Chapter 12

Lin Du arrived in the kitchen area of the dining hall.

The disciples of the Supreme Sect are not numerous in each generation, so even if the master changes, they are generally arranged by the time they entered the sect and their age.

Mo Lin is the senior disciple of the one hundredth generation, and this Second Senior Sister, Xia Tianwu, is the white-clad female cultivator who greeted Lin Du along with the sect leader on that day. She appears cold, composed, and refined.

However, that’s only the surface.

This younger sister, Second Senior Sister Xia Tianwu, has a single Fire Spiritual Root and possesses exotic fire. She is a disciple of the previous generation’s only alchemist, Jiang Liang. Because she has not yet fully adjusted to the exotic fire, she has managed to blow up several palaces and kitchens within the sect in just a year.

Due to this unique exotic fire, after being deceived and betrayed, she ended up pregnant and had her child forcibly taken by a scoundrel, who used the child’s body parts to make medicine for his beloved who was poisoned by cold toxins.

Mo Lin had already taken to the roof to repair the holes with practiced ease.

Xia Tianwu, facing Lin Du’s hesitating gaze, kept her face icy but spoke with a touch of weakness, “Little Martial Uncle… I just wanted to make you some nourishing black jelly.”

“Little Martial Uncle, since you’re here, why not give it a try?” Xia Tianwu pointed behind her.

Lin Du looked in the direction she pointed and saw a large hole blown into the wall. Through the charred opening, she could see the small, cracked black pot with no lid, and a layer of dark, viscous substance at the bottom, giving off an eerie glow in the dusk.

It was… burnt jelly.

Lin Du hesitated for a moment, “I appreciate the thought, but I think this burnt jelly…”

Xia Tianwu’s beautiful, cold eyes dimmed with a hint of pitiful grievance that would make anyone feel guilty.

Unfortunately, Lin Du’s heart was not easily swayed.

Xia Tianwu was a prodigy in alchemy, while others used alchemy to save lives, she used it to cause trouble.

Anything not following the alchemy recipe and relying on her own improvisation usually turned out to be a disaster, often with biochemical effects.

In a sense, she was also a kind of genius.

Whether the things made with exotic fire were edible or not, for others, it might just be a minor side effect. For Lin Du, with her Ice Spiritual Root, any fire toxicity could be fatal.

She seriously offered a suggestion, “Although this burnt jelly doesn’t look very edible, I think its viscosity and adhesive properties could be used for your Senior Brother’s wall repairs.”

Mo Lin jumped down from the roof, his voice still cheerful, “Junior Sister, the roof is repaired. What should we do with the rest of this stuff?”

Xia Tianwu sighed, lowering her head, “We can’t waste it. Let’s feed it to the pigs.”

Mo Lin’s eyes brightened with realization, “Junior Sister, the boar in the beast garden is pregnant. Did you have anything to do with that?”

Xia Tianwu looked at her senior brother innocently, “Ah? Senior Brother, how could I…”

Mo Lin knew she misunderstood, “I mean, did you feed the wasted alchemical materials to the pigs, making the boar pregnant?”

Xia Tianwu, avoiding his gaze, responded nervously, “They’re rare good materials. We can’t waste them, so feeding them to the pigs seemed fine.”

“A talent indeed. The legendary Pregnancy Pill is out? Can it be used by men?” Mo Lin commented with a grin.

Lin Du crossed her arms, observing the situation with interest, then turned to see Ni Jinxuan’s trembling eyes.

The new disciples behind her stood in a line, their eyes reflecting the despair of shattered dreams.

Hearing Lin Du’s comment, Xia Tianwu’s eyes lit up, and she quickly tossed the items aside, grabbing a record book and running toward the alchemy room, leaving a mess behind.

At that moment, the sound of bubbling and gurgling echoed.

The four young men looked to their senior brother with hungry eyes.

In the ordinary course, the elders would take turns cooking and managing the sect’s properties, including fields, beast gardens, and shops. The juniors would just eat and occasionally help out.

However, today happened to be the turn of Xia Tianwu’s master, Jiang Liang, who was busy with alchemy and had tasked his disciple with cooking and making soup.

This led to the current situation.

Mo Lin, feeling helpless, put down the tools, “You all go to the dining hall and meditate or cultivate for a while. I’ll start cooking right away.”

Lin Du, having spent a long time swimming in icy water, was truly hungry, “I’ll help. Let’s just cook some simple dishes.”

Being an orphan who had survived to thirteen, she naturally had survival skills, and Mo Lin didn’t doubt her ability to cook.

With the adults absent, the young ones took charge.

As she was about to start chopping a bunch of chives, the system in her mind, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up.

[According to the plot, Mo Lin will bring back his destined fateful encounter during his summer training.]

Lin Du paused her actions. After being thrown into the water every day and then staying on the ice to meditate, she had often wondered if the system had been drowned by the water.

It was already the end of March, so summer was approaching.

She glanced at Mo Lin, who was focused on plucking feathers from a spirit chick, “Should I go with him?”

Reaching the peak of the Phoenix Initial Realm, it was indeed time to experience the world and make a choice for foundation establishment. However, Lin Du was not an ordinary disciple. With no parents and having struggled through the world for thirteen years, she had already experienced the coldness and warmth of human nature. Moreover, due to her poor health, Yan Ye had not planned to send her out.

[It is recommended that the host address the issue from the source, allowing Mo Lin to avoid the fateful encounter. This way, new medicinal materials can be obtained earlier.]

“What’s the reward for solving the problem?”

[A Heart Lotus, which can be used to repair the host’s heart.]

“And what if I complete 50% of it?”

[Since the main plot involves a love-struck protagonist seeking redemption, there is a medicinal reward for each plot point completed. However, as the plot progresses and the protagonist’s feelings develop, it’s possible that the mission may not be completed, and you may not obtain the critical medicinal materials needed for your body. So, it’s suggested to cut through the chaos quickly.]

“Do you have some misunderstanding about me?”

Lin Du’s pale, distinct knuckles pressed down on the fresh, green chives, her gaze gentle as she held the kitchen knife and sliced the chives into pieces.

System: …Damn this immersion.

Although Lin Du said nothing, it felt as though she had said everything.

The chives, of course, had to be sliced slowly, piece by piece.

“Food tastes better when it’s properly cooked,” Lin Du said, looking down. “You want me to just butterfly away Mo Lin’s fateful encounter and prevent them from meeting, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing.”

[I feel… Host, you just want to slice my chives.]

Lin Du tossed some pork belly into the pan, which sizzled and crackled.

“Other systems always follow the plot. Is there no butterfly effect or plot inertia in this world?”

Even if cutting off the initial encounter according to plot inertia might result in the protagonist meeting the fateful encounter in another way, it might be better to follow the plot and wait for the right moment to act.

From what she had observed over the past few days, the Supreme Sect was not as grand and impressive as described in the plot. The three love-struck protagonists were merely innocent youths, showing no signs of future suffering. They were all vibrant and full of life.

The system’s words often expressed regret over these talented individuals who, due to their romantic entanglements, abandoned their doctrines, lost their gifts, and fell from grace. There was a sense of urgency to sever these fateful encounters and return these people to their original life paths.

If she was a tool for correcting fate, then what about the original Lin Du? If the tragic ending had already played out in the plot, would her intervention come without cost?

[Don’t understand, dear. This is my first time as a system; I have to try it out, dear.]

Lin Du wielded the spatula, suspecting that the system must have come from a customer service background.

The pork belly was fried until golden and crispy, gradually releasing oil and producing a delightful sizzle. When a handful of green chives was added, a cloud of white mist and green smoke erupted.

The thin young man held the spatula while a girl in a powder-blue shirt, who had somehow attached herself to him, arrived with a plate just in time.

“Little Martial Uncle, the plate.”