Chapter 32

The answer was soon revealed.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a young girl in a green dress walked in with a calm demeanor.

With bright eyes and white teeth, her hair like a cloud, the delicate oval face was slightly raised, her expression serene yet tinged with an unmaskable pride.

"Miss Su!"

Seeing the young girl in green, Li Huai was the first to react, jumping to his feet in pleasant surprise.

At this moment, everyone present recognized the identity of the young girl in green. Some were excited, some were surprised, and some frowned slightly.

"Su Jiao from Longyuan greets all the uncles and aunts." The young girl in green bowed slightly, her voice clear and melodious.

The elders of the Li family, recovering from their initial surprise, smiled and greeted her warmly. After Su Jiao was seated, the Grand Elder Li Fengtu suddenly asked, "Xiao Jiao, who is this Du Qingxi you mentioned?"

"Of course, she is the owner of Qingxi Winehouse." Su Jiao smiled lightly, then sighed softly, "She is a well-known prodigy in Longyuan City, the precious treasure of the Du family's head, even I dare not easily offend her."

What!

The mastermind behind Qingxi Winehouse is actually the young miss of the Du family in Longyuan City?

Everyone was shocked.

Longyuan City is the core of the southern border, a place akin to a capital city, where almost all the powerful families and major sects in the southern border are based.

Among these many major forces, the Eight Great Sects, Three Great Academies, and Six Great Families are the most prominent. The strength and profound background of these major forces are beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

The Su family, from which Su Jiao hails, and the Du family, from which Du Qingxi hails, are two of the six great families in Longyuan City. Although the Li family dominates Songyan City, they still have to show sufficient respect to a young girl from one of the six great families in Longyuan City. This is the difference in strength and background!

Damn!

If it weren't for Su Jiao's appearance, our Li family would have almost caused a catastrophic disaster... Thinking of the terrifying background of Qingxi Winehouse, Li Fengtu was filled with lingering fear.

"Uncles and aunts, there's no need to worry, and there's no need to act on behalf of a broken family's waste. According to my knowledge, Du Qingxi seems to want to cultivate him as a Spirit Chef and take him to the Southern Barbarian Nether Realm for trials. At that time, I will enter and snatch the Nether Order from him."

Su Jiao's expression was serene and calm, as if she were talking about a trivial matter, and she smiled lightly, "I want to see what this guy, who has been engaged to me since childhood, is capable of."

"Since Miss Su has come to Songyan City, as the host, I will accompany you." Li Huai spoke loudly, his eyes revealing intense enthusiasm.

"That would be a bother."

Su Jiao nodded with a smile, her expression still serene, but it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

...

Three months passed quickly.

Chen Xi sat on the ground, slowly opening a book.

The book recorded his cultivation experiences and mental journey over the past three months. From the day he killed the dual-headed purple rhinoceros demon, he began to record his daily cultivation gains on the pages.

The reason for doing so, Chen Xi couldn't quite explain. It seemed that after leaving the four-year-long job of making talismans, he found it hard to adapt, so he often felt the urge to pick up a talisman pen and scribble.

In fact, Chen Xi himself knew that he still loved making talismans, enjoying the patterns of talisman symbols flowing from his pen, and the intricate and beautiful trajectories of the talisman symbols...

Now, all of this appeared in the form of text in the book, recording bit by bit the things he was unwilling to confide to others.

"I am very happy that Senior Ji Yu praised my footwork for improving rapidly. I know that without Senior Ji Yu's guidance, I would never have been able to bring the 'Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon' to the 'Subtle' realm so quickly."

"Tonight, I failed to grasp the essence of the 'Disordered Wind Sword Technique' and could not break through the 'Subtle' realm, feeling very frustrated. I sat by the stream, thinking of my younger brother's unwavering determination to practice swordsmanship with his left hand, and I wondered what right I had to feel frustrated and give up."

"Finally, I became a Two-Leaf Spirit Chef. Pei Wei and Qiao Nan praised me as a culinary genius, while Old Ma strongly opposed, saying he was afraid of spoiling me, which would be detrimental to my growth... Ha ha, actually, although Old Ma is irascible and eccentric, his personality is quite lovable."

"Late at night, walking in the Southern Barbarian Forbidden Zone, I encountered a divine beast, the Mighty Yellow Ape, with skin as hard as fine iron, impervious to blades, and speed like lightning, with immense strength. Seeing no way to escape, I fought with all my might until my true essence was exhausted and my body severely injured. Finally, I pierced its throat with my sword technique and killed it on the spot. This life-and-death battle finally advanced the 'Great Collapse Fist' to the third level, 'Crushing Stones Like Needles,' and my sword technique also reached the 'Subtle' realm. Truly a cause for celebration. Senior Ji Yu laughed and said, 'We should drink a toast!'"

...

Flipping through the pages, it was as if he could see his own joys and sorrows at the time, and a smile involuntarily appeared on Chen Xi's lips.

"Hey, you can actually smile?"

Old Ma pushed the door open and spoke in surprise. In his memory, Chen Xi was indeed like his nickname 'Faceless Chen,' never showing any change in expression. Seeing the fleeting smile on Chen Xi's lips, he was greatly surprised.

Chen Xi closed the book and asked, "Should I start learning the Three-Leaf Spirit Chef's culinary skills?"

"You haven't advanced to the Purple Mansion realm yet, so learning now won't be very helpful." Old Ma shook his head and said, "I came to inform you that Du Boss will be looking for you to discuss something."

As he spoke, Old Ma glanced at the jade slip beside Chen Xi, picked it up, and was surprised to see, "Disordered Wind Sword Technique?"

"Um." Chen Xi nodded.

In the storage ring obtained from the dual-headed purple rhinoceros demon, there were three thousand spirit crystals. Two months ago, he took out five hundred spirit crystals and asked Pei Wei to buy the 'Disordered Wind Sword Technique' on the market.

The 'Disordered Wind Sword Technique' is considered a rare treasure among mid-grade martial techniques, known for its ethereal and fierce sword moves. After being personally refined by the Cave Spirit Ji Yu, the six sword techniques had completely changed, and their quality had improved, making Chen Xi love it even more.

"Good, practicing some sword techniques can be used for self-defense."

Old Ma coughed and said, "However, Chen Xi, I think you should focus on culinary arts. A young man with your culinary talent can reach the highest realm of Spirit Chefs, making a name for yourself throughout the Great Chu Dynasty. At that time, even the Chu Emperor will invite you to be his imperial chef."

Old Ma painted a tempting picture that would excite all Spirit Chefs, but Chen Xi was unmoved, as he had too many things to do and could not spend his whole life as a Spirit Chef.

"Sigh, think about it carefully. I won't force you. If you have the chance, participate in the Great Chu Dynasty's once-a-decade Spirit Chef Competition. It would help me fulfill a long-held wish. How about it?"

Old Ma patted Chen Xi's shoulder, a rare look of tension and hope on his face.

Perhaps this was the lifelong wish that Old Ma had always yearned to fulfill? This made Chen Xi think of his grandfather, who, until his death, had longed to rebuild the Chen family, but his wish was never realized, and he was killed by enemies...

Thinking of this, Chen Xi felt a pang in his heart and said firmly, "I promise you!"

Old Ma was stunned for a moment, then silently turned and left. Only when he was out of the door did he burst into laughter, his low, hoarse voice filled with joy and satisfaction.

If my grandfather were still alive, seeing my rapid progress, he would also laugh happily like Old Ma, right?

Chen Xi shook his head, trying to dispel the unrealistic thoughts in his mind, and picked up a talisman pen to write on a blank sheet of paper.

Gulugulu~

Ji Yu had appeared in the small black room at some point, holding a wine gourd and taking a few sips, then asked, "Done?"

Chen Xi nodded and handed over the paper filled with bold, powerful writing.

The writing on the paper was divided into four categories.

First category: Cultivation, Qi Condensation and Body Cultivation at the Perfect Innate stage.

Second category: Martial Techniques, 'Great Collapse Fist' at the Perfect 'Heaven and Man as One' stage; 'Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon' at the 'Subtle' stage; 'Disordered Wind Sword Technique' at the 'Subtle' stage.

Third category: Weapons, Qingchong Sword, not a ranked treasure.

Fourth category: Self-assessment of combat strength: Unmatched below the Purple Mansion realm, but the success rate of challenging higher realms is low.

Since the day he started practicing footwork and sword techniques, Ji Yu had required him to spend one day each month to reflect, understand the changes in his strength, and summarize his combat experience.

According to Ji Yu, without hard practice, there can be no progress; without self-reflection, how can one achieve great things?

Chen Xi liked this approach. Only by being good at summarizing experiences and reflecting on oneself can one make up for one's shortcomings and progress more steadily and quickly in cultivation. These self-reflection papers were cherished and compiled into a book, named 'Self-Reflection Record.'

Ji Yu, after reading, made no comment, picked up a pen, and added a line: "Divine Soul, at the Mind Power stage."

Chen Xi took a look and was taken aback.

As far as he knew, the divine soul is the most mysterious existence in the human body. The divine soul's power is unfathomable and can roughly be divided into five stages: Perception, Mind Power, Spirit Thought, Divine Thought, and Divine Sense.

However, this classification is not strict. Some people are born with a powerful divine soul and can condense mind power upon reaching the Innate stage, while others may only form perception upon reaching the Purple Mansion stage.

The difference, at its root, is mostly due to the lack of a method for visualizing the divine soul.

Without a visualization method, one cannot cultivate the divine soul's power and can only improve it as one's cultivation realm advances. Therefore, in the cultivation world, there is a unified understanding: Innate cultivators possess perception, Purple Mansion cultivators possess mind power, Yellow Court cultivators possess spirit thought, and those above Nirvana possess divine sense.

"The power of divine sense is far more profound than you can imagine. By visualizing the true body imprint left by the master, you may have already noticed that the strength of the divine soul not only enhances your comprehension but also nourishes your cultivation and martial techniques."

Ji Yu, lying lazily in a rattan chair, explained softly, "If it weren't for your powerful divine soul, it would be impossible for you to cultivate the 'Great Collapse Fist' to the 'Heaven and Man as One' stage so quickly. Similarly, the rapid progress in your footwork and sword techniques, besides diligent practice, is also due to the immeasurable role of a powerful divine soul."

In fact, Chen Xi had already vaguely sensed the power of the divine soul from making talismans and culinary arts. Now, after listening to Ji Yu's explanation, he instantly felt enlightened.

"It seems I need to pay more attention to the cultivation of my divine soul in the future..."

Murmuring to himself, Chen Xi looked up and found Ji Yu gone. Just as he was surprised, he heard a knock on the door.

"Chen Xi, the Southern Barbarian Nether Realm trial will begin in three days. Come out, I have something to discuss with you."