Bai Ge Six Years Later (I)

After reaching an agreement with Madam Malena, Bai Ge successfully acquired a stake in Noble Hall.

Of course, Douluo Continent had no such concept as acquiring shares. That was merely how Bai Ge saw it.

In reality, Madam Malena and Bai Ge signed a contract. She was willing to give up thirty-five percent of Noble Hall's profits in exchange for Bai Ge teaching Noble Hall his exclusive culinary skills and cooking methods.

Thirty-five percent of the profits might not sound like much, but for Noble Hall, this ratio was already quite sincere.

That was because Noble Hall's profits did not all go into Madam Malena's pocket. A substantial portion had to be paid to the Soul Hunting Group behind her as funds for purchasing Spirit Beast corpses.

Another portion had to be used to bribe the officers of the troops stationed in the Soul Hunting Forest so that the Soul Hunting Group could bring Spirit Beast corpses out.

In the end, Madam Malena only received sixty to seventy percent of the profits herself. For Malena to be willing to give Bai Ge more than half of that was enough to demonstrate her sincerity.

After reaching an agreement with Noble Hall, Bai Ge's life became quite simple.

He basically traveled back and forth between Nuoding Academy and Noble Hall every day. Naturally, Noble Hall was not stingy enough to make Bai Ge walk there every day, and specifically assigned him a carriage.

Whenever Bai Ge was dismissed at noon or in the afternoon, the carriage would make a special trip to Nuoding Academy and wait right outside the academy's Main Gate. If Bai Ge wanted to go somewhere, he could take the carriage directly. If he did not, then he simply would not go. Once the time passed, the coachman would drive the carriage away.

And so, Bai Ge studied and cultivated while visiting Noble Hall whenever he had time to instruct them in cooking, or occasionally teach them how to conduct business more effectively.

Bai Ge had come from Earth, where commerce was highly developed. Although he had not been some great businessman in his previous life, even the things he had observed in everyday life were enough to guide this still-ancient world.

Setting aside everything else, just the membership card system and tiered package system had already allowed Noble Hall to rake in enormous profits. Having witnessed Bai Ge's methods, Malena treasured him even more.

Just like that, six years flashed by.

Over those six years, not only had Bai Ge's cultivation undergone earthshaking changes, rising from a level-fifteen Soul Master to a level-thirty-five Soul Elder, but the skills he possessed had changed just as dramatically.

Over those six years, Bai Ge obtained more than thirty Gacha Chances. Among them were four Gold Rank Lottery Chances, through which he drew a trait—or rather, a supernatural ability—from the Pokémon World: Poisonous Surge; a body-tempering cultivation method called Tiger Roar Dragon Chant Golden Bell Shield; a Nuclear Bomb Mushroom; and a Three-Minute Invincibility Card.

Although Poisonous Surge could not directly increase Bai Ge's combat power, it rendered him immune to all poisons and allowed him to gain a tremendous temporary boost in strength after being poisoned. Tiger Roar Dragon Chant Golden Bell Shield gave him defensive power no weaker than that of a Defense System Spirit Master of the Same Level during Martial Soul Possession. Finally, the Nuclear Bomb Mushroom and Three-Minute Invincibility Card gave Bai Ge the capital to establish himself in this world.

Even if the enemy were a Top-tier Titled Douluo, without any special Spirit Skills, they would still die to Bai Ge's Nuclear Bomb Mushroom and Three-Minute Invincibility Card combo.

Bai Ge obtained five Silver Rank Lotteries. He drew a Gravity Chamber for training the body, Alchemy Mastery from a Pill Master in a high-martial world, a Space Ring with a capacity of one thousand cubic meters, a Spirit Ring conversion skill from the Pokémon World called Giga Drain, and a special skill/cultivation-method enhancement card.

Compared with the Gold Rank Lotteries, the Silver Rank Lotteries gave Bai Ge neither a powerful supernatural ability like Poisonous Surge nor decisive abilities like the Nuclear Bomb Mushroom and Three-Minute Invincibility Card, but they greatly expanded his foundations.

To say nothing of anything else, just the alchemy notes from a Pill Master in a high-martial world gave Bai Ge many methods for refining martial-arts-level Pills, such as Essence Pills to replenish stamina, Qi Replenishing Pills to replenish Internal Energy, Marrow Cleansing Pills for cleansing the meridians and marrow, and Detoxification Pills.

What was more, he perfectly combined the medicinal knowledge of countless herbs gained from the alchemy notes with his Grandmaster Culinary Skill, creating Medicinal Cuisine that could increase Soul Masters' cultivation through dietary nourishment.

After creating Medicinal Cuisine, Bai Ge immediately worked with Malena to establish a tiered system for Noble Hall's dishes, combining it with the membership card system that had already been introduced.

Ordinary membership cards allowed customers to enjoy regular feasts at Noble Hall, which consisted only of ordinary delicacies. The higher Gold Rank Membership Card allowed customers to enjoy Spirit Beast Feasts made from Spirit Beast meat. Spirit Beast meat was highly nutritious and could nourish the body and improve one's complexion if eaten regularly. Above the Gold Rank Membership Card was the Diamond Membership Card. To obtain one, a person had to be both extremely wealthy and a Soul Master. Only Diamond Membership Card holders could enjoy Noble Hall's highest-grade Medicinal Cuisine.

Medicinal Cuisine was not simply made by throwing herbs and food together in a stew. It required a perfect grasp of the medicinal properties of both ingredients and herbs, combining them flawlessly. Not only could it strengthen the body and improve one's complexion, but if the herbs and Spirit Beast meat used were sufficiently high-grade, it could even increase a Soul Master's cultivation. Even when it could not directly increase cultivation, it could still promote it.

However, Medicinal Cuisine was far too difficult to prepare. After all, requiring a chef to cook while perfectly timing the addition of suitable herbs was asking far too much. Therefore, only Bai Ge could make it.

That was precisely why Bai Ge set the threshold for Diamond Membership Cards so high. After all, if everyone could obtain one and demanded that he make Medicinal Cuisine for them every day, would he have any time left to cultivate?

Even after Bai Ge raised the difficulty of obtaining a Diamond Membership Card to the utmost limit, he also restricted opportunities for Diamond Card holders to request Medicinal Cuisine. Each Diamond Membership Card holder could only apply once per month to enjoy it. Yet even so, Bai Ge's business still could not keep up with demand.

Within Nuoding City, the biggest customers for Bai Ge's Medicinal Cuisine were the Dean of Nuoding Academy and Nuoding City's City Lord, Xiao Kuang. After all, these two were the strongest Two Soul Masters in Nuoding City, aside from Malena.

However, Malena was one of their own. Whenever Bai Ge made Medicinal Cuisine for himself, she would sneak over like a cat that had smelled fish. As a result, half of the Medicinal Cuisine Bai Ge made for himself often ended up in Malena's stomach.

Thanks to Medicinal Cuisine, Bai Ge also developed a deep friendship with the Dean of Nuoding Academy. Not long after Medicinal Cuisine was introduced, just two years later, Bai Ge moved out of Nuoding Academy and built a residence on the outskirts of Nuoding City.

Because of his relationship with the Dean, Bai Ge retained his student status at Nuoding Academy even after moving out.

Every Nuoding City Primary Soul Master Academy Exchange Tournament was a perfect opportunity for Bai Ge to farm Gacha Chances. He was unwilling to lose that just like that.