Chapter 465: Lin Jue

"I heard you're holding a banquet? I didn't miss it, did I, Daoist?" The Third Shixiong's voice came from the sky.

"You're the latest one to arrive!" the Second Shixiong said, looking up.

"Then punish me with twenty cups!" The Third Shixiong landed on the ground, grinning.

"The punishment is not a single drop of wine," the Seventh Shixiong said.

"Yo! Isn't this Ji Xianren Lin?" The Third Shixiong ignored that, looking straight at Lin Jue. "They say the Ji Xianren has achieved the Dao and is a true Ji Xianren now! Ji Xianren, please accept my bow!"

"Shixiong has grown weathered."

Lin Jue examined the Third Shixiong. Compared to when they parted seven years ago, his features had aged, his skin had darkened, and his beard was stubbly; he truly looked as though he had endured much wind and frost.

"A bit of wind and frost is not worth the Ji Xianren's concern," the Third Shixiong waved his hand. "What are you all talking about?"

"Golden Core."

"What Golden Core?"

The Second Shixiong repeated what had just happened to him. "As expected of Ji Xianren Lin! I said it—we should have let Ji Xianren Lin be our Eldest Shixiong and the Master of Fuqiu Temple. That way, we would all be disciples of an Ji Xianren, and our Fuqiu Temple would have an Ji Xianren too!" The Third Shixiong clapped his right hand against his left,

then pulled his hands apart and asked with a grin, "What are the ingredients for the Golden Core?"

Everyone looked at Lin Jue.

"Generally speaking, it requires one thousand jin of gold, two jin of merit, four qian of thousand-year fire ginseng, four qian of thousand-year snow lotus, one Earth-Spirit Pill, four qian of top-grade golden essence, one Swallow Egg Incense, eight liang of East Sea morning glow Qi, eight liang of Western Region sunset light, three jin of Nanshan stone, two dou of North Leopard Spring, and two qian each of dragon whiskers and phoenix feathers. In a place where human energy is flourishing, gather the clear sky and condense the spirit, refine with true fire for one thousand days, remove the impurities, and the Golden Core will emerge."

Everyone was stunned after hearing this.

"One thousand jin of gold? How much wine could that buy?"

"Earth-Spirit Pill? Is it this one?"

"Two jin of merit—except for the Fifth Shidi, no one can easily obtain that."

"Morning glow Qi, sunset light, Nanshan stone, North Leopard Spring—they sound easy enough, but if we want to refine the pill,

wouldn't we have to painstakingly practice the gathering method?"

"No wonder Shidi asked me about Swallow Egg Incense back then..."

"The others are hard to say, but dragons and phoenixes are already very rare in this world. Where would one even find dragon whiskers and phoenix feathers?"

"No wonder Shixiong has been running around everywhere."

"How did Little Shidi manage to gather so many things in these ten-plus years?"

Everyone looked at Lin Jue.

"Achieving the Dao is truly no easy task." The Third Shixiong unhooked his wine gourd, tilted his head back to take a drink, and became uncharacteristically serious, a flash of pity for his Shidi in his eyes.

Then he shook his head and said:

"This is too much trouble—finding materials, refining pills, and learning gathering methods and alchemy. I'm too lazy for it. I came back today to attend Shidi's ascension banquet and see if the Ji Xianren Lin is still willing to cook and show off his skills. But I'll make a note of these ingredients. If I travel the world and find them, I don't mind putting in the effort to bring them back for you. Just make sure to get me some Ji Xianren-grade fine wine once you've achieved the Dao."

"Have you thought it through, Shidi?" the Second Shixiong asked.

"Doesn't Shixiong want to be with Princess Hua for a long, long time?" the Seventh Shixiong said.

"What is there to think through? I've already lived longer than most people below the mountain—a whole lifetime.

Haven't I thought it through enough?" The Third Shixiong drank his wine. "I want to become an Ji Xianren to be free and unfettered. If I have to run around for this, what kind of Ji Xianren would I be?"

He paused:

"Besides, with the Great Yin-Yang Art, even without a Golden Core, won't I still achieve the Dao, live a long life, and be free and happy?"

"I actually think the Third Shixiong said something sensible for once," the Fourth Shixiong said with a smile. "The Golden Core is good,

but it's too difficult to refine. I don't think I can do it. I'll just let nature take its course."

"My ambitions don't lie there either, so I won't waste the effort," the Fifth Shixiong said, leaning on his cane.

Lin Jue nodded: "I respect my Shixiongs' choices."

This was not beyond his expectations—

His Shixiongs each had their own temperament and pursuits. This was their life and their Dao. Throwing out the Golden Core was just giving them another choice.

There are those who choose, and naturally, those who don't.

In any case, they had to be told.

"I'll ask my War Ji Xianren about these materials later," the Sixth Shixiong said.

"I can also look for more when I search for pill materials," the Second Shixiong said.

"Not just you; if we communicate and share, we can save time," the Seventh Shixiong said. "If there's extra left over in the end, maybe the Third Shixiong will change his mind."

"Do your best," the Eldest Shixiong said.

"Everyone, there is no need to rush. Please let nature take its course. The thousand-year snow lotus won't bloom for another fifty years; perhaps some Shixiongs will have achieved the Dao before then," Lin Jue said. "If there is anything you don't know, remember to ask me. If you have trouble, come find me."

Little Xiao Shimei stood where she was, thinking of the golden essence won from the Mao Dragon King by the Wei Shui River, then of the sunset light her Shixiong caught in a jade bottle in the Western Regions, and then of the Earth-Spirit Pills left behind by the Queen Mother of the West. She truly felt that achieving the Dao was not easy.

How could this not be a series of trials and tribulations?

Just then, the Third Shixiong said happily:

"When I came back, I passed by Langtou Mountain and smelled a strange fragrance. I'm afraid the Mountain God's Thousand-Day Wine is about to be ready. Calculating the time, the banquet won't start for at least a year or two. Since Little Shidi invited us back with the excuse of drinking, and we are holding an ascension

banquet, how can we have no good wine? Why don't I take some gifts and go visit to beg for some?"

"I happen to be looking for good wine to take to ask an Ji Xianren about the matters of ascension, so I will go with Shixiong," Lin Jue said.

"Then I'm going too!" Little Xiao Shimei said.

"Good!"

"Then we will prepare some ingredients," the Eldest Shixiong said. "Thanks to Shidi's recipes, Ji Yin and Ji Yang have learned a few points of essence. This time, let Shidi eat a ready-made meal."

Langtou Mountain was still the same—green grass like silk, jagged rocks, and ancient pines. A group of apes hooted and carried over a jar. The Mountain Lord's banquet he had passed by and attended back then felt like a dream, yet the memory remained clear.

But coming here again, he had already achieved the Dao.

Of course, there was no reason to be disrespectful to the Mountain God. Lin Jue remained respectful and polite, treating him as a senior, and exchanged a jar of freshly brewed Thousand-Day Wine for a Spirit Origin Pill.

The journey that used to take several days now took only a moment by riding the clouds.

Returning to Fuqiu Temple on Qianshan, the sun was already slanting west.

Smoke rose from the temple, and it was lively.

But it was no longer Lin Jue busy in the kitchen.

It was Ji Yang and Ji Yin.

After obtaining Lin Jue's recipes, they had studied hard for seven or eight years and had gained some insights.

Lin Jue was also in the kitchen, watching them while offering a few pointers.

Little Xiao Shimei stood to the side, lost in thought.

The Shixiong and Xiao Shimei who were once the youngest and always cooking in the kitchen had now become elders. Replacing them was another pair of Shixiong and Xiao Shimei.

The sunset fell down the hillside, splashing human fireworks.

The Daoist temple on the mountain also lit its lanterns, and with fireflies swirling about, it was completely illuminated.

Plates of dishes floated in the air, steaming, automatically flying out and landing on the long wooden table under the ancient pine in the courtyard.

"Shixiong, look!"

Little Xiao Shimei suddenly pointed to the side.

Lin Jue turned his head to glance—two young Daoist priests were carrying exquisite food boxes and holding three stalks of grass incense. They arrived at the open space of the temple, placed the food boxes on the stone bricks, and inserted the grass incense into the mud between the bricks, offering it to the Mountain God of Qianshan.

They had actually inherited Lin Jue's habit!

And they had even upgraded the utensils!

"Hahaha—"

Lin Jue couldn't help but laugh out loud: "These two have great potential."

Looking at the table again, dishes floated steadily and landed. Most were the ones Lin Jue had written in his recipes: braised spring bamboo shoots with salted meat, steamed cured meat, red-braised mixed fish, scallion crucian carp, rabbit with young ginger, salt-baked chicken, and braised dishes that tasted almost exactly the same—one could tell they hadn't dared to make any changes to the recipe—as well as a few seasonal home-cooked dishes.

"Taste it!"

The Eldest Shixiong greeted them.

The Third Shixiong was not polite at all and immediately used his chopsticks, his eyes lighting up: "They have seven or eight tenths of Little Shidi's skill!"

The many Shixiongs followed suit, all full of praise.

"Truly not bad!"

"The Eldest Shixiong can be considered to have caught up with Ji Yin, Ji Yang, and Little Shidi's recipes, enjoying a life of leisure—"

"Needless to say! The Eldest Shixiong's days on the mountain exceed the total of all previous masters of Fuqiu Temple!"

"But I still miss Shidi's flat noodles the most. Hasn't the Eldest Shixiong taken any new disciples?"

"I took a fancy to one last year, thought he was good, but his parents wouldn't give him to me," the Eldest Shixiong said, sitting at the table. "There have been many displaced children in recent years. I asked the War Ji Xianren, and this chaotic world will last for a while. Even if the new dynasty is established, it won't be stable for a short time. No rush, no rush."

"I was going to say you should take a few more, teach them for me first, and then give me one after they learn to cook."

"Hahaha—"

Several people discussed, full of praise for Ji Yin and Ji Yang.

"Aren't you all taking disciples?" the Eldest Shixiong said.

"What disciples would I take? Being alone is enough for this life!" the Third Shixiong said. "Taking one is just a burden. If I took one like me, it would be even more annoying!"

"? Didn't you just say Princess Hua is still waiting for you by the South Sea to finish drinking and go back?" the Seventh Shixiong asked, puzzled.

"One like you is also annoying!"

"I have already scouted one. He is a child from a family below Shimen Mountain. He often comes to the mountain to play. I don't know about his natural talent, but he has great understanding and spiritual energy, is very close to the beasts and birds in the mountain, and gets along well with my friends," the Fourth Shixiong said. "I won't look at his talent, only at fate."

"I am also waiting for fate," the Fifth Shixiong said.

"There are many high-ranking officials and nobles who want their children to be my disciples, but I don't think it's appropriate," the Sixth Shixiong said. "Anyway, I am not as old as the Eldest Shixiong and Second Shixiong, so why rush?"

"Same here, no rush, no rush," the Seventh Shixiong said.

"And Little Shidi?"

"After I go back, I intend to find a place with abundant spiritual energy and build a temple. Firstly, for quiet cultivation, and secondly, to follow the Eldest Shixiong's example and take a few disciples to cook, sweep the floor, and serve me." This was something Lin Jue had thought about for a long time. "It happens to be a chaotic world. If they learn skills, they can go down the mountain to subdue demons and stabilize the world."

"Pfft! An Ji Xianren's household—"

A mouthful of fine food, a mouthful of fine wine, a burst of laughter, not asking about the world's worries—this was the Ji Xianren life that people in the world had longed for.

Although Thousand-Day Wine is good, one must not be greedy.

Several people let go of their bodies and minds, drank half a jar, and became half-drunk.

When the Third Shixiong drunkenly wanted to take the remaining half, Lin Jue had already snatched it away first. ===== CHAPTER 466 =====