The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 432: Tea King Gu

As more and more people gathered around the square, the tea competition finally began.

Cha Shan, who was responsible for hosting the event, stepped onto the square and stood in front of a table filled with treasures. He raised his voice and said, “I am Cha Shan, the Deputy City Lord of this city. It is an honor that everyone has taken time out of their busy schedules to participate in this Tea-tasting Gathering hosted by our city.”

“Many of you are already familiar with the rules of this round, but since we have new faces from distant regions, I will repeat them once again.”

“The rules for this round are simple. Everyone must present their best tea and hand it over to the judges for evaluation.”

“Those whose tea meets the quality standards will qualify for the upcoming Tea Sacrificial Ceremony.”

“The one with the best tea will have the honor of receiving various rewards from our city.”

“I’m sure you have already seen the treasures on this table. The higher your ranking, the sooner you get to choose. Those who rank lower will have to settle for what’s left. So, I strongly advise you not to hold back.”

Cha Shan smiled, stepped aside, and revealed the treasures on the table for all to see.

The sight of these treasures made many in the crowd breathe heavily, their eyes burning with desire.

Someone in the crowd immediately asked, “How will the tea be evaluated? Everyone has different tastes, and preferences vary widely. If there is only one judge, even if they are not bribed, it would be difficult to ensure fairness.”

“But if we use multiple judges and take an average score, given how rare peerless teas are in this world, how could every judge get a taste?”

As soon as these words were spoken, many people nodded in agreement, showing approval.

Many of them had similar concerns. Peerless tea was extremely rare. If there were too many judges, and each one received a free sample, wouldn’t the tea suppliers suffer huge losses?

Even if they secured a high ranking, the value of the rewards might not even compare to the cost of the tea the judges consumed—it would be a massive loss.

Yet, if there was only a single judge, ensuring absolute fairness would be difficult, leaving everyone uneasy.

Cha Shan observed their reactions, then chuckled and said, “Everyone, rest assured. If you can think of this issue, how could we not have considered it as well?”

“Humans have large appetites, and peerless tea must not be recklessly consumed by them. However, Gu insects are different. They are small in size, and just a few drops are enough for them to judge the quality of a tea.”

After speaking, Cha Shan smiled and took out a strange-looking green Gu insect from his insect bag, placing it in the palm of his hand.

As soon as this Gu appeared, its beady eyes darted around, and its nose twitched constantly, as if it had caught the scent of fine tea. Its eyes glowed with excitement, scanning the crowd.

Cha Shan quickly pressed down on the eager Gu insect, preventing it from flying off in search of tea. He smiled at the audience below and said, “This is the judge for the competition, and the only judge.”

“This Gu is called the Tea King Gu, a species of Gu that loves drinking tea.”

“To strengthen the Tea King Gu, one must collect and feed it with all kinds of tea from across the world. The higher the quality and the more varieties it consumes, the stronger it becomes.”

“No human understands tea better than the Tea King Gu. With its abilities, I believe it is more than capable of judging this competition while ensuring absolute fairness and impartiality.”

The appearance of the Tea King Gu caused many people to look at it with fiery gazes, filled with envy and desire.

Clearly, the Tea King Gu was an extremely powerful and rare Gu species, precious enough to stir greed in anyone's heart. Otherwise, the crowd wouldn’t have shown such expressions.

Even Long Xuan observed the Tea King Gu with curiosity, wondering to himself—if this Tea King Gu were to collect and consume every variety of tea in the world, just how powerful would it become?

It was evident that the audience trusted the Tea King Gu as a judge. Not a single person raised an objection.

Seeing the silent crowd, Cha Shan nodded in satisfaction and smiled. “Good. It seems that everyone agrees.”

“In that case, I now officially announce that the Tea King Gu will serve as the judge for the tea competition.”

“The competition now begins. Please form a line and present your tea.”

A smile played on Cha Shan’s lips. To refine the Tea King Gu, he needed to collect all the tea varieties in the world.

This competition provided the perfect opportunity. His Tea King Gu could freely sample the world’s finest teas without cost. Many of the rare teas he had yet to acquire would now be offered voluntarily. How could he not be pleased?

As soon as his words fell, someone immediately rushed forward with a pot of tea, grinning confidently. “Judge mine first! My Green Tea may not be good enough to enter the top hundred, but qualifying for the Tea Sacrificial Ceremony shouldn’t be a problem.”

In his mind, going first was an advantage. He believed that as the competition progressed, the Tea King Gu would become full and fatigued, which would put later participants at a disadvantage.

With this thought, he confidently stepped forward as the first competitor.

The Tea King Gu looked at him arrogantly, opened its mouth, and gently inhaled. Instantly, three drops of tea from his cup flew into its mouth with precise accuracy.

However, the moment the three drops entered its mouth, the Tea King Gu immediately opened its jaws wide.

“Peh! Peh! Peh!”

The tea was spat onto the ground, as if it had just tasted something utterly disgusting. It showed an expression of extreme disdain, as though it had drunk the most unpalatable liquid imaginable.

"You—!"

The man's face darkened instantly. The tea he had carefully brewed was now spat onto the ground by a mere Gu insect. This was an outright insult! 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Just how terrible was his tea, for it to be rejected so openly?

“This is outrageous! Does this Gu insect even know what it's drinking?”

“This is the renowned Green Tea! A peak-grade tea! And you actually spat it out on the ground? Such wasteful arrogance!”

The man angrily pointed at the Tea King Gu, his face turning uglier by the second.

Cha Shan held the Tea King Gu in his palm, looked at him expressionlessly, and said, “The Tea King Gu is not satisfied with your tea. It says drinking your tea is like drinking horse piss. You are disqualified. Leave.”

"You—!" The man trembled in fury, his outstretched finger shaking from rage.

Below, a wave of light laughter spread.

“Heh! Old Fang, just how bad is your tea? Even a Gu insect refuses to drink it, and it even compared it to horse piss! Hahaha…” someone immediately mocked from the crowd.

However, many others had solemn expressions.

Green Tea was a peak-grade tea. Tea quality had always been judged based on taste, and for it to be classified as peak-grade meant that its flavor should have been excellent.

Yet, this Tea King Gu spat it out the moment it took a sip. Just how picky was this Gu insect? It actually looked down on the famed Green Tea? How arrogant!

Faced with such a hypercritical judge, many people started to look uneasy.

Originally, some had thought they stood no chance of ranking in the top hundred, so they had planned to present any random tea just to pass the selection and gain entry to the River God's Secret Realm.

But now, it was clear that this judge had an extremely refined palate. Not just any tea would meet its standards. If they wanted to qualify for the Tea Festival, they would have to bring out their very best tea.

At this moment, many people showed expressions of distress, feeling the pain of parting with their prized tea.