Just as Yun Mengmeng had guessed, Lu Yang was very busy the next few days.

As the saying goes, love the profession you are in. Since he was going to participate in the Spirit Chef Competition, it wouldn’t do to rely solely on connections to qualify. He also needed a basic understanding of spirit chefs. For example, one of the fundamental skills of a spirit chef was deboning and slicing meat without damaging the bones.

Spirit chefs had their own ranking system divided into nine stars, corresponding to Qi Training, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transfiguration, Void Refinement, Fusion, Transcendent Tribulation, and Immortal. The Qi Training Stage corresponded to one star, and immortals corresponded to nine stars.

As for Void Refinement six-star spirit chefs, that was essentially just a title. When a Divine Transfiguration five-star spirit chef advanced to the Void Refinement Stage, the Spirit Chef Alliance would confer the title of six-star spirit chef on them.

Lu Yang was blessed by heaven and enjoyed an unparalleled advantage in learning spirit chef knowledge. The legendary true nine-star spirit chef, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy, was personally instructing him.

“Xiao Yangzi, look. This is the structure of a Kui ox. This white line is where the bone meets the flesh. When deboning and slicing the meat, you start from the gaps between the bone and flesh.”

Inside the mental space, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy crouched on the ground, using a twig to draw simple sketches. If she hadn’t said it was a Kui ox, Lu Yang would have thought it was a tanghulu with only two hawthorn berries, the first being the head and the second being the body.

“Immortal Fairy, how about we get an actual specimen to practice on?” Lu Yang suggested earnestly. If we keep learning this way, let alone figuring out how to debone, I’ll soon forget what a real Kui ox even looks like.

But he couldn’t very well say, “Immortal Fairy, your drawings aren’t good enough. I want a different spirit chef to teach me," as that would hurt the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s feelings.

“Find an actual specimen? That’s also a way.”

What Lu Yang needed wasn’t just one Kui ox carcass, but many demon beast carcasses. It would be troublesome to purchase a large quantity of demon beast carcasses alone. The simplest method was to have someone else buy them for him.

“Is Chieftain Jin in?” Lu Yang didn’t bother Zhu Tian with this. Instead, he sought out the Qiongqi Tribe.

Zhu Tian was, after all, the ruler of a nation and usually busy. It was already difficult for him to make time to see Lu Yang. There was no need to trouble him with such trivial matters.

Ever since Zhu Tian established the kingdom, all demon tribes with Transcendent Tribulation demon emperors, except the Dragon and Phoenix tribes, had moved to Demon City. The Qiongqi Tribe was among them.

“Who are you?” the Qiongqi Tribe guard asked.

Lu Yang couldn’t interact with the Qiongqi Tribe using his real identity, so he adopted a disguise. He produced a small wooden sword containing a wisp of his sword qi. “Give this to Chieftain Jin. He will come out to receive me.”

The Qiongqi Tribe guard didn’t dare look down on Lu Yang and took the small wooden sword.

Not long after, Chieftain Jin hurried out of the tribe’s compound, personally welcoming Lu Yang and inviting him to his cave abode. Only then did Lu Yang remove his disguise.

“Nephew... Fellow Daoist... Senior... Lu?” Chieftain Jin tried three different appellations, unsure how to address Lu Yang.

As the Young Creed Leader of the Heavenly Court Creed, even our little ancestor is technically Lu Yang’s subordinate. Yet he is also the Taciturn Daoist Priest’s underling, so my seniority should be higher than his.

“You’re too polite, Chieftain Jin. How could this junior be worthy of being called “fellow Daoist” or “senior?”

“Please have a seat, Young Creed Leader.” Chieftain Jin finally stopped fretting over the different forms of address and warmly welcomed Lu Yang.

Ever since the Qiongqi Tribe got involved in the recording orb business, their situation had finally improved, even making up for the losses from its monopoly of the candle industry. In this regard, Lu Yang was practically the savior of the Qiongqi Tribe.

“I’m here to purchase some demon beast carcasses to practice my culinary skills.”

“Demon beast carcasses? That’s simple. What kind of carcasses do you need, Young Creed Leader?” Ever since Jin Caiwei had appeared in the Battle of the Imperial City, the Qiongqi Tribe’s status had risen accordingly. Among demons, aside from the Dragon, Phoenix, and Dijiang tribes, the Qiongqi Tribe now held the highest standing and had plenty of means.

“The more varied, the better.”

“Sure. Give me a little time.” Chieftain Jin hurriedly excused himself and went to instruct his subordinates to gather various demon beast carcasses.

Before long, the door opened again, but it wasn’t Chieftain Jin who entered.

“Young Creed Leader, why didn’t you tell me that you’ve come to Demon City?” Jin Caiwei, the little qiongqi, had set down her work and come running over upon hearing Chieftain Jin’s report.

Lu Yang rose with a smile and cupped his fists. “I knew you were busy, Senior Jin, so I dared not disturb you.”

“What are you saying? You’re the Young Creed Leader and the savior of our Qiongqi Tribe. When you come to see me, there’s no such thing as ‘disturbing.’ Did you receive the spirit stones I sent you?”

“Yes, I did receive them. It’s too much. I simply offered an idea. How could it be worth so many spirit stones?” With Lu Yang’s current wealth, let alone Divine Transfiguration cultivators, even some Transcendent Tribulation cultivators weren’t as rich as him.

The Taciturn Daoist Priest was one example.

Soon, Chieftain Jin delivered a steady supply of demon beast carcasses—aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial types, none of them the same. The cave abode couldn’t even fit them all.

Lu Yang moved them all into the Qingfeng Sword’s small world.

Jin Caiwei had never been to the Qingfeng Sword’s small world and was curious about what Lu Yang wanted to do, so she followed him inside.

“Little Tiger, it’s been a while.” After entering the Qingfeng Sword’s small world, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy appeared, smiling as she patted Jin Caiwei’s head and ruffled her hair.

“Sister Everlasting!”

“Good girl.

“Xiao Yangzi, pull out this Kui ox.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy pointed to a one-legged bovine demon among the carcasses.

“Alright.”

Lu Yang pulled out the Kui ox, and the pile of carcasses stacked on top collapsed, but he was quick enough to avoid being buried underneath.

“Depending on the cut, the texture of demon beast meat varies.” The nine-star spirit chef imparted her wisdom.

“This is a bit troublesome to explain. Right, Little Tiger, use your Incipient Dao Fruit to compress this ox.”

Jin Caiwei activated her Planarity Incipient Dao Fruit and flattened the Kui ox into a sheet of paper.

“Now it’s easy to explain.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy drew circles on the flat surface. “This part is called ‘short loin,’ this is called ‘upper foreshank,’ this is called ‘shank,’ this is called ‘lower foreshank’...”[1]

Lu Yang nodded, noting each point diligently.

Jin Caiwei also studied alongside him. This was her first time hearing such knowledge. She realized she had been far too careless in her eating habits.

“Have you remembered everything?”

“Yes.”

“Now, slice out these sections of meat.”

Lu Yang raised the Chengying Sword, facing the Kui ox carcass as if it were a formidable enemy. Under his powerful spiritual consciousness, the Kui ox’s body anatomy was laid bare in minute detail. With a flash of sword light, the skeleton collapsed into scattered pieces, while the various cuts were neatly arranged on plates.

“Haha, that was actually pretty simple.”

In the vast Qingfeng Sword small world, demon beast carcasses were piled like mountains, exuding an ominous aura. A blood-soaked swordsman walked among the corpses. With each swing of his sword, more demon beasts fell, dead and shattered beyond recognition, their species indiscernible. Gazing at the bones scattered across the ground, the swordsman laughed maniacally...

According to The Book of Dou: Annals of the Emperors, within the small world of the Qingfeng Sword possessed by Douling Emperor Lu Yang, corpses were strewn everywhere, and bones lay in heaps.

1. As mentioned in an earlier chapter, the Chinese beef cut is different from the Western beef cut. You will probably find out more if you try Chaoshan beef hotpot. I tried to translate the terms to their closest counterparts, but to be more accurate, here are the cuts mentioned in this paragraph: diaolong (rib/short loin/sirloin), sanhuazhi, wuhuazhi, and chibing. ☜