Delicious Meat Soup and House of Food

A bus carrying a vehicle full of "Fiend Cooks" passed through fragrance-filled Apalis and headed toward a deep, lush forest in the suburbs outside the city.

Although it was the Federation's recognized capital of cuisine, its dazzling array of delicacies belonged to the Real World, to humanity as a race.

The cuisine of the Transcendental World existed on another plane altogether.

The "Third Transcendental Cook Championship," organized by the Supernatural Head Chef Association, was being held in this extraordinarily beautiful yet strange forest. Its name was the Forest of Tartalia, and the meaning could not have been more obvious.

The bus stopped before the forest, and Tang Qi disembarked alongside the other Fiend Cooks after their "transformations."

Before entering the Forest of Tartalia, they saw a group of people emerging from within.

They came in twos and threes, all looking like tourists. Some wore expressions of utter amazement, while others were plainly unhappy, as though they had suffered some especially frustrating ordeal.

A middle-aged white couple walking at the front with their two children did not look pleased. Upon seeing Tang Qi and the others, they immediately warned them.

"Are you here for those ridiculous restaurants inside too? I suggest you turn back right now. They're all shameless scammers with terrible attitudes. Their food is disgusting and expensive, and everyone from the waiters to the managers is incredibly rude."

"Can you imagine it? We had barely sat down. After taking one bite of something so awful that I spat it out, the waiter not only charged me but threw us out, saying we weren't worthy of eating their food."

"Then we went to a second restaurant called Centaur's Heart. We couldn't understand what language the menu was written in, so we asked a question. The chef came out holding a