Chapter 55: Being Posted with a Bounty and Recruited (Big Chapter, Please Keep Reading!)

The next day, Li Yu once again woke up amidst the choking smoke and fire of that plague-ridden bronze chicken.

While kicking it back into the coop with one foot, Li Yu refused the clumsy service of his mechanical maid.

After washing up, he sat down beneath the beauty willow tree in the courtyard, silently waiting for the new issue of the "Wanfu Daily" to be delivered.

The hour was still early.

But the old street and the surrounding alleys were already beginning to bustle, and the aromas of various breakfasts from all corners of the land permeated the courtyard.

After all, he was already a Sequence 8 "Elixir Disciple," and although the enhancement of his five senses was not as outrageous as that of a vegetable-person.

He possessed the two arts of ingestion and medicinal cuisine, so even with his nose, he could taste the various foods within the invisible smoke and fire.

"I am no longer a mortal now; even if I only rested for two hours last night, my spirit remains unimpaired."

"My daily food has become medicine, minerals, and strange objects. To eat worldly food, I can really only 'take a sniff'; putting it in my mouth myself would likely earn a bad review."

"Hmm? Those gods and Buddhas who accept incense offerings, wouldn't they be in a similar situation, just with an enhancement ten thousand times higher?"

Just as Li Yu’s thoughts were wandering.

Outside the gate, the "put-put-pop" sound rang out again, accompanied by black smoke from low-quality machine oil, and a roll of newspaper was tossed into the courtyard.

Li Yu, who had been waiting, reached out to catch it and unrolled it.

The front-page headline caught his eye.

"Will Wanfu City Become the Fourth Great Nation?"

Right from the start, it was a piece of news that shocked Li Yu.

Good heavens!

He had thought the previous issue’s Missionary Day and the descent of the Demon Star were already big news, but compared to this, they were small.

However, after Li Yu finished reading it carefully, he realized the Wanfu Daily was also a clickbait outfit.

Details of the front page: Disputes have broken out repeatedly between the three nations of Gan, Li, and Jing recently, and there is a possibility of war breaking out again. Many powerful figures believe that if the war breaks out in all aspects, a fourth super-nation will be born, and Wanfu City is a strong contender. There are even rumors that the mysterious Lord of Wanfu City has not died after disappearing for many years, but is orchestrating these events in the shadows.

If the Lord of Wanfu City has the means to conquer the three vast regions—the Ten Thousand Strange Tundra, the Valley of Terror, and the Ancient Black Forest—and develop them into habitable lands, then the emergence of the Wanfu Nation is not a fantasy.

It is just that the three great nations and the six major orthodox religious sects would not allow such a thing to happen.

Especially the high-level members of the [Red God Sect]; almost every "Fluorescent War Immortal" has issued a warning: if Wanfu City makes any move to establish a nation, the Red God army will crush them at any time and destroy this paradise for evil cultivators and villains.

"Everyone in the city knows that those three forbidden lands were only born after more than one deity perished."

"If that mysterious Lord of Wanfu City has the ability to eliminate the pollution and conquer and develop them... then why establish a nation? Wouldn't it be better for him to just become a deity himself?"

"Boring clickbait."

After Li Yu finished complaining, he flipped to the second page to read the many news items that had occurred in the city over the past few days.

As always!

Most of the events described various disasters caused by one "talent" after another.

Some were for the sake of advancing their sequence, while others were simply for the joy of causing trouble; most resulted in many casualties among the city's residents.

While reading, Li Yu couldn't help but think of a city in Western comics that had a special mental hospital.

Besides various vicious incidents, there were also various notices affecting all city residents:

"The [Licheng Path], originally scheduled to reopen after Missionary Day, is notified again that for some undisclosed reason, this path remains closed. Any Wanfu citizen, even if they pay the fee, cannot leave Wanfu City during this time; they must queue and wait for the path to reopen."

"The two major extraordinary strange markets in the city, Taiping and Yongning, announced today that they are lowering the entry threshold to [Unranked Cultivators]. Even if you have not yet advanced to an official Sequence 8, as long as you pay an entrance fee, you have a chance to enter the extraordinary strange market."

"Good news! The [Heavenly Palace Airship], a strange mechanical object specially developed by the Heavenly Craft Sect for touring the three forbidden lands outside the city, is complete. This airship is a wonder; not only can it carry many people and climb above the tundra, but it can also withstand attacks from Sequence 6 level powerhouses... First time in use, tickets are only one thousand taels, first come, first served."

When Li Yu finished reading these, his brows were already tightly furrowed.

The safe path is closed?

Does that mean even if I scrape together the ransom and de-registration fees, I still can't run?

Because of Hong Dou's reminder, plus Li Yu's own thinking, he had a vague realization:

"Entering Wanfu City is easy, but escaping is very difficult, especially for official sequence cultivators. It's not just a matter of tens of thousands of taels; even if you scrape it together, I'm afraid it's hard to truly escape."

But speculation is speculation; at least on the surface, the path still existed.

He didn't expect it to be shut down indefinitely today.

The sense of crisis and urgency that had been lingering in Li Yu's heart intensified once again.

Fortunately, the next moment, good news appeared.

It was unclear what extraordinary information catalyzed it, but the sixth truth bubble on his eye membrane suddenly became full.

The seventh one began to flicker and charge.

Li Yu's exhausted opportunity to analyze all things was replenished once again.

But to his disappointment, when the sixth one was full, it collided with the fifth, but it had no effect on the "question mark" solidified inside.

A piece of feedback came: Unable to analyze, wait for higher authority.

"Oh well, let's leave it for now."

"Anyway, even if I were given the secret medicine formulas for too high a sequence, I wouldn't be able to cultivate them."

"I haven't even touched the Sequence 7 [Alchemist] yet."

"Continue making money, refining elixirs..."

Li Yu comforted himself while flipping to the next two pages.

A familiar column: Wanfu City Gourmet Selection.

The first and second places remained unchanged.

But his ranking had changed, even though the organizers and all the audience were unaware.

Li Yu, having changed his name and information, went from the very last place to a position in the lower-middle area.

"Mysterious Medicinal Cuisine Stall!"

"Last night, our reporter accidentally encountered a grand occasion at the Taiping Strange Market: a large number of Sequence 8 and Sequence 7 cultivators were queuing in front of a medicinal cuisine stall, just to snap up a small bowl of expensive thick soup. If calculated by the unit price of the dish, the pricing of this medicinal soup is comparable to the two top restaurants in the front row."

"The medicinal soup has two versions: the first is [Nurturing Nature and Extending Life Soup], and the second has the suffix 'Hundred-Turn Immortal Ascension' added. Besides being incredibly delicious and rich in flavor, it also has medicinal effects such as slowing down malignancy and extending life, effective for Sequence 8 and Sequence 7 respectively."

"When the lid of the pot for that medicinal soup was lifted, there were soaring rainbows and fragrant clouds permeating the air; the presentation was extraordinary."

"Our reporter also bought a bowl to taste and gave it high praise, temporarily air-dropping it to this position."

"Special comment: The sequence path of this mysterious stall owner is unknown. The medicinal cuisine cooked has caused a sensation. Besides the gourmet selection, other columns of this newspaper have also been affected. We are also looking forward to whether the stall owner will continue to set up a stall in the strange market and whether more medicinal cuisine will be provided. Several special food critics will head to the Taiping Grand Market tonight to wait."

"Hmm?"

After Li Yu finished reading this, he couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

He had almost finished reading this issue of the newspaper and hadn't seen any influence. Could it be in...?

Without hesitation, Li Yu flipped to the last page.

Sure enough, among the full page of advertisements, several small boxes related to him appeared.

Someone had put a bounty on him!

And, more than one.

From the wording of several small boxes, Li Yu could immediately identify who was behind them.

"Lu Heng, the skinny nun Shi Yangpo... Heh, as expected, they are all persistent and stupid perverts."

"Eh!"

Just as Li Yu was about to vent his anger, he suddenly discovered that he was also mentioned in some of the larger advertisements.

For example, one called [Wanfu Soul-Stirring Club] was recruiting chefs capable of cooking spiritual food from all over the city. The treatment was extremely generous, and it specifically mentioned that if this mysterious stall owner was willing to apply, he would be hired directly, given triple the treatment, and provided with safety protection.

Or a big shot who did not reveal their name or background, only saying they were "Sequence 5," was recruiting a private chef capable of cooking high-level medicinal cuisine from all over the city. Once hired, besides generous treatment, they promised to take them as a disciple. It also mentioned that Li Yu could apply, but did not guarantee employment.

A Lady of the Hehe Workshop in the South District also wanted to recruit a private spiritual chef, requiring expertise in cooking medicinal spiritual food that eliminates malignancy. If it could also strengthen yang, then they would definitely be hired.

There was also a recruitment advertisement from the City Lord's Mansion, stating that they were recruiting spiritual chefs for their [Pioneer Teams] to prepare medicinal cuisine with spiritual effects, no side effects, edible indefinitely, and easy to carry for these adventurers heading to the three forbidden lands outside the city. Once hired, they would have comprehensive benefits and privileges far exceeding other city residents.

"The City Lord's Mansion... this job is equivalent to a government position in another world, right?"

"If I don't have to follow them to explore the forbidden lands, that really is a good job."

Looking at these obviously serious advertisements, Li Yu muttered to himself while falling into thought.

"If I were to replicate last night's grand occasion, I could, but the effect definitely wouldn't be as good." "The reason it caused a sensation was, first, the extraordinary scene catalyzed by the honey dew as a gimmick, and second, this was the first appearance of such medicinal cuisine; things are valued for their rarity."

"If I do it two or three more times, once they realize the Nurturing Nature and Extending Life Soup is just that, it won't sell for that much money."

"The key is that the danger is not small. I can continue to buy the [Random Teleportation] function, but this time I've attracted so much attention that I can't guarantee some crazy people won't appear and find me even with this function. After all, the target audience for my medicinal soup is indeed all crazy people suffering from torment. Besides, this teleportation function itself has risks..."

Thinking of this, Li Yu's mind first recalled the exciting experience of last night, and then looked at the special comment, saying how many people would be waiting for him to appear tonight.

Immediately, Li Yu began to lose his nerve.

He had originally really wanted to go again tonight and continue to rake in another twenty thousand taels.

"Rather than risking going to set up a stall, it's better to find a proper, safe way to sell my goods. The money comes fast, and there's protection."

"Of course, the prerequisite is that it must be reliable. I have a way to verify this, but using it here seems like a huge waste..."

Just as Li Yu was hesitating and pondering.

Suddenly, his enhanced ears abruptly received some restlessness and conflict, coming from the surroundings and further streets, including the main commercial street, but it was gone further away.

=9+Shu_ba

Just a change in the Heavenly Mystery Workshop?

Before Li Yu could investigate, abruptly, his courtyard gate was also knocked upon.

Bang bang bang!

It could be heard that the person arriving was not very friendly.

Before Li Yu could go over to open the door, with a crack, his courtyard gate suffered again and was directly dismantled.

The next moment, a "demon Daoist" with a bizarre physique forced his way in.

A pair of pitch-black, oversized feet crushed his threshold, and a winter-melon-shaped head the size of a millstone forcibly pushed open the door beam above.

Accompanied by a dull thud and a foul, fishy stench, a hideous, ugly face appeared before Li Yu, covered in strange copper coins and grinning with malicious intent.

Its head was large, its body thin, and its feet thick.

Its entire body was covered in black hair, reeking of evil Qi and a pungent odor.

"People from the Three Saints Gang!"

"The cultivation base is not low, at least a Sequence 8."

Li Yu was certain, for he recognized the demonic Daoist robe embroidered with three beast heads.

Before he could open his mouth to question, the big-headed demon Daoist began looking around unscrupulously, pushing aside the human-faced tumor peach tree and the beauty willow tree, then spotted Hongdou, who had stood behind Li Yu at some unknown time, ready to draw her chainsaw sword.

This demon Daoist nodded in satisfaction, then sprayed foul breath at Li Yu:

"By order of the Three Saints, my Heavenly Mystery Workshop is conducting a census and investigation of all formal practitioners above Sequence 8 within the workshop."

"I heard there is a pretty boy on this old street who bought a mechanical maid; you, Master Copper-Head, am in charge of this sector, so I came specifically to take a look."

"Little fellow Daoist, speak up."

"What is your cultivation path, sequence name, what are you skilled in, do you have any powerful organs on your body, and have you encountered any good fortune recently, such as a Demon Star Token falling from the sky or something?"

As these words entered his ears, waves immediately surged in Li Yu's heart.

Other workshop residents might have believed this [Copper-Head Demon Daoist]'s story.

But Li Yu, who knew more inside information and secrets, used the deepest malice to speculate, guessing what the Three Saints wanted to do.

"Accepting flesh-and-blood modification while still not giving up on the Demon Star Token."

"The investigation is a lie; registering all the candidate food is the truth."

"In other words: that so-called flesh-and-blood modification isn't enough with just the flesh of ordinary mortals, so they have to use practitioners' later on?"

"But this demon Daoist is too stupid; asking others if they have special organs right off the bat, wouldn't that just expose... hmm?"

Li Yu, who had intended to make up a few things to send the Copper-Head Demon Daoist away,

suddenly realized, looked up, and sure enough, met a pair of large eyes filled with greed.

Fine!

He was currently being threatened and extorted.

He had seen too many such cases of using a chicken feather as a token to extort people in his past life; he hadn't expected to see it in this other world too.

"Little fellow Daoist, no need to panic; we have plenty of time, speak properly."

"Speaking of which, for the sake of official business, I haven't even eaten breakfast, and my stomach is starting to growl; does fellow Daoist have any spiritual food or delicacies at home to pad my stomach..."

Hearing these two sentences, Li Yu, who had been expressionless, immediately revealed a brilliant smile.

As if he couldn't smell the stench on the other party at all, he stepped forward enthusiastically:

"Come, come, come, fellow Daoist Copper-Head, please sit."

"I don't have much else at home, but I do have plenty of spiritual food."

"I cultivate a certain incomplete path of the Food God; it doesn't even have a sequence name, which causes me to remain as weak as a chicken even after advancing, and the spiritual food I cook has many side effects, so it can't be sold at all. I only hope fellow Daoist won't mind."

"Oh? What side effects could spiritual food have? Bring it all out for me to taste."

Hearing what Li Yu said, the Copper-Head Demon Daoist's eyes lit up.

He was a gluttonous and greedy person; he had come here intending to extort some money or strange items from this pretty boy, never expecting an unexpected harvest.

In his view, as long as it was spiritual food, it was a rare item.

Eating as much as possible was taking advantage, never mind the side effects.

Little did he know, Li Yu wasn't lying to him at all.

Yesterday, besides concocting the [Nurturing Life-Extending Soup] using medicinal cuisine techniques, he had leftover offal ingredients with severe side effects—poisonous ones, foul-tasting ones, ones that would cause gout if eaten, ones that left a taste of excrement in the mouth after eating... in short, he had everything.

Li Yu had intended to throw them away, but now they had another use.

To ensure success, Li Yu even spent a bit more capital, ordering Hongdou to go out and buy some strong liquor that could intoxicate even practitioners.

Thus, a scene of host and guest enjoying themselves appeared in the courtyard.

With food and drink, and money to be made afterward, the Copper-Head Demon Daoist was extremely happy, soon calling Li Yu brother, inadvertently leaking many secrets about himself and the Three Saints Gang, and even thoughtfully giving Li Yu some advice.

"Old... old brother, let me tell you, don't panic about this; brother will cover for you."

"I, Master Copper-Head, am famous for being transparent!"

"Back in the day, I was also a handsome and dashing young man, wuwuwu... I gave up everything, even lost my childhood sweetheart, and turned into this ghost of a shape, only then struggling to cultivate to Sequence 8 [Demon Person]..."

"For what? Wasn't it for being dashing and free, to have freedom of money and desire."

"What gang rules, Master doesn't care; little brother, just follow me in the Heavenly Mystery Workshop from now on..."

"You must remember, don't reveal any special organs outside, although you don't have any anyway, and that Demon Star Token... hahaha, shouldn't have said that, even the three gang leaders don't have that thing, no matter how good your luck is, pretty boy, you couldn't possibly have it."

At noon, Li Yu sent away the drunken Copper-Head Demon Daoist.

This fellow had originally intended to eat and take, extorting one thousand taels of silver from Li Yu, but after eating that pile of messy offal medicinal cuisine and being plied with strong liquor until he was dead drunk, he completely forgot about it.

When leaving, he even tried to pull off the "copper coin" on his face to gift to Li Yu, saying this thing had the effect of turning luck around.

He had completely forgotten that at the table, he had spilled his path sequence and related abilities to Li Yu.

For example, this "Luck-Turning Copper Coin" was actually an ability of the [Sequence 8 Demon Person]: casting luck-turning objects to transfer others' good luck to oneself; the price was being backlashed and gradually becoming less than human, which is why they were called Demon Persons.

The three gang leaders had all gone through this stage.

Besides this, he also spoke of some inside gossip about the Three Saints Gang.

Reaching this point upon a first meeting, besides the Copper-Head Demon Daoist's obvious weakness of greed, it was mainly because he had fallen for Li Yu's underhanded tricks.

With his medicinal cuisine techniques, specifically preparing medicinal food with different side effects for him, plus vat after vat of strong liquor, he had no choice but to fall for it.

When he sobered up, he would only remember that Li Yu was a clumsy cook, that he had extorted a pile of unpalatable spiritual food and strong liquor, and would remember nothing else.

Of course, the subsequent side effects like gout, diabetes, forgetfulness, and having a big mouth that couldn't keep secrets... would have nothing to do with him, Li Yu.

And after Li Yu sent the demon Daoist away, his expression immediately turned gloomy.

The thoughts that had been hesitant in his heart suddenly became firm.

(End of chapter)