The Thousand-Faced Phantom Hand

Two hours later, as the last spirit chef placed a colorful Hundred Spirits Jade Potage into a warm jade cup, the competition time ended.

The five spirit dishes were carefully presented to the judging panel one by one, carried on special jade trays by Chen family attendants in uniform attire.

Ultimately, the most exquisite portions were plated in even smaller and more delicate jade saucers and delivered to the small table in front of Gu Changyuan.

Dragon Sparrow Burning Heaven Roast, Ice Heart Jade Lotus Root Brew, Eight Treasures Heaven and Earth Pot, Thousand Threads Exquisite Stew, and Hundred Spirits Jade Potage.

Not only were the names bizarre, but the ingredients used within them also varied in attributes and ages.

The five spirit dishes each had their own unique characteristics, excelling in color, aroma, taste, and presentation. They pushed the spiritual energy of the ingredients to the absolute limit achievable at their current cultivation realms.

Just by looking, Gu Changyuan could tell how profound the culinary attainments of these five spirit chefs, three men and two women, were.

The judges could no longer hold back; they began to carefully taste, score, and whisper among themselves.

Gu Changyuan picked up his jade chopsticks and took a gentle bite of each spirit dish.

High emotional intelligence: The ultimate pleasure of top-tier cuisine instantly conquered the taste buds and the soul.

Low emotional intelligence: It tastes very good!

After tasting all the spirit food, Gu Changyuan pondered slightly.

He already had a strong preference for fine food. These five dishes each had their own merits, making it hard to rank them. This caused his indecisive nature to flare up, leaving him unsure of how to score them.

After the judges below decided on their scores in their hearts, they all looked up at Gu Changyuan.

It was obvious that they were all waiting for Gu Changyuan to give his score, after which they would modify their own scores based on his.

To put it nicely, they were aligning themselves with a senior's perspective; to put it bluntly, they were indirectly kissing up to him.

It could be said that Gu Changyuan's evaluation would directly determine the champion of this event.

For a moment, many cultivators, including the five spirit chefs, looked at Gu Changyuan with expectant gazes, waiting for his judgment.

However, Gu Changyuan thought for a moment and abandoned the idea of giving scores.

I like all five of these spirit dishes.

He paused, and under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, he gently swept his right hand in front of him.

Five spheres of light, varying in color yet radiating astonishing spiritual energy and Dao rhythm, appeared out of thin air and hovered before him.

As the light dissipated, five heavenly materials and earthly treasures appeared before the crowd. Every single one was a top-tier spiritual item that was incredibly difficult to find in the outside world at their level.

Even families like the Chen and Su families might not be able to easily take these out from their inventories.

Gu Changyuan's gaze swept over the five spirit chefs; he had already discerned the specific spiritual root attributes of each person.

I shall bestow these spiritual items upon the five of you as a form of encouragement.

Saying this, he flicked his finger, and the five orbs of spiritual light flew accurately toward the five spirit chefs, hovering right in front of them.

The entire venue was once again in an uproar.

This generosity was simply too massive.

Not only was this senior unfathomably powerful, but his wealth was also terrifyingly abundant.

The reward he casually handed out consisted of supreme treasures that many cultivators could only dream of.

The five spirit chefs were stunned at first, then overwhelmed by massive joy. They hurriedly bowed deeply toward Gu Changyuan on the high platform, their voices trembling with excitement:

Thank you for your generous gift, Senior!

They reached out their hands, preparing to take the priceless treasures hovering before them.

Obtaining such spiritual items not only gave them hope of advancing their cultivation to the next level, but it was also a tremendous honor.

However, just at the exact moment their fingertips were about to touch the spiritual items...

Whoosh!

A blurry black shadow flashed through the gaps in the crowd at the outer edge of the square like a ghost!

Its speed was taken to the extreme; the vast majority of people only felt their vision blur.

In the next moment, the five orbs of spiritual light hovering in front of the five spirit chefs vanished simultaneously without a trace.

Having succeeded in its strike, the black shadow did not pause for even a moment. It once again transformed into a distorted afterimage and fled rapidly toward the outside of the square.

It only left behind five palm-sized, pitch-black metal tokens engraved with eerie smiling faces on the tables where the five spirit chefs stood.

With a few light clinks, the tokens fell onto the jade floor. The sound was exceptionally piercing in the suddenly dead-silent square.

It took a full two or three breaths before someone cried out in shock:

It's the Thousand-Faced Ghost Hand!!

That great thief! How dare he make a move here?!

The exclamations were like drops of water thrown into boiling oil, instantly detonating the entire square!

The name Thousand-Faced Ghost Hand was truly illustrious in Fengling City and its surrounding regions.

This person possessed a cultivation at the early Mahayana realm, specializing in the Dao of speed and concealment, with ghostly and unpredictable movement techniques.

His aura concealment techniques had reached the pinnacle of perfection. Earning the title Thousand-Faced, he was extremely skilled at disguise and stealth.

He acted with unbridled arrogance, specializing in stealing and plundering precious treasures from various major families and merchant guilds.

Furthermore, every time he succeeded, he would inevitably leave behind a Ghost Smile Token engraved with an eerie smiling face, pushing provocation and mockery to the absolute limit.

Because his movement techniques were too slippery, his concealment methods superb, and he never engaged in frontal combat with experts...

The major factions of Fengling City, including the Su family, had organized encirclements and captures multiple times, only to return empty-handed. They were even toyed with by him, losing much face in the process.

Over time, the Thousand-Faced Ghost Hand became a thorn in the side of the major factions in Fengling City, yet they could do nothing about him.

Who could have imagined that this audacious fellow would actually dare to openly snatch the heavy treasures just bestowed by the senior on such a highly anticipated occasion, right under the noses of the Su and Chen family heads, and even a mysterious senior?

This was no longer a simple theft; this was naked provocation! A slap in the face!

He completely disregarded the Su family, the Chen family, and especially that lofty and mysterious senior.

The moment the spiritual items were snatched, Chen Qianzhen's face turned ashen green. His chest heaved violently, and a berserk fury almost burst through the top of his skull.

Thousand-Faced Ghost Hand!

He roared through gritted teeth, every word seemingly squeezed out from between them.

Today was the grand assembly hosted by the Chen family. The senior's presence was already a massive honor, and bestowing heavy treasures was the icing on the cake.

But in the blink of an eye, the treasures were robbed right on their own turf.

If word of this spread, what face would the Chen family have left to establish themselves in the eastern part of the Southern Continent?! It was simply the ultimate humiliation!