"Three-Flavor True Fire?" Lu Yang scratched his head, thinking to himself whether Eldest Senior Sister couldn't even tell apart the characters for *samadhi* and *flavor*. They looked similar, but their pronunciations were completely different.
Then he reconsidered—Eldest Senior Sister was almost certainly far better educated than he was.
Forcing an air of calm, Lu Yang laughed, "Hahaha! Eldest Senior Sister, you really know how to joke. You taught me the Samadhi True Fire, so how could I possibly have learned a Three-Flavor True Fire?
"Impossible, completely impossible."
Yun Zhi offered no explanation. She beckoned to the puppet, having it fetch a piece of demon beast meat from the kitchen.
Employing an unknown technique, Yun Zhi suspended the meat in midair, setting it spinning. "Roast it with your true fire."
Lu Yang exhaled true fire from his mouth, roasting the demon beast meat until oil sizzled and popped. Before long, a mouthwatering aroma wafted out, making his mouth water incessantly.
Though his true fire was nowhere near as powerful as Yun Zhi's, its heat was still far more vigorous than ordinary flames. In no time at all, the meat was thoroughly roasted.
"Taste it yourself," Yun Zhi said.
Using his finger as a sword, Lu Yang sliced off a small piece and popped it into his mouth. The taste was mind-bogglingly delicious.
Not a single seasoning had been added to this demon beast meat, yet it tasted as though it had been salted for savoriness, sugared for freshness, and peppered for fragrance.
It truly was a Three-Flavor True Fire.
"Something definitely went wrong somewhere," Lu Yang analyzed solemnly. He had followed Eldest Senior Sister's instructions step by step, and he even had a mighty expert like her demonstrating in person. There was no way he could have made a mistake!
"Let me try again. I'll definitely succeed!"
Yun Zhi nodded. "It is good that you have such resolve. In that case, today's dinner is in your hands. It will also help consolidate what you learned today."
With that, Yun Zhi turned and returned to her immortal cave to meditate, quietly awaiting Lu Yang's cooking.
"Wait, no, that's not what I meant..." Lu Yang felt that Eldest Senior Sister had slightly misunderstood his determination. Unfortunately, she had already walked far away, leaving only the puppet to keep him company.
Sighing, Lu Yang motioned for the puppet to follow him to the kitchen.
This was his first time visiting the kitchen on Tianmen Peak. In the past, the puppet had always prepared the meals; Lu Yang had never cooked here.
After all, training every day left him mentally and physically exhausted. Where would he find the energy to cook?
As expected of Eldest Senior Sister's dedicated kitchen, it was larger than an athletic stadium from his previous life. A dazzling array of ingredients was neatly arranged, with carcasses of several-meter-tall demon beasts visible everywhere. Even in death, the beasts possessed an imposing aura, making it easy to imagine how formidable they had been in life.
Too bad these beasts had lacked foresight. Rampaging across the Central Continent, they had crossed paths with Eldest Senior Sister and were slain in a single blow, having not even realized they were dead.
Lu Yang had some basic cooking experience, but that was strictly limited to ordinary ingredients. He didn't recognize a single one of the items laid out before him.
"What should I make? What does Eldest Senior Sister like to eat? Every time we have a meal, she seems to have a little of everything without favoring anything in particular..."
"Master likes barbecue the most," an abrupt voice spoke up, startling Lu Yang.
Lu Yang whirled around. It was actually the puppet speaking.
The wooden puppet had the likeness of a woman, though its face was left uncarved. It had accompanied Lu Yang since his very first day of cultivation, yet he had never known it could speak!
"What are you staring at me for?" the puppet spoke again, confirming he wasn't hallucinating.
"You can talk? Why haven't I ever heard you speak before?"
"Why would I talk to a fool?"
"You..." Lu Yang was rendered speechless. If he weren't unable to beat it in a fight, he would have dismantled this damn puppet on the spot.
"You're saying Eldest Senior Sister likes barbecue? How come I've never seen her eat it?" Lu Yang eyed the puppet suspiciously.
He knew there was a magic art called Puppetry, that experts in it were called puppeteers, and that among the first-rank sects, there was even the Yanshi Sect, comprised entirely of puppeteers.
What he didn't know was where the ceiling of puppetry lay. Could a puppet really possess such high intelligence?
Or should he expect nothing less from Eldest Senior Sister's puppet?
"Master does not have the habit of revealing her personal preferences to outsiders." The puppet's tone remained utterly dismissive of conversing with Lu Yang.
"See that Kui ox on the right? Chop off its thigh. Master likes that cut."
"I'll trust you this once." Lu Yang figured the puppet had no reason to trick him.
Drawing the Green Blade Sword, he slashed at the Kui ox's thigh. A gleam of light erupted from the ox's body, sending Lu Yang flying. He crashed headfirst into a pile of flour, dusting himself white from head to toe.
"*Cough, cough!* What level was this ox when it was alive?" Lu Yang could swear the ox's cultivation must have been absurdly high for it to remain entirely unscathed even after death.
The puppet didn't answer. With a single punch, it shattered the Kui ox's protective golden light. "Try again."
"Slash!" Lu Yang executed the Slash Formula, leaving a superficial scratch.
The Slash Formula was less powerful than the Break Formula, but its advantage lay in covering a broader area and being usable repeatedly.
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
Lu Yang unleashed three Slash Formulas in one breath, completely exhausting his spiritual energy. Right on cue, the puppet popped a Great Restoration Pill into his mouth.
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
Great Restoration Pill.
And so, through a repeating cycle of slash-slash-slash, Great Restoration Pill, slash-slash-slash, Great Restoration Pill, he finally managed to cut off enough meat for a single meal.
Having merely prepped the ingredients, Lu Yang was already panting with exhaustion. He collapsed flat on his back, and the puppet fed him another Great Restoration Pill.
Lu Yang found the scene oddly familiar.
Credit where credit was due: the Great Restoration Pill was truly effective. After swallowing it, Lu Yang was brimming with vigor once more, ready to resume cooking.
"Use sword qi to pulverize the sinews," the puppet instructed from the side.
The tip of the Green Blade Sword pierced the Kui ox meat, releasing sword qi. To Lu Yang, it felt like tossing a pebble into the vast ocean—it didn't stir up the slightest ripple.
"Keep going, keep going. You're the best." The puppet cheered Lu Yang on, but its voice was completely flat, offering not an ounce of genuine encouragement.
Lu Yang snapped, "Could you put some emotion into it?!"
The puppet readily obliged. "Lu Yang, even though your cultivation is pathetic, you butcher everything you try to learn, and you can't even beat me in a fight, you've really been working hard. Go for it!"
Veins bulged on Lu Yang's forehead. Cranking up the output of his sword qi, he finally forced it into the Kui ox meat, severing the sinews bit by bit.
By the time he finished the whole process, Lu Yang was too exhausted to even bother getting mad at the puppet.
When it came time to roast the meat, Lu Yang chugged Great Restoration Pills with one hand while roasting with the Three-Flavor True Fire with the other. Soon, the aroma of meat drifted outside the kitchen.
"Smells amazing! What is that?" Old Ba walked into the kitchen, following the scent, only to find Lu Yang barbecuing.
"Uncle Ba, what brings you here?" Lu Yang asked in surprise.
Old Ba chuckled and produced a canister of tea leaves. "A fresh batch of Enlightenment Tea just came in, so I planned to bring some over for Yun Zhi. Then I caught this aroma and came to see what was cooking. It's Kui ox, isn't it? Given your cultivation level, boy, that must've taken a whole lot of effort, eh?"
Lu Yang chuckled sheepishly.
"Right, earlier you were asking about Old Ninth. Do you happen to know where he is?"
Lu Yang figured Master would be emerging from seclusion soon anyway, so there was no harm in telling Old Ba. He explained that Master was meditating in seclusion in the pine forest.
At those words, Old Ba's eyes lit up. Evil truly had its retribution! That godforsaken Old Ninth had actually been locked up by Yun Zhi.
Setting down the Enlightenment Tea, Old Ba turned to leave. "I have some business to attend to. I'll take my leave first."
He had to hurry and spread the news to his junior brothers so they could all go gawk at Old Ninth together!
Chapter 115