[Are you sure this stuff is edible?]

The Elephant Armor Sect.

"You little brat, get over here!"

Huyan Zhen flew into a rage.

His grandson had actually taken it upon himself to challenge the Imperial Fighting Team to Soul Fighting.

Challenging them was one thing. Even that would have been fine if he had won.

The problem was that he had fucking lost!

Their whole team had been wiped out, seven to zero. Did their reputation as tournament champions mean nothing anymore?

How was he supposed to brag to anyone after this?!

"Grandpa, stop hitting me!"

"It's already happened. If you beat me to death, who's going to look after you in your old age?"

"I got careless yesterday. Yu Tianheng saw through our tactics, and that's why we lost. Otherwise, there's no way we would have!"

Even now, Huyan Li was still seething over last night's team Soul Fighting match.

That bastard Yu Tianheng hadn't played by the usual rules. He had actually turned their own tricks against them.

If the Elephant Armor Team hadn't fallen into his trap and lost two members right at the start, they wouldn't necessarily have lost!

"That's because you've got a pig's brain! And you think you can lead a team into a group Soul Fighting match?"

"If they didn't trick you to death, you'd never stop to wonder what the hell you grew up eating."

Huyan Zhen was practically smoking with rage. He used to strut around and show off in front of the other academies all the time. Now that his team had lost this match, would those old bastards let the opportunity slip?

Not a chance!

"Grandpa, Wei Fan doesn't use tactics in Soul Fighting either. I learned all this from him."

Huyan Li spoke from behind a pillar.

"You learned from him?"

"Do you have Wei Fan's strength?"

"He goes up there and steamrolls everyone, flattening everything in his path. Can you do that?"

"You little brat!"

"Use a little brains!"

Huyan Zhen was about to be angered to death by his grandson.

"Grandpa, what do we do now?"

Huyan Li knew he bore the blame this time. After yesterday's match, some people had already begun questioning the Elephant Armor Team's strength.

Of course, far more people were saying it was because Wei Fan hadn't gone. Otherwise, he would definitely have beaten the Imperial Fighting Team into helpless fools.

"Go find Wei Fan and bring him here."

At a time like this, only that kid could salvage the Elephant Armor Team's reputation.

"Forget it. I'll go myself!"

He was the one asking the kid for a favor this time, so he had to show some initiative.

Yet the moment he thought about going to see Wei Fan, his stomach inexplicably felt a little bloated.

"Wei Fan, you've heard about what happened yesterday, haven't you?"

"Our Elephant Armor Team lost to the Imperial Fighting Team!"

Huyan Zhen came bustling over.

"Yeah, it's outrageous!"

Wei Fan slammed his hand onto the desk with a bang.

Seeing Wei Fan's attitude, Huyan Zhen felt that things would go very smoothly today.

"Those little brats actually went behind my back and picked a fight with the Imperial Fighting Team."

"If I'd known, I would've made sure they ate their fill first. How could they possibly win on empty stomachs?"

Huyan Zhen: "..."

He had thought Wei Fan was finally showing his sense of responsibility as the Elephant Armor Team's captain.

Who would have thought...

He had read too much into it!

All Wei Fan ever cared about was treating people to meals!

"Wei Fan, look."

"Our Elephant Armor Team lost this match. As the captain, doesn't that leave you feeling a little embarrassed too?"

"Everyone out there must be saying our Elephant Armor Team isn't what it used to be."

"Shouldn't we prove ourselves at a time like this?"

"..."

Huyan Zhen said.

"I think it's fine!"

"Let them say whatever they want."

To him, treating people to meals was the most important thing. He didn't need a championship to show off.

"Wei Fan, then I'll get straight to the point."

"Take the Elephant Armor Team to fight the Imperial Fighting Team again and wash away this humiliation."

"As long as you agree, name your terms!"

"No matter how many bowls of rice it takes, I'll eat them all!"

Huyan Zhen laid everything out directly. His years of dealing with Wei Fan had taught him one truth.

He couldn't beat around the bush with Wei Fan, or he would always be the one losing out!

"I'm not forcing you. You're the one asking to eat!"

Wei Fan said.

"Yes, I'm starving right now."

"The moment I see rice, I want to dig in!"

Huyan Zhen felt his conscience beginning to ache. If it weren't for the Elephant Armor Academy's honor, he would never have come looking for this little brat Wei Fan on his own.

"Perfect. I've been experimenting with something new lately."

When a pot of rice appeared before Huyan Zhen...

He was utterly dumbfounded!

What the fuck was this stuff?

It was one huge pot of blackness. He couldn't make out what the hell was in it.

"Y-you're sure this stuff is edible?"

Huyan Zhen lost his nerve on the spot!

Was he sure eating this wouldn't kill him?

He still wanted to live a few more years.

"A culinary monstrosity!"

"It's just a teensy bit poisonous, but don't panic. With your abilities as Sky Elephant Huyan Zhen, this little bit of poison is nothing but a splash of water."

"Besides, this is good stuff. It may be a little poisonous, but it's definitely a powerful tonic."

This was the new dish Wei Fan had developed over the past two days-Poisonous Herb Fried Rice!

He had obtained the poisonous herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. According to the guide Yue Guan had written for him, these herbs had effects similar to those of dragon ganoderma leaves. The only difference was their slight toxicity.

"I get it!"

"You're planning to poison me to death, then have the Elephant Armor Sect hold a funeral feast so you can treat the entire sect to a meal."

"Am I right?"

Huyan Zhen suddenly saw the light.

He wasn't falling for that!

Wei Fan felt helpless. With a train of thought like that, he wouldn't believe anyone who said this man wasn't Huyan Li's biological grandfather.

To prove the rice was edible, he tentatively took a small bite.

"So, are you eating it or not?"

"If you're not, I'll feed it to the dogs!"

Wei Fan made as though to dump out the entire pot of culinary monstrosity.

"Wait!"

"I'll finish this pot!"

Huyan Zhen steeled his heart. For the Elephant Armor Academy's honor, he was throwing caution to the wind this time.

He braced himself and first tried a spatulaful...

"Hmm... tastes all right!"

It had a faintly sweet, metallic flavor and the fragrance of herbs.

The kid's cooking had improved lately. It seemed that ever since he issued the order forbidding anyone from refusing Wei Fan's invitations to eat, Wei Fan had treated Huyan Li and the others to quite a few meals.

As Huyan Zhen thought this, he buried his head and ate with gusto.

A short while later...

Huyan Zhen felt waves of tingling numbness in his mouth.

It really was poisonous!

The poison was gradually eating into his body, but it was fairly weak. It wasn't remotely lethal to him. At most, it would simply give him diarrhea.

Half an hour passed...

[Ding~ Reward for treating Huyan Zhen to Poisonous Herb Fried Rice: 1,000 years added to a Soul Ring]

[...]

That was it?

Just as Wei Fan began to feel disappointed that the poison hadn't done much, a second mechanical voice rang out.

[Ding~ Mild toxicity detected in the fried rice. Adding mild toxicity to the host's martial soul]

Having people ingest poison could add toxicity to his martial soul!

The discovery made Wei Fan's eyes light up. Unfortunately, the amount of toxicity added was far too small.

Still, this was his first attempt. What if he added too much and Huyan Zhen couldn't withstand it?

"Buuurp~~~"

"Wei Fan, then it's settled."

"Tomorrow, you'll go restore our Elephant Armor Academy's honor."

Huyan Zhen rested his large hand on his stomach and rubbed it.

He was absolutely stuffed!