1 Specialty 1: Eggs and Shells

In the current Ming Era, everything is currently at its most peaceful time. The times of war are only whispers from people's grandpa talking about their grandparent's time. The life expectancy of an average person is nearly two hundred years old. Killing and plotting are frowned upon by people. Those caught doing so are shamed and exiled. Not many people are willing to risk spending decades or even centuries in prison after all. There are nine worlds with varying kinds of cultures and traditions all connected by complex seals made by long-forgotten ancestors. (basically planets in a solar system circling around a sun traveling by teleportation seals)

Golden Duck city (yes that is the name of the city) Although many people considered it to be the weakest city under the Jian province, is still five times larger than the average town. The city heavily relies on one thing, and that's food! The most popular restaurant in the 9 worlds resides in Golden Duck city. Many people consider it one of the 9 world's treasures. The name of such a magnificent restaurant is the Heavenly Spoon.

The Heavenly Spoon has many attractions. Such as the open kitchen cooking, which allows the Chefs to cook your food right in front of you! If you ask, the chef might even feed you directly if you so desire. The chefs are all professionals, bred and trained to be cooks at a very young age. Rumor has it that the first chef to popularize the restaurant started cooking the moment he came out of his mother's womb. With a spoon in hand and cooking in front of a fire even before he would crawl!

On this particular day, Qi Liu finally had a chance to drop by and try out some dishes from the infamous Heavenly Spoon. She had been wanting to try it for a while, but never got to because of her current situation. She had paid the fee for a spot in line, with a piece of wood marked 37, which goes down indicating where you are in line.

"sister Qiao Qi, Im starving! We've been waiting all day. The line is way too long! it's been two days since we've eaten anything!" whined Qi Liu as she dragged her starved body.

"I've already told you, in order to enjoy this opportunity as much as possible, we are going to save as much room in our stomachs as possible!" replied Qiao Qi. The words were spoken with conviction, her sunken eyes betrayed every beat and word that was said.

"People have said that they would die to eat it... That doesn't mean that we actually have to die to eat it. Sister, at this point anything will do. I promise we won't eat any more than two bites!" begged Qi Liu as she holds her stomach in agony. At this point, she'd rather eat leftover dog feed than starve any longer.

seeing the desperation in her junior sister she was about to go on another lecture about how they shouldn't waste such a chance. Out of the corner of her eye, Qiao Qi saw a person cooking on the side of the road. The fragrance from whatever was being cooked seemed to intoxicate her senses and lure her into the trap. It's as if her stomach was invaded by the smell itself with a feather, it tickled her on her most sensitive parts tempting her very being to consume it.

At the same time, Qi Liu seems to have been taken over by a crazed ghost as she bolted there using *swift ripple*1 to instantly cover the distance towards the cook.

"hey hey, uncle! what are you cooking? Can you spare some for some starving ladies?" said Qi Liu using the last of her energy to try to get some empathy.

"Only if you pay," said the cook as he poke the food in an uninterested manner.

"Deal!" said Qi Liu before the cook even finish answering. The food in question looks like actual gold. Although not knowing what was being cooked, her body had already given in to the idea of eating what was being cooked.

"by the way, what are you cooking?" asked Qiao Qi as she catches up and started observing the contents closely.

"An omelet," replied the cook.

"mister, do you work at the Heavenly Spoon? With such a Fragrance I wouldn't doubt that you might've worked there!" chirped Qi Liu as she was still in convincing mode.

As Qi Liu shamelessly tries to bribe away a free meal, Qiao Qi took notice that they're in a restaurant. Since when was there such a daring restaurant right next to the infamous Heavenly Spoon? With such a competitor, anyone with half a brain wouldn't choose such a pointless fight. Is he that confident in his food that he would pick a fight with the worlds' most renowned restaurant?

As Qiao Qi was deep in her thought, the cook finished and plated his creation onto a golden plate before handing it to Qi Liu. As if her life depended on it, which it might, Qi Liu took her first bite with anticipation.

As if being punched in the mouth Qi Liu physically flinched and fell over from the impact. The food was... TERRIBLE!

In these worlds, there exist way too many things to count, so it was normal not to suspect whatever you eat. In fact, most food depends on the rarity of the ingredient naturally a person's body will burst with excitement from consuming even some of the most common food! The beasts have grades on how much energy they have, starting from one being the lowest and ten being the highest. Each Grade gives energy depending on how strong they are. Passing pure energy boost, and with mythical beasts even giving their unique inheritance. But somehow this pathetic cook managed to make something unedible!

with a swallow, an enraged Qi Liu yelled "How the hell did you cook something like that? were you trying to poison me? Did Yu Qingling put you up to this?"

"Ah... another failure, I guess I still have more training to do." sighed, the cook as he started cleaning the utensils he'd used. "As for this Yu Q-whatever, has nothing to do with this. The food is as genuine as it gets."

"Huh??? what the hell did you do with the omelet? The food was bitter, it was burnt on the inside, which is impossible! how is the outside perfectly fine and burnt on the inside? Not to mention, there are so many eggshells!" exclaimed Qi Liu as she tries to throw up the bite she took. The first thing she ate in days and it was crap! this completely ruined her entire effort to starve!

"Now come on, sister Liu, it can't be that bad," said Qiao Qi as she picks up the spoon ready for a bite. Of course, it's not because she's at her breaking point, and ready to collapse at any moment. She's only trying to comfort the cook... yes that's it, she's not eating because she's hungry, she's only eating to make him feel better!

flinching as if being kicked in the stomach, Qiao Qi fell to her knees and rolled over from the impact. Just as quickly as she fell she picked herself up and tried to compose herself. This is a new torture method. Luring in prey and forcing them to eat things made specially from hell.

"menu item number one, Best Omelet." said the cook.

"Who the hell cooks eggs with the shells? You have no sense of cooking at all! Even a blind child can make something better than this!" said Qi Liu

"Who? Well, of course, it's Jin Bai, owner of the Golden Chick." Smiled the cook as he wipes his hands on his shirt.