Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 57 Unpalatable
Immediately afterwards, the disciples of Wuya Academy were not neglected either.

"The Boundless Fan Technique has its unique features, but it lacks killing intent. In a contest, it may be able to gain some advantage by stopping short of the opponent, but it will be at a disadvantage in a life-or-death situation. It needs to cultivate its true energy more to make up for the lack of techniques."

Upon hearing this, both men looked enlightened and bowed gratefully before stepping down from the dueling platform.

As is customary, there will be no competition on the main stage in the first few days. The main stage competition is of exceptionally high prestige, so apart from those senior figures in the martial arts world who are too high-ranking to refuse, even the leaders and elders of many sects will participate.

Although martial artists who have broken through to the Grandmaster realm are too embarrassed to come and bully others, those who can compete for the championship are all at the Venerable level or above. Just watching their matches can sometimes cause low-rank martial artists to break through. Therefore, the championship competition is usually arranged after the Wind and Cloud Competition and the Dragon and Tiger Competition, and a few days are set aside specifically for the competition.

So Zhang Chengdao spent the whole morning watching the two novices fight each other on the dueling platform, while Wan Qi Boyan, who was commenting on the situation, became so thirsty that he drank several pots of tea by himself.

Sword Casting Manor does not provide meals at noon, but there are vendors selling food in the square. In addition to steamed buns and dumplings, there are also many complicated dishes.

Naturally, the prices are also higher than those in restaurants in villages and towns.

However, Zhang Chengdao did not have this worry.

Because the Sword Casting Manor had specially arranged a banquet for Zhang Chengdao, in addition to the old manor lord Wanqi Boyan, Wanqi Zhang, Wanqi Zhongqiu and Bai Henshui were also present.

With Wan Qizhang and Wan Qizhongqiu present, the atmosphere inside the tower finally became a bit more lively.

The two began to introduce the dishes on the table, mentioning that a famous chef from Jiangnan had been specially invited, and that the Snow Cloud Soup was made from water lilies carefully cultivated in a greenhouse, with their hearts and stems removed, blanched in broth, and then cooked with tofu to achieve such a color.

Furthermore, dishes such as "Embroidered High-Flavored Eight-Fruit Stacks," "Happy Immortal Dried Fruit Fork Bags," and "Gold-Threaded Fragrant Medicine" demonstrate the preciousness of the dishes, claiming they were learned from the Chu Kingdom Palace.

However, no matter how abundant and exquisite the dishes were, Zhang Chengdao and the others from the White Stone Immortal Sect were used to eating the "immortal food" produced by the Golden Finger. When they ate ordinary food, they found it fishy and greasy. It was not only unappealing to look at, but also difficult to swallow.

Zhang Chengdao originally intended to be patient, as he couldn't let his two children develop the habit of eating "fairy food" at every meal. However, when he saw that Chang Ping'an, who could usually finish a whole deer leg and still have three bowls of lean meat soup, had only eaten one steamed bun, he immediately became anxious.

Turning her head again, she saw that Murong Ruyan, who had once lived a life of luxury, only took one sip of beef soup and refused to eat any more!

How can this work!

These two troublesome kids are still growing!

In his haste, Zhang Chengdao quickly took out several bowls of vegetable noodles from his backpack and gave one bowl to each of the four people.

Chang Ping'an looked ashamed upon seeing this, while Murong Ruyan visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Xu Ying, on the other hand, showed an expression of "I knew it." Only Xu Wen, who knew nothing about his sect leader and had only eaten a few "celestial meals," was already 80% full!

It wasn't until he saw the bowl of vegetable noodles that Zhang Chengdao had given him that he suddenly realized what was going on, and then his expression turned sorrowful, as if he had lost a fortune!

I'm too full, I can't eat another bowl of noodles!
However, this move was a slap in the face to the Sword Forging Manor. Wan Qizhang almost lost his smile, but Wan Qizhongqiu coughed lightly to smooth things over. "Immortal Zhang's ability to conjure objects out of thin air is truly amazing. There are rumors that you possess the art of 'a universe within a sleeve,' capable of storing all things. Could it be true?"

Zhang Chengdao replied, "The universe in one's sleeve... I guess so, but the claim that it can collect everything is false; it can collect quite a few odds and ends, though."

Wan Qizhongqiu asked curiously, "I didn't expect you could even bring food. Aren't you afraid it will spoil?"

Zhang Chengdao took a bite of noodles in front of everyone without any hesitation and casually explained, "The Qiankun Mustard Seed is a universe of its own, unaffected by the outside world, so it will only retain the state it was in when it was put away."

Wan Qizhongqiu nodded: "No wonder the plain noodles that Immortal Zhang took out were still steaming hot. They sound really cheap!"

“It’s certainly convenient,” Zhang Chengdao said, then added politely, “But this isn’t plain noodles, it’s vegetable noodles. Would you like to try some?”

To everyone's surprise, Wanqi Zhongqiu was already waiting there. He immediately pushed aside a seat on the table in front of him, which was full of cups and saucers, and said with a smile, "Then this old man will shamelessly accept a bowl from the immortal!"

Zhang Chengdao didn't really want to give any, but since he had already said it, it would seem stingy not to, so he reluctantly took out four more bowls from his backpack and gave one to everyone at the table.

From a distance, it doesn't seem like much, but once the bowl of [vegetable noodles] is placed in front of you, a rich aroma of noodles wafts over your face, instantly clearing your mind.

Wanqi Boyan didn't say anything, but was the first to pick up his chopsticks. He only took one bite, but then simply picked up the bowl and started slurping it down, leaving the group from the Sword Casting Manor dumbfounded.

The old manor lord has never been so undignified before!
Only Zhang Chengdao was unaware of the inside story, and he secretly complained in his heart: "The head of a sect is so greedy!"
Soon, the others realized that this must be an extremely precious item to cause the old master to lose his composure like this!
So Wan Qizhang and Wan Qizhongqiu also eagerly started shoveling noodles into their mouths.

On the contrary, Bai Henshui, who was always of extraordinary temperament, continued to slowly savor the food with his chopsticks, praising as he ate, "It is indeed a taste unlike anything in the mortal world. It is no wonder that it was given to us by Immortal Zhang. We have gotten a great deal!"

In fact, Bai Henshui was not usually so attentive to people. She rarely paid attention to the disciples of the Sword Forging Manor and spent most of her time honing her martial arts skills in the Hidden Sword Garden.

Her current demeanor is because she finds this bowl of noodles quite unusual.

The taste is secondary; the key is that along with the food, there is also a kind of "qi" that slides into the stomach. It is the "immortal qi" that the old master had mentioned before. She had also experienced it when she ate the "immortal wheat" some time ago.

However, her cultivation level was not as profound as the old manor lord's, so even though she consumed a lot of "immortal wheat," she showed no signs of breaking through. In fact, the more she ate, the less she could feel that "immortal energy."

Even today, after eating this bowl of noodles, a surge of "celestial energy" suddenly appeared in her body, much more than the "celestial energy" she had experienced after consuming "celestial wheat" last time. Naturally, she was extremely excited.

But as soon as he finished speaking, that "immortal energy" began to "erode" his internal energy channels and even "devoured" his true energy!
Bai Henshui was immediately alarmed. Forgetting that he was still at the dinner table, he immediately sat down and began to meditate, circulating his inner energy to resist the "immortal energy".

(End of this chapter)