Chapter 7: Restaurant Dining

The next morning, in the third-floor restaurant, Ye Dafu was seated by the window and watching Xiao Nanfeng, who was out on the deck meditating cross-legged. His lackeys sat all around him as they all had tea together.

"That brat really does seem strange, doesn't he? Looking at his posture, it looks more like he's cultivating rather than basking in the sun."

"Are you sure, Boss? What sort of trash technique would need you to bask in the sun?" one lackey wondered.

"I heard someone fished up a spirit fish yesterday?" Ye Dafu suddenly asked.

"Everyone on the ship is talking about it. We went around digging for more information, but no one knows who did it. I even headed to the kitchen in hopes of buying some, but the cooks said that it was long gone." One lackey shook his head, despondent.

"What a pity! Despite being in the Tianshu Empire for so long, I've never had a chance to try spirit fish. I hear that these fishes' spiritual energy is particularly pure and concentrated, bolstering physical cultivation and even nourishing the soul," Ye Dafu lamented.

"Right? I heard it was an eel, one of the delicacies of the sea, with incredible texture! A golden eel, too..." one lackey swallowed a gulp of saliva.

"A golden eel? Truly a pity!" Ye Dafu lamented again.

As Ye Dafu and his clique were having tea and waiting for their breakfast to be served, one lackey suddenly exclaimed, "Eh, what's that poor bastard doing here?"

"Hmm?" Everyone looked over, only to see Xiao Nanfeng, having finished his morning regimen, step into the third-floor restaurant.

The members of Ye Dafu's clique all thought him poor, even destitute. He routinely spent all day cooped up in the suite, choking down dry rations that the rest of them turned their noses up at. What could he be doing in the third-floor restaurant? This was no ordinary restaurant—it was dozens of times more expensive than usual ones, and those who weren't financially stable knew to stay far away.

Xiao Nanfeng handed his badge to one of the waiters, then walked over to a table by the window, not too far from Ye Dafu.

"Didn't you say he was poor? What's he doing up here, then?" Ye Dafu frowned at a lackey who was one of Xiao Nanfeng's suitemates.

"I, I don't know! I checked his belongings, and he really doesn't have any gold or silver, only a heap of dry rations. If he really were wealthy, what would he be doing in a four-person suite with the three of us? He should have had his own room on the second floor like you, Boss!"

Xiao Nanfeng suddenly turned to the lackey who had spoken. "Don't you think you've gone too far by searching through my belongings? And you're even admitting it right in front of my face?"

Even I want to teach these psychos a lesson now...

The lackey was just about to retort when Ye Dafu interrupted him.

"You're Nanfeng, aren't you? I remember you very well—you're the upstart who stopped one of my brothers from boarding this ship. Do you know what happens to those who go against me?" Ye Dafu sneered.

"Are you trying to start a fight with me, then?" Xiao Nanfeng replied disdainfully.

"I'm well aware of the prohibition against fighting aboard, don't you worry. We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other better in the future."

Xiao Nanfeng frowned as though he were looking at a fool. He thought Ye Dafu knew what he was doing, but he turned out to be a rich young master who hadn't ever experienced a beating in his life! Barking dogs didn't bite; Ye Dafu's arrogance would eventually bring himself an enemy he couldn't hope to overcome.

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head, turning back to his table and ignoring these sheltered young men who had never experienced reality.

His disdainful attitude might as well have been a dagger thrust into Ye Dafu's prideful heart.

A youth at fifth-stage Acquisition, with no money to his name—how dare he disregard me so?!

"You're poor, aren't you? Don't make a fool of yourself by stepping into such an establishment. Are you aware of how much things cost here? Let's hope you won't have to work as a kitchen boy to pay off your meal!" Ye Dafu taunted back.

"Right, there's no free rice porridge for the likes of you here!" his lackeys shouted, laughing.

Xiao Nanfeng ignored them all. How unlucky did he have to be to keep running into these psychos?

Very quickly, a waiter served him.

"Ah? I didn't order this." Xiao Nanfeng eyed the lobster doubtfully.

"Compliments of the chef, sir. This purple-breasted king lobster is an appetizer. We'll have the main dish prepared for you immediately."

Ye Dafu's table went silent, as did the entire restaurant.

The purple-breasted king lobsters were a specialty of the Taiqing Sect, so precious and expensive that even those rich enough to purchase them couldn't get them on-demand. Ye Dafu had had an active reservation for his group for two days now and hadn't heard a word—but Xiao Nanfeng was getting one for free?!

Ye Dafu felt as though he had just been slapped. Comparing the ordinary fare on his table to the lobster on Xiao Nanfeng's, he suddenly lost his appetite.

Just then, the waiter presented Xiao Nanfeng with another huge dish.

"This is the golden spirit eel that the head chef himself specially prepared for you. The bones have already been removed from the flesh. Please enjoy." The waiter bowed, then retreated.

On Xiao Nanfeng's table was a dish shining with faint golden light. Ye Dafu and his lackeys all widened their eyes at the sight. The golden glow wasn't particularly bright, but everyone felt as though they had been blinded.

"The spirit fish?"

"The golden eel?"

"How could this be?!"

Ye Dafu and his lackeys felt a bout of despair overcome them.They had just been making fun of Xiao Nanfeng for not having any gold—only to find him eating even more lavish fare than they could! Was this retribution? How could this be!

Ye Dafu snorted and shook his head. "So what if he's having some of that spirit fish? It's all luck, it has to be! I bet he's the one who made the catch last night—it might be the only time in his life that he can enjoy such a delicacy."

"That's right. Considering his cultivation, even if he does make it to the Taiqing Sect, there's no way he'd ever be taken in as a disciple!"

"Right, even the nominal disciples of the sect have to be at the sixth stage of Acquisition, at the very least!"

As they grumbled away, Xiao Nanfeng finished the lobster and eel. He rubbed his stomach and let out a satisfied burp. "Delicious!"

Ye Dafu and his clique: ...

Suddenly, Xiao Nanfeng's body shook.

A gust of energy seemed to burst forth from his body, sending dust flying all over the floor. An aura emanated from him.

Had he... reached the sixth stage of Acquisition?

"The spirit eel, it has to be that spirit eel! He absorbed its spiritual energy and transformed it into qi, allowing him to break through!" Ye Dafu cried out.

"That means—that means that he now qualifies to be a nominal disciple in the Taiqing Sect!" one of the lackeys exclaimed, with a look of dismay.