Chapter 40: The Council of Food Tasters

"Gulu?"

Seeing Qin Lang pull out a new item as if by magic, Danbao couldn't help but step forward out of curiosity.

"This is a Battle Skill Learning Prop, which can help you learn a self-taught battle skill," Qin Lang explained with a smile. "Remember Buubu's Earth Rock Charge? That was a self-taught battle skill."

Danbao nodded in sudden realization, a look of eager anticipation welling up in its eyes.

Buubu had one more battle skill than it did, and it had been so envious!

Now, was it going to have one too?

Rubbing the Battle Skill Learning Prop, which had a texture somewhat like jade, Qin Lang handed it to Danbao. "Don't resist, just try to accept it."

"Gulu~"

Danbao followed Qin Lang's instructions. The moment its body came into contact with the Battle Skill Learning Prop, a faint flash of light swept across, and the prop instantly vanished on the spot. A small scroll mark appeared on Danbao's forehead, indicating that it was currently carrying the Battle Skill Learning Prop.

Watching Danbao, whose expression alternated between distress and sudden enlightenment, Qin Lang knew it had entered the learning state. He chuckled, took out his phone, opened the Spirit Chef Association's skill library, and began to search.

[(Wood) Shallow Slumber Fragrance (Non-Affiliated): Releases a special fragrance with hypnotic effects, causing targets within the range to enter the [Sleep] state after 10s. This effect has no effect on the Wood element.]

[Sleep: Abnormal status, unable to move or use battle skills, immediately lifted upon taking damage.]

This battle skill...

Qin Lang's expression turned astonished.

Although it had no effect on the Wood element due to being non-affiliated, its strength was already quite formidable.

Under the [Sleep] state, the next attack was a guaranteed hit!

If used well in combat, this effect could be considered a divine skill.

Such a battle skill must not be cheap, right?

Qin Lang couldn't help but search for it.

A moment later, he drew in another sharp breath of cold air.

The selling price of the [Shallow Slumber Fragrance] Battle Skill Learning Prop was 4.5 million!

-----------------

While Qin Lang was rejoicing over his net profit of 4.5 million, inside the Dongxia City Spirit Chef Association, a meeting was about to begin. The compact meeting room was packed with the top-tier powerhouses from within the Dongxia City Spirit Chef Association.

"Tap, tap, tap—"

The sound of knuckles lightly tapping against the tabletop rang out, instantly quieting the room. Li Yuantu, a Second-Rank Food Evaluator and the President of the Dongxia City Spirit Chef Association, who sat at the head of the table, swept his gaze across the attendees one by one, then spoke in a deep voice.

"Once Fu Hang arrives, the meeting will officially begin."

Everyone looked at each other, unable to help wondering what kind of matter could possibly require such an urgent meeting.

Not long after, a solidly built man strode into the meeting room, nodded to Li Yuantu, and took his seat in the position directly below him.

The door of the meeting room slowly closed, and Li Yuantu's solemn voice echoed within the room.

"Everyone present here is part of the upper management of our Dongxia City Spirit Chef Association, and right now, an impending storm is likely to sweep through Dongxia City."

"President, what on earth is this about?" Zhou Qing, seated at the conference table, frowned slightly.

He had prepared blackfish bait early this morning, determined to wash away the humiliation of the previous day, only to be summoned to a meeting right after pitching his bait.

"The Treasure Hunting Squad."

Zhou Qing's body instantly straightened up as he looked at Li Yuantu, who had spoken. "Are you certain it's the Treasure Hunting Squad?"

The other Food Evaluators likewise straightened up, their expressions turning grave.

"Let Tang Yu report on this matter." Li Yuantu looked at Tang Yu. The latter was originally not qualified to participate in this meeting, but because she was an eyewitness, she had been granted the qualification to attend.

"Yes." Tang Yu nodded, stepped forward, and briefly recounted the events of the previous day when she pursued the thief who had stolen the flowers.

When she displayed the emblem of the Treasure Hunting Squad, the meeting room fell instantly silent.

Once Tang Yu finished speaking, Li Yuantu spoke in a deep voice.

"What do you all think of this matter?"

"In my opinion, the target of the Treasure Hunting Squad is by no means limited to this," said Fu Hang, the Vice President of the Spirit Chef Association, speaking in a deep voice from his seat near the bottom.

Fu Hang was also one of the seven First-Rank Food Evaluators in Dongxia City, but unlike the other Food Evaluators, he concurrently held the position of a First-Rank Spirit Enforcer.

Aside from evaluating spirit chefs in battles, Spirit Enforcers also shouldered the heavy responsibility of safeguarding order and were directly responsible for public security management.

"Given the capabilities of the Treasure Hunting Squad, they wouldn't even deign to steal rare flowers," Fu Hang said, looking around at the others as he slowly continued. "These detestable fellows always set their sights on rare spirits."

"I believe this time will be no exception."

As Fu Hang's resonant words echoed through the room, the meeting room fell silent once more, though the gazes of the Food Evaluators present carried a hint of complexity.

Rare spirits...

"Have rare spirits appeared in Dongxia City?" Song Hui asked, a look of bewilderment on her face. "Why haven't we received any relevant news?"

"The Treasure Hunting Squad has their own channels," Li Yuantu said slowly. "This criminal organization has always been mysterious."

"I agree with Fu Hang. Since the Treasure Hunting Squad has appeared, a new rare spirit has likely been born near Dongxia City."

"We must find it before they do."

"With the Tianhua Floral Exposition currently underway, a massive influx of out-of-town tourists has poured into Dongxia City, which poses a huge challenge for us."

Li Yuantu swept his gaze across the crowd. "Submit the specific deployment arrangements to me as soon as possible."

"Yes!" everyone chorosed.

"That's all for now," Li Yuantu casually asked. "Are there any other issues to bring up?"

"President, there is one matter." A hand went up.

Li Yuantu directed his gaze toward the hooked-nose man who had raised his hand. "Pang Long, what is it?"

"I believe that the Spirit Chef Association should add moral character considerations to the threshold for activating star veins, and blacklist a portion of chefs with poor character, forbidding them from activating their star veins."

"This is also to prevent those who gain power from using it recklessly, thereby breeding crime." As he spoke, Pang Long distributed a stack of papers to everyone present. "I have a list here that you can all take a look at."

"These are all the chefs with poor character that I am aware of."

Zhou Qing frowned slightly as he took the list.

He was non-committal regarding Pang Long's proposal.

No one is perfect, who among us can be without fault?

And who should define whether someone's moral character is poor or not?

More importantly, Pang Long's proposal might not necessarily curb the breeding of crime; instead, it could drive even more people toward criminal organizations that could activate star veins in private.

Shaking his head slightly, Zhou Qing cast his gaze down at the list.

Upon seeing the name ranked at the very top, an unnamed fire instantly surged from the depths of his chest.

"Bang—"

SLAM. Zhou Qing forcefully slapped the list onto the table and abruptly stood up, looking at Pang Long with unconcealed disdain. "The Spirit Chef Association is not your personal fiefdom, nor will it ever become a weapon for you to suppress and eliminate dissidents."

He pointed angrily at the list. "Such a talented young chef has actually been slapped with the label of 'poor character' by you and subjected to suppression."

"Are you even worthy of being a Food Evaluator?"

On the very first line of the list, the two characters "Qin Lang" were prominently written.