A Bite of Douluo Continent

Chapter 257 Ji Yunruo's Promotion

Seeing that Ying Shuangshuang was only in a daze and not in much pain, Fuya and the other two women exchanged glances before slowly sitting back down to continue eating their lunch. They would occasionally glance at Ying Shuangshuang with concern to see if there were any new changes in her.

Ying Shuangshuang's change did not last long.

After about ten minutes, the dragon scales on her body, which had turned from fiery red to golden red, slowly faded, and the abnormal redness on her body also disappeared, revealing her fair skin.

The surrounding temperature gradually decreased, but quickly returned to normal under the influence of Fuya's ice-attribute soul power.

"Hmm..." Ying Shuangshuang seemed to wake up from a dream, murmured softly, stretched and sat up straight.

"Shuangshuang, how are you feeling?" Fuya had finished her lunch and saw that Ying Shuangshuang seemed to have recovered, so she hurriedly asked.

"I feel..." Ying Shuangshuang muttered to herself as she felt the changes in her body. Suddenly, her expression froze.

"I think I'm... level 40?"

"Huh?" Fuya's eyes widened.

Thanks to the sumptuous meals she enjoyed every day during the Cold Food Festival, Ying Shuangshuang had just broken through to level 39 in soul power a few days ago.

Logically speaking, it should take at least a few months to break through to level 40. The fact that it broke through so quickly is probably closely related to the strange change that just happened.

“Moreover, my martial soul seems to be a little different now.” As she spoke, Ying Shuangshuang once again activated her martial soul.

The dragon's oval-shaped scales have a smooth and warm texture, as if they have been glazed. The color of the scales has also changed from fiery red to golden red.

With the martial spirit possessing her, Ying Shuangshuang immediately felt the changes within herself.

The surrounding fire elements seemed to resonate with her, allowing her to more easily mobilize the power of the fire elements to unleash her soul skills.

Her martial soul's quality was enhanced by the jade dragon tendon, her fire dragon bloodline was purified, and she became more compatible with the fire element between heaven and earth.

After a brief moment of sensing, Ying Shuangshuang dispelled her martial spirit possession, unable to conceal the joy on her face.

"Fuya, once I absorb my fourth spirit ring, I'll soon catch up to your strength!"

The red-haired girl's eyes were filled with burning fighting spirit.

“Okay, but…” Fuya said with a smile in her eyes, “you have to finish your work lunch first.”

That's right.

Ying Shuangshuang then came to her senses and looked at her unfinished work lunch in front of her.

While enjoying her Wensi Tofu, Ying Shuangshuang suddenly remembered something, "Fuya, has any of you three comprehended the Refining Power Like Silk?"

She was so focused on her own changes that she forgot about this.

Ying Shuangshuang has already grasped the essence once, and no matter how much she eats, she can't grasp it again. On the other hand, this is the second time for Fuya and Ji Yunruo.

I wonder if my chances will be even higher if I eat it a second time?

When Ying Shuangshuang asked about this, Fuya's face immediately lit up with a smile, "Yunruo and I both understood it this time!"

“However…” Fuya coughed lightly and pointed to Ping Xinyan, who was slumped on the table looking utterly hopeless, “Sister Xinyan hasn’t grasped it yet.”

Ping Xinyan seemed to have her soul emptied out; her gaze was unfocused, and she slumped onto the table, utterly dejected.

Why do fairies have bad luck?

Why couldn't the fairy understand?

Is this reasonable?

This is unreasonable!

Waaaaah, I want Ah Zhu's kisses, hugs, and to be lifted up high...

However, Ping Xinyan quickly cheered up again, because Ying Shuangshuang had also finished her work lunch and cleaned up the dishes, and the shop was about to open.

And so, Ping Xinyan, the bricklayer, was fully revived once again.

Qi Han was worried about Ying Shuangshuang's health and originally planned to let her go home to rest at noon today. However, Ying Shuangshuang said that she was in great shape, had a good appetite, and had no problems at all.

Seeing that she insisted, Qi Han let her have her way.

If you really feel unwell later, you can let Ying Shuangshuang go back early.

Although there were some minor hiccups during the lunch break, fortunately, it did not affect the four women's work. After opening the shop door, the shop's lunch business officially began.

With Ying Shuangshuang's help, Ji Yunruo and Ping Xinyan quickly packed their food delivery boxes neatly into their backpacks. After exchanging a glance, the two women stepped out of the store together and began their lunch delivery.

They didn't need to worry about orders clashing, because the two had already agreed that the first delivery would start together when business opened, and subsequent deliveries would be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Whoever gets back to the store first will be responsible for the next batch of orders.

On Ying Shuangshuang's side, orders are arranged in advance according to time order, starting with the earliest takeout. This method can be as fast and convenient as possible without delaying the diners' meals.

Moreover, there's no need to worry about waiting a long time for the next batch of orders after the previous batch has been delivered, because the store's takeout orders are more popular than you might imagine.

As usual, Ji Yunruo maintained her Martial Soul Possession state, moving swiftly through the crowd like a wisp of green smoke, sometimes leaping high onto the rooftops of low houses, and taking shortcuts between the rooftops of buildings.

She quickly noticed the changes in herself.

With the help of the Jade Dragon Tendon, the quality of the Mist Cloud Cat Martial Soul improved, and she felt as if her body had become lighter.

The increase wasn't significant, since Ji Yunruo's Mist Cloud Cat Martial Soul wasn't within the scope of the extra boost from the Jade Dragon Tendon special effect, but it was still a pleasant surprise for Ji Yunruo.

The biggest surprise came from the secret method of refining silk-like energy that Wensi Tofu brought her.

The true essence of power: refining power like silk.

To be honest, after hearing that the name of this secret technique was related to power, Ji Yunruo always believed that this secret technique would be of the greatest help to power-attack type soul masters.

For agility-based Soul Masters like myself, strength is not the most important thing; speed is what agility-based Soul Masters care about more.

After Ying Shuangshuang mastered the Refining Power Like Silk technique, her strength increased by 20%. Although Ji Yunruo was quite envious, she did not think that she could also increase her strength by 20% after mastering it.

But after truly mastering the secret method of refining power like silk, Ji Yunruo realized how one-sided her previous thoughts were.

The essence of refining soul power like silk is to break soul power into countless threads, and by controlling more soul power threads, one can achieve more meticulous control over soul power.

Regardless of whether it's a power attack type, agility attack type, control type, or even support type, soul power is the foundation of a soul master. The more meticulous and precise control over soul power, the greater the increase in strength.

Although she has not yet fully mastered the art of refining power like silk, Ji Yunruo has already been able to move quickly and conserve her soul power through some rudimentary applications, thereby increasing her sustained combat ability and making it easier to control her soul power, improve the explosive power of her ankles, and thus increase her speed.

This secret technique is not only effective for her as well, but if she fully masters it, the effect will be no less than that of Ying Shuangshuang.

Feeling the changes within herself, Ji Yunruo's face showed a hint of joy.

With a light leap, Ji Yunruo jumped down from the roof and knocked on the diner's door. After the diner opened the door, she opened her mouth with a smile brighter than ever before.

Your food delivery order has been delivered!

Chapter 258 Sea God's Fate Ceremony

The lunch business went quite smoothly, probably because we had two precious three-Michelin-starred dishes. All four employees were full of energy, and even the efficiency of the business improved.

After closing time, Qi Han watched the four women leave as usual, comforted Gulu, and then turned and entered the training space.

With the completion of the jade dragon tendon, Qi Han now has six two-star recipes left, as well as the last three-star recipe: Dinghu Shangsu.

With only about a week left until the Shrek Food Festival, if one chooses to train the Dinghu Vegetarian, it will probably take at least a week to complete, or even longer, since this dish costs two thousand gold soul coins and is likely quite difficult.

This means that Qi Han will not be able to introduce any new dishes at the food festival other than Wensi Tofu and Jade Dragon Tendon.

With the completion of the jade dragon tendon, Qi Han has now successfully mastered five three-star dishes.

Lamb stuffed in fish belly, boiled cabbage in clear broth, braised pork belly from the Qing Dynasty palace, Wensi tofu, and jade-like dragon tendon.

With these five dishes, he has already met one of the prerequisites for promotion to intermediate chef. Adding another three-star dish would not be of much significance in the short term.

So it wasn't a difficult decision. He barely hesitated before clicking on the two-star recipe: Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Chili, and plunged into the training space.

The reason for choosing this dish first was simply because Qi Han hadn't had authentic chopped chili fish head for a long time.

Just hearing those four words made his mouth water and gave him the urge to feast on them.

With the next week, mastering all six two-star dishes shouldn't be a problem.

In that case, Qi Han can launch eight new dishes at the food festival.

Qi Han had already learned about the competition rules of the Shrek Food Festival.

The rules for this special festival change slightly every year, but the competition format remains largely the same.

The Shrek Food Festival lasted for three days.

Every restaurant or stall that is in operation can submit its dishes to the food festival organizers in advance. The submitted dishes will be published and put to a vote.

Whether you're from out of town or a local, anyone who wants to participate in the food festival voting can receive three tickets and have three chances to vote.

Each person can only receive one serving, and only one vote can be cast for each dish.

After the three-day food festival, the dish with the most votes will be selected as "the most popular dish among diners".

Don't underestimate such a seemingly ordinary title.

As the Shrek Food Festival gains more and more influence, this special festival, which is unique to Shrek City, now extends its reach throughout the entire Douluo Continent. If a dish is rated as the most popular food among diners, at least half of the people on the Douluo Continent will know the name of that dish.

Although it's just a name, its influence spanning half of the Douluo Continent is no joke.

In order to successfully host such an important festival, there are also requirements for the dishes submitted for the food festival.

Food that has previously registered for the food festival is not eligible to register again.

This is to avoid some food dishes entering the competition every year, creating extra workload for the organizers, and also to encourage more cooks to research new dishes and continue to promote them.

All the dishes in the Cold Food Festival clearly met this requirement, after all, Qi Han had only been in this world for a little over three months.

However, Qi Han still wanted to prepare some new dishes that had not yet been launched, based on all the delicacies currently available at the Cold Food Festival, as a small surprise for the diners of Shrek City at the food festival.

Steamed fish head with chopped chili is a common home-style dish in Hunan cuisine.

Qi Han originally thought that with his abilities, he could finish it in an afternoon without any problem.

But once he actually started, he found that things weren't so simple.

This was his first time trying Hunan cuisine.

As one of the eight major cuisines of China, Hunan cuisine emphasizes rich oil and color in its preparation. In terms of taste, it focuses on sour, spicy, fragrant, fresh, tender, and flavorful ingredients. It also emphasizes the absorption of flavor into the ingredients, and the seasoning techniques are refined according to the quality and freshness of the raw materials. It is mainly spicy with sourness in between. The skillful use of vegetable oil is also a major feature of Hunan cuisine. In terms of cooking methods, it is known for its braising, stewing, curing, steaming, and stir-frying.