Chapter 527: De Hongchen's Shock
If there were a restaurant whose dishes were unbelievably delicious—flavors you had never experienced anywhere else—and that restaurant was about to close forever, what would you do?
The answer was obvious: go one last time before it closed, and even order some of the expensive dishes you had previously hesitated to try.
After all, if you didn't eat them now, you might never get the chance again.
Because of this, Han Shi's business on its final day was exceptionally booming. Nearly every customer who entered ordered the most expensive dishes on the menu, stuffing themselves to the brim before reluctantly leaving.
Those who failed to get a seat could only sigh helplessly in disappointment.
There is no banquet in the world that never ends. No matter how unwilling the diners were to part with it, the day's business hours still slipped by at lightning speed.
The lunch service and dinner service both came to an end.
Thus, the thirtieth day of Qi Han running Han Shi in Mingdu City also came to a close.
He had already seen the notification for completing Main Quest 9, but Qi Han did not immediately open the reward screen. Before that, there were still two customers waiting for the special dishes he had personally prepared for them.
Slowly, he removed the finished Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat from the pot, carried it out of the kitchen, and gently placed it before De Hongchen.
"Grandpa De, this dish is called Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat. Please give it a try."
"Oh?"
Before the dish had even been set down, De Hongchen had already caught the incomparably rich aroma of meat. Unlike Dongpo Pork Knuckle, this fragrance had a unique flavor of its own, yet was even more enticing.
He eagerly looked toward the dish in Qi Han's hands, but the expression on his face suddenly froze slightly.
The moment the special dish called Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat was placed steadily before him, the surrounding spiritual energy began surging wildly.
Above the dish, it was as though a bottomless black hole had appeared, crazily devouring the surrounding spiritual energy, and De Hongchen could sense every detail of it with crystal clarity.
This was…
His expression began changing.
Then, as though he had realized something, a faint divine gleam flickered within De Hongchen's eyes.
…
On a nearby street not far from Han Shi, Ye Changhong—who had just finished dining at Han Shi and was walking back toward the Evileye Tyrant Spirit Engineer Legion camp while rubbing his stuffed stomach—suddenly halted in his tracks.
His expression changed instantly as he sharply turned toward Han Shi's direction.
That direction was… Han Shi?!
Why was there such an enormous fluctuation of heaven and earth energy coming from Han Shi?
Han Shi's final business day had already ended. The group from Douluo Continent might leave Mingdu City within the next few days.
And yet under such circumstances, such an abnormal phenomenon had occurred…
Something was wrong!
Without the slightest hesitation, he instantly soared into the sky.
On another street nearby, Zhao Zhiyuan's figure likewise shot into the air at the same moment.
The two exchanged a glance midair and were just about to head toward Han Shi when a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside their ears.
"No need to come over. This old man is already here."
The Imperial Tutor?
The two men were startled, immediately halting their movements.
Since the Imperial Tutor was there, the spiritual energy fluctuations were no longer surprising. Whatever had happened was still unclear, but there likely wasn't any real issue.
Thinking this, the two relaxed slightly. They snorted coldly at one another from afar before descending back to the ground.
…
Inside Han Shi's dining area, the phenomenon belonging to Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat—Celestial Light Illuminates the Heavenly Palace—slowly began fading away.
Meanwhile, De Hongchen and Meng Yun, who had never witnessed such a scene before, remained trapped in shock and silence.
Only after a long while did De Hongchen let out a sigh.
"This old man has heard of certain heavenly treasures displaying miraculous phenomena when they appear, but for a mere dish to produce such an incredible scene… this is truly the first time I've seen it."
"Calling such a dish a heavenly treasure would not be an exaggeration at all."
"Little Boss Qi, your culinary skill truly exceeds imagination."
Qi Han smiled shyly. "Grandpa De, please try it and see how it tastes."
"Alright, this old man is very much looking forward to it." De Hongchen chuckled, eagerly picking up his chopsticks and reaching toward the exquisitely arranged Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat, which resembled a blooming flower. Carefully, he picked up a portion and brought it close to his nose.
The pork skin was glossy and smooth, its yellowish-brown surface covered with fine granular textures that appeared especially crystalline under the light. Beneath the skin, the fatty layer was paler in color, yet narrower and firmer than ordinary fat, making it seem less greasy and far more enticing.
The lean meat, dark brown in color, spread open slightly, clearly revealing the intricate marbling of the pork belly to De Hongchen's eyes. Between every strand of texture, rich juices glimmered faintly in and out of sight, making one instinctively want to devour it immediately.
What unimaginable deliciousness must such a piece of meat contain?
Feeling the pure aroma of meat rushing toward him, De Hongchen sighed inwardly in admiration before decisively placing the meat into his mouth and chewing.
As he chewed, the uniquely crafted texture of Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat—completely different from ordinary meat dishes due to its special preparation—burst forth across his lips and tongue, causing his eyes to widen instantly.
Such deliciousness…
What a dish.
Soon, after swallowing the first bite, De Hongchen felt a strange energy spreading from his stomach throughout his limbs and body.
The so-called old hidden injury De Hongchen had mentioned before was actually just an excuse. As the most talented spirit tool genius in the empire, his life had always been smooth sailing, and he had rarely encountered real danger. There were no hidden injuries within his body at all.
However, there was one thing that every Spirit Engineer in the Sun Moon Empire could never avoid.
And that very thing just happened to be something Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat could dispel as well.
Pill toxin!
The improvement of Spirit Engineers' spirit power relied too heavily on the assistance of heavenly treasures, causing various forms of pill toxin to accumulate irreversibly within their bodies. In low-level Spirit Engineers, these toxins were not very obvious, but among high-level Spirit Engineers, the effects were extremely pronounced.
Once many Spirit Engineers surpassed level seventy, the benefits provided by heavenly treasures to their cultivation would greatly diminish, while their cultivation speed would become slower and slower. The accumulated pill toxins settling within their meridians caused them endless suffering.
And now, De Hongchen could clearly feel that the countless pill toxins built up within his body were actually beginning to dissolve and disappear under the effects of the Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat.
Just a single bite had already eliminated roughly ten percent of the pill toxins in his body. Even the cultivation bottleneck he had long believed impossible to break through now showed faint signs of loosening.
De Hongchen suddenly lifted his head and looked toward Qi Han, who had already returned to the kitchen and begun preparing the special dish intended for Meng Yun.
The impact of such a dish upon the Spirit Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire was simply too great.
So great that even De Hongchen briefly felt the urge to keep Qi Han in the Sun Moon Continent.
Of course, by "keep," he meant recruiting him—not killing him and burying him here.
But that thought only flashed through De Hongchen's mind for an instant.
Qi Han had deliberately cooked this dish for him before leaving, which clearly meant he knew the dish would help him.
Qi Han had already done him such an enormous favor, giving his seemingly impossible cultivation bottleneck a chance to break through again—yet he himself would repay kindness with ingratitude and force Qi Han to stay in the Sun Moon Continent?
De Hongchen could not bring himself to do such a thing.