"Hmm…"
"Nice…"
Looking at his new hairstyle reflected in the glass window beside the street,
Xi Shenlian was quite pleased with the results.
His handsomeness had taken a serious leap upward!!
So handsome it made him want to punch himself!!
"Very good. Natural charm. Worthy of being me~"
Thinking this,
he flashed a smile at a female student walking past—pretending to fiddle with her phone while actually sneaking glances at him.
In that moment,
alongside the faint gasp of excitement from the girl,
Xi Shenlian adjusted his hearing and picked up on the quickening rhythm of her heartbeat.
He instantly understood:
My current appearance is dangerously charming!
Then—
He headed to another location just a block away.
A restaurant.
It was inside a shopping mall near the subway station.
According to online reviews,
this place had excellent food, though it was on the pricey side.
Even his auxiliary AI had given it an overall premium score of 70%.
That meant:
The food here was 70% more expensive than dishes of similar quality elsewhere.
A markup justified by its location in a bustling, upscale area.
The reason the AI recommended it was simple:
By monitoring the city's transportation network, communication systems, and order logs,
it had confirmed that this restaurant had just received a high-quality delivery of ingredients from the wholesale market an hour and a half ago.
What's more—
surveillance cameras inside showed that the kitchen had already prepped most of the dishes.
Now was the perfect time to enjoy a meal here.
You could say…
Even the shop's stockpiles and internal AI systems had been completely hacked and analyzed.
…
Just judging from the outside—
The restaurant's design was quite refined.
The wooden doorframe retained a distinct vintage feel.
And the very fact that it had survived for years on a busy street…
That was a skill in itself.
Only one small issue:
A sign hanging on the door read Temporarily Closed.
It was only ten in the morning.
Over an hour still remained before the official opening time listed beside the sign.
But after taking one glance,
Xi Shenlian lifted the white floral curtain and stepped inside without hesitation.
He had barely walked two steps when—
Hearing the clear sound of approaching footsteps,
a young waiter who was still mopping the floor looked up in surprise.
Panicking, he waved his arms and shouted:
"Sorry, sir! We're not open yet!!"
"Please come back later!!"
Xi Shenlian didn't make things difficult.
He simply replied calmly:
"That's not important. You've already prepped some ingredients by now, right?"
"I'll book the whole restaurant. Take care of your sales for the day. That way, you start early and finish early."
Upon hearing this—
The waiter realized this was a big spender.
But the request still didn't quite line up with company policy.
So he hesitated.
Probably needed to ask his boss.
Seeing this—
Xi Shenlian said casually:
"I'll pay ten times the normal rate."
Just six words.
Instant KO.
The waiter folded instantly.
So did the boss.
…
Two minutes later—
With the waiter and owner now being extra attentive,
Xi Shenlian took a seat.
Ten times the usual payment made all rules irrelevant.
The restaurant wasn't large—just a few hundred square meters.
Its layout was a bit long and narrow.
A few high tables lined with tall stools formed the so-called "dining space."
Beside them was the open kitchen,
allowing customers to watch their food being prepared in real time.
Perched on one of the stools,
Xi Shenlian looked up at the soft yet dim lighting overhead,
then turned toward the chefs getting ready and said:
"No need to hold back."
"Just use whatever ingredients are ready."
"Keep serving until I say stop."
Upon hearing this—
The chefs immediately bowed: "Understood!"
Among them,
the man currently handling the knives…
Was actually the owner.
He was a middle-aged man, around fifty, with a rather plain face and a serious expression.
In small high-end restaurants like this one,
it was common for the boss to also serve as the head chef.
It helped with both cost control and smooth management.
Right now—
While cooking,
the boss was secretly sneaking glances at Xi Shenlian.
As someone who ran a high-end establishment and had some money himself,
he could roughly estimate the value of Xi Shenlian's outfit just by checking the logos and fabric.
And that value—
Was on par with a luxury car.
Sure, he could afford such clothes…
But in truth, he'd never be able to justify spending that kind of money.
It wasn't about being poor.
He just couldn't bring himself to do it.
More importantly—
The fact that Xi Shenlian wore clothes like that casually—
Made it very clear:
This wasn't someone to mess with.
It was precisely because he understood this…
That the boss had agreed to let him book the whole restaurant.
Otherwise—
Even with ten times the price…
He would've been unwilling.
Why?
Because some seats for the day had already been reserved by other guests.
Doing a private event would cancel those bookings.
This would damage the restaurant's reputation and customer loyalty.
For small upscale places,
word of mouth and repeat customers were everything.
Losing a few loyal patrons could hurt business deeply.
But…
In this situation, it was out of his hands.
A boss has to be flexible sometimes.
A minute or two later—
"Please enjoy your meal."
Three plates of sliced tuna sashimi were respectfully placed in front of Xi Shenlian, arranged by different parts of the fish.
The chefs continued preparing other dishes at a steady pace.
Since there were multiple chefs cooking for a single customer,
they were fairly relaxed.
Two of them grilled yakitori (skewered chicken) with ease.
Everyone thought today would be a chill workday.
But very quickly…
They realized something was wrong.
That is—
Xi Shenlian's appetite was terrifying.
Food for one person.
Food for five people.
Food for ten people…
All disappeared into his stomach without a hitch.
At first,
they thought he was just a big eater.
But as the meal went on—
They knew they'd been wrong…
Midway through,
they shifted from casually cooking to using their entire life's culinary skills.
Each dish had to be the absolute best.
Don't misunderstand.
It wasn't some work ethic that got sparked by his appetite.
It was simply because—
They were scared.
In this world—
There were only two kinds of people who could eat this much:
One, natural-born monsters: awakened beings.
Two, elite humans: high-level cultivators.
Both categories—
Were basically the upper crust and military power of all human civilization.
If they got annoyed—
A single gesture could wipe out everyone in the restaurant.