"???"
A Liang was slightly stunned, then understood, and said, "What the hell do you mean?"
Xiao Xing, standing by, also chimed in, "We mean on the dot, as in, give us some! Who in their right mind would eat this stuff."
"Give?"
Chen Shu nodded and said, "Alright, but it will take some time to purify."
"Okay, no problem!"
All three felt a sense of excitement. This laxative was not only harmful but also incredibly humiliating.
Chen Shu seemed to recall something and asked, "By the way, the winter break is coming up soon, what are your plans?"
"Go home and slack off!"
The three spoke in unison, clearly having made their plans long ago.
"???"
Chen Shu's mouth twitched, and he said, "You're about to graduate, don't you feel any sense of urgency?"
"A temporary break. Life needs a balance of work and rest... rest... rest."
A Liang said, "This is our last winter break, don't you cherish it?"
"That's true, I suppose."
Chen Shu nodded. They were all seniors now, and there would be no more winter or summer breaks. There were no postgraduate studies in this world.
"Then I'll go home and rest for a while too."
Chen Shu made his decision, adding, "Also, a word of advice, 'slacking off' isn't quite the right term for you."
"What?"
A Liang and the others were taken aback, their eyes showing confusion.
"When capable people choose not to act, that's called slacking off,"
Chen Shu said with a serious expression, "Actually, you guys are already quite rotten without even trying to slack off..."
"???"
The three had black lines all over their faces, and then they swarmed forward, tackling Chen Shu.
"You guys are trying to compete already, huh!"
"Old Wang, Xiao Xing, get him!"
"We can't beat this guy with our Contracted Spirits, so we'll just have to make him suffer physically!"
With their current physical condition, the three could barely contend with Chen Shu, especially if he didn't use his "fierce bandit" weapons...
Knock, knock, knock!
As the four were roughhousing, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
"Huh? Someone's here! Someone's here!"
Chen Shu quickly shouted, his legs and arms already pinned down by the other three.
"Who is it? Who's coming at this hour?"
A Liang frowned, abandoned his assault on Chen Shu, and went to open the door.
"Hello!"
Outside the door, a tall young man holding a black pot looked at the occupants of the dorm.
"Huh? Dali?"
A Liang was slightly taken aback and immediately recognized him.
"Dali is here?"
Xiao Xing and Old Wang also stood up, looking towards Zhang Dali.
"Holy cow! Dali!"
Upon seeing his childhood friend, Chen Shu rushed forward for a warm embrace.
"Come in, come in, I've missed you so much!"
Chen Shu welcomed him in, his face beaming with smiles, appearing extremely hospitable.
But in the next second, he rubbed his hands together and asked, "Did you bring any housewarming gifts? King-tier recipes are fine, we won't be picky."
"???"
Zhang Dali's mouth twitched; he truly thought Chen Shu had a change of heart...
"King-tier recipes, you really don't consider me human, do you!"
Zhang Dali put down the black pot he was holding and said, "But you guessed pretty accurately; I did bring you all a small gift."
With that, he took out four small booklets and handed them to Chen Shu and the other three.
"Huh? Holy cow, are these actual recipes?!"
A Liang's eyes widened as he carefully flipped through the booklets, which detailed various ingredients.
"Let me officially inform everyone, I am now a Gold-tier Spiritual Chef!"
Zhang Dali grinned and said, "Let alone Silver-tier recipes, I can even create Gold-tier recipes now."
"Chen Pi, this one is yours, a Gold-tier recipe."
"Really?"
Chen Shu's eyes were filled with shock as he flipped through the recipe.
Dali's teacher had helped him create a Silver-tier recipe before, so there was no need to change it.
But now that he was on the verge of advancing to Gold-tier, he was in need of a corresponding recipe.
Although Spiritual Chef was an inconspicuous profession, the attribute buffs from consistently consuming perfect recipes were quite considerable.
"Of course, it's true!"
Zhang Dali smiled slightly, pride evident in his eyes.
"The only difference between me and my teacher now is in terms of experience."
"Awesome!"
All four gave him a thumbs-up. The status of a Gold-tier Spiritual Chef couldn't compare to that of a Gold-tier Beast Tamer, but it was still quite rare.
Moreover, compared to the path of beast taming, being a Spiritual Chef was far more reliant on talent.
"Without some strength, I wouldn't dare to participate in the Culinary God Cup,"
Zhang Dali said with a slight smile, "I hope to achieve a good ranking."
As it was a world-class culinary competition, many participants were King-tier Spiritual Chefs. It wasn't easy for a Gold-tier to break through.
However, if one could create a perfect Gold-tier dish, it could indeed compete with King-tier Spiritual Chefs.
"Dali, you're already pretty amazing!"
A Liang grinned and said, "Some people dare to participate in the Culinary God Cup even without strength."
"???"
Chen Shu turned to look, thinking A Liang was indirectly referring to him.
"Dali, I've made some progress in my cooking recently, why don't you taste it?"
"!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, A Liang and the others instantly stood up, not wanting to stay a second longer.
"Sit down, all of you!"
Chen Shu forcibly pulled A Liang and the others back, saying, "You all have to try it. You be the judges and simulate the Culinary God Cup!"
At the same time, he summoned his Spatial Rabbit and instructed it, "Whoever dares to leave, let them taste the flavor of 'chrysanthemum residue'!"
"Heh heh!"
The Spatial Rabbit nodded quickly, its eyes filled with excitement.
"..."
A Liang and the other two wore expressions of profound bitterness, lamenting, "We really haven't done anything wicked; please spare us..."
"Is it really that serious?"
Zhang Dali raised an eyebrow and said, "Chen Pi's cooking isn't bad, he's just not as monstrous as I am."
At this moment, Dali still hadn't realized the gravity of the situation...
A Liang's expression was complicated as he said, "It's not a question of whether his cooking is good or bad; it's just... that incredibly special kind of thing..."