A Bite of Douluo Continent

...

It wasn't until Ruyi reminded him that business hours were approaching that Qi Han, who had spent the entire afternoon practicing Yangzhou fried rice in the training space, snapped out of his reverie.

Yin Bingshou's remnant soul had completely dissipated. He stepped out of the training space and then went downstairs.

"Teacher, I rested all afternoon and I feel much better!" Noticing Qi Han coming downstairs, Ye Lingqing greeted him with a joyful expression. "Teacher is right, a balance between work and rest is more effective than just practicing blindly."

Qi Han was slightly taken aback, then his expression turned strange.

"Uh... Teacher, what's wrong?" Ye Lingqing asked curiously when she saw Qi Han's strange expression.

"It's nothing." Qi Han shook his head, quickly organizing his thoughts, "Ling Qing, I feel that your previous training methods were not very scientific, so I will make some adjustments to your practice schedule from now on."

Adjustment?

Ye Lingqing's face immediately showed an expectant look.

I understand!

No wonder the teacher reminded me yesterday to balance work and rest; it turns out I need to adjust my practice schedule.

It seems that the practice time will be shortened to some extent in the future, giving myself more time to do other things and achieve a balance between work and rest!

My teacher is so good to me.

Thinking to herself, Ye Lingqing couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, how should it be adjusted?"

"Hmm... Before, you would practice for two hours every morning after breakfast service closed, under my guidance, until lunchtime when the business reopened, and then practice on your own in the afternoon." Qi Han paused. "Starting tomorrow, the morning training time will remain the same, but the afternoon free practice will be changed to..."

What should it be changed to?

Is it a free rest?

Or something else?

Ye Lingqing's eyes lit up.

"Change it to two hours of practice under my guidance, followed by two hours of free practice."

The light in Ye Lingqing's eyes went out.

"Teacher," he said, his voice filled with anguish, "what happened to the promise of a balance between work and rest?"

Teacher guidance and independent practice are like main classes and self-study periods; it's obvious which is easier.

This training plan is even more tiring than before. What kind of work-rest balance is this?

"Ahem." Qi Han coughed lightly, and said somewhat guiltily, "That's right, a combination of work and labor."

Practicing various breakfast recipes outside of work hours is called "labor".

During business hours, helping to prepare food is called "yaku".

Is there a problem?

no problem.

What is this called?

This is called a combination of labor and service!

Ye Lingqing: "???"

Chapter 427 Have I forgotten something? (Bonus chapter 1/3 for the donation from "Light and Darkness Endure")

Starting the next day, Qi Han began grueling training for Ye Lingqing, following the new practice plan agreed upon the day before.

Although this kind of training meant that Qi Han would have significantly less time to practice cooking in the training space in the afternoon, and that it would take longer to learn a dish, he felt that his sacrifice was worthwhile in order to complete the side quest as soon as possible... no, in order to help his disciple grow up as quickly as possible.

Although the more intense training made Ye Lingqing question his life, Qi Han wasn't truly indifferent to his disciple. Under his special instructions, Ruyi added some calming and restorative high-tech to Ye Lingqing's bed, allowing him to wake up fully refreshed every morning and throw himself into the new day's studies with full enthusiasm.

And as it turns out, people can push their limits under immense pressure.

Ye Lingqing completed the training even faster than Qi Han had expected. At this rate, it would probably only take him forty or fifty days to complete all the cooking training.

It should be noted that Ye Lingqing did not have time to accelerate his training. The fact that he was able to practice these one-star recipes to the point of perfection and marketability in such a short time is enough to prove his talent in cooking.

As the days went by, Hanshi Restaurant returned to normal operations, and it remained packed with diners every day. People from all over the mainland came to try Hanshi's delicious food, and when they left, they took the story of this legendary restaurant back to their hometowns.

Starting from specific examples, and with these out-of-town diners sharing their experiences, more and more people traveled to Shrek City to personally taste the legendary flavors of Hanshi. Their satisfied returns brought in new diners in turn.

This is a positive cycle.

If Qi Han were to have a mission to increase the continent's visibility, he would be surprised to find that Hanshi's visibility among all residents of the continent has already exceeded 10%, and is still growing at a very steady rate.

Don't underestimate this proportion. If you go anywhere, one in ten people will know about the Cold Food Festival. What does that mean?

Although this is not Qi Han's current main task, the increasing number of out-of-town diners coming to Hanshi Restaurant is easily noticeable.

Time flies, and forty-eight days have passed in the blink of an eye.

"Teacher, please try it."

Ye Lingqing took a deep breath, took out the steamed dragon dumplings from the steamer, and placed them in front of Qi Han. Her expression was somewhat serious, and her hands were placed awkwardly behind her back.

"Relax." Seeing his disciple's tense appearance, Qi Han smiled slightly, then his expression returned to calm. He picked up his chopsticks, took a steamed dragon dumpling, chewed it a couple of times, and his face remained expressionless.

This sight made Ye Lingqing's heart skip a beat.

Did it... not pass?

Seeing Ye Lingqing's increasingly tense expression, a mischievous glint flashed in Qi Han's eyes, and he grinned, "Lingqing, congratulations on completing the learning of all the breakfast dishes."

"Yay!" Ye Lingqing suddenly came to her senses and cheered.

It's not easy!

For a full forty-eight days, he was completely immersed in practicing various kinds of noodles, constantly comparing and verifying with Qi Han, and finally mastered all the dishes for breakfast. Although it was only breakfast, he hadn't learned the many dishes for main meals and late-night snacks, but this was enough to excite him.

"You've worked hard these past few days, you can take a break now." Qi Han smiled slightly, finished the steamed dumplings in the steamer, then stood up and walked quickly upstairs. "I have something to do, I'll go upstairs first."

"Okay, teacher." Ye Lingqing nodded, already planning how he would get some rest.

"Crack".

The door to the room was gently closed, and Qi Han's gaze was fixed intently on the task page in front of him.

Side Quest Nine: Graduation - Standing Alone (Completed)

Quest Reward: Soul Power Level +2 (Claimable).

After completing side quest nine, no new quests appeared, so it was probably the last side quest in the eighth stage of the main questline.

By simply receiving these two levels of soul power, Qi Han's soul power level will reach level 50, thereby triggering the ingredient acquisition quest and obtaining his fifth soul ring.

After obtaining his fifth spirit ring, Qi Han's cultivation level completely entered the Spirit King level, allowing him to begin training with the four-star recipe!

Thinking of this, Qi Han didn't hesitate for a moment and reached out directly to the task claim point on the task page.

"Wait!" Ruyi suddenly shouted in Qi Han's mind, her voice even sounding somewhat sharp due to her urgency.

Qi Han, whose finger was already close to the claim button, suddenly jolted and touched the claim button instead.

Feeling the soul power flowing and growing stronger within his body, Qi Han blinked and asked with some confusion, "Ruyi, what's wrong with you?"

"No..." Ruyi's voice carried a hint of strangeness, "It's alright."

Weird.

Qi Han's soul power rapidly increased from level 48 to level 50, and the side quest nine, for which he had already received all the rewards, slowly disappeared, and a brand new quest popped up.

Limited-time task: Obtaining ingredients

Please travel to Yubin City, a coastal city within the Tiandou Empire, within five days to independently kill the ten-thousand-year-old soul beast, the Azure Scaled Dragon Eel.

Task Description: With your current strength, hunting down a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast should be a piece of cake. Keep it up, cook!

Quest Rewards: System Soul Ring x1, Four-Star Recipe: Zilong's Armor Removal.

Good heavens! Qi Han exclaimed, "Good heavens!"

He had assumed that this time the ingredient acquisition mission would be the same as before: kill a thousand-year-old soul beast and obtain a three-star recipe.

But this time, the requirement is to kill a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast, and the reward is a four-star recipe.

This was quite unexpected for Qi Han.

But upon closer reflection, it makes perfect sense.

After all, the maximum absorption period for the five rings is ten thousand years. Although the soul beasts killed in the food acquisition mission are not used to absorb soul rings, the required age of the soul beasts has always corresponded to the absorption period of the soul master's soul rings.

The ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts and the four-star recipes also correspond to each other.

Therefore, it seems quite normal that the mission reward is a four-star recipe.

The soul beast to be killed in this mission, the Azure Scale Dragon Eel, is a slender fish similar in size to an eel, with dragon blood in its body. However, unlike eels, which live in the mud and rock crevices at the bottom of lakes, it is a sea soul beast.

This is also why the mission location is in the coastal city of Yubin, rather than in a certain area where soul beasts gather.

As for the dish "Zilong's Armor Removal" that's a reward for completing the mission...

This dish, also known as Zilong Tuopao, is a famous dish of Hunan cuisine, one of the eight major cuisines of China. It is made from eel.

To be honest, Qi Han was quite curious about what it would be like to cook with green-scaled dragon eels.

Jade City is quite far from Shrek City. Even at the speed of Chasing Clouds, it would take about a day to get there. If you want to complete the mission within five days, you'll probably have to set off tomorrow.

I'll pack up tonight and prepare to ask for leave.

Taking leave... that's a rather unfamiliar word.

It seems like it's been a long time since I've taken a day off.

and many more…

Qi Han's expression froze.

Have I forgotten something important?

Chapter 428 Ye Lingqing's Confidence (Bonus Chapter 2/3 for the donation from Guang An Chang Cun)