On the back of the rock eagle, everyone continued to sit and rest, and Li Lin also continued to refine the Qi energy within his body. Bit by bit, the energy was transformed into Qi under the Yin Yang Spirit Martial Technique and entered his Dantian Qi Sea.

Time slowly passed, and everyone on the rock eagle's back had grown accustomed to the journey. A faint sheen enveloped Li Lin as his body continuously absorbed the refined Qi.

As the amount of Qi energy available for refinement decreased, the Qi within Li Lin's Dantian Qi Sea increased. This rate of progress was far beyond what could be achieved through refining pills.

Li Lin thought to himself that absorbing the opponent's Qi was at least twice as effective as consuming pills. If he could continue to absorb Qi like this, his cultivation speed would reach a terrifying level. However, this was not easy; if his technique were exposed, it would cause great trouble.

Seven days passed, and when the last bit of Qi energy was refined, the dense Qi cloud within Li Lin's Dantian Qi Sea had reached a critical point. Just a bit more, and he would break through to the sixth level of the martial warrior.

"I haven't broken through to the sixth level of the martial warrior," Li Lin opened his eyes, exhaling deeply, surprised that the energy needed to break through to the sixth level was much greater than he had anticipated.

Li Lin wasn't too disappointed. His Qi had already reached the peak of the fifth level of the martial warrior. Just one more Zengyuan Pill would make breaking through to the sixth level easy.

"Better not break through now," Li Lin thought to himself. Breaking through to the sixth level of the martial warrior so soon, especially in front of Elder Bai Mei, could be problematic, as it would raise questions if he made another breakthrough in less than half a month.

Li Lin was also considering how to quickly enhance his spiritual cultivation. Both martial and spiritual cultivations needed to advance simultaneously. Even if he reached the ninth level of the martial warrior, if his spiritual cultivation remained at the first level of the spiritual warrior, he wouldn't be able to break through further.

"Let's all take a break for a while," Elder Bai Mei opened his eyes and whistled, causing the two rock eagles to cry out and slowly descend into a mountain range.

"There are many wild animals in this mountain range. Let's put in some effort to find some game, and after we've eaten, we'll set off," Elder Bai Mei said, his gaze indicating he was looking forward to more roasted meat from Li Lin.

Everyone scattered to hunt. Li Lin found a secluded spot and let the little dragon out to forage, also catching a wild rabbit weighing several pounds.

Soon, everyone had their catch, with the four officers each holding several pieces of game, and Yang Miao holding two wild chickens.

Li Shaohu, Wang Liang, Li Wushuang, and Du Gu Binglan didn't return empty-handed either.

Li Lin observed the variety of game everyone had brought back, including many different types.

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This time, Li Shaohu and Wang Liang directly imitated Li Lin's method of roasting the wild boar, starting to barbecue two wild chickens and a wild rabbit, also finding many fragrant leaves, copying Li Lin quite adeptly.

Under Wang Liang's encouragement, Yang Man and Yang Miao also started barbecuing two wild chickens together, with Wang Liang's help, so the women didn't have to do it themselves.

Li Lin smiled slightly, not in a hurry. He asked Qin Tianhao to clean the game without removing the fur and asked the three officers to gather some firewood, while he searched the surroundings for something.

A moment later, Li Lin crouched down, grabbed a handful of soil, smelled it, and smiled. The soil was moist and yellow, exactly what Li Lin was looking for.

He then dug up a lot of the yellow soil and brought it in front of everyone, an indispensable item for cooking. Seeing Li Lin bringing so much soil, everyone was surprised. Then, Li Lin also picked many fragrant leaves.

"Lin'er, what do you need so much soil for?" Elder Bai Mei asked, puzzled.

"Elder, this is yellow clay. You'll see what it's for soon," Li Lin replied.

Having finished, Li Lin, to everyone's surprise, first wrapped the wild chickens and rabbits in fragrant leaves, then smeared yellow clay over them, encapsulating the fragrant leaves, finally forming several clay balls.

As Li Lin did all this, everyone became increasingly curious.

"All done," Li Lin said, eventually digging several pits in the ground and placing the clay-encased wild chickens and rabbits into them, before lighting a firewood pile on top.

"Lin'er, why is this method different from the last time you roasted?" Li Wushuang asked.

Li Lin explained, "Last time, the wild boar had a salty taste, so we roasted it directly. But these wild chickens and rabbits don't have that saltiness, and we don't have salt, so we can't roast them the same way. The yellow clay I found has a salty taste, which will infuse into the meat."

"So that's why," everyone realized, starting to busy themselves with maintaining the fire. A few minutes later, Li Lin turned the game over to ensure even cooking, then continued to tend the fire.

Meanwhile, the game that Wang Liang, Li Shaohu, Yang Man, and Yang Miao were roasting already started to emit a fragrant smell and turned golden brown. They were excited to start eating their creations.

However, their excitement quickly turned to disappointment as, despite the enticing aroma, the meat was tasteless and lacked flavor.

Confused, the four, who had grown up with everything handed to them, didn't grasp the nuances of barbecuing like Li Lin did. Their attempt looked similar to Li Lin's method but yielded a completely different outcome.

"It's ready, everyone can eat now," Li Lin said after feeling it was sufficiently cooked, extinguishing the firewood. He then unearthed the clay balls, now hard and cracked all over, releasing a faint delicious smell.

"Bang!"

Li Lin smashed the clay balls on the ground, breaking them apart and revealing the enticingly aromatic wild chicken inside, with the feathers and outer layer of fragrant leaves and yellow clay falling away.

"Smells so good," everyone mimicked Li Lin, breaking their clay balls on the ground, revealing the various types of game. The aroma filled the air, and everyone started eating voraciously.

"I didn't expect this method to be so delicious. You really have a knack for this," Elder Bai Mei said to Li Lin, drooling over the meal.

The officers didn't hold back either. After putting in the effort, everyone dug in unreservedly, even Du Gu Binglan, Li Wushuang, and Cuiyu, disregarding their usual poise for the feast.

Moments later, everyone was full, unable to eat another bite, while Wang Liang, Li Shaohu, Yang Man, and the others, having only tasted a few bites of their flavorless game, couldn't bring themselves to eat more.

"Hmph," Yang Man gave Wang Liang a cold snort, her eyes nearly shooting flames, blaming his bad idea for their hunger.

After the meal, Li Lin took the opportunity to tuck the little dragon back into his sleeve; the little dragon could always find its own food when let out.

"Alright, it's time for us to set off. It's been half a month, and in another month, we'll reach Yunyang Sect," Elder Bai Mei announced.

"Elder Bai, Wudu City is up ahead. Should we rest in the city before crossing the Misty Mountains?" the female officer suggested to Elder Bai Mei.