"Huang Hao, are you alright?"

From behind Xu He, a middle-aged man rushed to Huang Hao’s side, looking him up and down.

"Master?" Huang Hao recognized the man, and his anger immediately dissipated. He lost all his fight.

"Thank you for your concern, Master. I’m fine, but..."

"But what?" The middle-aged man’s expression tensed as he asked hurriedly.

Huang Hao’s eyes were filled with grievance. "If I hadn’t been woken up just now, I would have already broken through to the Refining God Seventh Heaven."

"What?! The Refining God Seventh Heaven!" The middle-aged man was shocked. "Didn’t you just reach the Sixth Heaven a few days ago?"

Huang Hao sighed and turned his gaze to the menu on the wall.

He knew the extra Spiritual Energy in his body came from the Purple Bamboo Golden Fragrant Rice. Looking back now, the price of one hundred contribution points wasn’t just not expensive—it felt incredibly cheap.

Why did he work himself to the bone to earn contribution points? It was all to exchange for resources and raise his Cultivation.

In the Refining God Realm, breaking through each heaven required a massive amount of resources to be piled up.

In Huang Hao’s own plans, breaking through the Refining God Sixth Heaven to reach the Seventh Heaven within a year would have been a stroke of great fortune.

But just now, simply because of a serving of bamboo-tube rice, for just one hundred contribution points, he had almost broken through.

"Medicinal Cuisine?" The middle-aged man also saw the menu. His expression shifted as he realized something. "You were about to break through because you ate the Medicinal Cuisine here?"

Huang Hao nodded.

"That’s impossible!"

The middle-aged man grabbed Huang Hao’s wrist, sending his True Essence inside to check his physical condition.

He had to make sure Huang Hao hadn’t taken some kind of Forbidden Medicine that harmed the body, overdrafting one’s potential in exchange for Cultivation.

However, Huang Hao’s condition couldn’t have been better. His foundation was solid, his True Essence was like a tide, and there wasn’t the slightest sign of his lifeblood being depleted.

A similar scene was playing out not just with Huang Hao. Chen Liang and many other Elite Disciples were pulled aside by their own masters for a careful examination.

After the examinations were over, the scene immediately became incredibly awkward.

A group of Elders had thought their disciples were harmed. Without investigating the situation clearly, they had come storming over, full of bluster and rage.

Not only had they publicly smashed the door to Mo Qi’s restaurant, but they had also interrupted their own disciples’ breakthroughs.

Everyone stared at each other, speechless. ’What kind of mess had they made?’

Mo Qi walked out of the kitchen, his face dark.

"Can you all give me a reasonable explanation?" Mo Qi asked, suppressing his rage.

He was on the verge of exploding. His temper had always been good, and he could tolerate many things.

But when it came to the culinary arts, his bottom line had been crossed.

To say nothing of the fact that the door to his restaurant had been blasted to pieces on its very first day of business.

The many Elders, knowing they were in the wrong, were speechless. Meanwhile, the Elite Disciples who had benefited from the Purple Bamboo Golden Fragrant Rice grew anxious.

They had completely forgotten their original reason for coming here, now terrified that Mo Qi would take his anger out on them and stop providing the Medicinal Cuisine.

Core Disciples, dissatisfaction, looking for trouble—compared to the Medicinal Cuisine, all of it was meaningless fluff.

"Senior Brother, I must trouble you to seal this mountain peak. If I, Mo Qi, don’t get an explanation today, no one is leaving!" Mo Qi cupped his fist and bowed slightly to Yang Ming.

This time, he was truly furious. Black flames danced in his eyes—the Yin Fire of the Netherworld Flame.

A murderous aura sent a shiver down everyone’s spine, and Yang Ming was no exception.

The Pig Emperor sleeping on Mo Qi’s shoulder was startled awake. It shot Mo Qi a shocked glance before zipping into his robes, refusing to peek out again.

Yang Ming sensed Mo Qi’s determination. With a wave of his hand, a tyrannical aura instantly enveloped the entire mountain peak.

Unless someone could defeat him, no one was getting out, and no one was getting in.

"Xu He, it’s you again!" Mo Qi’s gaze fell on Xu He. He wouldn’t forget how this man had repeatedly colluded with Wang Xinglong to target him.

Xu He’s expression froze. He was actually suppressed by Mo Qi’s aura and didn’t dare to meet his gaze.

"Xu He, when you came to me, didn’t you say you saw my disciple being grievously injured by Junior Brother Mo and then dragged away? How do you explain this now?" Huang Hao’s master suddenly demanded.

Xu He fought the urge to roll his eyes. ’All I told you was that your disciple, Huang Hao, had gone to cause trouble for Mo Qi.’

’As for being grievously injured and dragged away, that was all in your own head!’

’It seems to me you’re not looking for an explanation, you’re just trying to shift the blame.’

It wasn’t just Xu He who thought of this. Which of the other Elders wasn’t a shrewd old fox?

On top of that, their disciples had already used voice transmissions to explain the matter of the Purple Bamboo Golden Fragrant Rice.

Every one of them was now looking at Mo Qi as if he were a giant treasure vault. They couldn’t even flatter him fast enough, so how would they dare to offend him?

Huang Hao’s master had set a good precedent. The other Elders immediately seized the opportunity to back down gracefully, instantly turning on Xu He and pointing their spears at him.

"Xu He, you said Junior Brother Mo was relying on his status to repeatedly provoke the authority of the Punishment Hall. But how is it that what I see is you, relying on the Punishment Hall to act recklessly and slander others?" Chen Liang’s master demanded sharply.

"Exactly! What do you mean, ’brazenly injuring and crippling fellow disciples’? I think you’re telling blatant lies!"

"A talent as outstanding as Junior Brother Mo was actually called a malignant tumor of the Void Sect by you. I’d say you’re the biggest tumor!"

"That’s right! It’s clear you’re abusing your public position for a private grudge, trying to frame our Junior Brother Mo! Don’t think we don’t know that you and that old bastard Wang Xinglong are both full of dirty tricks."

"Junior Brother Mo, don’t you worry. If this scoundrel Xu He doesn’t give us an explanation, we absolutely will not let him off the hook."

...

The Elders all chimed in, one after another. They called him "Junior Brother Mo" with such affection, completely forgetting how they had been clamoring for Mo Qi to give them an explanation just before arriving.

The only one who hadn’t spoken was Old Monster Ding, Ding Wei.

"Mo Qi, you want a reasonable explanation, and that’s fine. But before that, shouldn’t you also explain why you broke the limbs of more than ten of my disciples and smashed their teeth?" Old Monster Ding said in a low voice. At this point, he had no way to retreat.

Mo Qi remembered the group he had ordered to have their limbs broken for insulting the "Uncle Niu’s Kitchen God" plaque.

Before he even had a chance to speak, the other Elders had already spoken for him.

"I say, Old Monster Ding, Junior Brother Mo is the prized disciple of Martial Uncle Yu Liang. In terms of seniority, he’s our peer! For those worthless disciples of yours to come and cause trouble for Junior Brother Mo is a grave act of insubordination!"

"Exactly! According to the sect rules, forget just breaking their limbs and smashing their teeth—even crippling their Cultivation and expelling them from the sect wouldn’t be excessive."

"It’s only because Junior Brother Mo is kind-hearted and didn’t bother to stoop to their level. Otherwise, do you really think those disciples of yours would still be breathing?"

"That’s just how it is. If you ask me, Old Monster Ding, you should be thanking our Junior Brother Mo for showing mercy."

The more Ding Wei listened, the angrier he became. ’Sucking up is one thing,’ he fumed internally, ’but my disciples had their limbs broken, and I, their master, am supposed to thank him? Could anything be more outrageous?!’

"Enough!" Mo Qi stopped the farce from continuing.

Everyone immediately shut their mouths, as obedient as elementary school students.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Mo Qi looked at Xu He.

"Hmph." Xu He snorted coldly. "I have nothing to say. Do what you will."

Xu He never expected things to develop this way, but he still didn’t believe Mo Qi would actually dare to do anything to him.