CH 49

Chapter 49: Cooking Research



The Sect Master of the Red Dragon Sect, Yan Yuan Xianjun, was seriously injured and a lot of precious medicinal materials had to be used. Song Qingshi also used golden needles to guide his spiritual power into their sea of consciousness, erasing all those terrifying memories for them, leaving only some psychological shadows. As long as they didn’t encounter anything related to those matters in the future, they wouldn’t have any flare-ups. 



The number one genius doctor of the immortal realm personally undertook these tasks and also used a lot of miracle cures. How much was this all worth?



The Red Dragon Sect really didn’t have enough spirit stones to pay for this. They felt so very ashamed. They proposed to have it on credit and that they will pay it back a little bit each month.



Song Qingshi found them all very pleasing to the eye. He also had a large amount of pocket money given to him by the little angel in his pocket. And so his spendthrift nature once again reared its head and he generously reduced the treatment fee. Everyone in the Red Dragon Sect so were grateful that they were moved to tears. Learning that Song Qingshi loved to collect all sorts of books, they volunteered to copy by hand all the secret books about talismans and formations they had in their sect to give to him to repay his kindness.



Creating talismans was not difficult, but it was very troublesome and most cultivators would choose to just buy them outright. 



Most of the Red Dragon Sect’s disciples were orphans picked up by Yan Yuan Xianjun. Their aptitude wasn’t great. They followed their master to learn how to make talismans and the work was distributed according each person’s ability. They followed the rules and never went looking for trouble.



The girl protected by Yan Yuan Xianjun was called Nian Nian. She was extremely talented, clever and bright. She was a natural talisman master.



Song Qingshi saw her improved fire-control talisman and was greatly amazed. He immediately asked Yue Wuhuan to place an order for a thousand pieces. He then drew from memory several very distinctive ancient talismans from the Medicine King’s Valley’s collection for her to study. Staring at one of the runes that created illusions, it seemed like Nian Nian got some sort of inspiration. She began to research it without regard for food or rest.



Yan Yuan Xianjun felt distressed looking at her. Once his injuries get better, he would have to give her a severe lesson.



She wound around her shifu and acted like a spoiled child. Her senior brothers and sisters also joined in the joking. The relationship between master and disciples was joyous and harmonious.



Yan Yuan Xinajun pretended to be angry. “If you keep disregarding rest, I’ll just marry you off.”



Nian Nian pretended to beg for mercy, “No, I want to stay here forever and be filial to Shifu.”



… 



When Song Qingshi heard this, he felt a little envious for some reason…



Age or length of study do not determine the teacher. It is he who knows the subject best who is the teacher.



He decided to secretly seek advice from Yan Yuan Xianjun on the Way of a teacher.  He wanted to know how he gained his disciples’ favor, made them like their shifu and want to stay with their shifu forever.



Yan Yuan Xianjun wasn’t like his ignorant little disciples. He knew of Medicine King Xianzun’s fierce reputation that didn’t match his outward appearance. He was extremely frightened. Seeing him coming aggressively towards him, he very nearly knelt down and begged for mercy, fearing that he was about to be dragged away to be turned into medicine because he had no money to pay the bill. When he heard the problem, he was completely dumbfounded, feeling that he still hadn’t woken up from the Heart-eating Nightmare formation … 



Song Qingshi took out pen and paper, his face was serious. “Tell me.”



“I didn’t do anything special. I just taught them skills.” Yan Yuan Xianjun surmised that he might be looking for some special technique to better control his disfigured beauty of a disciple. But he didn’t dare to refuse their savior, so he had no choice but to brace himself and do it. “If there’s anything special, it’s probably my cooking something delicious for them? My apprentices all like the noodles I make. Every time we come back from a trip out, they all want to eat a large bowl of noodles. They all say the ones outside don’t have the same taste. Nian Nian likes her noodles soft, Huang He likes his firm. He Xiaoxiao always adds chili, Yue’er doesn’t like green onions…”



This unprepossessing middle-aged cultivator took on a tender expression when talking about his apprentices.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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1. Frf sbeg mbbxlcu rxliir ab mbcnfs sbeg xlcvis offilcur.



2. Ktf kjs ab jc jqqgfcalmf’r tfjga lr atgbeut tlr rabwjmt.



3. Ofjgc ab mbbx.



Pa’v yffc j wlrajxf obg tlw cba ab raevs mbbxlcu rfglberis. Mgbw cbk bc, tf wera raevs tjgv. 



Vbcu Hlcurtl kjr atf asqf ab ufa gluta bc atf pby. Lf kbeiv vb ktja tf rjlv tf kbeiv vb. Lf vgjuufv Tjc Tejc Wljcpec ab atf xlamtfc jcv jqqgbjmtfv la jr tf kbeiv j rmlfcalolm gfrfjgmt. Lf jirb erfv wfatbvr tf erfv obg gfrfjgmt jcv raevlfv atf kjs tf wjvf cbbvifr.



He was a master of alchemy and he could ascertain the weight of each material with just his bare hands. He record it down in the notebook in grams and then record the amount of force and the kind of technique he used to knead, including each change of direction and the number of turns. He confirmed the firmness and texture and also the method of cutting the noodles and the thickness of it. He also took into account, the surrounding humidity and temperature and the quality and thickness of the kitchenware. He determined the temperature and intensity of the stove flame and the cooking time, accurate to the second. He finally rigorously replicated each step and at last came out with noodles that were up to par.



Yan Yuan Xianjun had never seen such an outlandish way of cooking. He was struck stupid as he watched him…



Song Qingshi tasted the finished product and confirmed that he hadn’t run into any mishaps. He happily carried the noodles and went to find Yue Wuhuan. 



…



Yue Wuhuan was reading a book in his room. The Red Dragon Sect had been making talismans for many years. Their techniques were rather distinct. Some books that could only be found in the Red Dragon Sect’s library were also very interesting. Some trade knowledge and techniques that you can’t see elsewhere were very helpful in improving his poison puppets.



Suddenly, Song Qingshi ran in holding a bowl of noodles and handed it to him like it was a treasure.



Yue Wuhuan looked at the soy-based noodle soup with nothing but green onions for toppings. For a moment, he was at a complete loss. He then stretched out his chopsticks to taste it. He felt that the ingredients were quite clean. The taste couldn’t be considered good but it wasn’t bad either. It had a normal home-cooked taste. It was far inferior to the noodle soup he’d made with the turkey soup base. But judging by how much his master looked as though he was expecting praises, the situation was quite obvious… 



He immediately pretended to not understand and praised, “The Red Dragon Sect’s kitchen is excellent. I have never had such delicious noodles.”



Song Qingshi felt like he had refined an incredibly difficult pill. He was overjoyed, but tried to keep modest, “How could it be that good?”



Yue Wuhuan saw through it but decided not to burst his bubble. He smiled and ate the whole bowl of noodles, drinking all the soup as well. He said, “It’s Master’s good intentions.”



“Well, I have cooked before. I have experience.” Song Qingshi was afraid that he would see through his scheme and forcefully justified himself. Although he had raised him on fasting pills and had poisoned the Alaskan Malamute with glutinous rice balls, those could still be considered as cooking. But, he still felt a little guilty and he changed the topic, promising, “If you like it, I will…no, not every day. Sometimes I can’t get away from my experiments. Anyway…as long as I have time, I’ll make it for you.” 



Yue Wuhuan couldn’t quite make sense of it. He couldn’t understand why this person who didn’t even want to eat when doing research was now so willing to cook.



“Yan Yuan Xianjun said that a good master cooks for his apprentices, but eating noodles every day would be a little boring, right?” Song Qingshi thought about the various delicacies the little angel normally made and said happily, “Do you like dumplings, wontons or pancakes? Pastries or desserts? I can learn all of them…Don’t worry, I learn things very quickly and I won’t waste anything.”



Master seems to have misunderstood something interesting?



Yue Wuhuan looked at his expectant expression and the Emotion Locking Gu in his body began to move. There was an increase in his obsessive feelings, exceeding the controllable limit. After the Gu absorbed the excess feelings, he put down the bowl. He said firmly, “Master does not need to do this for me.” 



Because he really liked this kind of thing and he could bear it occasionally. But being subjected to it long-term might just expose his true thoughts.



All these thoughts were unbearable desires. Just like embers in the ashes, if they were fanned out, it could all too easily trigger a fire and burn everything. Everything would become uncontrollable.



This was not what he wished to do.



So, don’t seduce him into going out of control… 



Song Qingshi was slow on the uptake. He then understood that he was rejecting his offer. He thought of how Wuhuan’s craftsmanship was ten times better than his own. His delighted heart suddenly sank and he was a little disappointed. He wanted to give all the good things to this person in front of him but Yue Wuhuan was so smart and capable. It seemed like he could learn anything and do anything…



He didn’t know what else he could give him. He didn’t know how he could treat him better and make him happier.



What would he do if Yue Wuhuan got better and then started to dislike the Medicine King’s Valley for being boring and wanted to leave?



He would go back to the days when he watched clouds alone… 



For a moment, Song Qingshi was dazed as he thought about it. He then quickly cheered up. Failure was a common occurrence for him. The more important thing was that Yue Wuhuan was still by his side. So there was no need to be sad for something hasn’t happened yet. He could continue to work hard.



He pulled over Yue Wuhuan’s hand and placed the Phoenix Blood he’d been holding on to for a long time in his palm. He said happily, “This is the spoil of war I got from the Mo Yuan Ruins. I won it from An Long and I’m giving it to you.”



There was a bit of golden starlight flowing in the fiery red gem. The trajectory dragged out by the starlight made it look like a resplendent phoenix was sealed within it. It exuded a warm aura.



Yue Wuhuan had been completely immersed in the sword slash at the time. He hadn’t been paying attention to the two’s private transactions regarding the gem. 



The color of this Phoenix Blood was brilliant and impressive, pure and flawless. It was completely in keeping with his tastes. It was the type that he could treasure forever.



He liked it so much…



He wanted to place this gem on the body of this person in front of him. It would feel like his own color had occupied this pure white territory.



Yue Wuhuan contemplated that kind of beautiful scenery. There was a secret happiness in his heart and a smile appeared on his lips. 



Seeing that he liked it, Song Qingshi was very pleased with himself…



Although his cooking had been a bit of a failure, the gift was still a success.



He would continue to study how Yan Yuan Xianjun teached his apprentices. Whether it was personally teaching them how to make talismans or calling his apprentices to wake up early to practice their skills every day, or accompanying his apprentices to learn, he would try everything. He won’t be afraid of failure. He would do more and think more, eventually he would find something that Yue Wuhuan liked. He would fall in love with living in the Medicine King’s Valley and would be perfectly happy to stay.



The two of them would study together, would do research together, would practice alchemy together, would play together, would go on adventures together… 



What kind of Doaist-like happy life was this?!



…



Song Qingshi left to pester the pitiful Yan Yuan Xianjun once again. He was going to dig out all the knowledge in his mind. Yue Wuhuan helplessly left along with him. He went to the Talisman Workshop to find the disciples of the Red Dragon Sect. He wanted to ask some questions about their technique of drawing runes and borrow some materials and tools to do some experiments.



The disciples hid nothing of what they knew and told him everything. 



Yue Wuhuan casually found a workbench that nobody used and tried to make some talismans…



Suddenly, he heard the disciples of the Red Dragon Sect whispering:



“Since the Can Tong Sect was wiped out and Gui Yuan Xianzun passed away, no one wants to buy the Happy Talisman in bulk. Don’t make too much, we won’t be able to sell it all.”



” Gui Yuan Xianzun died so miserably. Zhao Shixiong went to deliver the goods and was so scared that he didn’t eat for three days…” 



“Fortunately, that person didn’t come, otherwise Zhao Shixiong might pee his pants.”



“Haha, it’s a pity. There’s a lot of profit in selling this talisman. How about you try and market it?”



“Get lost! You want me to go to the red-light district to promote this stuff? Do you want shifu to break my legs?!”



“Hahaha, I was found out…” 



“…”



The Can Tong Sect was annihilated? Gui Yuan Xianzun is dead?



Yue Wuhuan paused in the middle of writing the talisman. He fell into deep contemplation.



Gui Yuan Xianzun was a name he didn’t want to hear at all. His was also one of the memories he hated most and wanted to be rid of. These past years, while he was trying to save Song Qingshi, he had neither the time nor the ability to kill and exact revenge.  So, he deliberately didn’t pay attention to anything regarding the Can Tong Sect. He also refused to pay any attention to this name so as not to affect his mental state. 



As he recalled, Gui Yuan Xianzun acted cautiously and was an expert at striking both left and right. He was a smart man who never offended the strong.



How did he meet with a violent end? Who was ‘that person’?



Yue Wuhuan turned around and smiled softly, “This matter seems very interesting. Can you tell me more in detail?”