Genshin Impact: A Mortal's Ascension to Godhood

Li Tao first decided to go to Wanmintang to find Xiangling and Master Mao. He learned from Xiangling that Wanmintang was also one of the participants in the Chef King Contest, so Li Tao felt that he needed to learn more about the Food Festival and the Chef King Contest from them first, and at the same time, win their support. Li Tao believed that Xiangling and Master Mao, who were committed to making delicious food for the people, would support his point of view.

But... sometimes, fate is a pile of stinky shit. When you want to do something, you step on it unconsciously. Of course, you don't know whether it means you are lucky or just dirty your feet.

When Li Tao arrived at Wanmin Hall, he saw a shocking scene - the kitchen of Wanmin Hall was on fire. Neighbors came with buckets of water to put out the fire, but the owner, Master Mao and Xiangling, were nowhere to be found.

Was it just a fire? But if something like this happened at Wanmin Hall, how could Master Mao and Xiangling be gone? Li Tao was full of doubts and joined the firefighting. With him, the user of the Water God's Eye, the fire that was discovered early was quickly put out, but most of the food and tableware were burned and could not be used.

"Ahh! You are a bunch of bastards, hooligans, and money-grubbing dogs!" When Li Tao had almost put out the fire and arrived in front of Wanmin Hall, he saw a group of people surrounding Xiangling, who was annoyed. There were a few people tied in front of her. They were in tattered clothes and had bruised faces.

At this moment, Xiangling was surrounded by people, clenching her fists and hitting the tied-up people mercilessly. The onlookers not only did not stop her, but also cheered. Even Guoba, who had always been following Xiangling and looked like a stuffed teddy bear but was actually the stove demon, hugged his furry arms and looked at the group of people who were beaten to their knees with disgust, as if they had committed a serious crime.

No, these guys are obviously the criminals!

Li Tao squeezed into the crowd and asked others for details. But Xiangling herself had heard Li Tao's questions in the crowd without the onlookers' explanation. At this moment, her fair cheeks were full of sweat, and her beautiful eyebrows were wrinkled. Xiangling first asked everyone to report to the police, sent them all away, and closed the door of Wanmin Hall.

Then, she walked to Li Tao tiredly, lowered her head and said sadly: "Brother Li, I'm sorry to make you laugh."

"No, jokes and all that don't matter, Xiangling, are you okay? What happened?"

Xiangling put her spear aside, spread her legs and sat down on the table without any airs, and said in a depressed mood: "This is what happened..."

It turned out that today was the first day of the Food Festival, and all participating merchants had to send a legal person to sign a contract to determine the time, location, and various rules and regulations of the competition. This signing event would take a long time, so Master Mao set out early in the morning and handed over the business of Wanmintang to Xiangling and Guoba. But before lunch, Xiangling discovered that a group of hooligans had sneaked into the kitchen and wanted to secretly destroy the ingredients of Wanmintang.

How could Xiangling stand this? She picked up her spear and chased after these bastards and poked them in the ass. Of course, these ordinary thugs could not beat Xiangling who had divine eyes, so Xiangling quickly captured them all. However, when she was escorting these guys back to Wanmin Hall, she found that the kitchen was inexplicably on fire.

"It must have been done by these guys! While I was arresting their accomplices, someone sneaked back and set the fire... They dared to destroy the food, so of course they dared to set the fire. They really don't take the laws of Liyue seriously!"

At this point, Xiangling was a little exasperated: "No, I want to make a few more holes in them, otherwise it will be difficult to relieve the hatred in my heart——"

"Xiangling, Xiangling! Calm down." Li Tao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He raised his hand and sprayed a mist with healing aura at her. "It has already happened. Even if you kill them and hang your head on the gun, it will be useless. But I have a lot of questions about this matter - isn't it illegal for them to destroy the food?"

Xiangling's anger was barely dispelled. She shook her long blue hair that was braided into a loop and said thoughtfully, "Of course it is illegal! But they will say that they destroyed the food because they were extremely hungry and wanted to steal some... In short, destroying food ingredients is not a serious crime. At most, they will be locked up for a few days and made to do some hard labor."

"But arson is a serious crime, right?"

"Of course! I didn't expect these guys to set fire. However, we at Wanmin Hall have no grudges against these people. Why on earth would they do this?"

Xiangling, whose mind gradually became clear, soon realized the problem - whether it was destroying the ingredients or setting a fire in the kitchen, it was obvious that they were trying to disrupt the normal operation of Wanmin Hall!

Li Tao also analyzed to her seriously: "The one who can do such a thing is very likely to be the competitor of Wanmintang in this Chef King Competition. In fact, our Adventurer Association has also accepted many such tasks..."

Then, Li Tao told Xiangling about the sudden increase in the number of missions accepted by the Adventurer's Association during the Food Festival. Xiangling suddenly realized, "So that's why. Small vendors compete with each other, so it's normal for us to compete with each other... After all, the rewards for the Chef King Contest are not useless things, but real advertising space and large investments."

"I thought the reward was something like a trophy, but I didn't expect it to be so realistic?" Li Tao felt a little funny and asked, "What do you mean by advertising space and investment?"

"That's it! The winner's name will be hung outside all the teahouses and taverns, and the performance of the winning merchants in the Chef Contest will be widely publicized. I heard that if necessary, the Maritime Affairs Department can also be asked to put advertisements on the sails of the ships. As for the investment, it is a sum of money contributed by all the major banks and money houses in Liyue, namely the [Food Festival Fund]. The winner of each food festival can withdraw a portion of the fund as a reward for winning. In fact, it is money, but you only get a check."

Li Tao touched his chin and said to Xiangling: "Xiangling, don't you think that although the highly commercialized model of the Food Festival is free, it is easy to breed all kinds of uncivilized phenomena? Look, even the Wanmin Hall..."

"I know, Brother Li Tao. But what can we do?" Xiang Ling clenched the gun tightly, her knuckles turning white. "I was just out for a moment, and the kitchen was burned down... I really feel powerless. Everyone does this. Do I have to send people to obstruct others' work? How is that possible!"

Seeing Xiangling in so much pain, Guoba frowned, jumped onto the table, and patted Xiangling's back gently with his round bear paws.

Li Tao shouted, "Don't lose heart, Xiangling! Believe in our own strength... Since one person can't do it, let's gather everyone's strength and complain to the Seven Stars. There will always be a way!"

Xiang Ling looked at Li Tao blankly. "But Brother Li Tao... I wanted to ask you before, why didn't you go deal with the Adventurer's Association's mission, but came here to find me? Did you plan to talk to me about this from the beginning?"

"Of course." Li Tao's eyes passed Xiangling, across the tables and chairs of Wanmin Hall, and looked through the window at the busy streets outside. "I just don't want to follow the crowd. If I follow others to handle this or that task today, this matter will be ignored as an ordinary matter. But the spirit of an adventurer is to explore and overcome the [unusual] in the world."

Now Li Tao never wants to forget this spirit, because he is already moving towards becoming a great adventurer.