A Showdown Between Foodies

"Next, I'll take you two to try a few of Food Street's famous old establishments."

As a local, Xu Xiaoyan acted as their guide, leading Chen Jianshu and Na'er in search of the old establishments. Before long, she stopped in front of a shop. Na'er glanced at it and couldn't help murmuring:

"Longjiang Pig Trotter Rice? I think I've had that before. It was delicious."

Na'er recalled that she had been in a daze throughout her time living in Eastsea City, doing nothing but eating and sleeping every day. Still, the pig trotter rice had left quite an impression on her.

"That's right! This Longjiang Pig Trotter Rice is a century-old establishment here in Eastsea City! They say the shop has been around since the city was founded."

"And Longjiang Pig Trotter Rice was a dish passed down by His Eminence, the First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo. It's been handed down for ten thousand years now, so it's absolutely delicious! I came here a lot when I was little."

Xu Xiaoyan led them into the shop. Chen Jianshu opened his mouth, then stopped. Had this senior transmigrator brought the whole of Blue Star over?

If he hadn't awakened his Martial Soul, he would have suspected he hadn't transmigrated at all.

"Order whatever you want. They have more than just pig trotter rice here."

Xu Xiaoyan pushed the menu over. Chen Jianshu took it and looked through it with Na'er. Faced with the dazzling array of dishes, Na'er ultimately chose to order one of everything.

Chen Jianshu casually ordered a bowl of pig trotter rice too, wanting to see if it was authentic. Although they had only eaten lunch a short while ago, Soul Masters consumed a tremendous amount of energy, so there was no need to worry about being too full to eat.

Soon, dish after dish arrived at the table. Na'er displayed her prowess once again, quickly polishing off one bowl after another.

New Orleans chicken leg rice, roast duck rice, pig offal, char siu rice—she ate her way through them all.

"Na'er, is there still room in your little tummy?"

Xu Xiaoyan stared curiously at the girl's belly, which hadn't changed in the slightest. She was very curious where all the food Na'er had eaten had gone.

"There is! I'm only sixty percent full!"

Na'er patted her little belly and declared that she was only sixty percent full. She couldn't help admiring herself for it.

"You're amazing, Na'er! I remember Eastsea City holds a big-eater contest every year. If you entered, you'd definitely win first place!"

Xu Xiaoyan was shocked by her once again. Who would have thought such a cute, well-behaved little girl could eat so much?

"A big-eater contest?"

"It's a contest to see who can eat the most. The winner gets prize money too."

"Does that mean there's more delicious food than you can finish?"

"That's right. It starts in another six months. Do you want to enter, Na'er?"

"Yes, yes!"

The moment Na'er heard about a competition involving food, her interest was piqued. The present-day Douluo Continent was practically paradise, with delicious food everywhere. This was truly the happiest time for a foodie!

"Then I'll cheer you on from the audience. Let's go to the next shop!"

Xu Xiaoyan beckoned everyone toward the next shop. Chen Jianshu silently paid by card. He was spending the Spirit Pagoda's money anyway. The Spirit Pagoda deposited fifteen million in spending money into his account every month, with other resources counted separately.

Xu Xiaoyan took Na'er by the hand and headed for the next shop worth visiting, with Chen Jianshu silently following behind. Before long, the group arrived at a restaurant about the same size as the previous shop.

"Yuhao Grilled Fish?"

Na'er looked at the name on the signboard, feeling as though she had heard it somewhere before. Xu Xiaoyan explained:

"The grilled fish at Yuhao Grilled Fish was made using a method passed down by the Spirit Ice Douluo, the first deputy tower master of the Spirit Pagoda. Apparently, Lord Spirit Transferring Douluo also seemed to have helped develop the grilled fish, and it's been passed down ever since."

Xu Xiaoyan pulled Na'er into the shop. Faced with the dazzling array of grilled fish, fish soups, seafood, and so on, Na'er's difficulty choosing flared up again.

In the end, they ordered one of everything. Chen Jianshu's eye twitched as he looked at the 108 ways to prepare seafood on the menu. It seemed this senior transmigrator was a foodie.

After they finished eating at Yuhao Grilled Fish, the next shop was called Sealed Pot Beef. Looking at it, his eye twitched. So it had come after all?

The Sealed Pot Beef shop was deep in an alley, somewhat out of the way. Its decor was also a little old, as though it had never been renovated.

Xu Xiaoyan pushed open the shop door. Five or six people were scattered about inside, eating. Just then, she noticed a figure in the corner with a swollen patch on his face.

"Huh? Ah-Shu, look. That person looks really familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere..."

Na'er and Chen Jianshu looked over as well. They saw the figure with a large swollen patch on his face, holding gauze against it.

"He looks familiar to me too."

Na'er tilted her head slightly as she looked at the figure covering his face. He didn't seem to want them to recognize him. A black-haired boy sat beside him, continuously eating with gusto.

"That looks like Xie Xie..."

Chen Jianshu recognized him. It seemed to be Xie Xie, his face swollen from a beating. The figure beside him, eating his seventh bowl of sealed pot beef, was Tang Wulin.

"Xie Xie? No way... I remember his face wasn't that swollen."

Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help laughing. She covered her mouth and looked at him, suppressing her laughter while still finding time to tease him mischievously.

"Xie Xie? I think he's in our class. Was he bullied?"

Na'er thought he had been bullied. Sitting in his seat, Xie Xie saw that no one was standing up for him and was so ashamed he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. This was mortifying!

He was a dignified rank twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster, yet he had been beaten by a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master who was only rank fifteen!

Tang Wulin's Soul Power had risen to rank fifteen because he had displayed a talent for forging and caught the Spirit Pagoda's attention, prompting it to invest in him. He was now a student in Eastsea's freshman Class Two.

If a feeling of disgust and resistance had not risen from the depths of Tang Wulin's soul every time he thought of joining the Spirit Pagoda, he would have joined it long ago.

"Uh... Xu Xiaoyan, Jianshu, you're here to eat too..."

Xie Xie gave an awkward laugh, then greeted the group with a somewhat stiff smile. Tang Wulin also looked up at them. They seemed to be Xie Xie's friends.

"Yes, what a coincidence..."

"What happened to your face? Were you bullied?"

Chen Jianshu nodded slightly in response, while Na'er curiously pointed to the spot on her own cheek corresponding to Xie Xie's swollen patch and asked him what had happened.

The further questioning made Xie Xie even more awkward. Could he tell them he had been beaten by a one-ring Blue Silver Grass Soul Master? No! Absolutely not! If word gets out, how can I, the Young Master of the Xie family in Eastsea, show my face again?

"I... uh... well... I took a fall. That's how it happened..."

"Oh... you fell, huh? That's a pretty distinctive fall. It looks just like someone punched your face until it swelled up."

Listening to his explanation, Xu Xiaoyan teased him mischievously from the side. "That's what friends are for: when one suffers, everyone laughs. That's true friendship."

Hearing her teasing and seeing the mocking look in her eyes, Xie Xie's face flushed red. He immediately retorted in anger:

"Nonsense! Who do you think I am? I'm the Young Master of the Xie family in Eastsea! Who my age could beat me up like this?"

Xie Xie protested vehemently, looking rather like he was trying to cover up the truth. Xu Xiaoyan gave him a long look, as though she had seen through everything.

"Oh? Can you beat Ah-Shu, then?"

She raised a hand to present the person beside her who could beat him to a pulp. Xie Xie was instantly at a loss for words. Crap, I really can't beat him. In fact, aside from the teachers and those above them, there were hardly any people in the whole of Eastsea Academy who could beat him.

"Hmph! I'm not playing with you anymore!"

Xie Xie folded his arms and turned his face away in a huff. In truth, he had run out of options. After all, he couldn't outtalk Xu Xiaoyan or beat Chen Jianshu. Damn it! Can't you let a guy live?!

Xu Xiaoyan: Just kidding. You can't beat me either.

After running into their old classmate and chatting for a while, the group sat down at the table next to Xie Xie's and ordered.

"Xie Xie, are they your classmates?"

Tang Wulin stopped chewing. After swallowing his beef, he curiously asked whether the three of them were Xie Xie's classmates. Xie Xie sighed, then leaned back in his chair and said dejectedly:

"Yeah. We were classmates at Eastsea Junior Soul Master Academy, and now we're all in Class One. All three of them are stronger than me."

"All stronger than you? How strong?"

Hearing that all three were stronger, he couldn't help growing curious. After all, in their duel just now, he had given it everything he had and still hadn't managed to catch Xie Xie.

In the end, if Xie Xie hadn't stabbed him hard in the back with the Light Dragon Dagger, causing him to burst forth and awaken an ability that made his whole body shine with golden light, before knocking Xie Xie out with one punch, he would have lost.

Xie Xie was also depressed about the fight. Why was it that every time Tang Wulin burst forth with that golden light, his legs refused to obey him, leaving him completely unable to move? Otherwise, he would definitely have won. Oh well, it was fate and fortune.

"They... two are Soul Elders, and one is a rank twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster. They're the top three in our class."

"S-Soul Elders?! No way!"

The mention of Soul Elders completely shattered his composure. He was only rank fifteen, yet they were already Soul Elders. Were these true geniuses? For a moment, a sense of frustration rose in his heart.

But he kept feeling that the boy looked a little familiar, as though he had seen him before. He remembered that when he was little, a genius with Innate Full Soul Power had appeared in his class at Red Mountain Junior Academy.

However, that student hadn't come to the academy in the days that followed and seemed to have transferred. Was it him?

Just as Tang Wulin was wondering, Xie Xie saw Na'er nearby, whose appetite was no less impressive than the person in front of him, and was instantly stunned.

"No way?! Another big eater?!"

Tang Wulin turned to look and saw the silver-haired girl displaying her king-sized appetite too. She seemed even more formidable than him.

"What an incredible appetite!"

He was deeply shocked. Eating and forging were what he was good at, but now he saw that there was actually someone better at eating than him! There was an expert here too?!

"Holy crap. Who would've thought that little Eastsea Intermediate Soul Master Academy would produce you two rice-bucket twins? Two supreme beings under one roof."

Xie Xie didn't know what to say. He could only curse his own lack of education, relying on a single "holy crap" to get him through life.

"I can't lose either!"

In an instant, fighting spirit blazed in Tang Wulin's eyes. I absolutely can't! I can't lose to someone else in the field I'm good at!

With that thought, he immediately ordered another five portions of sealed pot beef. It was Xie Xie's money he was spending anyway.

Xie Xie: Wow. How can you be so selfish?! Pah!

At the next table, Na'er seemed to sense Tang Wulin's fighting spirit, and a sharp glint flashed in her eyes. A contest of eating? Interesting. I've never lost at eating!

In an instant, a powerful golden presence erupted around Tang Wulin, while a powerful silver presence erupted around Na'er. The two pressed against each other, taking the forms of a golden dragon and a silver dragon locked in confrontation.

Soon, the owner, Uncle Li, brought each side five plates of sealed pot beef. Na'er and Tang Wulin picked up their chopsticks and began shoveling down the food.

Three seconds! Na'er took only three seconds to finish a plate of sealed pot beef! Tang Wulin had fallen behind! Xie Xie couldn't help marveling.

"What incredible eating speed! She's actually faster than me!"

Tang Wulin had fallen behind. Even giving it his all, he still needed five seconds to finish a plate! Na'er pulled a full ten seconds ahead of him in the first round.

Tang Wulin looked at his opponent in some alarm, experiencing absolute suppression for the first time. He had thought he was the ultimate supreme being of the Dao of Eating, but he hadn't expected there to be a Heavenly Emperor Na above him!

Round two! Uncle Li brought out another five plates of sealed pot beef. Both sides picked up their chopsticks at the same time. Na'er still finished five plates with ease, while Tang Wulin seemed to be running out of steam.

"It seems the scales of victory have tipped."

Chen Jianshu quietly watched this earth-shattering battle. In this fight, two supreme venerables standing at the peak of the Dao of Eating battled until heaven and earth grew dark, and even the Great Dao was ground away.

Tang Wulin's heart filled with unwillingness. She didn't feel full in the slightest. Was she a monster? Damn it, is this my limit?

Soon came round three! Another five plates of sealed pot beef. Na'er still ate hers with ease, while Tang Wulin struggled to finish two plates, then three, then four.

"Wulin! Come on! You can do it! You're the best!"

Seeing that even the hand holding his chopsticks was trembling, Xie Xie immediately cheered him on. Light burst from Tang Wulin's eyes as he reached for the final plate and began to eat!

He struggled to get the food down one mouthful at a time. Then he stopped, apparently choking, and painfully beat his chest. Xie Xie immediately handed him a bottle of water, thoughtfully opening the cap for him.

"Quick! Drink some water!"

Sealed pot beef: I nearly choked a god to death!

Water: I saved a god!

Tang Wulin drank a mouthful of water and swallowed the food, finally coming back to life. He immediately resumed his struggle to shovel it down. This time, every mouthful was a difficult trial for him.

Under everyone's gaze, the sealed pot beef on the plate disappeared bit by bit. After Tang Wulin ate the final grain of rice, he was stuffed beyond endurance. His belly bulged, and he could no longer move.

"Wulin! You did it!"

Tears streamed down Xie Xie's face. Although Tang Wulin had lost this showdown between foodies, his refusal to give up had truly moved him.

Tang Wulin gave Na'er an unwilling look. Is this my limit? Humans really do have limits... Since Wulin was born, why was Na'er born too?

Na'er glanced at Tang Wulin. Not bad. Perhaps you could be considered a genius in the Dao of Eating, but being a genius is merely the threshold for meeting me.

Who stands at the peak at the end of the Dao of Eating? One glimpse of Na'er, and all Daos become empty! Had heaven not given birth to me, Haji Na, the Dao of Eating would be an endless night for all eternity!

Beside them, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help commenting:

"Aren't they just eating? Why make it so passionate?"

P.S.: The fifth and sixth updates for July 18, a four-thousand-character, two-in-one mega-chapter, bringing the total to twelve thousand characters.