Everyone was looking greedily at the piping hot dish on the table. If they haven't seen Jiu Shen's strength earlier, they would have long since fought for it.

"Go eat it now, brother Xu! We can't hold ourselves back for long. Don't torment us any longer!"

"Right! Just goddamn eat it already!"

After seeing his friends' contorted appearance, brother Xu hastily stuffed one crescent-shaped shrimp in his mouth.

The moment he took the first bite, loud crunching sounds resounded inside the small store.

"This... This... Delicious. Huhuhu." Brother Xu cried while stuffing shrimps after shrimps in his mouth.

The tender shrimp meat melted in his tongue, filling his taste buds with the freshness of the Overlord Shrimp mixed with the spicy flavor of the Viper Magma Chilli. The two kinds of tastes accentuated each other in perfect harmony.

Brother Xu had a drunk expression as two lines of tears trickled down his cheeks.

Boss Scar and the other mercenaries were surprised after seeing brother Xu's expression, but they just silently stared at the deep-fried Overlord Shrimp regretfully.

Brother Xu sniffled as he grabbed the remaining deep-fried shrimps and dipped in the Viper Magma Chili sauce which was emitting a baleful aura. He then put it inside his mouth and crunched it ferociously.

It was unknown if he was crying due to the spiciness of the Viper Magma Chilli or because of the deliciousness of the deep-fried Overlord Shrimp.

He then burped with a satisfied smile on his face. His expression then turned into one of surprise as he exclaimed.

"It's stimulating the true essence inside my body! This... It's actually worth more than several pills added together!"

Brother Xu stood up after sensing himself breaking through towards the 4th-rank Knight Crusader without even meditating.

Even if one consumes a 4th-grade pill, they still had to meditate and direct the true essence from the pill towards their dantian. But brother Xu has not even meditated yet and he already broke through a realm in one go!

"What the hell?!"

"He broke through in one go! He actually broke through in one go! Am I dreaming? He did not even meditate... This..."

Boss Scar's jaw dropped on the ground and his eyes went wide. He then glanced at Jiu Shen with an inquiring look, but the latter did not even bother looking at him.

Jiu Shen nodded his head calmly as if it was within his expectations. The Overlord Shrimp was, after all, a 5th-rank Spirit level creature, and the other ingredients used were likewise rare and abundant in true essence. Hence, breaking through in one go was to be expected.

Brother Xu's true essence did not stop from increasing after breaking through towards the 4th-rank Knight Crusader. His aura became increasingly stronger and consolidated. And the most surprising thing was that he did not even meditate! It means that the true essence from the dish instantly went inside his dantian.

Brother Xu's aura stopped from increasing after it reached the peak of the initial-stage 4th-rank Knight Crusader.

The drunk expression on brother Xu was gone and it was replaced by an ecstatic look. He then glanced smugly at the other mercenaries while smiling at them broadly.

"You lost the bet. Now, it's time for you to pay." Jiu Shen's calm voice entered his ears like a bucket of cold water. The smile on brother Xu's face twitched as he glanced at the emotionless expression of Jiu Shen.

"Of course. Of course, how could I not pay? Such a fine dish with shocking effects. 100 True Crystals is truly a bargain." Brother Xu smiled while paying for the dish. He was genuinely happy for breaking through. It even exceeded his expectations by a great margin.

Brother Xu glanced at the young man in front of him. He was shrouded by a thick veil of mystery, and even his strength was unfathomable.

'Just who is Wine Master Jiu Shen? And how come an expert like him established a small store here in the capital city?'

The True Crystals in Jiu Shen's hands vanished in a blink of an eye. The mercenaries were no longer surprised after seeing it. They were already numbed on the surprises inside the small store.

As for how the True Crystals vanished, of course, they were taken away by the system without even asking for Jiu Shen's permission.

Jiu Shen was still wearing his poker face when the True Crystals vanished. He then glanced at the tongue-tied mercenaries who were looking at him as if he was the reincarnation of buddha.

"Are you guys still going to order? If not, then pay your bills and get out of my sight." Jiu Shen said without batting an eyelid.

The mercenaries' faces twitched, but they were already growing accustomed to Wine Master Jiu's eccentric personality.

"Wine Master Jiu, give me two orders of the dish, please." Boss Scar gritted his teeth with an agonized expression.

He only brought a little more than four hundred True Crystals with him and left his remaining crystals in the Mercenary Guild. He never would have thought that Liu Xiufeng was actually speaking the truth regarding the prices of the store's wines.

He felt his heart bleeding, but he still decided to try the dishes. If it was really capable of enhancing the true essence inside his body, then the price was worth it.

"Me too, Wine Master Jiu. Give me one order of the dish." Liu Xiufeng similarly had a contorted expression, but he still fished out one hundred True Crystals from his small bag.

"Me too! One order of the dish!"

"Count me in, Wine Master Jiu! I also want one order of the dish!"

"Sigh! I only brought less than a hundred True Crystals with me. Wine Master Jiu, just give me an order of Ables Blanc."

Jiu Shen accepted the orders with a nod of his head before stepping inside the kitchen.

'Looks like I will be able to finish this mission in just one day. I wonder what the reward will be.'