Venerable Demon Chef

Chapter 563: Chapter 560: Rice in Soup

The soup with rice was served in a sea-sized bowl, as large as a person’s face.

Plump grains of rice soaked in a thick, custard-yellow broth. Under the lights, they shimmered like brilliant pearls.

A faint wisp of steam curled upwards, and the person closest to the bowl caught a whiff of a peculiar fragrance.

It was fresh, yet carried a mouth-watering aroma.

This Demon Sect disciple couldn’t help but swallow. An intense feeling of emptiness suddenly emanated from his stomach.

If he remembered correctly, this long-forgotten sensation was what mortals called "hunger."

Logically, with his level of Cultivation, he had long since reached the Fasting Realm. He had no need for food, nor should he be able to feel "hunger."

But now, he was truly and genuinely feeling "hungry."

The next second, under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, he picked up his spoon as if possessed and dug out half a spoonful of the soup with rice.

Perhaps because that scoop broke the dish’s perfect surface, a rich aroma burst forth and spread in all directions the moment the translucent rice was stirred into the broth.

The surrounding Demon Sect disciples all revealed expressions of rapturous delight.

’What the hell is this? Soup with rice?!’

’How can a mere aroma stir our Dao hearts?’

Despite their astonishment, everyone’s eyes were fixed on this Demon Sect disciple.

The spoon was lifted slowly, and the thick broth dripped from its edge, pulling into a long, thin thread.

The thread didn’t seem overly sticky. Once it reached a certain length, it snapped on its own, with both ends springing back cleanly into the bowl and the spoon, crisp and neat.

Looking at the spoon, it held half rice and half broth, blended together like a work of art.

The Demon Sect disciple delayed no further, putting the entire spoonful into his mouth.

Seeing this, the others all gulped, their mouths falling slightly agape as drool inadvertently trickled out.

’What does it taste like?’

That was what they most wanted to know at this moment.

Hmm?!

The disciple’s eyes suddenly shot wide open, his chewing speed noticeably increasing.

He snatched the bowl of soup with rice and clutched it to his chest, as if afraid someone would try to steal it from him.

Then, under everyone’s stunned gazes, he plunged his head directly into the massive bowl, pressing his face against the side, leaving just enough room to fit his spoon.

SLURP! SLURP!

The spoon’s handle moved in a blur. The sounds of lip-smacking and slurping, like a wild boar feeding, filled everyone’s ears.

In less than five seconds, the entire huge bowl of soup with rice was gone.

The Demon Sect disciple was now doing his utmost to stick his tongue out, trying to lick the bottom of the bowl.

Alas, the bowl was quite deep. No matter how hard he tried, even with his face squashed and distorted from pressing against the bowl, he still couldn’t reach.

In the end, he could only lick the rim and sides of the bowl again and again.

"That was incredible! My entire being, even my soul, feels like it just went through a wonderful dream!"

He reluctantly set the bowl down, leaned back in his chair, his gaze distant as he endlessly savored the aftertaste.

The others exchanged glances.

There was no longer any need to ask if it was good. The man’s actions had said it all.

"What are you waiting for? Let’s eat!"

Someone blurted it out, and the crowd snapped back to their senses. They turned their attention to the soup with rice in front of them.

’Is it really that good?’

This question didn’t linger for long. The moment they took their first bite, their subsequent actions were a carbon copy of the first Demon Sect disciple’s: they plunged their faces into their bowls and feasted with great relish.

The members of the North District Envoy Hall were dumbfounded.

Because of their status, they had deliberately chosen seats far away from the Demon Sect group.

Although they had seen everything that happened, they were too far away. Furthermore, Mo Qi’s Medicinal Cuisine had a scent-locking property that limited the aroma’s diffusion to a certain range, so they hadn’t smelled the soup with rice at all.

They just felt that the Demon Sect crowd’s reaction was a bit too exaggerated.

"Hmph, these Demons are just plants. They’re putting on a pretty convincing act."

Just as the North District members were grumbling internally, Xiao Zhang brought them their soup with rice.

With just one look, they couldn’t tear their eyes away.

And when they took their first bite, all the frustration and complaints in their hearts were swept away.

’Heavens, how can something this delicious exist in the world!’

Although they repeatedly reminded themselves to be mindful of their status and maintain their image, they ultimately couldn’t avoid licking their bowls clean.

"Incredible, simply incredible!" Jiang Jia clutched the massive bowl, greedily inhaling the lingering fragrance.

This was the very same person who had just vowed to expose the evil deeds of Mo Qi and the Demon Sect.

But now, he could no longer muster that thought.

The soup with rice was simply too delicious!

Hmm?

Jiang Jia suddenly frowned. He felt a strange heat rising from his lower abdomen.

The wariness that had been suppressed by the delicious Medicinal Cuisine began to stir once more.

’What’s happening?’

’Could the rice have been poisoned?!’

At the same time, the others felt a similar sensation.

However, out of trust for Xiao Zhang, the Demon Sect members, though puzzled, didn’t have any extreme reactions.

But the few from the North District couldn’t sit still.

"This is bad! That brat Mo Qi poisoned the rice!" Jiang Jia shot up and exclaimed in alarm.

The Demon Sect members all looked at him as if he were an idiot. "???"

’Poison? How could you even think of that!’

’It’s the grand opening, with so many powerful experts watching from outside. What good would poisoning people do Mo Qi?’

’Besides, the first batch of three hundred customers has already left.’

The members from the North District, however, were in a panic. They hadn’t yet figured out the source of the heat, but hearing Jiang Jia’s angry shout, they all believed it to be true.

"How dare you, Mo Qi! Hand over the antidote at once!"

"You dare to poison us? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"If anything happens to us, the Hall of Envoys..."

Before he could finish his threat, Jiang Jia’s expression changed once again. The other clamoring North District members also froze in place, their faces filled with utter disbelief.

"I... I broke through?! How is this possible?!"

Jiang Jia was originally at the Mid-stage Cultivation of the Void Realm. Although he wasn’t far from the Late Stage, it wasn’t a breakthrough he could achieve in just two or three years.

But just now, the heat in his abdomen had transformed into a surge of pure energy, filling his Cultivation to the brim and allowing him to break through to the Void Realm’s Late Stage without any hindrance.

"I broke through too..." another person said with a strange expression.

"M-me too."

"I didn’t break through, but my Cultivation is much more stable than before."

If it had been an isolated case, there might have been other explanations. But for several people to break through at the same time, and right after finishing a bowl of soup with rice... that was truly thought-provoking.

"Could it be... because of the soup with rice?" Jiang Jia asked weakly.

No one answered him. From the bottom of their hearts, they didn’t want to believe Mo Qi possessed such Divine Being-like methods, but reality was what it was, and they had no choice but to accept it.

"Wait, why didn’t they break through?" Jiang Jia thought of something and suddenly looked toward the Demon Sect members.

As if in response to his question, one of the Demon Sect disciples cried out in pleasant surprise, "My Demon Shadow Evil has been weakened!"