Chapter 1871: Entering the Hall

It was clear that Ma Qiankun was truly looking out for himself, and he also felt grateful for this kindness.

In the following days, Ye Zhangqing indeed did not go out of his way to provoke Zhang Wuyue, and he never even left the Heaven-Earth Fire Hall.

The two great fire halls seemed to have lowered their flags and silenced their drums, and the previous overt and covert struggles also came to a halt.

But everyone in the city knew this was not a resolution of the feud between the two sides; rather, they were all waiting for Ye Zhangqing and Zhang Wuyue's wager.

After all, they had staked their very lives, so those earlier petty squabbles naturally meant nothing.

This time, the competition for the pure-blood immortal phoenix became even more alluring because of Ye Zhangqing and Zhang Wuyue's wager.

And as time passed, the final time was set—for tomorrow.

The chief senior disciples of the major fire halls must enter the Cooking King Hall tomorrow morning, while the elders, including the other strong ones of Cooking King Immortal City, will monitor the match's progress through the formation.

At night, Ma Qiankun, who had been rushing about for several days, sat before Ye Zhangqing with an unsightly face, unable to help muttering curses.

"These old fogeys, each one of them is damn crafty with age............"

These past days, Ma Qiankun had indeed been constantly on the move, but unfortunately, the final result was not as desired.

Originally, those senior strong ones who had some acquaintance with him, when faced with his request for help, each made various excuses.

Both openly and secretly, they were unwilling to act, each intending to stay out of it.

They did not want to offend Ma Qiankun, nor did they want to offend Lin Longkun, so the best choice was naturally to remain neutral.

By staying out of it directly, Ma Qiankun and Lin Longkun had nothing left to say.

But regarding this, Ma Qiankun was furious.

Of course, there was another matter Ma Qiankun was unaware of: while he was running about, Lin Longkun was also not idle.

Having already known his own disciple's plan, Lin Longkun certainly would not stand by while Ma Qiankun busied himself without taking action.

Moreover, compared to Ma Qiankun, Lin Longkun's condition was simpler: just to remain neutral.

For this, the other elders naturally were more willing to accept Lin Longkun's request.

Thus, under Lin Longkun's covert obstruction, Ma Qiankun failed to secure any new help for Ye Zhangqing.

After several days of busying about, ultimately only Su Qingyue promised to lend Ye Zhangqing a hand when the time came.

Seeing Ma Qiankun fuming, his beard bristling and eyes glaring, Ye Zhangqing spoke to comfort him.

"Senior, putting profit first is only natural for people, and besides, I am confident I can handle this."

Ye Zhangqing remained very calm, and under his reassurance, Ma Qiankun eased his mind a little.

He wasn't worried about anything else; his only worry was that Ye Zhangqing would be killed outright by Zhang Wuyue inside the Cooking King Hall.

That would be a huge loss.

But now, seeing Ye Zhangqing so confident and having no other recourse, Ma Qiankun asked somewhat uncertainly.

"You brat, do you really have confidence?"

"Senior, rest assured; I would naturally not joke with my own life."

Seeing that Ye Zhangqing did not seem to be forcing himself, Ma Qiankun could only nod helplessly and give his instructions.

"That's fine; I have told Su Qingyue repeatedly that as long as there is no danger to life, she will certainly act."

"As long as you can guarantee to stall for a day, if things blow up, I will have reason to intervene."

"Good."

Ma Qiankun had always believed that he would definitely have to act in this matter, but he needed a reason to do so.

That night, Ma Qiankun gave many instructions, and even until the next morning, when Ye Zhangqing was preparing to go to the Cooking King Hall, Ma Qiankun still felt uneasy and personally rushed over to repeat his admonitions.

Ye Zhangqing, though helpless, patiently nodded and replied, recognizing this as concern for himself, and naturally would not be ungrateful.

All the way to the Cooking King Hall, because of the rules, only the chief senior disciples of the major fire halls could enter the hall.

Thus Ye Zhangqing came alone.

Ma Qiankun and the fellow brothers of the Heaven-Earth Fire Hall did not follow.

The other chief senior disciples were the same.

Ye Zhangqing arrived neither early nor late.

Upon passing the outer formation and entering the hall, several other fire halls' chief senior disciples were already present.

Seeing Ye Zhangqing approach, everyone's gazes fell curiously upon him.

Regarding this chief disciple who had just arrived, everyone was naturally curious, and right away they had made a life-and-death wager with Zhang Wuyue.

This time, it seemed only one person could leave the Cooking King Hall.

However, compared to that, the crowd still favored Zhang Wuyue a bit more.

Nothing else, because Ye Zhangqing is after all a newcomer, whereas Zhang Wuyue has been in Cooking King Immortal City for many years, surpassing him in many aspects.

Even among those present, some had secretly promised Zhang Wuyue that they would join forces to deal with Ye Zhangqing when the time came.

Faced with the curious gazes of the crowd, Ye Zhangqing felt nothing in particular.

His gaze calm, he swept a look around the hall.

The layout of the Cooking King Hall is not complicated; the interior space of the great hall is large, but it has been renovated into a place dedicated to culinary contests.

Inside the hall are many stoves built of the finest materials, and these stoves are spaced far apart, forming a circle.

Thus a circle is formed within the great hall.

And whenever there is a culinary contest, participants may freely choose a stove and compete within the hall.

At this moment many stoves are empty, and Ye Zhangqing had long known the rules from Ma Qiankun.

So after scanning the circle, he casually picked a stove and began preparing on his own.

While Ye Zhangqing was preparing, not long after, Zhang Wuyue also entered the hall.

As soon as Zhang Wuyue appeared, the other chief disciples showed a hint of glee at the spectacle.

Both main parties have arrived; today's contest will be interesting.

And after Zhang Wuyue appeared, he also did not disappoint the people present; Zhang Wuyue's gaze immediately coldly looked at Ye Zhangqing.

The killing intent in his eyes was completely undisguised.

And facing the killing intent in Zhang Wuyue's eyes, Ye Zhangqing merely gave him a faint glance, then immediately ignored him.

"Heh................"

Being ignored, Zhang Wuyue let out a cold snort, also found an unused stove, and began preparing on his own.

In Zhang Wuyue's view, after today, Ye Zhangqing will be a dead person.

Anyway, regardless of who wins or loses this bet, the one who dies will only be Ye Zhangqing.

As for how he evaluates himself in his words, Zhang Wuyue doesn't care.

Over time, who would bother to quarrel over a dead person?

Moreover, this is only the worst-case scenario; what if the final victor is oneself?

Zhang Wuyue is still quite confident about this, just like Ye Zhangqing; he is full of confidence in himself, which is also a mindset that a Heavenly Pride must possess.

If one doesn't even trust oneself, what more can be said about bearing the demeanor of a Heavenly Pride.