Just as Lin Qingyue began to seriously doubt her own judgment and reflect on whether her reasoning was flawed.
Below, Pan Wenhuo, who had completed the sacrifice and was immersed in a sense of immense happiness, stood up excitedly.
He spotted at a glance the four people at the edge of the crowd whose temperaments were completely out of place with their surroundings, one of whom had especially conspicuous pink hair.
Pan Wenhuo's eyes suddenly lit up, and the excitement and reverence on his face even surpassed that of meeting a God.
"Master! It's you! Have you come to see my achievement? I did it! I really did it!"
Under the gaze of tens of thousands of pairs of eyes, this newly crowned God of Food champion, like a fan who had successfully met their idol, scrambled and rushed toward Lin Qingyue, running so fast that his chef's hat went crooked.
Lin Qingyue's heart sank, and an extremely ominous premonition welled up in her mind.
Sure enough.
Pan Wenhuo rushed in front of Lin Qingyue and gave a ninety-degree bow in excitement.
"Master! If I hadn't heard your profound Zen words a few days ago, 'All things can be stewed together, the Great Path returns to a single pot,' Wenhuo would never have broken through the Confusion Barrier and comprehended the ultimate meaning of this [Buddha Jumps Over the Wall: All Creation's Forest]!"
"Furthermore, I must also thank Master for helping my sister find the 'Jade-Sea Dragon-Ambergris Snail' to serve as the final touch. Only then was I able to create this unprecedented supreme masterpiece and seize the championship!"
Buzz—
The entire audience fell silent in an instant.
The next second, a roar of astonishment, even more shocking than the earlier descent of the God of Food, erupted.
Every Pandaren, whether old or young, male or female, holding a spoon or a spatula, focused their gazes uniformly on Lin Qingyue.
Their eyes were a mix of shock, curiosity, adoration, and the fervor of someone who had "stumbled upon a living immortal at a wet market."
Lin Qingyue felt as if she were being locked in by tens of thousands of spotlights at once, every inch of her skin feeling the searing heat of social death.
I asked you to win a championship and help me ask a question, not to hold a public eye-opening ceremony and perform a forced certification!
The three of Lin Xiyue, Su Wan, and Xia Lian beside her could no longer contain themselves.
Su Wan covered her mouth with her hand, appearing graceful and elegant, but her violently shaking shoulders betrayed her.
Lin Xiyue simply took out her phone and started recording, preparing to permanently preserve this glorious moment of her sister's history.
Xia Lian was so embarrassed that her toes were nearly scratching out a fully furnished three-bedroom, one-living-room model apartment inside her Elven Leather Boots.
In this bizarre atmosphere, the "God of Food" on the altar, who had just been fed and drank his fill, seemed to be drawn by the commotion over here.
Its massive obsidian eyes blinked, looking curiously at Lin Qingyue, as if it had caught a familiar and affectionate scent from her.
The next second, amidst the collective gasps of the crowd, the mountain-like phantom of the "God of Food" actually drifted slowly down.
It floated before Lin Qingyue, lowering its head, which was larger than an off-road vehicle, and affectionately, gently... rubbed its fluffy cheek against the top of her head.
From its throat, a satisfied, cat-like "purr, purr" sound emanated.
Lin Qingyue: "..."
The entire Pandaren audience: "!!!"
At this moment, the admiration in Pan Wenhuo's eyes had transformed into the fanatical devotion of someone prostrating themselves on the ground.
To be cuddled by the God of Food, how could this be a mere Master? This was clearly the God of Food's incarnation walking the mortal realm!
Just as the atmosphere reached a peak of bizarrely heartwarming warmth, a sudden change struck!
The "God of Food" rubbing against Lin Qingyue suddenly shuddered.
A faint wisp of black-red mist, taking advantage of its most relaxed moment, silently slipped into its brow.
Those huge, innocent eyes, without any warning, were instantly covered by a crimson as thick as blood!
A primal, raw, and frigid hunger, completely opposite to before and seemingly ready to devour heaven and earth, erupted like a nuclear bomb!
The shadow aura of the Ancient God "Gluttony" finally broke free of its disguise and seized control!
"Not enough... not enough! Far from enough!!"
A roar, no longer that of a god but from the Abyss, shook the entire valley.
That once somewhat cute, gaping maw of the Taotie suddenly snapped open and bit down!
CRUNCH
The massive porcelain jar, along with half of the hard stone altar, was actually chewed and swallowed as if it were a cracker!
Its body began to swell abnormally. Pure gluttony transformed into a desire for destruction. It was no longer a mascot, but the true incarnation of "Gluttony" representing the concept of "Devouring"!
With one open mouth, it seemed capable of swallowing the stars!
It did not attack anyone. Instead, it opened its abyssal maw and took a sudden, deep breath, drawing in the entire Feast of a Hundred Flavors Venue!
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
All the food in the entire venue instantly lost its "delicious" soul.
The sizzling barbecue on the stalls, the exquisite pastries on the plates, the rich soup bubbling in the pots... everything had its flavor completely drained away.
The satisfaction and happiness on the faces of all the diners froze instantly, replaced by an emptiness as if their souls had been sucked out.
They felt no fullness at all, as if everything they had eaten before had vanished into thin air.
Even the rich aroma in the air was forcibly extracted!
These intangible "concepts" now transformed into a visible torrent of light, madly pouring into that all-devouring maw!
[Gluttony] had finally revealed its fangs.
The Feast of a Hundred Flavors instantly became the "Feast of Plain Flavors."
The Pandaren, who had been cheering for the Divine Grace just a second ago, fell into immense panic the next.
A burly Pandaren mercenary stared blankly at the piece of roasted meat in his hand, which now tasted like chewing wax.
A thunderous growl of hunger echoed from his stomach. A hollow sensation that threatened to digest his very internal organs made him clutch his belly in agony.
"My... my fullness is gone!"
"Heavens, the food has no taste! How can this be!"
"So hungry... I'm so hungry!!"
Chaos spread rapidly, like a plague.
For the Pandaren, who regarded "eating" as life's highest creed, this was not just hunger, but the collapse of their faith.
The entire celebration scene instantly turned into a hell of wailing and panic.
At the center of this chaos, four figures stood as immovable as bedrock.
"I knew it!"
The social death embarrassment on Lin Qingyue's face vanished completely, replaced by a cold "just as I thought" expression.
"I knew it couldn't be that simple! First, it acts cute to scam everyone's emotions, then it reveals its true colors and pulls out a big move?"
Scamming her emotions was fine, but scamming her out of her money was not.
This [Gluttony] first used Divine Grace and a cute appearance to gain everyone's trust, then it would devour all the deceived believers along with the God of Food himself in one fell swoop!
Good grief, it's the same old formula, the same old pig-butchering scam smell!
This operation was simply carved from the same mold as that [Greed] who used knock-off loot effects to trick her into spending all her Elation Value!
"Xiyue!" Lin Qingyue called out in a low voice.
"Understood!"
Lin Xiyue stepped forward in a single stride, slamming her massive Blackstone Shield into the ground with a heavy thud.
Holy Light flowed across her body as a clear, crisp shout escaped her lips:
"Hey! You black-and-white furball who dines and dashes! Look over here, your 'teppanyaki' delivery has arrived, complete with a five-star negative review and a side of Shield Bash!"
She directly activated the Paladin's area-of-effect taunt skill: [Holy Provocation].
A golden halo expanded outward from her, precisely enveloping the insanely swelling Gluttony Behemoth.