Crown Prince Zhao Zhen stood on the royal balcony, his teeth grinding so hard that blood leaked from the corners of his mouth.
The imperial arena—built to showcase the supreme glory and absolute power of the Sunfall Imperial Family—had become Leo’s personal stage. Eighty thousand citizens, foreign delegates, and ancient sect leaders were staring up at the balcony, waiting to see how the royal family would react to this historic victory.
"Your Highness..." Grand Alchemist Dan Flame whispered, his face pale as a corpse. "The boy's dish... it has summoned a Heavenly Dao Vision. If we attempt to forcibly deny his victory now, the collective wrath of the three empires' delegates will ruin our royal family's diplomatic standing forever!"
"Shut up!" Zhao Zhen spat, his hands trembling with violent, murderous urge.
He was a Stage 2 Foundation Establishment master. He was the future ruler of this empire! How could he bend his knee or acknowledge a lowly branch-family trash who cooked food with an iron pan?!
Zhao Zhen leaped off the high balcony, his golden dragon robes billowing around him like a war banner as he landed heavily on the arena floor, shattering the marble tiles under his boots.
"Xiao Long!" Zhao Zhen barked, his voice filled with terrifying, cold imperial pressure. "You dare act so arrogantly before the Imperial Court?! Your dish may be fragrant, but who knows what strange, dark demonic secret techniques you used to achieve this result?!"
Leo stood casually behind his counter, wiping down his cutting board with a clean damp cloth. "Your Highness, if you think my duck is dark magic, why don't you come down and take a bite? Or are you afraid a piece of crispy skin might shatter your fragile royal ego?"
"YOU SEEK DEATH!"
Zhao Zhen’s aura exploded outward in full force.
A violent storm of golden royal Qi formed behind his back, manifesting into the roar of a massive, golden imperial dragon. The pressure was so immense that the wooden counter tables fifty feet away began to crack and splinter under the force.
"His Highness is going to strike!"
"He's using the Imperial Golden Dragon Palm!"
"That's a high-tier Stage 2 Foundation Establishment martial skill! The boy will be crushed into blood mist!"
Ling Yue instantly drew her blue steel sword, stepping in front of Leo with cold, unwavering lethal intent. "Zhao Zhen! If you strike him, the Ling Clan will declare total war on the Imperial Palace this very second!"
"Move aside, Ling Yue!" Zhao Zhen roared, his eyes shot through with bloodlines. "Today, no one can save this trash!"
Zhao Zhen lunged forward like a striking dragon, his palm glowing with a blinding, lethal golden light, aimed straight at Leo’s forehead!
"Senior Sister, stand back," Leo said softly, pushing Ling Yue gently behind him with his left arm.
With his right hand, Leo picked up a freshly rolled, hot Divine Chaos Peking Duck pancake.
Instead of drawing his cleaver or dodging, Leo stepped forward into Zhao Zhen’s attack path, using his dark-golden Chaos Qi to execute a short-range [Chaos Step].
SWOOSH!
Leo vanished from Zhao Zhen’s direct line of sight like a ghost.
"What?!" Zhao Zhen’s palm struck empty air, blowing a thirty-foot crater into the far arena wall.
Before the Crown Prince could recover his center of gravity, Leo materialized right beside him. Leo’s right hand shot out like a strike of lightning, grabbing Zhao Zhen by his silk collar, while his left hand slammed the piping-hot, crispy Peking duck roll straight into the Crown Prince’s open mouth!
"Mmph—?!" Zhao Zhen’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.
He tried to spit it out, tried to channel his golden Qi to explode the food inside his mouth, but the instant his tongue touched the razor-crispy, caramelized golden skin and the rich, bursting sweet bean sauce, his brain completely short-circuited.
CRUNCH.
The heavenly sound of the crispy duck skin shattering between Zhao Zhen's teeth echoed through his skull.
A wave of divine, savory flavor exploded inside his mouth like a volcanic eruption of pure joy. The rich fat of the Nine-Color Duck melted down his throat, instantly rushing into his limbs and meridians like a flood of liquid gold.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Zhao Zhen let out a long, desperate, choked moan of absolute, uncontrollable ecstasy.
His eyes rolled back into his head, his knees turned into jelly, and his Stage 2 Foundation Establishment Qi completely collapsed, dissipating into harmless warm air. The arrogant, cold Crown Prince fell flat onto his knees in front of Leo, clutching his stomach as tears of pure culinary enlightenment streamed down his royal face.
"So... so delicious..." Zhao Zhen sobbed hysterically, chewing frantically like a man who hadn't eaten in thirty years. "The skin... it's so crispy! The meat... it's so tender! What is this heavenly feeling?! Why... why have I been eating trash imperial pills my entire life?!"
The entire stadium went dead quiet.
Eighty thousand people stared in absolute, stunned silence at the sight of the most arrogant Crown Prince in the empire’s history, kneeling on the dirty floor, weeping like a helpless child over a duck roll.
Leo stood over him, looking down at the kneeling royal with a calm, businesslike expression. He pulled out a small piece of parchment and a charcoal pencil, swiftly writing a few numbers.
"That'll be one thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones, Your Highness," Leo said smoothly, handing the invoice to the weeping prince. "Plus a ten percent service charge for emergency delivery directly into your mouth."
[PING!]
[QUEST COMPLETED: The Imperial Food Critic!]
[Rewards Granted:]
+5,000 System Points (SP)
Breakthrough Achieved: Qi Condensation Stage 6!
Title Acquired: [Imperial Conqueror of Taste]
BOOM!
A brilliant column of dark-golden Chaos Qi erupted from Leo’s body, his cultivation surging forward violently! Stage 4... Stage 5... Stage 6! His Dantian expanded threefold, his physical muscles tightening with dense, indestructible primordial strength.
The five grand judges rushed onto the platform, officially raising Leo’s arm into the air.
"WE HEREBY DECLARE CHEF XIAO LONG OF THE CHAOS DINER TO BE THE ABSOLUTE GRAND CHAMPION OF THE THREE-NATION CONFERENCE!" Elder Yun roared with all his might.
The stadium erupted into a hurricane of cheers and applause that shook the sky!
Amidst the roaring crowd, Ling Yue walked up beside Leo, a gorgeous, radiant smile gracing her normally cold face. "You really did it, Leo. You conquered the entire capital with a single duck."
"This is just the beginning, Senior Sister," Leo grinned, looking up at the grand, sweeping vistas of the Imperial Capital. "Now that we have the Crown Prince as our prime testimonial... it's time to sign the lease for our new flagship branch."
[CURRENT HOST STATUS]
Host Name: Leo Miller (Xiao Long)
Realm: Qi Condensation Stage 6
System Points (SP): 9,720 SP
Reputation: Continental Master Chef
Next Objective: Expand the Chaos Diner to the Imperial Capital and face the incoming Ancient Sect Coalition!
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