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At noon, sunlight spilled into the bedroom through the window.
Xia Yu wasn't awakened by the noisy sounds from the street outside, but was forcibly ejected from the God of Cooking Space by the system.
"Warning, the host has been practicing in the God of Cooking Space for 12 hours (12 days in the God of Cooking Space)."
"Please rest for a day to recover your strength."
It had been twelve days already!
A hint of realization flashed through his eyes. Xia Yu found that cooking was truly addictive. Watching himself progress bit by bit, and being a perfectionist who never stopped until perfection, he unwittingly spent twelve days in the God of Cooking Space.
The unrestricted supply of ingredients for practice could be called exhilarating, and in this special space without fatigue or hunger, he could immerse himself wholeheartedly in the culinary world.
With such monastic-like dedication, if his cooking skills didn't improve, Xia Yu might as well find a block of tofu and bash his head against it.
In the real world, it had only been day and night alternation, but now Xia Yu's eyes were full of confidence, lacking the trepidation he had when he set the menu for the upcoming week yesterday.
Even with professional chefs and gourmets as picky as Tiqie Helinai, known as the "Divine Tongue," Xia Yu was confident he could satisfy their appetites with home-cooked dishes.
"System," said an alert, "the host has unclaimed rewards."
"Rewards?"
Xia Yu smacked his head, remembering that during his practice days in the God of Cooking Space, he had several home-cooked dishes that received a 90-point evaluation from the system.
A mysterious surprise reward? He clearly remembered the system's words upon first entering the God of Cooking Space. Xia Yu was quite eager, "Then let's claim it!"
"The host's culinary level has been upgraded to lv9."
"The host's 'Basic Knife Skills' talent points have increased to 5 points (max level 10)."
"The host's 'Basic Cooking Time' talent points have increased to 5 points (max level 10)."
"The host's 'Basic Seasoning' talent points have increased to 2 points (max level 10)."
"The host's 'Ingredient Identification' talent points have increased to 2 points (max level 10)."
Just these?
He pursed his lips. The increase in culinary level was completely within Xia Yu's expectations.
You must know that every dish above 60 points he made brought him culinary experience. Although only a night had passed in reality, in the God of Cooking Space, he had genuinely stayed for twelve days, cooking countless qualified dishes.
With the devil's training, the increase in basic skills like knife techniques, cooking time, seasoning, and ingredient identification was only natural.
Basic skills can be accumulated and improved through practice, not necessarily requiring talent points.
Using talent points from culinary upgrades to boost basic skills was essentially taking a shortcut.
Looking back now, Xia Yu found that allocating precious talent points to basic skills seemed somewhat wasteful.
He hadn't forgotten that at lv10, he could allocate talent points to the [Heart of Cooking].
This was the powerful ability granted by the God of Cooking System. If its level was high, in his view, it was no less than the Divine Tongue or Divine Nose of a Divine-level Chef's talent.
"From lv6 to lv9, I'll save the 3 talent points from leveling up."
"Soon it will be lv10. By then, I'll accumulate 4 talent points and allocate them all to the [Heart of Cooking]. The dishes I create will surely surpass the standards of an IGO One-star Chef, closely approaching the Two-star and Three-star levels of the Ten Masters of Far Moon."
Xia Yu thought.
"System, these are all the normal rewards. Is there nothing more?" he asked, frowning.
"The surprise reward has been added to your item inventory space."
Oh? Raising an eyebrow, Xia Yu curiously retrieved an amber-colored crystal from the item inventory, extracting its information, "Physique Enhancement Crystal?"
"How do I use it?"
"The host simply needs to use it directly."
It was truly straightforward and crude! Xia Yu's mouth twitched, silently murmuring the word "use," and whoosh, his ears seemed to hear the sound of a tiger's roar.
Simultaneously, a warm current flowed through his limbs and body, finally converging in his heart.
Thump! Thump!
The powerful and vigorous heartbeat made Xia Yu feel stronger than ever.
Rolling up his sleeves and clenching his fists, his biceps seemed unchanged, but Xia Yu knew that his arms felt as if they had undergone months of grueling training, carrying sandbags daily. Now even holding a large wok with one hand to stir-fry would be easy and effortless.
A strong physique was indispensable for a chef.
Xia Yu was delighted with the changes in his body, knowing he needed time to discover and familiarize himself with more subtle changes.
He opened the character panel.
"Host: Xia Yu.
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Overall Body Fitness: lv20 (Strength, Agility, Burst, Nerve Reflexes, etc.)
Culinary Skills Overall: lv9 [Novice Start]
…"
Body fitness directly went from lv9 to lv20?
Xia Yu was a bit stunned.
This Physique Enhancement Crystal truly deserved to be described as a surprise!
"Open the door, open up!"
"Brat!"
The cries from outside the window made Xia Yu's face darken.
Those two foodies were back again?
Xia Yu went downstairs to open the door, then froze.
Not only were An Ya and Mu Xiaoyue there, but at least twenty people surrounded the store entrance, a black mass blocking out the light.
Startled, Xia Yu, not knowing the cause, hurriedly pulled An Ya and Mu Xiaoyue into the store, then slammed the door shut, ignoring the clamor outside.
"What's going on?" He folded his arms, scrutinizing the two girls suspiciously.
"No idea."
Mu Xiaoyue spread her hands, her expression very innocent.
"I asked a few university students in English. They seemed to have heard about this cooking store online, so they came over according to the address..."
Saying this, Mu Xiaoyue gave a thumbs up, "Your publicity is pretty good! I was just worrying about how to help you attract customers with your store's lack of business!"
"Publicity? When did I have time for that!" Xia Yu shook his head.
Until yesterday, he thought his cooking skills were mediocre and was afraid that publicity would invite ridicule.
But now, after spending twelve days honing in the God of Cooking Space, his mindset had been sharpened.
"Huh?"
Mu Xiaoyue was also stunned. Seeing Xia Yu turning to leave, she anxiously grabbed him, exclaiming, "It's hard to get so many customers here, and you're not going to entertain them?"
"Big sister, please check the business hours. We don't officially open until six in the evening!" Xia Yu shrugged, yawned, and went upstairs to wash up, leaving a dumbfounded An Ya and Mu Xiaoyue.
Not accepting business delivered to one's door?
Arrogant indeed!
Mu Xiaoyue laughed helplessly, realizing she was more worried than needed. She feared Xia Yu's exceptional skills would be buried, but he was either completely indifferent or extremely confident.
An Ya, beside her, said, "We don't open until six in the evening. We can't let the customers wait from noon until afternoon. I'll go tell them to come back during the evening time."
So, An Ya opened the door and slowly explained in English.
Gathered at the store entrance were young people between thirteen and twenty-something, most of whom understood. Those who didn't understand heard from those around them and knew they had arrived early.
"What, it's only open at night."
"It's all Tianfeng's fault for not clarifying. When I get back, I'm definitely going to criticize him on Twitter!"
Some left with regrets, while others chose to stay.
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