Chapter 1367: Dao Heart, Oh Dao Heart

Chef Liu stood before Ye Zhangqing, face flushed red, lowering his head as he asked.

Hearing that, Ye Zhangqing's mouth twitched—'Senior?'

Chef Liu was indeed full of shame; he had previously challenged Ye Zhangqing with everything he had, but now he not only became Ye Zhangqing's loyal diner, he couldn't help coming to ask for advice.

Ye Zhangqing didn't really think much of it; challenges and other things, he simply didn't care.

As long as it wasn't something that touched his bottom line, Ye Zhangqing generally wouldn't pay too much attention.

If he cared about everything, wouldn't that person be living too exhaustedly?

"What is it?"

He replied with a calm expression; hearing that, Chef Liu asked in a low voice.

"I don't know what the ingredients we ate at lunch today are........."

"Huh??"

Hearing that, Ye Zhangqing looked at him suspiciously, not thinking much, and casually asked.

"You're a spirit chef, and you don't even recognize the ingredients?"

Upon hearing that, Chef Liu's face reddened even more—'Yeah, I'm a spirit chef,' but he truly didn't know what that ingredient was; he ran through all the ingredients he remembered in his mind, yet in the end he simply couldn't find a match.

He lowered his head even further, not daring to meet Ye Zhangqing's eyes.

Only then did Ye Zhangqing realize—'Yeah, no other spirit chef has discovered star beast ingredients yet.'

It's not really Chef Liu's fault.

"Star beast."

"Ah??"

"The ingredients we ate at lunch today are star beast."

Ye Zhangqing spoke truthfully, but it left Chef Liu dumbfounded; he racked his brain and still couldn't imagine it was star beast ingredients.

However................

"Chef Ye, isn't star beast inedible?"

"Who said that? It's just that you haven't found a way."

"Is it really star beast ingredients?"

"The remaining ingredients are still in the open space behind the canteen; go see for yourself and you'll know."

After learning from Ye Zhangqing that the lunch ingredients were star beast, Chef Liu specially brought his disciple to the open space behind the canteen.

He indeed found two star beast carcasses placed there, one of which had been partially processed—likely what was eaten at lunch.

"Is it really a star beast?"

Gazing at the two star beasts before him, Chef Liu muttered to himself.

So, what made him unable to stop eating at lunch were these two star beasts? Having lived so many years, this was the first time he knew star beasts could be eaten.

In Zhu Tian Wan Jie, almost all spirit chefs, when they first start out, are warned by their masters that star beasts cannot be eaten.

Such a notion has almost taken root in the minds of every spirit chef in Zhu Tian Wan Jie.

But now, Ye Zhangqing told him that star beasts can be used, and he himself has tasted them.

That taste is far superior to that of spirit beasts and demon beasts.

How could this be? For a moment, Chef Liu felt his worldview shaken; after studying culinary arts for so many years, damn it, it's fundamentally wrong?

Stupidly staring at the two star beasts before him, Chef Liu remained silent for a long time.

Ye Zhangqing also didn't care about this at all, and was unaware; after the mealtime passed, he returned to the rear courtyard, seeing Qiu Baiyi's grim expression, and inwardly sighed helplessly.

"She actually held it in? She can really endure it."

"Star beast ingredients, top‑grade ingredients, and she endured them all."

Ye Zhangqing felt a bit disappointed, but he didn't know that Qiu Baiyi, in order to hold back, was nearly at the breaking point.

Before, she had scolded Ye Zhangqing countless times in anger.

"That bastard man surely did it on purpose; today's meal is more fragrant than before, obviously aimed at her—hmph."

She had struggled with all her might to barely hold back, yet upon seeing Ye Zhangqing, Qiu Baiyi still quickly showed a faint smile.

"You must be tired—come sit down and rest a while."

"Yeah, the Elder prepared some new ingredients today; the taste is quite good."

She spoke as if nothing were wrong; hearing that, Qiu Baiyi clenched her silver teeth, 'Fine, fine, fine, you bastard man, you're not going to let me off even in words, are you?'

But having endured this long, how could Qiu Baiyi possibly give in? She said with an indifferent face.

"Is that so? But I don't like you because of your cooking."

Qiu Baiyi didn't fall for the act at all; Ye Zhangqing curled his lip, 'Let's see how long you can hold out.'

Over the next few days, Ye Zhangqing kept preparing star beast ingredients.

And the taste of the star beast ingredients instantly won over many disciples and elders.

They never imagined that star beasts could taste this good.

The two star beasts were quickly consumed, and this time, Bai Song Gu dispatched all three Great Emperor Elders together, who brought back ten star beasts at once for Ye Zhangqing.

Star beasts aren't hard to obtain; before, they were considered worthless, but now that everyone has tasted their ingredients, no one can just leave them be—just get them.

Anyway, a trip around Wújìn Xīnghǎi yields as much as you want.

Or Ye Zhangqing said not to be overly exaggerated, otherwise it would be wasteful; otherwise those three elders might directly bring back a hundred star beasts.

The disciples feasted happily; star beasts taste far better than any spirit beast—being able to enjoy such a worldly delicacy makes it worthwhile.

But the rivalry between Ye Zhangqing and Qiu Baiyi continues, and Qiu Baiyi is also stubborn, saying she won't eat if she doesn't want to.

Already several days have passed, and she has merely smelled the aroma without taking a single bite.

Ye Zhangqing even began to admire this woman a bit; if Yun Xiantai and Hong Zun were present, he'd really want to show them what perseverance means.

Just like the previous few days, after dinner that night Ye Zhangqing returned to the rear courtyard as usual, since he couldn't run away anyway.

I had thought Qiu Baiyi would still be as she had been the past few days, enduring the discomfort, but she would grit her teeth and keep going.

But when Ye Zhangqing pushed open the courtyard gate and had just stepped into the rear courtyard, he could see at a glance that Qiu Baiyi's condition in the courtyard was somewhat off.

Her aura was violent all over, fluctuating between strong and weak, her whole person had a vacant stare, and she was muttering incoherently from her mouth, not knowing what she was saying.

Huh???

What's going on? He hurried forward, but upon getting closer, Ye Zhangqing's face instantly darkened.

Damn it, this woman's Dao heart has collapsed.

Ye Zhangqing was not unfamiliar with the signs of a collapsed Dao heart; back when he was in the Dao Yi Sect, he had seen several instances of unstable Dao heart.

But damn it, Qiu Baiyi is at the Emperor Sovereign Realm; you've cultivated to the Emperor Sovereign Realm, so how can your Dao heart still be unstable? How could it collapse?

"Could it be that she forced herself to endure these past few days?"

Ye Zhangqing quickly guessed a possibility, and that was the only explanation.

Faintly, one could hear Qiu Baiyi murmuring from her mouth, very soft, not fully audible, but enough to get the gist.

"«You damn man, what I like is you................ really you................ not your cooking................ »"

"«I don't even want to eat your meals................ »"

Seeing Qiu Baiyi in that state, Ye Zhangqing's expression turned solemn; he turned and headed to the front courtyard, while muttering a curse.

"«Stupid woman, you even managed to endure until your Dao heart broke. »"

However, his feet didn't stop; he dove straight into the kitchen, where the sounds of cooking immediately arose.