"Sure thing!" You Yu thought for a moment, then took out two jade bottles. "Brother Jin, these are the Spirit-Enhancing Pills and Bixue Pills I refined. They are both first-grade pills, nothing compared to the fine pills you have, but they are a small token of my appreciation. I hope Brother Jin won't disdain them."
Jin Haochen could see that this young lady was not someone who liked to take advantage of others, so he generously accepted them.
The young lady's cultivation level wasn't high, so being able to refine pills at all was already quite remarkable; even if they were low-grade pills, it was still the thought that counted.
He didn't open them to look inside, lest the grade be too low and make the young lady embarrassed.
Seeing that he had accepted the pills, You Yu stopped fretting over the spiritual stones and decided to make some food while she still had time.
Only when sorting through her ingredients did she discover that the Monster Beast meat she had bought previously had run out.
She patted her forehead.
She had noticed it the last time she cooked, but because she had been busy refining pills, reading, and practicing the sword during that period, it slipped her mind the moment she turned around.
Jin Haochen was someone who couldn't live without meat. Since she was treating him to a meal, she needed to have some meat, right?
She would ask if he had any on hand.
Jin Haochen didn't have any unprocessed Monster Beast meat on him either, because he didn't know how to cook; whenever he went out, he only brought along meat dishes prepared by Wangyue Pavilion.
Raw meat... he disdained the idea of it dirtying his spatial ring.
"How about I have Wang Liang go kill a couple of Monster Beasts?" Jin Haochen said.
"That works too."
Certain parts of Monster Beasts could be eaten directly. As the young master of Wangyue Pavilion, Jin Haochen was quite knowledgeable about Monster Beasts; he knew which parts of which beasts could be eaten raw.
Wang Liang was a Golden Core cultivator, so hunting down two Monster Beasts was an easy task. Since they were right in the mountains, it wasn't long before he came back having killed two beasts.
One was a rattlesnake python, and the other was a giant ox beast.
The Monster Beasts in this world had some similarities to those on Earth, but they weren't entirely the same. The giant ox beast, for example, was twice the size of an ordinary ox on the ground, with a single curled horn atop its head.
That curled horn made it look somewhat cute, but its mountain-like body and iron-hoof-like powerful limbs made it clear that this fellow wasn't so easy to deal with.
However, Jin Haochen said the meat of the giant ox beast was exceptionally delicious.
Jin Haochen cut a piece weighing less than twenty catties from the giant ox beast's belly, and then cut another piece weighing around ten catties near the rattlesnake python's seven-inch spot. "These two pieces can be eaten without purification."
Looking at the remaining meat, You Yu felt a bit curious and used her spiritual sense to probe it, discovering quite a few black dots inside the meat.
She asked curiously, "Brother Jin, is the reason Monster Beast meat can't be eaten directly because of the black dots inside?"
"Right. Those black dots are violent factors. If cooked, they remain in the meat and enter the human body; if too many accumulate, they trigger spiritual energy riots," Jin Haochen explained to her. "The role of purification masters is to purify those black dots away."
"How do those purification masters do it?"
"It's no secret; they just use mutated Wood Spiritual Energy to swallow up the black dots," Jin Haochen said. "Only those with a mutated wood spirit root can pull that off, which is why I didn't give you any purification methods."
"It requires a mutated wood spirit root..."
Did it seem like she could do it too?
Looking at the remaining meat, You Yu felt a little tempted and said, "Brother Jin, can you sell me this leftover meat?"
"Sell it? Just take it if you want it. But you can't eat unpurified meat!" Jin Haochen paused and added, "With your picky appetite, you probably wouldn't eat it anyway."
"Huh?"
"Unpurified meat—meaning meat with black dots—either tastes gamey, tastes bitter, or smells foul. I figured you wouldn't be able to stomach it."
You Yu: "..." These black dots were really... quite distinctive!
Jin Haochen never imagined You Yu would want to purify this meat, assuming she only wanted to sell it, so he generously gave it all to her.
Not performing a public demonstration of purification on the spot, You Yu packed away the two Monster Beasts and took the two large chunks of meat into the kitchen.
The kitchen in Jin Haochen's courtyard was completely empty, but fortunately, You Yu had the foresight before leaving out to pack all her cooking utensils.
Taking out the utensils and bustling about for a while, she turned all thirty-odd catties of meat into various dishes.
Still using methods of pan-frying, stir-frying, braising, deep-frying, marinating, and stewing, she divided the meat into several portions to see which cooking method tasted best, while incidentally adding to the recipe collection of the Stanching Stars Pavilion.
Ah, the Stanching Stars Pavilion was the restaurant the two of them ran together, a name chosen by Jin Haochen.
Wangyue Pavilion and Stanching Stars Pavilion—just hearing them sounded like they were set up in direct rivalry.
To avoid people discovering the connection between Stanching Stars Pavilion and Wangyue Pavilion, and to keep from getting tangled up with the Jin family, all the recipes Jin Haochen used at Stanching Stars Pavilion were ones You Yu had researched. Even if there were similar dishes, they were ones You Yu had improved, and they would never taste identical.
Anyone eating at both establishments would never guess they had the same boss behind the scenes!
As one of the two major shareholders, You Yu didn't put in money or labor, only coming up with recipes from time to time.
Jin Haochen discovered that You Yu truly had a gift in this area; no matter the unfamiliar Monster Beast meat, the dishes she made always tasted exceptionally delicious.
With thirty-odd catties of meat and some spiritual vegetables, she made six dishes. You Yu set half aside, and the few of them actually finished every last bite of the rest!
You Yu couldn't help marveling: cultivators really are fierce when it comes to eating!
Chapter 31: When it comes to thick skin, she can't beat the female protagonist!
You Yu looked in astonishment at the bellies of the few people there. All that meat and vegetable dishes—where on earth did it all go?
After the meal, You Yu returned to her room, took out the massive giant ox beast, sliced off a piece of meat with her long sword, and put the rest back.
This single piece of meat wasn't small either, weighing close to ten catties.
First, she wrapped the entire piece of meat in her spiritual sense to thoroughly grasp the situation inside. Finding out where the black dots were concentrated and exactly how many there were, she then began condensing the wood spiritual energy within her body, slowly channeling it into the giant ox beast meat.
At the beginning, she didn't input much spiritual energy, choosing areas with fewer black dots.
During the meal earlier, she had asked Jin Haochen how much meat a purification master could purify at one time. Jin Haochen had said that before the sixth level of the Qi Condensation stage, one could purify about ten-odd catties of meat at a time; before the Foundation Establishment stage, about eighty catties; and at the Foundation Establishment stage, around three to five hundred catties.
Each session took roughly two to three days.
That volume might sound like quite a bit, but mutated wood spirit roots were rare, and with too many people eating, when divided up, everyone got less than a drizzle.
You Yu didn't know if she could purify it, so she just cut about ten catties to try.
According to Jin Haochen's explanation, a purification master needed to channel wood spiritual energy into the Monster Beast meat and use that energy to devour the black dots. Once all the black dots were swallowed up, that piece of meat was considered purified.
Those black dots were difficult to devour, so practitioners in the early stages of Qi Condensation generally took about two days to finish processing around ten catties of meat.
Therefore, from You Yu's perspective, wood spiritual energy devouring black dots ought to be a rather laborious task; even if she could purify it, she might not finish before the entrance to the Three Elements Secret Realm opened.
However, what was this situation right now?
You Yu stared dumbfounded at the meat before her. Hadn't it only been two quarter-hours just now?
This chunk of meat had already been completely purified by her?
Her wood spiritual energy hadn't even used up ten percent!
One could say that when her wood spiritual energy encountered the black dots, it devoured them without any particular difficulty.
If it hadn't been her first time purifying and she wasn't yet familiar with the process, she wouldn't even have needed two quarter-hours for those ten catties of meat.
Picking up the purified meat, she felt it was somewhat surreal, turning it over to inspect it twice. Finally, still harboring some disbelief, she put it away and stealthily made her way to Rong Xuan's room.
The moment Rong Xuan opened the door, before he could speak, she slipped right inside and swiftly shut the door behind her.
Meeting Rong Xuan's puzzled gaze, You Yu produced that piece of giant ox beast meat. "Sixth Senior Brother, help me take a look—has this piece of giant ox beast meat been purified?"
Riddled with doubt, Rong Xuan nevertheless examined the piece of giant ox beast meat. After checking it just once, he nodded and said, "This piece of giant ox beast meat has no berserk factors; it's completely purified. Didn't you say you didn't have any purified Monster Beast meat on hand... Wait, did you purify this?"
Upon hearing that it was successfully purified, You Yu broke into a happy smile. Seeing Rong Xuan looking so shocked, she nodded happily.
"You really can purify!" Recovering from his shock, Rong Xuan accepted the fact right away. "Your wood spiritual energy can grow spiritual vegetables anyway; it's somewhat similar to a mutated spirit root, so being able to purify makes sense. However—"
"However what?"
"However, isn't your speed a bit too fast?" Rong Xuan rubbed his chin with his hand. "You only went back to your room for about two quarter-hours, right? And you finished purifying a ten-catty chunk of giant ox beast meat?"
"Hehe." You Yu didn't refute him, just smiled at him and said, "Sixth Senior Brother, keep this a secret for me, okay?"
"Naturally." Rong Xuan nodded. "Still, your wood spiritual energy can both grow spiritual vegetables and purify Monster Beast meat—that's far too special."
Both planters and purification masters possessed mutated wood spirit roots, but the two roles were mutually exclusive. That meant planters could only plant and not purify, while purification masters could only purify and not plant.
Yet her wood root possessed offensive capabilities while also being able to plant and purify—it was simply too miraculous!
You Yu had her own private guess. She felt that her wood spirit root differed from others likely because of the Starlight Power inside her body.
The Starlight Power had driven changes in her wood spirit root.
At this thought, her heart stirred.
If her wood spirit root had changed, then wouldn't her fire and water spirit roots have changed as well?
The probability was probably quite high, right?
She hadn't paid attention before, but she could test it out later.
Overcoming his shock, Rong Xuan grew curious. "Junior Sister, how much Monster Beast meat can you purify at one time?"
"I figure purifying half a giant ox beast at a time should be doable," You Yu said. "Hehe, Sixth Senior Brother, once I purify the Monster Beast meat and take it out to sell in the future, I'll make a ton of money!"
Previously, when she went to sell Monster Beasts with Third Senior Brother, three beasts totaling over three thousand catties in skin and bones only fetched three thousand spiritual stones. Moreover, the vast majority of that value came from the skin and bones being usable for pill-refining and weapon-crafting, while the meat had the lowest value.
In contrast, purified Monster Beast meat could sell for at least ten spiritual stones per catty, multiplying its value over tenfold! If they encountered high-grade Monster Beasts, the value of the purified meat would be even greater!
In the future, her purification of Monster Beast meat could earn a massive amount of money for the sect!
"Well, our Junior Sister is truly formidable. If Sixth Senior Brother wants to eat Monster Beast meat in the future, I'll have to rely on you!" Rong Xuan smiled.
"Easy, easy. From now on, our sect's Monster Beast meat is all on me!" You Yu patted her flat chest and declared magnanimously.
Seeing her adorable appearance, Rong Xuan couldn't help reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Then I'll thank Junior Sister in advance!"
"Hehe, Sixth Senior Brother, I'm heading back first!"
She couldn't wait to go back and continue purifying!
Regrettably, before she had time to return, intense spatial fluctuations erupted from outside.
The secret realm was about to open!
Rong Xuan and You Yu immediately stepped outside, and Jin Haochen happened to emerge from his room at the same time.
Wang Liang was already outside ahead of them and said to Jin Haochen, "Young Master, the secret realm is opening. Let's pack up the courtyard first."
As the group stepped out, Jin Haochen promptly shrunk the courtyard and stored it away.
Although it was already nighttime, countless torches illuminated the entire mountaintop as bright as day.
You Yu cast a glance and spotted You Xueer not far away.
Aside from You Xueer and her two senior brothers, there were a few others, clearly intending to team up once they entered.
You Xueer's gaze fell upon Jin Haochen—who was standing beside You Yu—and she even offered You Yu a smile when their eyes met.
You Yu immediately withdrew her gaze.
When it came to having thick skin, she really couldn't compete with the female protagonist!
Over there, You Xueer assumed a sorrowful expression once again, instantly drawing a flurry of concerned attention from the male cultivators surrounding her.
You Yu pursed her lips, failing to understand why the female protagonist in this book had to be so fake.
Look at that—even the cultivators she didn't know were now casting somewhat unfriendly glances in her direction.
"Young Master, based on my previous calculations, the secret realm was supposed to open around noon tomorrow at the earliest. This is nearly half a day early," Wang Liang said.
Chapter 32: You don't know the pain of a poor student!
"It's only off by half a day; it shouldn't have much of an impact, right?" Jin Haochen asked uncertainly.
"Hard to say. Who knows if something happened inside that accelerated the opening time of the entrance?" Wang Liang frowned slightly. "Young Master, you all need to be extra careful after entering."
"I know." Jin Haochen knew that Wang Liang had experienced quite a bit before following him, possessing sound insights into many matters.
He took Wang Liang's words to heart.
You Yu guessed that this was most likely caused by that Roc and Teng Snake fighting, but she couldn't mention it, otherwise there would be no way to explain.
Still, there shouldn't be any major danger inside.
"Junior Sister, those who get separated inside will be randomly teleported. We need to stay tied together." Having entered this secret realm twenty years ago, Rong Xuan knew it quite well.
"Take this." You Yu produced a length of rope and tied their wrists together—hers, Rong Xuan's, Jin Haochen's, and Wang Wei's.
Before long, a tear appeared about twenty meters away, a bright landscape standing out distinctly against the night backdrop.
"The secret realm has opened, hurry in!"
"Charge—"
"Wait for me—"
"..."
Countless people rushed inside, and You Yu saw You Xueer's group flying upward as well. Moreover, some among them must have been quite familiar with this secret realm, because they were also tied together.
"Sister, Daoist Rong, let's go!"
The moment Jin Haochen finished speaking, the three of them flew up, carrying You Yu, the weakling.
All three were in the Foundation Establishment stage and couldn't yet fly by treading the air, but even without flying swords, carrying her along for a short flight was no problem.
Approaching the entrance, You Yu could see soaring mountain ranges inside, as well as blue skies and white clouds.
The three of them carried her inside, and she instantly felt a wave of dizziness so intense she couldn't even open her eyes.
Yet this process didn't last long—just a dozen breaths or so. Then she felt her body plummeting rapidly, before she landed on... a soft cushion.
Opening her eyes to look, there actually was a fleshy cushion beneath her.
Startled, she leaped up in a hurry and reached out to steady Rong Xuan. "Sixth Senior Brother, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. The height wasn't much, no injuries." Rong Xuan stood up and secretly rubbed his backside.
No injuries, but it felt like his rear end had been jabbed by a rock—ouch.
Still, he couldn't mention a detail like that to the Junior Sister.
Nearby, Jin Haochen and Wang Wei also got to their feet, and everyone untied the ropes from their wrists.
Rong Xuan looked around and let out a breath of relief. "Our luck is pretty good; we were teleported into the mountains."
"Aren't there a lot of Monster Beasts in the mountains? Is that still considered good luck?" This was Jin Haochen's first time entering a secret realm in over twenty years, and his understanding of them wasn't extensive.
"The terrain in the Three Elements Secret Realm is quite complex, featuring deserts, swamps, misty lands, grasslands, and so on. The other areas either have too many Monster Beasts or too few medicinal herbs. The Monster Beasts in these mountains are average—not too many, but rarely found in packs either—and there are more medicinal herbs here than in other places," Rong Xuan explained.
"Then the mountains really aren't bad at all," Jin Haochen said happily. "I just wonder how many people are around here."
"A lot of us were dropped into the mountains last time," Rong Xuan said. "However, I heard some rogue cultivators say last time that the Three Elements Secret Realm drops people randomly; just because there were many last time doesn't mean there will be many this time."
"Mhm. As long as we don't run into small squads of a dozen or more people, we should be fine," Jin Haochen stated.
You Yu was delighted, because according to the book, You Xueer's two great opportunities were both located in the mountains!
Although these mountains were vast, it was still better than being dumped somewhere else and having to travel all the way here.
Besides, the book described the locations where You Xueer acquired the Soul-Nurturing Grass and the Roc as very distinctive; she could just search according to the landmarks mentioned in the book.
Now the only uncertainty was whether Rong Xuan and the others would follow her lead.
Suddenly, her gaze caught an inconspicuous patch of grassland on a hillside, and she let out an astonished "Huh?"
"Junior Sister, what's wrong?"
"Sixth Senior Brother, look—is that Star Origin Grass?" You Yu asked uncertainly.
Upon taking a look, Rong Xuan found it vaguely familiar and said, "Let's go down and check."
Jin Haochen looked downward; that patch of grass was truly ordinary grassland, completely unremarkable, which was why no one had noticed it all these years.
Curious, he asked, "What is Star Origin Grass?"
"It's a material that can raise the grade of talisman paper and talisman ink. Adding a little bit when making talisman paper or ink can elevate a hundred sheets of talisman paper by one grade," You Yu explained.
"That powerful?!" Jin Haochen was stunned.
Talismans were exceedingly rare in this world because, unlike pill refiners and weapon refiners, a talisman master had to be able to sense the Power of Heaven and Earth in order to seal that power into the talisman paper.
You could say that out of a thousand spiritual masters, there might be one pill refiner, but out of ten thousand, there might not even be a single talisman master—such was their extreme scarcity!
Because of this rarity, the inheritance of talisman arts frequently broke off. Consequently, even with a few talisman masters on this continent, there were no exceptionally good talismans for sale.
Yet Taiyi Sect, with only a handful of people, had a talisman master!
Second Senior Brother, Shu Wangyue!
Furthermore, Taiyi Sect also possessed quite a few books related to talisman arts, even those whose lineages had been lost.
Star Origin Grass was something she had seen in a book while browsing the Scripture Pavilion earlier.
Since Wangyue Pavilion sold talismans, talisman paper, and talisman ink, it naturally maintained some contact with talisman masters and had a certain understanding of these materials.
Advanced talisman paper and ink could raise a talisman's success rate and enhance its power once formed.
However, crafting them was difficult, and raising them by even a single grade was extremely hard.
Yet this Star Origin Grass could actually elevate the grade of talisman paper and talisman ink directly!
This was a treasure!
Jin Haochen looked at the patch of grass halfway up the slope, his eyes beginning to shine as he seemed to already envision himself using this to get on the good side of a talisman master.
Still, he remained somewhat puzzled. "With something so good, why is there so much of it here?"
"Star Origin Grass is extremely rare, and since it isn't a mandatory material for making talisman paper and ink, many people don't know about it," You Yu replied. "Besides, since it only has this single use, to anyone who doesn't understand it, it's just a bunch of weeds."
"Then how did you know about it?"
You Yu patted his shoulder. "Brother Jin, when you have time, read more books. In books, you'll find jade-like beauties; in books, houses of gold."
Jin Haochen: "..." You don't understand the pain of a poor student.