At the Jin family's birthday banquet, Li Chaofeng sat quietly in a corner, clutching half a plump chicken, his mouth smacking with grease and flavor.
His eyes flicked back and forth, scanning the entire hall. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't detect who Chu Liuxiang was.
Wasn't Chu Liuxiang supposed to carry a unique fragrance? Why couldn't he find it?
There were quite a few handsome men around, but none as striking as himself.
"Brother Li, are you looking for someone?"
By Li Chaofeng's side stood Jiang Biehe. Over the past few days, Jiang had met many figures from the Jiangnan martial arts world and, through favors and connections, had made quite a few "friends" in the martial circles.
As for Li Chaofeng, ever since he entered the Jin family's courtyard, he rarely stepped outside. He even prepared his own meals—killing chickens, butchering fish—living rather freely.
After Master Jin personally tasted the food Li prepared, he instructed the steward to fulfill Li Chaofeng's requests, sending over plenty of fresh poultry, duck, and fish, and even granting him use of the small kitchen.
There was only one condition: Li Chaofeng had to make a simple, light dish every day, which would be sent to the women's quarters in the back garden.
Such a trivial request was easy enough to fulfill. These days, Li Chaofeng cared less about killing people and more about killing chickens and fish.
Though the Five Insect Blade had grown longer, the blood of the naked insect couldn't replace the other four insect's blood. And once the blade lengthened, the power of the other four insect essences would dilute.
In other words, Li Chaofeng had to keep slaughtering poultry and fish, collecting enough of the five insect essences to keep his blade sharp and tough.
The reason he cooked was simply that the meat from these kills shouldn't go to waste. Plus, his modern culinary skills—picked up from watching food videos in his previous life—could shine here.
Because of this quirky habit, Li Chaofeng had even earned a nickname from Master Jin:
"Little Culinary God, Li Chaofeng."
Hearing this title at first, Li Chaofeng was speechless and sighed inwardly.
A modern man who had only watched a few cooking videos, randomly tinkering in the kitchen with everyday recipes, actually being called a "Culinary God"—even with the "Little" in front—it felt pretty cheap.
For the next half month, Li Chaofeng stayed secluded within the mansion. Besides cooking for himself, he spent his days reading and admiring flowers, living quite freely.
It wasn't that he didn't want to train his body; in Jiang Biehe's eyes, Li Chaofeng was a young hero who understood martial arts but preferred to disguise himself as an ordinary person.
If he truly practiced his unique, tortoise-style kung fu, he'd be exposing himself too much.
At this moment, Jiang Biehe called out to him, but Li Chaofeng ignored him.
However, the heroes and young masters at the table, enchanted by Jiang Biehe's noble demeanor, couldn't stand it and began to mock him openly.
"What 'Little Culinary God'? He's just a cook."
"A cook acting so arrogantly? Master Jin must have a broad heart to let someone like him sit at the table with us. Doesn't he fear losing face?"
"Exactly. Master Jin even arranged for us to sit with a cook. Is he looking down on us?"
"A cook should be in the kitchen, not here drinking wine. Sneaking out, huh? Better get back to work."
"We're all wealthy and noble, yet we're forced to sit with someone like him. It's disgraceful to the martial world."
The voices, the tone—they were all so familiar.
Li Chaofeng's heart tightened. He was already keeping a low profile, so why did he still have to face this kind of posturing and humiliation?
It was a pity Li Chaofeng wasn't the type to show off and put others in their place. Otherwise, he would've made sure these fools understood what real qualifications meant.
Sighing softly, his eyes swept over the group of heroes and young masters, and with a smile, he said:
"This table had only me at first. It was this great hero Jiang here who insisted on squeezing you all in with me, a cook. So if you want to blame anyone, don't blame Master Jin—blame Jiang here."
Finishing, Li Chaofeng gave Jiang Biehe a small smile.
"Right, Jiang Biehe, great hero Jiang."
Hearing Li Chaofeng pin the blame on him, Jiang Biehe forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. In these past few days, he had indeed made some young hero acquaintances but soon realized Master Jin cared little for him.
Compared to Jiang Biehe, Master Jin favored winning over Li Chaofeng.
When they first met, Li Chaofeng carried the aloof aura of a modern traveler, speaking rudely at times, but in Master Jin's eyes, this was the mark of a good family background.
This young man would still draw his blade to help the oppressed, and though his courage was mostly youthful recklessness, he was exactly the type Master Jin wanted to cultivate.
Meanwhile, Jiang Biehe was overly cautious, full of empty righteousness. To Master Jin, he was just a showman, invited out of courtesy. When it became clear Li Chaofeng didn't care about Jiang, Master Jin simply let him be.
This left Jiang Biehe—who was well-versed in social graces—quite uncomfortable. Still, he maintained a façade of friendship with Li Chaofeng, occasionally dropping by his courtyard, believing it was advantageous.
Because Jiang Biehe was not favored by Master Jin, he was among the last admitted into the banquet hall and was seated in a corner.
Li Chaofeng had arrived early but disliked mingling with unknown minor figures, so he found a quiet corner to settle in, planning to eat his fill.
His physique was far beyond ordinary, but he still respected energy conservation. He ate much more than a normal person.
Meanwhile, he also hoped to see if this world's Chu Liuxiang might be someone familiar to him.
Just as Li Chaofeng was about to drag Jiang Biehe's reputation down with his own, the burly man sitting across from him—the only one at the table who didn't carry the refined airs of the so-called heroes—lifted his greasy face from half a fat chicken and nodded in agreement.
"Exactly, exactly! The Little Culinary God speaks the truth."
Seeing this brute echo his words, Li Chaofeng didn't look the least bit pleased.
This was a banquet, after all. The whole table of young heroes and martial elites had come to forge alliances and make connections. Who would honestly come just to eat and drink?
But fate had a twisted sense of humor—because Li Chaofeng had actually run into someone who did.
Half the table's dishes had already been eaten—not by the assembled guests, but by the brute across from him. A whole fat chicken? Li had only managed to snatch half, the other half long devoured by the man opposite him.
What made it worse—what truly grated on his nerves—was that out of everyone in the courtyard, this guy was the one Li Chaofeng despised the most.
As the wielder of the Five Insect Blade, Li Chaofeng's sense of smell was abnormally sharp. And this brute… reeked. The scent coming off him was overwhelming. Just getting near the man put Li in a foul mood.
So when the brute actually backed him up, Li Chaofeng could only grind his teeth and snap:
"Don't talk while eating—you might choke to death."
He was standing up for the man, and this was the thanks he got? But rather than take offense, the brute showed no sign of anger. He casually reached for the "Daughter's Red" wine on the table, took a swig, and let out a hearty laugh.
"Good wine! Hahaha!"
The man's carefree attitude made Li Chaofeng feel a bit petty. After a brief moment of stunned silence, he shook his head slightly and lowered his voice, addressing the so-called heroes around him with a warning.
"I won't say much more, but let me remind you all—this is the Jin family's birthday banquet. Setting aside whether your behavior reflects poor upbringing, do any of you even realize the consequences?"
"Even if you don't care about manners, you should care about this—if you make a scene here with me, are you—or the families behind you—prepared to deal with the Jin family's wrath?"
Master Jin held sway over half of Jiangnan. He was a true local overlord. Forget these corner-seated young warriors—even those seated at the center of the hall wouldn't dare stir up trouble here.
The warning struck home. Around the table, the young heroes went silent, each lowering their gaze and saying nothing more.
There's a time and place for everything. Mocking a cook might be trivial, but if Master Jin thought they lacked proper upbringing—that was serious.
As the oppressive weight of the Jin family's authority silenced the table, Li Chaofeng's attention snapped to a newly arrived dish—a steaming platter of braised pork knuckle. Without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed the large bone at its center, only to find that the brute across from him had also seized the other end.
Li Chaofeng narrowed his eyes and glared at the man.
"You really don't want trouble. If this turns into a scene, I might just lose a little face—but you are the one who'll get thrown out."
There was only one bone in that knuckle. Li had one end in hand; the brute had the other.
The man raised an eyebrow, entirely unfazed by the threat. His tone was firm and unwavering as he explained:
"Good wine deserves good meat. A twenty-year-old Daughter's Red has to be paired with something this rich and juicy. That's how you eat properly."