The delicacies of the heavens begin with obtaining gem meat.

Chapter 83 Return Gift

Senxi served the boiled scorpion and walking mushroom dish into bowls and then handed them to everyone.

Thank you.

Jiang Yan thanked him, took the bowl, and his eyes fell on the tempting dish inside.

The bowl contains diced walking mushrooms, tender white scorpion meat, and side dishes as garnish.

The steam rises, making the aroma even more intense.

"The meat will shrink after cooking, and it will easily fall off with a gentle pinch."

Senxi looked at everyone and reminded them.

Upon hearing this, Leos eagerly picked up a large piece of scorpion meat and put it in his mouth, immediately revealing a look of surprise.

"Delicious! Different cooking methods can make such a big difference in taste!"

Sensi was very satisfied with Leios's reaction and nodded repeatedly.

"Right, right—"

Chilchak, who was standing nearby, took a bite and was pleasantly surprised.

"It's so delicious, how come!"

Chilchak originally only chose to eat monsters out of desperation, but he never expected that the monsters would taste so delicious.

Jiang Yan then picked up a piece of scorpion meat and put it in his mouth. The moment he bit down, the firm and tender meat burst out with sweet juice. The texture was very similar to lobster, firm yet delicate, fresh without being fishy.

Take another bite of the walking mushroom; the thick, fleshy flesh is tender and juicy, soft yet firm, and full of natural fragrance.

The dried slime offal garnished throughout is a delightful surprise; it has a delicate and smooth texture, a refreshing taste, and no fishy or gamey smell, instead adding a unique flavor.

The unidentified plant stems served as a side dish were soft, tender, and flavorful, while the algae had a subtle sweetness.

Although the broth is clear, it has a rich and complex flavor that is absolutely delicious.

As the delicious food entered his stomach, Jiang Yan's food cells began to activate, since both the giant scorpion and the walking mushroom were ingredients he was tasting for the first time.

Exhaling a breath of hot air, Jiang Yan looked at Senxi and couldn't help but admire him.

"This tastes so delicious! It doesn't have many seasonings, yet it brings out the best in the natural flavors of the ingredients!"

"Very good food."

-

Seeing the four of them eating with relish, Marusir, who had initially been somewhat resistant, couldn't help but swallow.

Feeling the hunger in my stomach, I finally chose to give in.

"Give me one too."

Holding the dish that Sensi handed her, Marucci picked up some dried slime entrails and put them in her mouth while struggling with her decision.

The delicate and smooth taste exploded on her tongue, completely overturning her understanding of monsters. The resistance on her face instantly disappeared, revealing a look of surprise.

Wow! It's delicious!

The five people sat together, chatting and laughing as they devoured a whole pot of boiled scorpions and walking mushrooms.

Jiang Yan put down his chopsticks and looked at Leos and the other three, speaking sincerely.

"Thank you all for sharing your lunch with me. I'll use the ingredients I caught earlier to thank you all."

Since Jiang Yan had eaten lunch with Leos and the others, he naturally had to give them something in return; he wasn't planning to eat for free.

Marcusier's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this, and she looked at Jiang Yan with anticipation.

If she had normal ingredients, she wouldn't have to force herself to eat monsters anymore.

Although the monster food we just had was indeed delicious.

Immediately afterwards, Marousier saw Jiang Yan conjure up a strange creature more than a meter long out of thin air.

This creature resembles a fish, with a mouth full of sharp teeth and a body covered with a hard, smooth red armor. It has a dozen pairs of fine, segmented legs on both sides of its abdomen.

"This is a swamp fish spirit, hmm, I guess it's a kind of monster. I got it from somewhere else, and the meat is quite good."

These were ingredients that Jiang Yan had captured in the Hunter x Hunter world. He had caught quite a few at the time, so giving one away wouldn't be a big deal for him.

Marcus looked at the strange-looking swamp fish spirit with a face full of resistance.

She thought she was going to give them normal food, but it turned out to be monsters, and strange monsters that she had never seen before.

However, Jiang Yan's gift pleased Leos and Sensi.

Senxi stepped forward, examined the flesh of the swamp fish spirit, and nodded repeatedly.

"The meat is firm and delicious, whether boiled or grilled!"

Upon hearing this, Leos's eyes burned even brighter.

-

"This monster is called a swamp fish spirit?! It's a monster that's never been recorded before!"

"And it looks like a fish, but it actually has armor and feet. What a greedy monster."

"I'm really curious what it tastes like!"

Seeing Leos so happy, Marcusil was speechless. How come he never noticed before that Leos was so obsessed with monsters!

Even though Marcusil was unwilling, Leos quickly put the swamp fish spirit away.

"Then I'll take my leave now. Thank you all for the delicious lunch."

With that, Jiang Yan waved to Leos and the other three, then turned and left.

Next, it's time to collect the ingredients for the first level of the underground labyrinth.

Once away from the market, the maze returned to silence, with only faint sounds echoing through the passageways.

After turning a corner, Jiang Yan saw a walking mushroom strolling slowly through the passage.

Although the Walking Mushroom has no eyes, it can still sense the presence of people.

The moment Jiang Yan appeared, Walking Mushroom spotted him and rushed towards him.

Seeing the walking mushrooms come to him willingly, Jiang Yan simply stood still and waited.

The moment the Walking Mushroom approached, Jiang Yan reached out and tapped its cap. The Walking Mushroom immediately fell to the ground and became still.

"Incorporate the walking mushroom into the restaurant," Jiang Yan continued forward, and after a moment he heard a soft rustling sound.

Following the sound, Jiang Yan found a hole at the bottom of a mottled stone wall, from which the sound was coming.

Jiang Yan immediately realized that there must be a giant scorpion inside.

Jiang Yan looked around, tore a thick plant stem from the stone wall beside him, weighed it in his hand, and slowly inserted it into the hole.

The next instant, the stem was clamped tightly by a pair of pincers, while a tail barb continued to attack the stem.

A smile flashed in Jiang Yan's eyes. He grabbed the stem and pulled it out, and a large scorpion, deep red in color and over a meter long, was "fished out" by Jiang Yan.

"These big scorpions are actually quite easy to catch."

Seeing that the giant scorpion was still unaware of the danger and was still attacking its stem, Jiang Yan took out his dagger and precisely stabbed it into the gap in the shell behind the scorpion's head, severing its spine.

-

The giant scorpion then collapsed to the ground.

Just as Jiang Yan put the giant scorpion away, he noticed something strange coming from above. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a semi-transparent, viscous substance falling towards his head.

Jiang Yan immediately realized that a slime was trying to attack him.

Quickly dodging to the side, the falling slime landed with a thud on the ground, turning into a puddle of slime before rapidly coalescing back into a solid shape.

Before the slime could make any other move, Jiang Yan had already pierced the slime's brain with the dagger in his hand.

Then Jiang Yan put the slime away.

Slime needs to be processed before it can be eaten, but Jiang Yan obviously can't afford to waste time on that right now, so he plans to process it slowly when he has time.

After capturing the slime, Jiang Yan would make a point of checking the top of the maze whenever he moved forward, and sure enough, he found many translucent slimes attached to it.

Jiang Yan naturally collected all of these slimes.

In addition to slimes, Jiang Yan also captured some giant scorpions and walking mushrooms.

Of course, Jiang Yan also encountered skeleton soldiers and ghouls, which were monsters with no value for food. After dealing with them, Jiang Yan threw them aside.