another, tears streamed down her face as she looked at Qin Lin.

Such overwhelming kindness completely shattered the last of her emotional defenses.

[Ding! Yu Ruyan has wholeheartedly pledged herself to the sect.]

[Current Loyalty: 100 (Fanatically Loyal)!]

[Congratulations! First disciple successfully recruited!]

[Wentian Sect has advanced to Lv.1!]

[Main Quest completed!]

[Reward: 1,000 Prestige Points issued!]

[Core Mechanism activated!]

[Obtained: One year’s worth of Yu Ruyan’s cultivation.]

[Inherited Talent: Upper Grade Jia — Innate Sword Bone.]

[Inherited Talent: Pure Sword Heart.]

In that instant, Qin Lin stepped onto the Dao.

The frail meridians within his body were instantly reforged by a sacred power.

Although he had gained only a year’s worth of cultivation, his entire presence had undergone a complete transformation from the inside out.

“Master!”

“It’s so delicious!”

“I want to eat this every single day!”

With oil smeared all over her mouth, Yu Ruyan looked exactly like a little squirrel fiercely guarding its favorite food.

Just as Qin Lin was about to offer a few words of guidance…

The back mountain, which moments ago had echoed with the chirping of insects, suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

The ground began to tremble.

The bushes beyond the courtyard wall rustled violently.

Yu Ruyan’s expression changed dramatically.

She spun around.

Beyond the crumbling courtyard walls, countless pairs of eerie green eyes had appeared without anyone noticing.

They filled the darkness like ghostly flames, completely surrounding the Wentian Sect.

They were the infamous Bloodthirsty Wind Wolves, the most notorious pack-hunting demon beasts on the outskirts of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Every single one of them had been lured here by the irresistible scent of the Minor Spirit Gathering Elixir.

“M-Master…”

Yu Ruyan’s face turned deathly pale.

She tightly gripped her worn wooden sword.

“T-There are… so many demon beasts…”

More than a hundred starving demon beasts.

Enough to reduce the already ramshackle courtyard to rubble in moments.

Yet Qin Lin remained calmly seated in the grandmaster’s chair.

He gently placed his teacup upon the stone table with a crisp tap before looking at the drooling wolf pack beyond the walls.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“Why panic?”

He casually straightened the sleeve of his robe.

“I was just worrying about not having enough ingredients for tomorrow’s breakfast.”

“And look…”

“Haven’t they delivered themselves right to our doorstep?”

The moment his words fell—

The enormous alpha wolf let out a mournful howl.

Like a surging black tide, more than a hundred demon beasts charged straight toward the trembling gates of the Wentian Sect.