Super System in the Early Tang Dynasty

Two strange things have happened in Tanzhou City recently. First, the haunted place in the southwest has been bought by someone. The courtyard is often filled with chants of "one, two, one, one, two, one," and no one knows what they are doing. Second, a barbecue vendor has appeared in the city, with a sign that reads "The Number One Barbecue in History," which is extremely arrogant!

However, the aroma of the roasted meat wafts for miles every day, and the price is very cheap. More importantly, the person who roasts the meat, although dressed in short, tattered clothes, has red lips and white teeth, and his skin is delicate and fair. Even young girls of sixteen or seventeen would be envious. He also has a kind of noble air and elegance. Could he be some down-on-his-luck young nobleman?

Li Xingzhi didn't use the title of "Number One Barbecue in History" to attract attention; his main purpose was to gather like-minded people to exchange ideas. After all, he felt quite lonely walking this path alone!

The path to seeking the Dao emphasizes Dharma, companions, resources, and location. This Dao is not the Dao of Daoists in the narrow sense, but the Dao in a broad sense. It is the "Dao" of the "Three Thousand Great Daos," and it is also Li Xingzhi's Dao of cooking!

With fellow practitioners, we can exchange ideas and make progress together! Li Xingzhi has come this far, even though he has only just entered the path, thanks in large part to the guidance of the sages.

These days, there have indeed been some people who are unconvinced by Li Xingzhi's arrogant attitude, but after entering the barbecue restaurant and tasting the barbecue, they all fell silent. This has also reduced Li Xingzhi's enjoyment and opportunities for advancement.

These days, the servants of the Li family have suffered greatly. Every day at dawn, they get up and run in heavy armor; then they have various kinds of training; at dusk, they have to practice iron armor kung fu, and each of them is covered in medicine and slams their bodies against a tree wrapped in several layers of thick hemp cloth. They also have to beat each other with sticks from time to time; finally, at night they have to soak in medicine. They have experienced all kinds of pain, numbness and itching!

Strangely enough, their bodies, which were initially sore and aching terribly, would feel refreshed and energetic the next day after soaking in the medicinal solution. However, before they could even celebrate, someone blew the whistle to gather them for training again! Day and night, they worked like this, driving them to the brink of madness!

If they weren't fed chicken, duck, fish, meat, and white rice every day, they probably would have all escaped long ago. Now, their greatest desire is the daily soup and rice. Every time they eat, they look like reincarnated demons. They have never eaten such delicious food before!

Li Xingzhi's daily life became regular again.

Every morning, Li Xingzhi wakes from his meditation, practices a set of Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic), which serves as a makeshift form of morning exercises from his school days, to stretch his body. Then he makes breakfast for the whole family, relaxes for a few hours, and then starts lunch. After lunch, he pushes his cart to the city center to sell roasted meat!

This was the fastest way Li Xingzhi could think of to upgrade the food, since each batch of roasted meat could be considered a dish.

However, the troublesome thing is that a dish recognized by the system must start from the raw materials, and he has to do every step himself. This means that he has to do everything himself from cutting the meat. For this reason, he also specially learned the butcher's knife technique and the flying knife technique.

The Butcher's Knife Technique is very simple; it's used for butchering and cutting meat. Since you're going to cut things anyway, why not learn something new? However, as Li Xingzhi delved deeper into his studies, he gradually became immersed in the rhythm of the knife technique, unable to extricate himself. Every skill, if mastered, is a vast subject of study!

As for Little Li's Flying Dagger, it has always been something Li Xing longed for; the dazzling silver light it flashed was simply too—! Of course, it has an even more important function: carving.

Yes, carving! It's an art form that extends beyond wood and stone carving. It shines brightly in the culinary arts as well. A truly exquisite dish cannot exist without the skill of carving!

In the art of cooking, carving is not merely something to be displayed for show. Every piece of roasted meat by Li Xingzhi undergoes meticulous carving. The "long snake" technique allows the meat to absorb flavor more easily; the "five-blessing opening" carving method makes the roasted meat more even, delicate, and chewy! This is the result of his study of culinary techniques and ancient books over the past few days.

Li Xingzhi now spends some time processing meat every day. Sometimes, he gets so engrossed in it that he even forgets he's supposed to set up his meat stall. Wang Xiucai can't help but shake his head. Li Xingzhi doesn't make much profit selling meat anyway, and now he's even skipping work from time to time. Wang Xiucai doesn't know why Li Xingzhi is doing this, but he only advised him once and then stopped.

Having experienced so much, Wang Xiucai had become quite philosophical about many things. As for the cooking profession, seeing that Li Xingzhi enjoyed it, he didn't try to persuade him too much.

Of course, most importantly, he recognized his own identity—he was just the steward of the Li family, and it was none of his business what the master did!

During this time, Wang Xiucai had long since integrated into the role of the steward of the Li family. In front of outsiders, he would respectfully address Li Xingzhi as "Alang." As Wang Xiucai himself said, "There must be order between superiors and subordinates!" Li Xingzhi could not argue with him and could only let Wang Xiucai do as he pleased. However, he was even more moved and regarded him as a virtuous elder. He would consult with him on matters big and small.

Now, a strange phenomenon has appeared in the city: every time Li Xingzhi's shop has not yet opened, a long line has already formed in front of it, many of whom are servants sent by the city's high-ranking officials and nobles.

However, Li Xingzhi had a rule that seemed strange to others: each person was limited to ten skewers of barbecue! Because of this, many wealthy and greedy people started hiring others to queue up and buy the barbecue, since the amount of meat was limited.

Thus, the first generation of scalpers in history was born under Li Xingzhi's command! Many shrewd individuals also began queuing to buy meat and then reselling it at inflated prices. Surprisingly, in just a few hours, they earned more than they would from several days of hard work. Li Xingzhi ignored all of this; his goal was to level up! Level up!

Li Xingzhi's exclusive business attracted many suitors, some for financial gain, others for a taste of the thrill of the trade. However, most met with bad ends. Those who were aggressive and threatened violence were often physically destroyed by Li Xingzhi. Those who were more accommodating ended up like the men before us—

"Young master, our lords invite you. You'd better come with us!" Several tall, burly men blocked the young man selling roast meat in the alley. Without waiting for his response, they stepped forward and tried to force him to come. Clearly, they didn't take this thin, weak, and delicate young man seriously.

"You, you mustn't come any closer—" Seeing the young man's terrified expression and trembling body, the burly men all looked at him with disdain.

As the burly men approached, "Ha—" Li Xingzhi spilled a bag of quicklime, and the men immediately covered their eyes and rolled on the ground. This quicklime ignited upon contact with water, and if things went wrong, they might lose their sight. If they were more considerate, Li Xingzhi wouldn't mind replacing it with something else to lessen their suffering.

"Hehe, you dare to be arrogant in front of me? I'll teach you a lesson!" Leaving behind only a swaying back view, humming a strange little tune, he lightly left the alley.

He really looks like a petty person who has gotten his way!

Li Xingzhi was overjoyed! He could level up and practice his skills all he wanted, and even a few monsters would pop up for him to fight. Even immortals couldn't live such a comfortable life!

Generally speaking, Li Xingzhi wouldn't defeat those monsters in one go, just to prevent them from falling into his trap again. Therefore, they only saw him as a cunning young man. So, they kept charging at him, only to be defeated time and time again. The most they encountered was like playing a game on a NES console as a child, with ten levels in total!

Unfortunately, as time went by, fewer and fewer little monsters walked into the trap. To encounter two today made Li Xingzhi extremely happy.

Of course, this is also why no one dares to openly cause him trouble or vandalize his shop, which is why Li Xingzhi is so easy to talk to. Although, in other people's eyes, this kid is already possessed by a little devil, a monster incarnate!

Then, even more outrageous things happened. Some people started hiring Taoist priests and even splashing dog blood on Li Xingzhi. Although they didn't succeed, you can imagine how rich Li Xingzhi's experiences were during this period!

That day, Li Xingzhi was humming a little tune, wondering what interesting things would happen that day. As soon as he entered the alley, he saw a big bald head that shone brightly in the setting sun!

"Huh—, don't we usually invite Taoist priests? Why is a monk showing up today?" Li Xingzhi muttered to himself in surprise as he pushed the cart forward.

"Young benefactor, you are in high spirits!"

Why does that voice sound so familiar? Li Xingzhi looked closely and then saw the familiar fat-eared face and the even more familiar lewd smile under the bright light bulb.

"Oh—it's you, monk. You're not planning to subdue this monster either, are you?" Li Xingzhi said with amusement.

“You’ve stirred up quite a storm in Changsha! It’s made this monk very nervous.”

"Alright, monk, if you have something to say, say it. If not, I'm going home." Li Xingzhi glanced at the monk, knowing that his unreasonable attempts to get close to him were probably not for anything good!

"Uh," the head monk was taken aback by Li Xingzhi's words, "I originally came here to travel, but I never expected an alien star to appear..."

Before the monk could finish speaking, Li Xingzhi continued, "That alien planet is me, right!" Ever since that lewd old Taoist priest with the white beard came to find him, Li Xingzhi knew that things were going to be unsettled for a while!

"Alright, we're old acquaintances now, so don't be so polite. Are you planning to subdue demons and monsters, or are you planning to collude with a demon like me?"

The monk's expression changed. "Has someone already come looking for you?"

Li Xingzhi glanced at him, "I have quite a few fellow martial artists who have come to see me!" Li Xingzhi deliberately misled him.

"Hey! I'm not talking about those charlatans." The monk paused, then continued, "Forget it, you're just a slippery eel. I'm fine with eating and drinking, I can't be bothered with those troublesome things!"

"This is the monk I know! Come to my house for a big meal today!" Li Xingzhi said happily upon seeing the monk's appearance.

The senior monk was the second person Li Xingzhi had met since he came into this world, and Li Xingzhi did not want to ruin this friendship unless absolutely necessary.

"Good lad, I've been waiting for you to say that!" Actually, the monk came to see how that ragged little fellow had managed to stir up trouble in Tanzhou. Of course, there were also some things he couldn't say aloud, hidden in his 'bulging belly'.