As Bu Fang made his way back to the restaurant, dusk arrived.

There were no traces of human activity in the vicinity of the restaurant. Everyone had already gone back to rest for the day.

With his advertising board on his shoulder, Bu Fang walked toward the gate of the restaurant. As he pushed open the bronze gate, it creaked heavily. He dropped the huge signboard and walked into the restaurant.

Once inside, Bu Fang felt the glares of two people fixed on him. Nethery and Lord Dog were sat at the dining table some distance from the door. They glared at Bu Fang, who had just returned, with wide eyes.

The glares directed Bu Fang's way made him pause for a moment.

"What's going on?" Bu Fang asked. He pulled out a chair and sat on it. When the full weight of his body was transferred to the chair, he heaved a deep sigh and decided to rest for a while.

Today, he had prepared Barbecue skewer. It was a dish that required extreme concentration; furthermore, he had set up the Gourmet Array. All of that had really taxed him mentally.

Although the way Bu Fang cooked made it all seem easy, no one really knew the difficulties involved behind it.

"We are… hungry." Nethery licked her lips as she expressionlessly stared at Bu Fang.

Lord Dog sparkling gaze and hanging tongue made evident its agreement with Nethery's words.

"These two gluttons..." Bu Fang sighed, and then he stood up and made his way into the kitchen.

Nethery's eye twinkled as she watched Bu Fang's retreating figure.

Once in the kitchen, Bu Fang fired up the stove, and soon, a fragrant aroma began to waft out from it.

Bu Fang had cooked Dragon Blood Rice and Sweet 'n' Sour Ribs so many times, he could now do it in his sleep. It was now really easy for him to prepare these two dishes.

The fragrant aroma kept wafting out of the kitchen, and sounds from the Black Turtle Constellation Wok were audible in the dining room.

After a long while, silence finally reigned in the kitchen.

Nethery and Lord Dog were already waiting patiently.

Their gazes remained fixed on the kitchen door, and soon a skinny figure walked out of it.

"Nethery, here's your Dragon Blood Rice, and Blacky, here's your Sweet 'n' Sour Ribs," Bu Fang calmly said as he placed both dishes in front of the woman and the dog.

A glow flickered in the eyes of Nethery and Lord Dog, and they immediately began to gorge themselves on their meals. The manner with which the woman and the dog ate was somehow similar.

Bu Fang was not hungry, so he sat back down on his chair and watched the two enjoy their meals.

He had already advanced into the Magical Hand Conference's top 50, yet there was no notice from the system informing him that he completed the Temporary Mission. It seemed he had to advance even further.

The fame gained from being in the top 50 in the Magical Hand Conference was not enough, it seemed….

Bu Fang felt a headache brewing, so he rubbed his temples.

This compet.i.tion had affected his restaurant's business, and this displeased him a little, for this directly affected the advancement of his cultivation. Although his store being run in the Light Wind's Imperial City also supplemented his cultivation, Bu Fang was worried about temporarily losing his source in Heavenly Mist City.

Lord Dog and Nethery soon finished their meals; after that, one immediately crawled under the Path-Understanding Tree, and the other returned to the Netherworld s.h.i.+p.

Only Bu Fang and two cleanly-licked plates remained at the table.

He yawned and carried the plates back to the kitchen.

Whitey, whose eyes glowed purple, quietly stood guard at the entrance of the kitchen. Bu Fang patted its stomach and placed the plates into the dishwasher. He put the sleeping Shrimpy atop Whitey's head.

After that, Bu Fang made his way to his room. After taking a warm shower and drying his wet hair, Bu Fang lay on his bed and slept off.

...

Boom!

A shadow as large as a small mountain emerged from a crater on the ground. It was a bear-like spirit beast, which had a terrifying aura and incomparable strength.

A human shadow stood beside the enormous spirit beast. It was Xiong s.h.i.+ from the Magical Hand Conference.

"So that is Cloud Mist Restaurant? To think there was still a restaurant in Heavenly Mist City…" Xiong s.h.i.+ laughed.

His next opponent was Bu Fang, the biggest dark horse in this round of the Magical Hand Conference… a chef, nonetheless.

A chef… as Xiong s.h.i.+ thought about how his opponent in the next round was a chef, he felt laughter bubbling in his heart. He had never competed with a chef before!

However, he would not let down his guard because of this. After all, even Sorceress An Sheng had been defeated. Hence, he took this opponent seriously.

Sorceress An Sheng was a talented alchemist from Heavenly Pill City, and he, Xiong s.h.i.+, was an alchemist from Heavenly s.h.i.+ne City. Although they were from different cities, their alchemy skills were almost on par with each other. In fact, on paper, Xiong s.h.i.+ was only slightly better than An Sheng.

This was not because of his skill at alchemy, but because of his underhanded methods.

Xiong s.h.i.+ was placed higher than An Sheng because of his trickery.

Although Xiong s.h.i.+ was as huge as a caveman, he, in fact, paid a lot of attention to details and would always conduct throughout research on his opponents.

To know oneself and one's enemy is to win a hundred battles. After conducting extensive research on his next opponent, Xiong s.h.i.+ would then devise a plan to deal with them during the match.

Because of this, all his victories had come easy.

"Big Bear, this is our opponent for the next round. Why don't you use your paw and flatten this restaurant; since that chef is so concerned about the place, then this would leave his heart in a mess. When that happens, won't we have won already?" Xiong s.h.i.+ smiled as he rubbed Big Bear's belly.

The big bear growled in agreement. However, Xiong s.h.i.+ was in no rush; all he did was to stare deeply at the Cloud Mist Restaurant before leading Big Bear away.

…

The next morning, Bu Fang woke up early, as per usual. After was.h.i.+ng up, he went down the stairs and into the kitchen to practice his cutting and carving techniques.

Afterwards, he prepared breakfast and left the kitchen to serve the dishes. After the Netherworld and Blacky had eaten breakfast, Bu Fang opened the restaurant's bronze gate for business and saw a long queue already waiting.

In a daze, Bu Fang stared at the big bloke at the front of the queue.

This customer had a fierce appearance and extremely toned muscles, just like a bear. He had used a cloth to conceal his face, leaving only his eyes exposed; this kept his ident.i.ty a mystery.

"You… what do you want to order?"

Bu Fang looked at the person strangely. His heart was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with curiosity, but he mentioned nothing of it.

The burly figure stepped into the restaurant and began to look left and right, in curiosity. It seemed as though he was scanning every single inch of the restaurant.

Finally, he went and sat at a table. When he turned to look at the menu hanging on the wall, his pupils shrank.

"Order," Nethery said, with an expressionless face, after she appeared in front of the customer.

"One plate of Egg-Fried Rice," the burly man said after deliberating for a while.

Nethery said nothing. She only glanced at him and moved to the other tables.

After taking down everyone's orders, she made her way to the kitchen window and reported them to Bu Fang

The burly man's eyes began to dart around.

There was a Path-Understanding Tree in the restaurant, and a black dog and the expressionless woman stood beside it. This restaurant's design might be very simple, but it was also very rusty. It seemed the chef character was someone down to earth who liked the simple things.

As the kitchen was further away from the front of the shop, he could not see its interior. "This chef is also someone who prefers solitude," he thought.

The burly man took out a jade talisman and began to record something on it.

The eyes of the surrounding customers, swiveled over to him, giving him strange looks. This guy is acting so suspiciously, and glancing at Big Sister Nethery… What a creep! Is he not afraid of being beaten to death by Big Sister Nethery?!

"Your Egg-Fried Rice," Nethery said, in an aloof manner, as she placed the Egg-Fried Rice in front of the burly man. After shooting him one last gaze, Nethery turned and walked away.

Egg-Fried Rice? It smells really nice!

The burly man's heart fluttered, and he stared at the golden-glowing Egg-Fried Rice, which had captivated his mind. The fragrant aroma burrowed up his nostril, and all the pores on his body seemed to open. He loosened the cloth wrapped around his face a bit just to expose his wide open mouth. He used a porcelain spoon that had an orchid flower design to scoop up a spoonful of rice, which he promptly put into his mouth.

As soon as the burly man bit down, his pupils dilated!

"This… this taste!" The burly man suddenly felt as though his world was set to collapse!

After exhaling a breath, he took out his jade talisman and began to record. Each time he ate a spoonful of rice, he would record something, and soon, the bowl previously filled with Egg-Fried Rice was emptied.

"Owner! Another plate of Egg-Fried Rice!" The burly big man hollered after licking his lips.

Nethery came over and coldly said, "The dishes served in the store… can only be ordered by each person once per day…"

The burly man was stunned! Only order once?!

This showed that the chef was obsolete and stubborn. The burly big man recorded this into his jade talisman.

Nethery looked at the burly big man strangely, for she had no idea what he was doing. However, since he no longer said anything to her, she walked away.

The burly man often looked left and right, then he would record once more into his jade talisman.

The other customers thought the guy to be mentally ill… Perhaps not mentally ill, but a pervert.

The burly man tried to enter the kitchen, but he was promptly stopped by Whitey, whose eyes glowed purple.

When the burly man saw Whitey, he was astonished and hurriedly recorded into his jade talisman. A puppet no weaker than a Divine Physique Echelon expert!

Soon, the burly man felt that there was nothing else of importance to record, so he walked out of the restaurant in satisfaction, amidst the strange glances the other customers gave him.

All this happened within a short period of time, so Bu Fang had no idea it happened.

Cloud Mist Restaurant continued business as usual. After Bu Fang's constant advertising, his business began to explode to greater heights!

…

After walking far away, into an alley, the burly man removed the cloth around his head, revealing a very rough face.

It was Xiong s.h.i.+.

He gripped his jade talisman within his hand and laughed out loud.

"This information is enough for me to a.n.a.lyze that chef's character, behavior, and ability; now, I can come up with the correct method of attack! Victory will be mine!"

Xiong s.h.i.+ was extremely confident. After a morning of information gathering, he no longer considered the chef an issue.

"The real compet.i.tion was actually fought outside the arena, and it had already begun! Those who won the battle outside the arena would emerge victorious in the arena!"

As array appeared beside him, and a huge big bear emerged from within it. Xiong s.h.i.+ rubbed its belly and smiled.

"Big Bear, master has a task for you! Tonight…"