The strange beings of every shape and size on the street all stopped in their tracks without thinking.
Their noses twitched uncontrollably, and every gaze turned toward the source of the fragrance.
"What is that smell? It's so intense!"
"I've never smelled anything this strong. Just smelling it makes my mouth water!"
"Hey, it's that human! He really set up a stall outside Gluttony House? What divine delicacy is he cooking in that pot?"
Drawn by the overpowering fragrance, strange beings from all over the commercial street flocked over to see what was going on. Chu He chuckled. Just as he'd expected!
The fish had taken the bait.
But he knew all too well that when it came to cooking these "special ingredients," he absolutely couldn't let his future customers see the process.
As the saying went, what the eye didn't see wouldn't bother the mind.
As long as I can't see it, even if you made this pickled cabbage by stomping on it with your decade-old feet, I'd still eat it until my mouth glistened with oil!
"Yao Yao, put up a barrier," Chu He instructed without turning around.
Xia Yao understood. She waved her delicate hand lightly.
Bzz!
A pure-black energy field instantly unfolded, like a huge bowl turned upside down, perfectly enveloping the three of them and the stove, blocking all outside sight and prying eyes.
Inside the field was another world.
Chu He dumped the enormous, blood-soaked belly, still covered in an unknown slime, and the tangled mass of intestines onto the ground with a wet splat.
An indescribable, primal stench of blood, musk, and filth instantly filled the entire space within the field.
"Ugh—"
Even Kachi, who was well-traveled and usually unflappable, couldn't hold it together.
Her delicate little face turned deathly pale. She clapped a hand over her mouth, her stomach churning as she let out a series of violent dry heaves.
Xia Yao's complexion wasn't any better. Her fine brows knit tightly together, and her body instinctively retreated two steps. Her lifeless eyes filled with disgust and revulsion.
They stared at Chu He in disbelief. How could he stay so calm while surrounded by such a pungent, foul stench?
Even more astonishing, his face held the... appreciation and excitement of a chef looking at top-quality ingredients.
"Little He He... y-you... you really expect us to eat that?" Kachi's voice trembled as she pointed at the "filth" on the ground, feeling as if her entire worldview had been shattered.
"Can you really eat that? Won't we just drop dead the moment we take a bite?"
"Trust me. I'm a professional."
Chu He gave them a confident look, then activated his cheat.
[Eye of Nirvana]!
Activated!
In his eyes, the filthy belly and intestines were instantly broken down.
Every structure, texture, and impurity appeared clearly in his mind in the form of data.
What was essence and what was dross became immediately obvious.
His knife flashed, his movements as smooth as flowing water, too fast to leave anything but afterimages.
With near-surgical precision, he stripped and removed all the foul-smelling filth clinging to the inner walls.
He also trimmed the excess fat from the intestines to just the right amount. With the Eye of Nirvana's ability to see through illusions, processing them was child's play.
Before long, the unsightly pile had become two completely different ingredients.
The tripe was as white as jade, thick and springy.
The intestines were tender pink and glistening, with plenty of chew.
The nauseating stench had vanished without a trace, leaving only the pure, natural aroma of the ingredients.
Xia Yao and Kachi stared in amazement.
What kind of divine technique was that? He'd practically turned decay into something magical!
Chu He didn't stop. He fetched a basin of water.
He blinked lightly, and in the next instant, an invisible, intensely frigid aura shot from his eyes!
The basin of water didn't even have time to ripple before it froze solid from the inside out, the moment the cold aura touched it!
Chu He flipped the basin of ice onto a wooden board, and a perfect ice chopping block was ready.
He laid the prepared tripe and intestines on the block, then sent a blade thin as a cicada's wing dancing between his fingers.
Swish, swish, swish!
He sliced the tripe and intestines into evenly thin, almost transparent pieces, then arranged them on the ice like works of art.
When he had finished, Chu He clapped his hands in satisfaction.
He picked up his chopsticks, lifted a slice, and swished it up and down in the boiling red-oil broth. After carefully timing it for about five or six seconds, he quickly fished it out at the exact moment the tripe curled slightly and reached its crispiest texture.
The snowy-white slice of tripe was now coated in a bright, tempting layer of red oil, with a few sesame seeds and chili flakes clinging to it. It gave off an aroma that made people go mad.
He held the chopsticks out in front of the two women.
"Who wants to try it first?"
For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.
Xia Yao and Kachi exchanged a glance, each seeing the other's deep hesitation and inner struggle.
Even though... even though it looked delicious now, they still couldn't quite get past the thought of what it had been before.
"Yao Yao, if you eat this first, I'll let you be in charge from now on!"
At the crucial moment, Kachi decisively shoved Xia Yao forward.
Xia Yao glared at her, but didn't back down.
She had a near-blind faith in Chu He.
If he said it was good, then it had to be good.
A look of solemn resolve crossed Xia Yao's face, as if she were marching to her death.
She slowly lowered her head, opened her mouth, and ate the slice of tripe.
However, the moment it entered her mouth...
Xia Yao's eyes flew wide open!
There wasn't even a trace of the foul, fishy flavor she'd imagined!
Instead, she was met with a complex taste and texture that defied description!
First came the crisp, springy bite of her teeth cutting through the tripe, with a wonderfully chewy resistance!
Then the boldly spicy red oil burst across her tongue like magma, instantly setting every taste bud ablaze!
Spicy!
Fragrant!
Crisp!
A heady, utterly delicious flavor unlike anything she'd ever experienced swept through her entire mouth like a storm!
After finishing the bite, Xia Yao stood stunned for several seconds. Then she slowly turned to Kachi, who was watching her nervously.
"It really is delicious."
"It doesn't stink at all. It's so fragrant and spicy—and delicious!"
Kachi knew Xia Yao never lied.
Looking at the astonishing brightness in Xia Yao's eyes, she finally worked up all her courage, picked up a piece too, and ate it as if going to her death.
The next second, Kachi's starry eyes widened too!
"Waaah!!"
She let out an incoherent cry, her little face flushed red from the incredible flavor and heat.
"It's delicious! So delicious! How can anything taste this good?"
She'd never expected that something all the strange beings treated as trash and threw away could be so fragrant, so delicious!
"See? I told you I wouldn't let you down!"
Chu He burst into laughter, a sense of accomplishment unlike any he'd felt before swelling in his chest.
He had Xia Yao dismiss the black field she'd put up!
Xia Yao waved her hand.
Boom!
The hotpot's rich aroma, which had been suppressed for so long and was now more than ten times stronger, burst outward in every direction like floodwaters through a broken dam, accompanied by Xia Yao and Kachi's irrepressible exclamations of delight!
The strange beings outside the field went wild!
When the field disappeared, they saw that the human's stall was now covered with neatly prepared slices of tripe and intestines they'd never seen before!
Even more maddening was the sight of the two legendary King-level beings—the princesses of the Void Gazer Royal Family and the Star Law Royal Family—now eating without a shred of decorum, even fighting over the slices as they swished them in the pot of bubbling red oil!
Their faces showed unrestrained, absolute happiness and satisfaction!
"W-what... what's going on?"
"Those things that were thrown away as trash are actually... supreme delicacies?"
A Beastman butcher selling meat happened to pass by and commented.
The strange beings recalled what they'd heard and grew curious, so the butcher told them the whole story about that human!
They were all shocked when they heard it.
The area was already packed with a sea of people. Countless eyes fixed on the iron pot, and throats bobbed uncontrollably.
Chu He ignored them. He picked up a cooked piece of beef tripe, turned toward the tightly shut vermilion door, and called out loudly.
"Gluttony House, it's your turn to try!"
As soon as the words left his mouth,
a thick black mist instantly surged through the cracks in the door, gathering in midair into a skinless tentacle covered in ridges of muscle!
The tentacle shot forward at incredible speed, snatched the beef tripe from Chu He's chopsticks, and then whipped back inside.
The whole of Gluttony House fell into dead silence.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Suddenly!
Rumble—!!!
The heavy vermilion door of Gluttony House blasted inward!
An overwhelming will, filled with endless hunger and elation, descended with a deafening crash!
Then something inside suddenly lunged toward Chu He!
Before you continue