Chapter 1075: Nine Star Spirit Chef

As Yun Mengmeng had guessed, Lu Yang was very busy over the next few days. As the saying goes, love what you do. Since he was participating in the Spirit Chef Competition, merely getting an entry through connections was far from enough; he also needed at least a basic understanding of spirit cooking.

For instance, one of the fundamental skills of a spirit chef is deboning and carving meat without damaging the bones. Spirit chefs have their own internal ranking system, divided into nine stars. Each star corresponds to a cultivation stage: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Refinement, Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Immortal. Qi Refining corresponds to one star, and Immortal corresponds to nine stars.

A Void Refinement stage six-star spirit chef is essentially an honorary title; when a Soul Transformation stage five-star spirit chef advances to Void Refinement, the Spirit Chef Alliance grants them the six-star spirit chef title. There is only one nine-star spirit chef: the legendary Ancestor of Spirit Chefs, Immortal Ying Tian! Lu Yang had unique advantages when learning spirit chef knowledge, as the legendary and true nine-star spirit chef, Immortal Undying, personally tutored him.

"Little Yangzi, look, the structure of the Kui Niu is like this. This white line represents the bone and flesh, and when deboning and carving, you need to start from the gaps between them." Inside the spiritual space, Immortal Undying squatted on the ground, drawing simple sketches with a twig. If she hadn't said it was a Kui Niu, Lu Yang would have thought it was a candied hawthorn skewer with only two hawthorns: the first being the head, the second the body.

"Immortal, how about we find a real specimen to practice with?" Lu Yang sincerely suggested. If he continued learning this way, let alone mastering deboning, he'd soon forget what a real Kui Niu even looked like. However, Lu Yang couldn't say, "Immortal, your drawing isn't good, I need to find another spirit chef to learn from," as that would hurt Immortal Undying's feelings.

"Find a real specimen? That's also a solution."

What Lu Yang needed wasn't just one Kui Niu carcass, but many beast carcasses. Acquiring a large number of beast carcasses by himself would be troublesome; the simplest way was to find someone to help him buy them.

"Is Clan Leader Jin here?" Lu Yang didn't bother Zhu Tian; instead, he sought out the Qiongqi clan. Zhu Tian, after all, was the ruler of a nation and very busy on a daily basis. It was already difficult for him to spare time to meet Lu Yang, so he shouldn't be troubled with such minor matters. Ever since Zhu Tian established his nation, all demon clans with a Tribulation Transcendence stage demon emperor, except for the Dragon and Phoenix clans, had moved to Demon City. The Qiongqi clan was among them.

"Who are you?" Lu Yang couldn't interact with the Qiongqi clan under his real identity, so he used a false appearance for his interactions with them. Lu Yang took out a small wooden sword, which contained a wisp of his sword qi, and said, "Give this to Clan Leader Jin, and he will come out to welcome me himself." Hearing this, the Qiongqi clan guard didn't dare to underestimate Lu Yang and took the small wooden sword.

Before long, Clan Leader Jin hurried out from the clan, personally welcomed Lu Yang, and invited him to his own cave dwelling. Only then did Lu Yang shed his disguise.

"Virtuous Nephew Lu... Fellow Daoist... Senior?" Clan Leader Jin changed his address three times in a row, genuinely unsure how to refer to Lu Yang. As the young sect master of the Heavenly Court Sect, his own little ancestor was, technically, Lu Yang's subordinate. Yet, he was also Daoist Silent's junior, so his seniority should be higher than Lu Yang's.

"Clan Leader Jin, you are too polite. How can a junior like me be called Fellow Daoist or Senior?"

"Young Sect Master, please, have a seat," Clan Leader Jin finally said, no longer struggling with the address, and warmly hosted Lu Yang. Ever since the Qiongqi clan got involved in the business of recording orbs, their lives had finally improved. It even made up for his losses from monopolizing the candle industry. From this perspective, Lu Yang was practically the Qiongqi clan's savior.

"I came here to acquire some beast carcasses to practice my culinary skills."

"Beast carcasses? That's simple. What kind of beast carcasses does the Young Sect Master need?" Ever since Jin Caiwei appeared in the Battle of Emperor City, the Qiongqi clan's status had also risen significantly. Among demon clans, besides the Dragon, Phoenix, and Emperor Jiang clans, the Qiongqi clan held the highest status, possessing ample channels.

"The more variety, the better."

"Alright, give me some time." Clan Leader Jin hurriedly excused himself from Lu Yang and went out to instruct his subordinates to collect various beast carcasses. Not long after, when the door opened again, it wasn't Clan Leader Jin who entered.

"Young Sect Master, why didn't you tell me when you came to Demon City?" Little Qiongqi, Jin Caiwei, heard Clan Leader Jin's report, put down her work, and rushed over immediately. Lu Yang stood up with a smile and cupped his hands, "I know Senior Jin is busy, so I dared not disturb you."

"What are you talking about? You are the Young Sect Master and our Qiongqi clan's benefactor. When you come to see me, there's no such thing as a disturbance."

"Have you received all the spirit stones I sent you?"

"I received them, but it was too much. I merely offered an idea; it's hardly worth so many spirit stones." With Lu Yang's current wealth, not to mention Soul Transformation stage cultivators, even some Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators weren't as rich as Lu Yang—for instance, Daoist Silent.

Soon, Clan Leader Jin sent a steady stream of beast carcasses: those that swam in water, crawled on land, and flew in the sky, with no two alike. The cave dwelling simply couldn't hold them all. Lu Yang simply moved all of them into the Azure Edge Sword's small world. Jin Caiwei had never been to the Azure Edge Sword's small world and, curious about what Lu Yang intended to do, also followed him inside.

"Little tiger, it's been a while!" After entering the Azure Edge Sword's small world, Immortal Undying emerged, grinning as she stroked Jin Caiwei's small head, ruffling her hair.

"Sister Undying!"

"Such a good girl."

"Little Yangzi, bring out that Kui Niu," Immortal Undying said, pointing at a one-legged ox-demon among the beast carcasses.

"Alright." Lu Yang lifted out the Kui Niu, causing the pile of beast carcasses on top to collapse with a rumble. However, Lu Yang was quick and avoided being hit.

"The meat of a beast varies in texture depending on the part," the nine-star spirit chef imparted her wisdom. "Explaining it like this is a bit troublesome. Oh, right, little tiger, use your embryonic Dao Fruit to flatten this ox." Jin Caiwei activated her embryonic Planar Dao Fruit, flattening the Kui Niu into a sheet of paper.

"Now it's easier to explain," Immortal Undying said, drawing circles on the flat surface. "This part is called 'hanging dragon,' this is 'three-flower toe,' this is 'five-flower toe,' this is 'spoon handle'..." Lu Yang nodded, taking notes and learning diligently. Jin Caiwei also learned alongside them. It was her first time hearing this knowledge, realizing she had been too unparticular about her meals before.

"Have you memorized it?"

"Yes, I have."

"Now, carve out these cuts of meat." Lu Yang held the Cheng Ying Sword. Facing the Kui Niu carcass as if it were a formidable foe, the Kui Niu's anatomical structure was revealed in microscopic detail under his powerful divine sense. A flash of sword light later, the skeleton collapsed into scattered pieces, and various cuts of meat were neatly arranged on a plate.

"Haha, turns out it's quite simple."

In the vast small world of the Azure Edge Sword, beast carcasses piled up like mountains, emitting an ominous aura. A blood-soaked swordsman, clad in crimson, walked among the corpses. With each swing of his sword, a beast fell, dying in shattered pieces, unidentifiable by its former species. Gazing at the bones scattered across the ground, the blood-soaked swordsman laughed maniacally...

According to official history, "The Book of Beans: Imperial Annals," it is recorded that in the Azure Edge Sword's small world, owned by Emperor Dou Ling, Lu Yang, corpses lay strewn across the fields and bones accumulated everywhere.