Chapter 367: A Brilliant Plan
"You're sure there's no problem?"
It wasn't until Zhou Long cheerfully returned to his seat and continued enjoying his meal that Qi Poxiao finally spoke.
"Absolutely. I know the Mysterious Heaven Skill better than anyone—I couldn't be mistaken," Tang Qianqiu nodded. "That disciple's spirit power foundation is even deeper now. If he uses Dinghu Shangsu to break through each level before reaching the seventh ring, it might even increase his chances of breaking through to the ninth ring in the future."
"In that case, I'll need to call a Sea God Pavilion meeting," Qi Poxiao said with a solemn look. "If possible, we should have all eligible students in the inner academy use Dinghu Shangsu for their breakthroughs."
"But not every student can afford it. Some come from poor families," Tang Qianqiu objected as he casually picked up a bite of Heart's Bloom Delight with his chopsticks and nodded in satisfaction.
"No problem," Qi Poxiao smiled. "The inner academy students already receive a lot of cultivation resources. We can reduce some of those and increase their allowance of Gold Coins to encourage them to dine at Han Shi. The resources we'd otherwise allocate don't boost their cultivation nearly as effectively as Dinghu Shangsu. I'm sure they won't mind. Plus, the Sea God Pavilion can redirect those resources elsewhere. It's a win-win."
"You really do know how to make a deal," Tang Qianqiu was momentarily speechless.
Giving spirit masters money instead of resources?
In most places, you'd be ridiculed for such a move.
After all, money normally doesn't help with cultivation—rare and precious resources do.
But in Shrek City, thanks to Han Shi, Gold Coins had somehow become more valuable than traditional heavenly ingredients.
Well then… the Tang Sect's Shrek City branch might as well adopt the same approach.
After all, if the Tang Sect lacked anything, it certainly wasn't money.
...
Outside the restaurant, Yun Qing had been waiting for about twenty minutes. Soon, some of the first group of diners—those who ate quickly—began leaving Han Shi.
"Finally, it's time for me to try it myself." Yun Qing was a little excited.
Even while waiting outside, he could already smell the rich, blended aroma of various delicious dishes. His appetite had long been stirred. Now, under Fu Ya's guidance, he quickly found a seat and looked around eagerly.
The dining area was simple yet elegant, giving Yun Qing a sense of peace and comfort.
It felt… like home.
Just the never-before-seen style of the decor gave Yun Qing a strong impression of this place called Han Shi.
He soon picked up a menu and began flipping through it.
The dishes were expensive, but Yun Qing wasn't surprised.
Having stayed in Shrek City for a while now, he had long heard about the prices at Han Shi. In fact, he could even name a few of the dishes just from memory.
Since it was his first time dining here, he wasn't like the regular patrons who rushed to try newly released items.
Every dish on the menu was new to him.
As for what to eat today—he had already decided in advance.
His pick? The Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish, winner of the recent food festival.
"I'll have the Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish. And also one order of egg—huh? Wait a second."
He glanced at the staples section of the menu and looked surprised.
"I thought Han Shi didn't serve plain rice—only Egg Fried Rice?"
"Sir, rice was only just added to the menu today," Fu Ya explained with a gentle smile.
"I see..." Yun Qing nodded, then frowned slightly.
He knew that Egg Fried Rice cost five Gold Coins per serving. Reportedly, it was made using eggs from a thousand-year Five-Colored Brocade Chicken and cooked rice, using a technique called stir-frying.
Considering the fact that the eggs came from a thousand-year-old spirit beast, five Gold Coins for the Egg Fried Rice actually didn't seem expensive.
But plain white rice… what reason could there be to price that at one Gold Coin?
At many other restaurants, white rice was free and could even be self-served.
"I'll have a serving of Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish, and… a bowl of plain rice," Yun Qing decided quickly.
He wasn't worried about being ripped off. After all, it was just one Gold Coin. That meant little to him.
He was simply curious—what kind of plain rice could be worth that price?
"Of course, sir. Please wait a moment," Fu Ya nodded. Then she walked toward a figure who had just taken a seat nearby. A bright smile formed on her face. "Senior Sister!"
"Mm." Yue Lengxin gave a small nod, still focused on the menu in her hands. Her gaze lingered on the special effect description for the Dinghu Shangsu for quite a while before she turned to Fu Ya and said, "I'll have one Dinghu Shangsu, one Golden Dragon Spine, and one Dragon Serpent Soup."
"Alright." Fu Ya noted down her order, then gently reminded her, "Senior Sister, the Dinghu Shangsu won't have any effect on you."
"I know." Yue Lengxin smiled. "But since it's a new dish, I still want to try how it tastes."
"Got it," Fu Ya jotted it down and winked at her. "The boss will bring it to you himself later."
"You little rascal!" Yue Lengxin shot Fu Ya a playful glare, but her face turned inexplicably warm.
Fu Ya continued taking orders from other guests, while Yue Lengxin rested her chin on her hand, gazing absentmindedly toward the busy figure in the kitchen.
She hadn't seen that guy in twenty days. She had no idea what he had been up to.
'Ah! Yue Lengxin, what are you even thinking?'
'It's not like you care what he's been doing…'
She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, momentarily dazed.
She had only just returned from leading several junior students from Shrek's inner academy on a mission to acquire spirit rings.
Strictly speaking, her leadership on that trip had a lot to do with Qi Han taking time off.
For Shrek inner academy students, obtaining spirit rings was a major event—one of the highest priorities. And because of how deeply they understood their own martial spirits and spirit skills, they had extremely high standards for the spirit rings they chose.
That made it difficult to find suitable spirit beasts.
What's more, inner academy students typically sought ten-thousand-year spirit rings, and the regions of the Star Dou Forest that housed such beasts were extremely dangerous. Entering alone, obtaining a spirit ring, and leaving safely was nearly impossible.
Thus, a long-standing tradition was formed: they would go in groups to hunt spirit beasts and help each other obtain suitable spirit rings.
With teammates supporting each other, the safety of these forest expeditions improved significantly.
As a result, inner academy students usually wouldn't rush to get their rings once they reached the required spirit power level. Instead, they would wait until enough students—five or more—needed rings before organizing a group outing.
During this waiting period, students didn't stop cultivating. While they couldn't break through levels without the spirit ring, the spirit power they built up could later feed back into their strength once the ring was obtained.
This group-hunting method not only fostered camaraderie among the inner academy students, but also made the spirit ring acquisition process much safer. The Sea God Pavilion encouraged this tradition and would always assign a powerful spirit master—one with eight or nine rings—to lead the team and guard against accidents.
The reason this latest expedition was connected to Qi Han was because, even before the food festival, five students had already been ready to depart for spirit rings.
But the release of new dishes at Han Shi during the food festival had completely captivated them, delaying the mission by several days. Then, because one more student was nearing a breakthrough, they waited a little longer.
It wasn't until Han Shi went on break that they finally set out.
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