Chapter Eighteen

The Fire Realm Restaurant, under a heavy snowfall, was bustling with numerous guests.

Inside the small kitchen building, Suozi was meticulously preparing dishes. Over twenty epochs had passed, and he had become one of the Fire Realm Restaurant’s head chefs. After all, the owner, ‘Black Butcher,’ rarely cooked himself; typically, the main head chefs and many disciples handled the cooking.

“Alright, take them up,” Suozi said, having finished preparing a Fire Realm Feast.

“Yes,” replied the waiting server, who immediately delivered the renowned ‘Fire Realm Feast’ to the guests.

Suozi then relaxed. As a head chef, he was responsible for important dishes, while simpler ones could be entrusted to his junior apprentices.

“Now that I’m a head chef, I’m earning significantly more chaos crystals. If I can last a few more epochs, I’ll have enough resources to attempt a breakthrough,” Suozi thought. Each time he counted his growing savings, he was filled with anticipation for the future.

“Brother Suozi, your brother is here and calling for you,” a voice came from outside the kitchen building.

“Okay,” Suozi replied, walking out. As a head chef, he wasn’t always swamped with work.

Suozi familiarly walked into a hall where dozens of guests were seated, with Suoyun occupying the main seat.

“Suozi,” Suoyun called out.

Suozi approached.

“Today, I’m hosting a banquet for many brothers from the building,” Suoyun chuckled. “You absolutely must cook personally! Your culinary skills are highly appreciated by all of us brothers at Thousand Mountain Tower.”

“We are all well aware of the Hall Master’s brother’s cooking skills.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Brother Suozi!”

The surrounding guests laughed heartily. Almost all those invited by Suoyun were Void True Gods from Thousand Mountain Tower.

Suozi smiled accommodatingly, accustomed to dealing with guests over the long years. “I’ll make sure everyone is satisfied. I’ll go prepare the dishes now.”

“You go attend to your work first. Come join us for a drink after you’re done,” Suoyun instructed.

“Alright,” Suozi replied, promptly exiting the hall.

“Hall Master Suoyun, why don’t you have your brother join my Thousand Mountain Tower as well?”

“Hall Master Qiu, you wouldn’t believe it, but my brother is determined to follow his master and learn culinary arts; he simply has no desire to join Thousand Mountain Tower,” Suoyun explained. Inside the hall, the members of Thousand Mountain Tower ate, drank, and chatted. Suoyun, as one of the thirty-nine Hall Masters of Thousand Mountain Tower, clearly held a high position.

Suozi returned to the kitchen building and checked the communication token, which displayed a detailed menu. While some simple dishes were assigned to his junior apprentices, he would personally prepare many of the main courses.

“After more than twenty epochs in Huyang City, Suoyun has completely changed,” Suozi thought. Having grown up with Suoyun in the same tribe, Suozi could sense the transformation in Huyang City. “It’s hard for me to tell what’s true and what’s false in anything he says now.”

“He frequently visits the Fire Realm Restaurant, not because of me, but to potentially encounter Lord Luohe,” Suozi knew this well. “His recruitment by the dark force, Thousand Mountain Tower, and his promotion to Hall Master were also due to Lord Luohe.”

Over those twenty-plus epochs, as Suozi welcomed and saw off countless guests, he could sense Lord Luohe’s intangible influence.

Thanks to Lord Luohe, many Eternal True Gods were willing to frequent the Fire Realm Restaurant.

Thanks to Lord Luohe, the Fire Realm Restaurant had expanded several times over, and business had boomed significantly.

And thanks to Lord Luohe, Suozi himself received great cultivation from the owner.

“Lord Luohe has arrived!” Suddenly, the servers of the Fire Realm Restaurant became excited, passing the message among themselves.

“Lord Luohe is here?” Suozi also looked outside the small building and immediately saw three figures—Luo Feng, Moluosa, and Moyu Qingyan—descending in the distance. The owner, ‘Black Butcher,’ had already stepped forward to greet them.

“Venerable One,” Black Butcher greeted with immense enthusiasm and respect.

He, too, had traversed the cycles of reincarnation to arrive at the Origin Continent and had struggled arduously to reach his current state. It was precisely because Luo Feng enjoyed visiting the Fire Realm Restaurant that his life had significantly improved, allowing him to rapidly accumulate resources over the past twenty-plus epochs.

He didn’t care about being humble; what he feared was seeing no hope. For a long time managing the restaurant, he had been exploited by dark forces, often earning little and sometimes even losing money on bad days.

The prosperity of these past twenty-plus epochs had yielded more accumulated wealth than all the time before combined, naturally enabling him to purchase resources to aid his cultivation.

“Black Butcher, your Fire Realm Feasts are getting more and more incredible,” Luo Feng chuckled. “I haven’t been here in a while, and my mouth is watering.”

“It is my honor that the Venerable One enjoys it. I will get to cooking immediately and strive to make it even better,” Black Butcher said with a wide, earnest grin. “Venerable Entropy and the others are in their usual spot.”

Luo Feng nodded and flew towards the familiar, secluded small building.

As he flew, some servers at the Fire Realm Restaurant showed him great respect, as did many guests, among whom was the deferential and fawning Suoyun.

“This is Suoyun, who actually joined a dark force. He and Suozi… are on completely different paths,” Luo Feng thought, his gaze sweeping over the scene, naturally noting all faces.

Luo Feng still paid considerable attention to both Suozi and Suoyun.

After all, they were among the first beings he saved upon arriving at the Origin Continent, and they had also arrived in Huyang City at the same time as him. Luo Feng had high hopes for their future development.

However, their involvement with dark forces was something Luo Feng disliked.

“Whoosh.”

Luo Feng flew to the secluded small building.

“Brother Luohe,” Entropy Tianyan and another Eternal True God, Sang Shuiyun, were already waiting at the entrance.

Moyu Qingyan stood guard outside the small building.

Moluosa, feeling relaxed, walked alone to a nearby small building and instructed Black Butcher: “Arrange some food and drink for me; you know my taste.”

“Don’t worry, I understand,” Black Butcher replied, immediately making arrangements. After spending so much time together, he sensed that the servant ‘Luosa’ had an unusual relationship with Lord Luohe.

Immediately, Black Butcher, invigorated, began to adjust his mindset; he intended to put all his effort into preparing a Fire Realm Feast. After all, Lord Luohe was his most important guest, and he had to serve him perfectly.

From a distance, Suoyun, who had watched Luo Feng enter the small building, narrowed his eyes in thought.

“Hall Master Suoyun, is that truly Lord Luohe?” Hall Master Qiu asked, gazing from afar with envy and awe in his eyes. As a core member of the dark force ‘Thousand Mountain Tower,’ Hall Master Qiu knew very well that Lord Luohe was the paramount existence in Huyang City; even the five great families had to restrain themselves in his presence.

“Indeed. It was Lord Luohe who saved my life back then. If not for him, my brother and I would have long been dead,” Suoyun said with admiration.

Inside the secluded small building.

Luo Feng, Entropy Tianyan, and Sang Shuiyun sat down.

Entropy Tianyan chuckled, “Brother Luohe, when you sought me out, Sang Shuiyun and I just happened to be at this Fire Realm Restaurant.”

“You two certainly have a good relationship, always going in and out together,” Luo Feng teased.

There were only two Eternal True Gods in all of Huyang City enamored with the ‘Dream Flower Tower Master’: Entropy Tianyan and Sang Shuiyun. Though they were supposedly love rivals, their relationship was actually quite good.

“When Brother Entropy and I first arrived in Huyang City, we were both alone and unburdened; that’s when we met,” Sang Shuiyun said, shaking his head. “Now, I’m still carefree and unattached, but he, on the other hand, established the Tianyan Sect, painstakingly teaching a multitude of disciples. He’s accumulated a lot of burdens and made himself work tirelessly.”

Sang Shuiyun, who had wings, always exuded a sense of decadence and possessed a somewhat reclusive personality.

“I’ve invested countless efforts into artifact refining; I must pass it on, mustn’t I?” Entropy Tianyan said.

“Why must you pass on your own skills?” Sang Shuiyun countered. “There are countless artifact refining masters stronger than you across the entire Origin Continent. The loss of your refining techniques would be an insignificant matter. Don’t overestimate your importance; we are all just tiny, inconspicuous ripples on the Origin Continent.”

Entropy Tianyan retorted, “Even tiny ripples have their moments of surge. With your kind of decadence, you wouldn’t even qualify as a ripple; you’re just dust.”

“I’m dust, you’re a ripple,” Sang Shuiyun said, shaking his head. “Honestly, even if you want to pass on your skills, taking a few disciples would be enough. By specifically establishing a sect and having its responsibilities, how can you truly be free? Luckily for you, you met Lord Luohe, and only in the last twenty-plus epochs have you truly found freedom and ease.”

“Haha, I do have to thank Brother Luohe,” Entropy Tianyan said, looking at Luo Feng. “In the past, there were many things I couldn’t shake off, as I had to consider the entire sect. Now, the various forces don’t dare to go too far.”

Luo Feng remarked, “Brother Entropy, if you didn’t care about your sect or your disciples, you could be as carefree as Sang Shuiyun.”

Sang Shuiyun nodded. “He’s just foolish.”

“If you can’t speak properly, then be quiet. Brother Luohe and I need to discuss important matters; you can leave now,” Entropy Tianyan urged.

“Leaving,” Sang Shuiyun said simply, then rose and walked away leisurely.

Luo Feng watched Sang Shuiyun depart.

He could sense Sang Shuiyun’s reclusiveness; it was as if nothing in the world truly mattered to Sang Shuiyun, as if he were merely a transient visitor.

“With Sang Shuiyun’s temperament, I’m surprised you two became friends,” Luo Feng remarked.

“He and I are very similar,” Entropy Tianyan said.

“Similar?” Luo Feng was surprised.

To him, Entropy Tianyan and Sang Shuiyun had entirely different temperaments: one loved making friends, diligently taught disciples, and managed a sect, while the other was extremely reclusive, caring for no one.

“In Huyang City, I understand him best, and he understands me best,” Entropy Tianyan chuckled. “Perhaps that’s why we are both enamored with the Dream Flower Tower Master.”

“I don’t understand you two,” Luo Feng said, shaking his head.

Over twenty-plus epochs, Luo Feng and Entropy Tianyan’s relationship had grown exceptionally close, their temperaments proving compatible. Luo Feng felt compassion for the weak, and Entropy Tianyan shared a similar compassionate nature; otherwise, why would he diligently teach his disciples?

The two of them ate, drank, and chatted casually, feeling relaxed and at ease.

Suddenly—

“Om.”

A small cosmic domain appeared over the Fire Realm Restaurant.

Luo Feng and Entropy Tianyan both turned their heads to look, their gazes penetrating the walls. They saw ‘Black Butcher,’ the owner, who had just finished preparing the Fire Realm Feast. While fully immersed in his cooking, Black Butcher suddenly experienced an epiphany, breaking through his final bottleneck.

The source of laws he had comprehended naturally formed a domain.

“I didn’t expect the owner of this Fire Realm Restaurant to break through and become an Eternal True God,” Entropy Tianyan exclaimed in surprise.

“Just by preparing a Fire Realm Feast for us, he actually broke through and became an Eternal True God. This Fire Realm Feast must be delicious,” Luo Feng said, his mouth watering slightly.