Food Problem Resolved

After waiting for about ten minutes, the steaming-hot dishes were freshly served.

Qian Duoduo pulled Tang Wulin over to sit at the table and said warmly:

"Come on, dig in. I guarantee it tastes great."

Looking at the table full of delicacies, Tang Wulin's stomach began to growl, but he did not dare pick up his chopsticks.

"Um, Dean Qian, how much does this entire table of food cost?"

He had no doubts about the quality of the meal. The problem was that he wanted to know how many Gold Soul Coins he would owe Dean Qian after eating it.

What if this meal cost so much that he would have to work as a laborer for a whole year to pay it off? Then he would truly have nowhere to cry.

Qian Duoduo froze for a moment, then could not help laughing.

"You're quite cautious, kid. Don't worry, it's my treat. You don't have to pay."

At that moment, the chef called Little Lu walked out of the kitchen and said faintly:

"That's right. Any random dish on this table costs over a thousand Gold Soul Coins. Even if we made you pay, you couldn't afford it, so just eat without worrying."

"..."

Tang Wulin's face turned even paler.

Was that supposed to comfort him? That was supposed to comfort him, right?

Why did he keep feeling that after this meal, he would be working for Qian Duoduo for the rest of his life?

Qian Duoduo shot Little Lu a dissatisfied glare.

"Look at you, why are you butting in? You've frightened the child."

After saying that, he turned back to Tang Wulin and said kindly:

"Child, you don't need to worry. There's no such thing as a free lunch. It's good that you have that awareness. In fact, this lunch really isn't free. I hope that during your future studies, you can set aside some time every day to forge in the Soul Tool Testing Area. The finished products you forge must be handed over to the academy. In return, I'll cover every meal you eat. I guarantee the quality won't be any worse than today's meal. What do you think?"

"Whew."

Only then did Tang Wulin let out a sigh of relief.

A transaction with clearly stated terms was undoubtedly far more comfortable than inexplicable kindness. At least Tang Wulin knew Qian Duoduo was treating him so well for profit, rather than for some other reason.

Once he was sure there was no trick involved, Tang Wulin finally relaxed, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat.

The moment he put the first bite into his mouth, he was stunned.

Tang Wulin could only say that he had never eaten anything this good in his life.

The instant the food entered his mouth, boundless deliciousness erupted across his tongue. The lingering flavor filled every one of his taste buds, giving him an experience that felt like ascending to heaven.

Little Lu spoke again from the side.

"What you just ate was thousand-year Earth Dragon Meat. In order to make this dish, I—"

Before she could finish, Qian Duoduo impatiently waved his hand, signaling for her to shut up.

"Go on, stop listing the dishes. Neither Wulin nor I wants to hear it."

Little Lu could only close her mouth resentfully.

However, the information she had revealed was already enough to shock Tang Wulin.

Just as the Douluo Continent ten thousand years later possessed forging techniques that did not exist ten thousand years earlier, the Douluo Continent ten thousand years earlier also had something that was extremely scarce ten thousand years later.

Soul beasts.

In Tang Wulin's memories, before he traveled to this era, he had never once seen a real soul beast.

Even ordinary soul beasts were like that, let alone thousand-year soul beasts.

Only at this moment did he truly understand why Little Lu had said every dish on the table was worth more than a thousand Gold Soul Coins. Was he eating food? He was eating money!

Seeing Tang Wulin's stunned expression, Qian Duoduo secretly gave Little Lu an approving look.

Yesterday, while eating, he had mentioned Tang Wulin to Little Lu. So the instant he brought Tang Wulin here, Little Lu had guessed his identity.

The two of them had just been playing good cop and bad cop. Little Lu was responsible for listing the dishes and putting psychological pressure on Tang Wulin, while Qian Duoduo was responsible for scolding her and earning his favor.

They had only one reason for doing this: to do everything they could to improve Tang Wulin's impression of the Soul Engineering Department, so that when he made his choice in the future, he would be more inclined toward the Soul Engineering Department.

For that, let alone dishes worth several thousand Gold Soul Coins, as long as Tang Wulin agreed to join the Soul Engineering Department, Qian Duoduo would willingly stake all his possessions.

Tang Wulin was worth it.

Nothing else happened afterward, and Tang Wulin quickly finished his meal.

This time, he unusually did not eat much. It was not because he had controlled his appetite, but because he truly could not eat any more.

The energy contained in the food Qian Duoduo provided was simply incomparable to the food Tang Wulin usually ate. Any single dish was worth ten dishes from the student cafeteria.

Even so, he had cleaned out all five portions of food Little Lu had prepared for him. Such an appetite was undoubtedly very abnormal.

Qian Duoduo nodded in satisfaction.

"Mm, not bad. Young people should eat more."

Of course he felt the pinch. After all, he was not just paying for this one meal; from now on, all of Tang Wulin's food would have to be provided by him.

But these were necessary sacrifices. If Tang Wulin truly handed his forging techniques over to the Soul Engineering Department in the future, the benefits would be impossible to measure.

Tang Wulin lowered his head gratefully.

"Thank you, Dean Qian."

No matter what Qian Duoduo's purpose was, he had solved Tang Wulin's biggest problem at the moment.

Tang Wulin's impression of Qian Duoduo was now much better than it had been at first.

Qian Duoduo laughed heartily.

"Haha, it's nothing. No need to be so polite. You still have classes this afternoon, right? Are you going back to the dormitory?"

Tang Wulin thought for a moment.

"I should go back."

"Understood."

Qian Duoduo chuckled and placed a hand on Tang Wulin's shoulder.

Then came the familiar spinning sensation again. By the time his vision cleared, Tang Wulin was already standing outside the dormitory.

Qian Duoduo waved at him.

"Go in and rest. Don't forget to come forge again tomorrow."

"Yes."

Tang Wulin gave Qian Duoduo a slight bow, then walked into the dormitory.

This visit to the Soul Tool Testing Area had truly exceeded his expectations. Not only had his food problem been solved, but from now on, every meal he ate would be delicacies that could practically be called priceless. Before setting out, he had never dreamed things would go so smoothly.

He had a very good impression of Shrek now. Aside from Dai Huabin making him furious, both Wang Yan and Qian Duoduo had left him with excellent impressions.

He wondered how Wang Dong was doing. But Shrek's teaching resources were so good that the teacher in her class was surely excellent as well.

However, when he pushed open the dormitory door, what met Tang Wulin's eyes was Wang Dong's utterly lifeless face.

It felt like half her soul was about to drift out through her mouth.

"?"

A huge question mark appeared over Tang Wulin's head.

What was wrong with her?

Author's Note

It suddenly occurred to me that the reason Zhang Peng was originally judged to be an Evil Soul Master was because his cultivation required him to absorb soul beast blood.

Funny. I was thinking, there are plenty of meals in Shrek made with soul beast meat, and things like Secret Method Soul Bones too. They all harm soul beasts to strengthen themselves, so who is more noble than whom?

There, I've finished calling out their double standards.