Chapter 170: Inheritance! The Chicken Farmer and the Melon Farmer
Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Inheritance! The Chicken Farmer and the Melon Farmer
’So this is Shopkeeper Li Hao’s entire collection?’
Zhu Ge looked over with curiosity.
These three sets of shelves weren’t all bookshelves. One was a display rack, holding a few items that emanated Spirit Level fluctuations.
There were pills, medicines, artifacts, clothes, and more.
Flanking this rack on the left and right were two bookshelves.
Zhu Ge walked over. The left bookshelf held Martial Dao and Immortal Dao Cultivation Techniques.
The books on the right bookshelf were secret manuals for the four professions: Kitchen, Kitchen Assistant, Chicken Farmer, and Melon Farmer.
They weren’t packed tightly, making the shelves look rather empty.
"Immortal Dao Techniques?"
Zhu Ge was quite interested in these Immortal Dao Techniques, and he was also very curious about the secret manuals for the four professions.
"Also, Kitchen is just one of them? There’s also a Kitchen Assistant, a Chicken Farmer, and a Melon Farmer?"
Previously, when Zhu Ge had bought books at the Zhu Family Bookstore, they didn’t sell any classic texts or Cultivation Techniques.
This was the first time Zhu Ge had seen other such texts, a real eye-opener for him.
"You already know about the Kitchen profession. A Kitchen Assistant is similar to a Kitchen. They can do basically everything except prepare Spirit Meals, and that includes grocery shopping."
"In fact, the Kitchen Assistant is even better at it than a Kitchen, as you know that ordinary Spiritual Objects tend to lose their Spiritual Qi."
"For example, if you pick a Spirit Level Sichuan peppercorn and don’t preserve it with a special technique, its Spiritual Qi will quickly dissipate, turning it into a mundane item. This is where a Kitchen Assistant is needed to seal it."
"And a Kitchen Assistant doesn’t just seal fruits and vegetables—they can do the same for Demon Beasts."
"I once saw a Butcher who, with a single cut, could instantly render a bovine Demon Beast into countless slices of meat, and not a single drop of blood escaped from any of them."
"If he could butcher a cow like that, he could do the same to a person."
A nostalgic look appeared in Li Hao’s eyes; she held that Butcher in high esteem.
Zhu Ge nodded slightly at her words and asked, "Are all these Cultivation Techniques available for trade?"
He had promised Li Hao that he would give her priority on any Demon Beast Flesh he acquired in the future, which was how he’d earned this trading opportunity.
If possible, he naturally wanted to trade for more Cultivation Techniques to build up the foundation of the Six Paths Palace.
"All of them," Li Hao said with a dismissive wave, a look of indifference on her face.
"This whole experience has made me realize something. When the nest is overturned, no egg stays intact. Jianshui City hasn’t even fallen yet, and cries of despair are everywhere. What if the city does fall? By then, I’ll have long been carried off by a Demon Beast."
"Rather than die clutching these things, I’d rather trade them with you for something useful to save my own skin. Besides..."
Li Hao looked at Zhu Ge with a smile. "Besides, I trust that if Young Master Zhu owes me a favor, he’ll protect me in the future. Right?"
Zhu Ge shot Li Hao a sidelong glance.
’This woman is really something else.’
’She says all this, but deep down in her eyes, there’s still a hint of reluctance.’
’But why is she so willing to build a relationship with me?’
Zhu Ge didn’t buy any of it. He guessed that Li Hao’s friendly gestures were entirely due to his strength and her baseless speculation about his background.
It wasn’t a gesture of goodwill toward him as a person, but toward his strength, his potential, and his imaginary background.
But even though Zhu Ge saw through it, he wasn’t about to refuse such an overture.
’A favor?’
’I’ll owe her one, then.’
’With so many secret manuals, a large portion of the people under him could have new options.’
’If the Martial Dao doesn’t work, there’s the Cultivation Dao!’
’If you can’t be a Sewing Master, be a Kitchen! If you can’t be a Kitchen, be a Kitchen Assistant!’
’In short, having more choices is always better!’
"I want them all." Zhu Ge glanced at the secret manuals and spoke without needing to inspect them closely. "I won’t try to cheat you with silver or copper coins. How much gold do you want?"
"Gold?" Li Hao’s eyes instantly turned sultry as she moved closer. "I don’t want gold. All I want is for Young Master Zhu to leave me with a certain..."
"That’s easy enough. Right here?" Unblinking and without his heart skipping a beat, Zhu Ge stood up and wrapped his arm around Li Hao.
Seeing this, a flash of panic crossed Li Hao’s eyes. She gave Zhu Ge a gentle push, but couldn’t move him.
However, when she saw the smile playing on Zhu Ge’s lips, she pouted almost imperceptibly and pressed her body against his. "If Young Master Zhu is willing, this entire Tongfu Restaurant can be yours..."
Pressed against Zhu Ge’s body, feeling his surging Blood Qi and bulging muscles, Li Hao felt her own body go soft.
The next moment, however, the hand Zhu Ge had around Li Hao’s waist gave her a light squeeze before pushing her away.
Li Hao felt a numbing sensation spread through her body and nearly let out a moan, but an instant later she was pushed away and had to quickly use her Blood Qi to steady herself.
"Those tricks of yours don’t work on me," Zhu Ge said with a laugh. "Let’s just make a straightforward trade."
’One could imagine that Li Hao usually used these methods to entice people she wanted to do business with.’
’Maybe she’d part her cherry-like lips, say a few sweet words, get close enough to breathe her fragrant breath on them, and manage to squeeze some extra benefits out of the deal.’
’No wonder the Jianshui City Lord doesn’t publicly announce that he has a daughter at the Second Realm.’
’In the Jianshui City Lord’s eyes, his daughter’s constant public appearances must be driving him to his grave.’
"You really are a block of wood... no." Li Hao shot Zhu Ge a glare. "No, you’re not a block of wood. You’re a cunning wolf."
"A real block of wood would be some scholar or farmer who doesn’t understand romance at all."
"But the way you just acted... you’re clearly well-versed in these matters, yet you know how to restrain yourself."
’Trying to extract benefits from a man like that using looks, words, and that push-and-pull, now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t kind of teasing is just too difficult.’
Li Hao said helplessly, "Young Master Zhu, it’s become a habit for me. Living so long in the mortal world, my looks and my flirtatiousness have all become tools. If Young Master Zhu finds it distasteful, I will naturally restrain myself in the future."
Zhu Ge cupped his hands. "It’s no easy feat for Shopkeeper Li to carve out a path for herself among so many experts. I admire that greatly."
At that, a smile returned to Li Hao’s face, and she walked over to her three racks of shelves.
"Your Six Paths Palace is newly established and located outside the city. A Kitchen and a Kitchen Assistant are absolute necessities. The way you were butchering that Demon Beast before was an utter waste."
Li Hao took down two books. "This Bamboo Garden Cookbook and Compendium of Twelve Flavors are the Cultivation Techniques for the Kitchen and the Kitchen Assistant, respectively. One is high-grade Spirit Level, the other is low-grade Spirit Level."
A high-grade Spirit Level technique meant that this Bamboo Garden Cookbook could allow someone to become a high-grade Spirit Level Kitchen.
Of course, it wasn’t a 100% guarantee.
Just like how studying a math book doesn’t guarantee a perfect score, different aptitudes and talents will lead to different levels of achievement.
But at the very least, the value of this Bamboo Garden Cookbook was far greater than that of high-grade Spirit Level pills or artifacts.
A single Cultivation Technique manual could easily be traded for ten pills or artifacts of the same grade!
"As for the Chicken Farmer and Melon Farmer, to be honest, you need both of these professions." Li Hao took two more books from another shelf.
"This low-grade Spirit Level Annals of the White Jade Black Chicken and this low-grade Spirit Level Chronicles of the Melon Patch will give your Six Paths Palace two new specialty products."
"These books are all Rubbing Copies. I’ll give you a twenty percent discount. How about it?"