As Li Yingling returned to the dilapidated temple around noon, she was covered in dirt and looked quite disheveled. Her pink flowing仙裙 was splattered with mud, and her face bore several streaks of earth. In her hands, the wooden stick had been replaced by a wild rabbit.
Originally, her goal had been to catch a wild chicken, but the chickens had perched themselves high in the trees, making them difficult to catch. In the end, she had settled for the poor rabbit, feeling a pang of guilt. After all, while the rabbit was indeed adorable, her own stomach was the one truly in need.
Pushing open the temple door, Li Yingling saw her master, Chu Xingchen, boiling water. When he caught sight of her dirty appearance, he sighed and asked, "I told you to go catch something wild, but how come it looks like you were beaten by the wilderness?"
Li Yingling almost choked in anger, ready to retort loudly. But remembering how incredibly effective the "Water Heart Sutra" was, she thought that perhaps her master truly was skilled and was simply putting her through her paces. Instead, she weakly replied, "It wasn't that easy to catch anything."
Chu Xingchen walked over, took the rabbit from her, and examined it by pinching its ears. "Too skinny. Next time, catch a fatter one. It'll be more delicious when roasted."
"Oh…" Li Yingling mumbled, looking dejected. Seeing her sullen expression, Chu Xingchen confidently declared, "No need to look so down. Just wait until I show you a thing or two; you'll be motivated to catch something next time."
Li Yingling gave him a puzzled look just as he pulled out a dagger. With practiced ease, he demonstrated how to prepare the adorable rabbit. Then, using his Five Elements technique, he conjured a sphere of water to wash it clean.
One of the perks of traveling through the玄武国 was the abundance of spices and seasonings, all of which he had stored in his spatial ring. With ingredients like garlic and scallions on hand, he set to work making a spicy rabbit head dish! The rabbit body would be braised on one side while the other would be infused with garlic!
Before long, three plates of rabbit dishes were ready and served on the table, each looking more fragrant and mouthwatering than the last. Chu Xingchen pushed the plate of rabbit heads in front of Li Yingling, saying, "Since this is your first hunt, you should have the best rabbit head."
As she looked at the now-delicious rabbit, tears inexplicably flowed from her eyes. Deep down, Li Yingling instinctively felt a bit repulsed by the idea of eating a rabbit's head. After all, as a young girl with a kind heart, merely eating rabbit meat was already pushing her limits. How could she eat its head too?
Yet this instinctive rejection quickly crumbled when she finally tasted the spicy, fragrant meat. After just a few bites, the ordinary rabbit meat before her had vanished. Li Yingling realized deeply that her master was right—the rabbit was too skinny and didn't last long at all.
Her gaze then shifted toward her own limits—the spicy rabbit head. The struggle in her eyes didn't escape Chu Xingchen's notice. Seizing the moment, he said, "Are you really not going to eat it? If you don't, I will."
"I'll eat it!" Li Yingling replied, feeling ashamed of her lack of resolve. It was one thing to eat rabbit meat, but to gnaw on its head? How infuriating! All of this was her master's fault!
It was just so delicious!
Ever since Li Yingling tasted Chu Xingchen's cooking, her enthusiasm for hunting had significantly increased. The sense of growth that came with her cultivation kept her up at night, and she diligently practiced, making remarkable progress.
Chu Xingchen wanted to keep an eye on his apprentice, but he had no real opportunity to do so. Everything seemed to be going well, and for now, Li Yingling was quite easy to manage. However, the living conditions in the dilapidated temple were a bit much for someone from a prominent family like her.
She meticulously cleaned up the temple, sweeping away the cobwebs from the ceiling and repairing the drafty door. She even dismantled the last two wooden planks from the altar to create her own separate bed.
Chu Xingchen didn't mind this at all, as he could understand her perspective as a young lady from a respectable background. However, he thought that if he were to take in a new apprentice in the future, they might have to sleep on a pile of straw.
Half a month later.
Under the night sky, Li Yingling leaned next to the campfire, happily munching on a roasted chicken leg, but she still managed to look a bit down as she said, "Master, I've been stuck at the ninth level of Qi Refining for quite a while."
Chu Xingchen sprinkled some seasoning on the chicken, replying, "Just practice more, and you'll break through."
Li Yingling cleared her throat and said, "Master, I've seen people in stories using magic pills or spirit herbs to help them break through their cultivation levels. Surely, as the first sect of the玄武国 and you being the top cultivator, you must have plenty of good pills, right?"
Chu Xingchen raised his eyes to look at her. At that moment, she was displaying an eager expression that basically screamed, "Come on, just hand over the pills already."
He couldn't help but chuckle. Where would he even get any pills? He hadn't even reached the Foundation Establishment stage himself yet. What could a Foundation Establishment master give her in terms of magical pills?
However, it wasn't entirely hopeless. Glancing at the night sky, he recalled that the玄武国 was a remote area, unlike the Central Continent, where Golden Core cultivators were as common as dirt. In this isolated place, someone at the Golden Core level was already considered a senior elder.
Now that he was a no-strings-attached Golden Core cultivator, there were things he could do now that he couldn't have done before.
Determined, Chu Xingchen said, "Hurry up and eat. Once you're done, I'll take you to our sect's medicinal field to get some spirit herbs for you."
Li Yingling's eyes lit up with excitement. "Our sect has a medicinal field? I've wandered around this wilderness and haven't seen a single field anywhere. Where is it?"
Chu Xingchen replied impatiently, "This broken place doesn't even have a spiritual vein. Do you think spirit herbs grow like big radishes, just by digging a hole and burying them?"
At this point, Li Yingling didn't care about radishes. It turned out that her sect wasn't just a dilapidated temple! There was indeed a medicinal field! With that thought, her mood lifted immensely. It seemed that breaking through to Foundation Establishment might be within reach after all!
She found that the roasted chicken leg in her hand tasted even better, and without a care for decorum, she quickly devoured it.
"Master! I'm full. Let's go!"
Chu Xingchen felt a bit speechless, noting how obvious it was that this girl was just looking to get her hands on some of her master's magical pills. But it was better to set off sooner rather than later, so he sighed and said, "Let's go."
Under the dark, windy night, the master and apprentice made their way southeast.
An hour later, as they climbed the rugged mountain path, Li Yingling couldn't help but ask, "Master, isn't this medicinal field a bit too remote?"
"Spiritual veins are like that; we'll be there soon," he replied.
Another half hour passed, and Li Yingling finally saw the medicinal field that Chu Xingchen had mentioned. To her surprise, the spirit plants truly looked different. Under the moonlight, they shimmered with a radiant glow, harmonizing beautifully with the moon's light.
The protective measures for this medicinal field were quite impressive. A faint yellow barrier shielded this not-so-large area.
Li Yingling looked at Chu Xingchen with excitement, but her enthusiasm waned when she saw what he was doing.
Chu Xingchen was cautiously using his own spiritual power to quietly create a large hole in the barrier. After checking the surroundings, he handed her a cloth bag.
"I'll keep watch; you go in and take what you want! Take whatever catches your eye! It's our medicinal field, so no need to be polite!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yingling felt dizzy, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Master! Are you trying to set me up?!!"