With the Blade

While waiting, Du Chengfeng was not truly idle.

In terms of culinary skills, he had nearly mastered them. Though there was certainly a gap between him and top chefs, that gap was like the difference between the top three and the fourth or fifth place. Once culinary skills reached a peak, further progress depended on luck to some extent. After all, the ingredients fit for consumption were limited, and the acceptable flavor combinations weren’t numerous. Moreover, Du Chengfeng’s chosen approach was not on complex flavors but on simplifying steps, such as teaching even pigs how to stew meat.

However, progress was temporarily stalled. Although he had considered sewing seasoning bags and using large cuts of meat, he still couldn’t find a good way to teach pigs to boil water and monitor heat.

"Moments like these require a bit of inspiration."

After failing yet again, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but sigh. It seemed some things could not be achieved by sheer hard work alone.

Or rather, effort needed to be correctly directed, just like sewing together peppercorns, anise, bay leaves, and dried tangerine peels into seasoning bags was not something that could be done just by squatting in the imperial kitchen. This needed the craft of the palace weavers, who used the skills of making sachets to create these handy seasoning bags.

"The stone from other hills may serve to polish jade."

This was Du Chengfeng’s evaluation of the matter.

Improving in many things requires not just depth in the matter but also a breadth that encompasses more knowledge. It was after realizing this that he began to explore more unfamiliar fields based on his interests.

Sewing, for example, was something he was interested in lately.

Speaking of sewing, the palace weavers undoubtedly knew it best. However, in Du Chengfeng’s view, the most skilled was the old eunuch he was somewhat acquainted with—he had seen the eunuch’s skill firsthand: weaving waterproof cloth from threads with bare hands, then unraveling the cloth to make clothes to wear. Most astonishingly, all of this was completed in a matter of moments.

If there were powerful figures in the sewing world, this old eunuch was akin to the Grand Ancestor Emperor of Nancheng’s sewing path, akin to Wu Zhao!

"Don’t say that! How could I dare compare myself to the Grand Ancestor Emperor!"

Faced with Du Chengfeng’s praise, the old eunuch was almost scared to urinate.

"It’s just a minor craft, not worth mentioning. I learned these little skills just so in times of trouble, I could mend clothes for the emperor... How can such small matters be worthy of such praise?"

"That’s not how you should put it."

Du Chengfeng immediately shook his head repeatedly.

He still remembered how useful the old eunuch’s skills were, even saying that if, back when they were crossing the river, the eunuch had not hurriedly plugged the leak in the big ship, despite his martial skills, he would have likely ended up feeding the fish.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this experience that he had a budding realization to "learn a bit of everything." Hence, now with the opportunity to learn, he wouldn’t miss it.

"There’s no such thing as a useless skill, only people who can’t figure out how to use it... Acquiring more ways to solve problems is also part of growing stronger."

"This..."

The old eunuch’s eyes began to look bewildered.

Though he agreed, he still didn’t understand how such skills related to growing stronger.

Let alone claiming the first on the Hundred Weapons Chart, anyone could see that he was not worthy of such a ranking. Rather than acknowledging his strength, it felt more like a deliberate setup—placing someone lacking in ability at number one was akin to painting a target on him, inviting endless assassination attempts from disgruntled experts.

He knew deep down that he wasn’t that strong.

"But your survival skills are far superior to those so-called experts."

Seeing the old eunuch belittle himself further, Du Chengfeng couldn’t stand it anymore.

"Those experts, despite their combat abilities, eventually face situations they can’t handle; they can be poisoned, drown in rivers, or even die from hypothermia due to torn clothes. So many warriors have lingering ailments due to removing their armor in the wind, but can you say they aren’t strong?"

"This..."

The old eunuch was at a loss for words.

It seemed true; though he unquestionably fell short in terms of combat power compared to those experts, and certainly couldn’t match someone like Du Chengfeng, when it came to survival, no one surpassed him—in the end, his skills were honed to handle the most extreme situations.

For instance, if the imperial city was breached for some mysterious reason, and he had to help the young Crown Prince—or young emperor—escape to safety, his skills were sufficient to ensure the emperor was well-fed, warm, and comfortable without carrying any gold or silver. Along the way, he could forge a path through mountains and build bridges over water. If he had to remain incognito for a long time, he could even establish a moderately prosperous household from nothing, ensuring the emperor could grow up healthy.

Previously, he thought of these as no more than his duties as a minister. But now, thinking about it... these really could be considered skills in their own right?