Chapter 15 · Volume 1

If Heaven Had Not Born Ye Jinghong

With that single sentence, everyone subconsciously turned their heads toward the source of the aroma.
When they did, the square instantly fell into a dead silence.
They saw their Junior Sister Bai sitting like a boss on a large rock, completely lacking any ladylike grace.
In front of her, a roaring campfire had already been set up.
Over the fire, an incredibly massive leg was skewered on a wooden stick, roasting until it sizzled and dripped with oil. The grease slid down the golden, crispy skin, releasing a mouthwatering aroma of meat into the air.
“Bai Zhirou” stared intently at the massive leg with her beautiful black eyes, occasionally wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.
Chu Qianfeng swallowed hard.
An ominous premonition faintly welled up in his heart, and he quickly jogged over.
Only when he saw the tied-up Fiery Bird still lying on the ground did Chu Qianfeng let out a long sigh of relief.
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he forced a relaxed smile and said, “Haha, Junior Sister Bai, enjoying a snack?”
Jiang Ye didn't even look up. He even pulled the wooden stick a bit closer to himself and said directly, “If you want to eat, roast your own. Don't stare at mine. I'm not sharing.”
Chu Qianfeng's mouth twitched. “...”
Am I here to steal your chicken leg?!
However, Chu Qianfeng wasn't annoyed. Instead, he turned around and generously ordered the nearby outer sect disciples, “Go! Notify the kitchen disciples. Tonight, everyone will have a bonfire party right here in the square, and we'll treat it as a welcoming feast for Junior Sister Bai!”
One had to admit, the efficiency of cultivators was incredibly high.
In just half a ke, over a dozen large campfires were neatly set up across the square.
Gu Qingxue, Qin Zhiwei, and the others also sat around Jiang Ye with faint smiles.
By now, the leg was roasted to a perfect golden brown, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The rich aroma of the sizzling meat drifted through the air, causing Qin Zhiwei's mouth to water. She couldn't help but praise, “Junior Sister Bai, I really didn't expect your cooking skills to be this amazing!”
Jiang Ye smiled with a look of profound mystery and said, “Fresh ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods.”
Before the crowd could react to those words, the kitchen disciples came out carrying platters of washed beef and mutton spirit meat.
However, once all the dishes were laid out, the onlookers suddenly noticed a serious problem.
Among all the platters, not a single one contained chicken legs.
A sense of dread washed over them.
Chu Qianfeng's face stiffened. He grabbed a kitchen disciple by the collar, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, “Where are the chicken legs? Where is my goddamn massive chicken leg?”
The disciple replied with a bewildered look, “Senior Brother, the kitchen didn't even have chicken legs today!”
Chu Qianfeng: “...”
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Everyone's necks stiffened as they slowly, inch by inch, turned their heads to stare blankly at Jiang Ye, who was sitting like a boss.
Stared at by dozens of pairs of glowing green eyes, Jiang Ye found it utterly bizarre.
He warily pulled the almost fully roasted leg even closer to himself, then jerked his head toward the Fiery Bird lying on the ground nearby. “If you want to eat, roast your own!”
Then, he muttered under his breath, “Plucking feathers is a pain in the ass. Why can't this bird just grow without feathers?”
Chu Qianfeng's brain buzzed.
He rushed over to the Fiery Bird and flipped its massive body over.
Sure enough.
The Fiery Bird's right thigh was completely gone, and the wound was neatly bandaged.
With a flash of realization, Chu Qianfeng instantly connected it to Bai Zhirou's comment about “fresh ingredients.”
So, you went incredibly easy on it in the arena earlier purely because you were afraid that if you killed it too soon, the meat wouldn't be fresh?!
“Pfft...”
Qin Zhiwei couldn't hold it in again and sprayed out a mouthful of tea.
This was a Tier Two demon beast! Equivalent to a Foundation Establishment realm combatant! Moreover, if this Fiery Bird were nurtured properly, it had a chance of breaking through to Tier Three in the future!
This bird had likely cost Murong Peng's family a massive amount of spirit stones to obtain.
And yet...
Just then, Jiang Ye's voice rang out again.
“When eating this kind of stuff, you have to eat it while it's fresh.”
“When I sliced its leg off just now, I even specially used healing medicine to stop the bleeding so it wouldn't die. Let me tell you, if you don't eat chicken while it's fresh, the meat gets tough immediately. Slicing it off and roasting it right away like this is the perfect timing.”
Jiang Ye explained like a seasoned food connoisseur.
Everyone: “...”
Chu Qianfeng felt like kneeling down to this young auntie. Was the issue here whether it was fresh or not?
True, there were many miraculous pills and medicines in the cultivation world that could reattach severed limbs. For instance, Murong Peng's severed left hand could easily be reattached if he took it back.
But...
Everyone looked at the leg that Jiang Ye was roasting—golden, crispy, sizzling with oil, and smelling strongly of cumin.
Even an immortal descending to earth wouldn't be able to reattach this!
Looking at the bizarre expressions of the Sword Peak disciples, whose drool was practically dripping onto his leg, Jiang Ye said somewhat speechlessly, “Alright, alright! Tonight, all the roast chicken is on me, Young Master Bai! Go eat chicken, stop staring at mine.”
Many of the salivating Sword Peak disciples turned their gazes toward Gu Qingxue.
Gu Qingxue's cold, beautiful face twitched slightly. In the end, she could only let out a bitter laugh and shake her head helplessly, “Distribute it. The Beast-Taming Peak... likely won't want a crippled Tier Two demon beast anyway.”
“Ohhhhh! Second Senior Sister is mighty! Junior Sister Bai is awesome!!”
A burst of cheers instantly erupted across the square.
Jiang Ye quickly went over to end the Fiery Bird's sinful life. He couldn't let this Foundation Establishment experience pack go to waste.
A warm current surged through him, but his cultivation level didn't change. He was clearly capped on experience again.
While sprinkling various spices onto his leg, Jiang Ye smiled and said to Gu Qingxue beside him, “By the way, Senior Sister Gu, where are the other True Disciple senior brothers and sisters of our Sword Peak? Why don't we invite them out to celebrate together?”
Gu Qingxue smiled and nodded, “Junior Sister Bai is very thoughtful. I will send them a message right away.”
Ten minutes later.
By Jiang Ye's campfire, two more people had joined.
One was a refined young gentleman, while the other was a rather petite girl with twin-tails, wearing a pink dress and looking extremely cute.
Qin Zhiwei introduced them to Bai Zhirou.
“There's no need for me to introduce Senior Sister Gu, she's our Second Senior Sister.”
Qin Zhiwei pointed to the young gentleman, “This is our Third Senior Brother, Gu Changqing.”
Next, she pointed to the cute girl and smiled, “And this is our Fourth Senior Sister, Qi Linger.”
Finally, she pointed to herself. “I'm fifth.”
Qi Linger and Gu Changqing both smiled and nodded at Bai Zhirou.
Evidently, before coming, they had already learned the ins and outs of the situation through Gu Qingxue's transmission jade slip. Their eyes when looking at Bai Zhirou were exceptionally friendly and curious.
At this moment, Jiang Ye was gnawing on the massive leg, his mouth covered in grease. After his senses were synchronized, he hadn't expected the demon beast meat in the cultivation world to taste this amazing.
He looked at Qi Linger and Gu Changqing, speaking indistinctly, “Yo, Second Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, grab some yourselves, don't be polite.”
Up on a large tree in the distance.
A white-clad figure was squatting on a branch with his butt in the air, stealthily peeking toward the campfire and muttering under his breath, “Why haven't they mentioned me yet?”
Just then, Qin Zhiwei's body suddenly shuddered, as if she had received a transmission from someone. She let out an awkward laugh and said, “Um... Junior Sister Bai, aren't you going to ask who our... Eldest Senior Brother is?”
“No, I'm not interest—”
Before Jiang Ye could finish his sentence.
Boom!!
In the night sky of Sword Peak, a dazzling golden sword light suddenly slashed across without any warning!
Immediately following that.
A carefree, clear laugh echoed through the air, “Hahaha, I have arrived!!”
In the next second, the sword light faded, and a figure landed with his hands behind his back, his long hair and white robes fluttering in the night wind. He stood with his back to the crowd, stepping on the very top of the tallest stone pillar in the square.
He stood proudly, tilting his head slightly upward, and lowered his voice, “If Heaven had not born me, Ye Jinghong, the Dao of the Sword would be as an endless night!!”

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