However, the complex aroma wafting from the hotpot was simply too overpowering.
The mellow dragon essence of the quasi-emperor dragon meat, the trace of Nirvana True Fire energy contained in the wing root of the Zhuyan divine bird, the auspicious essence of the seven-colored divine elk tenderloin, and the fresh lightning breath of the lightning rabbit leg...
The fragrances of various top-tier ingredients intertwined to form an irresistible temptation, like countless tiny hands constantly scratching at Lao Huang's heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
He sniffed hard, and his stomach disappointingly let out several loud rumbles.
"It smells too good... Who could resist this..."
Lao Huang fought a battle within himself, his steadfast backbone tottering in the face of this ultimate culinary temptation.
"I will... I will just have one bite! Just a tiny bite! Just a taste is enough! I will leave right after eating! Yes, that is it!"
He ultimately failed to overcome his instincts and dawdled his way over to the table.
With a blur of his figure, he transformed into a dark-complexioned, extremely burly and majestic middle-aged man, and sat down in silence.
At first, he tried to maintain his composure, only picking up the ingredients closest to him.
But the moment the quasi-emperor dragon meat entered his mouth, it instantly melted into a warm current. The majestic yet gentle dragon essence nourished his limbs and bones, making him feel so comfortable he almost groaned, as if every pore on his body was cheering with joy.
At this moment, all thoughts of backbone and grievances were thrown out the window! To hell with composure! Just eat!
Lao Huang immediately switched into a ravenous mode. His chopsticks danced furiously, specifically targeting the most spiritually rich dragon and elk meat. He ate until his mouth was dripping with oil, thoroughly enjoying himself.
"Delicious! So damn delicious! In all my life, this old bull has never eaten anything so satisfying. What was all that grass I ate before!"
As he loudly and indistinctly praised the food, he habitually reached his chopsticks into a nearby plate of ingredients and picked up a large, finely textured, extremely tender-looking slice of meat that somewhat resembled the elk meat he had just eaten. Without even looking closely, he impatiently swished it into the boiling pot.
After swishing it seven or eight times, feeling it was cooked just right, he picked it up, casually blew on it to cool it down, and opened his large mouth to shove it in.
However, right as the meat reached his lips, he suddenly realized the atmosphere was a bit off.
Looking up, he saw that Gu Changge and Xuanyangzi, who had been laughing and talking just moments ago, had both stopped what they were doing. Two pairs of eyes were staring straight at him with an extremely bizarre, indescribable look, carrying a mix of teasing and sympathy.
Lao Huang felt a chill under their gazes. His movements froze in mid-air. He gulped and asked in confusion, "Why... why are you guys just staring? Eat! Hurry and eat while it is hot! It will not taste as good when it gets cold! I am telling you, this meat is super tender, it is definitely delicious!"
Xuanyangzi's mouth twitched uncontrollably. Holding back his laughter, he extended a finger and tremblingly pointed at the piece of meat on Lao Huang's chopsticks that was about to be eaten. His expression was complicated to the extreme, and even his voice pitched up: "Brother... Brother Bull... calm down! Are... are you sure you want to eat that? Look... look a little closer... at what kind of meat that actually is..."
Hearing this, Lao Huang felt an inexplicable tightness in his heart. He lowered his head, focused his gaze, and looked closely at the meat on his chopsticks.
He saw that the slice of meat indeed had a fine texture and an even distribution of fat and lean. However, that structural texture, that faintly exuding aura of bloodline origin unique to the Azure Sky Python-Bull King clan, which shared the exact same roots as him and felt incredibly familiar and intimate...
This... this was clearly his very own tenderloin!!!
"Pfft!!!"
Lao Huang acted as if his skull had been struck by a thunderbolt from the highest heavens. The entire bull froze. Then, he violently flung the piece of meat away. His dark face instantly turned red, then green, and finally swelled into a dark purplish hue. Pointing at the meat on the ground, and then tremblingly pointing at the hotpot, he shivered all over with anger. He could not even speak properly, leaving only meaningless syllables: "You... you... I... I... I almost... almost ate myself?!"
"Pfft hahaha!"
Gu Changge finally could not hold it in and burst into loud laughter, his shoulders shaking.
Xuanyangzi had also held it in until his face was completely red. Finally unable to endure it any longer, he slapped the table and laughed maniacally.
"Oh my! Brother Bull... why do you not... try it yourself... is the taste not... is it not especially authentic? Hahaha!"
Still laughing, Gu Changge picked up a jade bowl, filled it to the brim with a rich, milky-white essence soup boiled from dragon meat and various spiritual herbs, and pushed it in front of the mortified and furious Lao Huang, his tone full of teasing.
"Alright, alright, Lao Huang, do not get excited. Come, come, drink a bowl of soup to calm your nerves. What does this prove? It proves that the quality of your meat is truly excellent! Look, even you could not control yourself and could not help but want a taste."
Lao Huang looked at the fragrant, spiritually misty soup in front of him, and then looked at himself that he had flung to the ground and was now covered in dust.
Recalling his stupid appearance just now, acting like a starving ghost reincarnated and loudly praising that this meat was really tender, his old face burned with so much shame that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
Filled with grief and indignation, he ultimately turned his sorrow into appetite. He grabbed the bowl and gulped down the delicious soup to the very last drop in just a few mouthfuls. Then, he viciously began to focus exclusively on the dragon and divine elk meat in the pot. His chopsticks flew rapidly, as if he wanted to eat back the humiliation he suffered today with interest.
Gu Changge and Xuanyangzi smiled at each other and stopped teasing him. They raised their chopsticks again, and the three of them sat around this Great Dao hotpot, enjoying this incredibly luxurious feast.
After several rounds of wine and many courses of food, the broth in the pot gradually reached the bottom, leaving only the rich and mellow essence.
The three ate to their hearts' content, and the atmosphere grew increasingly relaxed.
Xuanyangzi let out a burp and picked his teeth. As if suddenly remembering something, he said to Gu Changge, "By the way, Junior Brother Changge, I almost forgot to tell you something. That kid Ling Canglan just sent word saying that the Glazed Holy Land... tsk tsk, they really paid a heavy price this time."
Gu Changge was holding a cup of clear tea to rinse his mouth. Hearing this, his movements paused slightly. He looked up at Xuanyangzi, signaling him to continue.
"They do not dare to come at us openly anymore, so they actually contacted the Netherworld Palace in secret."
Xuanyangzi lowered his voice a bit. Although there was absolutely no need to worry about eavesdroppers in the small courtyard, he still made this gesture out of habit.
"They offered an astronomical price for the Netherworld Palace to make a move. The primary target is to completely eradicate that little fatty carrying the Seven Stars Secret Order. The secondary goal is to capture alive...
Or at least severely injure those two boys, Ruobai and Hanyu, and search their souls to obtain their inheritances and... intelligence on you, their master."
As Xuanyangzi spoke towards the end, his tone also carried a bit of coldness.
Although he was usually somewhat erratic, he was extremely protective of his own. This move by the Glazed Holy Land had already touched his bottom line.
Gu Changge's originally calm eyes suddenly narrowed upon hearing the words search their souls.
In an instant, the temperature of the entire small courtyard seemed to drop several degrees. Even Lao Huang, who was burying his head in his food next to them, trying to turn his grief and anger into appetite, subconsciously shuddered and looked up in bewilderment.
An indescribable chill flashed from Gu Changge before instantly vanishing. It was not a killing intent, yet it was far more terrifying, carrying the freezing and absolute apathy of the deep cosmic void.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
