Chapter Eight: Introduction to Culinary Arts

The transaction completed, although he hadn’t managed to obtain the knife he truly desired, he still ended up with some extra Paradise Coins. In any case, the purpose of his outing was more or less fulfilled. As their deal concluded, the surrounding onlookers dispersed one after another.

Muruo Xun did not linger. Instead, he hurried to the market, wandering about for quite a while before finally purchasing twenty sets of ingredients for making ramen. Each set cost twenty coins—the lowest price he could secure after careful selection. After all, this wasn’t a wholesale rate; buying retail was inevitably more expensive.

At this moment, Muruo Xun couldn’t afford to worry about such things. He invested all four hundred coins he’d just acquired, determined to hone his culinary skills.

Mixing dough, pulling noodles, seasoning—as a novice, none of it came easily, and he could only learn bit by bit. Fortunately, his team had some basic cooking experience, so getting started wasn’t too difficult.

Soon, the first finished bowl appeared before him.

[Failed Healing Ramen: As a beginner, it must be said, you’ve thoroughly disgraced the name of chef.]

[Rating: No stars]

[Effect: Causes relentless diarrhea upon consumption, with continuous loss of health for the duration.]

Seeing this notification, even Muruo Xun’s usually impassive face showed a hint of stunned awkwardness.

Poor appearance was one thing, but side effects? What did that mean?

Still, he kept this first-ever bowl of ramen he had made. He wasn’t discouraged by a single failure; in fact, he was prepared for many more.

He pressed on, making another bowl—only for it to turn out just like the first, with the same negative effect.

With each attempt, Muruo Xun’s energy steadily depleted. Each batch required five points of energy, but since he could recover naturally, it wasn’t a major issue.

It wasn’t until his eighth try that he finally succeeded.

[Beginner Healing Ramen: The work of a novice chef, humble in level, but infused with sincere effort!]

[Rating: No stars]

[Effect: Offers a faint healing effect, the true benefit of which can only be experienced firsthand!]

The critique was harsh, but to Muruo Xun, it was still a significant step forward. By now, he had reached level three in the beginner class, granting him a slight boost to his cooking.

He pressed on, making batch after batch, each time improving. On the thirteenth attempt, he finally broke through again.

[Healing Ramen: A bowl with notable healing properties, the result of a pitiful soul’s extraordinary effort.]

[Rating: One star]

[Effect: Gradually restores a certain amount of health over the next ten minutes.]

After that, things became simpler—he just kept making ramen, one after another. Unfortunately, after using up all twenty sets of ingredients and leveling up further, there were no more breakthroughs.

Muruo Xun ended up with seven failed healing ramen, five beginner healing ramen, and eight one-star healing ramen.

He had expected losses, so the outcome was acceptable. Having used up all his ingredients and expended a hundred points of energy, it was time to recover.

He went out and sold all twenty bowls of ramen. To his surprise, they were quite popular. After asking around several stalls, he sold them to the highest bidder: ten coins per failed bowl, twenty for the beginner variety, and forty for the one-star. Although ramen had healing properties, it didn’t offer instant recovery like potions did, so forty coins was already a fair price—resellers had to make a profit, after all.

Muruo Xun didn’t have time to sell them himself, so this arrangement suited him fine. In the end, he spent four hundred coins on ingredients, and after selling the ramen, broke even at four hundred coins. He hadn’t lost or gained anything.

What he hadn’t expected was that the failed ramen sold for more than the regular kind.

With the proceeds, he bought more ingredients to keep practicing. Now that his level had increased, failure was no longer an issue. Out of twenty attempts, only two were regular ramen, with eighteen turning out one-star. This time, he earned a profit of three hundred and twenty coins.

Though he made money, Muruo Xun soon realized his energy reserves were insufficient. He only had two hundred and thirty points total, and two rounds of cooking had consumed two hundred. With natural recovery at just 4.6 points per hour, he was left with only about fifty.

After forty consecutive rounds, Muruo Xun felt utterly exhausted. After an entire day of effort, fatigue caught up with him, so he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.

The next day, after his energy had partially recovered, he made another twenty servings, stopping once he had used up most of his energy.

Now, with a thousand coins at hand, it was time for him to start getting accustomed to his newly acquired Tang Sword, so he could familiarize himself with this style of combat.

In simulated combat, his state could be elevated to its peak, so even with little energy remaining, he was unaffected.

The Tang Sword he acquired had no name, and its attributes were straightforward.

[Tang Sword: The pinnacle of weapon craftsmanship from a certain ancient dynasty!]

[Equipment Quality: Blue Extreme]

[Equipment Skill 1: Disarm—During close combat, has a chance to disarm the opponent!]

[Equipment Skill 2: Cleave in Two—In battle, has a chance to trigger this effect; the target is not limited to weapons and equipment, as long as their level is no more than five above the wielder’s!]

Upon seeing the last attribute, he finally understood why Huang Yun had been unwilling to part with it cheaply.

The first skill was already impressive, but the second was truly divine. No matter how low the activation chance, just having this effect made the sword’s value skyrocket.

No wonder even the Golden Bow couldn’t compare.

It wasn’t just effective against weapons and equipment—it could also affect living beings.

If this effect triggered during a duel, the opponent might be split apart on the spot.

Flush with cash and equipped with a new weapon, Muruo Xun summoned a phantom opponent, selected a random challenger, and plunged into battle.

With a weapon that suited him, his combat prowess was on a whole different level compared to when he used a short sword.

He preferred slashing, but short swords were ill-suited for such movements.

Knives, however, were made for slashing, perfect for bold, sweeping combat.

The Tang Sword, in particular, was nimble and versatile, unlike traditional daggers or broad blades.

His previous battle with the middle-aged man had taught Muruo Xun much; now, against low-level phantoms, he could easily overpower them.

Of course, he had yet to encounter the legendary spellcasters, so the ultimate test remained to be seen.