People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 311 Zhongli & Paimon: Is it too late for me to regret now?
On the other side,
On the north side of Liyue Harbor, in Guiliyuan, there is a ruin that is no longer recognizable from its original state.

Generally speaking, even treasure-hunting groups would not patronize such places that are obviously not profitable.

But at this moment, in this open space covered with gravel and weeds, gathered the most special group of "founding fathers" in the entire Liyue.

".A Ping, I'm really not used to seeing you like this. Back then, when you were making a fuss, even the Emperor couldn't stop you."

"Ahem, water management"

Seeing that a certain black crane was about to say something inappropriate again, Zhenjun Xueyue Zhuyang on the side also coughed twice at Liuyun's reminder and made a subtle interruption.

"Hmm? Xieyue, are you feeling unwell? Did you get an upset stomach from using Liuyun's device a few days ago? I told you that it's unreliable."

"Oh!"

"Hey, Liuyun, why did you hit me?"

“——Heh, I’m going to hit you!”

"."

But just as this reminiscing about the past inexplicably developed into a physical conflict, when Master Lishui Dieshan had already begun to seriously consider whether to fight back,
Because of the approach of several auras, the people who were still "conversing in a friendly manner" paused, returned to their original positions at the speed of light, and used magic to tidy up their appearances, instantly returning to their original harmonious and friendly state:
——This was naturally because the core organizer of the banquet brought Ruota and Wendy with him.

".Hmm? All the immortals, have you come here? I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Hehe, we just got here, and it's nice to have a chance to see them get together."

Grandma Ping, who had just been standing aside and quietly watching her old friends playing and fighting, waved her hand, indicating that coming a little earlier actually brought some extra fun.

Because everyone present was familiar with each other, even Ruo Da often visited during this period.

Therefore, after briefly greeting a few immortals, Lin Feng also brought the topic back to business:

"——Due to some reasons, I can't be out for too long each time. I wonder if you have found the place where the Hearth Demon God dispersed his power at that time?"

"Don't worry if you really can't tell. I'll just spend more effort to extract the power of the same origin from the entire land of Liyue. It just requires some preliminary preparations."

"Please rest assured, although Liyue was plagued by disasters at that time, the terrain has changed a lot now.

But we will never forget this kind of thing.”

"——These are the locations of several earth vein nodes in the past. They were damaged during the Demon God War, which is why so many natural disasters occurred."

After a brief pause, he handed Lin Feng a complete map with the location marked on it.
The True Lord Xueyue Zhuyang, who looked like a brown-green fairy deer, also spoke up:
".I am not good at speaking, so I don't know how to thank you.

But over the past thousands of years, my former companions have left one after another, and I never thought there would be a chance to redeem everything and reopen the party."

"——Anyway, I hope the information we provided can save you some effort.
——I’ll leave the matter of the “stove” to you, sir.”

All the recent changes are in sight, because this banquet that has been separated for thousands of years is about to resume.

Zhenjun Xueyue Zhuyang, who usually doesn't talk much, also expressed his sincere gratitude to Lin Feng in the face of his somewhat surprised look.

".You don't have to be so serious, Master. The old man has helped me a lot, and this banquet is just a small gift in return.

I will come to Guiliyuan from time to time in the future to collect the power that is scattered in the earth veins. Once the statue in Liyue Harbor is restored to its original appearance, our action can officially begin."

The following arrangements were explained in the simplest terms.
The immortals and Ruota also took their respective positions, responsible for recalling dishes, making decorations, restoring scenes, adjusting music scores, etc.

Seeing this scene in front of him, before Lin Feng set out to recover his strength, he also looked at Wendy who was beside him for some unknown reason, and asked curiously:
". I don't find it strange that Ruo Tuo came here. After all, he also participated in the banquet on Guiliyuan in the past.

But you've been accompanying the old man all the time, haven't you? How come you have time to come here?"

"——Hehe, that's because the old man's reputation is too great. Early in the morning, he was pulled in by the head of the Wangsheng Hall and Qixing who were preparing to participate in the competition to be a judge.
Plus, you guys weren't here, and I was bored over there, so I took the opportunity to sneak away."

"."

".Master Hu is also going to participate? It seems that it is not easy to be a judge this time. It's really hard for the old man."

He paused slightly, thinking of the talented contestants this time, Lin Feng suddenly doubted whether the old man would still be in the mood to eat anything else after serving as a referee.

Well, think on the bright side, anyway, what is needed for making Guoba is more important than skills, and it is the thought that matters.
Regardless of other things, at least the contestants' dishes this time must have been filled with "thoughts".
Shaking his head, feeling fortunate that he had left the job of judge to Paimeng, Lin Feng left the recovering venue and began his own work of collecting power.

Two days later, Yujingtai.

Because it is a very important event that is highly anticipated by many people, this food conference and exhibition was directly held on a spacious platform below Yujing Terrace.
In order to prevent insufficient space, an area for food exhibitions was added to the main venue of the Sea Lantern Festival on the bottom floor of Feiyunpo.

In addition, the opening ceremony and the final will be held in the circular plaza at the highest point to show the importance that Liyue General Affairs Department attaches to the first joint event.

At the opening ceremony, Lin Feng, who had been busy with a group of immortals in Guiliyuan for two days, nodded tacitly to Wendy and Ruotu beside him, and was quite satisfied with his results of the past two days.

——After all, it was to create a surprise.
Although I don't know if the old man, who will be the special guest and will be responsible for reviewing many contestants, knows about it, he pretends not to know.

However, there is still a consensus among everyone to slightly limit the strength and movement to avoid being exposed.

——However, Lin Feng felt that with the level of abstractness of the preliminary contestants, the old man who was pushed by Master Hu and Qixing to be the referee should soon have no extra energy to pay attention to other things.

I can only say that you should be cautious when using a vest, as sometimes it may not only have benefits.
Shaking his head and keeping the senior's personal teachings in mind, Lin Feng was also glad that the presence of his vest among the public was not too high.

The opening ceremony is over, and the preliminary competition venue is open.

Because considering that Guoba, the unique demon god, might want to maintain a normal life with Xiangling after regaining his sanity,
In order to prevent the name of "Demon God" from causing trouble to Xiangling and Wanmintang, they are allowed to decide whether to tell the outside world.

Lin Feng did not place the statue directly in a conspicuous place, but instead set up a psychological hint around it to reduce its presence.

now,

Among the many contestants who crowded around the statue but seemed unaware of the strange stone,

A yellow unknown creature that looked like a tiger next to a blue-haired girl looked up at the oval hard stone with some curiosity.

Although I felt more comfortable around here than usual, I eventually left here at the call of my companions.

“——Hey, there’s a fire, there’s a fire, come and help!”

"Contestant number three! Time out!

Wait! You are not allowed to serve semi-finished meat dishes directly!"

"——Ah! I accidentally mistook vinegar for soy sauce. What should I do if I don't have enough time?"

"."

After all, this was the first time that a large-scale food event was held for people from multiple countries, and the contestants’ performances were completely expected.

Above the chaotic primary election venue,
Zhongli looked at the preliminary contestants whose hair could be burned by the fire in the pot.

Even though he would only be responsible for a small portion of the players, he still sighed deeply for his refereeing duties.

".Fortunately, the food processing and cleaning were done by the staff in advance, otherwise, even if the child insisted, I probably wouldn't have come here."

"."

Reluctantly, he took a bite of the special steak served by a Mondstadt scout knight in front of him.
The moment you put it in your mouth, the bitter taste of burnt ingredients and the unique raw and sticky feeling of raw meat fill your mouth at the same time.

The crispy shell formed by the burnt part makes a "crunching" sound when bitten by teeth, while the meat fibers on the other side stick to the mouth in a sticky manner.
Right from the start, it was a "good start". Zhongli looked down at the "personalized" work on the plate, one side was black and crispy, the other side had blood streaks.
He sighed in his heart, tried to hold back his expression, and gave his evaluation calmly:
"——Unqualified, next one."

"."

"Oh, I knew it, but I made it according to the time specified in the recipe."

I found that the contestant from Mondstadt in front of me seemed to really be confused as to why his dish turned out like this.

Zhongli understood that everyone has a novice period, so he sorted out his feelings and tried to make a suggestion:

"-- Next time when you cook, how about not putting the ingredients in right after turning on the fire and counting the time with a cold pot?
In addition, even though the Fire Elemental God's Eye has a strong tolerance for high temperatures, the more intense the flame is when cooking, the better."

"."

"Ah! So that's how it is. Thank you, referee!"

After being pointed out her long-standing misunderstanding, Amber suddenly realized why her previous dishes always had problems with the heat.

She suddenly realized what was going on and left the stands after expressing her gratitude sincerely.

Seeing this contestant, who was not very skilled in cooking but at least polite, leave, Zhongli felt a little better.
I think if this competition can make more people like food preparation, then it’s okay for me to eat a few more failed products.
After all, most contestants have some basic knowledge of cooking, so this situation should be rare.
"——Contestant No. 5! Entries: Raspberry Spicy Tofu!"

Zhongli: “.”Okay, this preliminary referee is indeed not suitable for me. I will not come next time no matter what you say.

".Contestant No. 8! Masala Crisp Balls!"

".Contestant No. 13! Braised bacon with cheese and cream!"

".Contestant No. 17!"

Zhongli: “.” When will this preliminary round end?

----

Let's not talk about the judges of the preliminary competition who were forced to serve as soldiers and are suffering.

Although it was a bit rude to the players and referees, at least Lin Feng felt that the "show effect" of this competition was quite outstanding:

——Although some dishes were indeed cooked in a rather strange way, the contestants did not intentionally make bad dishes under the possible attention of the gods.
Many of them came because they were nervous, but many of them really had their own unique taste style and sincerely hoped to use this opportunity to let the public know about the infinite possibilities of food combinations.
Although generally speaking, people cannot accept it because it is too advanced.

Leaving this perhaps unprecedented food conference involving contestants from many countries,

Lin Feng, who sympathized with the old man from the bottom of his heart, also shook his head and planned to take Nashida to visit the slightly more normal food exhibition area below.

But, I guess I overlooked something.
I heard that someone has applied to be a judge in the preliminary round, but it's hard to guess who it is.
On the other side,
As a "hero" who took on the additional review of the preliminary round amid the admiration and gratitude of the other candidate judges,
The player that a certain white-haired ball is in charge of at the moment is actually far less abstract than Zhongli's side.

Perhaps it was because the reputation of the "Guest Official of the Hall of Rebirth" for being well-informed and knowledgeable was so widespread.
Therefore, in order to objectively and reasonably judge the level of the contestants, most of the contestants from other countries will be in another preliminary competition venue.
As for Paimeng, most of the chefs are from Liyue.

This is probably due to the objective gap in average cooking levels between different countries, as well as the additional risk of social death faced by domestic competitors who produce poor-quality food.
Most of the players registered in the Liyue region are relatively reliable.
As a special guest judge, he does not have a high scoring weight, and is generally just a food sharer close to the public.
Paimon, who eats almost everything, suddenly became one of the happiest people on the field:

——Because of their limited appetite, the other judges only dared to take a small bite, no matter whether the food was delicious or not. Therefore, the emotions they felt when eating a bad work and a good work were basically the same.
——But this is not the case for a certain gifted white-haired ball!

If you don't like something, just take a small bite, but if there is something delicious, eat the whole plate.

With multiple happiness, he quickly forgot the unhappy Paimon and felt that this job might be quite suitable for him!

Therefore, in the occasional comments during the preliminary round, a certain cheerful voice gradually became more prominent:
"--tasty!"

“——It’s not tasty!”

“——This is delicious!”

"."

"Wow! What is this spicy Jueyun pepper fried raspberries? Ying, come and save me!"

----

At the same time, there is a food exhibition at the seaside.

Lin Feng, who originally thought that he had completely escaped the fate of eating strange food, looked at the "Teyvat Version of Looking Up at the Stars" handed to him and Nashida.
As he was stared at by those white fish eyes, he suddenly felt that it would be better to set a lower threshold for participation next time.

(End of this chapter)