Chapter 307: 磨合岁月

Mohawk simply roared boldly, "Everyone, don't panic. This gentleman means no harm. Settle down."

Mohawk seemed to possess great prestige. In the blink of an eye, the noisy surroundings settled down. No longer afraid, a few people sat around the bonfire, grilling food and passing seasonings.

Xu Zhi looked at him and simply smiled. Perhaps Mohawk had already recognized who he was?

In those days, he had traveled the world freely and acted on a whim. If he chanced upon someone on the road and they got along, offering them fine food and wine would often lead to him granting them some opportunities. Otherwise, he wouldn't have earned the moniker "Monarch Emperor of Gardens and Fine Wine."

Mohawk, a man with a bushy beard and hairy arms, sat down beside him and boldly handed over some spices. "Messiah, that's an alias, isn't it?"

Without waiting for Xu Zhi to answer, he opened his daughter's book on past Monarch Emperors, pointed to the portrait of the first Monarch Emperor, and then earnestly said:

"Messiah, the Monarch Emperor of Gardens and Fine Wine, was the very first Monarch Emperor of the Potion Era! He is the most mysterious and ancient; historical records contain the fewest legends about him... Is your profession the hidden class of Gourmet? Is it a legacy he left behind?"

Xu Zhi was stunned."I already said my name is Messiah, and this person isn't playing by the rules? I haven't been to the Wizard World in a thousand years, has my identity as the 'King of Swagger' Messiah already become obsolete?!"

In truth, a thousand years was indeed too long. Unless one was a god, no Monarch Emperor could live that long; even prolonged sleep or hibernation wouldn't sustain them. No matter how powerful, they would have to transform into ghosts and enter the Underworld to survive until now, yet Xu Zhi still maintained his youthful physical body.

Over the past thousand years, the Potion system has developed 173 professions. Now, professional researchers estimate that a new profession emerges, on average, every five or six years. Among these, seventeen are top-tier hidden professions, with 'Gourmet' ranking thirteenth!

The Gourmet profession, according to legend, is a powerful hidden class developed by Monarch Emperor Messiah. It's a secret legacy, and all Gourmets claim to be descendants of Monarch Emperor Messiah. However, Xu Zhi knew clearly that he had not developed it. It was created by a genius in a later era of long history and then named after him.

After all, over a thousand years of history, many records have been lost and distorted through oral tradition. The truth had long vanished into the depths of time.

Take Gilgamesh, for example. This ancient Hero-King, hailed as the strongest man in human history, is recorded in historical texts as a deity. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to challenge the Creator God, injuring his palm to obtain the Blood of Immortality. One might ask, if not a god, how could he possibly cut the Creator God's palm? Even for a deity, it would be utterly incredible! In public perception, Gilgamesh must have been an exceptionally powerful deity. In reality, though Gilgamesh was astonishingly talented, obsessively forging his body to pursue explosive muscular strength, he had only barely reached the seventh tier at the time. Relying on the power genes of ants, only his strength reached the seventh tier; other aspects were too weak. After all, the system of that era was too ancient and incomplete.

Another example is the Three Witches. History states that the Three Witches jointly researched and developed the cultivation system, becoming witches. However, people don't know the true origin of witches. At that time, men were too scarce, so only women could fuse with the blood of the Evil Eye. It was a path where they gambled everything amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and only three managed to survive.

Or consider the Alchemy Emperor, the Hanging Gardens... Various histories have been distorted and buried.

After all, ancient Sumerian and Babylonian myths were far too distant for an era a thousand years later.

"Wow! The legendary profession: Gourmet? An ancient legacy created by Emperor Messiah?" Hila exclaimed dramatically.

The surroundings erupted in excited commotion; it was a rare hidden profession!

"Legend has it that Monarch Emperor Messiah, in his freedom and enjoyment, would spend nights with a thousand women, indulging in food and wine. Not only did he establish the Gourmet profession, but he also created the 'Battle Companion' profession."

"It's said that the seventh human monarch, King Masaka, reputed to be the cruelest human ruler in history, accidentally acquired Emperor Messiah's legacy – the hidden 'Battle Companion' profession. He conscripted beautiful women from across the nation, and at his peak, reportedly had three thousand concubines, living a life of indulgence day after day."

Xu Zhi's face darkened. "Yes, yes, I created all of it." This was the harsh reality of society, with a pile of fabricated dark history being attributed to him.

Mohawk burst into laughter, pleased with his discovery. "Mr. Messiah, you're a contemporary successor of the Gourmet profession, aren't you? What tier are you? You dared to enter the Black Mist Forest alone."

"I'm in my twenties this year, and I've been cultivating for just over a month," Xu Zhi replied.

"Hahaha! Mr. Messiah, you truly are an interesting person!" Mohawk laughed heartily, very talkative. "How can that be? You look like you're at least Tier 3, don't you?"

"Indeed," Xu Zhi chuckled wryly.

Grilling the demon plant skewers and sprinkling them with spices, Xu Zhi found the caravan quite interesting. He decided to join them, traveling together for a stretch. Since they didn't recognize him, he even cooked meals for the group, which brought forth cheers and countless praises and adulations.

After all, setting aside the "beating" of society, experiencing life and honing his inner self was still necessary.

After a few days, Xu Zhi noticed their caravan traveling between two cities, engaging in speculative buying and selling. With Mohawk's help, they found a remote location and began operating a small bar named "Phoebe."

Xu Zhi remained calm and composed, helping to run the shop. Each day, he continued his cultivation, cooked delicious food, and chatted with the customers who came and went, using these interactions to temper his Dao heart.

Greeting customers and listening to their lives aligned with his path and fit his state of mind.

However, this was a slow, painstaking process. Time flowed by as Xu Zhi calmly cultivated, and in the blink of an eye, another decade passed. The war had entered a stalemate, with neither side able to gain an advantage, resulting in heavy casualties.

"The Ancient Barren World only has a dozen or so Monarch Emperors, but they are incredibly fierce! Each is invincible within their own realm! As for the Immortal World, the Shushan disciples are said to be mere mortals without inherent power, yet at twenty or thirty years old, they possess considerable combat strength, capable of reaching Tier 4. Every single one of them is a super assassin."

"Isn't that an exaggeration?" someone exclaimed, finding it unbelievable. "Reaching that level at only twenty or thirty years old?"

"It's no exaggeration," the old man, sipping his ale, chatted fluently. "They reportedly need vast amounts of materials for sword forging. For the war, an entire world's resources have been poured into Shushan, becoming a bottomless pit... It's like exchanging enormous resources for time. Moreover, those mortals, after depleting immense resources, are subject to birth, aging, sickness, and death; they only shine brilliantly for a few decades. It's simply wasteful."

"I heard that the Great Confucian Hu Ren-nong from that world is even more incredible; he's an immortal being," someone remarked, pleased to share this information.

"Immortal?!" The people around looked shocked. How could anyone be immortal?

"That world is fantastical, but their weakness has been discovered: their power comes from their nation's people. If you slaughter their civilian base, they become rootless duckweed!"

"Hu Ren-nong, the Great Zhou Dynasty, Wen Liujian, Shushan..." Standing in the bar, Xu Zhi listened to the customers' discussions, as if he could see the earth-shattering war from afar. Sword Immortals flew, transforming into meteors; Great Confucians possessed heaven-defying combat power, unafraid of death; and Monarch Emperors roared in kind, as both sides clashed. This was a battle where the Heavenly Emperors and Great Emperors of both sides fought to the death for their chance at godhood, and also for the worlds behind them.