Talent Points, Chef’s Heart Upgrade, and such were temporarily pushed aside from his mind as Xia Yu opened his inventory, and sure enough, he saw a newly added golden item.
The translucent slot floated in his vision, and he attempted to touch it with his thoughts. Instantly, ripples emanated from the "Seed of Qi" slot.
Wave after wave gave off a mysterious feeling akin to a black hole.
Xia Yu retrieved the item information.
"’Seed of Qi’ (Gold): An expendable item that allows the host to quickly acquire ’Qi.’ Once used, it disappears, and the ’Qi’ will reside within the host’s body. It must be cultivated continuously to grow stronger before it can be freely utilized."
As a national, understanding the term wasn’t difficult.
But what exactly is this ’Qi’ referring to—Inner Strength, or perhaps the higher, more mysterious ’True Qi’?
Or, in this space and time, are Inner Strength and True Qi the same?
His mind was filled with questions for a moment.
Since it was a useful item, there certainly was no reason to let it sit unused. Xia Yu decisively muttered, "Use!"
"The item will disappear after use, and can also be implanted into the specified target’s body. Do you confirm its use on yourself?"
He repeated it a second time.
The inventory rippled again, and the golden item gradually blurred until it finally disappeared.
Unexpectedly, Xia Yu was placed by the system in a mysterious space. It was not the familiar system kitchen but a dimly lit quiet room. He shifted slightly; sitting on a softened cushion. A few feet from him was a primitive low wooden table on which a bronze animal-headed incense burner emitted curls of smoke, the fragrance of sandalwood involuntarily calming his mind.
"The system has updated, adding a new module. Welcome!"
The cold, elusive voice of the system reached him.
Xia Yu grew curious. "Tell me more."
"This space is for martial arts, but the flow of time cannot be altered here. The internal time of this space synchronizes with the outside real world."
Suddenly, a piercing bright light emerged from the low table, and a thread-bound book materialized in the light.
He reached out to touch it, and as the light disappeared, Xia Yu opened the first page. His personal attributes popped up:
"Note that the basic attributes of a normal adult male are 1, and training has an amplifying effect."
"Overall physical condition evaluation: lv45 (enhanced through gourmet cells)."
Xia Yu hadn’t expected the system to break down every little aspect of physical fitness. He read with great interest. Indeed, in "strength" and "spirit," he far exceeded an average adult, which was also due to the amplification brought by practicing cooking and martial arts, as well as the two Physique Enhancement Crystals he had previously consumed, which specifically strengthened these two aspects.
But compared to the first three items, "agility" seemed to be lagging behind. However, it didn’t matter.
What truly shocked Xia Yu was that a new attribute suddenly popped up in his field of view:
"Inner Qi: 1 (Beginner)."
"Available Talent Points: 0."
What’s this, is it the same thing as "Talent Points"? Xia Yu was full of question marks.
"The conditions for obtaining Potential Points are quite strict; the host must breakthrough the human body’s attribute limits to gain Potential Points," the system explained. "Based on a combined physical constitution evaluation of lv45, the host’s attribute limits in ’strength,’ ’constitution,’ ’spirit,’ and ’agility’ are 4.5. Therefore, if the host raises any single physical attribute to a full value of 4.5, the system reward will be triggered—"
Xia Yu pinched his chin.
"So, the physical constitution evaluation is actually about the limit values of the physique, with the highest level being lv100, representing that these attributes can be trained to a maximum of 10?"
Xia Yu frowned slightly, always feeling that a mere 10 points was not the end.
The urgent matter was not to fret over how Potential Points worked but to see what uses this new thing "Inner Qi" had.
The key question was, does this thing help with culinary arts?
Clearly sensing his thought, a candle suddenly appeared with a puff, casting a glow on a low table, its flame very prominent in the darkness.
Xia Yu widened his eyes.
It wasn’t an illusion; a figure resembling a spirit came from the direction of the door, silently knelt across the low table from Xia Yu, bowed, and then slowly stretched out a hand, its ghostly blue palm nearing the candle flame.
His eyes were even more exaggeratedly widened.
The flame, which had been burning quietly in the windless room, flickered wildly, appearing to almost extinguish, but then surged as if the gas flow of a lighter had been increased.
The flame seemed to possess a life of its own, throbbing eerily.
Xia Yu gradually became mesmerized.
The [Bursting Flame] framework mainly endowed him with something on the level of will, realm, that is, the indescribable essence of cooking that one only understands upon tasting.
Whereas the other two Flame Cooking Skills, [Heavenly Hero Bursting Flame River] and [Sky Hero Flame Wheel], simply deepened his understanding of flame without touching on such interference, directly manipulating flames, the real magician-like approaches were completely out of his depth.
Suddenly, his breathing quickened.
If he could directly interfere with flames...
In Xia Yu’s mind, a door seemed to crack open, unleashing many uncontrollable new ideas.
What troubled Xia Yu immensely was whether the use of "Qi" in cooking was unique to the Chinese Realm?
After all, he had not yet seen Lin Chef or Dragon Chef truly show their skills. At this moment, he inevitably felt puzzled, no matter how hard he racked his brains, unable to see through the mystical aura enveloping Lin Chef and Dragon Chef.
Then, the scene shifted.
It wasn’t the silent room anymore; it shifted to a kitchen environment Xia Yu was familiar with, where a blurred-faced chef was frying delicious food in a wok.
The ’Special Chef Showdown’ phase of the final competition in Sapporo was still ongoing.
After Xia Yu and Li Han came down from the stage, next was the drawing of the second round’s topic and the specified 30 minutes of preparation time.
On Far Moon’s side, the main contestant for the second round was "the living legend" Dojima Yin.
For the White Jade Building Team, it was that Aunt named Luo Ying.
This time, the lottery guest was Sta, wearing an iron mask. When he unfolded the slip of paper and showed it to the camera, the atmosphere on-site instantly became weird.
"The topic for the second round is..."
Chiyoda Aichi said, suddenly choking.
No one expected another topic so closely related to everyday life.
Even Western viewers were pretty familiar with what pancakes were, and the other-worldly Chinese pancakes were quite famous.
Members of the White Jade Building Team, including Li Quan and other special chefs, exchanged surprised looks.
"Ha, isn’t this just handing out points?"
Li Han, looking gloomy as he came from backstage, happened to hear the host announce the topic. Just after sitting down, he couldn’t help but laugh, "Aunt Luo is the legitimate inheritor of a century-old restaurant in Jinmen. Coincidentally, the pancake fruit from Luo Family’s restaurant became famous in Jingjin area a hundred years ago, and it has since become a cultural legacy. Who visits Jinmen without wanting to taste Luo’s pancakes?"