A Bite of Douluo Continent

Upon hearing this, the monks all put down the bowls they were holding.

"Do you truly believe this, benefactor?"

“Of course,” Chen Yu said cheerfully. “Doing good deeds accumulates good causes and yields good results.”

"It turns out that Benefactor Chen is also versed in Buddhist principles." The leading monk recited a Buddhist verse, his eyes filled with gratitude. "There is another person in our group who is currently in a temple debating Buddhist principles with some monks from the south. He is the most knowledgeable about Buddhism among us. When he arrives in a couple of days and learns of your matter, he will surely be delighted."

Chen Yu's heart stirred slightly, and he asked almost involuntarily, "May I ask the Dharma name of that eminent monk?"

“Xuan Quan”.

...

Chen Yu and Xuan Quan met again, and the monks, led by Xuan Quan, settled down next to Chen Yu's restaurant and built a temple where they practiced meditation every day. Both of them were extremely happy to be reunited with their old friend.

Xuan Quan was a person with wisdom, and his understanding of Buddhism became more and more profound over time.

Chen Yu's culinary skills are similar. After integrating local Fujian cuisine with his experiences in other regions, Chen Yu invented a brand new dish called "Fu Shou Quan" (福寿全).

This dish is made by blending various delicacies from the mountains and the sea. When it is finished cooking, it has an amazing aroma that is intoxicating and captivating. As soon as it was launched, it attracted a lot of diners and even became known throughout Fujian Province as the magical Fu Shou Quan.

However, for some reason, Chen Yu always felt that this dish of Blessing and Longevity was not perfect.

He worked day and night to improve his favorite dish, making it even more delicious.

And so, year after year passed.

Chen Yu and Xuan Quan have both grown old.

The elderly Master Xuanquan sat listlessly in the temple, his face bearing the marks of time; his life was nearing its end.

Suddenly, a rich and unique fragrance wafted over.

This wonderful fragrance has wafted here countless times in the past, slowly flowing into the temple after bypassing the high walls.

Because the owner of the restaurant next door gave this piece of land to monks to build a temple, no one could say anything about it.

Smelling the strange fragrance, several young monks who had recently converted to Buddhism in the temple couldn't help but swallow hard.

Looking up at the group of young disciples sitting in front of him, Xuan Quan's face lit up with a smile.

"Today, I'm afraid I must abandon this Buddhist practice." Xuan Quan sighed, took off his robe, and slowly walked to the top of the wall.

Amidst the astonished gazes of his disciples, his aged body burst forth with astonishing vitality as he struggled to climb over the wall and leap to the other side.

...

“You’re really up to no good by making this ‘Fu Shou Quan’ dish every day next to my secluded courtyard.” Xuan Quan sighed softly, picked up the chopsticks beside her, and said, “Go away and let me taste just how delicious this ‘Fu Shou Quan’ really is.”

"You still came." Chen Yu, who was also old, had an unprecedentedly bright smile on his face. "I still remember when you first converted to Buddhism, you secretly took me out to eat meat, and after we finished eating, you were afraid that your master would find out."

"So you're determined to ruin my Buddhist teachings?" Xuan Quan said irritably, then picked up a piece of abalone and put it in her mouth. "Delicious, truly delicious."

"You said..." Chen Yu didn't reply, but spoke softly, "How about renaming this dish Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?"

Xuan Quan paused slightly. "I am a monk, not a Buddha."

"Besides, I'm not a monk anymore."

“No.” Chen Yu shook his head. “You are Buddha.”

As Chen Yu's resounding words fell, Qi Han's consciousness began to slowly withdraw from this body. A soft white light enveloped him, and after a dizzying moment, Qi Han entered the training space belonging to Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall meal concludes.

Standing in the training space, after a moment of silence, Qi Han slowly raised his head, his eyes seemingly enlightened.

Soon, he began practicing Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

...

"Wow! What a huge city!" Outside the Shrek City gate, a group of people quickly headed towards the gate.

Standing at a distance, they could already see the magnificent city.

"This is even bigger than Heaven Dou City! No wonder it's the number one city on the continent." A burly man with a thick beard laughed heartily, then turned to look at the robust man beside him. "Qing Hong, this isn't your first time here, is it?"

"Yes, I've been here a few times." Yu Qinghong nodded, a hint of pride on his face. "I bring my daughter to school."

Upon hearing this, several old friends around him immediately showed expressions of envy.

Gu Jiao said, "Your daughter is truly accomplished. Shrek Academy is the top academy on the continent; it's said that only the most talented Soul Masters can enroll there." The burly man with the thick beard shook his head, his anger rising. "My brat doesn't even have innate Soul Power, sigh!"

It's true what they say, comparisons are odious!

The two families have always had a good relationship, and his son's age is close to that of the Yu family's daughter. He had even considered arranging a marriage between the two children, but after their martial spirits awakened, the bearded man completely abandoned that idea.

The gap is so huge that we'll be from completely different worlds from now on.

Ugh!

It's all my fault for having such a disappointing child.

Another somewhat tall and thin man shook his head. "But Qinghong, your daughter is so outstanding now. If I were you, I definitely wouldn't open a restaurant; I'd just be enjoying my life."

Yu Qinghong smiled and shook his head. "You all know me. I opened the restaurant because I love cooking. Seeing the diners enjoy their food makes me happy too. Now that I have money, I don't care about whether the business is good or bad. But I can still move around. I can't stay idle, so I have to find something to do. Isn't opening a restaurant a good thing?"

The burly man with a thick beard looked at him with disdain. "Is this the reason your restaurant is the best in Lingluo City?"

"That's right, Lao Yu, you're not giving us any face at all!" the others chimed in.

"Hahaha." Yu Qinghong laughed awkwardly, "Don't say that. Old Zhang learned how to make fried rice with eggs last time, and now his business is booming, no less than mine."

“There’s only one dish of fried rice. Qinghong, your shop has many delicious dishes.” The bearded man shook his head. “At the time, I didn’t have high hopes. I just saw that the business in the shop was getting worse and worse, and I heard about this, so I decided to go and take a look. I thought I would just close the shop for a few days to rest.”

"And that culinary master actually shared all his knowledge with me, and my shop was revived thanks to that one dish of fried rice." The burly man with the thick beard looked grateful. "It's simply miraculous."

"You're a true friend, Lao Zhang, at least you remembered to include us old friends this time." The tall, thin man laughed heartily. "I wonder what kind of dishes that culinary master will be teaching this time?"

“I know that.” The bearded man smiled mysteriously. “It is said that the master chef will be serving twenty-four dishes this time.”

"Twenty-four?!"

"so much!"

"Can I learn all of them?"

Faced with his old friends' doubts, the bearded man smiled and shook his head, "It's not possible to learn everything, because time is limited, and that culinary master's energy is also limited. It's definitely impossible for him to teach so many dishes."

After listening to what the bearded man said, everyone nodded in agreement.

Makes sense.

"So what exactly happened?" Yu Qinghong asked.

"We can vote for ourselves, and the three dishes with the most votes among these twenty-four dishes will be taught publicly by the master chef."

"Is that so?" Yu Qinghong nodded, then frowned. "But we haven't tried any of these twenty-four dishes. How are we supposed to vote?"

"That's easy," Old Zhang laughed. "Why don't you go try it and see? But let me tell you first, the restaurant that culinary master owns is very expensive. The dishes are often tens or hundreds of gold soul coins, and some even cost thousands of gold soul coins!"

“With such superb culinary skills, it’s normal for the dishes to be a bit pricey.” Yu Qinghong nodded. “I will definitely go and try them, and try to taste all twenty-four dishes before the vote.”

"By the way, Lao Zhang, could you tell us more about that culinary master?"

"Okay, guess how old that culinary master is?"

"I'd guess he's in his forties or fifties?"

I think it's at least sixty!

"It's not impossible for him to be seventy years old. After all, the other party could revive Old Zhang's shop with just a simple recipe."

"Haha, you're all wrong. That culinary master is only in his twenties."

"what?!"

"Old Zhang, are you serious?!"

"I can't believe it!"

"... "

The group chatted as they quickly passed through the gates of Shrek City.

...

Qi Han stepped out of the training space; it was already before dinner service.

The Buddha Jumps Over the Wall dish has just begun; it's still a long way from being finished.

This is his third four-star recipe, following Peony Fish Fillet and Zilong's Armor Removal.

There are three prerequisites for being promoted to senior chef: completing the tenth main quest, mastering three four-star recipes and fifteen three-star recipes, and reaching a soul power level of seventy.

The tenth main quest is to run a side business for thirty days. This quest has officially started today and will be completed soon.

Fifteen three-star recipes are enough without you even realizing it.

Three four-star recipes, all you need to master is Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

With his final soul power level at level 70, he was not far from Qi Han's level 62.

The prerequisites for becoming a senior chef, which once seemed unattainable, are now almost met.

Thinking of this, Qi Han immediately became happy.

He went downstairs and bumped into Ye Lingqing and Dai Qingfeng, who were returning together. The other five employees had also arrived and they all went into the store together.

"How's business at Hanshi Juewei this afternoon?" Qi Han asked with a smile.

Dai Qingfeng's face showed excitement. "Business is even better than this morning. The number of people in line only started to decrease as lunchtime approached."

“Yes.” Ye Lingqing smiled. “There are so many people queuing up, and because the braised dishes can be taken away, many people buy several kilograms at a time! Luckily, there are a lot of braised dishes, otherwise we probably would have sold out today.”

Qi Han smiled but didn't say anything.

He knew that business would be booming today, so he prepared tens of thousands of kilograms of each type of braised dish for the opening.

"Qingfeng, keep an eye out. If a certain type of braised dish sells particularly well, remember to let me know so I can restock."

“Okay.” Dai Qingfeng thought for a moment. “It seems that no particular type of braised dish sold particularly well today, but meat dishes sold much faster than vegetable dishes.”

“But I think the vegetarian dishes are tastier.” Ji Yunruo, who was standing next to her, couldn’t help but speak up when she heard this. “I really like the braised edamame, as well as the kelp knots and dried tofu.”

“Yes, yes, me too.” The others chimed in.

“That’s normal.” Qi Han smiled. “Everyone is buying for the first time, so naturally they will choose the kinds they like to try. After all, those who like vegetarian dishes are still a minority, and most people prefer meat. After a few more days, when these people have tried all kinds of braised dishes, they will naturally have their own preferences.”