172: First Legendary Title

“Ding! Player Zhou Yan is the first to complete a Legendary-grade Feast, acquiring the limited title [God of Cookery (Legendary)].”

Feast Name: Creation Family Feast

Entries Gained: [Creation (Red)], [Chosen One of Destiny (Gold)], [Egg Carnival (Blue)]

Feast Scale: Stage 1–5

Feast Dishes: 5 Stars+

Feast Satisfaction: 5 Stars

[God of Cookery (Legendary)]: When tasting cuisine of Legendary quality or higher, you can obtain The Truth of Eating.

The Truth of Eating can be used to gain insight into the Origin of ingredients.

Current The Truth of Eating stored: 1

Storage limit for The Truth of Eating: 3

“Ding, Cooking Skill enhancement has reached its limit. Subsequent improvements require completing the prerequisite condition of Gaining Insight into the Dao.”

“Ding, Law of Consumption +30%”

[Law of Consumption: 30.001%]

Zhou Yan had just put down his utensils and was about to clean up when a string of messages popped up.

Immediately afterward, endless knowledge flooded into his mind.

The first thing that appeared was a prehistoric man clad in animal hide, raising a burning wooden stick high above his head.

That cluster of leaping flame seemed tiny, yet it illuminated civilization. It was the first time humanity had tamed fire, and it subsequently opened up countless possibilities for cooking with fire.

Roasting, grilling, boiling, steaming, braising, frying, stir-frying... Time flowed between the stovetops, and skill sublimated at his fingertips.

Eating gradually ascended from merely filling the stomach for survival to a ritual that brought warmth and happiness.

The Creation of every dish was not just the meeting of ingredients, but a collision of wisdom and civilization.

At this moment, Zhou Yan seemed to be strolling through the long river of time, personally witnessing every leap in the Dao of eating.

What he saw was not just the refinement of skill, but how civilization took root in the cooking smoke and was passed down through the taste buds.

The Truth of Eating has long been deeply embedded in the context of human civilization. It is the most fundamental survival and the most extreme expression.

“What's wrong with Old Zhou?”

Xiao Sheng saw Zhou Yan suddenly stop moving. Just as he was about to go forward and call him, he found himself instantly unable to move.

Looking around, one hand was grabbed by Shi Suiyan, the other was held by Wang Yao, and his feet were entangled by two forces. Sensing the direction, it came from Li Wenbo in the corner.

What was even more outrageous was that a lion was perched on his head, biting his scalp.

“What are you doing! What are you doing!”

“Murder!”

Feeling the pull of four forces, Xiao Sheng had the illusion of being torn apart by five horses.

Seeing him beg for mercy repeatedly, everyone finally let go.

As soon as Xiao Sheng was released, he stared at the group behind him with a face full of lingering fear.

“What were you guys doing? I was almost ripped into six pieces!”

Yuan Chenling rolled his eyes directly.

“Are you even a person from Kurong Temple? Even I, a Loose Cultivator, know that Boss is Gaining Insight into the Dao. How dare you go up and disturb him?”

Hearing this, Xiao Sheng's old face flushed red.

He had naturally heard of Gaining Insight into the Dao, but he had never witnessed it firsthand.

His master had told him several times to observe others Gaining Insight into the Dao, but he had always declined, saying, “I won't gain insight even if I watch, it will only increase my worries.”

Although he hadn't personally experienced it, he generally understood the state of Gaining Insight into the Dao.

“Doesn't Gaining Insight into the Dao usually involve a sudden inspiration, followed by seclusion for contemplation?”

He looked toward Zhou Yan again.

The other party remained standing, looking like he was just spacing out, with only his aura being slightly unusual.

But wasn't Zhou Yan's unusual aura a common occurrence?

Wang Yao and Shi Suiyan wanted to explain but didn't know where to start.

At this moment, a faint voice came from the corner of the wall, and one sentence ended all of Xiao Sheng's questions.

“Zhou Yan is innately intelligent and an unrivaled Prodigy. Nothing that happens to him is strange; rather, it's strange if ordinary people can understand a Prodigy...”

This sentence deeply wounded Xiao Sheng's little heart.

Why was the gap between people so vast?

Knowing that Zhou Yan was Gaining Insight into the Dao, no one went forward to disturb him anymore, and everyone quickly cleaned the dishes and sent them to the kitchen.

Yuan Chenling and Shi Suiyan could use cleaning Spells, so the dishes they were responsible for were quickly dealt with.

Only Xiao Sheng and Wang Yao were left squatting on the ground silently scrubbing bowls.

Halfway through washing, Xiao Sheng couldn't help but strike up a conversation with Wang Yao again.

“Old Wang, what do you think is going on with Brother Li?”

After this incident, Wang Yao and Li Wenbo had been upgraded in his mind to “Old Wang” and “Brother Li.”

Wang Yao carefully controlled his strength, wiped a bowl clean, and stacked it.

“I don't know, he seems to have been squatting there since you finished speaking. Does he have some special complex about eggs? Like not eating eggs, or being afraid of eating them?”

After speaking, he continued washing the next bowl.

But Xiao Sheng was highly curious and couldn't sit still if his thoughts weren't smoothed out.

Halfway through the wash, he decided to go and ask Li Wenbo what exactly had happened.

Seeing Xiao Sheng sneak away, Wang Yao tried to stop him, but he was already gone.

Looking at the pile of unwashed bowls left by Xiao Sheng, Wang Yao sighed helplessly, realizing he would have to wash the dishes alone.

Just as he was thinking this, Xiao Sheng returned.

“What's wrong, Brother Xiao...” Wang Yao was about to ask what happened when he saw Xiao Sheng's face was as pale as Li Wenbo's in the corner.

Wang Yao didn't dare to ask any more questions now, so he continued scrubbing bowls while secretly glancing at the other man.

After returning, Xiao Sheng didn't say a word, just numbly scrubbed the bowls.

Halfway through scrubbing, he suddenly bent over and dry-heaved onto the floor.

A Cultivator's Physique is special; food is rapidly absorbed and utilized upon entering the body, especially during the Foundation Establishment Stage, so he couldn't throw anything up.

After dry-heaving, Xiao Sheng trembled all over, slapped himself twice, and only then barely recovered, resuming the numb scrubbing of bowls.

Because he had left midway and hadn't been serious about washing earlier, Wang Yao finished first.

Before leaving the back kitchen, Wang Yao took one last peek at Xiao Sheng.

Xiao Sheng looked exactly like a puppet on strings, and the more he acted this way, the more curious Wang Yao became, so he also walked toward Li Wenbo in the corner.

A few seconds later, Wang Yao found another corner to squat in, also started dry-heaving, his face deathly pale.

Seeing that no one had returned for a long time, Shi Suiyan washed some fruit and brought over a few cups of water to check on them.

As soon as she reached the backyard, she saw one person squatting in each of the two corners, and another curled up on the back kitchen floor. Every single one had a pale face, looking as if they had food poisoning, which startled her into dropping her tray and adopting a battle stance.

The tray fell to the ground, and the fruit and cups clattered loudly.

Yuan Chenling, who was secretly eating snacks in the front, heard the commotion and rushed over immediately, guarding Zhou Yan, who was Gaining Insight into the Dao.

However, after confirming there was no danger, he looked at Shi Suiyan with a mournful expression.

“What are you doing, oh dear!”

Shi Suiyan ignored the playful Yuan Chenling and quickly walked over to Li Wenbo. She wanted to know what had happened.

After all, Li Wenbo was the first one to act strangely, and the other two only became like this later, so asking him should provide the clearest answer.

After learning the truth, Shi Suiyan's face also turned slightly pale, but she wasn't as wretched as the others, just slightly uncomfortable.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Chenling finally couldn't hold back his curiosity, leaned over, and asked Li Wenbo, only then understanding.

It turned out that the egg they ate was cultivated from the remains of a Yao Venerable.

The Calamity of the Yao Venerable happened thousands of years ago and was the biggest event in the past few millennia, so they all had heard about it somewhat.

If it were just the remains of an ordinary Yao Race mighty expert, let alone something cultivated from them, even eating the remains directly would be a great fortune for most people.

But the Yao Venerable was different.

Because... his true form was a maggot.

And his Law Divine Ability and path of growth naturally couldn't deviate from the nature of a maggot.

It is no exaggeration to say that just a little remnant of the Yao Venerable is equivalent to the sum of all existing filth in the Human Realm.

Yuan Chenling recalled how much he had just eaten, and his cat face instantly turned pale, his four legs went soft, and he foamed at the mouth and fainted.

At this moment, only Zhou Yan, who was still healthy and completely unaware while Gaining Insight into the Dao, remained on the scene.

Everyone else was deathly pale, sinking into heavy silence.