Chapter 193: Our Next Meal, We’ll Eat in the New District
[Current Realm: 3-star, 4th-order]
[Qi and Blood: 84.99%]
Early morning.
Lin Yi awoke to the sound of dripping water.
He checked his personal interface.
The result left him completely stunned.
’This Demon Beast Meat is insane! Did I really break through two orders in one night?’
Lin Yi stared at his status panel, finding it hard to believe.
At this rate, he might wake up tomorrow morning having already reached the 5th-order.
This just showed how potent the Demon Beast Meat he ate at Old He’s place yesterday was.
’A fifty-million-dollar all-beast feast... The effects are truly incredible!’
Originally, as one’s realm grew higher, the speed of cultivation would also become progressively slower.
When Lin Yi had just reached the 1-star realm, breaking through to 2-star was relatively simple.
It felt like his Qi and Blood would rise just from drinking a mouthful of water.
After reaching 2-star, the pace slowed down noticeably.
It would even take several days to raise his Qi and Blood by a small amount.
Now that he had painstakingly reached 3-star, his cultivation speed was even slower.
Fortunately, Lin Yi had Demon Beast Meat to eat every day, on top of having the Heaven-defying Technique, the Qi Transformation Technique.
Plus, with the White Tiger’s assistance, his cultivation speed was acceptable.
But after that all-beast feast yesterday... his realm had broken through two consecutive orders.
Now, Lin Yi finally understood why the all-beast feast was so expensive.
It was absolutely worth the price. If he could eat an all-beast feast every day, wouldn’t his realm advance by leaps and bounds?
Of course, a fifty-million-dollar all-beast feast per day... not only could Lin Yi not afford it, but even Chu Zhengxiong couldn’t possibly sustain that kind of expense.
Besides, even if one could afford it, Old He probably wouldn’t have the ingredients for an all-beast feast.
After all, for a demon beast to qualify to be made into an all-beast feast, its realm had to be at least 5-star, and the main ingredients were mostly from 6-star and 7-star demon beasts.
Demon beasts of such realms were rare and couldn’t be found just by seeking them out.
Even if you did encounter one, killing it was basically impossible.
A single 6-star Demon Beast was powerful enough to sweep through an entire city.
A 7-star was considered a Demon King.
Hunting a Demon King? That was a joke.
He then picked up his phone and glanced at the chat app.
There were messages from his small group chat.
There were only a few people in the group: Wei Nan, Zhou Qi, Shen Mengyi, Sun Tao, Hu Quan, and Li Xuewen.
Aside from Wei Nan, the rest were all his fellow disciples from the Martial Arts Hall.
They were also the people he got along with best.
Lin Yi glanced at the group messages. There were over twenty unread messages.
And they had started coming in since just after five in the morning.
Wei Nan: Bros, you all get your acceptance letters?
Zhou Qi: Got ’em.
Sun Tao: Yep, they’re here. And more than one.
Shen Mengyi: How many did you all get? I actually got three acceptance letters.
Hu Quan: Looks like those Martial Arts Universities are really fighting over people?
Li Xuewen: I’m jealous. You all did so well on the martial arts exam. I only got one.
Zhou Qi: Getting one is good enough. Even if we can’t be at the same university, we can at least meet up in the New District.
Wei Nan: Old Zhou is right. But I’m still curious, how many did Lin Yi get? @Lin Yi
Sun Tao: Yeah, how could I forget about Lin Yi? He’s the district’s top scorer. He must have gotten offers from all four of the top schools, right?
Shen Mengyi: Is Senior Brother Lin still asleep? Hurry up and reveal the answer! @Lin Yi
Lin Yi read through the messages one by one, from the very beginning.
Finally, his fingers flew across the screen.
Lin Yi: I got them. Nine acceptance letters in total.
Not even half a minute after he sent the message,
a series of "drip" notification sounds rang out again.
Wei Nan: Nine? Holy crap, all nine universities in the New District sent you an offer?
Zhou Qi: You’re really the hot commodity now. Decided which one you’re going to?
Sun Tao: As expected of Lin Shen, you can take your pick of universities, huh?
Shen Mengyi: I’m definitely going to cling to Senior Brother Lin’s thigh! /lecherous face/
Li Xuewen: Holy crap, did you just collect all nine Dragon Balls? That’s so fucking awesome.
Hu Quan: Senior Brother Lin has always been this popular. Please look after us when we get to the New District.
Wei Nan: Hahaha... Lin Yi’s left leg is mine, I’ll let you have the right one @Shen Mengyi
Shen Mengyi: Why does that feel so weird? It sounds like you’re dismembering him...
Seeing them joking around in the group chat,
Lin Yi smiled and replied: I’m gonna wash my face first. You guys want to meet up later? I’m probably leaving for the New District tomorrow!
Wei Nan: We definitely have to meet up.
Zhou Qi: +1
Sun Tao: +1
Shen Mengyi: Let’s go together tomorrow, then. I’m all packed.
Hu Quan: Is everyone leaving tomorrow? Should we meet up and discuss it?
Sun Tao: Sounds good. Let’s meet and coordinate. We’ll need to stick together to survive in the New District.
Wei Nan: Sea Wave Hot Pot Restaurant, then. Let’s gather there.
Lin Yi: Agreed.
Zhou Qi: Agreed.
Sun Tao: Agreed...
After everyone had replied with "Agreed,"
the messages in the small group chat stopped.
Just as he closed the group chat, he noticed two other messages.
One was from Chu Zhengxiong, telling Lin Yi that he and his group were already on their way back to the New District.
The other was from Tang Qinru, asking when Lin Yi was coming to the New District and to let her know in advance.
Lin Yi replied to both of them in turn.
Only then did he put his phone away and prepare to go to the bathroom to wash his face.
But then, he subconsciously glanced at the cardboard box.
’Where’s Xiaoqi?’
The cardboard box was empty; Xiaoqi was long gone.
Lin Yi quickly got up and went into the bathroom.
There was no sign of Xiaoqi inside.
Next, Lin Yi left the bedroom and went to the kitchen.
Still no Xiaoqi.
Finally, Lin Yi headed straight for the living room.
His anxious heart could finally rest.
Xiaoqi was standing at the window, gazing outside.
Lin Yi smiled and walked closer. "What’s wrong? Missing the blue sky?"
As soon as he spoke, Xiaoqi jumped as if startled.
It whipped its head around, and upon seeing Lin Yi,
it let out a series of chirps.
Although he couldn’t understand it, from its expression, it seemed to be blaming Lin Yi for walking so silently.
He had scared it...
[Want... want to go out... see... see...]
Xiaoqi’s tender voice sounded like a child just learning to speak.
It still couldn’t express its thoughts coherently.
But this was already very good.
After all, it hadn’t been long since it hatched. It had many things to learn slowly.
You can’t expect it to learn everything at once.
Lin Yi smiled and said, "I’ll take you to meet some new friends later!"
[What... friends... are... what... edible?]
"They’re my friends, not food. Ugh, it’s too complicated to explain. Just come with me!"
"I’m going to wash my face first. Don’t run off while I’m gone!"
After saying this, Lin Yi headed back toward the bedroom.
But the moment he left,
a chorus of chirps came from outside the window.
A dozen or so birds formed a circle, soaring and dancing in the air.
It was as if they were putting on a show for Xiaoqi, trying to win its favor.
Xiaoqi watched with rapt attention.
If it could have facial expressions, it would probably be wearing a smile of pure enjoyment right now.
Before long, Lin Yi had washed his face and gotten dressed.
He took out a few pieces of the frozen Demon Beast Meat from yesterday.
This was Xiaoqi’s food.
Then, he put Xiaoqi in his pocket and headed out.
「Sea Wave Hot Pot Restaurant.」
It was a long-established hot pot restaurant in Xinghai City.
It had been open for twenty or thirty years.
Its flavor and reputation were impeccable; everyone who had eaten there praised it.
At a little after ten in the morning, Lin Yi, Wei Nan, and the others arrived one after another.
When they met, they inevitably exchanged a few pleasantries.
Shen Mengyi said, "Isn’t it a bit early to be eating hot pot?"
"You call this early? You have no idea how popular this place is. If we came any later, there wouldn’t be any seats left. Let’s hurry inside and see!" Wei Nan said quickly.
The group nodded and followed Wei Nan into the restaurant.
And as soon as they stepped inside,
they all realized Wei Nan wasn’t exaggerating at all.
The first floor was completely full, and there were only a few empty tables left on the second.
The third floor was all private rooms. Wei Nan had specifically requested one, and a waiter led them upstairs.
After the group settled down in the private room,
Wei Nan ordered a large amount of sliced meat and vegetables.
Only after the waiter left the room did Wei Nan look at everyone with a serious expression.
"Good, no one’s missing. All of us bros got into a Martial Arts University!" Wei Nan said with a smile.
Lin Yi and Zhou Qi both nodded.
"Even though Hu Quan and Li Xuewen might not be at the same school as us, at least we’re all going to the New District. It’ll be much easier to meet up!"
"That’s right. As long as we can see each other in the New District, being at the same school isn’t that important!"
"Lin Yi, you said in the group chat that you’re leaving tomorrow?"
Finally, all eyes fell on Lin Yi.
He nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I made an arrangement with Brother Chu. He originally wanted me to leave with them today, but I thought we should all get together to talk things over before I left. So I told them to go on ahead, and I’ll leave tomorrow."
Zhou Qi nodded. "What about everyone else? Have you all decided on your departure dates?"
"I’m going by myself. My uncle and aunt have New District passes, so they don’t need to travel with me. I’ll go to the New District with Senior Brother Lin tomorrow!" Shen Mengyi said with a smile.
Wei Nan and Sun Tao also nodded.
"We’re leaving tomorrow too!"
Hu Quan and Li Xuewen were leaving two days later; they still had some family matters to take care of.
Zhou Qi thought for a moment. "I’d like to go with you guys too, but my dad wants to throw a celebratory banquet for my university acceptance, so I’ll probably be a couple of days late!"
"That’s all fine. We’ll all see each other in the New District anyway, so it doesn’t matter if you go a bit earlier or later," Lin Yi said with a smile and a nod.
For them, it really didn’t make a difference.
A short while later, the waiter came in with the hot pot broth.
He was followed by another staff member pushing a cart laden with the vegetables and sliced meats Wei Nan had ordered.
Everything was brought to the table one by one.
The steaming copper pot began to bubble furiously.
Lin Yi smiled and said, "After this meal, our next one will be in the New District..."