Apollo returned to his room and sat on the chair he had placed on the viewing deck. Leaning back to get comfortable, he watched the ongoing battles.
He saw Martial Students using various techniques, some of which were strange, while others were straightforward but incredibly powerful—stronger even than his Fire Blast.
Thinking about his Fire Blast, he couldn't help but admire its effects. His opponent had mentioned that it was already at the Intermediate stage, and as Apollo recalled the technique, he realized the Fire Shrine student was right. But Apollo hadn't realized he had achieved that stage, which left him confused.
All he had done was increase the output by gathering more Qi from the air, compressing it while maintaining the Fire Blast's visual effects; otherwise, the fireball would have shrunk. But it seemed that what he did was essentially the technique's intermediate stage. It was surprising because he didn't rely on the technique in his mind—instead, he just followed his instincts.
"This Fire Blast is very flexible," Apollo muttered. "Is it because it's a common technique? That must be the case."
Although he wasn't sure, it felt right when he thought about it. Shaking his head, he continued to watch, and after a while, one of the stages caught his attention.
It was a fight between a mysterious person and a student with bulging muscles. Their fists collided, producing a sound that made the audience shout in excitement. With flowers flying around them, the visual effects were so good that Apollo sat up straight to watch the fight more intently.
Although the previous battles he had watched were flashy, this one was different. It offered him more detailed entertainment compared to battles filled with explosions, which made it hard to follow the participants' movements.
The fight only lasted 30 to 40 seconds before it ended with the muscle-bound student vomiting blood, flying into the air, and landing outside the stage. Another burst of excitement erupted from the audience.
"That was a good fight," Apollo smiled. "And it seems like there are only two or three more rooms left before the first round ends."
An hour or so later, the first round came to an end, and the second one started immediately. The white-robed person returned, holding a basket with papers in it.
Just like before, the winners of each room took a paper with their number written on it. Some of them might draw a paper without a number, instead finding the word 'Pass' written on it, though this only applied to rooms with an odd number of participants.
Apollo stared at his number, which was 1, before looking around. Unlike before, they didn't openly challenge their opponents. He then returned to his seat and waited. After a break of about 10 minutes, the exam continued.
Back in Klown City, on the street where Filly's Restaurant was located, patrons filled the inside, with some lining up outside.
"Fried chicken coming right up!" Ned shouted, holding plates piled with fried chicken. After placing them on customers' tables, he rushed back to the kitchen to get more orders.
"Where's the rest of the fried chicken?" Ned asked, noticing that there were only a few pieces left on the tray.
"Can't you see I'm still cooking them?" Temor replied. He was constantly moving, his hands multitasking as he fried the chicken while also cooking other meals at the same time. Fire flickered around him as he did his best to cook as fast as he could.
"Oh, my bad," Ned said, grabbing the other dishes. "I'll serve the other meals then."
"Go tell them the fried chicken will be ready in five more minutes," Temor instructed.
"Alright!" Ned replied before leaving the kitchen, while the other waiters came in to pick up some plates.
Temor explained to them that he needed more time to cook more fried chicken. He never would have expected that after his boss left for the Advancement Examination, the number of patrons would suddenly increase—even more than before, when there wasn't a Skyline branch yet.
And the Examination hasn't even ended yet!
Though many people were at the venue, even more had decided to stay in the city and sightsee. Some had come from other cities and provinces.
They expected an increase in diners, but Temor hadn't anticipated this much! This was the first time he had to cook so many dishes since he became a chef!
However, this was good for the restaurant. The boss would definitely be happy. Temor could also see that people were enjoying their food. Heck, he could even hear exclamations from diners praising how good the food was. As the chef responsible for all this, he couldn't help but feel proud.
On the first day, most customers ordered the upgraded version of meat cooked with coconut oil. On the second day, he cooked mostly scrambled eggs. But once they discovered the fried chicken, Temor's hands were constantly busy.
This forced him to expand his energy to use the Qi in the surroundings, and there were times when he was on the verge of vomiting and passing out. But he held on, for the sake of the restaurant and his loyalty to his boss.
He cooked meat from a Winged Cow, Thunder Goat, and other Monster creatures using coconut oil, along with the fried chicken.
The smell wafted out from the kitchen, causing some patrons to gulp unknowingly.
The door opened as one of the customers waiting in line finally entered the restaurant. He looked around, and seeing the satisfied faces of the diners, a surprised expression appeared on his face.
"What's happening?" Alek, the assistant of Manager Fu, muttered. He stared at the food on the tables. The meat glistened in a bright red color, and he could even see how tender it was. At the same time, the smell made him gulp.
He looked around more and saw a golden-yellow dish on a plate, along with some bread and milk. They all glistened with a substance he couldn't quite identify, but it made the visuals more appetizing.
Then his eyes landed on a golden-brown food held by a customer. The moment the customer bit into it, a crunching sound reached Alek's ears, making him gulp unknowingly.
"This… I'm hungry." Alek touched his stomach before he found an empty table.