Chapter 31

Actually, Jiran had always felt guilty towards Baker. The curse that Baker endured was meant for him. If not for Baker's self-sacrificing rescue, the one who would be unable to make any progress now should have been him... Perhaps, the curse would have directly eliminated him when he was extremely weak at that time.

But now, he couldn't do much to help Baker. Lift the curse? Sorry, cooking doesn't provide such advanced abilities. Refining magical treasures? Although it's possible, it can't compare to the life-saving grace Baker showed him...

With his strength unable to improve, Baker was no longer suitable to be an adventurer. Unless he was willing to hunt low-level monsters in the low-level monster zones, which would mean he would soon part ways with Ban, Erin, and others... He wouldn't allow himself to become a burden to others.

If possible, Jiran wanted to find a new way for Baker to make a living. Selling alcohol seemed like a good choice. But he couldn't just casually mention this to Baker; he needed to wait and see. Otherwise, Baker might misunderstand it as pity.

Additionally, Uncle Lys' injury should be treated soon. He had already heard Lys describe his injury on the way. It was entirely possible to treat it with cooking skills, but the materials were lacking, and it would take a lot of time...

While Jiran was lost in thought, Old Mac was chatting enthusiastically with Lys. It seemed they were old friends with a deep bond. It was obvious that Lys was much more relaxed when facing Old Mac.

"Haha, Miss Erin, what do you think of the Ice Dew wine I collected? It should be top-notch, right?" Old Mac was clearly already quite drunk. Not only the Ice Dew wine, but a large barrel of ale was almost finished.

"Not bad, but it's not the best," Erin sipped the Ice Dew wine, still looking indifferent.

"Of course, the best Ice Dew wine I can't even get, let alone afford. I've heard that even the elves don't have enough for internal consumption! A barrel costs over a thousand gold coins. Even if I could get it, I wouldn't be willing to drink it..." Old Mac didn't get angry at this evaluation.

Jiran was surprised. A barrel of the best Ice Dew wine worth a thousand gold coins? Holy crap, that's an outrageous price... But thinking about it, this is a specialty of the elves, and they almost never sell it, so the high price is understandable. Rarity makes things valuable...

In the original world, some famous red wines could cost hundreds of thousands per bottle. If converted to a barrel... a thousand gold coins isn't an unreasonable price.

In that case, brewing wine seems to have a promising future. He had brewed wine in the game before, and although the flavor was different from Ice Dew wine, the quality was no less. If he could brew the best, wouldn't he be rich?

Brewing wine, indeed, has potential!

Just as he was getting excited, Old Mac spoke to Lys again.

"Lys, do you still plan to go home and visit?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole table fell silent. Everyone looked at Uncle Lys, but no one spoke.

Lys laughed bitterly and drank a cup of ale in one gulp: "Go back? What can I do if I go back? Marry a woman from another family to continue the family line, help manage the family business, and live a mediocre life? That's not the life I want!"

Old Mac sighed: "Sigh, you were once a genius of the Erei Empire. Who would have thought... Forget it, let's not talk about it. If possible, I'll look for information that might help treat your injury. But..."

Lys waved his hand: "I know, the cost to treat my injury is too high. Ha, no one would be willing to pay such a high price for a useless person like me..."

The atmosphere at the table suddenly turned cold. Everyone knew about Lys' injury, but the difficulty of treating it was equally well-known. Lys' injury was very complicated, involving the source of his martial arts energy, making it hard to treat. When Lys was first injured, he had sought help from the Holy Light Church's experts, but even they could only suppress his injury.

"I can only do so much. Perhaps someone can completely heal his injury, but I can't."

That was all the Gold-level bishop of the Holy Light Church said. Due to this, Lys' strength greatly diminished, and he left home in anger, becoming an ordinary adventurer.

Seeing Lys' gloomy expression, Jiran held back from speaking. He had once told Lys that he might be able to heal his injury, out of impulse. But after truly understanding Lys' injury, although he still felt there was a chance, his confidence wasn't as strong as before. He regretted his previous impulsiveness and didn't want to raise Lys' hopes only to disappoint him more.

However, he had already made up his mind to start treating Lys immediately!

The atmosphere at the table was heavy, and Old Mac wasn't as happy drinking. He glanced at everyone's expressions and laughed loudly.

"Come on, don't think about those troubles! As long as you're alive, there's hope! The dwarf principle is that you can never waste good wine! There's not much Ice Dew wine left, and if you keep this up, I'll drink it all myself!"

"Fat chance! We barely won this Ice Dew wine, how can you drink it all by yourself!" Baker shouted first, then immediately drank the half-cup of wine in front of him and grabbed the barrel to pour himself another...

The atmosphere of the meal became lively again, and it continued until late at night. The group stayed in a small courtyard behind the tavern. Baker, who had drunk too much, was carried to the room by Ban and fell asleep immediately.

Erin took Lydia to sleep, but Lys didn't rush to sleep. He sat by a stone table in the center of the courtyard, seemingly deep in thought.

Jiran didn't sleep either. He hadn't drunk much, and Ice Dew wine wasn't very intoxicating, so he was still sober. Seeing Lys sitting in the courtyard, he walked over.

"Uncle Lys, what are you thinking about? Your injury... or your family?" Although he felt that asking might reopen Lys' wounds, Jiran couldn't help himself.

"...Why aren't you sleeping? I... both." Lys was surprised at first, then looked up at the stars.

"...Can you tell me how you were injured back then?" Jiran's curiosity was burning—okay, some might call it gossip—looking at Lys expectantly.

Lys smiled bitterly: "...You should have heard us talk about it before. Over a decade ago, there was a major battle against the True God Sect."

Jiran understood: "So, you were injured during that battle?"

Lys nodded: "Yes. Not only that, but I also lost the person I loved most in that battle... Old Mac was one of my teammates back then. Only the two of us survived. Do you think Old Mac would so easily give you his token? Among dwarves, Old Mac is a well-known figure. If his token fell into the wrong hands, it could cause significant damage to the dwarves."

Jiran blushed, realizing he had benefited from Lys... But it was understandable; what had he done to deserve such trust from the stubborn dwarves with just one dish?

"After I was injured, I was disheartened and became a wandering adventurer. Old Mac, tired of the fighting, opened a tavern in Pinebank. Over the years, although I wandered, I always came to the Blue Pine Forest for a while each year."

Jiran nodded, feeling the deep bond...

"So he knows about my past and has always tried to encourage me to pick myself up. But how easy is it to pick oneself up? Just maintaining my strength without decline is already a challenge. To advance further, it's impossible without healing my injury." Lys looked despondent.

Jiran could understand his feelings. Once a famous genius of the Erei Empire, now reduced to this. Although he was still at the Silver level, this strength no longer made him a formidable fighter.

"I've told you about my injury; it's a crack in the source of my martial arts energy. No matter how much martial arts energy I cultivate, it leaks out through this crack. It's only because a Gold-level expert helped me that I'm still better than an ordinary person. In this state, how can I pick myself up?"

Lys smiled bitterly. Although Jiran said he could help heal his injury, he didn't have much hope. A Gold-level expert couldn't heal his injury, so how could Jiran? Even if his cooking alchemy had some unique effects, his age was too young, and his strength was only Level 2. How could he accomplish what a Gold-level expert couldn't?

"Uncle Lys, I've never encountered an injury like yours before. But the elder who taught me cooking once taught me a recipe. This recipe can treat chronic injuries caused by cultivation or injury, especially internal injuries. Although I don't know if it will work for your injury, trying it won't hurt, right?"

Jiran didn't make any promises, but he had confidence in this dish.

From the cooking skill recipes in "Immortal Leisure," there was a recipe that sold well in the game. This recipe is called the Essence-Gathering Qi-Supplementing Soup.

In that immortal game, players could enter a "spiritual deviation" state due to various reasons. In this state, all attributes would decrease, and skill casting could fail. Both quest rewards and experience points would be reduced, and health and mana would randomly drop.

This state could be caused by failed tribulations, repeated severe injuries, or special skills from bosses... In short, being in this state would greatly affect combat ability and leveling speed. Players were essentially useless during this time.

There were multiple ways to remove this spiritual deviation state. For example, seeking help from senior members of one's sect or consuming rare herbs. But the simplest method was the Essence-Gathering Qi-Supplementing Soup.

Each serving of the Essence-Gathering Qi-Supplementing Soup could temporarily free players from the spiritual deviation state. Continuous consumption could completely remove the state. Compared to completing tasks for senior members or finding rare herbs, the Essence-Gathering Qi-Supplementing Soup was a cost-effective solution.

Jiran planned to make this dish for Uncle Lys.

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New book, seeking all kinds of support, clicks, recommendations, and collections are greatly appreciated...

Also, thank you to all the readers who have supported and reviewed the book since its release...

Ji Miao, Uncle Zi Yue, Ling Ming Tian Ya, Book Friend 140604145826470, Ordinary Student, Basement Torturer (great name!).

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