Did this blood fly out of this woman's body? Why was she stained with blood? What did the woman do? Nangong Wan's heart was filled with doubts, and she looked at Nethery, whose hair hung loosely behind her, with a grave expression.

Nangong Wan felt like this aloof woman wasn't as simple as she seemed, and this wasn't just because Nangong Wuque dreaded her. Just the aura emanating from the woman caused Nangong Wan's heart to palpitate.

After Nethery straightened her hair, she raised her head and looked at Nangong Wan. She seemed bewildered as she wondered why Nangong Wan was staring at her. However, she didn't pay attention to Nangong Wan for a long. Instead, she turned around, went close to the kitchen, and stared at it with an expectant gaze.

She knew that it was time for breakfast.

A rich fragrance began to waft out of the kitchen shortly after.

Nangong Wan sat on a chair gracefully and crossed one of her fair long legs over the other, emitting the charm of a mature woman.

The impatient Nethery sat beside her and frequently turned to look toward the kitchen. She really was a foodie.

What dumbfounded Nangong Wan even more was that a black dog had suddenly appeared on the chair at her other side. The dog placed its paws on the table and stuck out its tongue while waiting for breakfast.

Nangong Wan, who was now sitting in between a woman and a dog, found the current situation quite queer.

What the h.e.l.l is this?

A short while later, a richer fragrance wafted out of the kitchen, and soon, a thin man walked out of it. He was carrying two piping hot and fragrant dishes in both hands.

The man was Bu Fang.

Bu Fang also had an odd expression on his face when he spotted the trio. However, he did not spare too much thought for it.

"Blacky, here is your Sweet 'n' Sour Meat Ribs."

"Nethery, here is your Dragon Blood Rice."

Bu Fang placed the dishes in front of Blacky and Nethery, then he glanced at Nangong Wan briefly before returning to the kitchen.

A short while later, he came out carrying two baskets filled with Soup Dumplings.

"This is a basket of Soup Dumplings. They're quite delicious and suffice as breakfast."

Bu Fang pa.s.sed a basket to Nangong Wan, then he took a seat and began to eat.

All the while Bu Fang had been in this store, he frequently tried to create new dishes.

This Soup Dumpling was a new dish he had come up with. However, he couldn't really be considered as the inventor of this particular dish because there were countless people who could also prepare it in his previous world.

The difference between a Soup Dumpling and an ordinary dumpling resided in the fact that after the dumpling is immersed in the soup, its thin, satiny texture would turn transparent and translucent. The interior of the Soup Dumpling was not filled with a thick broth; it was just filled with an intense fragrance.

Even if someone ate ten of these fragrant and delicious Soup Dumplings, the person would still not get tired of them. Hence, the dish was a good choice for breakfast.

Nangong Wan's eyes widened as she looked at the basket of Soup Dumplings. The steam and pleasant fragrance wafting from the basket whetted her appet.i.te.

The people beside her had already started gorging their food. That black dog was eating its food noisily, while the ice-cold woman scooped rice with her hand and stuffed it in her mouth. Her table manners were really awful.

Nangong Wan picked a soft dumpling with her chopsticks and bit into it lightly. An intense fragrance burst out of the dumpling and surged inside her mouth. When her mouth registered the delicious taste of the dumpling, her body couldn't help but tremble.

"It's really… really delicious."

When Nangong Wan swallowed it down into her stomach, she moaned because of how deliciousness it had been.

Bu Fang was eating from his basket cheerfully. He could have filled the dumplings with something, but he was too lazy to prepare what he could fill them with. If he had filled the Soup Dumplings with some special sauce, they would have turned out extremely delicious.

Lord Dog had already learned from its past mistakes. It finished eating its Sweet 'n' Sour Ribs at the exact same time that Nethery finished her last mouthful of Dragon Blood Rice.

It licked its lips, laughed smugly at Nethery, and returned to the Five Stripes Path-Understanding Fruit Tree. It lay down beside the tree and went back to sleep. Eating and sleeping was Lord Dog's daily life.

After Nethery had eaten the last of her Dragon Blood Rice, her gaze s.h.i.+fted to Bu Fang's basket of Soup Dumplings.

...

After Bu Fang had eaten and drunk his fill, he didn't start the day's business; instead, he closed the store's bronze gate and followed Nangong Wan out of the store.

They were headed to the city's southern side to sign up for the Magical Hand Conference.

Each family had a fixed quota on the number of people they could send to represent them, and all of those who were signing up by themselves were just vagabonds, doctors, or poison masters who weren't well-known.

Alchemists looked down on these kinds of people, considering them a dissident group. This was really the case because the most excellent doctor couldn't rival a single Spirit Pill.

In each Magical Hand Conference, many doctors and poison masters would partic.i.p.ate with the hopes of entering the top fifty so that their fame and reputation would increase.

Gaining a resounding reputation was extremely beneficial to them.

The southern region of the city was kind of flouris.h.i.+ng. On the contrary, only the center of the Heavenly Mist City flourished greatly. The farther a place was from the center of Heavenly Mist City, the poorer that place would be.

There were countless bronze buildings in the center of Heavenly Mist City, but in the city's southern region, such buildings were rare and few.

When they arrived, they noticed that most of the buildings there were small and old houses.

Nangong Wan was quite familiar with this place, and with Bu Fang in tow, she walked down countless alleys. It was as though they were in a labyrinth. A short while later, they reached an extremely tall building.

"This is the registration center. For this conference, people with special gifts need to sign up here," said Nangong Wan.

Bu Fang squinted his eyes and nodded as he looked at this building.

A countless number of people clad in bizarre outfits entered and came out of the building. The aura emanating from their bodies wasn't powerful, but it was still quite strange. Some of these people were clad in gray robes, and they were emitting a gloomy aura. Some others had beards and wore white robes; these bunch sported gentle expressions on their faces.

These groups were poison masters and doctors. They had no talent in alchemy, so they chose to walk down another path.

Nangong Wan led Bu Fang into this building. Its interior was bustling; there were many doctors and poison masters inside.

Bu Fang was dazzled by the great number of people.

They squeezed through the crowd and walked for a long time before reaching a small room.

"Owner Bu, this is where the registration takes place. The person responsible for the registrations is an acquaintance of mine," Nangong Wan said, with a smile, before pus.h.i.+ng open the door and entering the room.

Bu Fang followed her into the room and saw a one-eyed old man reading a book. The old man seemed to sense someone enter and looked up from his book.

"Young miss Nangong, why did you come here?" The one-eyed old man stood up in surprise.

Nangong Wan was one of the Nangong Family's alchemists, so he instantly recognized her. Why had she come there, though? This was the registration center for applicants with special gifts and talents.

"Fu Ba, this is one of my friends. He wants to apply for the Magical Hand Conference," Nangong Wan said, introducing Bu Fang to the old man.

That one-eyed old man was taken aback for a moment; however, he finally understood why Nangong Wan had come.

"Fine. Tell your name, cultivation level, and profession." The one-eyed old man returned to his seat and took out a thick registration book. He began flipping through his pages.

"Bu Fang. My cultivation level is in the ninth grade Supreme-Being realm, and my profession is… chef," Bu Fang replied expressionlessly.

The one-eyed old man nodded and began to record the information.

"You are a… poison master?" The one-eyed old man eyed Bu Fang in astonishment. Such a fair and honest kid didn't seem like the type who would engage in the vile arts of poison masters.

Nangong Wan smiled and said, "Fu Ba, my friend isn't a poison master; he's a chef."

"A chef? Hold on… are you talking about those chefs who cook dishes in a kitchen?" The one-eyed old man was stunned. He gaped at Nangong Wan with an odd expression on his face.

Even a chef had come to apply for the Magical Hand Conference… Wasn't it really hilarious?

As the person responsible for the registration of people with special talents, Fu Ba had seen all kinds of doctors, poison masters, and even therapy masters; however, he had never seen a chef apply, till now.

The other special talent applicants would make medicines and poisons, but what would he make? Dishes? Would he cook on the stage?

When Fu Ba imagined the scene, he found it quite comical.

"Young miss Nangong… are you making a joke to amuse this old man? There is no point in a chef partic.i.p.ating in this conference; I won't register him in." That one-eyed old man believed that Nangong Wan and Bu Fang had only come to joke around and amuse him.

Bu Fang furrowed his brows when Fu Ba said he wouldn't register him.

"Is there a rule that chefs aren't allowed in the conference?" Bu Fang asked.

The one-eyed old man was taken aback by his question. There wasn't really any rule like that. Everyone that possessed special talents was allowed to partic.i.p.ate; there were no professions that were prohibited from partic.i.p.ating.

However, a chef? This was too absurd and ridiculous.

"Then register my name. Why would it concern you whether I win or lose in the conference?" Bu Fang asked.

The one-eyed old man raised his brows. He felt the kid somewhat overbearing.

However, he smiled coldly and put down his pen, then looked at Bu Fang and said, "You are really confident. I can register your name, but you must pa.s.s a little test before first. If you can't display enough skill worthy of partic.i.p.ating in this convention, then… get lost immediately."