It was already the deep of autumn now.

Misty drizzle wove a hazy net outside the Changchun Residence; the distant peaks and the nearby green bamboo were indistinct through the veil of rain. On the covered walkway, water struck the ground, splashing up delicate flower shapes. In the distance, through the rain, a bird darted past at speed.

Lu Yuan was never one for excessive melancholy, so he certainly wasn't generating any sorrow now.

As for Lu Yuan, he had been forced by his Master, Li Yuanbai, to read certain books and recite certain poems. After all, in Li Yuanbai's view, Confucian classics could cultivate a person's temperament, and temperament was what Li Yuanbai valued most. If a person’s temperament was good, deficiencies in other areas could be managed and nurtured slowly; but if the temperament was flawed, it was beyond saving. Furthermore, Li Yuanbai believed those poems and classics could refine one's bearing.

So, under his master's pressure, despite Lu Yuan’s inherent laziness, he had been compelled to look over some classics and poems, like, "The sound of ceaseless autumn rain falls on the river sky, washing the clear autumn anew," or "The rain's hue brings cold in autumn, the fierce wind makes the clear river crisp," or "The autumn wind blows white waves, the autumn rain mourns the withered lotus. The lake is thirty miles wide, travelers feel autumn’s weight." These verses looked quite fine on the page.

He wasn't entirely ignorant, so he naturally understood the sentiment behind them.

But what good was sentiment?

It still wasn't reality grasped in one's hand.

Fine, he had to admit it: he was simply a vulgar man, exceedingly so.

Now that it was autumn, he really ought to consider what one should eat in this season.

Cuisine, that path, was vast and profound.

Solely pursuing spiciness, savoriness, and saltiness was already a low-grade approach.

The truly superior way of the culinary arts required savoriness, spiciness, and saltiness, of course, but one must also taste the inherent flavor of the food itself. Some dishes required absolutely no seasoning; their natural taste was delicious enough. Moreover, the truly superior path of dining dictated specific seasonal foods.

Alright, never mind all that; he wasn't aiming for the highest echelon of gastronomy. As long as it tasted good, that was enough. What was delicious in this autumn season? This time of year, neither too hot nor too cold, was suited for nourishing the body—known as 'Autumn Supplementation.' Eating mutton should be quite excellent. The thought of fragrant mutton instantly whetted Lu Yuan’s appetite.

To hell with deliberation; first, he’d have a meal of sliced mutton hot pot.

Mutton had many preparations.

For instance, mutton stew, roasted mutton; his personal favorite was sliced mutton hot pot. With the mutton hot pot set before him, he would slice the meat with his sword, each piece as thin as paper—that was the advantage of good swordsmanship. Such hot pot slices were paper-thin and uniform, accompanied by a variety of flavorful dipping sauces, making the broth rich and the mutton untainted by gaminess.

...

"Truly delicious." Lu Yuan lifted a slice of the hot pot mutton with his chopsticks, savoring it intensely. Naturally, his right hand held his sword, while his left held the chopsticks. The reason his right hand held the sword was that two other food enthusiasts were nearby—two absolute gluttons: Ye Fang and Ye Yuan.

These two were usually nowhere to be found, but the moment something delicious appeared, they were bound to show up.

Normally, when the three shared good things, it devolved into a sword fight, grabbing food amidst the clashing and vying. Since their strengths were nearly equal, they each usually ended up with about three-tenths of the spoils. Now, as they ate, they still needed their swords to contend, but unfortunately, Lu Yuan’s swordsmanship had reached a formidable level, far surpassing the other two, so he naturally ate the most.

"Unfair, absolutely unfair," Ye Fang cried out.

"Yes, profoundly unfair," Ye Yuan nodded. "How can you do this?"

"Nonsense. It’s because your sword skills aren't as good as mine." Lu Yuan felt no shred of embarrassment. The three shared the same vulgar tastes and were equally gluttonous; in daily life, they relied on their swords to snatch up food. "I have the strongest sword skills. This is me reasonably utilizing my advantage, understand?"

"Shameless!" Ye Fang yelled, and Ye Yuan nodded vigorously.

Lu Yuan, however, was thick-skinned enough not to hear the shouts of 'shameless' from his two treacherous friends.

Just then, a voice chided with amusement, "It’s you three again."

Lu Yuan looked over, initially not paying much heed, but immediately straightened up. The newcomer, clad in white robes, with white beard and white hair, was none other than his Master, Li Yuanbai. Lu Yuan dared to adopt a lazy posture when greeting anyone else, but before his Master, he dared not act so; Li Yuanbai was the person he respected most. "Greetings, Master."

Ye Fang and Ye Yuan, who had been grinning, instantly grew serious upon seeing Li Yuanbai and cupped their hands in greeting: "Greetings, Martial Uncle Li."

Li Yuanbai looked at the trio with a gentle smile, seeing only youth in them. He valued his disciple Lu Yuan deeply, and naturally, he felt affection for Lu Yuan’s two friends as well. "No need for formalities. I came this time to inform you all of something. In the Cloud Mist Valley on North Peak, two Cloud-type Spirit Beasts have condensed—one Cloud Rabbit and one Cloud Cat. We plan to have the ten Core Disciples go and claim them. However, since there are only two, it will depend on whose skill prevails."

Lu Yuan, who had been joking moments before, felt his heart tighten instantly. He possessed three Cloud Spirit Rabbits and knew the utility of Cloud-type Spirit Beasts well. The three Cloud Spirit Rabbits had nearly doubled his rate of magical power cultivation—a twofold increase in cultivation speed. What kind of concept was that? It was simply unbelievable.

And now, Cloud-type Spirit Beasts had appeared?

The Cloud Mist Valley, located in the western part of North Peak, was a renowned location in North Peak’s domain—it was the valley where clouds accumulated the most densely. As mentioned before, the origin of Spirit Beasts—for instance, Cloud-type Spirit Beasts—came from clouds that had gathered over ages, taking thousands of years to evolve into living entities.

Because of this, Cloud-type Spirit Beasts were exceedingly rare.

One could say they were incredibly scarce and supremely precious.

Even the Six Sword Immortals of North Peak did not possess many Cloud-type Spirit Beasts.

Once one possessed such a beast, with minimal feeding, the Spirit Beast would continuously exhale Cloud-type elemental energy, capable of accelerating the cultivation speed of anyone practicing Cloud-type mental techniques.

Now, after a thousand years of accumulation, the North Peak Cloud Mist Valley had finally condensed two Cloud-type Spirit Beasts. Naturally, deciding the ownership of these two beasts was difficult. The Six Sword Immortals and others intended to give them to the tenth-generation disciples to boost their strength. Of course, only the ten Core Disciples would receive this benefit; other disciples had no chance whatsoever. The ten Core Disciples already received superior mental techniques, sword arts, elixirs, and various other benefits unmatched by ordinary disciples. Otherwise, Sima Hao would not have schemed for one of the ten Core Disciple positions, only to be utterly disgraced and sent packing by Lu Yuan, taking Sima Changbai’s reputation down with him.

Well, returning to the main topic: upon hearing Li Yuanbai’s words, Lu Yuan’s eyes immediately lit up, as did the eyes of Ye Fang and Ye Yuan. However, their expressions immediately dimmed. They knew their own standing among the ten Core Disciples—their strength ranked near the bottom. And since there were only two Cloud Spirit Beasts this time, they knew they stood no chance.

(There will be another update around midnight tonight. Recommendation tickets summoned then.)