After accepting the gift Sung Lee sat down on the chair and drank the tea, he had already got the debt of favor so now what was the use of worrying about the tea poison game?
'He didn't ask for leave? So there is more to talk about,' Rex thought.
At this time, the sound of footsteps came. Jiang Shuang entered the room, he was wearing different clothes and looked refreshed.
He politely greeted Sung Lee then took a seat near Lerna, apparently, he could still not forget the scary image of Sung Lee from their first meeting.
"Sect Master Sung I was planning to go to Myriad Beast Continent in Little Ye's place, I wonder if you know of any easy route," Rex said while noting every change in his expression.
Sung Lee touched his chin like he was seriously thinking about it then spoke.
"Normally, you need to travel using a merchant Sky-Ship for around a month to cross the uncharted land and reach Myriad Beast Continent but I have a better idea, Master Rex knows about the Ancestor Ji of Cold Heaven Sect right? She is famous as an adventure-loving powerhouse, she had traveled between these two continents several times and knows many shortcuts.
Luckily, she is soon going to Myriad Beast Continent for some friendly Inter Sect competitions to prepare her sect disciples for the upcoming Inter Continental Fighting Tournament," Sung Lee said.
"You don't want me to go with her, do you?" Rex asked with a smile.
"No, I don't, the thing is we are also going to Myriad Beast Continent with them. We want to settle our grudge with Green Mantis Sect once and for all, either by words or fists. Their Ancestor knows of many shortcuts that can let us travel safely and reach the continent in half the time so if Master Rex doesn't mind then we will be happy to escort you to the continent," Sung Lee said with a smile.
'Does he want to involve me in Green Mantis Sect matter or just want to increase friendly ties with me?' Rex thought.
"That's indeed a better idea than following the long route, I will take you up on this offer," Rex said after a moment of thought. It didn't matter if Sung Lee had any ulterior plan as long as he could reduce the time of traveling he would do it.
Sung Lee smiled and nodded in agreement.
"So when are we heading there?" Rex asked.
"It should be after 15 days, I will inform Master Rex in advance," Sung Lee said.
"Okay, then I will send a friend request to your ID soon, you can tell me that by direct message. You don't need to worry about any information leakage when doing that," Rex said.
Sung Lee agreed.
Rex actually had more than one reason to go to the Myriad Beast Continent.
The first one was for Beast God Temple.
The second one was for obtaining high-quality material for building his version of the Teleportation Portal.
The third was to observe the crafting methods of Dwarves, Elves, and other races which were famous throughout the Middle Realm.
The fourth was to pump beer in a Dwarf and the likes…
At this time footsteps sounded. Lucia entered the dining room with a working bot following behind her.
The working bot was pushing a tray carrying the dishes Rex asked her to make earlier, there was a total of ten bowls on it.
"Master Rex, I won't disturb you more and will take my leave, there are things in sect I need to take care of," Sung Lee stood up and politely bowed.
Rex didn't stop him, he could guess that his purpose was to bring him to the continent with them, and now that he achieved his purpose there was no need to talk more.
Sung Lee could also guess that, he asked to leave just after Rex agreed to travel with them so as not to let him think that he was having some malicious plan. At first, he was expecting to have the same talk with Ye Tian but things changed and now he was talking about these with Rex.
"I will accompany Sect Master Sung to the door," Jiang Shuang stood, he wanted to keep a distance from Sung Lee but as a businessman, it was not good for him to be impolite to any guest and decided to accompany him to the door.
After he left with Jiang Shuang, Lucia picked up a bowl from the tray and placed it on the table in front of Rex.
"It's a herbal soup known as Spiced Seven Herbs Delicacy, it's the main ingredients are seven mountain herbs that are spicy in nature, when combined they can produce a good medicinal effect that can stimulate one's Qi and blood," Lucia said, then stepped back and stood on the side.
Rex nodded as he looked at the poker-faced Lucia, then at Lerna who was trying to act like she didn't care but had no intention to leave after Sung Lee left. He sighed and carefully opened the transparent lid of the bowl, the lid was made of glass and was initially transparent but because of the smoke and vapor on its inner surface, it became opaque.
After the lid was removed, a refreshing herbal aroma assaulted his nose, Lerna also raised her head and peeked at the contents that became visible after the hot smoke in the bowl got cleared.
It was a simple-looking white colored soup, tiny pieces of herbs cut in similar size were used as decoration.
Rex picked up the spoon from the side, took a scoop, then placed it in his mouth.
The soup was hot but it didn't matter to him, what surprised him was its taste.
Rex was genuinely moved to tears, he wanted to stand up and tightly hug Lucia but thinking of her personality he refrained himself from doing it.
He scooped again then drank the soup, Rex then did it again without minding Lucia and Lerna's gaze who were waiting for his response.
'Dammit, seventeen years… It has been seventeen years since I ate something so delicious. I had such an excellent chef beside me and I was trying to find one in the other cities, that damn bastard Jiang why didn't he tell me that she can cook. Even if she only knows to cook this dish I can still eat for years, it tastes way better than the burned stick I used to make every day. Little Jiang you just wait I will show you what is the life of a company slave looks like,' Rex thought. Although he was thinking all that but he still didn't stop drinking the soup.
After he emptied the bowl without a single stop, Rex raised his head and looked at Lucia.
"I won't gonna lie, it's the best dish I ate in years. Miss Lucia, you have great talent in being a chef," Rex said with smoke coming out his mouth.
"Young Master Rex is overpraising me, I am just a little good at this because I had made this dish too many times," Lucia said in a polite tone, it was hard to tell if she was happy or not as there was no change in her expression or body language when she said that but Rex was not surprised he already knew that's just how Lucia was, refined and elegant.
"Miss Lucia would it be too impolite of me if I ask you to cook this delicacy every day?" Rex asked with a serious face.
"If Young Master Rex likes the dish then I will make it every day, the dish does not have any complex recipe, takes a little time and effort to make so it's easy for me to do it," Lucia said.
Rex nodded not willing to talk anymore and focused on eating, he pushed the empty bowl aside, snapped his fingers and a soup filled bowl flew from the table and landed on the table in front of him.
Lerna also got curious, she picked up a filled bowl from the tray, and placed it on the table, she was just about to open the lead that Lucia interjected.
"Lady Lerna, these serves are made for Young Master Rex, you cannot take them. If you like it then I can make it for you but these ones are not for you," Lucia said.
Lerna narrowed her eyes at Lucia, but there was no change in her expression.
Lucia seems like she didn't care who she was facing, for her, rules and antiquates took priority.
Rex sensed the tension in the air and interjected.
"It's alright, it's unusual for her wanting to eat something. Let her taste your delicious cooking too," Rex said with a smile, then continued to eat.
"If Young Master Rex allows it, then it's fine," Lucia said as she took a step back and stood beside Rex like before.
Lerna lightly snorted, then she ignored her, took off the lead from the bowl, and started eating the soup.
A sign as she took the first spoon in her mouth, her situation became the same as Rex, she kept eating until the bowl was empty.
Until now she had eaten several types of food, meat, and herbs in the Mist Maze Forest but none of them was a dish, it was her first time eating cooked food. After she tasted the soup, her discomfort towards Lucia instantly disappeared and her impression of Lucia even became somewhat favorable.
Lerna then picked up the second bowl and started eating without even looking at them.
Lucia was dissatisfied. She was about to stop her but Rex waved his hand signaling her to stop so Lucia didn't say anything. He could guess that even ten bowls wouldn't be enough to completely extinguish his hunger but didn't have the heart to stop Lerna from eating, it wasn't fear, it was just his real self.
At this time, Jiang Shuang walked in. He was surprised to see the Spiced Seven Herbs Delicacy, he remembered that he haven't eaten it since he associated himself with Rex.
Jiang Shuang then looked at the tray filled with several bowls and his eyes shined, he was about to ask Lucia to serve him one but just as he opened his mouth, he found three pairs of eyes locked onto him.
He felt like if he really said what he was thinking then it would be the end, he could still understand why was Lucia like that but when he looked at Rex and Lerna he knew that asking for soup may result in imminent death.
He quietly walked to the table, pulled a chair, and sat on it.
As time passed, the eating competition between Rex and Lerna became intense. In the end, because of the lead start, Rex was able to eat six bowls while Lerna got four.
After the competition ended Lerna stood up and headed for the exit door.
"Don't forget about the inheritance exchange rule of Beast God Temple, you need to give something of high value if you want to increase your chances of getting something good. So think clearly and tell me what you need, I will gift it to you… okay," Rex said.
"Hmm…" Lerna hummed showing her agreement as she left the room.
"Master Rex, there was a matter I wanted to talk about," Jiang Shuang said after he saw that the two gluttony finally finished eating.
"Wait a minute, I want to tell you something about the matter I talked with Sung Lee first. Lucia stop for a while it is something I want you to hear too," Rex said when he saw that Lucia finished putting all empty bowls on the tray and was about to leave.
Lucia nodded then stood there expressionlessly.
Rex then told them about the matter regarding the Beast God Temple, he mainly focused on the exchange rule and once in a lifetime offer of a beastman.
After he finished speaking, Lucia gave a deep look to Jiang Shuang who shrugged his shoulder in response.
The fact that Rex stopped her and talked about Beast God Temple only meant that he knew about her being a demi-human, and the only person who could tell this to him was Jiang Shuang.
"Miss Lucia do not get angry, Brother Jiang only told me that you are a demi-human nothing else and he did it to confirm if I have any discomfort feeling against a demi-human. He was worried about you thinking that I might treat you badly if I later came to knew that you are a demi-human nothing else," Rex explained. Although he was dissatisfied with Jiang Shuang for not telling him that Lucia could cook but he wouldn't go as far as to break his good relations with Lucia for that.
Jiang Shuang vigorously nodded.
Lucia took back her gaze and slightly nodded.