There’s a saying that laymen watch for excitement, while experts look for real skill.
Ling Jing watched as her boyfriend effortlessly pulled down the front leg of the Evil God, his hands full of ease. The headless Evil God had more than half of its body already inside this world. She asked, “This slap isn’t the same as last time, is it?”
As basically the center of attention for the whole world, Qin Jingzhou didn’t show any particular reaction. “That slap I gave to the Nascent Soul cultivator from Taiyi Sect last time was just a simple Wind Blade Spell. This time, it’s different. That slap of mine actually hit the Evil God with the Obliteration Technique.”
Ling Jing was full of curiosity. “So last time was just slicing up a person, but this time you wiped out the Evil God’s head?”
Qin Jingzhou answered with a smile, “Pretty much.” He conjured a longsword out of thin air and, with a couple of swift movements, sliced off the true Evil God’s front leg. One hand secured the limb as he skillfully began to skin it with the sword. “Chop off the Evil God’s head, and it can regrow one pretty quickly. Use Obliteration to wipe it out, and it’ll take millennia to regenerate—only if there’s enough food. Without a head, these Evil Gods behave themselves and it’s much easier to raise them.”
Ling Jing was astonished. “Wait, hold on… You can eat this thing?”
“Tastes like chicken, crispy and crunchy.” Qin Jingzhou replied, “The flavor of a mature Evil God is not bad.”
Clearly, her boyfriend wasn’t joking. Which meant… The taste of adult Evil God must really be good. Ling Jing quickly turned around and looked at the camera behind her, “Director Li, are you there? Hurry up and bring over a grill and some seasoning!”
Even bent, the true Evil God’s front leg was nearly two kilometers long. Since powerful practitioners would cut it into several segments for roasting… the official Huaguo special squad stationed at the Evil God’s appearance site, along with their comrades, gathered the necessary materials on the spot and welded one together.
Qin Jingzhou was methodically skinning the leg.
Following his communicator message, Ling Jing ushered most onlookers away, leaving only those Extraordinaries who had sworn to resist when the Evil God appeared and members of the Huaguo special squad. She also invited a few mage organizations willing to defend their own territory. “My boyfriend is treating you all to grilled Evil God leg.” Facing the camera hovering in front of her, she said, “You can keep streaming.”
This was like manna from heaven!
The presidents and councilors of various mage organizations, all at about the Golden Core stage, responded enthusiastically.
Once he finished skinning, Qin Jingzhou sliced the long leg into over a hundred segments and handed the mound of meat, piled as high as a small mountain, to the nearby culinary squad, who all looked at him with reverence.
This time, Huaguo had sent out over a hundred Blade Squads, each with their own culinary squad specializing in Huaguo cuisine.
After the squad captains discussed and reported to their superiors, and other teammates finished welding the massive grill, they formed this impromptu culinary team.
Although each member was experienced at cooking Evil God juveniles, this was their first time roasting the meat of a mature Evil God.
Wearing gloves, they placed the chunks of meat on the thoroughly cleaned grill. Then in unison, they looked at Qin Jingzhou, awaiting further instructions.
Qin Jingzhou summoned a Water Sphere to wash his hands and clean the flying sword. “Just grill it the way you normally would. This stuff is almost impossible to make taste bad.”
Sure enough, before long, the aroma of roasting meat filled the air.
Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing picked up trays and took the lead. “Come on, try some. It’s not as effective as a Pill or Magic Potion, but it’s a bit stronger than just using Spiritual Stones or Magic Stones. The main point is, it tastes pretty good.”
Hearing this, Ling Jing used her chopsticks to pick up a piece. It really did taste like chicken—high-grade chicken, with a complexity and subtlety in both texture and flavor that was hard to describe, but in a good way.
Qin Jingzhou also grabbed a piece and tasted it. It was just as delicious as he remembered.
Holding the tray, he beamed and spoke up again. “Ever since the further revival of Spiritual Energy, with flora and fauna becoming sentient—what we in Hua Country call ‘enlightened beasts’—if you eat a sentient creature whose intelligence is above a certain level, that comes with moral burden and is detrimental to one’s ascension. But this thing is different. They eat everything alive, so we don’t have any moral issues eating them. The most important part is, if you get full, you just can’t eat any more. Unlike magic pills or potions, if you take too many or take them wrong, you could explode.”
Not only the Extraordinaries and Blade Squad members enjoying the feast by the grill, but even ordinary people watching the live broadcast of this barbecue banquet felt touched and thoughtful.
Qin Jingzhou gave everyone time to digest and continued, “Golden Core-stage Extraordinaries will feel full after three or four pieces. Strengthened Blade Squad members should stop at one. The rest, just keep frozen—the nutrients won’t really diminish.”
With that, he put down his tray, flew into midair, and conjured three flying swords. Together with the freshly cleaned flying sword, he nailed them in a square formation at the neck of the now-headless Evil God. Qin Jingzhou made a seal with his hands, and the Evil God, now dumb and docile without its head, was slowly dragged into this world.
By now, Director Li had already arranged for a temporary facility for the Evil God—since it had already been made clear that they were about to open an Evil God ranch, how could someone as savvy as him fail to handle arrangements while eating at the front lines?
The whole world watched Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing float above the Evil God’s headless form, steering the dumbstruck creature as they followed the Blade Squad’s caravan, moving faster and farther away.
Meanwhile, once again “forgotten,” He Jiuping followed the Evil God he worshipped and managed to escape with his life, his feelings mixed: He did this on purpose!
Agitated, his eyes reddened; he gnashed his teeth. “He’s using me… using us, master and servant, as bait!”
The Evil God, using a tentacle in between corporeal and intangible, kept itself connected to its priest. Sensing the priest’s thoughts, it fell silent, thinking the same thing! But faced with a powerhouse who could wipe out its father’s head with a single spell and then drive its father obediently to a ranch to lay eggs, the Evil God was terrified!
Now it was very sure that both it and its priest were being watched. If… it couldn’t summon its kin and elders anymore, then it would be as useless and have as little a chance of survival as its father!
Through the tentacle, He Jiuping could more or less sense the Evil God’s emotions. “You should think about how to get stronger!”
The Evil God was silent for a moment, then, realizing it and its priest were in the same boat, told its priest, “Evil God parents can easily eat their own offspring, but if I want to turn the tables and swallow a parent, like you say, it’s as hard as reaching the heavens.”
He Jiuping asked, “What about your siblings, then?”
“I am the strongest among my brothers and sisters. Eating one more grain of rice or one less won’t make any difference to my power.”
He Jiuping fell silent too.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered swallowing an Extraordinary faction to boost their power, but judging by how the body-snatching powerhouse simply ignored internal strife and always took action against Evil Gods at once, provoking Extraordinaries now would be no different from suicide.
The Evil God thought it over and could only sigh. “Let’s wait until my mother arrives.”
That night, ordinary people all over the planet who had watched the live broadcast were buzzing about “Evil God invasion,” “Evil God ranches,” and related topics like, “Spiritual Energy Revival: Both Opportunity and Crisis…”
The heart of their excitement and reassurance was simple: Our planet has a guardian! This guardian can slap a fully grown Evil God out of existence with one strike!
Ordinary folks and the officials representing their interests could afford to be optimistic, since the body-snatcher powerhouse’s abilities were without question, his demeanor was tolerant, and he was willing to treat commoners well—after all, even rich and powerful people who hadn’t become Extraordinaries were still just ordinary in the end.
But the Extraordinaries were anything but happy.
Because the powerhouse only invited those Extraordinaries and forces willing to resist to enjoy the Evil God feast… In other words, this was a blunt message to the “neutral camp” who wanted to wait and see, and the “surrender camp” that was willing to cooperate with the Evil Gods for a price: If it happens again, you’re finished.
Taiyi Sect, the top righteous sect of Hua Country, saw the message even more clearly.
The Sect Master spoke directly to all the sect leaders and elders present. “He’s setting the rules for us.”
The leader of the country’s top magic cult didn’t even lift his eyelids. “Are you planning to teach him some rules in return?”
A magic sect elder raised his arm and pointed to the door. “Go ahead. We’ll be cheering you on.”
A Taiyi Sect elder snorted and immediately stood up.
The Sect Master shook his head. “We know he’s strong, but we cannot surrender without a fight. This world is not for outsiders to rule!”
Another righteous sect leader perked up. “You mean… to set a thief to catch a thief?”
The Taiyi Sect Master clapped his hands.
An imposing grand cultivator suddenly appeared.
Everyone looked over, each with their own thoughts: Isn’t this the same Supreme Elder who was sent flying with his head slapped off by that powerhouse?
The Supreme Elder could tell what everyone was thinking, but he didn’t care much. “Now that Spiritual Energy has revived enough for someone of my realm to act freely, we can try contacting the seniors who ascended in ancient times. Don’t tell me that, after all these millennia of heritage, you don’t have some hidden aces up your sleeves.”