"Ordinary wine tasting would have been just fine, but Young Master Ning Zhuo actually gained the favor of the Five Elements Divine Master's Dharma Body and received the inheritance."
"To talk about getting drunk in the cave and receiving an inheritance would have been enough, but, after Young Master Ning Zhuo entered the cave mansion at Little Struggle Peak, he again received the Divine Master's inheritance."
"Had it been any other cultivator who received such a gift, they would have been overjoyed. But young Master Ning Zhuo, meticulous in thought and extremely steady in temperament, clung to any flaw he noticed and acted as swiftly as thunder, taking my senior disciple straight to the array, where he discovered the secret path through the mountain to Yuanlai Mountain."
At this point, Lin Bufan sighed deeply, looking desolate.
Ning Zhuo had a bad feeling and was about to speak.
Then, Lin Bufan added, "Since you've all had tea, why not try these pastries as well?"
"These pastries aren't my creation but were jointly created by my daughter Shanshan and my senior disciple Jiu'er, named Flying Flower Broken Jade."
By now, Lin Bufan had firmly taken control of the conversation, giving Ning Zhuo no room to interject.
Ning Zhuo chose to endure, following Lin Bufan's lead and took a pastry.
The pastries were light golden with a slightly mottled cracked pattern on the surface. The top was sprinkled with a small amount of white sesame and crushed almonds, visually scattered like blossoms on jade, classically and elegantly.
Chewing it in his mouth, Ning Zhuo discovered: the inside of the pastries was soft and glutinous, mixed unevenly with raisins, orange peel, pomelo peel, and crushed almonds.
Ning Zhuo ate three in a row and found each had a distinct taste.
This was mainly because the ingredients inside the pastry weren't distributed evenly, causing each bite to bring a new expectation and curiosity about the next—a what flavor could it be?
The sour-sweetness of the raisins? Or the slightly acidic bitterness of the orange and pomelo peels? Sometimes it was the crispness of the crushed almonds. Each bite tasted different, like variables in a strategy, unpredictable.
The layering of the pastry became more apparent with more chewing, turning from soft to a finely dense stickiness, with the occasional unexpected sweet and sourness of a raisin or orange peel bringing surprises.
Ning Zhuo gained an insight and openly praised Shanshan's innovation.
Shanshan modestly claimed it was just childhood play, handling her father's assigned tasks perfunctorily, quickly becoming impatient with just making the jade-like pastry body, hence asked her senior brother for help.
However, Linghu Jiu, being lazy by nature, ended up craving wine while making the spirit cake, drank a lot, resulting in uneven ingredient distribution.
But through these faults, it inadvertently created the uniqueness of Flying Flower Broken Jade.
Zhu Xuanji, Shen Lingshu, and others ate the spirit cake and were all struck by an insight.
At that moment, Lin Bufan's words validated their insights. The head of the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect slowly stated, "Flying Flower Broken Jade is a surprise that generations and younger ones have brought to their elder like me."
"It also tells me that grandchildren have their own blessings and opportunities. As an elder, if I only arrange things according to my wishes, it might be foolish and should not be overly insistent."
"Sigh... Human hearts can change."
"In the past, I took in many disciples, taught them to cultivate successfully, all for the sake of scheming for the Luminous Mirror."
"But now, I wish for these younger generations to grow more securely."
"For instance, Young Master Ning Zhuo's visit to the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect is like this Flying Flower Broken Jade, bringing great surprises to my sect!"
"Your interactions with my daughter Shanshan, and my senior disciple Jiu'er, are like these ingredients mingling together, forming a new and uniquely flavored spirit cake."
"Sigh, I am old, and all I hope for is that you will have good relationships and outcomes!"
Lin Bufan spoke earnestly, resembling a benevolent elder concerned about the younger generation in his family.
Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly, "Impressive, truly impressive!"
"I've learned a lot, indeed a lot."
Lin Bufan's mediation let him gain in defeat.
The atmosphere in the drawing room eased significantly, with Zhu Xuanji and Shen Lingshu pressuring strongly, carrying an accusatory tone. But at that moment, their attitude towards Lin Bufan softened, gaining much appreciation and understanding for him.
Lin Bufan, with the aid of tea and pastries, skillfully articulated his ideas, garnering agreement from others while preserving dignity and the stature of sect leader. At the same time, he leveraged the relationships between Ning Zhuo, Shanshan, and Linghu Jiu to close the gap with the Ning Family, converting enemies to friends to the greatest extent.
Indeed, such is Lin Bufan, deserving the title of a real power figure managing the entire sect for centuries.
How could the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect not thrive under such leadership?
Ning Zhuo, embarrassed, realized that compared to Lin Bufan's communication skills, his own frequent use of Life Hanging Divine Power was a degeneration, a lack of innovation, a kind of laziness.
"Head Lin Bufan, truly a remarkable man!"
"I must take him as a model and study well!!"
"If I always rely on Life Hanging Divine Power, how can I improve in this area?"
"Though Life Hanging Divine Power is powerful, it is limited by cultivation level; it cannot cultivate a Nascent Soul, and even using it on Linghu Jiu would be detected."
"But such interaction skills are like spring rain penetrating the night silently, moisturizing things silently."
"Marvelous, indescribable indeed."
At that moment, Ning Zhuo decided to rely less on divine skills and more on exploring his own potential in the future.
Using divine skills is not difficult; what's difficult is to handle things smoothly without them.
Such a realm and capability, Ning Zhuo had witnessed today in Lin Bufan.
"It is true—techniques stop at cultivation level, but wisdom can be boundless!"