A Bite of Douluo Continent

To say he's strong? He's only at the second-tier level.

Saying he's weak? Have you ever seen a second-ring spirit with two thousand-year-old spirit rings?

Cao Rang narrowed his eyes slightly.

The first and second spirit rings are a thousand years old?

Could it be twin martial souls?

But the talents of twin martial souls are not low, it is impossible for someone who is over 20 years old to only have the strength of a second ring, right?

Or perhaps, it's some kind of disguised spirit ring technique?

Cao Rang suddenly felt a little unsure.

In fact, Cao Rang's preparation of the Crimson Unicorn for Qi Han was a small test. Although it was only a hundred-year-old soul beast, it was still a hundred-year-old soul beast. There was only one way to make a soul beast like the Crimson Unicorn submit.

Subdue it.

Of course, if Qi Han is unable to subdue the Crimson Unicorn, Cao Rang will intervene in time and devise other methods to get Qi Han to accompany him.

Qi Han's response was something Cao Rang hadn't anticipated.

Yu Lianxin's expression remained calm, but a sudden surge of joy welled up inside her.

Is he happy because Qi Han is too weak?

Or was he happy because Qi Han didn't seem as weak as he appeared?

She herself didn't know.

But she suddenly felt that Qi Han was not simple.

Yu Lianxin couldn't help but feel a little more curious about this owner with his superb culinary skills.

...

Taming the Crimson Unicorn was just a minor incident. Qi Han and the Shrek Academy group quickly left Shrek City and headed towards Star Luo City.

Shrek City is located on the border between the two great empires, while Star Luo City is not far from the border.

It is said that the Star Luo Empire revered military might. Once, an emperor of the Star Luo Empire said, "The capital should be located on the border." Amid the respect and cheers of the people of the Star Luo Empire, he moved Star Luo City here.

It's somewhat like the saying from my previous life: "The emperor guards the city gate, and the monarch dies for the state."

Therefore, the straight-line distance between Shrek City and Star Luo City is only a few thousand miles. The Crimson Unicorn runs faster than the Crimson Steed and can reach the destination in just half a day.

After half a day's trek, Qi Han looked into the distance and soon saw the magnificent and imposing city built on a high slope.

We've arrived at Xingluo City!

(The first volume, "A Shop in Shrek City," has ended; the second volume, "Blood and Fire in Luo City," is about to begin.)

Chapter 111 The Troubled Qin Sisters (First Update, Please Subscribe!)

"Sister, that scoundrel surnamed Zhao from Fenglai Pavilion came again yesterday. It's so annoying."

In an empty shop, a young girl touched a strand of soft blonde hair that fell over her shoulder, then slumped weakly on a table, her eyes filled with resentment.

Standing next to her was another girl. The two girls had almost identical appearances, but the standing girl wore a pair of large-framed glasses, which gave her a more serene air.

The older sister shook her head, her eyes dimming slightly. "Dad and that bastard surnamed Zhao didn't get along when Dad was alive. Now that Dad is gone, that bastard surnamed Zhao has become even more ruthless."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Fenglai Pavilion and our family's Yueyao Tower are both restaurants and have always been competitors. After Father passed away, the chefs in our restaurant started kicking us while we were down. We no longer have a chance to compete with Fenglai Pavilion."

As she said this, a hint of hatred flashed in her eyes.

...

These two sisters are twins. The older sister is named Qin Yao and the younger sister is named Qin Yue. They were born into a wealthy family that runs one of the top restaurants in Xingluo City. Their father is a famous chef in the capital and has attracted many renowned chefs with his reputation and skills. The family business is very prosperous.

Both sisters have the talent for cultivation. The younger sister, Qin Yue, has a level three innate soul power, while the older sister, Qin Yao, has a level seven innate soul power. Such a high level of innate soul power is already considered one in ten thousand. After growing up, Qin Yao entered the Star Luo Royal Academy, while the younger sister, who had less talent, stayed in the small shop to help out and was being groomed by her father to be the restaurant's heir.

Everything was fine until her father fell ill from overwork and passed away. Her mother died during childbirth when the two were born, leaving only the two seventeen-year-old sisters.

Fenglai Pavilion, which has always been a fierce competitor of Yueyaolou, took advantage of the situation to further embarrass the two sisters. Not only did it poach all of the head chefs from the small shop with high salaries, but the owner of Fenglai Pavilion, Zhao Fenglai, also personally visited the two sisters and tried to coerce and entice them to sell the shop to him.

Zhao Fenglai had been eyeing the shop for a long time. The shop was bought by the two sisters' father with almost all his savings when the restaurant was at its peak. Not only was it located on Morning Star Street, the most bustling street in Star Luo City, but it was also right across from the Star Luo Empire's largest auction house: Starlight Auction House. The huge flow of people allowed Yueyaolou to easily crush its competitors.

Qin Yue, who was running the restaurant for her father, naturally refused to sell it. However, the small restaurant lost its head chef and only had a few assistant chefs left. Many of the signature dishes could not be made. The assistant chefs' skills were not as good as the head chef's, and even the ordinary dishes tasted much worse than before.

Zhao Fenglai was even more vicious. The day after he poached the head chef of Yueyaolou, he brazenly launched the Yueyaolou dishes that each chef was good at in Fenglai Pavilion, attracting away a large number of diners who had become Yueyaolou's fans because of the signature dishes.

The restaurant's business took a sharp downturn, and eventually even several of the kitchen helpers had to leave due to Zhao Fenglai's suppression, leaving only Qin Yue, who had no cooking skills. From then on, the restaurant went from being bustling with customers to being deserted.

On the other hand, Qin Yao was also greatly affected in the Star Luo Royal Academy. Although she was talented, she was born into a merchant family. The Star Luo Empire's Royal Academy was a place that valued lineage. As a member of a merchant family, she not only had to endure intentional or unintentional discrimination from others, but also suffered from the jealousy and malicious words of many noble children because of her outstanding talent in cultivation.

After her family suffered a major setback, her classmates at the academy also took advantage of her misfortune. In a fit of anger, Qin Yao dropped out of school and returned to the restaurant, where she and Qin Yue tried to find a way to save the family business.

Unfortunately, neither of them knew how to cook, and the food they made was inedible even for themselves, let alone for customers.

Although the family still had a considerable amount of savings, preventing the two women from falling into dire straits, they were anxious because they knew that if things continued this way, they would only be sitting around starving. They couldn't think of a solution.

"Huh? There's a restaurant here?"

A young male voice came from the main entrance of the restaurant. The two women looked up sharply and saw a handsome young man with black hair walk into the lobby and scrutinize them carefully.

The diners have arrived?

The two women were initially delighted, but their mood quickly soared.

It's no use them coming; they don't have any dishes to offer each other...

...

Qi Han has been in Xingluo City for two days now.

Having finally gotten rid of his business and been able to relax completely, he strolled around Xingluo City with great interest, admiring the exotic architectural styles and searching for local delicacies, which was also a way for him to broaden his horizons.

The history of Xingluo City is much longer than that of Shrek City. It is said that the Xingluo City in front of us has been here for nearly seven thousand years.

The architectural style here is more similar to the ancient European style of Earth.

This was Qi Han's first time in the Star Luo Empire. Having always loved traveling in his previous life, he had his long-dormant leisure time stirred up, and he almost forgot that he had a three-day time limit to complete.

Of course, he wasn't completely idle. While searching for the unique delicacies of the Star Luo Empire, he also took the opportunity to investigate the local food industry.

As the capital of the Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City is a bustling commercial hub, and naturally, it has no shortage of delicious food.

The most famous of them is probably a hotel called Fenglai Pavilion. Qi Han had been there and tried it once. He had to say that the taste of its signature dishes was extremely good. According to the system's rating criteria, Qi Han would probably give it half a star.

Of course, it is still significantly different from the recipes that Qi Han has mastered.

Qi Han then had a plan in mind: if he opened Hanshi here, there shouldn't be any formidable competitors; he could simply crush them. Thus, he had a clear idea of ​​the location selection strategy.

Open your store wherever there are many people.

Qi Han currently has about three million gold soul coins, which is his income from the past two months of business. Such a huge sum of money is enough for him to buy a shop in any location in Xingluo City.

After some investigation, he learned that the most bustling street in Xingluo City was called Morning Star Street. So, on the last day of the timed mission, Qi Han came to Morning Star Street, intending to acquire a shop there as the location for his new store.

To his disappointment, the shops on this street were all doing very well and had no intention of transferring ownership. Even when Qi Han offered a premium to acquire them, the shop owners simply wouldn't consider it.

This is troublesome.

I spent the whole morning looking around, but I couldn't find a shop, though I was getting hungry.

Somewhat troubled, Qi Han soon discovered a restaurant called Yueyaolou in the most bustling area of ​​Chenxing Street, and his eyes lit up.

I think I've heard locals mention this restaurant a few times before, so why don't we come here and try some of the food?

You need to be full to have the energy to look for shops!

However, upon entering the restaurant, Qi Han quickly sensed something was amiss. Although it was lunchtime, there wasn't a single customer in the restaurant, only two twin girls who didn't look like diners.

Is this awkward?

Bloodfire City

Chapter 112 The Moon Shines Brightly Over the Jade Pool (Second Update, Seeking First Subscription!)

Seeing the strange look on Qi Han's face after he looked around the shop, Qin Yao gave a wry smile and slowly said, "Hello, our restaurant is temporarily closed. Please go to another restaurant. I'm sorry."

"Closed down?"

Instead of showing disappointment, Qi Han's eyes lit up. Without leaving the shop, he casually found a chair and sat down, looking at the two sisters, "Are you two the people in charge of this shop?"

Qin Yao hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Qin Yue beside her.

Although Qin Yao is the older sister, she has been staying at Xingluo Royal Academy and doesn't have much social experience. She doesn't know how to interact with people. On the other hand, Qin Yue has been helping out at the shop for a long time and has a more outgoing personality.

“Yes, the two of us are the owners of this restaurant.” Although she didn’t know why the young man hadn’t left yet, the deserted restaurant was boring anyway, so Qin Yue didn’t mind chatting with him a bit more.

"Then why isn't it open?" Qi Han looked at the luxurious decor of the restaurant. "I think this place has a great location and nice decor. If it were open, it would probably be very popular. It's such a shame it's not open."

Hearing Qi Han's words, a hint of disappointment flashed in Qin Yue's eyes. She thought of the bustling scene in the shop in the past, and seeing the extremely deserted shop now, the contrast was too obvious.

"All the chefs in our shop have left, and no one knows how to cook, so we have no choice but to close down." Qin Yue suddenly felt a little less inclined to chat with this young man.

Honestly, why do you always hit me where it hurts?

That's so heartbreaking.

"I see your store has three floors, right?" Qi Han looked at the store again. "It's quite large."

It was about three times the size of the small shop in Shrek City, and it even had an extra floor.

"Since your shop no longer has a chef and can't operate, do you have any plans to sell the shop?"

Qi Han originally came to eat, but now he has other ideas.

Even within the entire Morning Star Street, this is probably a prime location. At a quick glance, it seems that the Starlight Auction House is right across from the shop.

Although he hadn't been to the Starlight Auction House yet, Qi Han had heard that it was the largest auction house in the Star Luo Empire after two days in the city.

Located opposite the Starlight Auction House, this place has an extremely large flow of people. Qi Han has not yet seen a more suitable location for his small shop.

It was a lucky accident; we came to the right place.