Just when the security personnel thought the guys had calmed down, the reporters surrounded them again. This time, however, they called over their own cameramen who were broadcasting live from the venue, and four or five cameras were shoved right in front of the security personnel's faces.
"At this invited Divine Land conference, we may have been treated unfairly. The food on the Divine Land side was divided into zones, and people from other countries were not allowed to pass through those zones..."
No wonder he makes a living with his mouth; he can spout these words so easily, and he even has a whole repertoire of them.
The security guard had never seen anything like this before; they were putting him on the hot seat. He considered simply ignoring it and letting these idiots get themselves killed, but the thought that he had no real authority to decide and was merely following orders made him uneasy.
Fortunately, someone noticed what happened quickly, and the person in charge of security arrived promptly.
"Captain, they insist on going in to try the food in the cultivators' area, and I can't stop them."
Upon seeing their boss arrive, the security personnel immediately came forward to complain.
"It's alright, I'll handle it."
The captain in charge of security obviously had more authority, and these people's ungratefulness was quite annoying to him; they deserved to be taught a lesson.
"I apologize, everyone. We've isolated this area to protect you. The food of cultivators is very different from what ordinary people eat. Many of their foods are inedible to ordinary people, which is why we've isolated it. But since you want to see, feel free to look. However, I must warn you all: just look, and absolutely do not try anything, or you could be in mortal danger."
The person in charge came forward, spoke a few words to the troublemaking reporters, and then opened the floodgates.
The reporters chuckled a few times, then eagerly entered the food section reserved for cultivators.
"That's a lie! Ordinary people would die if they ate it? There's no such thing in the world. If they eat it, of course we'll eat it too."
Seeing the group of people filing in with cameras, the person in charge felt much more at ease. With their own cameras, every frame would be evidence, saving them the trouble of collecting evidence themselves if something went wrong.
Upon entering the food area for cultivators, the reporters quickly began examining the food there.
Each food item had a small description next to it, explaining its ingredients. After all, not all cultivators are like Li Xingkong, who can eat anything; there are differences in the ingredients.
"Hey, look at this, it's 'stir-fried steel wire rolls,' these Divine Land People's cultural literacy is so poor, they can even write the ingredients wrong."
A reporter looked at the silver wires on the plate, which, combined with various seasonings, resembled noodles; their appearance was indeed making his mouth water.
"Hey, look at this, candied pufferfish thorns, trying to scare us. Pufferfish thorns are absolutely inedible."
Soon, they all took out the serving chopsticks, wanting to try some.
But when they tried to pick it up with their chopsticks, they realized something was wrong. The wire seemed really hard, so hard that they Heavenly Capital.
At this moment, Li Xingkong also came over. With just a gentle stir of his chopsticks, the steel wire was picked up by him like overcooked instant noodles. Many of the wires that were tangled in the plate were also broken off by Li Xingkong with another chopstick.
"???"
The reporter was starting to doubt if his chopsticks were fake, but luckily Li Xingkong had found quite a few more with his chopsticks, so the man also picked some up and put them in front of him.
He took a bite, biting hard, but all he heard was a scraping sound like fingernails rubbing against a blackboard. After biting into the wire, his tongue was pricked and bled. He immediately dropped the plate and burst into tears, clutching his mouth.
What the heck? This really is steel wire!
"Huh, why is this chair moving?"
Just as he was squatting on the ground, clutching his cheek and groaning in pain, another reporter walked up to him and touched his head.
Despite the pain, I looked up and saw that the person in the plate still had half a mushroom in it. Judging from its colorful appearance, I knew how poisonous it was.
Before he could say anything, the man plopped down on him, causing both of them to fall over and knock over a nearby table.
The others weren't faring much better. Some chipped their teeth on hard objects, while others ingested highly poisonous substances and immediately fell asleep. In no time, the area was in complete chaos.
The photographers following them panicked. All the reporters had been infected, and they didn't dare stay any longer. Who knew what other dangerous items might be involved? So, while everyone was still broadcasting live, several camera positions seemed to be chased by something, and they took off running out of the area.
As for the journalists who collapsed, they didn't care about that anymore. It was just a job; at worst, they'd lose it. Nothing was more important than their own lives.
Fortunately, the Divine Land side wouldn't let them court death. After all, this banquet was a joyous occasion, and leaving them stranded here would be rather unlucky. In the end, it was the security guard from the cultivation area who cast a healing spell on each of them, and after they were healed, he threw them out.
After they regained their senses, the events that had just occurred were still vivid in their minds, yet they were completely unharmed, as if they had just been dreaming. This made some of them begin to doubt whether they had ever actually entered this so-called cultivator's area.
Fortunately, some people were unconscious, while others were only injured. The reporters who had been through the whole ordeal were now genuinely frightened.
These foods were indeed not something they could eat, and they had indeed tried them; Divine Land had not lied to them.
Watching Li Xingkong and the others enjoying their meal in the cultivators' area, especially the reporters who had just tried those dishes and knew exactly what they were made of, and seeing them devour them like ordinary food, sent chills down their spines.
The abilities displayed by these cultivators were truly terrifying. Although I haven't witnessed them actually fighting, just from this one aspect, it's clear that they are no longer the same species as ordinary people.
Whether they can even be called human beings anymore is a question.
The Western concept of humans and monsters is fundamentally different from ours. For us, even if a person has supernatural powers and has cultivated to the point of becoming a god, as long as their foundation is human, no matter how strong they become, they are still human and still stand from a human perspective.
Moreover, in traditional Eastern beliefs, the human body is an innate entity, comparable to mythical beasts like dragons and phoenixes. It is one of the species that is born to stand at the pinnacle of existence. Only demons and monsters transform into humans; very few people voluntarily relinquish their human form.
In Western thought, if you are different from the majority, you are a monster; even if you look human, you are not considered human.