Chapter 181: Don’t Let Down Your Senior Brother’s Kind Intentions

The aroma of braised pork slowly wafted from the Mystic Cauldron Technique. If Liu Chen had wanted to, he could have easily contained the scent, but he needed his junior sister to judge if the flavor was off.

“It smells perfectly fine.”

Standing nearby, Ye Linglong fanned the aroma toward herself and took a careful sniff, offering a fair assessment. Based on her own past experience learning to cook, while the aroma wasn’t perfect, it was certainly acceptable.

“Have a taste.”

Liu Chen nodded. With a point of his finger, two pieces of braised pork floated out and landed near each of them.

Seeing this, Ye Linglong blew on her piece to cool it, then popped the small bit of braised pork into her mouth.

“The flavor is fine. It’s ready.”

As Ye Linglong closed her eyes to savor the flavor, Liu Chen watched her quietly. For some reason, he suddenly found that his usually gentle Junior Sister Linglong was actually quite cute.

Noticing his Junior Sister Linglong was about to open her eyes, Liu Chen averted his gaze and swallowed the braised pork in one bite. A sweet and sour flavor swept over his taste buds, this brand-new taste instantly overwriting the one he had longed for.

When he looked at Junior Sister Linglong again, he felt a sense of gratitude. The Bamboo Shoots and the pork stir-fried with them hadn’t evoked any particular memories for Liu Chen, but this braised pork was different.

“What’s wrong?”

Ye Linglong couldn’t help but look over. She didn’t quite understand what was going on with her senior brother. ‘If this Third Grade Spiritual Cuisine can heal Mother’s hidden injury and raise my parents’ cultivation, then Senior Brother will have completely saved our entire family.’

‘Never mind what it means for me; Mother’s hidden injury doesn’t just affect her own cultivation—it also determines whether Father has the motivation to continue his.’

“It’s nothing.”

Liu Chen looked away, quietly examining the braised pork Spiritual Cuisine before him. ‘My repertoire of Spiritual Cuisine has expanded.’

After composing his thoughts, Liu Chen sealed three portions of the Spiritual Cuisine and handed them to his junior sister beside him.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Ye Linglong was a little puzzled, but since her senior brother clearly had no intention of explaining himself, she didn’t press the issue. Besides, her parents’ situation was far more important than his odd reaction just now.

Ye Linglong left with the three portions of Spiritual Cuisine. Liu Chen silently served himself a plate of the braised pork and began to leisurely savor it with rice.

A moment later, a barrier of Spiritual Power isolated all fluctuations within the Ye Mansion. Liu Chen, who had just begun to eat, glanced in that direction before minding his own business.

In the main courtyard of the Ye Mansion, Lady Ye finished a portion of the Spiritual Cuisine and, under the watchful eyes of her husband and daughter, entered seclusion to cultivate. The immense Spiritual Power within the Third Grade Spiritual Cuisine began to be slowly absorbed, and thin black lines started appearing on her skin.

As the Spiritual Power washed over them, the deeply rooted black lines gradually faded. An unknown amount of time passed. By the time half of the Spiritual Power from the Third Grade Spiritual Cuisine was consumed, the black lines had vanished completely. Lady Ye’s eyes snapped open, and she spat out a mouthful of black, foul-smelling, corrupted blood.

The corrupted blood landed on a large, leafy tree in the courtyard. In a mere moment, this tree—which had been lush and vibrant for as long as Ye Linglong could remember—rapidly withered as a thick, nauseating stench rolled out.

“My dear, rinse your mouth.”

Ye Linglong’s father quickly handed over the prepared Spirit Tea. After rinsing her mouth, Lady Ye took a deep breath.

She hadn’t felt this relaxed in many, many years. However, Lady Ye said nothing, instead closing her eyes to continue refining the residual Spiritual Power in her body.

Seeing this, Ye Linglong and her father tensed up. Removing the hidden injury wasn’t the end; it was only the beginning. They could only truly relax once Lady Ye was able to resume her cultivation after the injury had faded.

And so they waited for two and a half hours. At midnight on the eleventh day of the tenth month, a fluctuation of Spiritual Power emanated from Lady Ye.

In his room, practicing the Concentration Technique to maintain his mental state, Liu Chen subconsciously glanced toward the Ye Mansion.

‘The aura of Meridian Passage Peak.’

Liu Chen briefly assessed the fluctuation, then retracted his attention.

A moment later, the fluctuation vanished without a trace. In the courtyard, Lady Ye slowly opened her eyes. There was no joy of a breakthrough in them; instead, as she looked at Ye Linglong, her gaze held a hint of resignation.

“What is it, Mother?”

Ye Linglong was puzzled. ‘She successfully broke through. Shouldn’t that be a good thing?’

“Do you see now? This is what a single serving of Spiritual Cuisine from a Third Grade Spirit Chef can accomplish. I was trapped in this realm for nearly a hundred years because of a hidden injury, yet a single, casual meal from a Third Grade Spirit Chef allowed me to remove the injury and break through to the next realm.”

Lady Ye continued, her tone tinged with resignation as she looked at Ye Linglong. “A Third Grade Spirit Chef has a place no matter where they go. Even if that so-called Mo Family is powerful, they surely have a younger generation. A Third Grade Spirit Chef can ensure that a promising young talent cultivates smoothly all the way to the Qi Refining Realm.”

‘My daughter has good taste—in fact, her taste is *too* good. But I’m afraid it will be very difficult for her to get what she desires.’

Ye Linglong pouted. Her mother was obviously hinting at how formidable her senior brother truly was, but she didn’t care. Their bond as senior and junior disciples wouldn’t change because of this. Besides, she wasn’t planning on making a move on him at this stage anyway.

“As long as you’re all right.”

Father Ye quickly walked over to interject. His own cultivation had been very low back in the day. When his wife was at the Meridian Passage Late Stage, he was merely at Body Tempering Peak, but they still ended up having Ye Linglong, didn’t they?

“What does this have to do with you? Go eat the Spiritual Cuisine now and raise your cultivation as fast as possible. I was stuck at the Meridian Passage Late Stage for so long because I was injured. What’s your excuse? I’ll give you three years. If you don’t reach the same realm as me, I’ll break your legs!”

Lady Ye stared at her Dao companion. She had realized long ago that it wasn’t that he was incapable of advancing further; he had been deliberately keeping his cultivation—and thus his lifespan—at a level similar to hers. In the past, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything, but now she had hopes of breaking through to an even higher realm. But if her Dao companion truly couldn’t advance any further because he had stopped cultivating for so long, then even breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm would be meaningless to her.

“You’re right, my dear. I’ll go cultivate right away.”

Father Ye gave a sheepish laugh, picked up a portion of the Spiritual Cuisine from the table, and slowly departed. ‘In any case, my wife’s cultivation has improved, so of course I have to start cultivating diligently,’ he thought. ‘If she hits a bottleneck later, I can just stop again.’

Ye Linglong watched her parents, stunned. Even though her mother’s tone had been harsh, she couldn’t help but feel like a third wheel at that moment.

“Don’t let your senior brother’s kind intentions go to waste. Go eat your portion of the Spiritual Cuisine.”

Lady Ye looked at her daughter, the only one left in the courtyard, her gaze falling on the last remaining portion of Spiritual Cuisine on the table. ‘Those two actually gave up their Third Grade Spiritual Cuisine for me,’ she thought. ‘While their hearts were in the right place, they seriously underestimated its power. If that Third Grade Spirit Chef were to stay here for just half a month, I’m confident I could attempt to break through to the Qi Refining Realm within half a year.’

“As you command…”

Ye Linglong happily carried the Spiritual Cuisine back to her own courtyard. Her mother’s hidden injury was gone, and she was filled with a joy that came from the depths of her heart.