Volume 1: Questioning the Past Chapter 5: Inner Kitchen
Gu Xiaoxing raised the axe high with both hands again and brought it down hard, and the axe blade immediately penetrated into the wood.
"efficient!"
Gu Xiaoxing was overjoyed and swung his axe continuously. With the power of his cultivation, the axe emitted a bright light and wood chips flew everywhere. The log that could only be chopped into a hole after a hundred axes fell was now broken with a sound after ten axes fell.
However, Gu Xiaoxing could also feel that although chopping wood by circulating his cultivation power would be twice as effective with half the effort, his cultivation power would also be consumed very quickly. But there was no other way. It was better than not being able to chop at all, so he continued to chop with all his might.
After a long time, Gu Xiaoxing's internal strength was exhausted. With a clang, he fell to the ground along with the axe. He had no strength left in his body. He lay on the ground gasping for breath. He was so tired that he didn't even want to move a finger.
But suddenly, his eyes opened wide and he felt a suction force coming from between his eyebrows. That familiar feeling made him afraid and angry. It was the feeling of the soul-eating insect between his eyebrows wanting to suck his flesh and blood.
In just a moment, he understood that he and the Soul-Eating Bug were one and the same. His spiritual power was exhausted, and the Soul-Eating Bug was empty. Naturally, it needed to suck his flesh and blood to fill the gap.
"How dare you...! I finally grew some meat, I won't let you suck it!"
Gu Xiaoxing was angry, and he didn't know where he squeezed out the strength from. He sat up in shock like a dying person. Without any hesitation, he started to practice the Soul Control Technique, desperately absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to restore his own cultivation and suppress the soul-eating insects from sucking his flesh and blood.
As traces of spiritual energy from heaven and earth flowed into his body and turned into little bits of spiritual power that were absorbed by the Soul-Eating Insect, the Soul-Eating Insect really stopped sucking flesh and blood, as if it still felt that the spiritual energy from heaven and earth was more fragrant.
Half an hour later, Gu Xiaoxing's cultivation was finally fully restored, and his body was full of strength again. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, the little bit of flesh that he had grown with great difficulty was finally preserved!
This relieved Gu Xiaoxing's depressed mood a little, and he picked up the axe again. Amid the continuous chopping sounds of Gu Xiaoxing, and as his cultivation was exhausted and recovered again and again, the sun gradually set in the west.
Gu Xiaoxing glanced at the sixteen frames of firewood beside him, his face turned bitter. He tried his best, but he only chopped eight logs and failed to complete the task.
At this time, Du Siyu came over and snorted coldly, "You can't even chop a piece of firewood properly. As a punishment, you are not allowed to eat today. Send these firewood to the inner kitchen immediately."
Gu Xiaoxing immediately glared and was about to explode, but when he saw Senior Brother Du's slightly narrowed eyes, his heart skipped a beat, thinking that the other party was waiting for him to say something rude so that he could take the opportunity to deal with him!
What a vicious heart!
"What?" Du Siyu raised her eyebrows. "If you have any ideas, you can tell me."
"I dare not! I dare not!" Gu Xiaoxing forced a smile and said, "I will follow your orders, Senior Brother. I will send the firewood up right away!"
After saying that, Gu Xiaoxing hurriedly put all sixteen frames of firewood into the storage bag and fled towards the top of Shiling Peak.
Watching Gu Xiaoxing's departing back, Du Siyu frowned slightly and snorted, "He's quite cunning. This man was brought into the sect by Master Bai and sent to Chaiyuan. I can't expel him by force. It seems that I have to make him suffer a little and give up before he knows it's difficult..."
Gu Xiaoxing went all the way to the top of the mountain, occasionally seeing pavilions and towers, full of spiritual energy. There was also a medicinal garden, with rare herbs and flowers, which were unprecedented. He also saw a pond, with green lotuses swaying in the pond, and he could tell at a glance that it was not an ordinary thing!
In the pond, the fish are swimming leisurely and blowing bubbles...
Gu Xiaoxing stared with his eyes wide open and swallowed his saliva. He really wanted to catch two and roast them, but unfortunately the spirit pond was guarded by disciples from the sect. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and bear it, hardening his heart not to look at the fish.
On the top of Shiling Peak, there is a large courtyard with three big characters engraved on a plaque at the gate - Inner Kitchen!
The inner kitchen, as the name suggests, is where the inner disciples cook.
Gu Xiaoxing came here and followed a senior brother into the courtyard. When the senior brother learned that Gu Xiaoxing was a new disciple in the Firewood Courtyard, his face suddenly became strange, especially when he saw that the other party took out sixteen frames of firewood in a row, sympathy appeared in his eyes.
Even the fat chefs who were busy around stopped and showed sympathy when they saw this scene.
But at this moment, Gu Xiaoxing was totally oblivious to the gazes from all around. He was already stunned, with tears streaming down his lips. All the delicacies from mountains and seas, all the finest food, were nothing more than this!
Especially when he saw the large chunks of meat on the plate, with light flowing on them, it seemed as if he could ascend to heaven after taking a bite.
As if possessed by a demon, Gu Xiaoxing took one step forward and reached out to grab the meat on the plate, but was immediately slapped down by another greasy big hand, awakening him.
"Junior brother, this is a divine dish for the inner disciples to enjoy. How can you touch it? If your superiors blame you, can you bear the consequences?" A cook stepped forward and said in a deep voice.
Gu Xiaoxing smiled awkwardly and wiped away the tears from the corners of his mouth, but when he looked at those delicious spiritual dishes, tears flowed again.
"Hey! Sanpang, this disciple has just joined the sect and doesn't know the rules yet. We are all from the same sect, so please don't be surprised."
Another fatter cook came forward, looked at Gu Xiaoxing with interest, and continued, "Seeing that this junior brother is so thin, he must have eaten a lot of soul-eating insects . These precious spiritual dishes can indeed quickly help junior brother get rid of the trouble of being thin, but after all, the sect has rules, and even our brothers in the inner kitchen cannot make the decision!"
“But…” The fat man changed the subject, moved closer, and lowered his voice, “When cooking, there will always be some leftovers, and there will always be some leftovers from the spiritual rice and spiritual dishes cooked every day. You know, even if they are leftovers, they are not ordinary food after all. Not only are they extremely delicious, but they can also help improve your cultivation. If Junior Brother has some spiritual stones…”
Having said this, Big Fatty suddenly stopped and turned to look at Gu Xiaoxing with a smile. That smile looked very honest, but his narrowed eyes gave people a cunning feeling, and the meaning was obvious.
Unfortunately, Gu Xiaoxing had just entered the sect, so where did he get the spirit stones? The only five he had were allocated to him using the name of Bai Zhenren, and he used them all in his practice.
If there was, he would certainly be willing to exchange it by a thousand or ten thousand times.
It's just a spiritual stone, an external thing, how can it be as important as your body.
Seeing the other party's bitter expression, Da Pang raised his eyebrows, and immediately understood. He couldn't help but put away his smile and said lightly: "Since there are no spirit stones, don't think too much, the firewood has been delivered, so please go back!"
Gu Xiaoxing gave an embarrassed smile, bowed, said goodbye and left, but when he stepped out of the kitchen door, his eyes suddenly rolled around and he left behind a very small whisper.
"It's just like Master Bai said. There are countless rare delicacies in the inner kitchen. I must practice diligently and strive to be promoted to an inner disciple as soon as possible, so as not to disappoint Uncle Bai's high hopes for me!"
Gu Xiaoxing lowered his voice to a very low level, as if he was deliberately trying not to let others hear it. It was just a murmur to cheer himself up.
But the six cooks in the kitchen trembled all over their fat bodies. They were people with the fifth or sixth level of Qi Condensation cultivation, so even if Gu Xiaoxing's voice was very low, how could they not hear it?
When Gu Xiaoxing left the inner kitchen courtyard, Da Pang immediately called all his fellow apprentices over and thought, "Who is this kid? The Master Bai he mentioned, could it be... Elder Bai?"
The other fellow disciples looked at each other in surprise, thinking that it was possible. After all, there was only one Master Bai in their Soul-Devouring Sect. Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but gasp.
It was still Big Fatty who reacted the fastest. He looked at one of his fellow apprentices and said, "Six Fatty, go down the mountain. I always feel that this kid has ulterior motives. Maybe he said those words on purpose for us to hear. Go to the Deacon Department to check his whereabouts."
