Her feet moved, she borrowed force in the air to flip, and then landed on one knee. Looking up, she watched the Rattle Snake gradually lose its breath, lying motionless on the ground.
Without caring for her image, she plopped down on the ground, gasping for air. Feeling the emptiness of Phantom Power in her Dantian, Dugu Qianye pursed her lips, "Phantom Warrior Level Six, really not up to par!"
After resting, Dugu Qianye approached the snake, pulled out her dagger. Observing that no blood clung to the dagger, she nodded in satisfaction—indeed, it was a good dagger; despite the thick snake skin, it had pierced through easily without staining with blood.
She moved to the head of the snake, cracked open the skull, extracted the Demon Crystal, waved her hand, and stored the snake's body in her Spatial Ring before swiftly leaving the scene of the fight.
"Want to eat me? Hmph, sister will use you to brew snake soup, and cook snake stew!"
In the following days, Dugu Qianye kept training on the outskirts of Cangmang Mountain, looking for lone Spiritual Beasts to fight. After several days, her Phantom Warrior Level Six strength had solidified, and she made considerable progress with the Formless Divine Skill and the Ethereal Step Technique. Indeed, training was a good choice.
That day, Dugu Qianye was by the river, cleaning her wounds. She just fought a level five Spiritual Ape, whose defense and attack were remarkable. She had managed to kill the Spiritual Ape after much difficulty, but she was also wounded all over.
After bandaging her wounds, Dugu Qianye was about to rise when she suddenly noticed a large cluster of smooth, hairless plants by the river, about 20-40 centimeters tall. The plants had narrow lanceolate sheaths about the length of a finger joint, three-layer compound leaves, and long oval fruits with narrowed ends, densely covered with white stiff hairs.
Blinking her eyes to make sure, she was indeed right. Was this not cumin, the essential spice for barbecue from her previous life?!
In her previous life, as the young lady of an Ancient Martial Family, aside from training and missions, her favorite thing was gourmet food. She could cook almost all famous dishes from major culinary traditions, both Chinese and Western. Barbecue was her favorite, so seeing the essential barbecue spice now, she couldn't help but feel a little excited.
She picked most of the cumin, leaving some behind as seeds for sustainable harvesting, which she understood well!
After gathering the cumin, she continued deeper inside until she found a clearing by nightfall. The ground bore traces, likely a common area for those undergoing training.
She skillfully set up her tent and then gathered some dry wood nearby for a fire. When she returned, she found two more tents next to her, and four people were setting up another one. Upon seeing Dugu Qianye, they were a bit surprised but nodded politely.
Dugu Qianye nodded back and returned in front of her tent, ignited the branches, and then took out a piece of previously cleaned Rattle Snake meat and an empty plate. She then took out her dagger and with a few swift movements, the snake meat was sliced into pieces on the plate.
Glancing inside her ring, she finally chose an iron spike-like weapon, took it out, skewered the slices of snake meat, and then placed them over the fire to grill. She continuously turned the meat, brushing them with salt, sesame oil, and other seasonings. Soon, the snake meat slightly curled up and began sizzling. The enticing aroma drifted through the air, drawing frequent glances from the others.
"Wow, that smells amazing!" The curtain of one tent was flung open, and a bright red figure stepped out, quickly approaching Dugu Qianye.
"Wow, that smells great! Bro, can you please share some with me?" The man circled the fire.
Dugu Qianye glanced at him, a young man around eighteen or nineteen, with golden eyes and a height of about 1.8 meters, wearing a bright red robe boldly and flamboyantly.
"Why should I share it with you?" Without looking at him further, she took out today's gathered cumin and sprinkled it evenly over the meat; instantly, a rich fragrance wafted up.
"Because delicious food should be shared with others! Your grilled meat is the most aromatic I've ever smelled, and it must be the tastiest I've ever eaten!" The man was almost drowning in his own drool.
Dugu Qianye squinted his eyes as he reminisced about the first time he made barbecue for Ruyan. She had said, "Your barbecue is the most fragrant I've ever smelled; it must also be the tastiest I've ever eaten."
"Here you go." He placed the cooked meat onto another plate and handed it to a certain man, then bent down to skewer some snake meat and continued barbecuing.
The man took the plate, grabbed the barbecue, and stuffed it into his mouth, talking as he ate, "So delicious! This really is the best barbecue I've ever had! By the way, my name is Dan Jingtian, what's your name?"
Watching Dan Jingtian eat and puff out air because it was hot, Dugu Qianye suddenly felt like teasing him. He thought for a moment and said, "I'm a child from the mud pellet maker's family on Dot Street in Wuyou Town, next to Zixu City."
Dan Jingtian scratched the back of his head and said, "Zixu City, Wuyou Town, how come I've never heard of any of these places? Also, what's a mud pellet maker?"
"Pfft"
"Pfft"
"Haha"
Laughter ensued as four people he had met earlier approached. Three men and one woman, all around the age of 20. The girl wore a long purple dress with her hair simply tied back, her face full of smiles; the three men—one wore a deep blue robe with a gentle smile on his face; another was in a black robe, also smiling; and the last one was clad in golden armor, expressionless.
"Hehe, young man, don't mind him. Jingtian here is just a foodie with a simple mind," the only female spoke, "My name is Ye Canglan, the one in the blue robe is Mo Ziqing, the one in black is Long Xiang, and the gold-faced stoic guy is He Yan. Can I try some of your barbecue?"
Dugu Qianye glanced at them. One person or a group, it was all the same to him. He put the cooked meat on plates and handed one to her, then bent down to continue cooking the snake meat.
Dan Jingtian, puzzled by everyone's laughter, said, "What's so funny?"
"Dummy!" Mo Ziqing tapped Dan Jingtian's head, "Just remove the towns and cities and say it again."
"Zixu, Wuyou, Dot, mud pellet... Oh! Zixu and Wuyou messing with you! Don't tell me, bro, you're pulling my leg!"
Seeing Dan Jingtian finally catch on, everyone laughed even harder. Dugu Qianye couldn't help but smile too.
"Bro, what did you put in this barbecue, why does it smell so heavenly?" Dan Jingtian, having finished his share, started to compete with Ye Canglan and the others for more.
"This." Dugu Qianye took out a bottle of cumin, "This is called cumin, an essential spice for barbecue. Not only does it add flavor when barbecuing, but it also removes the gamey taste of the meat."
Dan Jingtian sniffed the bottle and commented, "It doesn't smell very strong though." But still, as he spoke, he put the bottle into his spatial ring and sneakily glanced at Dugu Qianye.
"If you like it, I'll give it to you." Watching Dan Jingtian's actions, Dugu Qianye struggled to hold back his amusement.
"Haha, really? Bro, you're awesome, I'm definitely making friends with you," Dan Jingtian laughed heartily, "But bro, what's your name really?"