It was midday when Li Yingling trudged back to the dilapidated shrine from the depths of the forest, covered in grime.
Her flowing pink silk gown was splattered with mud, and streaks of dirt adorned her face.
The wooden stick she carried had been replaced by a wild rabbit.
Her original target had indeed been a wild chicken, but they all perched high in the trees, proving too elusive to catch.
She'd had to settle for a poor, defenseless rabbit. Although she felt a twinge of guilt...
Rabbits were indeed adorable, but her stomach was even more pitiful, wasn't it?
She pushed open the shrine door.
Li Yingling saw her cheapskate master heating water.
Chu Xingchen looked at the dirt-covered Li Yingling and sighed, asking, "I sent you out to hunt, but it looks like you got hunted by something instead?"
Li Yingling almost exploded with frustration, wanting to retort loudly.
But she recalled the incredible power of the Water Heart Sutra.
Perhaps her master was truly a profound expert?
Maybe he was just testing her mettle?
She could only weakly retort, "They're not that easy to catch."
Chu Xingchen walked over, took the rabbit from Li Yingling's hand, and pinched its ear to examine it.
"Too skinny. Next time, catch a fatter one. Fatter ones taste better when roasted."
"Oh..."
Seeing Li Yingling's pouty expression, Chu Xingchen said confidently, "Don't look so glum. I'll show you a thing or two. You'll have plenty of motivation to hunt next time."
Li Yingling looked puzzled. Then she watched as Chu Xingchen pulled out a dagger.
He deftly demonstrated how to process a cute rabbit.
Then, he summoned water using Five Elements magic to rinse it clean.
If there was one good thing about wandering throughout the Xuanwu Kingdom, it was that he had all sorts of spices and seasonings, all neatly stored in his spatial ring.
Because the ring didn't allow air circulation, it also had excellent preservation properties.
He took out garlic, scallions, and spices to make a super spicy rabbit head!
He braised the left side and made the right side garlic-flavored!
Soon, three dishes made from the rabbit were placed on the table.
They looked and smelled delicious!
Chu Xingchen pushed the plate of rabbit head towards Li Yingling.
"This is your first time hunting, so I'm giving you the best part â the rabbit head."
Seeing the cute rabbit turn into a delicious-smelling rabbit, tears of longing involuntarily flowed from her mouth.
But Li Yingling instinctively hesitated about eating the rabbit head.
As a young, compassionate girl, eating the rabbit's flesh was already her limit.
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How could she possibly eat its head?
But that resistance rapidly crumbled as she tasted the rabbit meat.
The spicy, fragrant, and savory flavors were addictive.
After only a few bites, the ordinary rabbit meat on the plate was gone.
Then, Li Yingling deeply agreed with what her master said!
This rabbit was too skinny; it wasn't enough.
Then, Li Yingling's gaze landed on her bottom line â the spicy rabbit head.
Chu Xingchen naturally noticed Li Yingling's hesitant look.
He seized the opportunity and said casually, "You're really not going to eat it? If you don't eat it, I will."
"I'll eat it!"
Li Yingling felt ashamed of her lack of principles.
It was one thing to eat the rabbit, but how could she gnaw on its head?
Damn it, it's all the master's fault!
So delicious!
-----
Ever since Li Yingling had tasted Chu Xingchen's cooking, her enthusiasm and initiative for hunting had greatly increased.
At the same time, the sense of progress she gained from cultivation made her restless at night. She was also quite diligent in her cultivation.
Chu Xingchen wanted to urge her on as a master, but he didn't have much opportunity.
Everything seemed to be going well. So far, this disciple was quite worry-free.
But the living conditions in the dilapidated shrine were a bit unbearable for Li Yingling, who came from a noble family.
She carefully cleaned the shrine, swept away the cobwebs from the top, and repaired the broken, drafty door.
She even removed the last two wooden planks from the shrine altar to separate her wooden bed.
Naturally, Chu Xingchen didn't object. After all, he could understand that as a young woman.
It was just that if he recruited new disciples in the future, they might have to sleep on a pile of straw.
Half a month later.
Under the cover of night.
Li Yingling leaned against the fire, eating a grilled chicken leg with a happy expression, but still said listlessly, "Master, I've been stuck at the ninth level of Qi Training for a long time."
Chu Xingchen seasoned the grilled chicken and said, "Just practice more and you'll get through it."
Li Yingling coughed lightly. "Master, I read in those stories that when people get stuck at a cultivation bottleneck, they all have elixirs, spiritual plants, and other things to help them break through, right?"
"As the number one sect in the Xuanwu Kingdom, and with you being the number one cultivator, Master, you must have a lot of good pills and stuff, right?"
Chu Xingchen looked up at Li Yingling, who had a hopeful look on her face.
In short, what she was saying was â Hey Old Man, hand over the pills!
Haha, where would he get any pills?
If it weren't for taking her as a disciple, he would still be at the Foundation Establishment stage himself.
How could she expect a Foundation Establishment master to get her any elixirs?
However, it wasn't like there was absolutely no way.
Chu Xingchen glanced at the night sky. The Xuanwu Kingdom was in a remote area, not like the Central Continent where Golden Core cultivators were everywhere.
In this remote place, Golden Core cultivators could actually be called ancestors.
Now that he was a Flawless Golden Core cultivator, things he dared not do before might be possible now.
Chu Xingchen made up his mind.
"Eat quickly. After you finish, I'll take you to our sect's medicine garden to get some spiritual plants for you to eat."
Li Yingling's eyes lit up and she said excitedly, "Our sect has a medicine garden? I've wandered around this desolate wilderness for a whole circle, but I haven't seen it. Where is it?"
Chu Xingchen said impatiently, "This broken place doesn't even have spiritual veins. Do you think spiritual plants are like radishes, where you can just dig a hole and bury them?"
At this moment, Li Yingling didn't care about radishes. So their sect really wasn't just a dilapidated shrine!
They actually had a spiritual field! Thinking like that, their sect actually wasn't that poor!
She felt much better.
It seemed like her breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage was promising!
Li Yingling felt that the grilled chicken leg in her hand tasted even better. Ignoring all etiquette, she quickly gnawed all the chicken legs in her hand.
"Master! I'm full, let's go quickly."
Chu Xingchen couldn't help but feel speechless. This girl didn't even try to hide her desire to raid his stash of elixirs.
But the sooner they left, the better. The timing would be more appropriate.
So Chu Xingchen sighed and said, "Let's go."
Under the dark night, the master and disciple in the dilapidated shrine headed southeast.
An hour later.
Li Yingling, who was climbing a rugged mountain road, couldn't help but ask, "Master, is this spiritual field too remote?"
"Spiritual veins are like this. We're almost there."
Another half an hour later.
Li Yingling finally saw the spiritual field that Chu Xingchen had mentioned.
You had to admit, these spiritual plants were really different. Under the moonlight, they occasionally shone with a bright light that echoed the moonlight.
The protection measures for this medicine garden were also very good.
A light yellow barrier protected this not-so-large spiritual field.
Li Yingling looked excitedly at Chu Xingchen, but when she saw what her master was doing, she wasn't so excited anymore.
She saw Chu Xingchen carefully using his spiritual power to quietly melt a large hole in the barrier.
After looking around, he handed a rag bag to her.
"I'll keep watch for you. Go in and take whatever you like! It's our own spiritual field, don't be polite!"
Li Yingling felt dizzy and couldn't believe it.
Master! Are you trying to trick your disciple?!!