Starting with a Family System to Become an Immortal Official-Chapter 115: Lion Kitchen

It was night on Immortal Table Mountain.

Li Qingmu sat cross-legged on his simple cultivation mat in his modest courtyard abode.

He looked mildly frustrated.

In the last few hours since settling in, he discovered two bitter truths.

First: the storage pouch that Big Sister Song Yan had slipped him before his departure? Completely empty of anything useful. No spirit stones, no elixirs, no precious herbs... just a pile of worthless rocks for weight and a few sealed letters.

One letter from Song Yan herself explained it all in her neat handwriting: the Exalted Sage School followed the path of sages and moderation. Excess in either food, wealth or cultivation resources was forbidden. It clouded the mind and corrupted the heart. Disciples were to live simply and refine their will through restraint.

"I knew the pouch felt too light!"

Li Qingmu frowned at the empty pouch.

Second, and far more aggravating: his Nine Heavens Tyrant Physique refused to advance. He could sense the spirits of the Ancestor Slaying Sword and the Sword Organ Manifestation stirring faintly in his mind palace. They were there but no matter how he circulated his qi or visualized the forging process, they wouldn’t solidify into physical swords. It felt like he lacked the raw creation material or final spark of genius needed to birth them.

His current realm was still stuck at the Saint Body level.

He had to fully manifest all four conceptual swords before his Four-Armed War Asura would reach the Deva Body level and gain a body of divine essence!

Li Qingmu let out a long, tired sigh.

"Why is it so damn difficult?"

He muttered to the empty room.

"I can feel the idea of the swords forming in my sea of consciousness, but manifesting them in the flesh... it’s like trying to grasp smoke."

He shook his head and refocused.

That night, at least, he made some progress.

His cultivation base steadily climbed until it reached the Peak of Core Formation.

And he also strengthened his chaos core.

A small but satisfying breakthrough.

Finally, he exhaled a long breath of turbid qi and opened his cool blue eyes.

"Enough for tonight. I’ll continue tomorrow."

Right on cue, his stomach grumbled.

"All this cultivating must be making me hungry..."

He glanced at the empty storage pouch again then flopped backward onto the mat.

Within moments, he was snoring softly.

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Morning light filtered through the bamboo screen when Wen Qingwan decided he’d rested long enough. She marched straight into his courtyard without knocking and forced out her commanding voice.

"Get up! It’s time for morning lessons!"

No response.

She frowned, stepped inside, and scanned the room.

The bed was empty and so was his mat.

There was no sign of him.

"Where did he go?"

She searched the entire abode.

Irritated, she left and began sweeping the sect paths as she asked countless passing disciples if they’d seen the new junior brother.

No one had.

Eventually her steps carried toward the Lion Kitchen perched on one of the higher mountain terraces.

The kitchen was no ordinary place; it was the sect’s nutrition hall, where every meal was meticulously prepared according to sage principles. Disciples rotated in to assist as they learned discipline, balance and the Dao of moderation through chopping vegetables and stirring broths.

At its head stood the infamous elder.

Kitchen Master Han Yan.

He was a short, extremely round old man who always wore a deep scowl on his face. Rumors said he once brutally killed a rampaging spirit boar bare-handed because it dared trample his herb garden, yet he now preached vegetarianism with fanatical passion.

To him, eating meat inflamed the blood and dirtied the heart of a dedicated cultivator.

"Only plants could truly nourish the body of a sage!"

He took this belief very seriously.

Anyone who was caught secretly eating meat would be severely punished. The offender would have to copy the Sage Classics for three whole months while standing on one leg in the middle of the herb fields.

Wen Qingwan approached the Lion Kitchen courtyard and paused.

Soft giggling drifted out.

Several female disciples, by the sound of it.

And then Li Qingmu’s smooth and boastful voice.

"And that’s when I cleaved the Nascent Soul elder in half with a single stroke of my chaos sword. The sky itself cracked from the force. Blood rained for three days."

Gasps and admiring sighs followed.

"So brave, Junior Brother Li!"

"Truly a hero from the lower realms!"

"I’ve heard so much about you!"

Wen Qingwan’s eye twitched.

She walked in.

Li Qingmu lounged on a low bamboo chair as he casually bit into a crisp red spirit apple. Half a dozen beautiful female disciples clustered around him with sparkling eyes as they hung on every word. One quickly fetched him a cup of clear mountain spring water when he cleared his throat.

Wen Qingwan cleared her throat loudly.

"AHEM!"

The giggling stopped instantly.

The girls saw her face and scattered with bows and murmurs of apologies as they fled.

Li Qingmu didn’t even flinch.

He took another bite of apple and glanced up.

"Senior Sister. Anything better than fruit around here?"

Wen Qingwan folded her arms under her early morning breasts and glared.

"No. But if you’re that desperate, there’s leftover millet rice and some—"

Li Qingmu made a face.

"Not that garbage. I want something that’s chewy and oily in the mouth. Rabbit or boar meat... just something a strong man can sink his teeth into."

Wen Qingwan tilted her head.

"There’s meat... but it’s locked in the storage house. Only for elders and a few high seniors. The Exalted Sage School strictly prohibits meat for regular disciples. Kitchen Master Yan is very much against it."

"NO MEAT?!"

Li Qingmu shot to his feet.

"Who is this fiendish Kitchen Master?!"

Wen Qingwan couldn’t help it... she giggled.

Li Qingmu quickly launched into mockery as he puffed out his cheeks and deepened his voice.

"Meat? Meat is nonsense!"

He made some funny noises.

"Eat only grass like a virtuous ox!"

"Grumble grumble, I’m so wise and round—"

Wen Qingwan burst out laughing and forced her tiny jade hand over her mouth.

He kept going, waving his arms dramatically.

"I’m a billion percent sure he’s a fatty who secretly stuffs his face at midnight—"

Her laughter grew louder until she suddenly choked and her pretty eyes widened.

Behind Li Qingmu, a short, enormously round figure in brown robes had appeared with burning coals for eyes and a wooden staff in his meaty hand.

"Eh?"

Li Qingmu frowned at her.

"What’s wrong?"

She pointed frantically past him.

He didn’t get it.

"Tch. I’d like to speak with this shameless Kitchen Master myself. Tell him straight—strong men need meat to grow big and powerful!"

Wen Qingwan waved both hands desperately—shut up!

Li Qingmu ignored her.

A deep, gravelly voice spoke from behind.

"Is it just meat you want, boy?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Li Qingmu spun.

There stood Kitchen Master Yan.

Round as a barrel.

Face like weathered mahogany.

His staff looked sturdy enough to crack mountains.

Certainly, if it’s supporting all that weight.

Li Qingmu nodded confidently.

"Yes, Elder. Meat. Lots of it."

The old man ignored him and turned to Wan’er.

"Do you know this boy, Qingwan?"

She bowed deeply.

"Greetings, Kitchen Master Yan. This is Li Qingmu, the new disciple my father brought to the sect. I apologize for his lack of manners. I’ll take him away right now."

She grabbed Li Qingmu’s sleeve and tugged.

The old man raised a hand.

"No hurry."

Li Qingmu grinned at her.

"See? Can’t you see the old man’s about to give in and hand over the goods?!"

The elder smiled quietly.

"What type of meat would you like, young friend?"

Li Qingmu didn’t hesitate.

"Spirit boar, fatty cuts..."

"Grilled crisp on the outside, juicy inside..."

"Maybe some braised rabbit too."

He nodded at his selections.

The kitchen master smiled.

"And sides?"

"Steamed buns soaked in the juices. Pickled radish to cut the grease. And a big bowl of chili oil on the side."

The old man nodded thoughtfully.

"Very specific. Good. I’ll prepare a special welcoming dish just for you. Don’t worry—go wait."

Li Qingmu patted the elder’s shoulder.

"Sweet old man! Thanks!"

Elder Yan nodded benignly.

"Go on now."

Li Qingmu bowed dramatically and swaggered off with Wen Qingwan.

Once out of earshot, she stared at him in disbelief.

"I’m... surprised you actually convinced him like that."

Li Qingmu swished his sleeves smugly.

"What can I say?"

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In the distant Empyrean Thunder Sect.

Deep within a thunder-veined hall.

Fourteen assassins knelt in disturbing silence on the cold stone floor.

Before them sat Sect Master Dai Qiu.

He is a terrifying old beast!

Long silver hair that matched his flowing beards.

Calm and terrifying electric-blue eyes.

Luxurious purple outer robes over sharp white ones.

He played chess alone as he moved black and white pieces with slender fingers.

Gu Duzi and Tiao Gan groveled at his feet as tears streamed down their pallid cheeks.

"Sect Master, we did our jobs! Spare us—spare us!"

Dai Qiu shooed them like flies.

They scrambled away without another word.

The assassins’ leader dared to speak.

"Master, we won’t fail next time."

Dai Qiu moved a piece.

"Fail to do what?"

The leader bowed lower.

"To kill the girl—Wen Qingwan. Our brothers are scattered through the forest even now, watching every path. She’ll show herself eventually."

The old man chuckled softly.

"Forget the girl for now."

The assassins stilled.

"It seems we have a new target. Personally requested by City Lord Xu himself."

He lifted a black piece, held it a moment.

"For five thousand taels... kill Li Qingmu."

Shock rippled through the kneeling men.

The sect master smiled thinly and placed the piece.

"Go."