ARLQLCC chapter 26

An Jingcheng dragged Yuan Chenxin all the way through the crowd and squeezed to the side of the small cart.

In front of Su Ji was a wok that was still cooking over fire. Unlike the noisy surroundings, his face was hazy behind rising steam, his crow-feather-like eyelashes were lowered, giving him a gentle and calm look.

An Jingcheng clicked his tongue in amazement. Even while stir-frying, he could look so pleasing to the eye—Su Ji really was the number one chef in the cultivation world.

All around them, people came and went, and Chu Zhaoye was the first to notice them.

His paws moved extremely fast. As a cat who had reached the Tribulation Transcendence realm, he wasn’t tired, but the moment he saw Yuan Chenxin staring blankly at Su Ji, his irritability increased.

After being stared at for too long, Su Ji vaguely sensed it. In the middle of being busy, he looked up and met Yuan Chenxin’s gaze.

The other party immediately froze again and showed the shy expression Su Ji had seen in the morning.

Su Ji: “……”

He coughed once, his hands did not stop, and he used his eyes to ask a question.

Seeing that Su Ji noticed them, An Jingcheng poked his head out and looked at the meat cubes in the wok, saying curiously, “We meet again. What a coincidence, Su Ji, you can cook too?”

Freshly cooked sǎozi was scooped out and sent over to Yue He. Only then did Su Ji have time to look up. “Just a hobby, making a bit of pocket money.”

Beside his ear, the round disc spiritual artifact kept nonstop reporting: “Five spirit stones,” “Ten spirit stones.”

An Jingcheng also turned to look at the queue already stretching to the dining hall entrance, falling silent for a moment.

“…Feels like this ‘pocket money’ isn’t that small.”

Su Ji chuckled. “I didn’t expect business to be this good either. Maybe everyone was just hungry.”

An Jingcheng wiped his sweat. “…Yeah, they are quite hungry. They didn’t even eat lunch.”

Yuan Chenxin tugged at his sleeve and joined the conversation. “During the afternoon match of the Sword Trial Tournament, my opponent was a disciple from the Chengyang Sect. His stomach was growling while we were fighting.”

An Jingcheng: “Hahahahahahaha, it was so loud! That guy ran off immediately after stepping down, too embarrassed to stay, hahaha!”

New diced pork was added to the pan. While stir-frying, Su Ji curved his lips slightly. “Did you all have matches this afternoon? Did you win?”

Yuan Chenxin nodded reservedly.

An Jingcheng quickly praised him. “Although he just stepped into the Soul Transformation realm not long ago, his foundation is very solid. That Chengyang Sect disciple didn’t even take a few moves before he lost.”

Su Ji praised, “Very impressive.”

Even though he knew it was just polite words, Yuan Chenxin still felt his heart swell as if it was about to fly.

Seeing him about to show that worthless expression again, An Jingcheng pulled him back while speaking, “We didn’t eat either, we’ll go line up at the back first and try your cooking later!”

Yuan Chenxin was reluctant to leave, but he also knew Su Ji was busy and staying would only cause trouble, so he reluctantly waved and followed An Jingcheng to the end of the line.

Once the two left, Chu Zhaoye immediately felt the world become peaceful.

Tu Yan had already brought the Xuanqi Bird to Yunxian Sect. He must have realized something was wrong with his seclusion and come to the cultivation world under the guise of the Sword Trial Tournament to find him.

His spiritual power had not yet recovered, so he could not contact the other party directly. He needed to find a chance to reach Tu Yan and reunite with him.

Once he got the pill and regained his human form, whether it was An Jingcheng or Yuan Chenxin, he could send ten of them flying with a single strike.

……

The number of people lining up at the food stall increased more and more. Many disciples who originally did not plan to eat dinner were called out by their friends via spiritual communication and rushed over to join the queue.

From the outside, it looked like the dining hall was very popular—but the queue actually made a turn at the entrance and continued to the side.

Such a huge dining hall, yet not a single person went in to eat.

Inside the dining hall, the staff holding serving ladles looked at the completely different scenes inside and outside, cold sweat almost soaking through their clothes.

They exchanged looks, then hurriedly took off their aprons and ran out the door, shouting as they ran, “Go find Chef Lin!”

They split into two groups. Some rushed into the back kitchen, while one went outside. Pushing through the noisy crowd, he saw from afar the small cart decorated with night pearls.

It was over.

The servant’s legs trembled.

This time Chef Lin was definitely going to explode in rage.

In the back kitchen, the resting room door was tightly shut. Several servants nervously knocked a few times.

No response. They wanted to retreat, but thinking that not a single dish had been sold tonight, if they didn’t report now they would be punished later, so they forced themselves to knock again.

This time, a furious roar came from inside.

“Knocking, knocking! Don’t you know I’m resting at this time?!”

The servants trembled in fear. One of them leaned against the door and shouted hoarsely, “Chef Lin, something’s happened… tonight, not a single disciple came to the dining hall. Please come out and take a look!”

A heavy crash sounded from inside.

The tightly closed door was opened. Chef Lin’s fat body squeezed out, his face dark as he grabbed the servant by the collar.

“What did you say?”

The servant was lifted like a chick and almost fainted from fear. “S-sir! Please go take a look! Outside the dining hall there’s a long queue, but inside… inside there’s no one at all!”

Chef Lin threw him down and stomped toward the back kitchen exit.

As soon as he came out, he bumped into another servant who had gone to investigate. The servant pointed toward the entrance, reporting urgently, “Chef Lin, someone set up a food stall at the courtyard. All the disciples are going there to eat!”

Chef Lin let out a cold snort and strode toward the plaza, full of killing intent.

The servants followed behind, exchanging uneasy looks, and eventually also came to the dining hall entrance to watch from afar.

Chef Lin walked very fast. His body seemed to expand horizontally, and even his high-quality robes could barely contain the layers of fat.

He had always enjoyed himself in the back kitchen. Apprentices and disciples were casually trained, and he could earn a steady stream of spirit stones while lying down.

He was not unaware that people said his food was bad—but so what?

No matter how bad it was, those newly-entered disciples still had to obediently bring spirit stones to buy his food. Not to mention this was all tacitly approved by the Second Elder, which made him even more arrogant.

But now, first there was that so-called Chef Su from Linggu Mountain stealing business, and now during such a perfect money-making opportunity like the Sword Trial Tournament, someone else had set up a stall too.

The more he thought, the darker his expression became. His heavy body slammed step after step onto the ground with dull “thud” sounds.

The surrounding disciples turned to look. Seeing his furious expression and the direction he was heading, they all felt uneasy.

One of them said, “I just saw him come out of the dining hall.”

Another replied, “Anyone who ate lunch wouldn’t go back there… why is he coming out of the dining hall?”

Hearing this, several Yunxian Sect disciples at the back turned around. One of them suddenly slapped his thigh.

“I know! That fat guy earlier… isn’t he our sect’s new Chef Lin?! I’ve seen him before, how is it—”

Before he could finish, the group finally reacted.

When they looked up again, Chef Lin’s menacing figure was already almost at the food stall.

“He’s going to cause trouble for Chef Su!”

“He’s really heading straight for Chef Su!”

Not only the disciples at the back, but most people along the way also noticed Chef Lin’s murderous presence. Many Yunxian Sect disciples even recognized him.

No one could stop him in time. He stopped heavily in front of the food stall, his foot landing so hard it looked like it might crush the ground of Lianshuo Peak.

With his arrival, the once lively atmosphere around the stall gradually quieted. Su Ji and the others paused their work and looked up.

In the dim night, they stood behind the cart in an area not reached by the night pearls. Except for Yun Xicheng and the others in Yunxian Sect uniforms, Su Ji in his light green robe stood closest to Chef Lin.

He was young, gentle-looking, and his jade-green robe made him look even more delicate and clean, especially under the rising steam.

Chef Lin looked at the young man who wasn’t even half his age, then at the wok still steaming in his hands, and sneered.

“So this is the guy daring to set up a stall in Yunxian Sect? I thought it was some expert—turns out it’s just a brat whose hair hasn’t even grown out yet!”

The surroundings fell completely silent. From the front of the queue to the back, all the disciples stared at Chef Lin who had just spoken arrogantly.

After a brief silence, murmurs quickly broke out.

Su Ji put down the spatula and looked at the fierce middle-aged man, already guessing something.

He asked casually, “Do you need something?”

Chef Lin questioned harshly, “A brat from nowhere like you, not even wearing a sect uniform—how did you sneak into Yunxian Sect?! And you dare set up a stall on Lianshuo Peak? Who gave you the courage?!”

Su Ji raised a brow. “Can’t set up a stall here?”

Chef Lin snorted. “Nonsense!”

Su Ji said, “Yunxian Sect doesn’t have a rule banning stalls.”

Chef Lin laughed coldly. “Yunxian Sect may not, but this is Lianshuo Peak. As the head chef here, everything on Lianshuo Peak is under my control!”

Lianshuo Peak was under the Second Elder’s management, and Chef Lin, as a relative of the Second Elder, was treated respectfully by all servants.

He did not care about ordinary disciples at all. At this moment, looking at the thin young man, he felt that revealing his identity alone would be enough to scare him.

So he spoke extremely loudly, even using spiritual energy to spread his voice across the plaza.

As expected, the person in front fell silent, just as he imagined. He probably already scared stiff behind the cart.

A nameless brat daring to compete with him for business—truly courting death.

He revealed a malicious smile and raised his spiritual energy, preparing to smash the cart to pieces—

But at that very moment, a soft laugh came from the darkness behind the cart.

Under the swaying tree shadows, a lazy figure walked out.

Yun Xicheng squinted, wearing his usual signature smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes, carrying thick disgust.

Under Chef Lin’s terrified gaze, he slowly spoke.

“I didn’t know… since when did Lianshuo Peak start being run by a chef?”

Author’s note:

Our Yun Xicheng is at least the sect master’s son—he should get to be cool once in his own territory! (fist pump)

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