Chapter 1098: Meng Jingzhou's Day of Suffering

Lu Yang gave Xin Ding a few instructions, telling him to cultivate diligently, and reminded Sacred Lord Tian Qiong to wholeheartedly fulfill his role as a teacher. He then drifted away as if he had never been there.

Only Xin Ding and Sacred Lord Tian Qiong remained, looking at each other in bewilderment. The strength of an immortal is truly unfathomable.

As Lu Yang was about to leave Xitian City, he suddenly sensed a familiar presence within, revealing a knowing smile.

"Excuse me, sir, what do you mean by this? You ordered our best gruel hot pot, but you've only taken one bite and now you're leaving?" The shop owner squinted, blocking the departing customer with a fierce expression.

The customer looked displeased: "It's unpalatable, and you blame me for not eating it?"

"Unpalatable? You're clearly trying to find an excuse to tarnish our reputation!" the shop owner roared.

"What, is someone dissatisfied with my cooking?" A burly man emerged from the kitchen, his arms as hairy as his head, his fingers still smeared with gruel.

The shop owner proudly introduced: "Our chef participated in the Spiritual Chef Competition. His skill speaks for itself, wouldn't you agree?"

The dispute quickly attracted a crowd of onlookers. The customers actually found the gruel hot pot mediocre, but the chef had a good reputation. If they were to say it wasn't good, it would imply their own poor taste. The customer gritted his teeth in frustration. If he hadn't been concerned about his reputation, he would have dropped his disguise long ago.

"What, if the food is bad, are we not allowed to say so?" A strong, resonant voice echoed through the restaurant.

A slender figure stepped into the restaurant, silhouetted against the sun. He took a bite of the gruel hot pot and confirmed it was indeed unpalatable—even worse than the last gruel hot pot he had tasted.

"It's Lu Yang!" the customers exclaimed in surprise.

The shop owner, still unyielding, scoffed, "So what if it's Lu Yang? As far as I know, the Dao-Seeking Sect doesn't even qualify for the Spiritual Chef Competition. What right does he have to comment on our hot pot!"

What the shop owner failed to notice was that the chef, the moment he saw Lu Yang, trembled like a sieve, not daring to meet his eyes.

"No right?" Lu Yang accidentally pulled back the cloth strip tied around his arm, revealing a sleeve badge embroidered with five golden stars.

"That's a five-star spiritual chef's badge!" a customer exclaimed in shock.

"No, wait, I've seen a five-star spiritual chef's badge before. The stars aren't this color!"

"You ignorant fool! This is the golden star badge, only awarded to those at the pinnacle of five-star spiritual chefs!" an elderly customer rebuked.

"What?!"

Lu Yang slowly approached the shop owner. Though he didn't release any aura, in the shop owner's eyes, Lu Yang seemed like an ancient behemoth, exerting immense pressure.

"Do I have the right now?"

The shop owner nodded numbly.

Lu Yang then turned to ask the trembling chef, "You said you participated in the Spiritual Chef Competition? Which group were you in? How come I haven't seen you?"

"I... I was a spectator." The chef, having witnessed the entire competition from start to finish, knew Lu Yang's identity as the Immortal Chef's successor and the champion of the five-star spiritual chef group. He dared not hide anything from Lu Yang.

Lu Yang nodded, confirming his suspicion. There were no spiritual chefs from the Buddhist Kingdom in the Spiritual Chef Alliance. Lu Yang then waved, calling out to the customer, "Old Meng, let's go."

The two then vanished from everyone's sight.

On the way back to their sect, as they walked through the desert, Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang as if he had seen a ghost. "When did you become a five-star spiritual chef, and the champion at that?" They had known each other for years. What else could this brat Lu Yang do besides grill lamb skewers?

"I just casually showed off a bit at the Spiritual Chef Competition and accidentally won," Lu Yang said nonchalantly.

Meng Jingzhou felt the Spiritual Chef Alliance was far more mysterious than he imagined.

Lu Yang, seeing that Meng Jingzhou was still in disguise, felt a bit puzzled. He pointed a finger, dispelling the illusion to reveal Meng Jingzhou's gleaming bald head, complete with six monastic dots. Lu Yang immediately burst out laughing: "Hahahahaha, you're bald? Have you really become a Buddhist Son?"

Lu Yang even tried to touch Old Meng's head, but Meng Jingzhou impatiently slapped his hand away. "Get lost, get lost," he grumbled.

"It's all because I received a mission about someone's daughter going missing in the Buddhist Kingdom. I followed the clues to find her, which required me to infiltrate a temple, so I had no choice but to shave my head."

"So, did you find the missing person?"

"Yes, but she wasn't actually missing. She eloped with a demon. I tracked their clues all the way to near Xitian City before finally finding them. I told them to return with me and marry properly in Great Xia, explaining there would be no trouble. But they refused to listen, claiming their love was about freedom. I was too lazy to explain further, so I just grabbed the daughter. That demon boy, who also had some cultivation, glared at me with red eyes and insisted on fighting. With his meager cultivation, he actually thought he could beat me? I sent him flying with a single slap. I delivered the daughter to her father, and on the way, I stopped by Xitian Temple to try their gruel hot pot. That's when I ran into you."

Lu Yang flicked his finger, activating the Longevity Art to help Meng Jingzhou regrow his hair. Meng Jingzhou soon had a full head of luxuriant hair again.

Meng Jingzhou happily stroked his hair. "Your cultivation has truly advanced, hasn't it? You can even use the Longevity Art without touching me now."

"It's alright. I've had some insights in my cultivation recently and made a bit of progress. While it's not a huge leap, I'm definitely stronger than you."

"Oh?" Meng Jingzhou's eyes flashed with strong fighting intent. "You've gotten quite bold since becoming a chef."

Lu Yang still wore that same smiling expression: "I can fight you with one hand tied behind my back."

"I don't need your handicap! Use your full strength!"

Meng Jingzhou took a Forget-Love Pill to suppress his desire, then roared, manifesting his Supreme Pure Yang Dharma Idol. The hundred-zhang-tall Dharma Idol, holding a spear and shield, looked majestic and awe-inspiring. Having Lu Yang as an opponent greatly excited him; he was in peak condition, performing exceptionally!

Then, Meng Jingzhou watched as Lu Yang unleashed the Heaven and Earth Manifestation, transforming into a ten-thousand-zhang-tall giant. Lu Yang took a step, his foot alone larger than Meng Jingzhou's entire Dharma Idol. Meng Jingzhou suddenly recalled something Lu Yang had boasted about.

"Old Lu, you bastard, you became an immortal in the Buddhist Kingdom! You're shameless!"

From above Meng Jingzhou, Lu Yang's thunderous, muffled voice rumbled: "If you can't beat me, just say so. Don't make excuses."

With one stomp, he directly flattened Meng Jingzhou back to his original form. Meng Jingzhou, covered in dust, crawled out of the sand pit and began to curse at Lu Yang, "Lu Yang, you f***ing..."

A beautiful woman in a sky-blue dress flew out from Lu Yang's body, stopping Meng Jingzhou. "Don't use foul language," she said. "The Elder is still watching from within the spiritual space. Even if you curse Lu Yang, you shouldn't do it in front of the Elder; it would defile their ears."

With that, Qing He returned to the spiritual space, leaving a bewildered Meng Jingzhou.

"Did you swap out the occupant of your spiritual space?"

Lu Yang sighed: "More like there's an extra person."

Meng Jingzhou's eyes widened. Was Lu Yang's spiritual space that popular? It was one thing to add tenants, but for such a peerless beauty to take residence?

The two left the Buddhist Kingdom and returned to the Dao-Seeking Sect. As soon as they entered, they saw Yun Mengmeng, Ao Ling, Jiang Lianyi, and Jin Caiwei welcoming Lu Yang back.

Meng Jingzhou remained silent.