CHAPTER 397: CHAPTER 393: THE MAKING OF A GREAT CHEF?_2

The father of the lion is Demon Ancestor Typhon. Though it looks like a lion, strictly speaking, this guy is a demigod as well, with no shortage of intelligence. When it rushed out of its cave, it initially thought its delivery had arrived. To its surprise, it saw that boy, and its entire body immediately crouched into the most defensive posture.

Nezha continuously hunted giant beasts for food. While this might not be so obvious to humans, to beasts, it made him akin to someone wrapped head to toe in ominous soul rings—a truly terrifying nemesis.

Watching the Nemean Lion crouch and growl before him, Nezha felt a bit disappointed. Wasn’t this just a slightly oversized lion? To him, it was not even as fierce as Manjusri Bodhisattva’s mount, the Qiu Shou Immortal.

"Heh heh heh, come here, Mimi!"

With a roar, Mimi flung itself at Nezha, its claws as large as two adult hands opening wide. To Mimi, this human was riddled with vulnerabilities!

Before Mimi even got close, a rank stench from its mouth wafted over, making Nezha instinctively clamp one hand over his nose while delivering an uppercut under Mimi’s jaw with the other.

The sudden blow, catching it completely off guard, sent Mimi flying ten meters away, smashing into the wall above the cave entrance. The impact extinguished the flames at the cave’s mouth, and his lair began to collapse entirely.

The lion’s fur may have been impenetrable, but in the end, it was still a living creature. Pain was inevitable. That single uppercut from the human left its entire body aching, as if it might fall to pieces. Could he really fulfill Herard’s mission and kill this human?

A seed of fear began to take root within him, but before it could grow, he heard the human across from him say, "Mimi, are you tired?"

Provocation! This was blatant provocation!

A lion that devoured humans had always been a symbol of terror to mankind. When had it ever been so openly disrespected by a human?

The fury of the beast awakened its primal instincts. Struggling out from the pile of rubble, it hunched low again, seeking a chance to strike its opponent down.

The human in front of it didn’t appear particularly strong, nor did he exude any trace of menace. Yet the lion’s instincts kept screaming that charging forward would lead to death.

Nezha, too, was losing interest in Mimi. It was just another slightly larger and tougher-to-beat lion. Not even half as interesting as his own pet Qiongqi. At least Qiongqi had wings—that was undeniably cool. This oversized cat? Better to deal with it quickly and start planning how to make braised lion’s head meatballs.

With a massive burst of energy from his legs, Nezha closed the distance between himself and the Nemean Lion in an instant, moving faster than the lion could even react. He pressed his palm firmly on the giant lion’s head and slammed it downward with tremendous force.

Boom!

Grab, lift, slam.

Boom!

Grab, lift, slam.

After five rounds of this, fueled by the energy from five dragon fruits, the ground beneath the lion formed a massive crater, and the corners of its enormous mouth oozed blood.

At this moment, the Nemean Lion’s ferocity had completely dissipated. It was on the brink of death. Though its hide was thick, its internal bones, muscles, and organs were not invincible. After this repeated battering, its skull was nearly cracked in half, and its brain was thoroughly scrambled. It was not a god. All it felt now was regret.

You ***, Hera, was I really capable of handling this guy? Why not send me to take out Zeus instead?

In its final moments of reflecting on its life, Mimi suddenly heard the low voice of the demon again.

"How did the dragon fruit taste?"

The lion heaved deep and labored breaths, occasionally coughing up bloody mist. Summoning its last ounce of strength, it turned its head away, silently expressing just one sentiment: I don’t want to look at you. This was the last shred of pride as the son of Demon Ancestor Typhon.

Nezha felt no sympathy for a man-eating beast like this. Seeing it still had the strength to shake its head, he gave it a round of CPR. Unfortunately, not being a veterinarian, he couldn’t save Mimi.

Standing up, he tucked Mimi’s corpse into his sleeve and headed back to Mycenae.

...

Inside the royal palace of Mycenae, a raging bonfire roared. Above the flames sat the scorched and blackened head of a massive beast.

On the other side of the firepit, Nezha and Oulistros were drinking wine and feasting on skewers.

Oulistros kept glancing at the bizarre, charred beast head, struggling to contain his curiosity before eventually exclaiming, "Is this the ’braised lion’s head’ you were talking about? I mean, uh, it doesn’t, uh, really seem... edible."

Nezha reflected on this culinary failure with some regret.

"It’s not my fault. The fire was the problem. How could ordinary flames ever cook the head of a Fierce Beast properly?"

Glancing again at the grim, blackened Mimi’s head, Nezha shook his own with a hint of sorrow. This guy had no tact. Even if it was bad, he shouldn’t have outright said that. Couldn’t he at least throw out something like, ’This lion head isn’t old; it’s just perfectly aged’ or something?

"I’ve got a chef friend. If he were here, it’d definitely turn out better than this."

Whether drunk or simply elated, Oulistros downed a large gulp of wine, then collapsed onto the table in fits of laughter. "Ha-ha-ha, Her—Hercules, ha-ha, so you’re not invincible after all!"

Nezha rolled his eyes. "What did you think I was? Of course I’m not invincible. For one, I can’t have children without a woman."

"Ha-ha-ha, that makes you feel more real to me. Come on, drink up!"

The two drank deep into the night. As for the braised lion head, it never saw completion. Instead, Oulistros decided to hang it above the palace gates, claiming it would scare off other monsters.

Whether or not it scared any monsters was anyone’s guess, but it certainly terrified the citizens of Mycenae.

Late that night, within a palace chamber, as Nezha completed his first trial, he could sense something faintly observing him. The spiritual essence of heaven and earth surged wildly toward him, seeking to solidify into something.

Nezha immediately rejected this, channeling his energy and blood to shatter the Divine Status just as it was about to form. The golden spiritual essence was absorbed into his body, transformed into a valuable nutrient.

Golden-red streaks of light coursed under Nezha’s skin, marking another tremendous leap in his strength.

Nyx wasn’t wrong—completing the destined Twelve Glories was indeed the quickest way to draw the attention of this world’s will. Nezha was now sure that his true form, the Bell, and the Hongmeng Purple Qi he sought were all waiting for him there.

The next day, Nezha received his second mission: slay the Hydra.

As Oulistros conveyed Hera’s orders, he added, "Hercules, I’ve heard that the Hydra’s body can regenerate endlessly and its venom is deadly. Be careful."

Nezha waved dismissively. "Have you ever tried snake soup?"

Hydra, the legendary Nine-Headed Snake, son of Demon Ancestor Typhon and Echidna, known for its limitless regeneration and lethal venom.

Nezha was completely uninterested. In no time, he rushed over and delivered a thorough beating. The Hydra’s fangs didn’t stand a chance against Hercules’s defenses. In just half an hour, the infamously nightmarish beast ended up inside Nezha’s sleeve.

After merely three days, Nezha returned once more to the Mycenaean palace.

"Light the fire!"

Oulistros immediately ordered the servants to light the bonfire and bring out the nation’s largest cauldron to boil water.

With a flick of Nezha’s sleeve, the barely-alive Hydra obediently slumped onto the ground. At its sight, Oulistros and the gathered servants instinctively recoiled in fear.

Nezha stomped twice on the Hydra’s massive body.

"Fresh ingredients make for better eating. Got a knife?"

Not long after, several servants, under Oulistros’s direction, brought out a legendary ancestral divine blade once wielded by the great hero, Perseus, and handed it to Nezha.

Nezha swung it experimentally a few times, finding it adequately sharp. He then inspected the edge closely before giving the Hydra’s body a few hefty slaps to further tenderize it. The Hydra reflexively tensed its body in response to the heavy hits.