Chapter 65: Food Monster
Chapter 65: Food Monster
Chapter 65
Liyu and the group reached the nearest city, Ugrat City.
The moment they stepped into the vibrant city, they were immediately recognized, and many people rushed forward offering to do things for them, such as carrying their luggage... which they didn’t even have to begin with... or even offering to help hold their weapons; in short, the group was treated like royalty.
Well, in truth, that was actually very close to reality. The entirety of the Night Region was ruled by the three great clans... the Li Clan, Shi Clan, and Guan Clan... who controlled every city within the region.
Not only that, but they also served as the protectors of the people, who were mostly mundane humans, shielding them from the spirit beasts that occasionally emerged from the Beast Forest to threaten their lives.
Nor was it only spirit beasts; they also dealt with all sorts of dangers that the ordinary people, or the few weak cultivators scattered throughout the cities, were incapable of handling.
In one word, the three great clans were both the rulers and protectors of the Night Region, and every single member of those clans was treated like royalty.
Without anyone needing to tell them, the people recognized Yuexin and Li Feng at a single glance, as both of them were famous prodigies of the Li Clan; not only that, but the two anomaly brothers, Jje and Xie, were also well known throughout the region, and naturally, the people showed them great respect as well.
Liyu, on the other hand, was famous too; after all, no one in the entire Night Region hadn’t heard of the failed heir... the one who had supposedly caused the Li Clan to decline over the years.
So yes, the people recognized him as well, but unlike the others, they didn’t greet him with admiration or respect.
Instead, their gazes were filled with scorn, some even spitting on the ground in disgust, while many cursed him under their breath, careful to keep their voices low so as not to offend the respected members of the Li Clan standing beside him.
"Why is that trash and failure even allowed to walk together with Lady Yuexin and Sir Feng?" someone muttered, visible rage filling her eyes; it was as though she wanted nothing more than to rush forward and slap Liyu across the face several times.
Liyu, however, heard every single hateful word directed at him, yet not the slightest change appeared on his expression; if anything, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Was he supposed to be hurt because they hated him?
Was he meant to become angry because of the way they looked at him? To Liyu, none of that mattered. He knew his own worth and had never needed the approval of anyone else, though if they decided to seek trouble with him, then he was more than willing to break a few bones here and there.
Before hiring horses to continue toward Burnold City, which was roughly two hours away from Ugrat City, the group decided to stop at a restaurant to fill their stomachs; after eating, they would continue their journey back to the Li Manor.
Soon they were seated, and a waiter approached to take their orders. Li Yuexin ordered two sets of dishes from the menu, Xie ordered four sets because he was genuinely starving, and Li Jje and Li Feng each ordered one set.
When it was Liyu’s turn, he glanced over the menu, wondering whether the food would even be enough to fill his stomach; right now, if he was being honest, he was absolutely famished.
It seemed that the battle he had gone through the previous night had drained an incredible amount of energy from him; coupled with the bloodlust addiction he had struggled against afterward, his stomach now felt completely empty. He ordered all twenty sets of dishes on the menu.
The waiter completely froze, standing there utterly stunned by what he had just heard. He knew cultivators ate a lot... after all, the higher one’s cultivation, the more energy their body required... but never, not even once since he had begun working at this restaurant, had someone ordered that much food.
In fact, he had once served a Core Formation cultivator before, and even that person had ordered only around ten sets of dishes; back then, he had already been shocked that a single human being could consume that much food.
And now, this young man had just ordered the entire menu. For several moments, the waiter remained rooted to the spot, too stunned to react; only after forcing himself to snap out of it did he hurriedly nod. "Y-Yes, sir... I... I understand," he said, still unable to fully believe what he had heard.
"Everything, right?" he asked once more. Liyu nodded: "Everything." The waiter stared blankly for another second before quickly bowing and rushing toward the kitchen to relay the order.
After he left, Yuexin and the others all turned to look at Liyu, their expressions carrying the exact same question: *Can he really eat that much?* Seeing the looks on their faces, Liyu merely smiled faintly.
"I kind of eat a lot; my body needs a huge amount of energy, you know." The group exchanged glances, all wearing dumbfounded expressions.
Of course, they were cultivators too, and they knew perfectly well that they required far more energy than ordinary humans; but even they knew there was absolutely no way they themselves could finish what Liyu had just ordered. It was simply too much food, and still, none of them said another word.
Deep down, however, they all believed Liyu wouldn’t be able to finish everything... he would probably eat a quarter of it, half at most. That was what every single one of them believed. Their belief, however, was completely shattered only a few minutes later.
-----
Li Yuexin wasn’t eating, and neither were Li Feng, Li Xie, or Li Jje; not only them, but everyone inside the large restaurant had also stopped eating.
Every single gaze was locked onto Liyu, who was currently devouring what looked like a mountain of food at an absolutely frightening speed. He was stuffing dish after dish into his mouth like a starving wolf that hadn’t eaten in months.
"What is he?"
The waiter and everyone inside the restaurant had already stepped outside, all staring at the unbelievable scene before them; one after another, they all sucked in deep breaths. They were completely shocked, that much was certain.
How could a human eat so much? It was simply unreal. Still, Liyu paid them no attention whatsoever; he remained completely focused on his food. After a while, he finished everything.
Li Xie, still utterly astonished, spoke with a tone that made it clear he was only being sarcastic: "Still hungry? Don’t worry, we got you; you can order some more." Yet to his dismay, Liyu looked delighted to hear those words, and in fact, his eyes even lit up.
"Really? You guys sure have money after all," he grinned happily before turning toward the waiter. "Hey, bring me another full set." Li Xie’s face twitched so violently it almost looked like he was having a seizure, and the rest of the people nearly fainted... especially the waiter who had taken the order.
The moment he heard Liyu asking for another full set, his eyes rolled backward and he collapsed onto the floor on the spot. After the poor guy fainted, another waiter was hurriedly brought over; he nervously took the order, and soon another full set of dishes was placed before Liyu.
Without the slightest hesitation, Liyu immediately began eating again. Soon he had already devoured half of the new set, and more and more people fainted from the sheer absurdity of what they were witnessing.
By the time he finished the entire set, and then proceeded to order yet another complete set of dishes, even the new waiter had no choice but to faint on the spot.
Li Feng and Li Yuexin, who had maintained their composure for so long, couldn’t help but feel their eyes twitch uncontrollably at the unbelievable sight before them. Just what kind of stomach did Liyu possess?
After eating for quite a while longer, Liyu was finally satisfied after finishing the sixth complete set.
Even Li Yuexin herself could no longer remain calm after witnessing what had happened today; she couldn’t help but wonder whether Liyu had somehow been possessed by a food monster.
Even after everything was over, the Xie and Jje brothers looked as though they were about to faint; perhaps the only reason they had managed to stay conscious instead of collapsing like everyone else was because they were cultivators.
Even so, both of them remained utterly shocked by what they had witnessed; they were certain they would never forget today’s scene for the rest of their lives.
After a while, the group left the restaurant, leaving behind dozens of unconscious waiters and countless stunned customers.
They mounted horses and rode all the way toward Burnold City; after about one and a half hours of traveling at maximum speed, they finally arrived at Burnold City, the home of the Li Clan.
The people here showed even greater respect toward members of the Li Clan; of course, the scorn Liyu received here was also far greater than what he had experienced back in Ugrat City.
But just as before, he paid absolutely no attention to them. Instead, all of his thoughts remained fixed on his plan. It hadn’t changed; he was going to do something that would cause him to be legally disowned, severing all ties with the Li Clan. Only then would he finally be free to do whatever he wished.
The group continued forward until they arrived before the largest building in the entirety of Burnold City. It stretched for several kilometers in length and covered an enormous area; naturally, this was none other than the Li Manor... the place where every member and disciple of the Li Clan resided.
Li Yuexin and the others were greeted by the guards at the entrance with deep bows filled with respect and acknowledgment. When it came to Liyu’s turn, however, the guards merely glanced at him with contempt and disgust.
"Why isn’t he even dead by now?" one of the guards thought while glaring at Liyu.
Sensing the hostility directed toward him, Liyu grinned as he casually walked over and placed a hand on the guard’s shoulder.
"A prey shouldn’t dare bare its fangs at a predator... or it might never know how it died," Liyu said with a faint smile.
For just a brief second, his eyes transformed into vertical beast-like slits before returning to normal. The guard, who was only at the second stage of the Body Refinement Realm, felt every drop of blood in his body turn ice cold.
His entire body trembled violently. "Y-Yes... sir..." his voice shook uncontrollably. Liyu beamed. "Good boy." He patted the guard on the head before casually following the others into the grand manor.
The guard, who had just felt as though he had stood at death’s doorstep, collapsed onto his knees, trembling violently while sweat poured from every inch of his body. "Hey... are you alright?" the second guard raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Just what had happened? He had only seen that useless heir whisper something before his partner suddenly collapsed to his knees like a frightened chicken. Did that trash threaten him? The second guard couldn’t help but shake his head.
Why would anyone take the threat of a failure like him seriously? He silently mocked his partner’s cowardice.
The first guard, however, didn’t even have the mind to care what his companion was thinking; right now, he was simply overwhelmed by one thought: he had survived.
He didn’t know why, but when he looked into those beast-like eyes earlier, he truly felt as though he had been standing inside the jaws of death itself. "I’m... safe..." he forced himself to calm down before shakily standing back on his feet.
Only one question continued to echo endlessly inside his mind: "Isn’t that man the failed heir? The one with the broken spirit root... the one who was nothing more than an ordinary mortal... then how could he radiate that kind of pressure? It was almost as though... he had become a cultivator."
Wait... the guard’s eyes suddenly widened in shock. He couldn’t confirm it, but he had a strong feeling he was right: the failed heir had actually gained the ability to cultivate.
Meanwhile, the moment Li Yuexin and the others entered the vast grounds of the Li Manor, a servant hurried over and respectfully informed them that they had been summoned by the Clan Lord.
Yuexin, Feng, and the two brothers all turned solemn; they knew very well that they had broken the clan’s rules, and punishment was unavoidable. "We’ll be back," Yuexin told Liyu before leaving together with the other three.
Liyu raised an eyebrow before looking toward the servant. "What about me?" Although she tried her best to hide it, the disgust in her eyes was still clearly visible; even so, she respectfully bowed.
"No, Young Master. Only Lady Yuexin and the others were summoned. You may return to your room until you are called." She paused before asking politely, "Would you like me to escort you there?"
"Nah, no need," Liyu waved dismissively. "Don’t worry. I’m not crippled." The servant raised an eyebrow, her expression practically saying, "But... you are."
"Just go. I’ll have a look around first," Liyu dismissed her. Even a mundane servant looked down on him; it seemed there were quite a lot of lessons he needed to teach the people of this clan.
The fearful gazes the spirit beasts had given him were far more tolerable than the scorn these people wore on their faces. Still, he was more than certain that within just a few days, every single one of those looks would change.
From the servants, to the disciples, to the clan elders; whether mundane or cultivator, it wouldn’t matter. It would only take him a few days at most to straighten all of their heads.
By then, they wouldn’t merely respect him; they would fear him. The thought of the chaos he was planning to unleash brought Liyu’s signature mad grin onto his face.
Those who happened to see that grin couldn’t help but feel a chill run down their spines.