Roast Rift Ruins Earth Dragon: On the Huaxia People's Love of Food

Figuring it was about time, Lin Qingchen flicked his finger. The water dragon flew straight into his mouth, and he swallowed it in one gulp.

He stretched and left his tent.

Meditation could put his mind and body in order, but it was no substitute for actual sleep. Fortunately, his physique was strong, and the Power of the Five Elements nourished him, so he felt no discomfort.

Outside, Osler and Yu Feng sat leaning against each other, tending the fire in front of them.

In a dangerous place like the Star Dou Great Forest, how could they possibly not leave people on night watch?

Qin Ming had arranged the order of the night watches right after they set up camp.

But considering that Lin Qingchen was new and Ye Lingling had just survived a life-and-death ordeal, Qin Ming had left them both off the watch out of concern for them.

At the moment, the pair of bickering frenemies, Osler and Yu Feng, were taking the last watch.

When Yu Feng saw Lin Qingchen come out, he abandoned the fire he had been tending in boredom and hurried over.

"Qingchen, you're up so early. Why not get some more rest?"

"No need. I feel full of life right now." Lin Qingchen shook his head and looked at the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon corpses lying nearby.

If he remembered correctly, although the Soul Master World had few records of the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon, they did happen to mention that the creature was edible and tasted quite good.

Besides, it was Thousand-Year Soul Beast meat, after all. No matter what, it couldn't be that bad.

At the thought, Lin Qingchen couldn't help swallowing.

All right, let's do it. A man is iron, and food is steel; miss one meal and hunger comes knocking. I've eaten dry rations every day, and my mouth's gone bland. Now I can treat myself to some meat.

With that, he pulled a short sword from his Storage Soul Tool and walked toward one of the Rift Ruins Earth Dragons.

"Hey, hey, Qingchen, where are you going? Don't go wandering off," Yu Feng hurriedly said.

"Don't worry. I'm staying right here."

Lin Qingchen brought his sword to the earth dragon's corpse and sliced through its skin with ease.

It was dead, after all, so its defenses had fallen considerably.

Though the creature looked much like an earthworm, it was a genuine dragon breed and had plenty of meat. Lin Qingchen soon carved out a large chunk.

Without another word, Lin Qingchen began roasting it over the campfire.

At the same time, he took a small box from his Storage Soul Tool and opened it to reveal all sorts of bottles and jars.

As the saying went, a true Huaxia person who didn't study farming and food was an absolute failure.

Though Lin Qingchen had transmigrated, he hadn't forgotten that fine tradition. The jars contained seasonings and spices he had recreated from memory over the years, more than enough for a meal of roasted meat.

"Whoa, Qingchen, you can cook? Looks like we're in for a treat today." Catching the scent of the meat, Yu Feng immediately came over, his eyes gleaming.

Even Osler looked over, but when he heard Yu Feng, he immediately scoffed. "Hmph, do you think everyone's like you, unable to do anything but talk tough?"

"Hmph! At least I can teach you a lesson!"

"Oh? I'd like to see you try..."

Lin Qingchen shook his head and went on tending the meat roasting in front of him.

"That smells amazing. What is it?"

"Little Brother Qingchen, I didn't expect you to know how to roast meat, let alone make it smell this good."

"..."

Before long, the others woke up one after another, seemingly drawn by the aroma of the roasting meat.

"You're all awake? Then let's eat." Lin Qingchen glanced at the meat. The timing was just right.

Qin Ming and the others didn't stand on ceremony. They each picked up a piece and dug in.

"Thank you..."

Ye Lingling murmured her thanks, then picked up a small piece of roast meat, removed her veil, turned around, and began eating in little bites.

Though it was only for an instant, Lin Qingchen still caught sight of the other half of her face beneath the veil.

She had a slender, graceful nose, and most importantly, a little cherry mouth. Paired with her fair skin and delicate, narrow face, she was unmistakably a cool beauty with a serene, solitary air.

After breakfast, Qin Ming swept up all the remaining uncooked meat with a wave of his hand and put it away.

"Next, we'll switch to finding suitable Soul Beasts for you, Qingchen. As you said, that means one Soul Beast each with the metal, wood, water, and fire attributes. As for Lingling, her Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul is rather special. As long as the Soul Beast she kills has life as its primary attribute, there's no need to worry about conflicting Soul Skills."

Qin Ming pondered briefly before making specific arrangements. "For now, we won't go any deeper. We'll search this area to avoid running into Soul Beasts we can't handle."

With that, he pointed in a direction.

As the leader of the Imperial Fighting Team, Yu Tianheng naturally took his place at the front, with the two Agility Attack System Soul Masters, Yu Feng and Osler, behind him on either side.

The brothers Shi Mo and Shi Mo took the two flanks, with Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan between them, while Lin Qingchen brought up the rear.

Qin Ming stayed in the center of the formation, ready to support the others.

The group searched for a day. Fortunately, the Star Dou Great Forest was unlike what it would be twenty thousand years later: there were still plenty of Soul Beasts here. Though finding a specific type of Soul Beast was difficult, finding some with particular attributes to make up the numbers wasn't all that hard.

In just one day, they successfully hunted a Sharp-Clawed Mountain-Piercing Beast over two thousand years old, a three-thousand-year-old Mysterious Water Ape, and a Flame Poison Lizard.

That left only a wood-attribute Soul Beast.

Ye Lingling's Soul Ring, however, remained nowhere in sight for the time being.

Life-attribute Soul Beasts were relatively rare to begin with, so they were bound to be harder to find.

That evening, the group enjoyed another meal of roasted meat before turning in.

The night watch went on as usual. Qin Ming took one shift with Ye Lingling, then kept watch with Yu Tianheng after she went to sleep.

Lin Qingchen was on the third shift, together with Dugu Yan.

"Qingchen, thank you for taking the watch. If anything happens, wake us immediately," Qin Ming said gently, patting Lin Qingchen on the shoulder.

"Mm, I understand."

"Don't worry, Teacher. It may be Junior Brother's first time, but I'm here too," Dugu Yan said with a grin.

"Yanzi, isn't this your first time out too? Don't pretend you know so much," Qin Ming said, mercilessly puncturing Dugu Yan's boast.

Dugu Yan's expression immediately turned reproachful. "Teacher, could you let me save a little face as his senior sister?"

"Do as you please, just don't go causing trouble." Qin Ming shook his head and ducked into the tent with Yu Tianheng.

As Dugu Yan's teacher, Qin Ming naturally knew her background. Though she rarely used her status to throw her weight around, she was no easy character to deal with.

Hopefully, she and Qingchen will get along.

Flames crackled and danced in the campfire, and Lin Qingchen simply set about comprehending the Law of Water.

But just then, a subtle fragrance suddenly wafted over.