656 Open Your Taste Buds! (1/2)

After the entrance of the Full Mountain Red Restaurant was opened, the banners hanging in the hall also fell into view of the audience, prompting a lot of discussions.

”Dark Cuisine Competition? What is that? Was there any mention of it in the schedule?”

A senior cultivator, who was relatively familiar with the situation, shook his head. ”There's no detailed explanation of the rules of each match in the schedule. But I remember that one of the items in the food contest seems to test the tolerance of the contestants.

At this point, the strange smell from the hall waffled into the nose and the face of the senior cultivator suddenly changed and he could not speak anymore.

Fortunately, he was a cultivator. He quickly activated the magical power in his body and swept away the feeling of disgust and then stiffly said, ”Now I begin to doubt the rumor that says Wang Lu and Liu Li have a good relationship. I'm afraid it might not be accurate. I think by cruelly letting her Junior Sister participate in this match as a contestant, they are more like enemies.”

At the same time, a considerable amount of audience closest to the hall had retreated to the back with a pale complexion, willingly handover the ten thousand spirit stones worth spot!

The smell from inside the restaurant was really weird! It was not a foul smell, but something weird and difficult to describe with words. At the same time, intense resistance of the smell appeared from every inch of their body.

”It feels like all the things that couldn't be eaten from all over the world are put into a pot.”

However, although the smell could force the audience to retreat, it could not stop the determined Wang Lu and Liu Li.

The two of them walked into the restaurant together. Wang Lu, as the host of the match, stood in the middle of the hall. Liu Li consciously sat in front of a round table and waited.

The next moment, in front of the opposite round table, an obese figure emerged out of thin air. It was the Food Immortal that came directly through teleportation spell. The loss a few days ago seemed to have been completely ignored by him. The obese Food Immortal appeared in front of Wang Lu with a smile, but the next moment, that smile was stuck on his face.

”What-what kind of smell is this?”

Wang Lu shrugged his shoulders. ”Of course it's the aroma of wine, meat, and rice.”

The Food Immortal shouted, ”When you want to say something, take off the mask that covers your mouth and nose first!”

Wang Lu coughed and said, ”Sorry, I have a cold, I don't want to infect you.”

”Just now you were laughing and talking with your fans without that mask!” The Food Immortal unmercifully exposed.

”Yes, that was when I was infected by their enthusiasm.” Wang Lu chose to insist on being shameless.

”... Forget it, I have no time to waste arguing with you. I remember you said before that the theme of today's competition is to compete for the amount of food that the contestant could eat, why it's now the dark cuisine competition?”

Wang Lu said, ”The purpose of the competition has not changed. It's still to compete for the amount of food. However, the amount of food could be explained in many ways. If it's just simply the quantity, then it would be a waste regardless of the foodie or the food itself. Because everyone would surely not care about the taste of the food itself, as lacking in sense of beauty as force-feeding a duck. Therefore this amount of food is more like in spirit than in quantity.”

The Food Immortal said, ”There's some truth in what you just said, but what's the explanation for the two words 'dark cuisine'? What's that disgusting smell from the kitchen? What does it have to do with your amount of food in spirit?”

Wang Lu explained unhurriedly, ”The so-called dark cuisine, in general, refers to those dishes that have failed to cook, have strange colors and fragrance, and even disgusting. However, this banner is actually a misunderstanding of the boss of Full Mountain Red Restaurant. He blindly categorizes the food that he could not understand and appreciate as dark cuisine, which is the manifestation of his ignorance, and not my intention. In fact, the title of this competition is actually: to promote the value of food diversification and enhance the tolerance of food.”

Upon hearing this, the Food Immortal was startled. ”What diversification?”

Wang Lu said, ”Food is ever changing and endless. At the same time, it also varies from person to person and from place to place. For example, in my home village, Wang Family Village, there are many people who could not adapt to spicy food. Delicious for me, poisonous for the others, I believe Senior Food Immortal must certainly have a profound understanding of this. And what I mean by to promote the value of food diversification is being able to relax one's spirit so that one could embrace all kinds of food from all over the world.”

With that, the chef brought a steaming pot of soup from the kitchen. The strange smell was nothing to the chef because he also wore a thick mask. After he put the pot of soup down, he immediately turned around and ran away, not stopping even for a second.

The Food Immortal stared at the dish and said, ”Even the cook is afraid of this dish, what kind of food is this?”

Wang Lu, on the other hand, lifted the lid of the pot of soup without changing his face. Suddenly, the smell that was a hundred times stronger assaulted his face, which made the audience outside the hall collectively withdrew a few steps back. And when they saw what was inside the pot, many wanted to throw up.

In the pot, amidst the black soup, large white larvae stacked with each other, constantly wriggling and struggling as if they were tormented souls in purgatory.

”... Is this food?”

Wang Lu nodded. ”This is the delicacy of the aboriginal tribe in the border area of Blue River Region. Although the appearance is unsatisfactory, it has high nutritional value. These white larvae are carefully cultivated in a very clean environment, rich in various nutrients, and more valuable than the meat we usually eat. This soup is also made from herbs, which has the effect of reducing and removing heat. Locals regard this kind of insect soup as the most precious delicacy. Only when they receive the noblest guests would they bring it out to be served.”