Liu Xing chuckled wryly, looking at Lu Yang and the Demon Emperor Zhu Tian, feeling that he had unintentionally stumbled upon a very serious matter.

That was the Demon Emperor Zhu Tian, the lord of hundreds of millions of the Demon Race. Although he himself was an Integration Period Cultivator, standing before the Demon Emperor, he was as insignificant as an ant, easily crushed at will.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first," Liu Xing said with a compensatory smile, backing out of the room.

"Stop," the Demon Emperor Zhu Tian spoke indifferently, activating the Survival Of The Fittest Dao Fruit Outline and leaving a branding on Liu Xing’s Lingtai.

"You must not mention our meeting to anyone."

Liu Xing’s eyes were vacant, and he monotonously responded with a "Yes," walking out of the inn and regaining his senses.

"Are there dancing girls?" Yun Mengmeng, with a strip of beef jerky in her mouth, peeked through the threshold, and indeed, she saw many Demon Race dancing girls in the hallway, all of whom retained some characteristics of the Demon Race, but none of whom Yun Mengmeng recognized.

"Indeed, there are quite a lot of people at the Second-in-command’s door."

Zhu Tian was sweating profusely. He had always wanted to establish a connection with Lu Yang but didn’t know what to offer, so he cultivated a group of maid girls. This time, thinking he finally had the chance to give Brother Lu the dancing girls he had raised for him, he didn’t expect Lu Yang to bring Yun Mengmeng with him on this visit.

"I was worried that Brother Lu might not be accustomed to life in Demon City, so I took the liberty of finding a few clever maids for you," he said.

"Thank you for the kind offer, Nation Master Zhu, but I’m used to having my peace and quiet. It would be best if you take the girls back," Lu Yang replied.

"All right."

Seeing that Lu Yang didn’t make a big deal out of this matter, Zhu Tian let out a sigh of relief.

"Actually, the reason I’ve come to see Brother Lu is that I have a question, something that has always puzzled me. It’s just I never found the right opportunity to ask," Zhu Tian said.

"What’s the issue?"

Zhu Tian sat up straight, earnestly seeking Lu Yang’s advice. Seeing this, Lu Yang couldn’t help feeling apprehensive, secretly guessing what Zhu Tian was about to ask him.

"Have you noticed, Brother Lu, that before I awoke, there were no rumors of Semi-Immortals in the Cultivation World, and both Great Qian and Great Yu factions were in hiding. But since I awoke, Semi-Immortals have started to appear, one after another, and even several unexpected Immortals have emerged!"

"Do you think it’s possible that my emergence triggered the start of a Great Era of strife?"

"Considering what you’ve said, it does seem to be the case," Lu Yang admitted. He had not thought about this before, but now, with Zhu Tian’s remark, it seemed Zhu Tian might indeed be the source of it all.

After Zhu Tian’s revival, Ao Ling and Jiang Lianyi appeared one after another, and both Great Yu and Great Qian also rushed to show themselves.

"So, Brother Lu, you also think so?" Zhu Tian had always felt that he was no ordinary person. He was first among the Immortals, second only to Ao Ling and Jiang Lianyi, and his awakening in this era could not just be a coincidence; it must signify something.

Receiving Lu Yang’s affirmation, Zhu Tian became even more certain of his view.

After sending Zhu Tian off, the feeling of exhaustion that Lu Yang experienced nearly vanished.

"Sister Mengmeng, shall we take a stroll?"

"Let’s do it!"

Yun Mengmeng, who had been lying on the bed making a "big" character shape, suddenly sprang up from it.

Considering his current high profile, knowing that he would be recognized if he went out, Lu Yang put on a mask, altering his appearance.

"Speaking of which, this mask was given by the Di Jiang Clan."

The mask provided by the Di Jiang Clan was indeed very useful.

As soon as they stepped outside, they were greeted by a delicious scent, and without needing a map, they could follow the aroma to the main venue of the Spirit Chef competition.

Walking through two streets, they arrived at the market where small carts were everywhere. Spirit Chefs demonstrated their skills, using this opportunity to promote their culinary philosophies.

These Spirit Chefs came from all corners of the world. The one with the lowest Cultivation Level was at the Foundation Establishment Stage, while the highest were at the Divinity Transformation Stage, but no matter how high their status in the outside world, here, they were just street food stall owners.

To call them street food stalls was not entirely accurate, after all, one wouldn’t expect a street food stall to battle with a Demon Beast, adhering to the principle of ’kill-before-you-eat.’

The Divinity Transformation Stage three-eyed cow demon kept rubbing its hooves against the ground and with a bellow, charged at the street food stall owner.

The street food stall owner remained calm in the face of danger, clenching his fists; his muscles swelled, bursting his clothes at the seams, and surprisingly, he overpowered the three-eyed cow demon in the contest of strength!

He shook his arms forcefully, hurling the three-eyed cow demon into the sky, then pulled out a gleaming bone knife from behind his waist, which was different from ordinary bone knives because its handle was golden.

The snack stand owner leapt high into the air, rising to the level of the cow demon:

"Bone Knife Technique!"

Swish, swish, swish—

The snack stand owner’s knife skills were so exquisite that one could only see the afterimages, and in the blink of an eye, the cow demon was stripped down to its skeleton, the snowflake-like slices of beef neatly arranged on a plate.

The food enthusiasts watching around burst into cheers.

"What a skillful knife technique!"

"Beautiful!"

"To have refined the ordinary bone knife technique to such a level of perfection, could he be the famous Golden Knife Master?"

"The golden bone knife, it must be him!"

Lu Yang also saw a Spirit Chef pounding a turtle shell with his fists until it cracked into pieces, another evolving thousands of knife auras to chop vegetables and meat, and another controlling over a hundred cauldrons with an astonishing strength of Spiritual Sense.

Lu Yang felt that the profession of a Spirit Chef being so respectable must be about more than just cooking to increase one’s cultivation level.

Demon Beasts and the Demon Race are different beings. The former are merely wild beasts with cultivation levels, and the Demon Race does not consider them as part of the same race; Demon Beasts are indeed part of the Demon Race’s menu.

If that were not the case, the Spirit Chef Alliance would not dare to hold a Spirit Chef competition in Demon City.

As they were strolling along, they saw a young man stumbling over to Lu Yang and bowing with his fists clenched: "Senior cultivators, I am Song Tianjing, the seventh-generation descendant of the Yangyuan Building. I wonder if I could borrow some Spirit Stones from you two?"

"Yangyuan Building?" Lu Yang repeated, having never heard of this place. Yun Mengmeng also shook her head.

"Why do you seek to borrow Spirit Stones specifically from us?" Lu Yang saw that the young man’s cultivation level was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage; he posed no threat to him.

He was in disguise, so no one would recognize him as Lu Yang. Why did this Song Tianjing not approach others but instead come to him?

"This cultivator is at the Foundation Establishment Stage, right?" Lu Yang asked Fairy Eternity just to be sure.

"Yes."

"Then, that’s good."

"The two senior cultivators carry themselves with exceptional composure, surely you come from a major power."

"Interesting, follow me."

Lu Yang led the young man to a shop and ordered three pots of soup.

"Tell me more about your background and why you need Spirit Stones."

"My name is Song Tianjing. The Yangyuan Building was an inn established by my ancestors. The inn had been passed down to the sixth generation, which is my father’s, gradually falling into decline."

"Although my father aspired to be a Spirit Chef, his talent was limited. He could never pass the examination and was depressed, spending his days in gambling dens."

"Later, the people at the gambling den took a fancy to Yangyuan Building’s reputation and set a trap to swindle my father. Blinded by greed, he gambled more and more until he eventually mortgaged the Yangyuan Building."

"When those people came to take away Yangyuan Building, my father realized he had been fooled and was filled with regret."

"Overcome with anger and frustration, my father passed away suddenly. On his deathbed, holding my hand, he wished for me to redeem the Yangyuan Building."

"To redeem the Yangyuan Building, I need to become a Spirit Chef. That’s why I’ve come to Demon City. However, my home is too far from Demon City, and to get here, I’ve spent all my resources, so I’m hoping to borrow some Spirit Stones from the two seniors to rent a stall."

"With my cooking skills, I should be able to pay it back quickly!"

Seeing Lu Yang still hesitant, Song Tianjing gritted his teeth and pulled out a tattered ancient scroll from his bosom, "My ancestors happened upon this Ancient Fragment and established Yangyuan Building. If the seniors don’t trust me, I will leave this Ancient Fragment as collateral!"

Lu Yang took the ancient book and looked at it, "Culinary Bible."