36 Heavenly Devourer!
"Big brother is truly generous." Zhihui's eyes twinkled, staring at the navy-robed cultivator with a reverent gaze.
"I heard tales about animals who take on human form after becoming an Immortal, but to think a human could turn into a pig, it seems big brother is a dragon even amongst Immortals."
Silence enveloped the area only for a second before bursts of laughter resounded out.
"HAHA HE'S RIGHT!" one shouted, falling off his chair with a loud crash and continuing to roll on the floor laughing.
"Shouldn't it be a pig amongst immortals? haha."
Zhihui's voice was loud, ensuring even those outside the inn heard it and joined in the laughter.
Naturally, the words had not escaped the ears of those at his table. They too began to chuckle and laugh—all except for Wang Xinran and Mei Lin, who had fallen asleep in Zhihui's lap after eating so much.
And, of course, the male, whose face was now crimson with veins bulging out.
He grinded his teeth together with hate in his heart; in his mind, he had already pounced on the beggar and tore him apart.
Such an insult, from a beggar no less. In all his life, he had never received such treatment. Especially from someone so lower in status than him, it was almost like an ant bullying a tiger.
The words of the beggar rang in his mind and watered the sprouts of hate in his heart.
With his fists clenched tightly, he glared at the beggar, his brown eyes alone trying to rip him to shreds. Zhihui gave back a gentle smile once more, expressing his gratitude. Which only served to further grow the seed of hatred.
Seeing this, Wang Xinran's apprehension rose, and she couldn't help but squint slightly, puzzled by the beggar's intentions. 'Just what is he trying to do?' she thought, searching for an answer in the beggar's face.
Cultivators were revered in Three-Legged Crow City, and for a beggar to provoke one intentionally seemed either crazy or downright foolish. But Wang Xinran didn't believe for a second that the beggar was stupid.
The big man had released his eighth-level Qi condensation aura, adding to the pressing glare, expecting a reaction from the beggar. Other mortals would have soiled themselves beneath such an intense gaze, yet this strange beggar was smiling amicably, as though the big man was just a cute dog.
Clearly there's more to this beggar than he was letting on, and if that's the case, what are his motives? Was he simply taking advantage of the situation to get free food? Is he really a mortal? Questions reverberated throughout the blonde beauty's mind.
Meanwhile, Zhihui and others' heads whipped in a certain direction, where multiple waiters in aprons carried plates with food that released heavenly aromas. Many wore expectant and excited expressions, thinking that their food was on its way.
One could imagine their shock when they saw that all the waiters were heading towards the beggar's table.
"...With this much greed he's still a beggar?"
"The Serenity Wolf disciples are truly in luck today. What are the chances of meeting a beggar like this?
"There's just no way he can eat all of that, this trash is simply wasting food."
As the room filled with dropped jaws and shocked expressions, Zhihui rubbed his hands together, licking his lips.
He had ordered the entire menu, as, being a non-frequenter of the city, he had no clue as to what would taste good. But if he were to be honest, he would have ordered the whole menu regardless.
The waiters placed the plates around the table, struggling to find space. After a few minutes of shuffling, the table was overflowing with food, with steam rising from it and spreading out through the inn.
Zhihui focused his eyes on the roasted chicken before him. 'Finally' he reached out and tore a drumstick before chomping down on it.
Feeling the sweet juices on his taste buds, tears began to fall out of his eyes. Different from before, these were not fake tears; these tears held in them the joy of a good meal.
During his training with the old man, he was only able to eat fruits from the forest and meat from the ordinary animals he found there. However being an amateaur in cooking he coud only make things there just edible. It was a far cry from the heartfully made dishes in front of him.
He ate messily, licking his fingers as if trying to swallow his tongue.
"Damn it.., it's so good." He mumbled, still chewing. "Kind immortals, you have no idea how much this means to me." This was the only line of sincerity Zhihui had spoken throughout the whole encounter.
Wang Xinran simply continued to stare at him, and though she was surprised he had ordered so much food, she understood that the current situation was slightly favorable.
Not only did feeding this beggar show their sect's kindness, but it also served as a demonstration of their wealth. Not everyone in the inn could afford to be this wasteful.
Wearing a faint smile, "No need for thanks, while others have certain 'financial' restrictions, our Serenity Wolf sect is capable of affording basic needs… unlike some." She said, shooting a glance towards the crimson-black-robes table.
"Could the beautiful sister be referring to those black robes? I must say, you shouldn't look down on us beggars. They, like me, have wealth in other areas." Zhihui remarked, his words muffled by the sounds of chewing.
More sounds of laughter resounded out; this time there was none coming from the table of the black-robed cultivators. Instead, murderous glares were shot towards the beggar along with angry harrumphs.
"Be careful with your words, trash, otherwise, your next meal will be the tip of my blade."
It had to be mentioned that in a normal scenario, after the words Zhihui spoke, they would have wasted no time and turned him into meat paste.
However, within the three-legged crow city, fighting was strictly forbidden, and as the rulers of the city were realms above those here, no one dared to break it. This did not mean mortals could antagonize cultivators the way Zhihui was currently doing.
Which random beggar would have the guts to do it in the first place? And even if they did, they would quickly find out that there were other ways to torment someone without physically harming them.
'As expected,' Thoughts ran across the beggar's mind. He had a purpose in coming here; probing the bloodlust sect members was one of them, and finding out about their relations with other sects was another.
And just from the remarks, he concluded there was some sort of conflict between the bloodlust sect and the serenity wolf sect. Which, to him, was good, as that would mean the bloodlust sect wasn't the top power here or they would have already crushed the serenity sect.
While there may be other reasons for this, for now, Zhihui's mood has been lightened slightly. He hoped there wouldn't be too many of those who were stronger than him in the bloodlust sect.
But the main reason—to him and the most important reason he was here—was very simple.
Free food.
'The law of free food states that food that is free tastes better than food that costs; it seems even in this world this law holds true.' Zhihui ignored the threats and continued munching, clearing plate after plate.
As he did, the audience's eyes grew wide.
Ten minutes went by, and Zhihui had consumed more than all those in the inn had in the last few hours.
"Just how much can he eat? Will he not get sick like this?"
"I bet 100 spirit stones that this will be his last plate..."
"… Heavenly devourer physique! Lord Buddha take my knees!"
"With such a stomach, I, Chen Weiyan declares you the strongest!"
While the strange beggar continued devouring plate after plate and meal after meal, time went by, and slowly their amazement turned to apprehension.
"This is no beggar, which senior is hiding in disguise?"
"Now that you mention it.. I find it hard to believe his stomach hasn't burst yet."
"Look at your brain, bring a beggar and see if he can eat like this."
Moments later, Zhihui slumped in his chair with a satisfied expression and said wearily, "The food was a bit too much.." He patted his belly, and a loud burp followed.
Despite the claims of there being an excess of food, the plates on the table had been wiped clean; no stains or bones remained.
Wang Xinran's golden eyebrows jumped.
It wasn't ordinary meat the beggar was consuming; it was demonic beast meat. Though it was from lower-level beasts, it wasn't something a mortal could eat tables of.
This beggar was a cultivator; all doubts had been cleared. Otherwise, how would one handle that amount of energy?
She could only pray that this strange beggar would show some restraint, as if he were to continue eating like this, the 'basic needs' might turn out to be very costly.
Alas, her hopes were crushed soon after.
Zhihui raised his hand slowly with an excited expression and declared, "Waiter, bring round two."
