The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 272 An Unexpected Event Within Reason
"Qin Lang! Over here!"

At the port where they disembarked, Zhao Qian waved to Qin Lang, "We've all gotten off, why were you so slow?"

"Sorry, sorry." Qin Lang scratched his head helplessly, "Egg Baby broke through to the second star just now, so it took a little time."

"Breaking through to two stars?!" Zhao Qian was stunned for a moment, then took out her phone and scanned Danbao. After seeing the scan results, she clicked her tongue and said, "You're leveling up faster than me."

"Looks like I'll have to buy a few Clear Star Stones to speed up Bubu and Agate's upgrades."

“It is not advisable for a Food Spirit to absorb multiple Clear Star Stones in a short period of time.” Fatima pushed up her glasses and spoke calmly. “The Feli region has conducted research on this. The highest frequency at which a single Food Spirit can absorb a Clear Star Stone is one every half month.”

"If it exceeds this limit, it may affect the future potential of the food spirit."

"There's actually such a saying?"

Zhao Qian was somewhat surprised. She had never heard of, and had even seen, many Spirit Chefs use Clear Star Stones to upgrade their equipment.

“The technological level of the Feli region is higher than that of the Dongyun region, so naturally there is more research on food spirits,” Fatima said calmly. “If I have the time, I don’t mind sharing some of the research results from Feli with you.”

"But for now, let's go to the ancient ruins first."

She had come all the way from the Feli region to study the Silver Oriole, and now that the ruins were so close, one can imagine how eager she was.

"Okay." Qin Lang nodded, looked at everyone, and suddenly noticed that one person was missing. "Isn't Bai Qi going?"

“She’s just an ordinary person,” Fatima said calmly. “The ruins of legendary beings may hold unknown risks, so I don’t agree to her going.”

"The two of them had already had a fight before you arrived, and Bai Qi left in a huff," Cao Dongdong explained, shrugging.

Qin Lang nodded knowingly.

He wasn't very familiar with Bai Qi and Fatima, so he naturally wouldn't comment too much on their affairs at the moment. Besides, he agreed with Fatima's statement.

However, Zuo Ge gleaned a different information from Fatima's words: "You're actually a Spirit Chef?"

Is that surprising?

Fatima glanced at Zog, "The process of researching legendary creatures is fraught with danger. It's more surprising that you're not a spirit enthusiast."

“If it weren’t for your status as a scholar of legends, I might have advised you not to enter the ancient ruins.”

"Haha..." Zuo Ge scratched his head awkwardly.

"It's alright, I'll protect you!" Cao Dongdong patted Zuo Ge on the shoulder, coming to his rescue.

"Let's go." Without lingering on the matter, Fatima took out a map of the fish's mouth.

"I have roughly located the ruins."

"It's only about three kilometers away from us."

Qin Lang and the others nodded and set off without lingering, following Fatima's guidance.

Soon, they passed through the bustling port and headed straight for an undeveloped, barren mountain, where they stopped halfway up the mountain.

"The ruins are here?" Zoge looked at the desolate surroundings and couldn't help but become curious.

“This is the approximate location of the entrance,” Fatima said calmly, taking out a pen-sized instrument from her backpack and inserting its tip into the ground.

"Om-"

A low hum sounded, the instrument began to vibrate slightly, and a large number of curves appeared on the monitor that Fatima was holding in her other hand.

After taking a quick look around, Fatima moved a dozen meters to the right, then pointed to the flat ground in front of her, "The entrance is below."

"Make way, I'll handle this!" Cao Dongdong said excitedly. "I'll let you all see the combat skills that Tuantuan has just learned."

"Tuantuan, use Earthshattering Strike!"

"Fira!" Tuan Tuan responded, her body soaring high into the air before crashing down like a meteorite, striking the spot Fatima had pointed to.

"boom--"

With a low, booming sound, the once flat ground cracked open instantly, revealing only a thin layer of rock beneath the thin layer of soil.

Beneath the rocks, a passage stretched into the darkness.

"There really is an entrance." Zhao Qian exclaimed in surprise. "If it weren't for Fatima's instruments, I wouldn't have been able to find it even if I walked right up there."

Qin Lang and Zuo Ge nodded in deep agreement.

I must say, bringing Fatima along on this trip was absolutely worth it.

"Let's go." Fatima took a flashlight out of her backpack and was the first to enter the passage, followed closely by Qin Lang and the others.

As they continued downwards, the light seemed to recede further and further away, leaving only pitch-black rock walls leading to an unknown destination.

"It looks a lot like the underground palace of the Silver Deer back then," Zhao Qian couldn't help but exclaim softly. "They're both underground structures like this."

“Most of the ancient ruins were built on the ground during the legendary period,” Fatima said calmly. “But over the long years of geological changes, they were gradually buried underground.”

"Buried along with it was that legendary era."

At this point, Fatima paused, "It sounds like you've seen legendary creatures?"

"Yes."

Mentioning this, Zog perked up and vividly recounted his encounter with the Silver Deer. He then looked at Fatima expectantly, trying to see a hint of envy on his fellow traveler's face.

“Oh.” Fatima nodded, expressionless.

Zuo Ge's expression immediately fell.

Can't this guy even give a little response?!
Seeing Zuo Ge's embarrassed expression, Qin Lang and the other two couldn't help but chuckle.

At that moment, Fatima suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"arrive."

Under the beam of the flashlight, the scene at the end of the underground rock passage came into view: an old metal door stood tightly closed, as if sealing away a forgotten past.

"This is..." Zhao Qian suddenly exclaimed, turning sharply to look at Qin Lang.

Isn't this the painting that Qin Lang took out earlier?

If she remembered correctly, wasn't this the remains of the Leaping Fish?

Qin Lang and Zuo Ge exchanged glances, revealing expressions of "I knew it."

Prior to this, they had not thought there was any connection between the Silver Oriole and the Leaping Fish.

But after Fatima pinpointed the location of the Azure Silver Oriole ruins to be near the Fish Mouth Lake, everything seemed to change.

It's impossible that two legendary creatures from ancient ruins located so close together could have no connection whatsoever.

Then, recalling the story of the bird and the leaping fish that Zuo Ge mentioned before, it seems that everything can be connected to this.

And now, with the appearance of this door, everything has been proven true.

The legendary bird that appears in the legend of the leaping fish is the Silver Oriole.

Qin Lang stepped forward and, with Danbao's help, lit the torches on both sides of the gate. A soft "whoosh" of pages turning echoed in his mind.

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(End of this chapter)