Chapter 45: Encounter with Zhou Tianhao Again

“Don’t rush, I need your help with something.” Qin Lang called out to the two, pulling a folded hand-drawn sketch from his pocket.

Unfolding it revealed the third illustration from the Traveler’s Book.

“That’s… a food spirit?” Zhao Qian recognized the subject in the drawing and asked with curiosity, “Whose food spirit is it?”

“I don’t know who its culinary master is,” Qin Lang shook his head slightly. “I want to find this food spirit in the picture. Do you have any ideas?”

“The only way I can think of is offering a hefty reward,” Cao Dongdong shrugged.

“No need to go that far,” Zhao Qian took out her phone and opened the Culinary Master Association’s homepage, then went into the forum. “You can take a photo of this and ask about it in the Culinary Master Association’s forum.”

“But most active members there are local culinary masters… By the way, is this food spirit from Dongxia City?”

“I’m not sure if it’s local,” Qin Lang shook his head.

With only this one picture, it could be anywhere there’s vegetation.

“That doesn’t matter,” Zhao Qian quickly came up with a solution. “You can post on the local association’s forum, then also post in the main forum to inquire about this food spirit.”

“If someone has seen it, they’ll likely share information.”

“That’s a good idea.” Qin Lang nodded and logged into the forum. With Zhao Qian’s guidance, he posted a request for help.

Of course, he also took Cao Dongdong’s advice and mentioned in the post that there would be a reward for useful information.

After posting, Qin Lang nervously refreshed the page from time to time.

One minute passed, no replies.

Two minutes passed, still nothing.

At three minutes, a reply appeared.

[Qian Qian Qian Qian: dd]

Qin Lang looked up at Zhao Qian in confusion. She cleared her throat.

“I saw you were anxious, so I bumped your post up.”

“The culinary masters on the forum won’t respond that fast!” She patted Qin Lang’s shoulder. “Let’s head to the Flower Expo first!”

“Alright.” Qin Lang thought for a moment and put his phone back in his pocket.

Just waiting around wasn’t helpful. Posting on the forum was already efficient; now, it was a matter of fate.

---

After a short wait in line, the three were soon allowed into the Daisy Garden.

The Daisy Garden had long been a popular spot for visitors, but after becoming a venue for the Tianhua Flower Expo, it had undergone many layout changes to accommodate more tourists.

In hindsight, these changes were very foresighted.

Because by now, Qin Lang and the others had nearly been squeezed by the flood of visitors from all over Tianhua Province.

It was hard to imagine what would have happened if it were still the old garden.

“Look, that’s the flower we found!” Zhao Qian suddenly whispered, pointing to a central display stand.

On the stand, a brilliantly colored seven-hued flower swayed gently in the breeze, drawing many exclamations and photos from visitors.

“It’s so beautiful,” Qin Lang murmured, holding Egg Treasure in his arms.

Thanks to their careful nurturing over the past two days, the flower was even more stunning than when they first found it.

“Yeah, it really is,” a voice nearby responded, echoing his admiration.

Hearing the somewhat familiar voice, Qin Lang instinctively turned his head. Upon recognizing the speaker, a delighted expression appeared on his face.

“Brother Zhou?”

“Hm?” Zhou Tianhao turned toward the sound and laughed heartily. “Didn’t expect to run into you here.”

“Yeah, what a coincidence.” Qin Lang nodded, then looked at the woman standing beside Zhou Tianhao. “Sister Tang Yu?”

“Mm.” Tang Yu was not wearing her Culinary Master Association uniform today, but plain clothes, which softened her usually stern aura, though she still appeared cool and distant.

Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian, who also recognized Tang Yu, greeted her warmly, then cast curious glances at Zhou Tianhao.

“This is Brother Zhou. We met him yesterday at Xiashi Mountain…” Qin Lang gave a brief introduction, then asked curiously, “Brother Zhou, do you know Sister Tang Yu?”

“Haha, well…” Zhou Tianhao glanced at Tang Yu and scratched his head. “You could say we’ve been rivals before.”

“We met in a competition once, and I lost,” Tang Yu stated more bluntly than Zhou Tianhao.

“Been over a year since we last met. Let’s have a match later.”

“Ah, this…” Zhou Tianhao’s mouth twitched sharply.

“You insist on a fight?”

“Exactly.” Tang Yu nodded seriously. “I want to see how much our strength gaps have changed.”

Hearing their conversation, Qin Lang, Zhao Qian, and Cao Dongdong perked up instantly.

---

Food spirit battle, we want to see!

For Zhao Qian and Cao Dongdong, Tang Yu’s skill had already amazed them in the encounter two days ago, and Zhou Tianhao having defeated Tang Yu made this a highly anticipated showdown between two powerhouses.

Qin Lang’s anticipation was even simpler.

He was well aware of Zhou Tianhao’s strength.

A full-power fight between three- and four-star food spirits—once it’s gone, there’s no second chance!

“Since you put it that way, let’s do it,” Zhou Tianhao sighed, a spark of battle fervor kindling in his eyes. “I’ll give it my all.”

“That’s the spirit,” Tang Yu nodded firmly.

“Um, Brother Zhou, Sister Tang Yu,” Qin Lang blurted out with a sheepish grin. “Can the three of us watch the battle?”

“No problem,” Zhou Tianhao said, glancing at Tang Yu, who slightly shook her head to indicate no objection as well.

With this little episode, the countless stunning flowers at the expo suddenly seemed less captivating.

After hurriedly finishing the rest of their tour and taking some photos as mementos, the three closely followed Zhou Tianhao and Tang Yu to the Culinary Master Association.

With their levels of skill, only the Culinary Master Association could provide a protective arena suitable for a full-powered fight, ensuring no innocent bystanders would be harmed.

The arena where Qin Lang and Zhao Qian had sparred before was only ten meters square, but the one Zhou Tianhao and Tang Yu were about to enter measured five hundred meters each way.

This was the largest battle arena in Dongxia City’s Culinary Master Association.

To ensure their voices could be heard clearly, both culinary masters clipped microphones to their collars, while multiple high-speed cameras and giant overhead screens broadcast close-ups of the battle in real time.

In short, very professional.

Qin Lang and his companions were the first to take seats in the spectator area, but soon many others arrived quickly and filled the stands.

Clearly, word of this duel had spread on a small scale.

On the battleground, Zhou Tianhao had already entered battle mode, his face serious and focused solely on his opponent, ignoring the crowd.

“You only have two food spirits; how about a two versus two match?”

“Agreed,” Tang Yu replied succinctly.

Amid cheers from the audience, both sides summoned their food spirits to battle.