Chapter 597:  The Evil Chef, Too Terrifying To Speak Of

　　“Why, why?” The West Shadow Guard’s obese body shrank a size. His eyes were bloodshot and he would have a mild seizure from time to time. He had never been plunged to a depth of darkness so deep before. His path had been blocked and not only that, he could feel his spiritual cultivation decreasing. His Dao Heart was unstable so it was easily destroyed by the feeling of disgust.

　　He was not the only one feeling that way. The same thing was happening to the other monks. After all the obstacles they had overcome, betting their lives on so many missions, training with all the sincerity and hope in the world—after all that, they were defeated by this.

　　Puke!

　　“I’m going to kill you all!”

　　All of them went mad. The punishment for cutting off a monk’s spiritual training path was death! They were filled with shame and felt they had nothing to live for. They were confident they would be able to eliminate a group made of seven people and a dog. The group was definitely no match for the Ministry!

　　“Die, die, die!” The Ministry group attacked at the same time and their spells blotted out the sky. They descended on Blackie and the group like a tsunami. Their aura was strong with the scent of bloodlust. It was truly terrifying.

　　“Please, protect us, Lord Dog!” Cultivator Junjun had high self-awareness. He knew his power would not be able to protect himself and he would need to rely on Blackie to come out of this alive.

　　Blackie did not move at all. By the side, Elder Yun, who had been studying the wooden door just now, had a glimmer of light in his eyes. He raised his hand and slammed onto a certain place on the wooden door. The aura became more pronounced and started resonating.

　　In the next instant, seven colors of light suddenly burst from the void and the space was distorted, like the firstborn sun descending into the world, driving out all darkness.

　　The Ministry’s attacks melted away like ice and snow, directly erased as if they had never appeared before. Ripples started to flow in the space, like a flower’s reflection in the river. Then, the attacks dissipated with them.

　　Everyone watched all these unfold before their eyes as if the winners had already been decided, not daring to move.

　　A projection of an old man in white robes slowly walked out from the wooden door. His face was expressionless, while his body exuded a very profound aura with the ability to stun the world as if his appearance was the very meaning of the world!

　　“Is he the owner of the secret border?”

　　Everyone was shocked and had an impulse to start bowing to him.

　　“He’s the real powerhouse! He stands at the pinnacle of the Power of Chaos!”

　　Elder Yun gulped out of nervousness. Although there was only a one-word difference between the Heavenly Realm and the Wisdom Realm, and although it was only the projection of the old man, he still dared not display any signs of disrespect.

　　The old man was a pioneer who has surpassed the ways of heaven and entered a new realm!

　　The flowers and trees disappeared, along with the animals and the cabin. Instead, there was a long ladder, emitting a dazzling golden light that rose all the way to the sky!

　　“After so many years, someone finally came. It seems there will be chaos in the Chaos again.” The white-robed old man sighed and waved his hand casually, allowing everyone to regain the ability to move.

　　Cultivator Junjun had heard the Taishang Elder mentioned this not long ago, and thoughtfully said, “Are you talking about the Eldritchs?”

　　“I never expected someone to still remember their existence.” The white-robed old man glanced at Cultivator Junjun. Then, he nodded and said, “Yes, it’s the Eldritchs. They will bring great calamity to the Chaos, also known as Ancient Disaster! The secret border I set up will only reappear in the world when I foresee that the Ancient Disaster is about to fall.”

　　The white-robed old man looked at the group and shook his head, seeming to be quite disappointed, “To be able to come to this level, there should be a super genius who’s not even one-in-a-billion, but…your group is the worst. It disappoints me too much.”

　　He looked worried, obviously not feeling optimistic about the people he was looking at. He did not think this group of people were capable of fighting the Ancient Disaster.

　　Everyone was slightly embarrassed. It could not be denied that luck played a big part in their ability to reach this place, especially for Qin Zhongshan and the others. Actually, it was Blackie who did most of the work. They merely had to tag along. Their powers were probably very, very far from the old man’s requirements.

　　“Oh, well. There’s no point in fighting with fate. Do what you can.” The white-robed old man looked down and said, “I… I’m of an elite human race, and I’ve been tasked with leaving the Elite Tinder to the human race. Ascend the ladder to the next level! I’m waiting for you at the highest point!”

　　With that, he turned around, took a step forward, and appeared at the highest point of the ladder. He looked down at them with condescending eyes.

　　“Elite Tinder?”

　　With those two words, everyone became fired up, energy and hot blood surging through their entire bodies.

　　Obviously, this was the path of the Wisdom Realm! The old man would pass it on once they had reached the highest point of the ladder. It made reaching the last level truly worthwhile.

　　This chance was too precious to pass up. It was countless times more precious than any treasure since this was the gateway to achieve peak power!

　　“Elder, wait for me! I’m coming!”

　　“Me too, master!”

　　“Give it to me! The others aren’t worthy!”

　　The crowd went mad, forgetting everything. Their brains only had one thing in mind—peak power!

　　Whoosh!

　　One by one, they flew up to the sky, climbing up the ladder!

　　Although this old man was standing at the highest point, the height of the ladder was actually no more than 100 feet. For the higher ranking cultivators, it was not much of a distance at all and it could be reached with a single thought.

　　However, this was clearly not the case.

　　At the very start, one-third of the people who flew a distance of 10 feet were pushed back by an inexplicable force. Their entire bodies went into shock. These people, who had managed to survive until now were certainly of extraordinary powers, but they could only manage to fly a tenth of the distance before falling down.

　　In addition to them, the others were suppressed by the tremendous pressure, unable to fly. They could only carefully climb up the ladder step by step! This ladder contained the Power of Wisdom. The more one climbed, the stronger the strength of the Power of Wisdom. Regardless of how much mana one had, one would still have to resist using one’s Dao.

　　Out of the whole group, only Blackie stood motionless where he was. He yawned a little and then fell to the ground, resting his chin on his paws as he watched silently. It was as if he was enjoying a TV show. He already found the cocoa tree that Li Nianfan wanted and he was content with that. As for the Elite Tinder? He was not interested in that.

　　Looking from the outside, one could see the entire ladder creating ripples in the space due to the clashing of Dao. Not only that, many Dao began to manifest, giving birth to strange visions in the sky.

　　The scorching sun, the hurricane, the cold ice, and other visions varied. The collision of the monk’s emotions even made the sound of thunder-like explosions.

　　There were a total of five figures who were in the lead. They were the Food God, Cultivator Junjun, Elder Yun, West Shadow Guard, and the Left Messenger. They had already crossed quite a distance.

　　The latter three were all high-level members of the Heavenly Realm and the fact that the Food God and Cultivator Junjun were able to keep up with their pace spoke about their own remarkability.

　　The Food God had been training under Li Nianfan for a while now, so he had a very deep understanding of Dao. Cultivator Junjun also received the favor of Li Nianfan when the latter showed him the CD which benefited him tremendously.

　　The white-robed old man’s gaze fell on the Food God, and he said in amazement, “For a Daluo Golden Immortal to have such deep understanding is truly strange and amazing!”

　　Behind these five people were Qin Zhongshan, Bai Chen, and others who were struggling to climb the ladder. Under the suppression of the Wisdom, every step became extremely difficult for them, and fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads.

　　More and more people struggled to handle it and were shaken down the steps. In the end, only the five people in the front were still climbing, and the highest point was only 30 feet away!

　　At this time, the Left Messenger became a little unstable and felt she could not handle more, so she voluntarily retreated down the ladder. Bai Chen, Shi Tumingri, and Qin Zhongshan also retired one after another.

　　When there was only 20 feet left to the highest point, Cultivator Junjun sighed and finally, could no longer take another step. He retreated sadly.

　　“How is this possible that a Daluo Golden Immortal can handle it?!”

　　“A miracle, it’s a miracle!”

　　“How did a weakling get in here? And reach until that point?”

　　“I think you’re all forgetting the main point! Look at all the things his Dao emotions are manifesting—they’re all delicious food!”

　　“It’s amazing how he could actually cultivate Wisdom of Food to this level!”

　　Looking up, they could see layers of Dao emotions rippling and converging into a dish. Occasionally, roast duck would appear, then roast chicken would appear, and then soup stew would appear.

　　Just looking at the dishes made them hungry as if they could really smell their fragrance. The Wisdom of Food surrounded the onlookers and clashed with the Wisdom.

　　“D*mn! It’s him, the one who made the sheep poo into the Spiritual Root!”

　　“Come on, West Shadow Guard! Don’t lose to this scum!”

　　“This cook is evil, take revenge!”

　　The West Shadow Guard’s face became gloomy. He glanced at the Food God and was also surprised. When he saw the food around the Food God, he could not help but think of what he had just eaten.

　　Puke!

　　He quickly composed himself and got rid of distracting thoughts. ‘I can’t lose, I mustn’t lose to this scum cook! The Wisdom of Food is only a small path of Dao. He’s no match to me!’ He took a deep breath and continued to move forward with increased energy!

　　The Food God’s face became red and his body was already faintly trembling. In his mind, he started to recall Li Nianfan’s teachings. ‘A qualified cook has no distracting thoughts in his mind, making his cooking naturally delicious!’

　　“Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roasted duck, roasted chicken, roasted goose…” He began to silently recite the recipes that Li Nianfan told him to recite. The thousands of dishes were intertwined and became a beacon to his Dao.

　　One step, two steps… They were no more than 10 feet away from the highest point!

　　The Jade Emperor was struck with awe. “Way to go, Food God!” He never expected the Food God to become so powerful. The painting style of the Heavenly Court might have to change, and the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals were no longer as powerful as the Food God.

　　“The expert’s really too powerful! The luck of the Food God is simply out of this world!” exclaimed Cultivator Junjun. This just proved that even a pig could fly to the sky just by following the expert to study.

　　In the last 10 feet, the pressure suddenly doubled! The crowd of onlookers could even see that a crack had appeared in the sky. It was without a doubt the pressure was truly terrible.

　　The Food God and West Shadow Guard stopped at the same time.

　　“You can’t beat me!” said the West Shadow Guard with a sneer. He glanced at the Food God and when he raised his palm, the Shinto Thunder Slashing Sword appeared in his hand.

　　Thunder exploded around him with the Power of Wisdom transforming into thunder as it resisted the pressure of Wisdom.

　　“This is the weapon given to me by our Minister and there’s a trace of his great aura attached to it. I bet you don’t have something like this with you!” said the West Shadow Guard with pride. He swung his sword forward and continued climbing.

　　“Victory belongs to the West Shadow Guard now! I’m amazed he still has this trick up his sleeves!”

　　“Awesome, look, that chef has been struck dumb!”

　　“What treasure could a mere Daluo Golden Immortal have? He should just give up.”

　　Everyone held a deep hatred for the Food God, so they were naturally happy to see the situation play out this way.

　　The Food God did not say a word. He simply raised his palm and a spatula appeared in his hand. From the surface, it looked no different from the spatula used by ordinary people for stir-frying dishes. He started to perform the motion of stir-frying in thin air.

　　Following his movements, everyone clearly saw that the surrounding Wisdom began to be disrupted, as if they were turned into dishes, being stirred by the spatula…

　　“Gosh, what kind of spatula is that? It doesn’t make sense!”

　　“How can a spatula stir-fry Wisdom? Is it possible that it can be made into a dish?”

　　“I thought that chef was scary enough, but I didn’t expect him to have an even scarier spatula! It’s turning my worldview upside down!”

　　Everyone could not believe what they were seeing and they became dizzy.

　　Hearing the movement behind him, the West Shadow Guard frowned and looked down slightly. At the sight of the Food God stir-frying, his eyeballs almost dropped out and his chin almost fell to the ground.

　　“Is he moving forward while cooking?” The West Shadow Guard was dumbfounded. He rubbed his eyes, stared at the spatula, and exclaimed again, “It’s a Chaos Spiritual Treasure! It’s actually a Chaos Spiritual Treasure Spatula! Where did you get this? How could the Chaos create such a thing like this?!”

　　The Food God ignored him and wielded his spatula as if he was really stir-frying a dish in front of him. He advanced silently forward until he had surpassed the West Shadow Guard.

　　“So what if it’s a Chaos Spiritual Treasure! You still can’t beat me!”The West Shadow Guard’s eyes sank and he gritted his teeth while frantically brandishing the Shinto Thunder Slashing Sword, cutting out a path for himself.

　　However, he became desperate when he was only five feet away from the highest point because no matter how hard he slashed, he was not able to create a path. He could only helplessly stop in his tracks and looked at the Food God seethingly as he continued moving onward with his spatula.

　　Looking at the Food God standing in front of him, the white-robed old man was also a little dumbfounded. After a moment, he said, “Although it’s a bit unbelievable, there’s no doubt that the final candidate has been chosen!”

　　If not for the fact everyone saw it with their own eyes, no one would dare to think that it would be the chef with the lowest spiritual cultivation amongst them to win the final victory.

　　The Left Messenger screamed internally when she saw what was happening. Pain tore through her heart. She realized any situation involving that bald dog would ultimately end up badly for them. It was at the same time truly illogical and too terrifying to speak of!