Reaper of the Martial World

Book 9: Chapter 153: Carnage (1)

“Try this.”

Saru handed Dyon another platter of food, smiling sweetly.

The soldiers below could only smile bitterly. Their princess was basically an apron away from being a typical housewife.

They thought this princess of theirs had a crush on True God Sacharro, why was she treating this masked man so well?

It was only some ‘clever’ individuals who believed that Saru was trying to win the heart of Dyon by gaining the heart of his elder cousin first.

Still, at least this was a distraction from the current ridiculous situation they were in. Just moments ago, the princess had informed them that she turned all of the gate thresholds down to the Foundation Stage with the exception of one, which she placed at the dao realm.

This might seem like a good strategy, but in reality, it was horrible. The kitsune would obviously be informed of these changes as the Gates were fair, after all, they were technically a Game, both sides had rules to follow.

If the Shruti were in the power position, this tactic would be just fine. It would essentially be forcing a decisive battle. But, because the Shruti were in the weaker position, this loss of flexibility could be the end of them all.

Before, the Kitsune wouldn’t be certain where their main forces would appear, so they would have to disperse their strength over several Gates. This was the tactic that minimized their losses to this point. But now, it was completely thrown out the window.

“This is meat from a gold horned bull. Its skin is as tough as diamond, taking most of the brunt of its weight, so its meat is really tender as they’re hardly worked. I seasoned it with some special herbs I collected and marinated it for a few days before putting it away in my spatial ring to preserve.

“This is jade rice boiled in cleansing waters. It had a satisfying crunch to it and an herby, garlic-like essence, but its contradictorily soft at the same time.

“Try it!”

Dyon happily dug in. Saru’s cooking skills shocked him to the point where he could only calm himself by eating more. Dyon had always been a food connoisseur, but he was at best an average cook. He had never had such good food in his life.

She really put her heart into this meal. He couldn’t help but thank and praise her after every bite.

How could Dyon know that Saru had prepared thousands of meals over the years, preserving them all in perfect condition in her spatial ring, all for this moment?

Even before she entered the tower trials, Saru had been a good cook. It wasn’t entirely her choice, but rather that the conservative culture of the Shruti Empire had forced it upon her. Only after she showed her talent was irrefutable did she partially break away from the constraints women faced in this Shruti Empire’s territory.

However, the rewards of her trials practically gave wings to a tiger.

She only received four rewards because the second trial disappeared, likely due to Dyon as she speculated. Among those rewards, she chose an ancient book with deep rune etchings on its cover. It introduced the long lost ancient secondary profession of the Spiritual Cook.

The founder of the Spiritual Cook path believed it was lamentable that Celestials and Dao Realm cultivators often ate nothing but tasteless pills. To make matters worse, sometimes these pills were bitter due to impurities. Maybe only a rare few might taste good…

Though he had great accomplishments in the latter portion of his life, he was a late bloomer. So he remembered well what it was like to be mortal and to have a love of food. The issue was that even when cultivators ate food, it was often for leisure, rarely did eating actually improve one’s cultivation.

So, this founder set out to change this and forge a path that could compete with array alchemy. The ancient tome Saru chose was in fact this legacy.

She chose it for two reasons. Firstly, though eating rarely improved cultivation, that was in terms of energy and soul path cultivators. As a body path cultivator as well as an energy path cultivator, Saru knew the importance of food to her bodily strength.

And second… She really wanted to wow Dyon with her cooking, to be praised just like she was today.

Though it was a petty and foolish reason, the use of the tome couldn’t be denied. The beauty in the path of the Spiritual Cook was their ability to take simple ingredients and to not only make them delicious, but nutritious as well.

Despite the fact the ingredients Saru used were mostly of the Grandmaster grade, even with his overbearing body, Dyon felt a slight, but still apparent improvement. His eyes couldn’t help but shine.

Unfortunately, it seemed that only Dyon and Saru were enjoying themselves.

Brahman, who stood to the side of them in the air, felt that he had lost all face. Last night, Dyon said he wouldn’t give him any treasures as a disciple since he rejected him, but still trained him to the point his bones ached.

‘If you acknowledge that I rejected you, why are you still calling me your disciple?!’

He had said these words too many times already, but Dyon ignored them every time.

As lost as Brahman was, the three Grand Elder, Emperor Shruti and Atlas, not to mention the countless ten billion celestial warriors below, were even more lost than that.

The Gates vibrated open the large ocean surface. Unfortunately, it was already too late to change anything. They could only hope the Shruti Empire survived until the Gates closed once more…