ARLQLCC chapter 47

The results of the morning’s teaching were remarkable. In the afternoon, Su Ji taught them three new dishes, and amid the repeated thanks of the apprentice disciples, he returned to the courtyard.

Yun Xicheng and the others all had matches in the afternoon and returned late, so they couldn’t eat with Su Ji. But now that the dining hall food had improved, they no longer resisted it and decided to go eat there together after their matches, conveniently trying the new dishes Su Ji had taught.

Su Ji had thought that only he and Chu Zhaoye would be eating together tonight, but after returning to the courtyard and opening the gate, he discovered a familiar figure already sitting on the stone bench.

Tu Yan was treating himself less and less like an outsider. Holding a storybook in his hands and cracking sunflower seeds he had swiped from Su Ji, he sat comfortably under the shade of a tree with one leg crossed over the other, reading and snacking at the same time, looking thoroughly at ease.

Hearing the gate open, Tu Yan looked up. Upon seeing the two familiar figures, he quickly put away the book and waved to them.

Su Ji walked over first. He looked at the towering courtyard wall, then at a camphor tree branch stretching over it, and asked hesitantly, “The gate was locked, so how did you get in? Climbed the tree?”

Tu Yan nearly choked on the sunflower seeds in his mouth. “I’m a Mahayana realm cultivator, do I have to climb a tree to get into a courtyard?!”

That made sense.

Imagining him huffing and puffing as he climbed over the wall and up a tree, Su Ji couldn’t help but smile. “Did you come today for something?”

At once, Tu Yan changed his expression and said ingratiatingly, “I missed Boss, so I came to see him.”

Su Ji was so overwhelmed by his expression that he immediately stepped aside and let Chu Zhaoye deal with it.

Chu Zhaoye bared his teeth unhappily. “Tu Yan, if you keep disgusting me, be careful or I’ll throw you out.”

“Don’t, Boss!” Tu Yan instantly returned to normal and explained, “Actually, I came today because I made a major discovery and need to tell you!”

Chu Zhaoye said, “You’d better actually have one.”

Though he said that, Tu Yan’s expression did not seem fake. The three sat around the stone table, and Tu Yan waved his hand to cast a soundproof barrier, looking extremely solemn.

Seeing him like this made both Su Ji and Chu Zhaoye’s hearts skip a beat. Could it be that Tu Yan had really discovered something earth-shattering?

And this was within Yunxian Sect. Could it concern Yunxian Sect?

Tapping his finger on the table, Chu Zhaoye said, “Speak.”

Tu Yan hurriedly revealed his discovery.

“Boss, you know that I’ve been stuck at the half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm, unable to advance because, during the battle with the devil race a thousand years ago, an inner demon entered my body. I’ve only been able to suppress it with my cultivation.”

“But recently, I discovered that the bottleneck toward breakthrough has begun to loosen. After examining my dantian, I noticed that the inner demon, which had been dormant all this time, had somehow grown weaker and weaker. Now I don’t need to deliberately suppress it at all. It no longer has the ability to stir up trouble!”

Only heaven knew how excited Tu Yan was when he discovered that his inner demon had weakened on its own. Half-step Tribulation Transcendence was already among the strongest cultivators on the continent, yet for a thousand years he had been unable to eradicate his inner demon. Now, without doing anything, the inner demon that had plagued him for a thousand years was approaching extinction on its own. How could he not be thrilled?

But no matter how many times he examined his dantian, he could not find the reason why the inner demon had weakened. If he could discover the cause and use it on Chu Zhaoye, then Chu Zhaoye’s secluded breakthrough to the Tribulation Transcendence realm would be practically guaranteed.

Tu Yan assumed his cultivation was insufficient to discover the cause, so he came straight to the courtyard to inform Chu Zhaoye and let his boss see how the inner demon had become weaker and weaker.

After Tu Yan finished speaking, the two people before him remained completely calm.

Su Ji’s calmness was understandable. Only cultivators who had survived the war with the devil race suffered from inner demons. Those people had either fallen over the years or become mighty figures, so it was only natural that Su Ji, as part of the younger generation, did not know about it.

But Chu Zhaoye was different. During the war against the devil race, he had been one of the strongest combatants and had slain more devil cultivators than anyone else. Even in the final battle to seal the Abyssal Devil Sovereign, Chu Zhaoye had served as the vanguard, directly suppressing the opponent. As a result, aside from Xie Daoqi, he had suffered the most severe inner demon affliction in that battle.

For all these years, he had remained stuck at the late Tribulation Transcendence stage. After finally finding an opportunity to break through, he had nearly lost his life because of an inner demon attack. Now that Tu Yan had found a glimmer of hope to eliminate inner demons, Chu Zhaoye, the greatest victim of all, was actually completely unmoved!

My boss’s psychological resilience is way too strong, isn’t it???

Tu Yan probed, “Boss, this is such a major discovery, and you have no reaction at all?”

Chu Zhaoye said nothing.

In truth, he should have told Tu Yan about this long ago. But there had been too many changes recently, and he only remembered after Tu Yan discovered it himself and came to find him.

After meeting Su Ji, Tu Yan had eaten several meals prepared by him. Not only had he eaten several meals, he had eaten a lot. Influenced by Su Ji’s ability, the inner demon within him should already be on its last legs. Tu Yan’s reaction speed was really slow—he only noticed the changes after his bottleneck had begun loosening by itself.

Chu Zhaoye coughed lightly. “I forgot to tell you. In fact, I discovered long ago that inner demons would be weakened.”

Tu Yan said, “Oh, so Boss, you already discovered it. I was wondering why you weren’t surpris—”

Tu Yan: “???????? How did you discover it???”

Chu Zhaoye spoke, with a hint of pride in his tone. “My inner demon disappeared completely before yours did.”

As soon as he said this, Tu Yan was shocked out of his wits. “Ah??????? Boss, your inner demon is already gone? What exactly happened to you during your time in the cultivation world??”

At the side, Su Ji covered his ears as he listened. Fortunately, Tu Yan had set up a barrier; otherwise, with that voice of his, even the disciples at the neighboring martial platform would probably hear him.

Chu Zhaoye asked in return, “Do you remember what you’ve been eating recently?”

Tu Yan froze. His eyes shifted as he began recalling everything he had eaten over the past few days.

On the first day he arrived at Yunxian Sect, the First Elder invited him to dine. The meal was prepared by the First Elder’s private chef. Because the First Elder disliked oily and meaty foods, the dishes were very light.

Very light.

As someone who could not live without meat, Tu Yan tactfully declined the First Elder’s invitation and secretly found a place to roast meat himself.

Ever since then, the only things he had eaten were…

Su Ji’s food!

Even the sunflower seeds he was eating now had come from Su Ji!

Tu Yan was utterly stunned. He turned his head and looked at Su Ji, who sat there with a proper posture and innocent eyes. His mouth dropped open so wide it nearly hit the ground.

“Su Ji! Was it you? Your cooking can actually eliminate inner demons? That’s incredible! How do you have such an ability? Don’t tell me you’re some great figure who already ascended and then descended to the mortal world to undergo tribulation!”

One question after another hit like cannon fire. Listening from the side, Chu Zhaoye found it oddly familiar. It seemed he had asked the same thing when he first discovered Su Ji’s ability.

Facing Tu Yan’s shock, Su Ji spread his hands. “I only learned about this a little earlier than you did. Ma Tuan was the one who told me.”

Tu Yan asked curiously, “Were there any signs when this ability appeared? Didn’t your body undergo any changes?”

Su Ji shook his head. “If there had been any changes or signs, there’s no reason I wouldn’t have known. But there is one strange thing.”

Tu Yan asked, “What is it?”

Su Ji recalled, “When I first took over Linggu Mountain, I planted many spiritual plants in the backyard. Logically, no matter how fast spiritual plants grow, they shouldn’t sprout overnight. But after planting them, I infused them with spiritual energy to water them, and the seeds sprouted immediately. I think there should be some connection between the two.”

Tu Yan was even more shocked. “I thought your cooking curing inner demons was outrageous enough. I didn’t expect you could even pull up the seedlings to help them grow!”¹拔苗助长 (bá miáo zhù zhǎng) literally means “pulling up the seedlings to help them grow.” It comes from a Chinese fable about a farmer who wanted his crops to grow faster, so he pulled each seedling upward. Instead of helping them, he killed them. The idiom carries a negative meaning, referring to well-intentioned but harmful interference that produces the opposite of the desired result. Since Su Ji’s help is genuinely beneficial rather than damaging, the idiom is technically inappropriate, which is why Chu Zhaoye immediately corrects him.

As soon as he said that, Chu Zhaoye kicked him. “What kind of idiom are you using?”

Tu Yan scratched his head. “I was just too surprised. But Su Ji, you really need to keep this ability hidden. If word gets out, some ill-intentioned people might target you.”

Chu Zhaoye said, “With me here, who would dare target him?”

Tu Yan sighed and said disapprovingly, “Better safe than sorry. I know Boss, you’re very strong, but unless you stay by Su Ji’s side every moment, he still won’t be one hundred percent safe.”

What he said made sense. Although Chu Zhaoye truly wished he could stay with Su Ji every moment, he still had an entire demon race to manage. Keeping this ability secret was for the best.

Once the matter of the inner demons was laid bare, Tu Yan looked at Su Ji as though he were a precious treasure. Thinking of how he had arrived in time that day and Su Ji had not been injured, he still felt lingering fear.

Now Su Ji had become the future Demon Queen of the demon race and possessed such a formidable ability. If he were to lose his life because of the Yunxian Sect matter, even destroying the entire Yunxian Sect would not be enough to appease the demon race.

As evening fell, Su Ji stood and went to cook. The two men followed him with practiced ease to help.

The two strongest people on the continent almost came to blows over who would chop vegetables and who would cut the meat.

Of course, Tu Yan did not dare. The one nearly starting a fight was Chu Zhaoye. As Tu Yan’s boss, he ultimately won the right to chop vegetables and happily stayed by Su Ji’s side, chopping that cucumber into chunks.

Su Ji glanced at him, surprised that he was actually quite good at chopping cucumbers.

Noticing Su Ji’s meaningful look, Chu Zhaoye raised his head. “What is it?”

Su Ji muttered, “Actually, if your name weren’t Ma Tuan, Huang Gua would also be pretty good.”²黄瓜 (Huángguā) means: cucumber

Chu Zhaoye: “…”

Really? I don’t think so.

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  拔苗助长 (bá miáo zhù zhǎng) literally means “pulling up the seedlings to help them grow.” It comes from a Chinese fable about a farmer who wanted his crops to grow faster, so he pulled each seedling upward. Instead of helping them, he killed them. The idiom carries a negative meaning, referring to well-intentioned but harmful interference that produces the opposite of the desired result. Since Su Ji’s help is genuinely beneficial rather than damaging, the idiom is technically inappropriate, which is why Chu Zhaoye immediately corrects him.
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  黄瓜 (Huángguā) means: cucumber