"Chu Yuan of Huwei Arts Hall, here to offer congratulations with my martial brothers!"

The handsome man at the very front, as refined as jade, spoke in a loud voice.

His voice wasn’t very loud, but everyone present could hear him clearly.

’What powerful Inner Strength!’

’The head disciple of Huwei Arts Hall has improved his cultivation again...’

"It’s really Chu Yuan?!"

The people who had originally planned to watch a good show were all shocked to see Chu Yuan appear.

Who was Chu Yuan?

Putting aside his identity as the head disciple of Huwei Arts Hall, he was a genuine Martial Artist of the Yijin Pass.

In Qinghe County, besides the strongest experts of the three major powers, no one could best Chu Yuan. And that was without even mentioning that Chu Yuan was just thirty years old, with a high chance of breaking through the Strong Organ Pass and becoming one of the absolute top figures in the city.

Chu Yuan’s appearance was equivalent to the Huwei Arts Hall Master, Xue Gui, arriving in person!

This was an unwritten rule in the Martial Arts Hall Realm of Qinghe County.

When Liu Qingshan, Li Ting, and the other three saw Chu Yuan appear before the Five Flavors Pavilion with eight Inner Courtyard Disciples, they were so shocked their jaws dropped.

They originally thought that the most Bai Yuan could do was invite Zhang Yang, but they never expected him to bring in a heavyweight like Chu Yuan.

"It’s in the bag!"

Liu Qingshan’s eyes lit up. With Chu Yuan here to hold down the fort today, few would dare to cause trouble for the Five Flavors Pavilion in the future. After all, Chu Yuan carried immense weight in Qinghe County.

"Senior Brother Chu, all senior brothers, please, come in!"

Liu Qingshan quickly walked up to the group from Huwei Arts Hall, a brilliant smile on his face.

Although he had already left the Martial Arts Hall and technically shouldn’t address them as martial brothers anymore, he still called him Senior Brother Chu to foster a closer relationship.

Chu Yuan nodded slightly.

As the head senior brother of the Martial Arts Hall, he still remembered Liu Qingshan, an Outer Disciple.

"Why don’t I see Junior Brother Bai?"

Chu Yuan looked around, but there was no sign of Bai Yuan.

The reason he had come to the Five Flavors Pavilion to show support was, of course, on Old Xue’s instructions.

Hesitation flickered across Liu Qingshan’s face.

"Junior Brother Bai is... probably in the back kitchen right now."

...

Today was the grand opening of the Five Flavors Pavilion. The upstairs dining area was already full of guests, and the back kitchen was a scene of bustling, chaotic activity. And the head chef of the Five Flavors Pavilion was none other than the restaurant’s Second Shopkeeper, Bai Yuan.

"Star anise, cardamom!"

"Simmer for one hour, not a moment longer."

"Step aside, let me kill this ox!"

A series of commands issued from Bai Yuan’s mouth.

With a swift motion of his hand, the blade fell, and an old yellow ox died without any pain. He was probably the first person to ever use the Blood Tiger Saber to slaughter an ox.

Strengthening Points +3

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Occupation: Demon Hunter, Swordsman, Boxer, Cook]

[Skills: Cooking (Skilled), Knife Work (Skilled), Tracking (Master), Archery (Proficient), Tiger Form and Crane Style (Initiate), Blood Tiger Saber (Skilled)...]

[Strengthening Points: 14]

Bai Yuan felt that he might not be a good Martial Artist, but he was definitely a good cook.

Besides earning silver by opening a restaurant, his ultimate goal was to get Strengthening Points.

He had already killed every beast on the nearby mountains. The real world had one disadvantage: the respawn timer for mobs was too long. It would be hard to find many more beasts for at least eight or ten years.

And so, Bai Yuan had to find another way.

’Kill demons?’

Demons in a weakened state, like that Snake Demon from before, were too hard to find.

’Kill people?’

Although Bai Yuan didn’t plan on being a Saint, he also had no intention, for now, of learning from that Black-faced Ancestor and slaughtering a whole city.

In any era, it wasn’t soldiers who took the most lives, but butchers.

There weren’t many families in Qinghe County Town who could afford meat. Restaurants were where the most meat was consumed, and most of the pigs and oxen from the butcher shops were sent to restaurants.

So Bai Yuan decided to do it himself. Not only did he save on the butcher’s wages, but he could also get free Strengthening Points. It was killing two birds with one stone.

After practicing in the back kitchen for a while, he simply unlocked the Cook occupation.

He never would have thought that while his predecessor’s martial arts talent was utter garbage, he just so happened to have a great aptitude for cooking.

The Skilled-level Cooking and Knife Work on his panel hadn’t cost him a single Strengthening Point; he had learned them all on his own, without a teacher.

This was an unexpected bonus.

And so, Bai Yuan naturally became the Second Shopkeeper, butcher, and head chef.

Getting Strengthening Points in the restaurant was far easier than hunting in the mountains. He only needed to deliver the final blow; the staff would handle everything else.

The only issue was that the livestock purchased for the restaurant weren’t as wild as the beasts in the mountains. Their aggression was low, so the Strengthening Points he received were also much lower.

Fortunately, the quantity made up for it.

Strengthening Points +0.3

Strengthening Points +0.5

Strengthening Points +2

...

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, countless chickens, ducks, and fish had lost their lives at his hand.

The better the restaurant’s business, the more Strengthening Points he earned. On the first day of business alone, he had already earned "26" Strengthening Points.

Just as Bai Yuan was in the zone, Liu Qingshan came to the back kitchen.

"Junior Brother Bai, Senior Brother Chu is here."

Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow upon hearing Chu Yuan’s name.

He had only told Old Xue about opening his restaurant; he never expected Old Xue would send Chu Yuan.

This was unexpected.

"Alright, I’m coming."

Chu Yuan representing the Huwei Arts Hall was giving him a great deal of face. It would be inappropriate if he didn’t show himself.

"Leave these cattle and sheep for me to kill."

Before leaving, Bai Yuan didn’t forget to give an instruction.

’Can’t forget the important business.’

...

"Junior Brother Bai, it’s been a while."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Chu Yuan smiled warmly at his junior brother. He had already heard from Xue Gui that this young man before him had mastered the Blood Tiger Saber and was very likely to become Xue Gui’s Closed-door Disciple.

The four True Disciples, including himself, had all practiced the Blood Tiger Saber, but unfortunately, none of them could master it.

Therefore, the four of them could at best be considered successors to Xue Gui, while Bai Yuan was the successor to the Black Fiend lineage—a title that carried completely different weight.

Chu Yuan did not feel jealous of Bai Yuan’s talent.

He was also very confident in his own talent, and because he was confident, he could tolerate other geniuses.

"Junior Brother Bai, before I came, Master specifically instructed me to tell you not to spend too much time on this restaurant and neglect your training."

In truth, Old Xue had never said any such thing to him.

It was just that when he heard that Bai Yuan, an Inner Courtyard Disciple of the Huwei Arts Hall, was happily enjoying himself in the back kitchen, he couldn’t help but worry and decided to use Xue Gui’s name to offer some guidance.

"Senior Brother, I know what I’m doing."

"That’s good."

’For anyone else, being a cook would naturally interfere with their training, but he was different. As long as I take lives, I can become stronger.’

’The restaurant is probably the place where the most lives are taken in all of Qinghe County. It’s simply the perfect mob-grinding spot, countless times better than arduously hunting in the mountains.’

Seeing that Bai Yuan understood his meaning, Chu Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

Although he was the head disciple of the Martial Arts Hall, he was actually the one who taught most of the Inner Courtyard Disciples on behalf of their master. Therefore, he had always seen Bai Yuan as a junior.

"Since we’ve met, I’ll be taking my leave now."

"I’ll see you off, Senior Brother."

Neither Bai Yuan nor Liu Qingshan had any intention of asking him to stay.

Chu Yuan disliked noisy crowds and almost never appeared at such occasions.

His appearance at the Five Flavors Pavilion today was already giving them immense face; how could they dare ask him to stay any longer?