Liu Hui and Mo Qi, having lower Cultivation, could only manage a few bites before the potent medicinal effects forced them to stop.

Liu Hui simply closed his eyes and began to cultivate, while Mo Qi acted as a caretaker, constantly placing more food on the Pig Emperor’s plate. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The wine bottle and cups sat forlornly to the side. Their promise to share a drink never came to pass, not even after every last bit of the Medicinal Cuisine had been devoured.

Yang Ming reluctantly swallowed the last morsel, fighting the urge to lift the plate and slurp down the leftover sauce.

Hm?

Yang Ming’s expression shifted. He had been so engrossed in the delicious Medicinal Cuisine that he hadn’t paid attention. Only now did he realize that the Realm he had just broken through to had already stabilized.

Had he been cultivating on his own, it would have taken him at least a month or two to stabilize his Realm.

But now, it had happened over the course of a single meal.

’This Medicinal Cuisine... it’s just too incredible!’

Having eaten the "Bear and Tiger Fight" before, he had expected something amazing, but this was still hard to believe.

But now, he had no choice but to believe it.

Yu Liang was equally lost in shock and deep thought.

’The same Spirit Medicines, in the same amounts... If I were to refine them into Elixirs, I’d have to admit that even with a lifetime of experience in Alchemy, I could never achieve what Mo Qi has.’

’The medicinal effects wouldn’t even come close. In fact, there’s simply no comparison.’

"How did you do it?" Yu Liang finally couldn’t resist asking.

"Uh... Master Yu, what are you referring to?" Mo Qi still couldn’t bring himself to call him ’Master’, yet he was calling Yang Ming ’Senior Brother’.

’The relationships are getting pretty complicated,’ he thought.

Yu Liang paid it no mind. He pointed to the plate before him and said, "This Medicinal Cuisine contains Jade Dew Mushroom. While Jade Dew Mushroom is a superior Spirit Medicine for stabilizing one’s Cultivation, its growing environment causes its surface to be covered in a potent poison. How did you manage to remove all of the poison without damaging the Jade Dew Mushroom itself?"

Nearly all Spirit Medicines share a common trait: they are incredibly delicate.

Take the Jade Dew Mushroom, for example. The poison on its surface cannot be simply scraped off.

In the process of removing the toxin, any damage to the mushroom’s main body, no matter how slight, will cause a massive drop in its medicinal efficacy—or even render it completely inert.

During Alchemy, an Alchemy Master uses a Fire Source to melt the entire Jade Dew Mushroom, then slowly separates the poison from the essence.

However, the poison and the essence are intermingled, making a complete separation nearly impossible. Some residue, more or less, always remains.

This isn’t unique to the Jade Dew Mushroom; many Spirit Medicines present a similar problem. This is the origin of the saying that "all medicine is three parts poison."

"I just cut the poisonous layer right off the surface," Mo Qi said, his words shocking, yet delivered with a matter-of-fact look.

’Cut... cut it off?’

The poison and the mushroom’s body were fused, with almost no discernible boundary.

’How could he possibly cut it all off without damaging the mushroom?!’

If Yu Liang hadn’t witnessed Mo Qi’s knife skills firsthand, he would have thought the boy was spouting nonsense.

But now, as absurd as it still sounded, he chose to believe him.

"So, the Golden Leaf Grass, Quicksand Fruit, Iron Tree Root, and the Flowerless Leaf... you handled them all the same way? You just cut off all the useless, harmful parts?"

"That’s right," Mo Qi nodded.

Yu Liang finally understood why the Blood Spirit Flower in the "Bear and Tiger Fight" had been completely free of its deathly aura.

He slumped back into his chair, an indescribable feeling washing over him. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He had originally planned to swallow his pride and ask Mo Qi for his method of processing the Blood Spirit Flower.

Now it seemed he had his answer. In theory, the method was incredibly simple, yet he knew he could never learn to do it, not in his entire life.

It wasn’t just him; perhaps Mo Qi was the only person in the entire world who could.

His skill was unique, without peer or precedent.

"Who taught you how to make Medicinal Cuisine?"

Mo Qi took a book from his robes and handed it to Yu Liang.

"The Medicinal Cuisine Record? You actually learned from the Medicinal Cuisine Record?"

As an Alchemy Grandmaster, Yu Liang was certainly familiar with the Medicinal Cuisine Record. However, it only contained a few Elixir Recipes and the basic theoretical principles for creating Medicinal Cuisine.

Even the author who first proposed the theory of Medicinal Cuisine could only get his creations to retain less than thirty percent of the ingredients’ medicinal effects, and eventually had to give up on the idea.

Yet Mo Qi not only preserved nearly one hundred percent of the medicinal effects, but his combination of ingredients was also perfect. They worked in synergy, achieving an effect twice or even more potent than an Elixir of the same grade.

"A true genius!"

Aside from "genius," Yu Liang couldn’t think of any other word to describe Mo Qi.

What Mo Qi didn’t mention was that the combination of ingredients, including how he locked in their medicinal properties, was largely thanks to the Chaos Scripture.

"You..."

Yu Liang had wanted to persuade Mo Qi to switch to Alchemy, to not let his Celestial-level Fire Seed go to waste.

But the words died on his lips. After all, in terms of medicinal efficacy, the Medicinal Cuisine Mo Qi created had already surpassed his own level as an Alchemy Grandmaster.

As for taking him as a disciple, Yu Liang wouldn’t dare bring it up again.

’It’s just too damn embarrassing!’

He thought for a moment, then retrieved a Jade Slip from his Storage Space and pressed it into Mo Qi’s hand.

"What’s this?" Mo Qi asked, his face full of confusion.

"These are my accumulated insights on Alchemy from over the years. I believe they will be of some help to you," Yu Liang said with a smile. He had come to a realization. Since Mo Qi had already embarked on the path of Medicinal Cuisine and was seeing such success...

...it would be better to lend him a hand than to try and convince him to switch to Alchemy.

"This is too valuable. I can’t accept it," Mo Qi declined. The insights of an alchemist were incredibly important, containing the culmination of a lifetime of hard work. It could be called an Alchemy Master’s greatest secret.

Even a Direct Disciple might not be granted the privilege of viewing them.

Yu Liang’s face fell, and he feigned anger. "What? You look down on my Alchemy insights?"

"No, no, no," Mo Qi waved his hands frantically. He had the Chaos Scripture, which allowed him to perceive the properties of all spiritual things, but he was ultimately self-taught and had an extremely weak foundation.

While Yu Liang’s Alchemy insights couldn’t compare to the Chaos Scripture, they were actually more suitable for Mo Qi at his current stage.

Besides, Alchemy and Medicinal Cuisine were interconnected. If he could draw upon the strengths of one to make up for the weaknesses of the other, Mo Qi believed he could make great strides in both his cooking and his preparation of Medicinal Cuisine.

"Master Yu, this junior is humbled. What have I done to deserve such high regard from you? I’m afraid I am not worthy of these Alchemy insights and will only disappoint you."

Although Mo Qi desperately wanted the insights, he and Yu Liang were practically strangers. He couldn’t accept such a great gift.

But Yu Liang said sternly, "If even you aren’t worthy, then who in this world could possibly be worthy of my Alchemy insights?"

Yang Ming, old and shrewd, quickly understood both parties’ intentions and reservations.

"Junior Brother, Master Yu means well, so you shouldn’t refuse. If you’re still hesitant, how about this? Why don’t you truly become Master Yu’s disciple? You can learn Alchemy from him from now on. I think it would be a great help to your preparation of Medicinal Cuisine."

Yang Ming’s suggestion made Yu Liang’s eyes brighten. He had been too embarrassed to say it himself, so having Yang Ming propose it was perfect.

’If Mo Qi really becomes my disciple,’ Yu Liang thought, ’forget everything else, just being able to eat his cooking every day would be more than enough!’

"Junior Brother, Master Yu has already publicly declared you his disciple. If you refuse now, he’ll lose a great deal of face. Besides, you saw his Storage Ring. So many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures... enough for you to practice making Medicinal Cuisine for centuries. Aren’t you tempted?" Yang Ming secretly sent to Mo Qi via voice transmission.

With things having come to this, Mo Qi, who was no fool, immediately rose, knelt before Yu Liang, and kowtowed three times.

"Master, please accept this disciple’s obeisance!"

"Excellent, excellent, this is wonderful! Good disciple, please, rise quickly." Yu Liang was overjoyed. He personally stepped forward to help Mo Qi up and took out a Storage Ring, pressing it into Mo Qi’s hand.

"As your master, I know that preparing Medicinal Cuisine requires a vast amount of Spirit Medicine. In here, there are nearly one hundred thousand stalks. Although they aren’t of a very high grade, they are all suitable for your current Cultivation level."

This... Mo Qi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy or exasperated.

In his Nine Transformations into Spirit cultivation, he had already reached the Fifth Transformation Nourishing Divine Being Realm. Ordinary Low-Level Spirit Medicine was of little use to him; on the contrary, what he needed were relatively high-grade Spirit Medicines.

Asking Yu Liang for them was not Mo Qi’s style. He still believed in relying on his own efforts.

Besides, with these one hundred thousand Spirit Medicines as capital, a bold idea was already forming in Mo Qi’s mind.

"Thank you, Master," Mo Qi said with a respectful bow.

Liu Hui, waking from his cultivation, saw this exact scene unfold. His eyes lit up, and he stared intently at Yang Ming.

Yang Ming’s wide smile froze on his face. Liu Hui’s gaze was all too easy to interpret: ’His master gave a welcome gift. Aren’t you going to do something?’

"Ahem." Yang Ming coughed drily, having almost forgotten about the disciple he’d picked up so conveniently. "My good disciple, what would you like?"

Liu Hui pondered for a long time but couldn’t make up his mind. In the end, he could only turn to Mo Qi for help.

Mo Qi rubbed his chin, then looked at Yang Ming with a smile. "Senior Brother, if you have any treasures imbued with Dragon Energy or Dragon Blood, you could give them to Liu Hui. He has great need of them."

Liu Hui had consumed a rice ball containing Yellow Dragon Fruit. By a one-in-a-million stroke of luck, he had stumbled upon the opportunity to acquire the Dragon Transformation Divine Technique.

If he could consume a Medicinal Cuisine made from a treasure imbued with Dragon Energy or Dragon Blood, his Cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds in a short amount of time.

Hearing this, Yang Ming’s expression changed. A thought struck him, and he stared at Liu Hui. "You really have a Dragon Blood Constitution?!"

Liu Hui remained silent. ’Dragon Blood Constitution? What the hell is that?’

Mo Qi explained, "He doesn’t have a Dragon Blood Constitution, but what he has is even more powerful."

With the Dragon Transformation Divine Technique, if Liu Hui cultivated it to its apex, he could grow into a true Divine Dragon. How could a mere Dragon Blood Constitution ever compare to that?

Yang Ming sucked in a sharp breath. He never imagined that the disciple he had so casually agreed to take on would turn out to be such a prodigy.

No wonder all those old geezers were fighting tooth and nail to take Liu Hui as their disciple.

’Looks like I’m the one who lucked out in the end.’

Gritting his teeth, Yang Ming reluctantly took out a fist-sized pearl, a pained look on his face.

"This is the Inner Core of an Earth Dragon Demon Beast. Although it’s only a Sub-Dragon with an impure bloodline, the Dragon Energy it contains is incredibly rich. It’s yours!"

Liu Hui accepted the Inner Core and, without giving it much of a look, handed it to Mo Qi.

He trusted that since Mo Qi had helped him make this decision, he must also have a comprehensive plan for how to use it.

"Speaking of dragons, I have a Dragon Carp here," Yu Liang said. "Although it’s only a low-grade white Dragon Carp, it should still be of some help to you." He produced a massive block of ice, inside of which a white carp over a meter long was frozen solid.

Before Liu Hui could say a word, Yang Ming snatched it up.

"What are you waiting for? Thank your grand-master!"

Liu Hui shot a speechless glance at the miserly Yang Ming, wondering if taking him as a master was the right decision. He seemed so unreliable.

"Thank you, Grand-master," Liu Hui said.

"No need for such formalities. We’re all family now." Yu Liang waved his hand. Liu Hui was Mo Qi’s subordinate, and his affection for his new disciple extended to those around him. While the Dragon Carp was precious, this was putting it to its best use.

Yang Ming stared intently at the Dragon Carp in the ice, his mouth nearly watering as he involuntarily pictured it being cooked by Mo Qi.

He had only one thought running through his mind: ’When they cook that Dragon Carp, I absolutely have to be there.’

’Even if I don’t get any of the meat, I have to at least get some of the broth!’