Stifling, morbid, and melancholy. These were just some words I'd use to describe the atmosphere in the sect. Many of the disciples of the sect were powerful cultivators. But all it took was a lucky strike from a spear or sword, and even the strongest could fall. Sure, none of Deming Fai's men could hold a candle to them in single combat, but they were not going o be in single combat.

While there were many who killed demons and demon beasts. Few in the sect have killed their fellow man. I felt the need to do something. But there wasn't much to do. My unit was as efficient as it could be and the only other thing I could do was cook. It hit me then. A light bulb turning on in my thick skull.

The sect had only one dining hall where everyone ate regardless of rank or title. I liked that setup. Most meals were simple affairs. The food was good and nutritious but I had some ideas.

"You want my permission to cook for the sect?" Jiutian Xuan asked with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded my head. "Yes, I would."

She rubbed her chin. "Well, I have no objection. But elder Wen is in charge of the kitchens. You'll have to get his permission."

I bowed respectfully. "Do you know where he might be?"

"Oh, he never leaves his kitchen. I'm sure you can find him there." She informed me.

I thanked her and made my way to the kitchens to look for elder Wen. The dining hall was currently empty. Like any cafeteria back home, there were long tables with benches. There was a long counter with wooden trays and dishware. Most people in this world use chopsticks. I did often see a two-pronged utensil that acted as a fork. It was used mainly when consuming meat dishes. While they hadn't made butter knives and no one knew what a steak knife was, they had little knives for cutting certain meat dishes. They were supplied by those in the sect who practiced the art of forging. Every blade was unique in its look, but all were uniformly sharp.

On the other side of the counter was the kitchen. For this world, the kitchen was state-of-the-art. The pots and pans were bronze or cast iron. I could see a silver sink with a bronze faucet. The stoves were made of iron instead of stone.

The cooks were sitting at a table playing a local card game similar to poker. The man whom I guessed was elder Wen was taking inventory of his supply. I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention.

One cook looked up and waved dismissively. "Dining hall is closed till dinner. Come back then."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not here to eat. I'm here to see elder Wen."

Elder Wen was a tall man with a clean-shaven face and short black hair under this world's version of a chef's cap. He turned to face me. His sharp eyes sized me up.

"And what do you want with me? I'm a busy man. I don't have time to fool around with outsiders."

"I'll get to the point, then. Permission to cook dinner for the sect is what I want." I explained.

The man all but laughed in my face. "You? Don't make me laugh. There are over five hundred members in the sect, and they all come here to eat. You think you could handle that many?" He asked scornfully.

I crossed my arms. "Before I was brought to this world, I was the restaurateur. My restaurant served five times that amount in eight hours." I gave him a snide smirk. "Five hundred is a piece of cake in comparison."

Elder Wen glowered at me. "Fine! Then prove yourself." He pointed to the stoves behind him. "Cook me something. If I am unsatisfied with the dish, then you never speak to me about cooking in my kitchen again."

I smirked. "Challenge accepted."

One cook gave me a chef's cap, and I washed my hands. I took some rice that had already been rinsed and was ready for cooking. I put it into a bamboo steamer and placed the steamer over a wok with boiling water to steam.

Next, I stir-fried some onion slices until they were tender. Then I add beef and sugar and cooked it until I couldn't see any pink. I seasoned the beef and onion. I filled a bowl with the steamed rice, then served the beef and onion over the rice with a poached egg. 

The dish was called gyudon. It's a common dish in Japan. Easy to make, and quickly prepared. The average dinner for the sect comprised steamed rice and stir-fry vegetables. The gyudon would be a real treat for them.

Elder Wen eyed my food with interest. He sat and took a bite of the dish I prepared. He tried his best to hide how much he liked the food, but he couldn't. Elder Wen emptied the bowl in minutes. When he was done, he glared at me in resignation.

"You passed." He said grudgingly.

I bowed respectfully. "I plan to serve this for dinner. I'd be honored if you assisted me."

He scoffed. "As if I'd let you serve my fellow sect members without my supervision."

When dinner arrived, the sect members poured into the hall. The smell of the cooking beef and onions entices them. Elder Wen insisted on stir-fry vegetables, but we served it as a side dish rather than the main course. I encouraged the cooks to tell the members to add the stir-fry to the bowl.

The gyudon was a success. Everyone wanted seconds, and we made enough for everyone to have a second bowl. The excited and happy chatter in the hall lifted my spirits. This was what I wanted to hear in the sect. The upcoming fight was draining the life out of the sect. It warmed my heart to see my cooking return some life to it.

After we finished cleaning the kitchen and the dining hall, elder Wen grudgingly thanked me for cooking dinner. The battle would be tomorrow and thanks to my cooking, morale was up.

"That's why I did it. I wasn't trying to step on your toes, elder Wen. But I wanted to lift everyone's spirits." I explained.

He nodded his head and bowed respectfully to me. I returned the bow and bid him a good night. Li Hua was waiting for me and we walked home together. She'd enjoyed the food and when we returned to our room, she showed me how much she appreciated my cooking. In her own special way.

When the morning sun shone through the curtain, I expected to find Li Hua gone. Instead, she was draped over me, her naked body covering mine. She absently caressed the spot over my heart. Her face was set in worried lines. I caressed her face with my hand till a soft smile curved her lips and the lines of worry vanished.

"Don't look so worried. I'll be fine. We'll win this fight." I reassured her.

She mutely nodded her head. Li Hua was silent for the rest of the morning. I didn't get the sense she was angry with me. It was as if she had withdrawn inside herself. An hour before it was time for me to leave, she stopped me and drew me over to the bed. A set of armor in deep blue accented with gold lay on the bed.

Li Hua pressed a soft kiss to my lips before she put the armor on me. When she secured the last piece of protection to my body, she turned and walked to the farthest window. She wouldn't look at me and I suppose any words of comfort I might offer would be pointless because they could all turn out to be false.

"I'll see you soon," I said to her back. I turned and left the room, closing the door behind me.

My unit was waiting outside. They wore plate armor similar to mine, but it was colored white and black to match the sect's colors.

"I'm not one for speeches. Fight well, fight hard, and please don't die."

Some of them chuckled, but most saluted and repeated my words to me. They were a decent lot, and I prayed none would die.

The battle plan was simple. Deming Fai's army would force their way through the gate and proceed up the mountain. There were many paths that led up the mountain to the sect's main compound.

Deming Fai would either choose one path or split his army up and choose several. Whichever decision he chose would be his undoing. The sect members knew the mountain very well and Deming Fai did not.

His men would be dead before they reached the main compound. My unit and many others waited for news via telepathic communication. If the army chose one path, then the other units would converge on them. If they chose multiple paths, then we'd engage in guerilla warfare and whittle them down.

We stood waiting till we heard the scouts' voices in our minds. "The army has just passed the gate. I count five thousand strong."

I winced at that. We were easily outnumbered ten to one. "They're splitting up!" The scout said excitedly. "They're taking five paths up the mountain, a thousand men each." The scout rattled off the names of the paths, one after the other. Our path was one of the five mentioned. Other units were being redirected to reinforce us.

We needed to change our formation. "QI user upfront. As soon as the enemy is in view, hit them with as many spells as you can. When the enemy gets closer, Qi users retreat. Sword and spearmen attack in a staggered line. Qi users use your barrier spells to prevent the enemy from flanking us. Everyone understands?"

They nodded and took up the new formation. As soon as Fai's troops were visible, the QI users bombarded them with fire spells. They caught the soldiers by surprise and killed at least a hundred before they tightened their formation and raised their shields, making a protective canopy above their heads. 

"Switch," I ordered. The Qi users stopped their fire spells and launched earth spells instead. Baseball size stones flew. The shield canopy was strong but there were still weak spots in their defense. We whittled them down by another hundred before we were forced to lock swords.

I stood at the forefront. From what I was told, the strongest soldier was only in Early to mid Body formation. They were no match for my speed and strength, but they could overwhelm me with numbers. Our formation was six men wide, two men deep, with barriers on either side to force the army into a bottleneck.

The formation was working. The soldiers were being funneled, and we were cutting them down. But the soldiers had shields and were forming a shield wall. Without shields, we were forced to keep our distance, which ultimately forced us to break the line. I ordered most of the unit to retreat up the path. Thanks to my sparing matches with Huan Ping, I had a better understanding of my abilities.

With a well-placed roundhouse kick, I broke the shield wall, sending a dozen men flying. I darted in pricing vital organs, then just as quickly rushed away. As powerful as I was, there was no chance I could defeat them all. The reinforcements had yet to arrive. Which made me worried.

"Where are the other units?" I asked our communications man. He was a Qi cultivator that specialized in telepathy. He was the one that projected the news to our minds.

"They've been delayed. Deming Fai released demon beasts after the army passed the gate. The other units had to turn around and hunt them down."

I cursed. "Fine. Fall back and release the rock trap." I commanded. Up the path was a trap made of loose human-sized borders held in place by a barrier. Whether in the kitchen or in life, I like to be prepared. As soon as we were clear, the trap was tripped, and the boulders tumbled down the path. The soldiers scrambled to get out of the way. Most evaded the boulders, but another good chunk of their forces didn't

"Get to the next checkpoint and prepare for another bombardment. I'll stay and hold them off as long as I can. Go!" Many looked like they wanted to argue, but they did as they were told. I appreciated their loyalty. But they were all still young, no point throwing their lives away. I chuckled. I wasn't much older than most of them, but I felt older. Sword in hand, I charge down the path to wreak some havoc. Jiutian Xuan made sure Huan Ping gave me a better Jian than the one I originally had.

The quality of items in this world was as follows. Common, Fine, Rare, Exquisite, Legendary, and Divine. There were also unique clarifications, such as Demonic and Heavenly treasure.

The Jian I had now been Divine quality. I absolutely loved it. The blade cut through armor like it was butter. But I tried to avoid the armor. I didn't want to wear the sword down too much.

I fought like a demon cutting down soldier after soldier. My arm was tired and my legs felt heavy. One man landed a lucky cut to my thigh, and another got under my guard. I dodged most of his attack, but he still cut my cheek before I killed him.

The soldier had regrouped and was slowly advancing on me. I didn't have the energy to run and or fight. I didn't really want to be a martyr. I should have paced myself more. All my focus had been on thinning their ranks. I should her hold some energy back to run.

I think the soldier could sense my fatigue and vulnerability because they quickened their pace. I braced myself for my eventual death when an ear-splitting roar reverberated down the path. A shadow fell over me as Lian towered protectively over me.

Black smoke billowed from her mouth and nostrils. With a mighty bellow, she released a torrent of flames that melted the armor of the soldier in front of her. At least 200 men were reduced to charged husks before the rest of the men ran for their lives, dropping their weapons in their mad dash to get away. I collapsed to the ground in relief.

A figure dropped from Lian's back. It was Li Hua. She rushed to me and gathered me into her arms. She slipped a pill into my mouth and instantly I felt energy flowing through me. Then I felt a sharp pain as the cuts on my body healed themselves.

Li Hua tenderly ran her fingers through my hair. The move was intimate and soothing. "Thank you for saving me."

She made a dismissive sound. "You could have beaten them. I just didn't want you to suffer any more injuries."

I pressed my lips to the back of her hand. She held me tightly in her embrace, her head resting on my shoulder. I leaned into her, feeling my fatigue draining away. The sound of footsteps from behind us had Lian turning on a down head, low teeth bared.

My unit arrived with reinforcement. Liu Feng stepped forward and bowed. "Deming Fais forces have been routed. There have been casualties. Some fatalities, but not as bad as it could have been. Your, what did you call it? Hit and Run tactic was instrumental in their defeat"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Glad I could help." To my surprise, they lifted me up and carried me back to Huan Ping's residence where Li Hua stripped me naked and gave me another pill to help me sleep.

"You just want to have your way with me while I sleep." I teased.

She smiled at me and pressed a soft kiss to my lips before I lost consciousness and drifted into the sweet oblivion of sleep.