The Ineffective Taste Buds and Ineffective Common Sense

"Crunch... crunch..."

The crisp sound, like chewing on ice frozen for ten thousand years or gnawing on weathered rock, echoed rhythmically in the silent living room.

Ling Ye closed his eyes, a look of contentment on his face as he gnawed on the grayish, mold-spotted "aged dough fossil" he'd pulled from the rag bundle. He bit down with extreme seriousness on each mouthful, as if savoring the finest delicacy, occasionally smacking his lips and muttering, "The flavor is authentic."

Su Wanqing froze in place, still clutching the empty ice cream carton she'd licked until it shone like a mirror. Her gaze was blankly fixed on the "big shot" on the sofa chewing on "rocks," feeling as though her taste buds and common sense were undergoing a brutal, merciless torture.

That thing... could it actually be eaten?!

Wouldn't it break his teeth?!

Those mold spots looked poisonous, for crying out loud!

Yet, Ling Ye not only ate it, but he ate with great relish. One could even faintly see the aura around him becoming more condensed and restrained after a few bites of this "aged dough"? As if this stuff was truly a potent tonic?

Compared to her own pathetic state of licking the carton earlier, Su Wanqing felt an unprecedented, dimensional gap. The big shot's diet was indeed not something ordinary mortals could comprehend.

The "crunching" sound finally stopped. Ling Ye popped the last bit of "aged dough" crumb into his mouth, licked his fingers with lingering satisfaction, his face overflowing with contentment. He rolled over, crossed his arms, seemingly intending to continue his nap, completely oblivious to the female CEO in the corner whose worldview had just shattered once again.

However, his stomach, it seemed, was not ready to let things rest.

"Grumble... grumble..."

Another longer, clearer rumble of his intestines came from his abdomen, like muffled thunder, even louder than before! As if those few bites of "aged dough" hadn't filled his stomach but had instead ignited some primordial level of hunger!

Ling Ye's brows furrowed tightly once more, his face showing extreme displeasure and annoyance. He even unconsciously rubbed his stomach, letting out a dissatisfied grunt from his throat.

"Hungry..."

A clear word, laden with heavy complaint, escaped his lips.

Su Wanqing's heart leaped into her throat! The big shot was awake?! Woken by hunger?! This was not a good omen!

She instinctively tensed her body, trying to minimize her presence, afraid of becoming a victim of the big shot's hungry wrath.

Ling Ye's eyes remained closed, but the annoyance on his face grew more pronounced. He seemed to be instinctively resisting waking up, yet unable to ignore the surging hunger. He squirmed restlessly on the sofa, like a child woken by hunger and throwing a tantrum.

Then, under Su Wanqing's horrified gaze, Ling Ye, with his eyes still closed, began to rummage more forcefully, more impatiently... through his worn-out rag bundle!

His movements grew larger, tinged with the anxiety of "Why can't I find anything to eat?"!

The rag bundle rustled loudly as he fumbled through it, something heavy colliding within, emitting dull thuds.

Su Wanqing was terrified out of her wits! She was afraid the big shot would next pull out that "Buzhou Mountain rolling pin" and chew on it like sugarcane, or perhaps crunch on that "Chaos Green Lotus basin" like a biscuit!

"Food... food..." Ling Ye mumbled unconsciously, his brows furrowed, his rummaging becoming more rapid and rough.

Suddenly, his fumbling hand paused abruptly!

He seemed to have touched something... long and hard?

Su Wanqing's heart sank to the bottom! It was over! It was the rolling pin! He was going to chew on the rolling pin!

However, a hint of confusion flickered across Ling Ye's face. He squeezed the long object, seemingly finding the feel wrong? Not the "snack" he wanted?

With extreme impatience, and a touch of morning grumpiness, he closed his eyes and casually tossed the long, hard object he'd found... onto the empty carpet beside him!

"Thump."

A soft, muffled sound.

The object landed on the carpet, rolled a couple of times, and stopped.

Su Wanqing's gaze instinctively followed the object that had been thrown out—

It wasn't the "Buzhou Mountain rolling pin" she had imagined.

Instead, it was a... palm-sized token, entirely a warm, restrained purple-gold, its surface covered in naturally formed, mystical patterns like swirling nebulae... a token?

The token had an ancient design, neither gold nor jade, exuding an aura of extreme antiquity and majesty, as if bearing some supreme law! Just a glance made one's soul tremble, compelling them to prostrate in worship!

What was this thing?! Su Wanqing was completely bewildered. How many more bizarre items were in this rag bundle?!

Ling Ye seemed to pay no mind to what he had thrown out. He was still anxiously rummaging through the bundle, muttering, "Hungry... food..."

He felt around a few more times, seemingly finding what he wanted? The annoyance on his face eased slightly, and he pulled out another lump from the bag... which looked equally gray, but was more rounded in shape... "Aged Dough Generation 2"?

He let out a satisfied "Mm" and began to "crunch, crunch" again, temporarily alleviating his hungry frustration.

Su Wanqing's gaze, however, couldn't move away from the purple-gold token on the carpet.

The token lay there quietly, radiating an invisible majesty and allure. The power within her, nourished by Chaos Origin Qi, seemed to resonate faintly with the token's aura and... yearn for it?

An absurd thought uncontrollably surfaced—this token... it looks very powerful... could it... be used to order takeout?!

As soon as this thought arose, even she found it ridiculously laughable! Order takeout? With a token that looked like a primordial treasure?! This was more absurd than using a foot basin to hack into a system!

But... what if?

The big shot's things could not be judged by common sense. That basin could water plants, wash feet, and refine data; this token... perhaps it could truly communicate across dimensions?

Extreme hunger and a desperate situation gave her the courage to go all out once more.

She cautiously glanced at the big shot on the sofa, who was engrossed in chewing his "rock." Seeing that he seemed temporarily lost in his own world, she gritted her teeth, crept over like a thieving mouse, tremblingly extended her hand, and very quickly picked up the purple-gold token, clutching it tightly in her palm.

The token felt warm in her hand, not cold, but possessing a strange, almost living warmth. The nebula patterns on its surface seemed to flash faintly the moment they touched her palm.

Su Wanqing's heart pounded, a mix of fear and anticipation. Mimicking the gestures of Taoist priests she'd seen on TV, she tightly gripped the token with both hands, closed her eyes, concentrated all her mental energy, and frantically, repeatedly chanted in her mind:

"Delivery! I want delivery! Braised beef noodles! Extra egg! Extra meat! Milk tea! Bubble tea! Full sugar! Ice! Hurry up and deliver it! The address is Yunqi Mountain, Half-Mountain Villa District, No. xxx! Hurry!"

She had mentally shouted out every food item she could think of that could be delivered quickly, her mental power highly concentrated, fine beads of sweat even appearing on her forehead.

However—

Ten seconds passed.

Several tens of seconds passed.

The token in her hand remained unresponsive. There was no light, no fluctuation, no sudden spatial portal opening, and certainly no delivery guy in yellow appearing from the sky.

All that could be heard in the living room was Ling Ye's crunching sound as he ate "old noodles" and her own increasingly loud heartbeat.

It failed...

It's still not possible, is it...

Su Wanqing opened her eyes in despair, looking at the unchanged token in her hand, a wave of immense disappointment washing over her. She had really starved herself into a daze, actually having such an unrealistic fantasy...

Just as she was about to secretly put the "useless" token back where it belonged—

Something unexpected happened!

The purple-gold token in her hand, without any warning... trembled violently!

Immediately after, the mysterious, nebula-like patterns on the token's surface suddenly lit up with dazzling purple-gold light! An indescribable, terrifying pressure, as if the highest laws had been touched, erupted with a roar!

"Buzz—!!!"

A majestic and vast hum, as if from the highest heavens, suddenly exploded from the token!

The entire space of the villa shook violently! Dust rained down from the ceiling!

A purple-gold illusory pillar of light, composed entirely of countless tiny runes, shot up from the top of the token, instantly piercing the villa's ceiling, piercing the clouds, as if connecting to some unknowable, supreme dimension!

Su Wanqing was so terrified by this sudden, terrifying anomaly that her soul nearly flew out of her body, and she almost dropped the token!

And on the sofa, Ling Ye, who had been munching on "old noodles," abruptly stopped!

He suddenly opened his eyes!

For the first time, his eyes, as deep as a star abyss, clearly reflected the soaring purple-gold pillar of light, and the countless flowing law runes within it, representing "summoning," "response," and "judgment"!

On his face appeared an extremely rare expression, a mixture of shock, confusion, and a hint of... wry amusement?!

"Primordial... Summoning Token?" He looked at the token in Su Wanqing's hand, which was emitting earth-shattering light, as if he had seen something incredibly absurd, and subconsciously muttered, "This thing... is used like this?!"

And the moment Ling Ye's voice fell—

At the top of the soaring purple-gold pillar of light, from the depths of the unknowable dimension it connected to, it seemed that an extremely terrifying, extremely ancient will, born from upholding the highest laws, was disturbed by this "mistaken" summoning, and slowly... cast down a trace of its... "gaze"!

An indescribable, terrifying pressure, capable of extinguishing galaxies and commanding all things to bow, descended like a tangible entity, roaring down the pillar of light!