NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28: Successful Guidance
Chapter 28: Successful Guidance
The fireball spell slowly roasted the surface of the grilled fish, gradually drying out the moisture in the fish skin. Along the three knife marks, the inner flesh of the fish was revealed, triggering a fragrant aroma.
Li Xi and Li Wen Ze were both attracted by this aroma and stopped talking. Li Xi silently praised Li Wen Ze’s fish grilling skills.
Soon, the fish was grilled to perfection. Under the perfect combination of grilling spices and flames, the fish meat turned golden, looking appetizing.
Li Wen Ze gave half of the fish to Li Xi. Li Xi, enduring the heat, took a bite immediately.
“Brother Wen Ze, your grilled fish is so delicious!”
Li Wen Ze also eagerly started eating. The roasted fish skin was crispy and fragrant on the surface, while the inner flesh was tender and flavorful, fully infused with the grilling spices, making it even more delicious.
This grilled fish was once again a great success.
As they were eating, Li Wen Ze looked up and asked a question.
“Little sister Xi, what’s your future dream? For example, my dream is to become a carefree sword cultivator and explore the world of immortal cultivation.”
Upon hearing Li Wen Ze’s question, Li Xi replied without hesitation: “My dream is to continue farming in the future, to be able to eat delicious food that I grow myself every day. Just thinking about it makes me happy.”
Li Xi’s dream didn’t sound as unique or different as Li Wen Ze’s when heard, but it was indeed her long-standing dream, and she was constantly working hard towards it now.
Just like how Li Wen Ze practiced sword skills every day.
“Little sister Xi’s dream is wonderful. To farm peacefully and enjoy the fruits of your labor, it’s not an easy thing to achieve!”
Li Wen Ze’s words were like a small hook, making Li Xi very curious. How could farming and eating good food not be an easy thing?
With her current experience, she couldn’t really feel what difficulties there might be.
“Little sister Xi, think about it. You like farming, but will you always grow the same grade of crops? For example, you’re now growing level-one spirit rice, but will you still be growing level-one spirit rice in the future?”
Li Xi had never thought about this before, but probably not, right?
Li Xi always believed that her cultivation level would continue to increase in the future, not stopping at the Qi Condensation stage. At least, she hadn’t felt any bottleneck in her current cultivation progress.
It’s said that the first hurdle in the Qi Condensation stage is between the fourth and fifth levels, where those with low cultivation talent find it difficult to break through. However, her breakthrough came naturally, her level increasing after just a night’s sleep.
So she believed she could at least reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
Once she reached the Foundation Establishment stage, of course she would be curious about those level-two seeds she couldn’t grow before!
“Of course not!” Li Xi answered matter-of-factly after thinking about this.
“Little sister Xi, is your sister-in-law a good cook? Is her food delicious?”
Li Wen Ze pressed on, seeing that the little girl had taken the bait.
Li Xi immediately recalled all the delicious food her sister-in-law had made. Since her sister-in-law married into the family, their meals had improved dramatically.
“Of course my sister-in-law’s cooking is delicious!” Li Xi said proudly. Her sister-in-law was planning to sell her food in the future!
“But your sister-in-law is still at the Qi Condensation stage and can’t handle level-two ingredients,” Li Wen Ze said with regret.
But Li Xi wasn’t trapped by his words. Her sister-in-law was currently at the eighth level of Qi Condensation, but she herself couldn’t grow level-two seeds either!
However, after Li Wen Ze’s continuous questioning, she guessed that Brother Wen Ze might have something he wanted to tell her.
So she pretended not to notice the flaw in his words.
“Yes, Brother Wen Ze, what do you think I should do?”
“You can learn how to cook delicious food yourself! Look at me, for example. In order to survive in the deep mountains and forests when I explore the immortal cultivation world as a sword cultivator in the future, I specially learned the skill of grilling fish.”
As Li Wen Ze spoke, he put down the fish bones he had cleaned and threw them into the river. A fish much larger than the one they had eaten appeared on the surface, caught the fish bones in its mouth, flicked its tail, and disappeared into the water.
Hearing this, Li Xi knew they were about to get to the main point. Brother Wen Ze hadn’t brought her out fishing and grilling just to persuade her to learn cooking skills. What he wanted to say was related to her next answer!
“Yes, Brother Wen Ze is right! I can learn how to cook delicious food myself!” This was from Li Xi’s heart, not said to deceive Li Wen Ze.
Li Xi had always wanted to learn cooking skills and make delicious food for her family to enjoy.
She imagined that after learning culinary skills, her family would gather together after a busy day to taste the food she made, and everyone would show expressions of enjoyment after eating. Just thinking about this scene made her happy.
“But then again, even if you learn culinary skills in the future, you still won’t be able to make level-two dishes yourself,” Li Wen Ze said, shaking his head with disappointment.
Why not?
Li Xi was full of questions.
Seeing her confusion, Li Wen Ze finally revealed the answer.
“Ordinary firewood can’t cook level-two dishes.”
Yes, ordinary firewood is mundane fire. It’s already quite difficult to cook level-one spirit chicken and other ingredients now, let alone level-two food.
It won’t be hot enough.
To cook higher-grade ingredients, you need higher-grade spirit fire, and the prerequisite for obtaining spirit fire is to master the fireball technique to perfection.
At this point, Li Xi instantly understood what Li Wen Ze had been busy with all along.
He wanted to tell her the method of practicing the fireball technique, to tell her that the fireball technique would be very useful for her.
After understanding everything, Li Xi was very touched.
She now indeed had an unprecedented enthusiasm for the fireball technique. This enthusiasm was completely different from the fleeting interest she had before when she heard the words “fireball technique” and thought “I must practice well! Resist!” It was an enthusiasm that could support her to practice persistently, just like she did with the spirit rain technique.
She also understood that Brother Wen Ze was reminding her to enhance her understanding of “fire,” so that she would have a starting point for practicing the hand seals of the fireball technique.
Li Wen Ze was just her neighbor’s brother, and he really didn’t need to be so attentive in guiding her on how to learn the fireball technique.
But he did it anyway.
While it was partly because he was good friends with her second brother, he must also truly consider her as a little sister.
“Brother Wen Ze, you’re so kind! I’ll share all the ingredients I grow with you in the future!”
Li Xi was moved to tears and kept praising Li Wen Ze.
Hearing Li Xi’s heartfelt praise, Li Wen Ze felt both shy and a bit embarrassed.
He wasn’t as great as Li Xi said. He just did what came to mind, taking care of his little sister.
He felt a rush of heat to his face and knew without looking that he must be blushing.
He really was hopeless, getting all red-faced just from hearing a little sister’s compliments!
After this grilled fish meal, Li Xi successfully ignited her desire to practice the fireball technique diligently.
The fireball technique was such a useful spell, she had to master it!
So when the other members of the Li family returned home after finishing their work in the spirit fields that afternoon, they found that Xi’er had completely changed her attitude from yesterday. She was frantically practicing the hand seals for the fireball technique in the courtyard.
Moreover, her practice progress could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.