Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

Yun Chuyou ran to the vegetable garden behind the house to pick some greens, caught a chicken from the forest on the back mountain, and dug up some bamboo shoots.

These were all ordinary ingredients, not spirit plants, but infused with a touch of Spirit Qi from the mountains and fields, making them taste especially good. Eating them also had some benefits for ordinary people, promoting longevity.

These dishes would be for Zhong Wei and Second Junior Brother Yu Jiu. Zhong Wei was an ordinary person who had not yet started Qi Refining, while Yu Jiu was a ghost child who could not consume spirit food.

For ghosts, many foods that benefit cultivators are poisonous or harmful to them, but ordinary meals are usually fine. However, Second Junior Brother wasn’t a good person; he knew full well he couldn’t eat spirit food, yet insisted on doing so to hide his identity. As a result, he often threw up, and his little face became even paler than when Xie Fuzhi first found him.

The food was prepared by Yun Chuyou and the medicine was brewed by Xie Fuzhi, which made Yun Chuyou feel very guilty. She couldn’t help but think she had harmed Second Junior Brother, treating him as if he were a fragile piece of glass.

Thinking of this, Yun Chuyou snapped the chicken’s neck with a crack. He was a patient now, and she feared that even a single punch could harm him; once he recovered, she would teach him a lesson.

The ingredients for the younger martial sister and Second Junior Brother were ready. Next, she needed to prepare food for herself, Xie Fuzhi, and Junior Martial Brother.

Yun Chuyou whistled and called for her Junior Martial Brother, “Meng He, go into the woods and catch a Grunt Beast. Today, our master accepted a younger martial sister, and we will have a grand feast.”

There weren’t many entertainment activities in the cultivation world, mainly because she was poor and couldn’t afford to spend time on it. Whenever Yun Chuyou felt upset, she ate, and when she felt good, she rewarded herself with food.

When she first reached the level where she could survive without food, she relied on Inedia Pills during her meditation, but whenever there was enough time, Yun Chuyou would always prefer to eat rather than swallow those little pills.

If it weren’t for sword cultivators being able to defeat stronger opponents at the same level, and her master Xie Fuzhi being a sword cultivator, Yun Chuyou would have considered joining the Five Palates Sect to become a Food Cultivator.

Meng He received the message, and a shadow darted through the dense woods. Soon, he appeared before Yun Chuyou, holding two Grunt Beasts he had caught.

Meng He had quite an artistic name, but his appearance was wild. He had sharp, defined features, deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and a healthy, wheat-colored complexion with thin lips.

The boy dressed in black squatted in front of her with messy hair, and some grass stuck to his head. His two dark eyes shone brightly, like a large dog wagging its tail—more accurately, like a wild little wolf.”Elder Martial Sister, Grunt Beast!”

Yun Chuyou looked at the chubby Grunt Beasts in front of her and nodded approvingly. She reached out, picked the grass from his head, and gave him two pieces of candy. “Well done! You earned it, and today I’ll make you braised Grunt Beast.”

The Grunt Beast had a flavor remarkably similar to pork—tender, succulent, and particularly delightful in the belly area. It tasted great no matter how it was cooked. This particular beast wasn’t wild; it was a young one Yun Chuyou had bought from the market and raised in the mountains, feeding it from the forest, which had made it plump and white.

For cultivators, it’s generally best to consume little in the way of ordinary grains, as these require effort to purge impurities from their bodies. Normally, she and Xie Fuzhi ate spiritual food made from spiritual rice and demon beast meat.

The Qingxu Sect was poor and couldn’t afford a dedicated Food Cultivator or the luxury of dining out. Everything had to be prepared by them. They grew their own medicinal herbs and cultivated spiritual rice. Initially, Yun Chuyou went to the mountains to hunt wild demon beasts and ended up clearing out all the low-level ones there. Later, for consistency and flavor, she started buying cultivated varieties from the market for breeding.

The Qingxu Sect didn’t rely on food cultivation for wealth. Yun Chuyou’s planting and breeding efforts were not overly detailed, just enough to meet their needs. When fortune favored them, they enjoyed a good harvest.

Now, with three extra mouths to feed in the sect, and with Junior Martial Brother’s insatiable hunger, Yun Chuyou didn’t plan to take on all the work herself. She had already decided that once her younger martial sister Zhong Wei settled in, they would all work together to manage the sect’s daily needs and be self-sufficient. No matter their backgrounds—whether Demon Bone, ghost child, or half-demon—they would all clear land and help farm. Qingxu Sect didn’t spoil anyone or raise dependents. She had gone through hard times herself, and back then, the sect was truly impoverished. Xie Fuzhi had known nothing then, but now these younger cultivators lived more comfortably than she ever had.

As mealtime drew near, the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen chimney. Xie Fuzhi entered with a lively spiritual fish, saying, “Today’s a good day; I’ll make a fish soup for our welcoming feast.”

It’s rare for him to be lucky; he didn’t come back empty-handed today. Yun Chuyou was stirring the dishes with a spatula and unceremoniously directed him to work, “You handle the fish. Slice it well and bring it over to make a sauerkraut fish soup.”

Even as the sect’s master, one couldn’t simply expect to be served. After all, they weren’t a large sect, and everyone had to pitch in.

As Yun Chuyou continued to cook, the system’s progress bar finally reached 100%. It had taken four long hours, and just as Yun Chuyou was finishing dinner preparations, it was ready. A virtual panel appeared in her mind:

[Your sect’s training system has finished loading, now online.]

A virtual page, like a game, appeared in Yun Chuyou’s mind.

[Host: Yun Chuyou]

[Gender: Female]

[Age: Sixteen years old]

This is the age of Yun Chuyou’s current body.

[Bloodline: Human]

[Cultivation: the early stage of the Golden Core Stage, level one]

[Vitality: 10,000]

[True Essence: 50,000]

Vitality is the health bar, and True Essence is like the mana bar, representing the Spirit Qi stored within the body.

She is a magic cultivator, so her mana bar is higher, while a body cultivator has a stronger physique.

[Cultivation Direction: Sword Cultivator]

[Weapon: Floating Light Sword]

The Floating Light Sword is the sword that Xie Fuzhi gave to Yun Chuyou; it is her weapon and not her life sword.

The life spirit sword needs to be slowly refined, and some sword cultivators can nurture their spirit swords through their hard work, reaching the level where the person and sword become one.

She has just entered the early stage of the Golden Core Stage and has not yet refined her life sword.

[Storage space: twenty slots]

[Personal assets: 0 (can be recharged)]

[Sect assets: 0]

Personal assets can be converted to sect assets, but sect assets cannot change into personal assets.

In the upper right corner of the panel, there is a small mailbox shaped like a flying crane, blinking. She tried to operate it with her mind and tapped on the flapping little crane.

The little crane spat out a scroll with four big words carved on it, “Beginner’s Gift Pack.”

She clicked on it, and the pack was transferred to her storage space. Tapping again opened it, revealing 1,000 spirit stones, 1,000 wood, 1,000 iron ore, 1,000 food ingredients, and a “Beginner’s Manual of Cultivation”—plus another gift pack for the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The Beginner’s Manual contained basic information about cultivation, but it was of little use to Yun Chuyou now. If she had activated the system when she first arrived in this world, even without Xie Fuzhi’s guidance, the system could have helped her become an independent cultivator.

In addition to the manual, there were beginner resources: 1,000 spirit stones, 1,000 wood, 1,000 iron ore, and 1,000 food ingredients.

Curious, Yun Chuyou tapped on the wood icon, and it disappeared. The system now displayed 999 wood and 1 wood, as the limit for any one item in the storage was 999.

This resembled the text-based cultivation games Yun Chuyou had played before, though the difference was that her system was focused on sect development, not an idle cultivation or god-building system.

Her attention shifted to the “wood” icon. The words “can be extracted” appeared. She attempted to extract some wood, and a round piece of wood materialized in the kitchen. It was simple, without any spiritual essence, useful only for firewood, which was hardly beneficial.

Next, Yun Chuyou selected “iron,” which yielded a beautifully shaped piece of pork belly. After closely examining the ingredient, she hesitated to consume it herself, instead feeding it to a demon beast and a common beast to observe any effects.

Although the system’s special features were promising, she had yet to see any system sprite appear to communicate with her. But what if? She’d read stories where such systems were the masterminds behind everything.

The system’s late appearance made Yun Chuyou cautious. If it had appeared earlier, she might have used it without hesitation, but now, with her current situation, simple resources didn’t excite her. She decided to focus on the present, especially with the meal she had been waiting for. After ten years of using it, there was no need to rush.

She called Meng He to bring out the dishes, “Junior Martial Brother, you should bring out Little Junior Brother… Second Junior Brother, let him also meet Younger Martial Sister.” Before there was a Younger Martial Sister, Yu Jiu was a Little Junior Brother, but now that there is a Younger Martial Sister, he has become a Second Junior Brother.

Although Yu Jiu lay in the room looking paralyzed, today was the welcoming feast for Zhong Wei, and since there were only a few people in the sect, everyone should come.

“Got it, Elder Martial Sister!” Meng He rushed away like the wind, quickly dragging Yu Jiu, who lay like a corpse on the bed, out. To be precise, he placed Yu Jiu in the wheelchair that Xie Fuzhi made and pushed him out.

Yu Jiu was about the same age as Meng He, even a few months older, but he looked a bit younger. If Meng He was a wild wolf, he was a sick crane, with elegant and dignified looks, like a noble son raised by a wealthy family.

His health was too poor; his face was extremely pale, as though he could stop breathing at any moment. In the book, Yu Jiu is cunning and deep, presenting himself as a gentle gentleman on the surface, but in reality, he is full of poison, like a cold-blooded snake, hissing and ready to strike.

The table was round, with no designated seats of importance, but Yun Chuyou sat nearby, saying, “These dishes are prepared for you and Second Junior Brother; the other dishes you cannot eat for now.”

Zhong Wei nodded. She had changed into a light yellow dress, which was Yun Chuyou’s old clothes.

Xie Fuzhi’s sharp eyes noticed, “This dress looks familiar. Chuyou, you wore it when you were little, right?”

Several pairs of eyes turned toward Zhong Wei. Yu Jiu’s dark pupils displayed a strange expression, while Meng He looked eager.

Most of the time, Yun Chuyou respected her master. When she had questions, she would respond, “Yes, in a couple of days, I will take my younger martial sister to the market at the foot of the mountain to buy new clothes. She can wear my old clothes for now.”

Meng He exclaimed, “Senior Martial Sister, why does she get to wear your old clothes? I want your old clothes too!”

Meng He, being fourteen this year, was about the same height as the sixteen-year-old Yun Chuyou since boys grow a little later.

The peach blossom wine Xie Fuzhi was drinking sprayed across Meng He’s face. Although Meng He had been covered in blood when Xie Fuzhi found him, it was unclear whether he was stunned. He had already reached the Qi Refining seventh layer, but his mind didn’t function well, and he didn’t understand many common things.

“Your elder martial sister is a girl, and your younger martial sister is also a girl. Why would a boy want the elder martial sister’s old clothes?”

Demons are indeed incomprehensible creatures, especially silly dogs with broken minds. Xie Fuzhi stuffed a large piece of meat into Meng He’s mouth and said, “Eat and be quiet!”