Chapter 9: Gold Coins Are Required
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yu Meng was astonished, but before she could finish her sentence, her wand emitted a dazzling light. It was a light that only emitted when her magic staff received the maximum amount of magic energy.
Then, Yu Meng stood up with a determined expression on her face. She raised her magic staff and shouted, “Freezing Light!”
With the sound of her voice, her magic staff shot out a pale blue light that instantly froze the water in front of her!
Yu Meng was surprised and looked down at her hands. She felt that the magic energy in her body was still surging.
“Such strong magic energy, I… Have I recovered all of it?”
Everyone was speechless, and the panicking Lewis was also left dumbfounded.
Lin Qi had never used that Magic Sweet Potato before. He had not expected that Yu Meng would recover most of her magic energy after just a few bites.
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Sure enough, the gourmet system was certainly useful. Although on the surface, it was completely different from the other great systems, it was still quite reliable during critical moments.
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“Lin Qi, what… Is this thing?” Yu Meng quickly turned around and asked.
Naturally, Lin Qi would not tell her that the Magic Sweet Potato was taken from his system. Instead, he calmly replied, “It’s a sweet potato!”
“Impossible, how can sweet potatoes have this kind of magic energy recovery effect?”
After listening, Lewis immediately asked, “What? You have mana-restoring artifacts?”
Mana-restoring artifacts were very important to mages no matter where they were, especially for some high-level mages. That was because they often used high-level magic, which meant that they had to pay special attention to their supply of magic energy. They had to constantly replenish their mana, which was another term for magic energy causing them to carry a lot of mana-restoring artifacts with them.
Those artifacts could not be bought casually. Instead, they had to be obtained in the Mystic Forest’s spring. However, only a few could be taken at a time. Moreover, the Mystic Forest was an incredibly dangerous place, so only certain high-level mages could enter. If that is true, then how did a person like Lin Qi, who was not even a mage, obtain these sweet potatoes that are capable of restoring mana?
Everyone was puzzled. As for Lin Qi, he simply shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “Alright, don’t look at me like that. Hurry up and get moving, or else the ice will melt again!”
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With that, everyone safely crossed the river. Yu Meng was indebted to Lin Qi again, which made her very unhappy. However, ever since she ate the sweet potato, her heart had been yearning to eat another. Even so, she was too embarrassed to tell Lin Qi.
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Lewis was even more conflicted. He wanted to make fun of Lin Qi a few more times, but he was also rescued by him twice, which ruined his image.
After walking for more than an hour, everyone seemed to be a little tired, so they sat down and rested for a while.
Lin Qi also began resting until he suddenly a voice inside his head.
[ Ding! You have gained the maximum amount of experience in the Super Gourmet System. The host can choose to level up! ]
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[ Ding! After leveling up, the Super Gourmet System’s special recipes will be unlocked: Magic Stir-fried Bullfrog, Flaming Swirl Roasted Chicken, Refreshing Drink. ]
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Hearing that the system could level up excited Lin Qi. He was reminded that the system was a gastronomic system which meant leveling up gives him access to valuable dishes that could benefit him.
Lin Qi selected the upgrade option, but it suddenly displayed a text box informing him that the upgrade was unsuccessful.
He did not understand what went wrong. He then noticed that he required a large number of gold coins to upgrade his system.
With that, he understood.
Lin Qi looked at the gold coins in his pocket, and his heart dropped.
He had nowhere near enough. If he wanted to upgrade, he had to find a way to get some money fast.
When everyone was well-rested, the young heirs continued on their journey. After passing through the forest on the opposite side of the river, they arrived at a small city.
Chi Zhong City.
It was a small city, and it was also the place where the young heirs of the three families could replenish their supplies. The guards went to get some provisions, while Lin Qi was thinking of how he would get that much money in such a short amount of time.
He walked to the supplies booth and realized that the number of gold coins that the Lin family had provided for him was insufficient. It was not even enough to pay half the cost to upgrade the system.
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That made him feel troubled, and his brows furrowed as he thought about how he could earn money.
Just then, a delicious scent wafted through the air, and he took a deep breath.
“Hmm? It’s the smell of pork!”
He looked in the direction of the smell and saw that there was a food street. There were not many decent restaurants in the city, but there were quite a few food stalls.
Many guards were spending their money to buy food there, especially Lewis’s guards. They were going to buy some grilled meat.
Lin Qi walked over and looked around. These small businesses were offering simple food, such as roasted chicken, roasted suckling pig, fresh vegetables…
Those were the easiest dishes to cook. All they did was roast the meat and cook the vegetables for people to eat.
“Is… Is this all you people eat?” Lin Qi could not help but criticize.
Lewis came over and said coldly, “It’s already enough that we even have food to eat, but you’re still out here complaining.”
Lin Qi bought a roasted drumstick. After taking a bite, he found that the drumstick did not have any seasoning at all, and it was hard to swallow.
Moreover, the price of the drumstick was even more outrageous. It was sold for ten silver coins!
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In the midst of his grumbling, he suddenly had an idea. Looking at the drumstick that he took a bite of, his eyebrows furrowed.
‘Wait… If such an unappetizing drumstick is sold for ten silver coins then if I sell the delicacies in the gourmet system, won’t I make a fortune?’
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Lin Qi was not all that interested in making profits from his system, but he wanted to level up the system as soon as possible. After all, he could unlock better ingredients and recipes in the future.
‘Okay! Let’s do it!’
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Lin Qi checked his Super Gourmet System and found that he was only level one, so he could only choose to make relatively simple dishes.
For example, Grilled Steak, Magic Beef Brisket with Radish, Baked Magic Sweet Potatoes, Dark Night Beef Tendons…
Those were all dishes that could be completed in one process. Although it was very simple, he had his own seasoning, which was much better than those tasteless drumsticks.
Soon, Lin Qi found a place to set up a stall and began to prepare it.
The dishes could be directly taken out of the system, but he had to be put on a show so that no one would grow suspicious of his actions.
He currently had ten gold coins, and he wanted to use these gold coins to buy a stall.
“Sir, will you sell this stall to me?”
Lin Qi asked the owner of the roasted drumstick stall.
“Oh? Are you interested in taking over this stall?”
“Yes. Name your price!”
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The owner of that stall had not made any money since he started his business there because of his illness. He felt relieved by just hearing that someone was willing to take over his stall.
After all, there were too many competitors in the food street.. His culinary skills alone were not enough to attract customers.