"The hall master has ordered that his grade-B medicinal meals be upgraded to grade A from now on."
Not long after Wang Hao arrived at the dining hall, 9527, the cold and aloof male god he hadn't seen in ages, appeared in a flash and coolly delivered Zhao Fengxue's new order to Chef Li.
Wang Hao's performance today had been sufficiently outstanding, and his ability to forge with divine-grade materials like scarlet gold had greatly increased his value. On top of that, Zhao Fengxue had won a million taels of silver from his archenemy Fu Lin today and was in an excellent mood, so he had decided to improve Wang Hao's treatment.
In any case, a grade-A medicinal meal cost only a hundred taels of silver. One a day would amount to just a few hundred thousand taels a year, which was quite a bargain compared with the million he had already won and the three million he would soon receive.
"What? Grade-A medicinal meals? That's too..."
Chef Li was badly startled. His face drained of color, and he prepared to reveal the truth.
The grade-B medicinal meals were one thing. Even if Wang Hao's portions were a little large, each meal cost at most ten thousand taels of silver. But if they switched to grade A, each meal would cost several hundred thousand taels.
He really couldn't handle that expense!
If Zhao Fengxue discovered it when the accounts were settled at the end of the year, he would likely skin him alive.
"Uncle Li, my appetite seems to have grown lately. How about changing my three meals a day to ten? Oh, right, I like your cooking, Uncle Li. From now on, you can personally prepare every meal of mine."
The moment Chef Li opened his mouth, Wang Hao cut him off and shot him a threatening look. Chef Li was so frightened that he nearly fell on his backside and didn't dare say another word.
What a joke. Preparing three meals a day for Wang Hao had nearly worked him to death already. If he had to do it ten times a day, there would be ten deaths and no chance of survival.
Even so, mindful of Zhao Fengxue's authority, Chef Li offered a veiled reminder.
"9527, we've been using up quite a lot of ingredients and medicinal herbs lately. Sorry for the trouble, but could you let the higher-ups know?"
Unfortunately, Chef Li had picked the wrong person. The cold male god failed to grasp his meaning and merely replied, "I'll tell them to give you their full cooperation."
With that, 9527 turned and headed out, pausing as he passed Wang Hao.
"Fu Lin has secretly contacted Han Long. He'll finance Han Long's efforts to break through to the Super-First-Rate realm as soon as possible."
Wang Hao's face went cold, but he soon smiled at 9527 as the man continued toward the exit.
"Thanks!"
Clearly, 9527 had come specifically to bring him that information.
"Uncle Li, you haven't been good!"
Only after 9527 had disappeared completely did Wang Hao turn his gaze to Chef Li, his expression sinister and vicious.
Thud!
"Brother Hao, you have to understand my difficulties too. If this keeps up, I really can't bear it!"
Chef Li's legs gave out, and he fell straight to his knees. He explained with a miserable look on his face; he really was in a difficult spot!
"Forget it. Just this once. If anything like this happens again, I'll ask the hall master to assign you to me as my personal chef. You'll be making every meal I eat from then on."
Wang Hao considered himself a kindhearted person. Having no choice, he could only forgive the fat chef, though he also gave him a stern warning.
"I won't! I won't!"
Chef Li nodded hastily, as though granted a pardon, while lamenting inwardly.
Hall master, I've done my best!
In any case, he had given his warning and done his duty. Whether the hall master noticed the irregularity in time was no longer his concern.
"Ding-dong! The heroine of the age, Dongfang Bai, has appeared within ten li of the host. Host, please be advised!"
As Wang Hao was stuffing himself with food and drink, Xiao Mengmeng's mischievous voice suddenly rang out in his mind. The contents of the alert gave him a terrible fright.
"Miss Dongfang is here?"
Wang Hao was so startled that he nearly sprayed the medicinal food from his mouth.
The news was simply too shocking.
Could Miss Dongfang have learned he was alive and come after him to kill him?
Wang Hao couldn't help but worry about that possibility. He had only been in the capital for a little over half a month, and then Miss Dongfang had come after him. He couldn't believe there was no connection.
With his current strength, if he truly ran into Dongfang Bai, who was at Peak Super-First-Rate, he would be finished in a single move.
"Don't worry, Uncle. From what I can sense, Sister Dongfang's killing intent isn't very strong. She probably didn't come for you. Besides, this is a good chance for you to approach Miss Dongfang. You might even trigger some side quests!"
Xiao Mengmeng comforted Wang Hao while offering him a pointer.
Dongfang Bai's arrival was both a crisis and a fortuitous opportunity. It all depended on how Wang Hao handled it.
"Side quests? That's possible too?"
Wang Hao was taken aback, then grew interested.
"The system itself exists in this world with the heroine of the age as its foundation, so it responds to anything that benefits her. If you can ask Sister Dongfang what she wishes for, Uncle, the system will generate a corresponding side quest, with a generous reward of Fortune Points!"
Xiao Mengmeng explained with a smile, her words full of temptation.
"Fortune Points! Damn it, I'm in!"
Sure enough, Wang Hao's eyes lit up at the mention of a Fortune Point reward, but he immediately began to fret again.
"How should I get close to Miss Dongfang?"
Rubbing his chin, Wang Hao racked his brains.
"Hm?"
As he pondered, a familiar aroma of wine suddenly reached him. It was the Drunken Immortal Tower's specialty-Drunken Immortal Brew!
Looking up, Wang Hao saw Chef Li pouring some Drunken Immortal Brew from a jar into the thick soup before him.
He knew the soup. It was one of the Drunken Immortal Tower's signature dishes, and Drunken Immortal Brew was needed to blend its flavors.
"I've got it!"
Wang Hao polished off the dishes on the table in a few quick bites, then strode over, picked up the wine jar Chef Li was about to seal and put away, and took it with him.
"Huh?"
Behind him, Chef Li stared blankly at Wang Hao's rapidly departing figure. He opened his mouth but didn't dare stop him.
There was nothing he could do. He really couldn't afford to offend such a vicious diner!
"Stop looking around so sneakily. There's nobody else here."
Elder Chu, who was dozing in the Martial Repository Pavilion, spoke without raising his head. His words were directed at Wang Hao, who stood outside the door looking around.
"Hehe..."
Wang Hao wasn't embarrassed at being found out. Chuckling, he walked in and set the jar, still more than half full of Drunken Immortal Brew, on the table before Elder Chu with a thump. He smiled ingratiatingly. "Elder Chu, I brought some local specialty. Have a taste!"
"Such a big jar of local specialty! You really are a promising lad, much better than that stingy brat Dachui!"
At the scent of Drunken Immortal Brew, Elder Chu straightened up like lightning. He hugged the wine jar and sniffed its contents with an enraptured expression.
This lad really was promising, much better than that miser Zhao Dachui.
In truth, Elder Chu was being unfair to Zhao Dachui. The Blood Robe Tower's rules were strict to begin with, and bringing things in from outside was difficult, even for Zhao Dachui, Zhao Fengxue's son.
Back then, Zhao Dachui could only conceal a small flask of fine wine on his person and sneak it over each time.
On top of that, Zhao Dachui didn't have much spare money, and his father and older sister kept a tight rein on him, so naturally the wine he brought wasn't particularly high-grade.
Wang Hao was different. He didn't have to bring wine in from outside himself; he could just take it from Chef Zhao. It cost him nothing and spared him all that trouble.
"Go on, which martial art do you want, lad?"
Elder Chu took another deep breath of the wine's aroma and suppressed the urge to drink his fill right away. Then he looked up at Wang Hao.
He knew the lad wouldn't rise early without a profit to be made. Since he had brought such a large helping of Drunken... local specialty, he had to want something.
And the only things in the Martial Repository Pavilion worth scheming for were the martial arts.
"I can't hide anything from you, Elder Chu. I'd like to ask you for a disguise art that can temporarily change my build and appearance."
Rubbing his hands together, Wang Hao revealed his true purpose.
That was right. His earlier idea had been to use a disguise to alter his face and build, then approach Miss Dongfang in a different guise and trigger a side quest.
After all, his face and build were far too distinctive. If he appeared before her as he was, she would surely recognize him at a glance and cut him down with a single sword stroke. A powerful disguise art was therefore essential.
The Martial Repository Pavilion was the only place in the entire Blood Robe Tower where he could find the martial art he wanted, so naturally he had brought a local specialty to visit this big shot.
"That's true. Your build really stands out too much. It makes you a little unfit to be an assassin. How about this? In my early years, I created a martial art called the Thousand Faces Divine Technique. The first half can be used without internal force, so it suits you. Wait here; I'll go look for it."
Elder Chu was a straightforward man. Since he had accepted Wang Hao's local specialty, he naturally had to take care of the matter for him.
He sized up Wang Hao's extremely burly frame, then rose and went upstairs to look for the Thousand Faces Divine Technique.
Before long, he came back down with a booklet and tossed it to Wang Hao. "The usual rules: memorize it within one hour, and don't damage the manual itself."
"Elder Chu, this isn't just a First-Rate martial art, is it?"
Wang Hao opened the manual and glanced at it. He immediately found it unfathomably profound, far more so than the External Training Golden Bell Shield. The latter half also mentioned methods for circulating Acquired True Qi several times.
Clearly, it wasn't a First-Rate martial art, but an Acquired Grandmaster-level one.
"Of course it isn't a First-Rate martial art. It's just a Third-Rate martial art I casually created in my early years. There's no need to record it in your file, either."
Elder Chu offered the casual explanation, then carefully lifted the jar of Drunken Immortal Brew, poured himself a small cup, and savored it with relish.
"That's possible too?"
Wang Hao listened in stunned silence, then was overjoyed. He hurriedly began reading and studying the Thousand Faces Divine Technique.
He simply forced himself to memorize the later section concerning the circulation of True Qi, focusing instead on the first half. It was a Secret Method that used force to temporarily alter the muscles and bones.
Wang Hao was no weakling now. With his experience using force inherited from his previous life in the Primordial Wilderness, as well as the powerful control over force he had gained lately by training with the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, he quickly learned the Secret Method.
Half an hour later, amid a violent grinding of bones, Wang Hao's frame forcibly shrank by a chi, from its original nine chi to eight.
Though eight chi was still tall, it was no longer particularly conspicuous. Quite a few people were that height.
That wasn't all. As the Secret Method operated, the muscles on his body contracted under his control of force. Before long, Wang Hao had become a tall, lean young man with a fairly heroic appearance.
"Thank you, Elder Chu. I'll be sure to bring another local specialty when I visit you another day!"
Wang Hao was delighted to have achieved a passable mastery of the Secret Method. After returning the manual to Elder Chu, he happily strode away.
"He reached the threshold of mastery in the Thousand Faces Divine Technique in just half an hour. He really is a little monster!"
Elder Chu, too, marveled at Wang Hao's progress. Back then, he had endured considerable hardship to create the Secret Method, spending a full ten years perfecting it.
Yet now the lad had learned it in half an hour, leaving him with a bitter feeling.
Elder Chu didn't know Wang Hao's true purpose. Otherwise, if he learned that Wang Hao was using the divine technique he had created through such painstaking effort to pick up women, he would surely slap the fellow to death.