Chapter 456: Qi Han Doesn't Play by the Rules
"Phew~"
With a single step out of the teleportation portal, the surrounding scenery had completely changed.
At this moment, Qi Han stood within a somewhat desolate and tranquil valley. Aside from him, there was not a trace of human presence in sight.
"Ru Yi, bring up the map."
Having arrived at the Sun Moon Continent, determining his current location was naturally the most important task.
As soon as his words fell, an extremely detailed high-definition map encompassing the entire Sun Moon Continent appeared before his eyes. The map clearly marked his current position as well as the location of Mingdu City.
The distance between the two was not far, at Zhui Yun's speed, it would take at most an hour to reach.
"So, are you going to Mingdu City to set up a barbecue stall?" Ru Yi's voice echoed in Qi Han's mind, filled with anticipation.
"Heh!" Qi Han let out a dismissive laugh. His gaze slowly shifted away from Mingdu City and began searching the surrounding areas near his current position.
Soon, his eyes locked onto a particular spot on the map. It was a peculiar region shaped like a spider—the central mountain range formed the spider's body, while eight branching ridges extended outward like its legs.
That place was known as the Jing Yang Mountain Range, a gathering area for Spirit Beasts—and currently the nearest Spirit Beast habitat to him.
Spirit Masters generally possessed far more wealth than ordinary people. Although a small portion obtained their wealth through unlawful means such as plunder, most Spirit Masters accumulated riches through hunting Spirit Beasts.
Certain parts of Spirit Beasts could be used for forging, brewing medicinal concoctions, refining pills, and other purposes. And if a Spirit Beast happened to produce a spirit bone, its value would be extraordinarily high.
This was the primary source of wealth for many Spirit Masters.
Trying to earn the hundreds of thousands of gold coins needed to purchase a shop simply by running a street stall—how difficult would that be?
But with a bit of luck, obtaining a ten-thousand-year spirit bone could easily sell for over a hundred thousand gold coins.
Previously, during the time he managed his restaurant, Qi Han had cooked hundreds of thousands of Spirit Beasts, yet he had never once encountered a spirit bone. Of course, this wasn't because the drop rate was truly that low. Rather, the manifestation of Spirit Rings and spirit bones would affect the purity and essence of the ingredients themselves. Under Ru Yi's control, cooking ingredients could not yield Spirit Rings or spirit bones.
If not for that restriction, Qi Han would have already made a fortune just from the spirit bones produced while cooking so many Spirit Beasts.
"Ru Yi, didn't expect this, did you?" Qi Han said smugly in his mind as he mounted Zhui Yun and guided him toward the Jing Yang Mountain Range.
"Hmph!" Ru Yi rolled her eyes, clearly dissatisfied with Qi Han's refusal to follow the expected plan.
However, Side Quest 10 only required Qi Han to purchase a shop. It did not specify the source of the funds. Therefore, she had no grounds to object to his choice.
And Qi Han's decision wasn't motivated solely by the fact that hunting Spirit Beasts would earn money faster.
His underwater battle with the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel had seemed courageous and reckless, but as Ru Yi later analyzed, he still lacked sufficient combat experience. Otherwise, he never would have ended up falling into the sea and wrestling an eel underwater.
This trip to the Jing Yang Mountain Range wasn't just about making money, it was also about gaining real combat experience.
Although he had previously undergone a brief period of training in the Hellfire Corridor, that experience had been far too simple to allow him to rapidly accumulate real combat experience. Thus, this trip to the Jing Yang Mountain Range—hunting Spirit Beasts to obtain materials and possibly spirit bones—was destined to be a grueling trial for him.
At the same time, he also needed to readapt to his Spirit Rings and spirit skills.
When he had fought the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel before, Qi Han's Spirit Rings had been black-purple-purple-purple—four in total. Only the first Spirit Ring had reached the ten-thousand-year level, while the remaining three were merely thousand-year rings.
But now, both the quantity and the quality of his Spirit Rings had undergone a significant transformation.
He quietly summoned his Martial Spirit into his palm. Five deep, profound ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings slowly emerged, their oppressive aura instantly radiating outward. The intimidating presence of five ten-thousand-year rings even made Zhui Yun beneath him shift uneasily.
After the carving technique bound to his second Spirit Ring reached the Perfect level, that ring naturally advanced to the ten-thousand-year tier as well. As for the latter three rings reaching ten-thousand-year level—that was thanks to the Peony Fish Fillet.
Both heat control and ingredient deconstruction were key aspects of preparing the Peony Fish Fillet. As Qi Han repeatedly practiced the dish, his proficiency in these two techniques steadily improved. At the very moment he successfully completed the dish, both techniques underwent a qualitative leap, advancing simultaneously to the Perfect level—thereby elevating his third and fourth Spirit Rings to ten-thousand-year rings.
As for his fifth spirit skill, which was bound to the thickening and saucing technique, it had already been on the verge of the Perfect level the moment he obtained it. After a hundred days of daily cooking and restaurant management, it accumulated substantial refinement. Building upon that foundation—and spurred by the breakthroughs of the other two techniques—it too advanced into the Perfect level.
Now, all five of his Spirit Rings were at the ten-thousand-year level. Simply activating them felt far more imposing than before.
Although this was still a tiny bit short of the legendary "chef showing off with nine hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings" fantasy scene he had once imagined, Qi Han was more than satisfied with his current progress.
The advancement of his Spirit Rings had also elevated the quality of his spirit skills. The effects of his latter four spirit skills had all undergone noticeable enhancements, making them stronger than before. This was something he needed to adapt to as soon as possible.
So heading to the Spirit Beast gathering ground known as the Jing Yang Mountain Range to hunt Spirit Beasts could be considered killing three birds with one stone for Qi Han.
Come to think of it… why did the Jing Yang Mountain Range sound so familiar?
Qi Han pondered for a moment before suddenly recalling.
Wasn't this the very place where Huo Yuhao killed the Elemental Silver Wolf?
If he remembered correctly, that region contained quite a number of ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts, but there were no traces of hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts. Relatively speaking, the danger level wasn't too high.
"Ru Yi, can you give me a Spirit Beast distribution map of the Jing Yang Mountain Range as well?"
"Price: ten gold coins—Sun Moon Empire currency. Thank you for your patronage."
"Huh?" Qi Han's expression twitched slightly. "You've changed! You used to give me Spirit Beast distribution maps for free!"
"That was because they were necessary for Ingredient Acquisition missions—mission items can naturally be provided free of charge," Ru Yi replied with a snort. "This time there's no Ingredient Acquisition mission. Of course I'm charging."
"Then why are you charging Sun Moon gold coins?" Qi Han protested indignantly. "Weren't those ten coins supposed to be friendly support? And now you're taking them back?"
"What's wrong with that? They were to support your street stall business!" Ru Yi huffed. "But now you're going to hunt Spirit Beasts. Making money should be easy for you. I suppose you don't need that friendly support anymore."
"Actually… I still think I kind of do…"
"No way!"
"…Fine." With a resigned sigh, Qi Han reluctantly took out the ten gold coins Ru Yi had given him.
The standard gold coins from the Douluo Continent bore the map of the entire continent and intricate patterns on the reverse side. Meanwhile, the gold coins of the Sun Moon Empire had a particularly striking emblem engraved on the back.
According to Ru Yi, that emblem was the national crest of the Sun Moon Empire.
As the ten coins disappeared, a new light screen appeared before Qi Han's eyes—this time displaying a detailed map of Spirit Beast distribution within the Jing Yang Mountain Range.
With this map, the safety of his upcoming training within the mountain range would be significantly improved.
Looking at the spider-shaped mountain range drawing ever closer in the distance, a trace of eager anticipation gleamed in his eyes.
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