The Mysterious Zhou Lin

Di Cheng can't help but sit stiffly. His composed expressions looks so forced as he waits for his order to come. The mysterious expert is actually going to cook for him, though he doesn't know about the price. He haven't even look at the menu that was given to him and just chose randomly.

The others has already lost their interest from him. They resumed eating and talking to themselves once more. The atmosphere of the pavilion turning bright once more.

As he was just thinking of when the food will come, Zhou Lin approaches once more. Carrying trays of sumptuous porks and other additional vegetables and fruits. The presentation alone on each of those plates makes him surprised, and a bit excited to have a bite on one of it.

His nose takes in the scent, and the aroma seems to be mouth watering that he felt he ate it himself. The rich aroma of the roasted meat, and the fragrant additives of the vegetables is making his stomach growl a bit in impatience.

Surprising, as he is a Cultivator. It's been a long time since his appetite has become this excited. He usually doesn't eat, as is normal for a Cultivator because most meals have impurities within them that a Cultivator must purify or it will become a minor burden for their cultivation.

Demon Beasts meat is something acceptable for him, which is the case for the meal presented in front of him. He can feel the abundant pure Qi within the juicy meat of this feast. His eyes also widening as he quickly recognizes it.

'Mountain Boar!?' He exclaims within his mind.

A mountain boar is ferocious. These Demon Beasts are very large and mostly stays within itself. It doesn't like any other presence, even those of their own kind.

It is said that their stomps can cause the land to shake, and destroy the balance of their foes. Their tackles are so tremendous that even an Earth Realm Cultivator will be blown to the sky when they were hit by it.

They are mostly located on the deeper parts of uninhabited forests or mountains. Only Nature Realm or even early Mountain Realm experts can hope to hunt them without fear.

As for cooking it's meat, only chefs from Earth Realm can barely cook them. Those of the Nature Realm are the only ones who can confidently prep the meat and make it presentable for Cultivators.

Though, is there any Nature Realm experts who will do something as mundane as cooking? In this region, there is no one who will be willing!

It can only be seen on the capital city of this Yuan Empire. Only the prosperous and the truly bigshots can command Nature Realm and even Mountain Realm experts to be their cook. There is no one in this small region who is capable of it.

'Does that mean....!?'

He turned his gaze at Zhou Lin. His face turning a bit more pale at that thought.

If he can actually prepare something like the meat from the Mountain Boar, then he was at least at the early Nature Realm. He thought he is just a strong Earth Realm expert, but he was actually much more stronger than what he assumes!?

He looks just like his age, but he is much more stronger than him? What is a genius like him doing and serving food to the mortals!?

The surprise didn't end there. Zhou Lin continues putting more meals on his table. Each of it making his jaw becoming slacked at the sheer terror and awe as he recognizes each of the beasts where the meals originated.

'Feral Wolves Meat!? It's not just that... it was from an Alpha!? Does that mean he managed to actually kill the leader of a Feral Wolf pack... is he a Mountain Realm expert!?'

'Jade Snake!? That venomous aura it exudes... I can't mistake it! Isn't this snake impossible to be tracked even by Earth Realm experts.... he truly is very strong!?'

'The honey from the Golden Bees! Those are ferocious that even Nature Realm experts won't dare take a single drop of their honey! Just where did he even take this!?'

He can see that all of them are produced beautifully, and some are ven used as sauce for the other meals. Making it so luxurious that he felt like he is going to faint from it.

"A-ah.... Esteemed Expert, t-this is too much.... I thought I only ordered for a single thing..." He said, his mouth twitching uncontrollably as he let each word out.

Even if he was feeling very impatient and wanted to devour all of this without minding anything else, he can't actually do that. Each of these meal costs a humongous amount of Spirit Crystals. He didn't have enough Spirit Crystals with him to pay for even one of it.

Zhou Lin raises his eyebrows at that. "But you chose the Supreme Deluxe Set. Are you telling me you don't like this?" Zhou Lin felt somewhat offended by that. This guy is even going as far as trying to deny it despite being the one to choose it.

"Supreme Deluxe Set?" Di Cheng blinks his eyes in incomprehension.

He can't understand where did that name come from. Though he thinks it sounds so auspicious, as if proclaiming to the world that it's the most luxurious.

"It's a family sized set with all of my best in the menu. I even clarified if that's really what you want, and you just nodded your head." He said, loud enough so the others can hear it.

Zhou Lin has no time for this nonsense. If he is not going to eat or even pay for this, then he will actually go and kick this guy out.

"N-no.... uh, just how much does this cost?" Di Cheng asks.

Zhou Lin narrowed his eyes. "... Just tell me if you can't pay, I'll put it in your tab." He said, though his gaze is turning cold at him.

Di Cheng quickly shakes his hands, seeing the expression of this handsome cultivator. "Okay.... I'll pay with all the money I have..." He said, his cheeks feeling a bit strained as he says that.

He is only carrying his monthly allowance of a hundred low quality Spirit Stones. Those are very precious for him, but it's not really worth that much to the world of Cultivation.

Zhou Lin nodded at that. He heard that Cultivators are very rich, so he thinks getting the money of this weird sword cultivator is more than enough.

"You don't have to worry, just pay the required amount before you leave." He simply said before leaving while saying to him to have a nice meal.

As Zhou Lin left to take care of the other orders, Di Cheng stares at the feast in front of him, before deciding to finally take a bite of one of the boar meats.

His teeth easily sinks in into the flesh of the roasted pork, and his eyes glinted mysteriously as he felt the essence of the Mountain Boar entering his body. It is rich with Earth Qi, and the full cultivation of the Mountain Boar.

".... This is..." His eyes widened at that, feeling his sea of power expanding with just a single bite of that meat. It's juices giving more profound energies within his veins, and making him stronger.

He uses a special breathing technique so he can absorb the abundant Qi within that single piece of meat. His heart pounding a bit in excitement as he felt surprised at it.

"Amazing..... it actually contained the full essence of the Demon Beasts!" He exclaimed in surprised.

That makes Zhou Lin more terrifying to him. Nature Realm experts have no way of doing that, even if they mastered cooking this specific meat. Even a Mountain Realm expert can't do that, unless they have a really specialized technique and they mastered it to cook this to perfection.

"So mysterious...."

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Some time later, Zhou Lin comes to the table where Di Cheng sits awhile ago. He looks at the pouch that Di Cheng left here, likely to be his payment.

When Zhou Lin looks at it, he froze for a moment. Then he let out a curse...

"F*ck! What can I do with these useless stones!?" He cursed, not knowing that these are the hundreds of low quality Spirit Stones that Di Cheng have, which is very precious even for the mortal standards.

He is illiterate when it comes to terminologies used by Cultivators, so he is clueless about what's it used.

"Che! I'll remember the face of that scum!" He muttered. Looking very offended, assuming that Di Cheng is messing with him.