Chapter 281: Has He Been Discovered?

Returning to the cooking competition arena, Lin Bai issued a new order to the Justice Alliance, instructing them to provide all rope-type Magic Tools, as well as any metals possessing flexibility.

……

The ropes had to be prepared by himself; this unfriendly setting caught Lin Bai off guard.

Hu Qing possessed the cultivation of the Void Refinement Realm.

Although he was a pet beast, his cultivation realm was set in stone, and the belt on his body could also be considered a Magic Tool; yet, even when bound by such a Magic Tool, he could break free with ease.

Then what kind of rope could bind the Great Vehicle Realm?

A divine ability as useless as chicken ribs!

However.

Lin Bai did not give up.

The Blacksmith Six-Piece Set possessed the attribute of upgrading Magic Tools; at worst, he could just keep increasing the level of the ropes.

The Binding Immortal Rope in *Investiture of the Gods* bound Yang Jian, and the Binding Immortal Rope of Tai Shang Lao Jun bound Sun Wukong.

These two ropes should be the pinnacle of rope-type Magic Tools.

Currently, Lin Bai only possessed basic Magic Tool theory; the Craftsman God System would only reward him with intermediate Magic Tool theory once he completed the task of crafting weapons for famous figures and gaining fame.

Lin Bai sighed and thought to himself, perhaps only by mastering advanced Magic Tool theory could he craft a true Binding Immortal Rope.

It seemed all systems had their own destiny; tasks had to be done, and rewards might come in handy at any time.

After Xu Longyun returned with Lin Bai, her face remained flushed, and she appeared absent-minded. The Duke of Zhen frowned and asked, "Xiaoyun, what divine ability did he comprehend?"

Xu Longyun snapped back to reality with a start. She looked at her father, gaping, not knowing how to answer.

But Lin Bai was already collecting ropes over there, and this divine ability was destined to be unveiled in the upcoming great battle. Watching Lin Bai's back, Xu Longyun pondered for a moment and gave the divine ability a pleasant-sounding name: "Binding Immortal."

Hearing this name, Lin Bai turned back and smiled slightly, giving Xu Longyun a thumbs-up, before turning to the Duke of Zhen and saying, "Like Love Separation, no one can escape the lock of Binding Immortal."

"Not even the Great Vehicle Stage?" the Duke of Zhen asked.

"Not even the Great Vehicle Stage," Lin Bai said affirmatively. "Duke, if there are any rope-type Magic Tools in the Zhenbei Army, you may also lend them to me to use. Once Binding Immortal is unleashed, it can certainly reduce the losses of the Zhenbei Army."

"Very well." The Duke of Zhen looked at Lin Bai and nodded.

Lin Bai's laws could attack over a large area without depletion, making him most suitable for group battles; he certainly did not mind increasing Lin Bai's combat power.

In the Duke of Zhen's heart, it would be best if Lin Bai remained the main force of this war forever; it would be even better if he could force out the ancestors of the Justice Sect...

In the Cultivation World.

Rope-type Magic Tools were not common; most cultivators pursued lethality.

Even if one truly needed to capture someone alive, there were various restrictions, so there was no need to specifically craft a rope to bind people.

The Daoists of Huilong Temple and Fengling Temple had horsetail whisks, which could barely be considered rope-type Magic Tools.

Compared to the requirements of Rope Binding, the horsetail whisks were too short.

When Lin Bai requisitioned rope-type Magic Tools, the most he collected were Beast Binding Ropes from the Beast Taming Studio, as well as Hundred Flower Vines and Golden Bell Ropes, which female cultivators occasionally crafted for aesthetic reasons in Hundred Flowers Valley and Illusion Valley.

Most belonged to low-end Magic Tools, and the quantity was very small.

To be honest.

When Lin Bai saw these Magic Tools, he was somewhat disappointed in his heart; these Magic Tools were too fragile.

But soon, the Zhenbei Army gave him a surprise.

The cultivators of the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects were for longevity, for Tribulation Transcendence to become immortals.

But the purpose of the Taiyi Kingdom in cultivating cultivators was to one day be able to shake off the suppression of the state by the immortal cultivation sects, so the practitioners of the Zhenbei Army were cultivated as an army.

Within the Zhenbei Army, there existed a large number of chain-type Magic Tools such as Meteor Hammers, Flying Hooks, and Flying Hammers, used for destroying transportation tools like Sword Boats.

In a short while.

The area above and below the viewing platform was piled with all kinds of rope-type Magic Tools, long and short, with hooks, grapples, hammers, and claws at the ends of the ropes, looking completely out of place in the fragrant atmosphere of the cooking competition.

……

Ye Song and the undercover agents lurking in various sects looked at Lin Bai suddenly collecting ropes, confused.

The team setting out this time was at least at the Void Refinement Realm; did Lin Bai expect these low-end Magic Tools to be able to hurt those in the Void Refinement Realm?

It would be the height of absurdity if the Void Refinement Realm could be hurt by these ropes!

……

Collecting equipment took some time, and with less than an hour left until the final attack, Lin Bai no longer hesitated. Directly on the viewing platform, he laid out the Blacksmith Six-Piece Set and began upgrading the ropes he had selected at the fastest speed possible.

Every bit of extra sturdiness for the ropes was worth it.

Lin Bai possessed the Pupil of Seeing Flaws, and the strengths and weaknesses of Magic Tools were clear at a glance.

Selecting the ropes with the fewest flaws, he began to forcibly knead soft metals like Soft Silver and Paraffin Gold into these rope-type Magic Tools to increase their toughness and strength.

Time was too short; Lin Bai focused on refining more than twenty ropes, using the fastest speed to forcibly upgrade them and improve their quality.

The crude weapon refinement technique and the one-hundred-percent success rate left the weapon refiners of the Spirit Tool Pavilion and Lianbao Pavilion speechless.

Wan Qifeng shook his head repeatedly, sighing: "The Alliance Leader is truly a genius among geniuses. With such crude weapon refinement techniques, if it were anyone else, the Magic Tools would have been ruined long ago, yet in the Alliance Leader's hands, there is not a single failure. If he were to put his mind into weapon refinement, within ten years, the position of Sect Master of the Weapon Refinement Sect would undoubtedly be his."

"The Alliance Leader's aptitude for Medicine Dao is equally extraordinary," Ma Changcheng said. "I don't know where the Justice Sect found such an excellent disciple. Compared to him, the prodigies of the Seven Righteous Sects are like fireflies competing with the bright moon. Being in the same era as Lin Bai is the sorrow of those prodigies."

"Perhaps it is not that the Alliance Leader's weapon refinement technique is brilliant, but that his technique aligns with the laws, which is why he does not fail," He Qin said. "The Alliance Leader once said that all things have laws; the Way of Cooking has them, and the ways of weapon refinement and pill refinement must have them too."

Ma Changcheng and Wan Qifeng were lost in thought.

After a long time.

Ma Changcheng muttered: "Old Wan, perhaps we should focus on our own Dao, instead of rashly pursuing things like the Love Dao or the Incomplete Dao. We are not monsters like the Alliance Leader; those are clearly not suitable for us."

Wan Qifeng nodded: "After this battle, we shall go and ask the Alliance Leader about the Medicine Dao and the Way of the Craftsman."

Ge Feiyun looked at the chefs still stir-frying in the arena, then at Lin Bai, who was earnestly refining Magic Tools on the viewing platform, and sighed: "I really wish I could become the Alliance Leader's disciple. The longer I am in contact with the Alliance Leader, the more I revere the Justice Sect. If one day I could enter the Justice Sect to cultivate, I would have no regrets in this life!"

Everyone deeply agreed.

……

This time is different from the last time with Zhou Zu.

The Magpie Bridge of the Justice Alliance involves the fundamental interests of the Seven Righteous Sects.

Both sides have struck a stance of fighting to the death; it can be said that this war affects the future landscape of the world.

Among the players, the level of attention is naturally extremely high.

Every player's livestream room on the scene is packed with viewers, and the bullet comments are enthusiastically speculating on the upcoming plot:

"I once thought Lin Bai was the final villain, but now it seems clear that he is the world's innovator, while the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects represent the decadent ruling class. Helping Lin Bai overthrow the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects to establish a new order is the main point of the game."

"Lin Bai is an aggressor; he has brought the world into chaos. I speculate that in this great battle, Lin Bai will escape through the Magpie Bridge and then continue to stir up trouble. At that time, it will be the players' turn to choose a faction. On one side is the weak Justice Alliance and Taiyi Kingdom, and on the other is the powerful Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects, and then after experiencing an epic battle, the ownership of the world will finally be decided..."

"That's the setting for a standard game; in this game, maybe Lin Bai will get killed!"

"Impossible!"

"Dream on."

"Absolutely impossible."

"No matter how much you pursue realism, you must follow the normal laws of development. Lin Bai's Magpie Bridge makes up for the lack of portals in the game world. This is clearly the official team patching the settings to let players get rid of the boredom of traveling and enhance the player's gaming experience. For such an obvious plot NPC, the officials will absolutely not let him die."

"The person above is right. Realism is relative. Having put out the slogan of realism, the game officials cannot jump out and slap their own faces. What should be said will be said, and what should be done will still be done."

"What do you guys think this Binding Immortal is? Shopkeeper Lin has been messing with those ropes until they look all fancy, but they don't seem to have much lethality!"

"Judging by the name, it should be a binding-type item; it ought to be the protagonist of this battle..."

"The Zhenbei Army has entered the game on behalf of the Taiyi Kingdom; finally, we can see something different, instead of just watching Lin Bai show off alone."

"Get out, person above; I prefer watching Lin Bai show off alone."

"I wonder if Lao Mi regrets backstabbing Gugao Laoren? It's said that Lao Mi has been killed so many times he can't even log in?"

"Lao Mi should be more worried about whether Shopkeeper Lin will vent his anger on him afterwards. After all, Shopkeeper Lin used the Heavenly River to bluff over a dozen Great Vehicle Realm experts and was clearly preparing for steady development, only to be suddenly pushed to the forefront of the storm. Anyone would be full of anger if that happened to them!"

"The person above is wrong again. Gugao Laoren was just a lead-in. Looking at everything Shopkeeper Lin has done, he has never been a person who follows the rules..."

"Calculating the time, the people from Tianmo Mountain should be arriving soon! Whenever time is wasted waiting for them to travel, I become more certain that the Magpie Bridge will definitely be kept."

"Alliance Leader, these are the five chefs we carefully selected, along with the dishes they prepared; the ranking is for you to decide." 【Silver】 led the five people to the viewing platform to go through the final process of the cooking competition.

The five people were wearing pristine white chef uniforms, and behind each of them, a player was holding the prepared dish, steaming and emitting an aroma.

To ensure the ropes were sturdy enough to trap Great Vehicle Realm experts, Lin Bai was carefully adding mithril to the three ropes that were already almost flawless, performing their final upgrade. Hearing this, he didn't even lift his head: "Find a few people to taste the food they made and pick a runner-up; luck is also part of strength. My Disciple must have great Luck."

The cooking competition was created by Lin Bai to complete the Chef God System's tasks, ensuring he himself was the champion; he didn't care about the other rankings at all.

As soon as these words were spoken.

Several emotions were clearly fed back into Lin Bai's mind:

【Resentment from Ye Song, Jiang Ying, Wang Chao, Huo Gezu, and Shang Yi; +1 +1 +1 +1...】

There was no helping it; even Ye Song could not endure such a perfunctory attitude from Lin Bai.

In order to enter the Justice Gate, he, a dignified Great Vehicle Realm expert, had honestly stir-fried dishes for two days. Finally, to obtain the runner-up position, he had gone to great lengths to cook the most delicious dish of his life, even going so far as to add an Eight-Leaf Fragrance he had picked during his travels just to conquer Lin Bai's taste buds. As a result, in the end, Lin Bai didn't even take a single taste?

A single sentence decided their fate; it was too disrespectful!

Ye Song narrowed his eyes. At this moment, he suddenly suspected that this so-called cooking competition was just a gimmick, not meant to promote the Way of Cooking at all, or rather, it was meant for fishing...

Ye Song?

Lin Bai suddenly raised his head, looked at the five people, and asked: "Who is Ye Song?"

He had long since memorized the information on the twelve Great Vehicle Realm experts. The sudden appearance of someone in the cooking competition with the same name as the Great Vehicle Realm ancestor of the Shengji Sect naturally drew his extra attention.

"It's me."

Ye Song's heart tightened. A simple, honest smile naturally appeared on his face, and he prepared himself to strike.

At this moment.

He was only five meters away from Lin Bai. If he wanted to, at such a short distance, even if Lin Bai had a Dharma Treasure for protection, he would not escape death...

The Eye of Flaw swept toward Ye Song. His whole body was full of flaws, but looking closely, there were no flaws at all. He appeared identical to the chefs beside him, but there were almost no real Flaws...

In an instant, Lin Bai was certain that the guy in front of him was the Great Vehicle Realm ancestor of the Shengji Sect, Ye Song.

Good fellow!

A Great Vehicle Realm ancestor acting as an undercover agent, even going through the trouble of passing levels and stir-frying dishes—what was he trying to do?

A surprise attack?

But if it were an assassination, it would have been better to just assassinate him while he was doing Weapon Refinement earlier!

Could it be that this guy has obsessive-compulsive disorder and had to wait for a ranking to be decided?

But if they really started fighting in a moment and he attacked then, he would definitely be on guard, and an assassination attempt would be meaningless...

Or was there poison in the food he made?

A pile of questions flashed through his mind in a split second. Lin Bai looked Ye Song over and suddenly asked: "What is your relationship with the Great Vehicle Realm ancestor of the Shengji Sect?"

Whoosh!

All eyes were focused on Ye Song.

Sweat broke out on Ye Song's face. He looked at Lin Bai in a panic, waved his hands repeatedly, and said awkwardly: "Alliance Leader, I have read Justice Weekly and know that the ancestor of the Shengji Sect has the same name as me, but I really have no relationship with him. I am just a cook. Because I admire the Alliance Leader and want to be the Alliance Leader's disciple, I came to participate in the cooking competition. It really is just a coincidence of names..."

"Master, he is indeed an ordinary person." Xu Longyun came to Lin Bai's side, looked at Ye Song, then glanced at the bracelet on her own wrist, and said, "There is no Spiritual Power fluctuation on his body."

"Marshal, the people from Tianmo Mountain and Wanhun Valley have already arrived fifty miles outside the city, within the range of the Immortal-Extinguishing Cannon. Should we attack?" A general of the Void Refinement Realm named Ji Huang flew to the viewing platform to ask the Duke of Zhen for instructions.

"If the enemy does not move, I will not move." The Duke of Zhen glanced at Lin Bai and said, "We will only focus on protecting Zhen City; other matters are led by Alliance Leader Lin."

"So it's a coincidence of names!" Lin Bai ignored the Duke of Zhen, looked at Ye Song, smiled slightly, and backhanded a Hammer onto the Hundred Flower Vine to perform its final upgrade, saying, "Good, that's a good name. Being a namesake of a Great Vehicle Realm ancestor is your Luck. I announce that you are the runner-up. After I finish cooking and drive away the enemies of the Justice Alliance, I will take you as my disciple immediately."

"Many thanks, Alliance Leader." Ye Song was overjoyed.

"No need to thank me." Lin Bai glanced at him, and a Heavenly River suddenly circled around Ye Song.

Heavenly River? Why would I be encircled by the Heavenly River? Do I have someone I love? Ye Song's expression turned exceptionally ugly in an instant, and he couldn't help but ask with a trembling voice: "Alliance Leader, what is this for? I don't have a lover! Why is there a Heavenly River?"

Better to swing the pole at the tree just in case there are dates, Lin Bai thought, looking at Ye Song encircled by the Heavenly River and feeling the screen-scrolling Negative Emotion in his mind; he smiled and said: "Ye Song, the Heavenly River will not make a mistake; perhaps you have a lover, but you don't know it yourself? You are but a mortal, and you won't be able to help with the coming war, so it is better to stay in the city, think hard about who your lover is, and contemplate the Fazhe Zhidao. The Way of Cooking and the Love Dao have common ground; do not be afraid. Although the Heavenly River will restrict you from meeting your lover, it can also help you grasp the mysteries of the Love Dao in advance..."

Grasp your mother!

You are just suspicious of me! Also, is there something wrong with your criteria for people who love each other?

Ye Song wanted to cry but had no tears, and he almost couldn't help but jump up and choke Lin Bai by the neck.

If you can't meet the person you love, the Heavenly River is just a decoration.

Yet, apart from Lin Bai, no one else can remove this decoration.

Wearing the Heavenly River, he was sparkling wherever he went and could be recognized at a glance; how could he still be the Hundred-Changing Demon Ancestor?

Truly damn it!

I had long heard that Lin Bai was cautious, but I didn't expect him to be cautious to this extent; to remove the Heavenly River, one must ensure Lin Bai stays alive...

As expected, I shouldn't have come to participate in any cooking competition!

This time I'm going to be laughed to death by that girl Ye Lan...

(End of this chapter)