Chapter 1073: This leader position should be mine

Lu Yang observed the two Spirit Chefs, feeling like they were meeting secretly on the street.

Could it be that an unintentional movement I made earlier happened to be their secret signal?

Let's find out.

Thinking this, Lu Yang put on a warm smile: "I was delayed a bit on the way, but fortunately, I still made it."

"Sister Mengmeng, I have something to attend to, so I won't be joining you for shopping. Let's meet at the inn tonight."

"Alright." Yun Mengmeng found this change perplexing, but since the Second Boss had said so, she didn't press for details.

"Please, fellow Daoist." One of the Spirit Chefs gestured for Lu Yang to follow him, while the other remained at the stall.

Lu Yang swept his divine sense over them and discovered that both Spirit Chefs were at the Soul Transformation stage, and each had two ram horns on their heads.

Were they from the Ram tribe?

"They're from the Gluttonous Tribe," Immortal Yun said. Lu Yang wasn't familiar enough with the Gluttonous Tribe to discern their origins, but she was very familiar with them.

"The Gluttonous Tribe? Did they realize I used the Heaven-Devouring Earth-Swallowing technique earlier and mistake me for one of them?"

Lu Yang quickly understood the crux of the matter.

If eating dirt was the secret signal, then only those who could use the Heaven-Devouring Earth-Swallowing technique could consume it. By contrast, someone like Yun Mengmeng, who simply ate it directly, would be deemed an outsider.

Lu Yang followed one of the Spirit Chefs out of the market. They opened a hidden door and entered a crowded underground room.

After Lu Yang entered the basement, the Spirit Chef returned to his stall and continued stir-frying dirt clods.

In the basement, there were people with ram horns, others with different demonic tribe features, and some with no demonic characteristics at all.

Noticing the basement door open, the people in the back rows all looked at Lu Yang. Finding him unfamiliar, they turned their heads back.

"There are more than just the Gluttonous Tribe here?" Lu Yang was puzzled. If it wasn't just the Gluttonous Tribe, how did the other demonic tribes and humans pass the dirt-eating test?

"Perhaps these people have consumed the blood of the Gluttonous Tribe. Consuming their blood allows one to learn the Heaven-Devouring Earth-Swallowing technique, though the resulting effect is definitely not as potent as that of the Gluttonous Tribe themselves."

"And after consuming the Gluttonous Tribe's blood, the Gluttonous Tribe gains a suppressive power over them. It's a common tactic the Gluttonous Tribe uses to build factions."

"I see."

"The time has come; everyone should be here," said the middle-aged horned cultivator standing at the front.

"Is that person Jin Tan, the patriarch of the Gluttonous Tribe?" Lu Yang vaguely remembered seeing him once at the founding ceremony of the Demon Kingdom. He was a Tribulation Transcending stage Demon Emperor, ranking among the top ten strongest in the Demon Realm and a crucial minister of the Demon Kingdom.

As soon as Jin Tan spoke, the crowd immediately fell silent.

Jin Tan looked at the crowd and slowly began: "You should all more or less know the purpose of my summoning you."

The crowd looked at Jin Tan, standing elevated, their eyes burning with fervor, fists clenched tightly, as if ready to go through fire and water for their ideals at any moment.

Lu Yang also had to feign this expression, his acting convincingly realistic.

Jin Tan was very satisfied with the crowd's reaction; to achieve great things, the help of these people was indispensable.

"Currently, our leader is muddle-headed and autocratic, disregarding others' advice, even allowing this Spirit Chef Competition to be held in Demon City. This is utterly outrageous!"

"And look at the organization now: internal management is chaotic, the leader practices laissez-faire, unwilling to manage, allowing internal strife to consume our strength!"

"The organization's current scale was not easily achieved, but if the leader continues to manage it this way, it will surely head towards decline!"

Jin Tan scanned the crowd. He was very skilled at observing people, moving slowly, as if making eye contact with everyone, giving them a feeling of being respected.

"You all come from the Demon Realm, Great Xia, the East Sea, and the Far North, from all corners of the world, each with your unique abilities. My Gluttonous Tribe has devoted all its strength for centuries to cultivate you, all for this very moment!"

Lu Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. Were they planning a rebellion against Zhu Tian? Could they have a Half-Immortal backing them? This was truly interesting.

Jin Tan displayed an expression of righteous indignation and shouted loudly: "Everyone, what should we do!"

Jin Tan's words were like a blazing fire, completely igniting the atmosphere. The crowd raised their arms and shouted: "Rebel against him, rebel against him!"

"That's right, Old Daoist Mingyuan should have stepped down long ago! This leadership position rightfully belongs to me!"

Lu Yang was stunned. Old Daoist Mingyuan? Wasn't he the leader of the Spirit Chef Alliance?

Only then did Lu Yang recall Jin Tan's other identity: Vice-Leader of the Spirit Chef Alliance.

Wait, so you're making such a grand fuss just to become the leader?

"To surpass Old Daoist Mingyuan, we must make him lose convincingly in culinary skill!"

"I have already devised a worldly delicacy that will surely surpass Old Daoist Mingyuan's."

"However, gathering all the ingredients is incredibly difficult. Four of them are stored in the Spirit Chef Alliance's ingredient library, but they are too precious and can only be obtained with the unanimous consent of the three Vice-Leaders and the Leader."

"There is an exception, however: winning the Spirit Chef Competition!"

"The Spirit Chef Competition is divided into five groups: Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, and Integration. The champion of each group can choose one ingredient from the ingredient library!"

"What you need to do is win the competition by any means necessary! Remember, by any means necessary!"

"Yes!" the crowd shouted in unison, making the basement tremble.

After boosting their morale, Jin Tan's tone became less fervent.

"There's one more thing: some of you have been diligently practicing your culinary skills but have never obtained Spirit Chef qualifications."

"If you were to take the Spirit Chef qualification exam, your abilities might be exposed."

"Therefore, I can use my authority to allow you to become Spirit Chefs without needing to pass the exam, and directly participate in the Spirit Chef Competition."

"Now, those who haven't obtained Spirit Chef qualifications, stay behind."

"The Spirit Chef Competition, huh? I haven't tried it yet. Why not take this opportunity to experience it?" Lu Yang thought that since he was there to report on the Spirit Chef Competition, he should naturally experience the entire process as much as possible.

More than half of the people gradually left, while the remaining smaller half, including Lu Yang, lined up to register their names.

"What's your name?" Jin Tan asked when it was Lu Yang's turn.

"Lu Yunyang."

"Good, next."

The mask Lu Yang wore was of extremely high quality; even a Tribulation Transcending stage cultivator couldn't discern its secrets.

After parting ways with Lu Yang, Yun Mengmeng hummed a tune and continued her shopping spree, eating to her heart's content.

However, without Lu Yang accompanying her, many cultivators saw Yun Mengmeng's beauty and charm and approached her to strike up conversations, which annoyed her greatly.

"So annoying, I can't even eat in peace. I'll find somewhere else."

Yun Mengmeng mumbled a few words, left the market, and wandered through the alleyways.

"This little shop looks decent," Yun Mengmeng thought as she found a small restaurant with a very new signboard deep in an alleyway. It didn't seem to have much business.

She lifted the curtain and entered the small shop. The interior was clean and tidy, indicating that the owner was a very neat person.

"Anyone here?"

A woman in a sky-blue dress emerged from the back kitchen, wiping her hands as she apologetically said, "I apologize, customer, but we've run out of ingredients, and the boss has gone out to buy more."