The sounds of instruments blared throughout the surroundings. The festive music was accompanied by the excited noise of the crowds sitting in the audience seats. Their cheers grew even louder the moment the challenger stepped onto the stage.
The announcer, a pure automaton with an artificial personality, ran to the center of the stage and made a beeline toward Xue Hui to ask him some important details about himself.
Waiting on the stage was another automaton in a cook's attire. It was silver in color and had a rather large frame compared to the other automatons. Its bulging muscles stretched the fabric of its attire, giving it an intimidating appearance and an equally intimidating aura. Its menacing glare zeroed in on Xue Hui.
Which Xue Hui completely ignored. With a carefree attitude, Xue Hui walked toward his kitchen station, giving the audience a confident grin while waving his hands in their direction.
In response, many feminine-looking soul puppets began cheering even louder while sending Xue Hui flirtatious gazes.
On the other hand, the male-looking soul puppets seemed far less amused by Xue Hui's good looks and angrily booed and yelled at him.
There was even one holding a placard with the words, "This man stole my wife," alongside an arrow pointing toward a crude drawing of Xue Hui's face.
It was wild, and even Xue Hui found the entire situation pretty hilarious.
While Xue Hui approached his kitchen station, a perturbed Xiao Ning'er found herself sitting at the judging table alongside another automaton. She had been asked to be one of the judges, which made her nervous.
Sitting next to her was an automaton with messy blonde hair dressed in a cook's attire. Beside him sat a gaudy-looking female automaton wearing an expensive-looking gown, making Xiao Ning'er's headpiece look plain in comparison.
Bewildered by everything happening around her, Xiao Ning'er simply let herself be swept along by the moment as she was escorted to her seat.
While Xiao Ning'er had been made a judge, her companion had volunteered to be the challenger instead.
"Is everyone excited and unable to wait any longer for the cook-off between our cooks to begin? Let me hear your cheers"
As the announcer addressed the audience, excited cheers roared once more, echoing throughout the dome and making the atmosphere feel electrifying.
Seeing how lively the place was, the announcer wasted no more time and began introducing everyone around him.
With an echoing voice, the announcer spread his arms toward the audience, sporting a wide grin as he began to speak.
"Before we begin, let me introduce myself first."
Twirling around, he made a rhythmic clicking sound by tapping his shoes against the floor. His movements were smooth and mesmerizing.
"Greetings everyone! My name is Yi Ren, and it is my great pleasure to introduce our two excellent cooks."
Stretching his arm to the left, Yi Ren caused every light in the dome to shut down except for a single spotlight illuminating the automaton cook.
"To our left, representing the Soul Prison Labyrinth, none other than our very own Da Chu the Cook!"
Reacting to the loud cheers of the audience, Da Chu let out a proud roar while raising his arms into the air, an action that only excited the audience even more.
Hearing the earth-shaking cheers from the audience, Yi Ren turned to his other side, causing the spotlight to shift its focus from Da Chu to Xue Hui.
"To my right, representing humanity and the first people to ever challenge the Soul Prison Labyrinth, he is young, he is bold, but more importantly, he is a face that would steal yo girl! Please give a big round of applause for Xue Hui!"
Donning a cute printed apron taken out from his interspatial ring, Xue Hui gave another wave to the crowd. His confident smile caused the feminine-looking soul puppets to let out ear-piercing squeals.
Which only further irritated the male-looking soul puppets, prompting them to yell abusive words toward him.
Ignoring the commotion, Yi Ren pointed toward the judging table as the lights in the dome fully returned.
"And of course, let's not forget our panel of judges, who have been tasked with tasting our cooks' meals."
Xiao Ning'er's heartbeat quickened. She felt nervous the moment Yi Ren walked up to their table and began asking a question to the judge seated one chair away from her.
"So, can you introduce yourself to everyone so our lovely audience knows who you are?" Yi Ren asked, prompting the gaudy-looking automaton to stand up and scan the audience.
"It's insulting that I need to introduce myself when everyone should already know who I am," the gaudy-looking automaton said in a conceited tone.
"My name is Fu Po, and I'm..." Fu Po pushed up her enormous chest and lifted her chin, looking proud and smug. "The most mesmerizing, heart-throbbing, jaw-dropping songstress this world has ever seen!"
Once she finished introducing herself, Fu Po inhaled a mouthful of air and broke into song.
Fu Po's singing could only be described as powerful and resonant. Her voice filled Xiao Ning'er with nostalgia, reminding her of the night she first met Xue Hui beneath the serene rays of the moon.
Satisfied with herself, Fu Po sat back in her seat, prompting Yi Ren to shift his gaze toward the next judge.
The blonde-haired automaton introduced himself as Chef Lāmǔqí. Seemingly angry, he immediately began ranting about food, causing Xiao Ning'er to instinctively lean slightly away from him.
"None of you are an idiot sandwich, right!? Then please don't serve me inedible garbage, or I will absolutely throw it in your faces! So please... just admit defeat if neither of you can make a proper meal!" Chef Lāmǔqí exclaimed.
After apologizing to Xiao Ning'er and Fu Po for being loud, Chef Lāmǔqí wished the contestants good luck before sitting back down, allowing Yi Ren to turn his focus toward the visibly nervous Xiao Ning'er.
Smiling amicably, Yi Ren approached Xiao Ning'er and gestured for her to take a deep breath to calm her nerves before asking her to introduce herself.
"And of course, last but not least, how can we forget this lovely lady who decided to join us today? Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the beautiful maiden, Xiao Ning'er!"
The crowd erupted into even louder cheers when Xiao Ning'er's image was displayed on the huge broadcasting imagery scrolls placed all around the dome.
"How are you, Miss Xiao Ning'er? Can you say hi to our not-so-lively audience?" Yi Ren joked, earning himself a few boos from the crowd.
With an anxious expression, Xiao Ning'er awkwardly waved her hand toward the audience.
"H-Hello everyone, I'm not very good at judging food, so I apologize in advance if I mess up... um... I hope everyone is doing great."
The crowd reacted in unison, letting out cooing noises as they became captivated by how gentle Xiao Ning'er's voice sounded.
Xiao Ning'er's body jolted when she felt a hand tap her shoulder. Looking to her side, she saw Chef Lāmǔqí trying to speak to her.
"Don't worry so much, Miss Xiao Ning'er. It's food... You love it, hate it, just say it. That's how you judge a meal. There's no need to be overly technical about it. Your preference in taste is more than enough to know whether the food is good."
Thinking that what Chef Lāmǔqí said was indeed right, Xiao Ning'er relaxed slightly and thanked him for the advice.
Once everyone had been introduced, Yi Ren let out a satisfied grin and asked Xiao Ning'er one last question before moving on with the program.
"Any words before we begin? Anything you want to say to our two competitors?"
Xiao Ning'er's eyes shifted between Da Chu and Xue Hui. She nervously wished Da Chu good luck, and the automaton cook nodded in response to her words.
Xiao Ning'er bit her lip before addressing Xue Hui.
"Xue Hui, good luck. I-I... I'm rooting for you."
Xiao Ning'er's face and neck flushed crimson. She quickly averted her gaze, not daring to meet Xue Hui's eyes.
"Ohh, a little biased, but sweet. I love it," Yi Ren stated.
He then left the judges' table and walked back toward the center of the stage while continuing to hype up the crowd.
While all of this was happening, Xue Hui was deep in thought, pondering the situation they had found themselves in.
It had never crossed his mind just how massive a discovery he and Xiao Ning'er would uncover upon entering the Soul Prison Labyrinth, nor how great of a threat it could pose to Glory City.
His mind raced as he tried to figure out how to eliminate the danger unknowingly looming near Glory City.
Approximately ten to fifteen thousand soul puppets, with strengths ranging from Bronze to Silver and Gold rank, were all awake and in pristine condition. It was a force capable of causing tremendous destruction once unleashed.
And that didn't even include the pure automatons. Just like Xiao Ning'er's NiHue, if a pure automaton bonded its soul with a Demon Spiritualist, their strength could rise significantly, possibly even reaching Black Gold rank or Legend rank.
Just imagining the sight of Glory City being overrun by soul puppets made Xue Hui feel uneasy.
Their total numbers could easily threaten the safety of Glory City, bringing destruction comparable to a Demon Beast horde.
Xue Hui cursed inwardly. He needed to know who was behind the operation of these soul puppets. Only then could he decide what actions to take next.
Forming a hand seal, Xue Hui summoned an Origin Sphere near Xiao Ning'er and slipped it into her pocket, a precaution in case things went wrong during their exploration of the labyrinth.
After presenting all the ingredients, Yi Ren began explaining the mechanics of the cook-off, asking everyone to pay attention to the broadcasting imagery scroll.
Watching the moving images, Xiao Ning'er wore a confused expression.
What she saw was an image of thick lush forests, towering mountains, and vast open grasslands.
The place closely resembled the Heavenly Luster Mountains; she even assumed Yi Ren was showing an area she and Xue Hui had not yet visited.
In contrast to her, Xue Hui observed the images with anticipation in his eyes. He recognized many of the herbs, trees, and even the demon beasts. Every single one of them was rare and difficult to find, something one wouldn't even encounter in the Heavenly Luster Mountains, let alone in Glory City.
After displaying the images, Yi Ren explained that both competitors would have to gather their own ingredients by foraging and hunting within the area they had just seen.
Once Yi Ren finished his explanation, Xue Hui suddenly felt a force tug at his entire body. Before he could react, the space around him rippled as he was sucked into a spatial distortion, transporting him from the labyrinth to an unknown location.
Disoriented, Xue Hui summoned an Origin Sphere and created a platform beneath himself, certain that he had been falling from a great height.
Once the haziness clouding his mind cleared, Xue Hui realized he had found himself in the middle of nowhere, high up in the sky where he had been falling moments ago.
"Really!? They didn't even bother dropping me somewhere safe? This could've killed me if I were a normal Bronze-rank Demon Spiritualist!" Xue Hui exclaimed.
He reached out to the Origin Sphere hidden within Xiao Ning'er's pocket and felt relieved when he managed to establish a connection with it.
'Wherever this place is, it's still within the vicinity of the Soul Prison Labyrinth, if only because I can still control the Origin Sphere inside Ning'er's pocket,' Xue Hui assessed as his gaze swept across the land beneath him.
"The spiritual pressure in this place is significantly denser than normal. Just where is this place?"
Closing his eyes, Xue Hui pieced together every clue he had gathered, trying to determine what kind of place he had been transported to.
Time passed, and Xiao Ning'er grew nervous as she watched Xue Hui remain motionless while sitting cross-legged atop his Origin Sphere.
Meanwhile, Da Chu had already gathered enough ingredients for himself.
"Oh-oh! Time is ticking! If Xue Hui doesn't hurry up and gather his ingredients, he'll end up cooking nothing but air!" Yi Ren quipped, drawing laughter from parts of the audience and causing Xiao Ning'er to pout.
Then realization struck Xue Hui.
With a snap of his fingers, Xue Hui's eyes flew open, their usual glow now even brighter. Grinning, he began ascending higher into the sky, high enough for the clouds to thin and the sky to gradually darken.
Xiao Ning'er and the automatons watched in fascination as Xue Hui ascended to a height many experts referred to as the Endless Space.
As the temperature rapidly dropped, Xue Hui summoned a black Origin Sphere and sent it soaring upward. With blinding speed, the black sphere shot toward the heavens before abruptly stopping and beginning to distort the surrounding space.
Xue Hui's grin widened as the black sphere revealed the hidden runes covering the entire sky.
"No wonder this place feels unusual... I'm actually inside a subsidiary realm," he exclaimed excitedly.
End of Chapter 51
If you like my story, you can support me on Ko-fi ko-fi.com/axeldeaxist It really helps me keep writing,