A Bite of Douluo Continent

Chapter 365 Zhou Long, the White Rat (Bonus Chapter 3/10 for the Alliance Leader who wants to be lured away by a rich woman)

Not long after Tang Qianqiu and Qi Poxiao finished their vegetarian meal from Dinghu, their other dishes were served.

However, they paid no attention to the dishes on the table in front of them, but instead looked strangely at a diner sitting in the distance.

"That Tang Clan disciple... looks familiar?" Qi Po-xiao asked telepathically.

"His name seems to be Zhou Long. I remember he was a disciple of the Imperial Hall." Tang Qianqiu nodded. Having spent a long time at the Shrek City branch, he had some impression of the disciples in the four halls.

There must be no other reason why two Limit Douluo level experts would suddenly pay so much attention to Zhou Long.

Zhou Long happened to order a Dinghu vegetarian dish, and his cultivation level was just below the seventh ring.

Is the mental power of someone at the Limit Douluo level a bit too strong?

The power was so great that every fluctuation of soul power and the condition of meridians within Zhou Long's body were clearly visible to the two.

Observing others' cultivation under such circumstances ensures that no detail is missed.

As the two observed carefully, they quickly confirmed that Zhou Long's soul power level was level 62, and he was currently in the bottleneck stage of breaking through level 63.

He's a perfect subject for observation; let's see how he fares after consuming Dinghu Shangsu.

...

Zhou Long had no idea that under the watchful eyes of two of the strongest people in the world, he had been stripped bare of his underwear and become a glorious little... oh no, someone as big as him should be a giant white rat.

At this moment, he was secretly praying that his luck would be better, that there was a 50% chance of breaking through the bottleneck from level 62 to 63, while swallowing hard and carefully observing the Dinghu Shangsu in front of him.

The various rare and precious herbs that looked exceptionally fresh made his mouth water.

Give it a try! My luck is much better than that unlucky guy Tang Zi's. I have a 50% chance of breaking through on the first try!

Thinking to himself, Zhou Long began to wield his chopsticks.

The reason Tang Zi is called an unlucky guy is related to their previous "lucky guy" competition.

The two had previously had a contest of luck regarding Wensi Tofu, because the special effect of Wensi Tofu only has a 20% trigger rate. The fewer portions of Wensi Tofu needed to be tasted to trigger it, the luckier you would be.

Neither of them managed to trigger the special effect when they tasted Wensi Tofu the first time, but Zhou Long was lucky enough to successfully trigger it the second time he tasted it, obtaining the magical secret technique called Refining Power Like Silk.

On the other hand, Tang Zi only triggered the effect on the fourth time she ate it, making her a true unlucky person.

Come on, let's do a math problem: what is the probability that it will only be triggered on the fourth time?

"Mmm, delicious." Zhou Long was not as refined as Tang Qianqiu. He picked up several slices or small pieces of rare and precious herbs with his chopsticks and put them directly into his mouth. After chewing a couple of times, he suddenly widened his eyes.

According to the description, this Dinghu vegetarian dish is clearly made with various rare and precious ingredients, but when you eat it, it tastes so similar to meat.

Not only do they taste similar, but their textures are also very alike!

Because he had eaten several kinds of rare and precious herbs at once, the unique flavors of each herb blended together in Zhou Long's mouth.

Sometimes it's soft and chewy like the gelatinous texture of meat, sometimes it's crisp and bouncy like pork skin, and sometimes it's very chewy, like chewing lean meat.

The different textures blended together, creating a sensation that was surprisingly similar to eating meat, which made Zhou Long's eyes light up.

This rare and precious ingredient tastes just as delicious as meat.

This was completely unexpected for him.

Zhou Long had taken all sorts of pills from the pharmacy before.

It smells like medicine, which is good stuff, but the smell... let's not even talk about it.

Unexpectedly, this dish, also made entirely with rare and precious ingredients, was so delicious that it tasted like meat, whetting Zhou Long's appetite.

"Aww!" Zhou Long put another chopstick into his mouth, his face full of satisfaction.

You can enjoy delicious food and break through your cultivation level at the same time.

At this moment, Zhou Long suddenly opened the door to a new world.

Sure enough, you have to work hard to become stronger, right?

While eating and growing stronger, Zhou Long was unaware that the two old men were carefully watching every fluctuation of soul power within his body, and occasionally whispering and discussing it.

"He hasn't even finished eating, yet the food is already continuously purifying his soul power." Tang Qianqiu said with a hint of surprise, "This is interesting. It seems his foundation really isn't weak?"

"Let's take another look." Qi Po-xiao stared silently at the meridians in Zhou Long's body, his expression quite solemn. "His soul power is indeed becoming more refined, and it seems to be no different from a normal breakthrough in cultivation. However, he has not yet made a complete breakthrough, so it is too early to draw conclusions at this time."

The two didn't have to wait long; Zhou Long ate his rice much faster than the two of them could eat slowly.

A few minutes later, Zhou Long picked up his plate, poured the last bit of soup into his mouth, and smiled with satisfaction.

Qi Po-xiao and Tang Qian-qiu's expressions grew increasingly serious.

Zhou Long's soul power showed no signs of being weak or unstable; on the contrary, it was so pure that it surprised even the two Limit Douluos.

Even when the two of them broke through to the sixth ring, the purity of their soul power was probably no more than this.

If Zhou Long were to cultivate and break through normally, his soul power would not be able to reach such a level of purity.

Therefore... this Dinghu Shangsu is completely different from what the two of them thought. Not only will it not cause the foundation to become unstable, but for Soul Masters with slightly lower aptitude, it can even strengthen their foundation while breaking through.

Under the watchful eyes of the two Limit Douluos, Zhou Long suddenly trembled, and some unusual soul power fluctuations appeared around his body.

He couldn't help but be surprised.

He had only recently entered the breakthrough stage. Logically speaking, he should have needed to cultivate for a while before he could break through. However, he had not activated his soul power at all, and the bottleneck of level 63 was gone just like that.

Feeling the even more powerful soul force within his body than before, Zhou Long was somewhat taken aback.

Isn't this a case of an unstable foundation?

He hurriedly sensed it and then realized that he had overthought things. Not only was his foundation not unstable, but it was surprisingly stable.

Ah this...

"Zhou Long, come here for a second." A familiar voice suddenly appeared in Zhou Long's ear.

Sect Master?

Zhou Long looked up in surprise, then stood up and walked to Tang Qianqiu to bow, "Sect Master!"

"Don't resist, let me check your soul power status," Tang Qianqiu explained, then put a hand on Zhou Long's shoulder.

Feeling a trace of the same Xuan Tian Gong internal energy entering his meridians, Zhou Long stood there somewhat uneasy.

He naturally guessed that the sect leader's investigation at this moment was related to his breakthrough just now.

That's good, after all, breaking through cultivation is no small matter, and he was a little unsure, while the sect leader understood it better.

Soon, Tang Qianqiu, having thoroughly investigated the matter, nodded. "Your foundation is more stable than before. It seems that this Dinghu Shangsu truly has no side effects."

Really?

Zhou Long was overjoyed: "Thank you very much, Sect Master!"

"It's alright, go eat." Tang Qianqiu smiled slightly and waved for Zhou Long to go back.

Qi Po-xiao sat to the side, not making a move.

Zhou Long is a disciple of the Tang Sect, so it's one thing for him to use his mental power to probe him, but it would be rather impolite for him to use his soul power to probe him.

Tang Qianqiu, as the leader of the Tang Clan, did not have such concerns.

Chapter 366 A Well-Made Plan (Bonus Chapter 5/10 for Alliance Leader Yue Zhuoshuo)

Are you sure there are no problems?

It wasn't until Zhou Long happily returned to his seat and continued enjoying his food that Qi Po-xiao finally spoke up to ask a question.

“Indeed, I am very familiar with the Xuan Tian Gong, and I would never be wrong.” Tang Qianqiu nodded. “This disciple’s soul power foundation is even deeper. If he uses the Dinghu Shangsu to break through every time before the seventh ring, his chances of breaking through to the ninth ring in the future may be greater.”

"In that case, I need to convene a meeting of the Sea God Pavilion." Qi Po-xiao said solemnly, "If possible, let the eligible students of the Inner Academy break through using the essence of Dinghu."

“But the students might not be able to afford it, and we also have to consider that some students come from poor families.” Tang Qianqiu questioned as he casually picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth with delight, nodding in satisfaction.

"It's alright. The inner disciples have plenty of cultivation resources. We can reduce some other resources and give them more gold soul coins to encourage them to come to the Cold Food Festival." Qi Po Xiao smiled slightly. "The effect of those other resources on their cultivation improvement is far less than that of the vegetarian food from Dinghu Lake. I don't think they'll mind. The Sea God Pavilion can also save these resources and use them elsewhere. This is a win-win situation."

"You've certainly got a good plan." Tang Qianqiu was momentarily speechless.

Money is given to Soul Masters instead of cultivation resources.

If this happened elsewhere, I'd probably be torn to shreds by criticism.

Under normal circumstances, money is useless for cultivation, while various cultivation resources are scarce and precious.

However, in Shrek City, due to the Cold Food Festival, Gold Soul Coins are now even more valuable than various rare and precious cultivation resources.

Hmm... let's arrange it the same way for the Tang Sect Shrek City branch.

Anyway, the Tang Clan doesn't have much of anything except money.

...

Yun Qing stood outside the door and waited for about twenty minutes. Soon, some of the first group of diners who ate quickly got up and left the cold food area.

"Can we finally start tasting it?" Yun Qing asked excitedly.

While waiting outside, he could already smell the rich aroma of various delicacies mixed together, and his mouth was already watering. At this moment, under Fuya's guidance, he quickly sat down and looked around excitedly.

The dining area was simply and elegantly decorated, giving Yunqing a sense of peace and comfort.

It felt like coming home.

The unique decor alone made Yun Qing feel more favorably toward the restaurant called Hanshi.

Soon, he picked up a menu and began to look at it.

The dishes on the menu were expensive, but Yunqing was not surprised.

Having stayed in Shrek City for so long, he had already found out the prices of the dishes during the Cold Food Festival, and he could even name a few of them.

Since it was his first time at Hanshi Festival, he wasn't like other diners who were eager to try the new dishes immediately.

Every dish is a new dish for him.

As for what to eat today, he already had a plan.