Chapter 459: Zilong Sheds His Armor — The Food Realm Opens!
Qi Han was completely unaware of what was happening outside.
At this moment, he was immersed in an unprecedented money-making experience.
So there was actually something in this world that made money even faster than cooking!
Qi Han was deeply shaken by this realization.
The density of spirit beasts in the spirit beast gathering areas of the Sun Moon Continent was far greater than that of Douluo Continent. This was related to the spirit masters of the two continents. On the Sun Moon Continent, spirit masters had taken the path of Spirit Engineers, often relying on relatively aggressive medicinal methods to raise their cultivation. As a result, their physical condition was slightly weaker than spirit masters of the same rank, and the age limit of spirit rings they could absorb was lower. Ironically, this gave high-level spirit beasts on the Sun Moon Continent more room to survive.
Of course, Qi Han didn't know any of this. He only felt that after entering the Jing Yang Mountain Range, he could encounter a spirit beast every few steps. It was practically a paradise for making money.
Most of the spirit beasts here were hundred-year and thousand-year level.
For those around one to two thousand years, Qi Han didn't even bother taking action himself. He let Pururu handle them, occasionally sending Zhui Yun out as well.
The feed Zhui Yun usually ate was carefully formulated by Ru Yi. Although its nutrition couldn't compare to Pururu's cat food, it was far superior to the normal diet of ordinary spirit beasts. Moreover, Qi Han often gave it extra meals. As a result, its strength had increased rapidly, rising from around the thousand-year level to roughly two thousand years now.
Therefore, those lower-age spirit beasts were more than manageable for the two little ones. It was also a good opportunity for them—who had never fought spirit beasts before—to accumulate some combat experience.
With Qi Han watching from the side, there was no risk of anything going wrong.
He had wanted to do this for a long time, and now he finally had the chance.
A true Pokémon-style trainer in the Douluo world.
If he encountered a stronger spirit beast, Qi Han would personally step in, using the opportunity to temper his spirit skills and combat experience.
As for hundred-year spirit beasts, they were neither useful for training nor particularly valuable, so Qi Han simply let them go.
After all, you can't drain the pond to catch all the fish.
If these hundred-year spirit beasts were left alone, in a few years they would grow into another batch of thousand-year "leeks." That was called sustainable development.
By the end of the day, Qi Han had slain over a hundred thousand-year spirit beasts. The various materials he collected were piled into a small hill inside his system storage space, with a total value of twenty to thirty thousand gold coins.
The only regret was that perhaps he hadn't ventured deep enough yet—he hadn't encountered any ten-thousand-year spirit beasts. The drop rate of spirit bones from thousand-year spirit beasts was painfully low; after an entire day, he hadn't obtained a single thousand-year spirit bone.
Otherwise, even just one thousand-year spirit bone could sell for over ten thousand gold coins.
After fighting continuously for a full day, it was impossible for Qi Han's side to remain completely unscathed.
He himself was fine, but Pururu and Zhui Yun, who had done most of the fighting, were exhausted. Their bodies bore numerous wounds—none serious, but they still needed rest.
Seeing that night had fallen, Qi Han directly sent Pururu and Zhui Yun into the system's small world. The small world was rich in life energy; after a night of recovery, their minor injuries would be mostly healed.
As for Qi Han himself, he hadn't prepared any camping gear like tents for staying overnight in the wild, so naturally he wouldn't spend the night inside the Jing Yang Mountain Range either.
An entire night's time—wouldn't sleeping be a waste?
In his twenties, how could he possibly fall asleep at night?
Spending the whole night grinding out a new dish in the training space—that was the proper way.
Yesterday, while still in Shrek City, Qi Han had already completed the training for Peony Fish Fillet. Its training space had since disappeared. Now both training spaces were vacant, and it was time to start a new dish.
At present, Qi Han had only two 4-Star recipes left: Zilong Sheds His Armor and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
After successfully cooking Peony Fish Fillet and personally witnessing the awe-inspiring heavenly phenomenon it triggered, Qi Han's interest in 4-Star recipes had grown without limit. Thus, the moment he stepped into the system space and faced the two floating black recipe scrolls before him, he didn't hesitate much and directly chose Zilong Sheds His Armor.
As for why he chose that one over the other—there wasn't any special reason. Simply first come, first served.
As the 4-Star recipe Zilong Sheds His Armor activated, a beam of white light—identical to the one from Peony Fish Fillet—instantly enveloped Qi Han. But with prior experience, he no longer panicked. Calmly, he allowed himself to be drawn into the Food Realm space. Ru Yi followed closely behind him into the Food Realm as well.
What was that saying again?
A young host must watch under the system's supervision.
…
"Damn it, that hurts like hell."
The moment his consciousness sank into the body of the recipe's creator, an intense, full-body ache surged through Qi Han.
It felt as if the owner of this body was being beaten…
Oh. He really was being beaten.
Well, that explains it.
Qi Han's expression instantly turned strange.
The previous time he entered a body, that person had been unconscious, with a beautiful girl gently feeding him porridge at his bedside. Compared to that, arriving this time only to immediately get beaten up—the contrast was just too extreme.
He could even hear Ru Yi stifling laughter nearby.
This body was conscious. Its owner had his eyes tightly shut, arms wrapped around his head, while several people surrounded him, kicking and punching. From the immature yet arrogant curses and mocking jeers coming from around him, it was clear that the attackers were a group of not-yet-grown youths.
So this body was still that of a teenager?
While pondering this, Qi Han sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
I understand the logic, but why do I have to feel the beating too?
After entering the body, Qi Han shared all of its sensory perceptions. That meant he experienced every bit of pain the body felt. And this was an ordinary, even somewhat skinny body, which only made the pain more pronounced.
Learning a dish requires suffering like this too?
Qi Han couldn't help but complain inwardly.
While baring his teeth from the pain of injuries that didn't even belong to his own body, he quietly listened to the youths' insults, piecing together the information he needed. Very quickly, he gained a basic understanding of the body he currently inhabited.
The body's owner was named Song Que, the son of a cook, of lowly status.
His father worked as a chef for a wealthy household—the family's only source of income.
This wasn't the first time Song Que had been beaten by other youths. Every ten days or half a month, the local boys would find some trivial excuse to gang up on him.
Part of the reason lay in his timid and cowardly personality, but the greater reason was that Song Que was an outsider.
His family had originally been from the Xiang-Chu region. Due to war, they were forced to flee their homeland and eventually settled in Changshan of Jizhou.
Because his Xiang-Chu accent was difficult to change and sounded completely different from the local dialect, this already thin and timid boy naturally became the punching bag of the village youths.
Feeling a trace of sympathy for the boy's miserable background, Qi Han couldn't help but grow pessimistic about his own future.
If this keeps up, does that mean I'll have to get beaten every ten days or so too?
But…
Changshan… why does that sound so familiar?
Qi Han frowned thoughtfully, as if recalling something. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Stop!"
A loud shout rang out. The fists and kicks raining down on Song Que's body instantly ceased. Faint cries of "Ow!" could even be heard.
Song Que's body trembled slightly as he slowly raised his head. Through tear-blurred vision, he saw a sturdy, tiger-headed-looking youth wielding a long wooden staff, thrashing the group of delinquent boys without mercy.
"Ha… ha!"
Only after the troublemakers fled wailing and clutching themselves did the somewhat brash youth rest the wooden staff on his shoulder and swagger over to Song Que, grinning.
"You're really useless. Getting bullied by a few idiots like that and not even fighting back."
"I…" Song Que felt ashamed and humiliated. He spoke softly, "I can't beat them."
"Can't beat them?" The youth chuckled. "That's easy to fix."
"My name is Zhao Yun. Want to learn how to fight from me?"
<+>
if you want to see more chapters of this story and don't mind playing $5 per month to see my latest update, please go to my Patreon[1]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed[2]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 474: A Terrifying Truth[3]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444
[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444