Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 400 Things are changing

At first, the arrival of Chen Xu and his group at Ling Shan Lou was not particularly noticeable.

This was because the competition between Chefs Zhang and Liu was so exciting that everyone's attention was drawn to it, and they naturally didn't pay attention to anything else for a while.

Most of the disciples watching even thought that these few people were also there to watch the show.

Zhou Hou stood on tiptoe and strained to look in the direction of Lingyan Drunken Goose.

For a moment, he even forgot that he had gone down the mountain to find Ye Ningzhen. He originally wanted his senior sister to intervene so that the two spirit chefs wouldn't fight too much and damage their bodies.

He couldn't help but say, "Senior Sister, this drunken goose smells so good, and the green plum cake smells so good too, but... oh dear!"

Zhou Hou received a flick on the forehead from his senior sister.

He was about to cry foul while covering his head when he suddenly saw a person standing coldly on one side of the hall.

Upon closer inspection, wow, who else could it be but Elder Ge?
Elder Ge was also there, and Zhou Hou's panicked heart immediately calmed down considerably.

He dared not indulge in any cravings, nor did he worry about the rivalry between the two spirit chefs. He simply stood up straight, chuckled, and respectfully bowed to Elder Ge.
"Disciple Zhou Hou greets Elder Ge."

Elder Ge waved his hand at him, ignoring his words, but instead focused his gaze on Chen Xu.

The gaze was kind, inquisitive, yet also filled with regret.

Why the regret?

The regret stemmed from the fact that Ge Xing had learned through a previous message from Ye Ningzhen that Chen Xu came from a small town in the western part of the Cangling Domain.

Ge Xing had never even heard of Bai Liucheng.

Ge Xing knew perfectly well what kind of cultivation resources might be found in a remote town.

Chen Xu's ability to reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment at the age of eighteen is sufficient proof of his talent.

However, with such talent, it is highly likely that he cultivated in a barren environment for the previous eighteen years, so it is conceivable that Chen Xu's foundation must have been worn down.

This is like a building that could have been built directly to nine stories, but was "cut corners" during the foundation stage due to insufficient resources.

Although they managed to build up to the second and third floors, the foundation was unstable. Is it possible to build an even taller building?
Even if it's possible to build one or two more floors, what about three, four, or five floors?

Ge Xing could not predict it.

But Ge Xing had seen far too many geniuses like him.

Just like himself, he was once a genius of this kind.

Born in a small town, he made rapid progress in his cultivation when he was young, and thought he could bravely sing on the path to immortality and ascend all the way.

But actually?
The hurdle of progressing from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core took him a full twenty years to overcome.

He passed all the tests from an eighth-rank minor sect, finally arriving in the Immortal City and entering the Divine Mechanism Sect, where he has lived for over 130 years.

Such a long period of time was enough for him to settle his mind on the Shenji Sect.

That would also be enough to extinguish all his former ambitions.

After all, he hadn't formed a Nascent Soul in over a hundred years. Was there any hope of ever achieving the Great Dao of Nascent Soul in this lifetime?
By this point, Ge Xing had actually begun to give up some of his hopes.

He abandoned any further thoughts, but regarded the Shenji Sect as extremely important even more.

At the same time, he also hopes that among the new generation of disciples, someone can break his curse and prevent geniuses from "dying young" and their path from collapsing.

Unfortunately, he watched generation after generation, saw off countless newcomers, and nurtured countless old ones.

Young geniuses come and go, but almost none have broken the curse.

Among them, the two with the best qualifications are Yu Hanhai, the current leader of Shenji Sect, and Ye Ningzhen.

Both of them, including Yu Hanhai, have been stuck at the Golden Core stage for thirty years and are still unable to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Ye Ningzhen is still young and has not shown any signs of old age.

She has been at the Foundation Establishment stage for three years, but who knows when she will break through to the Golden Core stage?

In this world, the path to immortality requires not only talent and comprehension, but also good fortune.

If good fortune doesn't come, everything is in vain.

When good fortune arrives, everything can be accomplished.

Sometimes, no amount of effort can compare to being born in Canglan City, or entering the Jade Realm the moment you begin your journey.

The Xuan Tian Star Realm is so vast that its number of geniuses is greater than the stars in the sky.

Without the right opportunity, even more will be buried in obscurity.

Ge Xing couldn't help but sigh, wondering how far this young man could ultimately go.

Ye Ningzhen brought him to the Shenji Sect with great enthusiasm, hoping that his talent as a chef could alleviate the sect's recent pressure.

Little did they know that the current predicament of the Divine Mechanism Sect could not be solved by just one or two spiritual chefs.
It can only be said that young people are always exceptionally innocent and pure.

Ge Xing scrutinized Chen Xu, his gaze gradually becoming more complex.

However, he was born with a kind face like Maitreya Buddha, a full head of white hair, and although his skin did not look particularly old, the corners of his eyes were covered with fine lines.

These fine lines always managed to conceal all his emotions, so that when he looked at people with a smile, no one could guess the light in his eyes.

After Ye Ningzhen flicked Zhou Hou on the forehead, she looked at Ge Xing with delight and said:
"Old man, come and see! This is Junior Brother Chen, whom I fished out of the Changming River. Look at him, isn't he handsome and exceptionally talented?"

Ge Xing glared at her, feigning anger, and said, "How dare you address me as your senior uncle? You have no respect for elders."

Ye Ningzhen chuckled and said, "Uncle-Master Ge, you love your junior disciples the most. I know you won't mind, that's why I'm close to you."

After speaking, she bowed to Ge Xing and then formally introduced Chen Xu and Ji Yang to him.

Ye Ningzhen's casual manner immediately created a relaxed and warm atmosphere for their meeting.

Ji Yang's initial tension subsided considerably.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief while stealing glances at Chen Xu.

Seeing his composure, he quickly followed behind, imitating Chen Xu by cupping his hands and saying, "Junior Ji Yang greets Elder Ge."

Ge Xing nodded with a smile and said, "Good, good, excellent. Your breathing is clear and your spirit is full. You are all good children."

Then he asked Ye Ningzhen, "You said your junior brother Chen has the aptitude to be a spirit chef, but the matter of being a spirit chef must be tested. Did you explain that to your junior brother Chen before?"

Ye Ningzhen smiled smugly: "Of course it's explained, Uncle-Master. How could you not trust me to handle things?"

The reason I brought Junior Brother Chen to the Spirit Cuisine Restaurant is to assess his Spirit Chef level, so I can help him find a Spirit Chef later.”

Ge Xing nodded, then turned his gaze to the two spirit chefs, Zhang and Liu, who were arguing in the hall, and said:

"Zhang Song and Liu Chang are both outstanding eighth-grade chefs and were originally qualified to teach apprentices. However, after today, whichever of the two stays, the rest must be confined for a period of time."

Even if they are released from confinement, none of the young disciples of my Shenji Sect are permitted to receive instruction from these two.

This statement was tantamount to banishing both Zhang and Liu.

Ye Ningzhen was startled upon hearing this.

Although she was angry when Zhou Hou told her about the cause and effect of the dispute between the two, she never actually thought about driving them away.

Spiritual chefs are rare, and Zhang and Liu are both among the best of the eighth-grade spiritual chefs.

They have the potential to be promoted to the seventh or even sixth rank of spirit chef!

It was precisely because of this that the two fought so fiercely that they had to wager leaving the sect, which is why disciples like Zhou Hou were so anxious at the beginning.

Ge Xing's attendant disciples hurriedly invited him over.

Unexpectedly, after Ge Xing arrived, he did not directly stop Zhang and Liu from fighting. Instead, he calmly started talking to Ye Ningzhen and her group.

Ge Xing's eyes lit up with joy upon seeing Ye Ningzhen and the others, as if he completely disregarded Zhang and Liu. Ye Ningzhen hesitated and asked, "Uncle-Master Ge, isn't this method too damaging?"

Their bet is a bet, but should we really let the loser leave the mountain just because of it? This…”

"A bet is a bet. Since you dared to gamble, you should bear the consequences." Ge Xing calmly responded to Ye Ningzhen's words.

His resolute attitude and indifferent expression made him seem like a completely different person from the kind and benevolent old man who had just appeared like Maitreya Buddha.

Ye Ningzhen then knew that his mind was made up.

She gritted her teeth secretly, thinking to herself that this was the right thing to do.

Just as they were about to respond, they saw that between the two stoves, Zhang and Liu had taken out some genuine jade talismans and finished testing the properties of the two spiritual foods.

The first cake tested was Liu Chang's Green Calyx Golden Plum Cake.

Several lines of text floated out from above the True Jade Talisman:
"Spirit and Soul +4, Qi and Blood +3, taking this has the effect of calming the mind and focusing the spirit."

Spiritual food, grade eight, top-grade.

wow——

The disciples watching from the sidelines let out soft exclamations of admiration.

Liu Chang's plate of Green Calyx Golden Plum Cake could directly increase one's spiritual energy by 4 after consumption.

It should be understood that cultivating the spirit and soul is far more difficult than cultivating vital energy and blood.

With an increase of 4 points of Divine Soul at once, the Green Calyx Golden Plum Cake's nutritional value has actually reached the standard of Grade Seven.

In Canglan Immortal City, there is a complete set of methods for measuring dietary habits.

Leaving aside the high-grade ones, let's just talk about the spiritual foods of grades nine, eight, and seven. The criteria for measuring them are clear and straightforward.

First, having 1 point of any attribute in one's diet is considered a ninth-grade spiritual food.

If one point of any food attribute is increased to two points, this spiritual food can advance to the eighth rank.

A spirit chef who can consistently produce three or more rank-eight spirit foods with a success rate of over 80% can be promoted to rank-eight spirit chef.

Of course, this seems simple, but it is actually very difficult.

There's no need to go into the details for now.

Only when it comes to the testing of spiritual food—

The lower limit of an eighth-grade spiritual food is that it can increase a single food attribute by 2 points, while the upper limit is that it can increase a non-single food attribute by 3 or 4 points.

Among them, the highest grade of the eighth-grade spiritual food has two evaluation criteria.

First, add two different directions of three-point feeding.

For example, if one increases both Qi and Blood, and also increases Spirit and Soul, and both reach 3 points or more, then one can naturally be considered to be of the highest grade of the eighth rank.

Currently, Liu Chang's Green Calyx Golden Plum Cake can not only increase two attributes at the same time, but also increase the Divine Soul attribute by 4 points and the Qi and Blood attribute by 3 points.

This is truly extraordinary.

One disciple sighed and said, "If the Qi and blood growth of this Green Calyx Golden Plum Cake could also reach 4 points, it would be considered a seventh-grade spiritual food."

"A seventh-grade spiritual food, it's just a little short."

The disciple who sighed was feeling sorry for Liu Chang.

However, some disciples said, "Senior Brother Liu is only thirty years old, which is already extremely remarkable."

"Now, Senior Brother Liu is only one step away from breaking through to the seventh rank. So what if he can't make seventh-rank spiritual food right now? It won't be long before he succeeds!"

"But Senior Brother Liu is competing with Senior Brother Zhang today."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding chatter immediately ceased.

Yes, Liu Chang is competing against Zhang Song today!
Liu Chang's Green Calyx Golden Plum Cake is already so remarkable, how about Zhang Song's Spirit Flame Drunken Goose?

Soon, the True Jade Talisman was placed above the Spirit Flame Drunken Goose.

A disciple who had been specially invited to act as the referee inputted his true essence into the device, and after only a few breaths, the test results for the Spirit Flame Drunken Goose appeared:

"Qi and Blood +5, Essence +3. Consuming this product can make one energetic, and regular consumption can have a slight effect on prolonging life."

"Spiritual food, grade eight, the highest of the highest."

"Ouch!"

The crowd erupted in uproar again.

This time, the discussion was many times more intense.

People couldn't help but discuss: "So there really are top-grade eighth-rank spiritual foods in this world. Such a rating is something I have never seen before in my life."

"Hey, what's so amazing about what you've only seen in your life? How old are you? How much knowledge do you have?"
The top-quality is not the problem, but the problem is that Senior Brother Zhang's Spirit Flame Drunken Goose can increase your Qi and Blood by 5 when consumed!
Most importantly, Senior Brother Zhang's Spirit Flame Drunken Goose can also increase essence.

Regular consumption can also prolong life!

How many Grade 8 spiritual foods in this world can truly prolong life?

That's right, cultivators in this world generally live long lives.

But those are mostly privileges enjoyed by high-level cultivators; those below the Foundation Establishment stage have a lifespan of at most two hundred years.

For most of the lower-level disciples, the prospect of longevity is an extremely tempting term.

Amid the uproar of the crowd, Zhang Song laughed heartily.

He glanced at Liu Chang and said, "How about it, Junior Brother Liu? Although we are both of the eighth rank, there are differences in rank among those of the eighth rank."

Are you willing to accept defeat today?

Liu Chang's face turned ashen, his hands clenched into fists, so angry that he could barely speak.

Zhang Song, however, was no longer in a hurry. He shook his head and clicked his tongue, saying:

"Alas, I still made a mistake. This time, the Spirit Flame Drunken Goose failed to reach the seventh rank directly."

You should know that when I practiced alone yesterday, I had already cooked this Spirit Flame Drunken Goose to the seventh grade standard.

Qi and Blood +5, Essence +4.

What a mistake... But it's alright, after all, we're fellow disciples. If I had performed too well today, it would have been too much of a blow to you, and I wouldn't have been able to bear it.

How could I, Zhang, be such a person?

Oh, no, that's not right. Junior Brother Liu, you've made a bet and lost. After today, you're no longer a disciple of my Shenji Sect..."

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Chang, whose face had turned red and blue from being mocked, suddenly clutched his chest and coughed violently.

His face turned ashen and purplish, and his eyes bulged out.

He pressed one hand to his chest, pointed the other at Zhang Song, and coughed while making hoarse sounds.

He was filled with a thousand grievances, but had no way to express them at the moment.

Zhang Song still wouldn't let him off the hook, and continued to mock him: "Junior Brother Liu, do you still remember when we first started out, how you mocked your senior brother for my rough skills, saying that I was not as good as an ordinary chef?"
Now the tables have turned, hehehe..."

Seeing Liu Chang's increasingly terrifying expression, Zhang Song was about to say something more when a furious shout suddenly rang out from the side of the hall: "Enough!"

The angry shout was like thunder, like frost.

The sound resounded in everyone's ears and also in their hearts.

The disciples couldn't help but turn to look at the sound.

(End of this chapter)