The attendant blinked. "Certainly. Anything else?"
ng Bai lifted the nu again. "Yes. The Azure Pepper Lotus Pods, two plates of them."
The attendant wrote faster.
Little Shrubby went next, eyes shining while Lin Mu translated. "I want the Spicy Cloud Hopper Stew. And a big bowl of Joy Cow milk."
The twins erged from Lin Mu's sleeves at the ntion of food.
"We want shinies! And sweets!" the smaller one demanded.
"No, food first," Lin Mu corrected, placing them gently on the table.
They quickly pointed at the Starfruit Jelly Glaze and the Honeyed Spirit Almond Cakes.
Cattaleya ordered enough beef dishes to feed a small clan.
Daoist Chu ordered modestly: Cloud Duck Soup and Spirit Wheat Noodles.
Elyon ordered quietly but precisely. "Garlic Shadow Rabbit Ribs. Extra crunchy." Finally, the attendant turned to Lin Mu.
Lin Mu smiled. "I will take... a bit of everything ng Bai ordered. And add a pot of Verdant Herb Soup."
Cattaleya slamd her fist lightly against the table. "See! I said he would start bankrupting !"
"I am paying for myself." Lin Mu raised both hands. "And worry not its just the first appetizer round."
Cattaleya sighed in relief and settled back.
The feast arrives
When the food arrived, it ca in waves. Tray after tray carried dishes that glimred with spiritual light. Plates hissed with steam. Bowls emitted warmth that could be felt just by leaning close.
Thunder Pike Grilled Fillet crackled lightly as arcs of blue lightning danced over it.Nine Fla Tiger Bone Broth bubbled with nine floating beads of condensed fla essence.Snow Silk Chicken Rolls shimred with thin layers of translucent skin.
The Starfruit Jelly Glaze reflected every color of the rainbow when touched by light.The Honeyed Spirit Almond Cakes slled strongly of vanilla and cloud
nectar.
Cattaleya's beef dishes ca stacked like mountains.Little Shrubby's Spicy Cloud Hopper Stew filled the air with fiery aromas that made lesser cultivators cough.Elyon's ribs arrived arranged like a fan, each coated in shimring black garlic glaze.
Then ca Lin Mu's Verdant Herb Soup.
The mont the lid was lifted, pure green light erupted from the bowl. The scent of healing herbs enveloped the table.
Everyone took a mont to admire the spread.
Then ng Bai broke the silence.
"Let's eat!"
The feast began in full force. The restaurant staff outside could hear laughter, clattering dishes, and Cattaleya yelling at ng Bai to chew slower because he kept inhaling food.
Lin Mu simply ate calmly, enjoying the atmosphere around him more than the food.
This mont, this warmth, this peace-It was well deserved.
An hour or so later....
The feast was already several rounds deep, and the table before Lin Mu's group looked like a miniature battlefield of empty dishes and picked-clean bones. Even the waiters, who had started with prideful confidence in their restaurant's capacity, now wore expressions of awe and fear as they rushed to keep up.
Lin Mu calmly swallowed the last bite of roasted Azure Scaled Boar at and set the plate aside with the elegance of a scholar finishing a poem, then lifted a hand.
"Another round, please."
The waiter nearly tripped over his own feet. "Y-Yes, senior! Right away!" Behind him, the kitchen staff were shouting orders, frantically tossing herbs, carving fresh beast at, and opening sealed jars of rare spices usually used only for nobles. Sweat poured down their faces as they tried to keep up with the monstrous appetite in the private room upstairs.
anwhile, Cattaleya was also devouring dishes like a hungry beast, though she was still behind by a full five rounds.
"Catt," Daoist Chu observed with a smirk. "At this rate, he will finish fifty rounds before you hit thirty."
Cattaleya glared at him with her mouth full of peppered fla beef. "Just watch. I will catch up."
Elyon raised a brow, unimpressed. "No, you will not."
The twins were rolling around on a pile of dessert plates, their mouths sared in colorful spirit jelly. Little Shrubby was sipping milk and nibbling fire-crusted mushrooms while watching Lin Mu with sparkling eyes.
They could eat a lot too, but today they were eating just for taste and not
energy.
"Master eats really well. This place might run out soon." Little Shrubby stated. ng Bai nodded with admiration. "He is like a bottomless cauldron."
Just then, Lin Mu finished the last dish of his twentieth round. A mountain of stacked plates sat beside him like an altar dedicated to gluttony. The waiter who had just returned with more food looked at the pile and visibly paled.
"S-senior... this is your twentieth round... is it not?"
Lin Mu nodded. "Yes. And this is the twenty-first. Thank you."
The waiter swallowed hard and placed the plates down with trembling hands. Then he hurried away to warn the kitchen that the terrifying custor was still
going strong,
Lin Mu was about to dig into the new dishes when his Sword Heart shivered lightly. Soone was watching them.
He lifted his gaze, eyes drifting toward the patterned lattice window on the sliding door. A pair of eyes looked back-familiar eyes.
Dongxu Ning.
She startled slightly at having been caught. Standing beside her was a taller
man with a stern but dignified face, a faint similarity to her brows and jawline. His cultivation was powerful, a steady pressure at the Sixth Tribulation Stage.
Lin Mu waved his hand calmly.
The sliding door opened with a soft sound.
ng Bai blinked. "Miss Ning? You are here too?"
Dongxu Ning stepped forward, suddenly unsure of whether she had intruded.
"I... ca to eat as well."
"Are you celebrating too?" ng Bai asked.
She nodded. "Mmn. I won second place. It felt appropriate to treat myself."
Before the mont could turn awkward, Cattaleya struck with the precision of
a mischievous viper.
"Oh? Then join us!" she declared with a wide grin. "No need to be shy. We can
cover the cost. After all, this is ng Bai's first tournant victory. A
celebration is required."
ng Bai froze, eyes wide. "Senior C-Catt, wh-"
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