Ashen God
Chapter 390 - 389 [Old Eight Secret Recipe Little Hamburger]

Chapter 390: Chapter 389 [Old Eight Secret Recipe Little Hamburger]

Regarding the after-sales activity, although Zhang Yanhang could simply feign death and dodge the bill, he had to admit that if things really developed that way, they might get a bit troublesome. After all, he still had to queue up here to receive the Second Tier Cultivation Technique and the corresponding benefits; he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.

"Rest assured, a hundred percent guaranteed there won’t be any problems."

Zhou Muxi was quite confident in the friendship between her and her bestie, after all, they often teamed up to hunt monsters in the Ashen World.

Watching Zhou Muxi pounding her chest and vouching, yet due to her size not causing any noticeable ’fluctuation’, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but show a look of regret. Regretful as it may be, this at least meant that the transaction wouldn’t ’stir up waves’ due to the other party’s size—a rounding up error barely making it a good thing.

"If you’re satisfied with this Xuanyin Fruit and the Mutated Sunflower Seeds, then bring out that Dark Purple Quality Item and let me take a look at the Attribute list. If there aren’t any major problems, this transaction is pretty much a success."

Zhang Yanhang thought that if there were items he couldn’t use later, he might as well sell them to other Awakeners in exchange for something useful to him. After all, keeping them was a waste, but selling them meant turning waste into treasure; no matter how you looked at it, it was a good deal.

"Okay, okay, just give me a moment to find it."

After saying this, Zhou Muxi immediately closed her eyes, seemingly searching for something, until a few seconds later, she opened her eyes and fished out a round object wrapped in tin foil from her eye.

By the way, even for Zhang Yanhang, the act of pulling something out from her eye was quite horrifying, as sticking one’s hand into the eye to retrieve items indeed unexpectedly felt somewhat nauseating. If it were an ordinary person, their sanity would’ve surely plummeted after seeing this scene.

But Zhang Yanhang was different; after all, he was one who had ’seen the world’, so in the end, he calmly received that round object, wrapped in tin foil, from Zhou Muxi’s delicate hand, which fortunately did not have any unknown mucus from stirring around in her eyeball.

Because he was constantly using Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil, the moment Zhou Muxi pulled it out of her eye, Zhang Yanhang already knew what was inside.

It appeared to be a somewhat abnormal hamburger, but luckily, the appearance typically does not affect the Attribute list, so Zhang Yanhang still prepared to first inspect this hamburger’s Attribute list and then decide whether to carry out the transaction.

[Old Eight Secret Recipe Little Hanbao]

[Quality: Dark Purple]

[Type: Artifact]

[Origin: Ashen World, Dakota Basin, Sisdelock City, Eighth Food Factory.]

[Additional Attributes: Humans and related humanoid Races who consume it will suffer from a ’Reduced Appetite’ negative effect for 30 minutes, decreasing appetite by 25% each time, with the negative effect and duration stacking up. The maximum reduction is ’-100%’, and maximum duration is two hours.

When Humans and related humanoid Races consume four times in succession, there’s a certain chance of triggering an addiction, increasing the Life Value Limit enhancement effect by 10%. As the intensity of the addiction varies, other negative effects such as reduced Life Value Recovery Speed, decreased defensive power, and reduced Constitution Attribute may occur.]

[Usage effect: Increases Life Value Limit by 100 points.]

[Usage requirements: Constitution below 65 points.]

[Score: 230 (Dark Purple Items have a score range of 151 to 260.)]

[Introduction: In the world of delicious food, I’m Old Eight, hailed by thousands as a Gourmet. Stinky tofu with fermented bean curd, budget-friendly and filling, whether it smells good or bad, once in my mouth it becomes meat, succulent and delicious. Although not at the same time, identical restrooms, Oh, to give! Bros, let’s do this!

——An unnamed Human Gourmet who nevertheless received an official promotion

Recently, we introduced a batch of Human Gourmets, among whom one particularly enjoys inventing. A new batch of dishes he created, one called ’Old Eight Secret Recipe Little Hanbao’, caught my eye with its smooth and lingering taste, and I decided to approve it for mass production.

——Lord of Sisdelock City, Sisdelock Beelzebub]

"Wow, so Beelzebub came up with this? Isn’t that the demon lord symbolizing gluttony among the seven deadly sins in Hell? But this guy must be a progeny or a descendant of the genuine Beelzebub..."

When Zhang Yanhang initially saw the food factory noted in the origin section, he was quite puzzled, curious as to why such a thing would be factory-produced—weren’t they afraid of bankruptcy?

But when Zhang Yanhang later noticed the surname Beelzebub, he instantly understood; given that the Beelzebub clan is personified as a giant fly, it was completely normal for them to enjoy such food.

As the saying goes, supply is driven by demand; hence, after seeing the surname Beelzebub, Zhang Yanhang even felt that these items wouldn’t just avoid bankruptcy when produced—on the contrary, they would likely be a hit, becoming a popular and profitable delicacy.

"Moreover, the most saucy thing is, this damn thing is addictive. Once addicted to it, it’d be hard to appreciate normal food—it would all taste like wax. Only a bustling place with ample traffic could provide a means to indulge in meat and alleviate the addiction.

And the worst part is, after becoming addicted, it would lead to a comprehensive decrease in Life Value Recovery Speed, defensive power, and Constitution Attributes—that’s a bit too much to accept."

But luckily, the addictive quality only triggers after consuming four in a row; Zhang Yanhang, eating just one, shouldn’t have to worry about that.

"The negative side effects of your Dark Purple Quality Item are quite significant, and the taste is a bit problematic too..."

Although, considering it could increase the Life Value Limit by a hundred points, Zhang Yanhang was willing to accept these shortcomings, but he couldn’t help but want to complain a little.

"I know this thing might be somewhat flawed, so here’s what—I can give you a little extra compensation."

Zhou Muxi panicked when she saw that Zhang Yanhang seemed rather reluctant to proceed with the trade, and she hastily produced a strange fruit resembling a lychee from her eyes.

"My friend actually left behind a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure with me that can increase one’s Stamina limit. Although it’s not very useful to a Third Tier Awakened like myself, it should still have a fairly noticeable effect on a Second Tier Awakened like you."

As she spoke, Zhou Muxi handed the lychee-shaped Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure to Zhang Yanhang.

"Well then, since you seem sincere, I’ll agree to this trade."

Zhang Yanhang had merely been griping earlier, but unexpectedly, this led to a pleasant surprise. It just goes to show, Third Tier Awakeneds are indeed worthy of their title, even if they’re poor, they’re still much wealthier than those of the Same Tier—Second Tier Awakeneds—which means they have more to squeeze out.

"Later on, we can add each other on QQ and keep in touch for future matters."

Zhou Muxi felt that having such an Ultimate Seal as a friend definitely couldn’t be a bad thing. Besides, Zhang Yanhang had mentioned that he would be promoted to the Third Tier in a week or two, by which time he would be a Same Tier Awakened as her, and she felt she could probably eke out even richer benefits from him.

"Okay."

Zhang Yanhang silently nodded and passed the Mutated Sunflower Seeds and Xuanyin Fruit to Zhou Muxi.

As the saying goes, the more friends you have, the more paths open to you. Judging by the options, Zhou Muxi would officially join the Empire’s official department at the latest by tomorrow. Making more friends in such an Empire government agency should undeniably be considered a good thing, so Zhang Yanhang really couldn’t think of a reason to refuse making friends with her.

Moreover, with such a friend working in the related department, Zhang Yanhang felt he might be able to get insider information from the Empire about Awakeners ahead of others thanks to Zhou Muxi.

After receiving the Xuanyin Fruit and the Mutated Sunflower Seeds, Zhou Muxi hesitated for a moment before choosing to eat the Xuanyin Fruit first, fearing that Yin Qi and Yang Qi might conflict inside her body. Therefore, she planned to absorb the Yin Qi from the Xuanyin Fruit first before absorbing the Yang Qi from the Mutated Sunflower Seeds.

Watching Zhou Muxi, who was sitting cross-legged on a chair, having taken off her high heels to adopt the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture to cultivate, Zhang Yanhang could only commend the quality and elasticity of her professional attire, which allowed her to adopt such a difficult position.

The apparel must be at least White quality or perhaps made from some special fabric created after the Spiritual Energy Recovery. After all, various industries have been developing towards harmony with Spiritual Energy since its recovery, so the appearance of such material is quite normal.

Although the integration was not very evident during the initial phase of the Spiritual Qi Recovery, half a year had passed since then, and lately, Zhang Yanhang indeed noticed an increasing number of products related to Spirit Qi coming to market. Additionally, due to the hot topic of ’Spiritual Energy,’ these items generally had quite good sales figures.

Sensing that Zhou Muxi was currently focused on absorbing Yin Qi due to his Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil ability, Zhang Yanhang’s gaze inadvertently fell on Zhou Muxi’s feet, which appeared pale and tender despite being covered with flesh-colored tights.

Curious about a hunch, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but scratch the sole of her right foot with his finger. Upon noticing that this level of action elicited no reaction from her, he became bolder and rubbed her footsole a few times with his entire palm.

This time, Zhou Muxi finally reacted. She opened her eyes slightly and looked at Zhang Yanhang’s hand resting on her foot, her eyes filled with intense surprise. She didn’t understand what Zhang Yanhang was up to.

"You’re not going to tell me you’re trying to create some kind of ’Lucky Foot,’ are you? If that’s the case, this time please make it so that just by lifting my foot to walk, I can trigger fortuitous encounters. If not, then take your hand away; I’m focusing on absorbing Yin Qi, and getting distracted can lead to it dissipating and reducing its effectiveness."

After saying that, Zhou Muxi closed her eyes again and paid no further attention to Zhang Yanhang.

Having heard her, Zhang Yanhang thoughtfully stroked Zhou Muxi’s foot again and then held his hand in front of her nose, "Please tell me what scent you detect."

By the way, Zhou Muxi was after all a Third Tier Awakened, and while her professional skirt was slightly damp due to the weather, her feet were free of sweat, perfectly smooth and clean.

Zhou Muxi, who was focusing on absorbing Yin Qi, couldn’t help but sigh and looked helplessly at Zhang Yanhang. "You’re a post-2000s generation, but you’re also an adult now. Can you please be a bit less childish?"

"Please tell me what scent you detect," Zhang Yanhang insisted, still holding his hand in front of Zhou Muxi’s nose.

"Fine, fine, I’ll tell you, but you’re not to disturb me again afterward."

Zhou Muxi began to wonder if she was a little out of touch with the times. Could it be that the mode of communication after the post-2000s was really this bizarre? Moreover, she really couldn’t understand why there was a situation where one Awakener needed to coddle another like a big sister appeasing a little brother.

"Okay," Zhang Yanhang affirmed Zhou Muxi’s words.

"The main scent is mostly leather and a faint fragrance of flowers."

After saying that, Zhou Muxi kept her eyes firmly fixed on Zhang Yanhang’s face until he took his hand away. Then she closed her eyes again and continued to focus on absorbing Yin Qi.

After Zhou Muxi closed her eyes, Zhang Yanhang began to ponder something—that is, whether she had detected his presence last night.

Since such a minor thing now elicited clear perception from Zhou Muxi, there was no reason she shouldn’t have been aware of him last night. So why did she initiate conversation with him in the first place? It was puzzling.

But since he had already promised not to disturb her absorption of Yin Qi, Zhang Yanhang decided to wait until she finished before asking her about it.

"Never mind, I might as well finish eating this Dark Purple Quality ’Old Eight’s Secret Recipe Little Hamburger.’"

While speaking, Zhang Yanhang unfolded the tin foil wrapping the Little Hanbao and sniffed it, wanting to brace himself for what was to come.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yanhang did not detect the bad smell he had expected. Instead, he smelled a mix of leather and floral scents, surprisingly not too unpleasant. Of course, it wasn’t particularly nice either, but it wasn’t repellent—ah, no, that was Zhou Muxi’s foot’s scent, he had forgotten to wash his hands.

Realizing this, Zhang Yanhang promptly used his Energy Shield to cleanse his hands of the scent, then sniffed the Old Eight Secret Recipe Little Hamburger again. But it turned out even stranger this time, as he could not detect any scent at all.