Chapter 56

"Second sister, what would you like to eat?" Yunxiao brought the menu to Qiong Xiao.

Qiong Xiao came to her senses, didn't think much, and pointed: "This one."

"Shopkeeper Chen, another serving of Sauce Board Duck."

"My turn, my turn." Bixiao eagerly grabbed the menu, looked it over, but didn't know what to choose.

Suddenly, Bixiao glanced at the Ox Demon King waiting nearby, and an idea came to mind.

"Shopkeeper Chen, I want a serving of Beef Noodles, just the beef, no noodles." Bixiao said with a mischievous smile.

Ox Demon King: "???"

Why is it always me who gets hurt?

Chen Nuo had a black line across his face, inwardly complaining: "Just beef, no noodles—you might as well just have boiled beef."

"Since you've chosen, let's settle the bill, Xiao Kui—you tell them how to use it." Chen Nuo didn't answer Bixiao's question, but went straight to the point.

The Ox Demon King responded, smiling at the Three Immortals: "Grandma, Elder Martial Sisters, you just need to place your hands on it to feel your respective pricing standards, then place whatever you want the Crystal Ball to take on it."

Yunxiao, having verified this before, directly took out two thousand taels of silver and let the Crystal Ball consume it.

"How amazing!" Bixiao's face was full of curiosity.

"Indeed very amazing." Qiong Xiao nodded, but her gaze kept furtively glancing toward Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo wiped his face, looking at his clean palm, inwardly puzzled: "My face is clean—why does she keep looking at me?"

It was Qiong Xiao's turn; she placed her hand on it to sense.

"How is it? What is it?" Yunxiao asked anxiously, fearing that if it were some rare item, they wouldn't get to eat today.

"Two thousand taels of silver."

Next, Bixiao.

"What? I'm actually three thousand taels of silver?! That's so much more than Eldest and Second Sister!" Bixiao pouted, very dissatisfied.

Huff...

Yunxiao let out a breath of relief: "Good, good, the money is still enough."

Chen Nuo's mouth twitched: "Is this system doing this on purpose?"

Eldest sister one thousand, Second sister two thousand, Third sister three thousand—this is quite neat!

The Ox Demon King's eyes were full of envy; his essence blood pricing standard is fundamentally supply-demand mismatched—if only it were like silver, an external object, that would be nice.

Yunxiao also took out her silver and paid.

"Wait a moment." Chen Nuo said softly, then walked into the kitchen.

Although silver isn't very useful to him, each successful dish sale grants the system a baseline merit, so he won't lose out.

Of course, the greatest profit still comes from fee-charging treasures like the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

"I'll go help Shopkeeper Chen!" The Ox Demon King shrank his neck, waddling after Chen Nuo.

"Shopkeeper Chen, is anyone outside?" The Peng Demon King asked curiously.

Earlier, he peeked and only saw strong women he knew, but the other two were strangers.

"Nothing much." Chen Nuo said while tidying up: "Just two Great Luo Golden Immortal Peak cultivators."

Damn!

The Peng Demon King widened his eyes: "Shopkeeper Chen, this 'just' of yours is impressive!"

"Shopkeeper Chen is awesome!"

"Enough, stop flattering—hurry up and help!"

"Got it!" The two demons said in unison.

The Three Immortals found a seat.

"Eldest sister, you say—are the dishes here really that miraculous?"

Bixiao leaned on the table, speaking cautiously.

This Shopkeeper Chen is too formidable—just stomping his foot can injure Second Sister; she daren't speak too loudly lest he hear.

Yunxiao smiled gently: "I don't know either."

Qiong Xiao snorted coldly, eyes tinged with disdain: "In my view, as long as it tastes good, that's fine enough—awakening divine abilities? Don't make me laugh!"

Yunxiao didn't speak,

but nodded thoughtfully, also feeling it was exaggerated—what in this world could let people casually awaken divine abilities?

Chen Nuo, preparing dishes in the back kitchen, heard this, blinked slightly, then smiled knowingly.

It's definitely delicious—today's spiciness will definitely be extreme.

Flying Dragon Soup—sounds imposing, but as a dish from a past life, how could it really contain flying dragons?

The so-called flying dragon is actually a bird species, the flying dragon bird, known as the hazelnut chicken; its meat is tender and nutritious, an excellent stew ingredient, and Flying Dragon Yang also originates from this.

This ingredient is extremely rare—even after so many years of lottery draws, Chen Nuo has never won it once; each time, he exchanges merit for it.

No wonder Yunxiao really knows how to choose!

The ingredients were prepared in advance, and with the Ox and Peng Demon Kings serving tea and water, cooking speed increased significantly.

Earlier, Chen Nuo thought these two demons had Sun Wukong's cooking talent, but he overestimated them—these two goods only eat, eat, and have zero talent in cooking!

But they're still useful for labor.

Fire and food collide, producing elevation.

Bixiao suddenly sat up, sniffing, face intoxicated: "Seems like it!"

"I also don't know which dish Shopkeeper Chen is preparing now."

Yunxiao nodded in agreement: "It's truly fragrant."

Qiong Xiao kept her composure, head held high arrogantly, but the slight twitch of her nose seemed to be constantly smelling the delicious aroma, though she maintained a proper appearance overall.

Soon, the three dishes were done.

The Ox Demon King held one in each hand, the Peng Demon King took the third, and the two demons followed Chen Nuo out of the kitchen.

"Hehe, Elder Martial Sister, the dishes are here." The Ox Demon King beamed as he placed the Flying Dragon Soup and Sauce Board Duck before Yunxiao and Qiong Xiao.

The Peng Demon King said nothing, only hurriedly setting down what the Ox Demon King had placed, standing to one side—each of these individuals was either a Prepared Saint or a Great Luo Golden Immortal.

He, a mere Taiyi, trembled uncontrollably.

Upon seeing the beef noodles, Bixiao was greatly disappointed; although the beef noodles looked excellent, compared to the others, they were still somewhat too ordinary.

Still, it was much better than Second Sister's blackish duck dish.

Pinching up the noodles, Bixiao took a bite, her eyes instantly lighting up—she didn't even have time to say a good word before she began eating voraciously.

Yunxiao picked up her spoon and elegantly took a sip of soup.

But the moment the soup entered her mouth, the arm holding the spoon jerked violently.

Mmm...

Fresh!

The soup was clear and light, yet incredibly delicious upon tasting, instantly awakening the taste buds; as it went down, it warmed her throughout, an indescribable sense of happiness.

Compared to Yunxiao's satisfaction, Qiong Xiao's face grew colder; this plate of blackish stuff looked like a lump of wood charcoal—are you sure this is duck?

If not for knowing Chen Nuo's power level was profound and unfathomable, Qiong Xiao, whose temper was never good, might have already flipped the table and turned hostile.

Qiong Xiao couldn't understand it, but she also feared provoking Chen Nuo's anger; after all, she was no match for him.

I'll just eat a small bite, then find an excuse not to eat anymore.

Qiong Xiao felt angry and stifled, yet had no choice; after all, one must bow their head under another's roof.

Her slender jade hand picked out the smallest piece from a plate of blackish duck meat.

Still, this laughable Qiong Xiao remained unsatisfied; she gently tore it apart with both hands, wanting to make it even smaller.

But just then, she was stunned.

The dried duck meat, without a trace of oil, released a complex smoky fragrance as the flesh tore apart.

In Qiong Xiao's cold, beautiful eyes, a faint glimmer appeared—could this thing really be delicious?