Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 273 - 13: 90 tons! Wu Zhiqi

Chapter 273: Chapter 13: 90 tons! Wu Zhiqi

“You look in good spirits.”

Li Yan, with his shoulders hugged, said to Cha Xiaodao across the table.

“Hey, not bad. I wanted to invite you guys to my place, but with all this going on, my restaurant is too chaotic to stretch your legs, so I brought you here instead. Try this, beef meatballs hand-beaten, dense and chewy.”

Cha Xiaodao handed Li Yan and Lady Dan their sauce dishes and chopsticks, then added, “As your host now that you’re in Jinhai, this meal’s on me. Don’t fight me on this.”

The hotpot place was bustling, with diners sweating profusely as they dug in. It was a bit chaotic but the atmosphere was very lively.

The meatballs in the strainer turned white from the boiling and were fragrant when eaten. Li Yan picked up a few with his chopsticks and looked up to ask, “When can you make Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?”

...

Caught off guard by Li Yan’s directness, Cha Xiaodao hesitated before answering, “I can make it today.”

“I don’t want any bullshit from you,” Li Yan put down his chopsticks. “And don’t you go getting all sentimental on me.”

Cha Xiaodao fiddled with the plate, dropping meatballs into the broth with plopping sounds, then corralled them with a strainer, only then saying to Li Yan, “An old enemy, I just dealt with him yesterday—cleanly, no loose ends.”

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The usually silent Lady Dan suddenly spoke up, “Did he do wrong? Or was it you?”

Li Yan glanced awkwardly at Cha Xiaodao.

“All I can say is…” Xiaodao appeared calm, reaching for the sesame sauce bowl: “My conscience is clear.”

Lady Dan grunted, passing the bowl to Xiaodao, “Just asking, don’t take it to heart.”

“Ha-ha~” Cha Xiaodao laughed it off, breaking the somewhat stiff atmosphere, “Actually, I’m quite curious about how you two met. Your relationship with Li Yan doesn’t seem subservient—pardon my frankness. I’ve seen Yan Fu Fruit creatures accompanying others before, but you, you’re different.”

“Oh, I thought Li Yan was a subordinate general of the Great Ming at that time, with a woman in a black jacket following him…”

“Another woman?!”

Cha Xiaodao stood up, eyes wide in surprise.

“Uhh…” Li Yan interrupted Lady Dan, and looking up at a server clearing dishes nearby, he said, “That… miss, could we have some more soup, please?”

Cha Xiaodao shot a glance at Li Yan and went back to eating noisily.

…

After they finished eating, Cha Xiaodao, familiar with the restaurant’s owner, had borrowed a stove early on. At this time, having finished their meal, Xiaodao called over the Master overseeing the fire, took over himself, and after about twenty minutes using hard-to-come-by South Seas ingredients he had gathered, served Buddha Jumps Over the Wall at the table.

Steam rose from the blue and white porcelain serving, with pale yellow shark’s fin beside it and black sea cucumber.

[Buddha Jumps Over the Wall]: After consumption, enhances Yan Fu walker’s Awakening Degree by 5%, requires precious ingredients, effective for Yan Fu inheritance with an Awakening Degree below 69%.

“It’s so small. That’s like one bite.”

Li Yan picked up a piece with his chopsticks.

“If it were filling, why would I have brought you for beef hotpot?”

As he spoke, Cha Xiaodao fetched another portion from the stove, a total of five servings.

“Each one 5%, I’m giving you quite a deal here—you take three, I’ll take two,” Xiaodao suggested.

Without any objections, Li Yan simply asked, “You mentioned handling the next Yan Fu incident yourself—what exactly is the situation?”

“It is one of the higher-ranking fruits on the Jia Yin Axis. This fruit is quite interesting; the status of a chef is very high. When I was there, I got a very lucky evaluation. I can enter once more, and this time, with my greatly increased strength, I want to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Cha Xiaodao said this, and Li Yan was suddenly reminded that, in addition to the right to enter the “Taishuai” fruit once more, Yu Shu had also given him a key to one of the Yan Fu fruits, cautioning him not to rush into it. Now, it seemed the right time.

Moreover, regarding Judy…

Li Yan inexplicably glanced at Lady Dan.

For some reason, Lady Dan, who usually didn’t take anything to heart, was particularly sensitive this time: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

Li Yan calmed his mind.

Since the record of the fruit existed, it meant there would definitely be a chance to enter it again in the future, so he was not in a hurry. Thinking this, Li Yan glanced at the television hanging on the wall.

“Don’t be anxious about things that haven’t happened.”

The greasy man on screen said with all seriousness, “When you’re new to the job market, everyone must remember…”

“Hehehe~”

Li Yan shook his head with a wry smile.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

Cha Xiaodao asked.

Li Yan didn’t speak, but instead took out the inheritance he had retrieved from Yan Fu the night before. It wasn’t a scroll, but a small, soft, red fragment, dazzling in color.

He hadn’t obtained Lord of the Xiang River, but instead got Wu Zhiqi. Li Yan had checked and found out that Zhao Jianzhong hadn’t been dishonest; in fact, in terms of ranking, Wu Zhiqi might even be above Lord of the Xiang River.

There are only two things that need to be said about Wu Zhiqi. First, it is a Huaiwo Water God, wreaking havoc and considered a rare monster during the time of Emperors Yao and Shun. Second, during the Republic of China, there were scholars who proved that Wu Zhiqi was in fact the prototype for Sun Wukong in the ‘Journey to the West’!

Although Wu Zhiqi belongs to the category of Luo, one of the Five Insects, and not the Five Immortals, it wasn’t a significant issue.

Cha Xiaodao was now in the Five Immortals Category. Putting aside the previous preferential treatment he mentioned, the only additional privilege he could extract from Yan Fu was that when reaching the “Nine Luminaries” level, he would be able to conduct assessments for the new practitioners of the “Ten Cities.” Besides that, he would also have a chance to meet some walkers he hadn’t seen before. At least, Cha Xiaodao himself didn’t think it was of much use. Moreover, with Zhao Jianzhong’s words, Li Yan didn’t regret it too much.

Inheritance: Blood of Wu Zhiqi·Calamity Spirit

Wu Zhiqi, with its white hair and long mane, snowy teeth and golden claws, stormed onto the land, towering about five Zhang. It squatted like an ape, but its eyes could not open, as if it were in a daze. Water flowed from its eyes and nose like a fountain, and its spittle was foul, making it impossible for people to approach. After a while, it stretched and yawned, suddenly opening its eyes, shining like lightning.

— From the “Taiping Guangji”.

Wu Zhiqi’s Revival Degree: 9%/100% (The inheritance is closely related to the walker’s fortunes; increasing the revival degree will enhance the walker’s lifespan and physical condition. Fully reviving the inheritance will double the lifespan.)

The owner gains a permanent solidified state: Calamity Spirit

[Calamity Spirit]: Enhances the owner’s water vapor manipulation ability by 90%. This ability will to some extent affect the movement of water vapor and can be combined with higher-quality water control abilities within certain fruits.

[Calamity Wave]: Wu Zhiqi often brings about floods, and the walker is able to store a certain amount of water vapor within their body. Current storage limit: 90 tons.

Note: In some people’s hands, Wu Zhiqi possesses the power to cause landslides and tsunamis, but in others, it is merely a lifetime’s worth of bathing water.

Li Yan crushed the blood clump, and a refreshing coolness washed over him. Suddenly, in front of his eyes, an aggressive white ape rushed at him, headlong into a mountain of ice, vanishing in an instant— the entire process was incredibly fast, much less any rejection his body felt compared to when he used the Gu Huo Bird inheritance!