Just the food made together in a large pot already made Zhen Dejun taste soul in it. He truly was a genuine foodie through and through!

This also demonstrated that Liu Wanshi’s culinary skills were genuinely formidable. If she took her time and made individual servings for him, his soul might just fly out of the Xingyun Continent toward the vast sea of stars.

Decided!

From this moment forward, I, Zhen Dejun, am a Tiegu Sect person. If we must set a time limit, then it’s for life!

In ancient times, there was a certain Wang who could betray his country for a bowl of fried rice. Today, there’s Zhen Dejun wholeheartedly joining a sect for a single meal—this will surely become a legendary tale for the ages.

You all are witnesses.

“Hm?”

Zhen Dejun’s soul, which seemed to be floating, suddenly locked onto the entrance, his voice turning cold and severe: “Wei Qingfeng!”

Elder Wei, who had just entered, said in surprise: “Zhen Dechou?”

Zhen Dechou?

Jun Changxiao’s mouth twitched as he transmitted: “Isn’t he called Zhen Dejun?”

Elder Wei said: “His original name was Zhen Dechou. Later, thinking it sounded unpleasant, he changed it to Zhen Dejun himself.”

Holy crap.

This kind of operation existed?

That said, the way Elder Zhen looked at Elder Wei—they were definitely old acquaintances. And that hint of resentment was similar to Leng Xingyue’s. Could he be her ex-boyfriend number X?

My goodness.

He swung both ways!

That was pretty impressive!

“Hmph.”

Zhen Dejun said coldly: “I never thought you’d also be at the Tiegu Sect.”

Elder Wei said: “So many years have passed. Are you still dwelling on what happened before?”

“How could I not dwell on it? I’ll never forget!” Zhen Dejun said through gritted teeth.

The more it was like this, the more Jun Changxiao felt these two old men must have had some unknown scandalous past!

“Sigh.”

Elder Wei sighed: “Why remain so stubborn?”

Zhen Dejun sneered: “Back then, if this old man had listened to your nonsense and joined with that person to establish a sect, I’d probably be dead by now.”

That person?

Who?

Elder Wei’s eyes showed pain: “The past is past.”

“I just heard that an array grandmaster joined the Tiegu Sect. It must be you. Now that we’re under the same roof, I suppose that counts as fate.”

Zhen Dejun said: “I heard the Tiegu Sect has a Martial Emperor. That must be you. If this old man had known, I would never have come to join.”

“Sect Master Jun.”

He cupped his fists: “This person is my enemy. This old man requests to leave the sect!”

Just moments ago he said ‘for life,’ and now he wanted to leave—elderly people’s thought processes really did have huge leaps.

“Well…”

Sect Master Jun pondered briefly: “This seat respects Senior’s choice.”

The two didn’t get along. Keeping them in the same sect would definitely be awkward. Since he wanted to leave, naturally he wouldn’t be kept.

“Pearl, Jade, and White Jade Soup is here!”

Just then, Liu Wanshi’s voice rang out, and Yihei, Erhei, and other disciples helping her carried out several basins of steaming hot soup.

Pearl, Jade, and White Jade Soup—a dish from Chinese cuisine, said to originate from Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang.

Liu Wanshi had been pondering it recently and finally perfected the recipe. Making it today was specifically to let her fellow disciples taste it.

“So fragrant!”

Zhen Dejun, who was about to leave, caught the aroma in the air. His eyes immediately lit up with excitement. As soon as Erhei set the soup basin down, he picked up a ladle and tasted a spoonful.

*Step, step, step!*

He staggered back several steps, his facial muscles frozen.

Shortly after, his expression became extremely exaggerated as he looked skyward in amazement: “This soup should only exist in heaven—how many times can mortals smell it on earth!”

The earlier dishes were merely large-pot food.

This Pearl, Jade, and White Jade Soup was something Liu Wanshi had carefully prepared. Whether in taste or flavor, it had already reached the pinnacle of culinary arts!

As a connoisseur of gastronomy, Zhen Dejun’s soul truly had flown out of the Xingyun Continent toward that endless sea of stars!

“Sect Master!”

His eyes filled with determination: “I, Zhen Dejun, am a Tiegu Sect person—never to part, this life and beyond!”

Jun Changxiao’s mouth twitched.

One moment leaving, the next moment never parting—did this old man have a screw loose!

He was sick.

The terminal illness of having zero resistance to delicious food.

—

After Zhen Dejun tasted the Pearl, Jade, and White Jade Soup, he truly decided to stay at the Tiegu Sect.

Such wonderful food was enough to make him set aside past grievances.

“Elder Wei.”

After leaving the dining hall, Jun Changxiao inquired: “That person—who was he?”

Elder Wei said: “Like the Sect Master, someone who cherished dreams.”

“You established a sect together?”

“Correct.”

“And then?”

“Then…”

Elder Wei paused, shaking his head: “The past is too painful to recall.”

Jun Changxiao was tactful enough not to press further. After returning to his study, he pulled up the attribute panel.

Disciple count: 10,000—already meeting the conditions for advancing to sect status!

Moreover, with full membership, the new sect mission had also been activated. Once all disciples completed it, sect construction would improve accordingly!

This was truly double happiness!

More importantly, the appearance of the sect mission meant they could gradually obtain 10,000 contribution points!

“Let the disciples do the missions first. After the construction is upgraded, then we’ll advance to sect status.”

Jun Changxiao murmured.

Now another unavoidable choice lay before him.

According to Executive Zhao, when a sect advanced to sect status, they could change the name.

Of course, if the sect master was willing, they could change it anytime now.

Sects were different. Having earned the qualification to use ‘Sect’ in their name made this change very solemn and dignified.

Regarding the name “Tiegu Zhengzheng Sect,” never mind what readers thought—even Sect Master Jun wanted to complain about it. But because he was busy with development, he never thought about changing the name.

Advancing from sect to sect status—if they continued using the character ‘Sect,’ it would seem a bit cheap. But if they changed it to Tiegu Zhengzheng Sect, people would have a hard time adjusting.

“Changing from sect to sect must be carefully considered. Done wrong, it could make readers drop the book or turn from fans to haters.” Jun Changxiao said.

The system said: “They’d be lucky not to call you Gousheng.”

—

Regarding the sect name, Jun Changxiao thought of several options, but they all lacked something and he remained indecisive.

Meanwhile, disciples began their daily mission acceptance.

New low-star members took low-level ones, high-cultivation high-star members took high-level ones.

The entire Tiegu Sect was livelier than usual.

After Zhen Dejun joined and tasted Liu Wanshi’s cooking, he became deeply addicted and couldn’t extricate himself. He even volunteered: “Sect Master, as they say—those who take from others are beholden to them, those who eat from others have short mouths. Whatever needs doing, just give the order.”

“Elder Zhen.”

Jun Changxiao said: “This seat has some disciples with array talent. You could cultivate and train them.”

“No problem.” Zhen Dejun readily agreed.

This thrilled Yang Lan and the others. After all, he was a ninth-rank Array King—being personally taught array formations by him was incredibly fortunate!

“Ding! Disciple completed sect mission, gained 50 contribution points, 50 achievement points.”

“Ding! Sect contribution points: 4920/10000.”

“Ding! Sect achievement points: 2250/10000.”

Already a disciple had completed the sect mission first. Jun Changxiao stroked his chin: “From now on, contribution points will continuously increase. Better spend some to free up space.”