C18 No.1 Kitchen, Unpredictable!.

"Bro, you've got to stand up for me. In the Devil Sect, everyone in the kitchens knows I'm kin to you. And yet, this punk had the nerve to cross me, showing a complete lack of respect for you."

The speaker was Ye Nong, who had been injured by Little Kylin earlier that evening. He ran the No. 1 kitchen in the Devil Sect.

Ye Nong spoke through clenched teeth, still reeling from the day's assault by that monstrosity. Had he not been a Body Cultivator, he might well have been on his way to hell by now. It was only thanks to the potent medicine gifted by Bai Yih that he managed to rise from his bed and seek redress.

He figured that if Elder Bai Yih, one of the Four Great Elders, made a move, Jiang Su would have no choice but to fall in line. Despite Jiang Su's formidable pet, Ye Nong suspected it was nothing more than a Low Rank Devil Beast. For someone like Elder Bai Yih, dispatching them would be a trivial matter.

Moonlight slanted through the room's window.

Bai Yih, his face a mask of indifference, took a sip of tea and asked, "Who gave you permission to go around claiming a connection to me?"

At those words, Ye Nong dropped to his knees, already weakened by his injuries. Sweat poured down his face, and he found himself at a loss for words.

Luckily for him, Bai Yih wasn't truly irate. He set his teacup aside, his mind turning to Jiang Su's visage. Now in possession of the Ancestral Dragon Martial Spirit, Jiang Su was a target that needed to be eliminated swiftly, before the spirit's full awakening.

For over a millennium, Bai Yih had held the Female Ruler in high esteem, never imagining she would choose to wed Jiang Su. Now, he harbored a deep-seated resentment towards all the dashing men of the Cultivation World.

His disdain extended particularly to this cook. Rather than sticking to his kitchen duties, the cook had aimlessly roamed the back mountains, catching the eye of Elder Chiu Yue.

Recalling how Elder Chiu Yue and Su Wuyou had expressed interest in taking the cook as a disciple, Bai Yih clenched his robe's hem, his smile tightly controlled, his gaze icy. "We can't touch him for now, not until Elder Chiu Yue loses interest in taking him on. It's possible the Spirit Gathering Lake's spiritual energy was drained by the Holy Dragon over the centuries, and he's not to blame. He's merely a disposable vessel that the Holy Dragon is temporarily inhabiting. Without guidance, he won't last long at the Qi Sensing Stage. I must bide my time and strike when the moment is right."

Ye Nong's wound throbbed with a dull pain. He paused briefly before speaking, "He has a Low Rank Devil Beast with him. That hideous creature is the one that injured me. Despite being a Low Rank, I've never encountered such an unusual species before."

The night had deepened, and Bai Yih's patience was wearing thin. Catching the hint from Bai Yih's expression, Ye Nong realized it was his cue to depart. With another respectful bow, he exited the room.

His fists tightened as he held back his frustration. Someday, he vowed to himself, he would overcome that Qi Sensing Stage upstart.

He didn't need Bai Yih's assistance; he was confident he could manage on his own.

After all, no one was more familiar with the No. 1 kitchen than Ye Nong. The people here lacked conviction, easily swayed from one leader to another—today they might side with Ye Nong, tomorrow with Jiang Su, their allegiance shifting with the tides of status and cultivation level.

Jiang Su rose from his bed much later the following day. It wasn't laziness but sheer exhaustion from the previous day's events that kept him in bed. Cultivating proved more draining than any job he'd held, yet it offered a freedom his past work never did.

It's no surprise that netizens often joked that even if they unearthed ancient cultivation texts, they'd still be heading to work with swords in hand.

Now that he was part of the No. 1 kitchen, Jiang Su felt compelled to contribute. He dressed and stepped outside to a perfectly warm sun. The kitchen staff bustled about—some swept, others split wood, and a few practiced their cultivation.

It seemed they operated on a rotating schedule. Today's laborers would cultivate next time, and the current cultivators would take up the menial tasks.

Spotting Wang Tian busily chopping wood, Jiang Su approached and rolled up his sleeves. If he was to be a cook, he'd play the part well. After all, chopping wood was a cook's essential skill.

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