Chapter 111
“As expected of the Light Wind Empire’s imperial city, it’s really festive. It’s much livelier than our lousy, far-flung sect,” Ni Yan muttered as she curiously scanned her surroundings. Her feminine body was concealed under her loose robe as she slowly walked on the imperial city’s Long Street.
It was an early winter morning. The sides of the streets were packed with hawking peddlers as well as small-time merchants selling various goods. It was unexpectedly lively. It seemed that even the swirling snow was unable to reduce the enthusiasm of the vendors.
Tang Yin and Lu Xiaoxiao carefully followed after Ni Yan for fear of losing her in the crowd. Everything was good about their cheap master[1]. Her talent for cultivation was so strong that she reached seventh grade Battle-Saint. Her culinary skills were excellent as well. The dishes she cooked were overwhelmingly fragrant. Even her looks were peerless. However, she had one laughable weakness and that was having a poor sense of direction.
“Xiaoyinyin, you should just run a stall at our sect’s plaza in the future. You might make even more money. You’ll be able to provide some liveliness to our sect as well. Usually, I don’t see anyone around whenever I leave my room. How embarrassing,” Ni Yang said to Tang Yin, who was following behind her.
Tang Yin immediately forced a laugh. Why would a sixth grade Battle-Emperor like him set up a stall at their sect’s plaza… He was not stupid.
“By the way, what’s the name of the restaurant belonging to that senior of yours?” Ni Yan tilted her head, revealing part of her beautiful face hidden under the veil.
Tang Yin was about to reply but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by Ni Yan. “Oh, since he’s such an arrogant fellow and his cultivation level is high as well, he should be running the most famous restaurant in the imperial city…”
Tang Yin wordlessly watched as Ni Yan went up to a middle-aged woman who was selling vegetables and directly asked which was the most famous restaurant in the imperial city.
“The most popular restaurant in the imperial city? Without a doubt, it’s the Immortal Phoenix Restaurant,” the middle-aged woman replied with a strong accent.
Immortal Phoenix Restaurant? Ni Yan nodded. After thanking the middle-aged woman, she continued walking forward. Tang Yin and Lu Xiaoxiao helplessly looked each other in the eyes. In the end, Tang Yin still opened his mouth and said, “Master, the restaurant’s name that the senior mentioned seems to be… Fang Fang’s Little Store.”
“What Fang Fang’s Little Store? He might as well call it Yuan Yuan’s Little Stall[2]. What a depressing name. Nevermind, we’ll go to that Fang Fang’s Little Store later. Let’s take a look at the most famous restaurant in the imperial city first. I want to try out their dishes,” Ni Yan seriously said.
Even though Ni Yan was the third elder of the Celestial Arcanum Sect, she was different from the other elders who concentrated on studying astrology and divination. She set all of her mind on culinary instead. She liked cooking using the meat of spirit beasts and researching new dishes. However, the most important thing was that she was a glutton.
She had an almost obsessional craze about food.
Tang Yin was at a loss as he watched his master swagger ahead of him. Their master would lose all of her self-control whenever food was mentioned. It looked like this Immortal Phoenix Restaurant was going to suffer.
Even though their master was fond of eating, she was even more picky because of her fondness…
The three of them soon reached the Immortal Phoenix Restaurant. The beautifully furnished restaurant was still packed with people. There were frequent customers coming and going and its business was flourishing as usual.
Even though one of the Immortal Phoenix Restaurant’s chef had lost in cutting techniques against the owner of the black-hearted store, this did not prevent the customers from eating here.
“Oh my, is this your first time honoring our restaurant with your presence? Please, come in.”
The moment Ni Yan and her disciples stepped into the store, the middle-aged but still attractive elder sister Chun approached while swinging her hips.
After Ni Yan gave elder sister Chun a glance, her mesmerizing eyes turned and looked in another direction, causing elder sister Chun to feel quite embarrassed.
After Tang Yin stepped forward and exchanged a few words with Elder sister Chun, she gleefully brought the three of them toward an empty table on the first floor.
As Ni Yan moved to sit down on the stool, her long robes slightly rose up and partially revealed her slender and fair legs. Then, her elegant eyebrows knitted together as she drew a line on the table with her finger and unhappily gave her assessment, “The hygiene is inadequate and poorly affects my appetite. I give a poor rating.”
Elder sister Chun’s eyebrows rose as her magnificent chest trembled… Why did these words sound so familiar to her?
“Bring me all of the dishes on the first floor that you think are first-rate!” Ni Yan said to elder sister Chun after finishing her assessment of the hygiene.
The sense of familiarity that elder sister Chun was feeling became even stronger. She could not help but recall the last time when a young man spoke similar words. That handsome young man who was always expressionless…
Good heavens, could this woman be here to find fault as well?
Elder sister Chun was truly terrified by Bu Fang the other time.
However, since that was the customer’s request… she could only follow them. Therefore, she arranged for someone to prepare the dishes.
While the dishes were being prepared, elder sister Chun gave Ni Yan an introduction of the Immortal Phoenix Restaurant’s rules and layout.
“So, you’re saying that this restaurant has three floors and the first floor is the worst?” Ni Yan asked. When elder sister Chun nodded, she stopped speaking after she softly replied, “Oh.”
After waiting for a while, the first dish arrived. A waiter with a white towel draped over his shoulder came and placed a plate of Red Braised Lion’s Head in front of Ni Yan.
Ni Yan removed her veil and her face that was so exquisite that would make one forget to breath was suddenly exposed to elder sister Chun and that waiter.
The waiter was astonished. His eyes were almost popping out of their sockets… She was simply too beautiful! Her beauty was comparable to the imperial city’s number one beauty, Xiao Yanyu!
However, after taking a small bite of the Lion’s Head, Ni Yan knitted her eyebrows together. She suddenly started listing out a bunch of flaws regarding the Red Braised Lion’s Head in a rapid manner. The waiter and elder sister Chun were dumbfounded as they woke up from their stupor.
Ni Yan’s actions reminded them of the young man who gave the Immortal Phoenix Restaurant a thrashing the previous time…
Even though some slight changes were made to the Red Braised Lion’s Head according to Bu Fang’s evaluation, the Immortal Phoenix Restaurant did not spend too much effort on the dish since it was a first floor dish. As a result, the dish was heavily criticized by Ni Yan.
The other dishes suffered the same fate as well. Even though Ni Yan’s appearance was extremely beautiful, her mouth was extremely cruel when criticizing the dishes. She was far more ruthless than Bu Fang.
Elder sister Chun was feeling very resentful after listening to her criticisms, and Ni Yan was planning to head to the second floor after finishing the first floor’s dishes.
Since Tang Yin had the money, elder sister Chun was unable to stop them. She could only hurriedly contact Qian Bao, because she felt this beautiful woman was more capable at causing trouble than Bu Fang…
When Qian Bao hurried to the second floor, Ni Yan had already finished half of the dishes.
“Hmm? This flower crab isn’t too bad. Even though the quality of the meat is terrible, the chef did an okay job with controlling the oil’s temperature. The crab butter was cooked just right as well… This one is still alright, when compared with the other dishes,” Ni Yan gave her assessment after having a bite of the Pan-Fried Flower Crab.
Qian Bao was standing on one side with tears all over his face. This woman was truly fearsome. She mentioned the exact same things as Bu Fang and even praised the places they revised according to Bu Fang’s assessment.
“Overall, the dishes on the second floor are much better than the first floor. However, flaws are still present. Let’s go to the third floor now,” Ni Yan said as she stood up.
After hearing these words, Qian Bao’s expression immediately turned awkward. Only those with venerable identities like the emperor were allowed on the third floor. The identity of the woman standing before them was completely unknown to him. It was impossible for him to let her step onto the third floor.
“I am sorry, but the Immortal Phoenix Restaurant’s third floor is not open to ordinary customers for the time being,” Qian Bao said.
Tang Yin and Lu Xiaoxiao were shocked. Ni Yan was stunned as well. She turned her head and her devastatingly beautiful eyes locked onto Qian Bao.
Qian Bao was feeling rather scared from her stare, so he forced himself to repeat his words.
Ni Yan was unhappy with his refusal. She coldly looked at Qian Bao and said while emphasizing every single word, “Let me go up, otherwise… I’ll tear down your restaurant.”
Qian Bao’s expression immediately went cold. Was the woman in front of him planning to cause trouble here in his restaurant? He clapped his hands and three fifth grade Battle-King experts suddenly appeared.
“Dear customer, you’ll need to consider your own capabilities before trying to cause trouble at my restaurant. Otherwise…”
Thump!!
Ni Yan lifted a hand and slightly pressed down. Suddenly, before Qian Bao could finish his words, the three Battle-Kings were pressed down onto the floor. The words that Qian Bao wanted to say were also stuck in his throat…
“Otherwise, what?” Ni Yan sweetly asked with a beautiful smile as she gave Qian Bao a glance.
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[1] cheap master (便宜师傅) – Someone who is either useless at teaching their disciples or easily gotten by their disciples.
[2] Yuan Yuan’s Little Stall (圆圆小铺) – Ni Yan was basically doing a wordplay here. Fang(方) means square while Yuan(圆) means circle.