Chapter 21: Qin Lang, I've Waited So Long for You!

If Qin Lang could hear the doubts in Zhao Qian’s heart, he would surely have burst into laughter.

Indeed, Zhao Qian’s previous assessment had been correct. Danbao’s attack power had been lowered, the damage reduction from "Fresh Grams Salty" had neutralized the damage boost of Fire against Ice, and the "Breath of Blazing Fire" only had a power of 50. No matter how you looked at it, the strike shouldn't have been that powerful.

Unfortunately, she was unaware that Danbao’s trait was "Counter-Strike"!

Under the effect of "Frost Bind," Danbao’s speed dropped from 40 to 20. With Bubu’s speed at 70, the difference between them was 50 points. This meant Danbao had a 50% chance to trigger a critical hit.

That strike had indeed landed a critical hit. Coupled with Bubu’s relatively low defense and stamina, it was instantly devastated, losing over half of its stamina in a single blow.

Watching Danbao descend at high speed with its little head glowing red, and seeing Bubu below still struggling to stabilize its flight, Qin Lang couldn't help but punch the air in triumph.

"Finish it!"

"Breath of Blazing Fire!"

"BOOM—"

Blazing fire descended from the sky, scorching the earth indiscriminately. When the flames dissipated, Bubu’s eyes were spinning, and it had completely lost the ability to battle, turning into a stream of light that flew back into Zhao Qian’s star-pulse.

(๑﹏๑)

"Gulu!"

Danbao cheered and flew quickly back into Qin Lang’s arms, its face filled with excitement. Winning its first Food Spirit battle was certainly worth celebrating.

"All the egg fried rice you can eat for lunch," Qin Lang said with a smile, patting Danbao.

Egg fried rice!

Danbao’s eyes lit up instantly.

"Your Food Spirit is quite impressive," Zhao Qian said, walking over to Qin Lang. Her expression was relaxed, showing no sign of frustration over the defeat.

"Just lucky," Qin Lang replied with a smile, shaking his head. "If your Food Spirit hadn't used that self-learned skill, Danbao wouldn't have had the chance to counterattack."

Hearing this, Zhao Qian’s expression turned peculiar. "Knowing my Food Spirit had an extra self-learned skill and still losing makes it even more frustrating."

"Ah, well..." Qin Lang laughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. "I was wondering, how do Food Spirits learn self-taught skills?"

After the battle, he realized that while Danbao was excellent in many ways, its slow speed was indeed a significant weakness. If he had the chance to choose a self-taught skill, he would definitely find a way to make up for that shortcoming.

"Self-taught skills..." Zhao Qian paused for a moment. "There are generally two ways. The first is to buy learning props corresponding to the skill."

"These props contain all the knowledge of the skill and assist the Food Spirit in training. The success rate is higher, but they are expensive. The cheapest ones cost hundreds of thousands, and the most expensive can even reach tens of millions."

Qin Lang gasped. Hundreds of thousands for the cheapest was currently beyond his reach.

"The second way is to learn from a Food Spirit that has already mastered the skill. This method is less efficient and requires the cooperation of the Food Spirit."

"You can find many teaching Food Spirits at the Food Spirit Chef Association, but a single lesson can cost tens of thousands."

"Of course, if you have wide connections and know many Food Spirit Chefs who are willing to teach you for free, then just ignore what I said."

"I understand," Qin Lang nodded. The cost of hiring a Food Spirit tutor was also too high to consider right now, but perhaps he could look into it after he earned some money.

"You're welcome. Actually, I should thank you," Zhao Qian said with a smile. "It’s not easy to find such a suitable opponent."

"Bubu just learned 'Earthen Rock Rush' and needed a fire-type Food Spirit for training, and I happened to run into you."

"I was careless this time; I didn't expect your Food Spirit to have such high endurance," Zhao Qian said, her face showing a mix of resignation and fighting spirit. "If there’s another chance to battle, I will definitely use a different strategy."

"If we battle again, I’m sure Danbao won't be at its current level either," Qin Lang smiled. Both of them were new to Food Spirit battles; they would only get better with practice.

"If there's nothing else, I’ll be going now," Zhao Qian waved at them. "Someone is waiting for me at home."

"Alright, we're heading home too," Qin Lang nodded.

They walked out of the Food Spirit Chef Association together. After passing several intersections, Zhao Qian couldn't help but stop.

"Why are you... following me?"

"I'm not following you?" Qin Lang said, feeling both amused and frustrated as he pointed to the apartment complex ahead. "I live right there."

"What a coincidence," Zhao Qian looked surprised. "It turns out we're heading to the same place."

"You live in this complex too?" Qin Lang was surprised. He didn't recall ever seeing her before.

"I suppose so," Zhao Qian said ambiguously. "But I haven't been here in many years."

They entered the gates and arrived at the same building, their expressions becoming strange once again.

"Don't tell me... we live in the same building?" Qin Lang raised an eyebrow. "What floor are you on?"

"The fifth floor," Zhao Qian replied instinctively. Seeing Qin Lang’s increasingly stunned expression, she blinked. "Don't tell me you also..."

Qin Lang didn't speak. Each floor in this building only had two units. The fifth floor only had his apartment, 501, and the home of Grandpa Zhao in 502. If he remembered correctly, Grandma Liu had mentioned last night that her granddaughter would be visiting... and Zhao Qian happened to have the surname Zhao.

"It’s a small world," he sighed, then smiled at her. "I'm Grandpa Zhao’s tenant; I live right next door."

A tenant? Zhao Qian realized. When she spoke to her grandmother on the phone last night, her grandmother had indeed mentioned that a boy of her age living next door had just become a Food Spirit Chef, and that she should meet him once she arrived. She hadn't expected that boy to be Qin Lang!

"Don't just stand there, let's go up," Qin Lang smiled. "Grandpa Zhao and Grandma Liu miss you; they'll be very happy to see you."

"Yeah," Zhao Qian nodded firmly and followed him upstairs.

As soon as they reached the fifth floor, a dark shadow lunged at them, startling both of them. Danbao, held in Qin Lang’s arms, almost instinctively prepared to use "Breath of Blazing Fire."

Qin Lang recognized the face just in time and stopped Danbao. A moment later, a nasally voice echoed through the hallway.

"Qin Lang! I've waited so long for you!"

"One hour!"

"Do you have any idea how I spent this past hour?"

Qin Lang pushed the slightly handsome but annoying face away with one hand and said unhappily, "Talk properly." Then, he looked at Zhao Qian apologetically. "This is Cao Dongdong, my friend."

Zhao Qian glanced at Cao Dongdong strangely and walked past them toward unit 502. "I'll leave you two to it."