With Hai Yunfan acting as the mediator, the two sides no longer argued each other and began to taste their meal on the table.
The various foods here were the creation of the Master Chef of Carefree Peak cafeteria. Their color, flavor, and taste were so appetizing that they deeply touched the disciples who suffered from the Misty Peak cafeteria, especially for the naive and innocent Senior Sister Liu Li. While eating, she praised, "This sliced meat is so good, terrific. Unlike the food here; all of them are trash."
Hearing this, Wang Lu cast his eyes back towards the kitchen entrance—at the Western girl who had also heard it and now looked miserable—and gave her an encouraging look. However, Aya did not appreciate the gesture and turned around back into the kitchen.
Not long after they began to eat, knowing that the time was almost up, Wang Lu put down the chopsticks. The other side couldn't possibly finish their food without trying to pick an argument.
Sure enough, Ten Thousand Arts Sect Fourth Senior Brother frowned and said, "Does your Spirit Sword Sect usually eat these things?"
Wang Lu wanted to reply with, "We f*cking salivated for these foods, but we have to settle for that loser Aya instead."
However, what came out of his mouth was, "Is there something wrong with them?"
Lu Qiancai coldly humphed, "Something wrong? Let's take a look just at the food served on this table. On the surface, they smell, look, and taste great. Moreover, they were made from high-quality ingredients. There's no lack of high-grade spirit object and even immortal object. However, the chef doesn't understand how to match up the nutrition and doesn't know that there're some errors in the cooking method on some of the dishes, which destroyed all of their nutritional value. Solely on the dish pairing on this table itself is very unreasonable. If these dishes were to be served for the ordinary person, satisfying their appetite is more than enough. However, if it's for the standard cultivator, this is simply a table of garbage."
Wang Lu lightly responded, "No one's stopping from bringing your own food. If you feel there's a lack of nutrition, you can make up with it. What's the use in complaining about the chef?"
Lu Qiancai immediately turned speechless. After a while, he said, "This means your chef is not professional."
"Nonsense, if not from the cooking school in the Nine Regions, where would that professional chef come from? Our Spirit Sword Sect is unlike your rice bucket [1] store."
Lu Qiancai angrily said, "Did you just say our Ten Thousand Arts Sect is a rice bucket store?"
"Is that unpleasant hear? Then let's change the subject. Let's talk about the little girl thing, what do you think?"
"You!"
During this exchange, the Ten Thousand Arts Sect Eldest Brother finally could not stay still anymore; he put down his bowl and chopsticks and said in a sinking voice, "On this thing, you're sadly mistaken. According to the latest research from the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, a cultivator's diet has a very important influence on his cultivation. For cultivators, in addition to the daily breathing of the surrounding spiritual energy, diet is another important source of magical power, so it should not be overlooked. A cultivator who knows how to eat is a qualified cultivator, and a sect who knows how to eat is a qualified sect. In this regard, your Spirit Sword Sect really falls too short; basically, it's a load of crap."
On this remark, Wang Lu shrugged disapprovingly. "A group of waste like you wants to talk about eating in front of my great Spirit Sword Sect?"
"Ridiculous, it's you, this bunch of barbarians, who are not qualified to talk about eating, you…"
Before he could finish, Wang Lu had already made a fierce clap. "Good, since you don't want to admit it, then let's compete."
Zhan Ziye was stunned. "Com-compete? Compete what?"
"Of course, it's eating competition. As for the method of competition, aren't your Ten Thousand Arts Sect supposed to have a method for this?"
Zhan Ziye knitted his brows. "Who has the method for this kind of thing?"
Wang Lu chuckled. "You said that diet is important. You also said that the sect who knows how to eat is considered as a qualified sect, yet you don't even have the related competition method?"
Which pain in the ass sect has the method for this?
However, before Zhan Ziye could come up with an excuse, Wang Lu then added, "No problem. Just use our Spirit Sword Sect's method."
No matter how clueless Zhan Ziye was, he knew that was inappropriate. "Use your method?"
"What? Didn't you just boast that you know how to eat and proud of your astonishing academic ability? Then use our rules to defeat us. Since you can come thousands of miles away from the Eastern Boundary Region, how come you're afraid of a little bit of competition?"
Wang Lu's goading was very effective. Before Zhan Ziye even spoke, their Third Senior Brother Zhao Jiangyuan heatedly replied, "Who's afraid of who? We'll use your method, bring it on."
Wang Lu said, "Great, that's a deal. Now let's invite the Elders to be the witness."
Then he turned his gaze to the side. On the main table, the Elders of the two Sects have long ago put down their chopsticks and stopped the pleasantries. All of their eyes have gathered toward Wang Lu's, Zhan Ziye's, and the others' table.
The Spirit Sword Sect Elders have long expected for this show, so they didn't seem perturbed at all. However, Yuan Chaonian actually knitted his brows while inwardly feeling ominous. Since their misstep on the early morning show, he knew that Spirit Sword Sect had long ago dug a foolproof hole for them to enter. And based on their confident stance at this time, it was highly likely that this was one such trap.
However, what Zhan Ziye said just now wasn't a complete nonsense either. On the question of eating, Ten Thousand Arts Sect had long ago done an in-depth study. Moreover, the disciples that they brought here were also specially trained. On this issue, they really walked at the forefront of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals. Therefore, it wouldn't be easy for the Spirit Sword Sect to make an issue of eating with them.
It was indeed difficult for the Spirit Sword Sect to make an issue on this aspect. The academic atmosphere of the Ten Thousand Arts Sect was so strong, so much that they practically have original research on most of the fields.
After thinking about it, Yuan Chaonian asked, "May I know the competition rules that you talk about?"
Wang Lu said with a smile, "These are the detailed rules. If you think that they are unfair, then let's call this matter off."
With that, Wang Lu handed a stack of sincerity paper over to Yuan Chaonian. The Elder warily took it while inwardly questioning, "What kind of rules that are this thick?" However, when he did a quick browse, his eyebrows jumped and he couldn't help but exclaim, "What terrific ideas!"
With his Deity Stage cultivation, in just a glance, he was able to read all the tens of thousands of characters painstakingly written by Wang Lu. Then with his instinct as a scholar, he immediately recognized the beauty of it. However, as soon as his voice fell, Yuan Chaonian realized his gaffe; he loudly coughed, frowned, and reexamined the rules… Not because the rules were disadvantageous to the Ten Thousand Arts Sect, on the contrary, in Yuan Chaonian's view, these extremely complex rules were quite favorable to the Ten Thousand Arts Sect. Even if the Spirit Sword Sect had conducted a lot of training in light of this, Ten Thousand Arts Sect's dominance was there to stay.
Let alone these rules had just been recently written out since the ink hadn't completely dried yet. This meant the Spirit Sword Sect people didn't have too much preparation for this. But then… Where exactly did their confidence come from?
With a questioning gaze, Yuan Chaonian closely observed Wang Lu once again. What he saw was a calm and confident face; even under the scrutiny of a Deity Stage cultivator, he remained indifferent.
Of course, this was also because Yuan Chaonian didn't use his Primordial Spirit and magical power. After all, this was ultimately the home of the Spirit Sword Sect. With his status as a visiting Elder from another sect, doing that kind of thing towards the host's Successor Disciple was frowned upon by everyone… However, he could also see that Wang Lu's confidence was not an empty one.
Thereupon, Yuan Chaonian had nothing to say and gave that stack of sincerity paper to Zhan Ziye et al. Their browsing speed was not slow. Before long, all five of them had finished reading the rules.
Eldest Brother Zhan Ziye nodded. "I am fine with these rules."
Zhao Jianyuan was more confident than him. "Rest assured, Master, disciple will not let Master lose face."
The short-fuse Lu Qiancai excitedly said, "The rules of this contest is interesting. Master, please let all the five of us join the contest."
Ye Feifei and Hai Yunfan didn't give any comment, especially the latter whose wry smile perpetually plastered on his face.
He thought, "Oh, martial brothers, you guys are too young. If it were me, once I saw that look on Wang Lu's face, I'm afraid it's too late to even escape. Why would you guys so enthusiastically jump into the pit?"
However, he had also seen that rule, which was clearly hand-written by Wang Lu himself. Even without the previous confrontation on the dining table, solely on the merit of this rule alone, any qualified Ten Thousand Arts Sect's disciple would find it hard to refuse.
Wang Lu had really scratched the itches of his Senior Brothers.
Seeing that the disciples had taken their stance, Yuan Chaonian only hesitated for a moment. "Very well then, you guys can compete."
Spirit Sword Sect had been waiting for this for a long time. Once Yuan Chaonian gave his nod, Wang Lu immediately smiled and clapped. "Let's arrange the place." The several Elders at the main table have already left their seat and moved their table to the side along with the other tables.
The center of the cafeteria was naturally left for the competition. After the main table had been put aside, it was replaced by an oval table several times larger. No dishes were arranged at that table, but instead, there were ten playing card cases.
The two Sects' disciples took their respective seat before those card cases. Although the Spirit Sword Sect disciples were still quite unfamiliar with this, they previously had done several rehearsals, so they were not that clueless. The Ten Thousand Arts Sect's disciples fully displayed their academic talent advantages; after a quick review of the rules in their minds, they confidently found their position to sit down.
Not long after, after determining that the two teams were ready, Yuan Chaonian issued an order, "Begin."
Ten disciples quickly opened the playing card cases and fished out the playing cards inside; there were ten of them. While the other disciples were still skimming over those playing cards, the tactician Ten Thousand Arts Sect Third Elder Brother Zhao Jiangyuan, without hesitation, pulled out the first card and yelled, "Braised beef noodle soup."
Printed on the card that he held up was a bowl of fragrant noodles. On the upper left corner of the card was the text '50 points'. Written under it were the number 3 in red color, 5 in yellow color, and 1 in green color.
A moment later, a bowl of braised beef noodle appeared in front of Zhao Jiangyuan. He then picked up the chopsticks and gently grabbed the bottom of the bowl. At the same time, he exerted out his magical power toward the chopsticks as he moved the chopsticks deep into the bowl, picked up a large part of the noodle, opened his mouth wide until his mandible directly dislocated, and swallowed down the whole noodles.
Zhao Jiangyuan had just swallowed down the whole one bowl of braised beef noodle in just a single gulp. Then, he had the number 50 appearing on top of his head, as well as the red 3, yellow 5, and green 1. There were also other digits with different colors, like gray, black, and brown, however, all of them were 0.
This was the basic rule of the game. The player used the playing card to order a dish, and after eating the dish, the corresponding point and elements would appear on top of the player's head—the so-called elements were the nutritional value of said dish. The ten playing cards each represented different dishes, also with different points and nutritional values. The way for the player to win the competition was to get the maximum amount and reasonable pairing of nutritional values through these playing cards.
Then what was the role of the 'points'? Very simple, the role of the points was to buy playing cards. The ten original cards in the player's hand were some of the most basic dishes, such as the braised beef noodle, pickled cabbage noodle, mushroom stewed chicken noodle… Only through these different cards could they accumulate enough points to buy new cards. When buying a card, there were a lot of factors to consider.
Such as the quality to price ratio. A bowl of preserved egg meat porridge was 100 points, two kilograms of cooked meat was also 100 points. From this point of view, the former naturally has the higher quality to price ratio. However, the latter's nutritional value was far better than the former. Each person would have a different view on which was better with regards to the quality to price ratio or nutritional value. Only by accumulating enough points would the player be able to trade the super nutritious high quality to price ratio top level card. However, in order to accumulate points, they had to fill their bellies. As such, they just couldn't neglect the fundamentals and concentrate on the details.
In addition, they also had to consider the matter of taste. For example, a bowl of boiled Sichuan poached sliced fish in hot chili oil might have very high points and nutritional value. However, if that dish was added with high-grade spirit grass: Invincible Killing Pepper; then to eat or not to eat, one has to spend some serious thought...
Finally, the player also had to take into consideration the special effect of the dishes. For example, some dishes were appetizer, and some were particularly greasy that once eaten, one would feel sick for half a day, and some would cause them easy to fart...
For this process, the most basic requirement was in fact not the ability to calculate, but rather the ability to eat. No matter how careful one calculated the points and reasonable nutritional value, if one didn't have enough appetite, the playing cards in hand would be of no use… this was the competition on who has the biggest stomach.
However, this was the point that the Ten Thousand Arts Sect actually cherished. Among the five of them, Zhan Ziye possessed the highest cultivation, however, the other four also have their own specialties. This Zhao Jiangyuan strong point was exactly on eating—he has a huge appetite. Therefore, after receiving the playing cards, Zhao Jiangyuan simply didn't think too much; he directly ordered the dish. Before other people had even finished checking out their playing cards, he had finished his first course, braised beef noodle, which meant his team had gained the upper hand.
However, the next moment, Zhao Jiangyuan's complexion abruptly changed as he revealed a very painful expression.
Towards this, Wang Lu inwardly sneered.
Idiot, the dishes for this competition are made by Aya!
[1] Can also mean fathead or good-for-nothing.