Chapter 61: The Difference Between Precious Spirits and Food Spirits

Eh?!

Looking at the scanning results before him, Qin Lang froze in place.

A... a rare spirit?

Aside from culinary spirits, were there other kinds of spirits in this world?

Although Cao Yu had mentioned the words "rare spirit" earlier, in that tense situation, Qin Lang had no time to think about it.

It was only because he had chased it all the way down and failed to see any culinary master accompanying this little fat chicken that a few doubts had arisen in Qin Lang's mind.

Moving his gaze down from the species column, Qin Lang quickly discovered the difference between a rare spirit and a culinary spirit.

A rare spirit had no elemental attributes, but possessed two flavor attributes at the same time.

In addition, rare spirits had no culinary skills, combat skills, or experience values.

Looking at the rare spirit in front of him, Qin Lang could not help but knit his brows and turn to look at Zhao Qian beside him. "Have you ever heard of rare spirits?"

"No." Zhao Qian shook her head as well.

Even with her knowledge being somewhat broader than Qin Lang's, she was unaware of the existence of rare spirits.

"Then let's take it to Sister Tang Yu and ask her." With that, Qin Lang carefully picked up the little fat chicken.

Seeming to sense no malice from Qin Lang, the little fat chicken smacked its lips, rolled over, and fell back asleep in Qin Lang's arms.

When the two of them reached Tang Yu's location, the battle had already ended. Cao Yu was sitting on the ground with a afro-haired young man sitting squarely on top of him, looking extremely unhappy.

"Yo, you're here?"

The afro-haired young man waved cheerfully at Qin Lang and Zhao Qian.

Qin Lang could not help but smile. "Brother Zhou, I knew it was you."

If Tang Yu alone might not have been able to handle Cao Yu, adding Zhou Tianhao to the mix made it completely impossible for Cao Yu to escape.

"Cao Yu, wanted criminal, you are under arrest."

Tang Yu took out a pair of handcuffs and locked them onto his wrists.

The handcuffs flashed with light, and the next moment Cao Yu let out a muffled groan as the three astral meridians at the center of his head, brow, and collarbone simultaneously dimmed.

These handcuffs, specially made by the Culinary Master Association, were capable of sealing the culinary spirits within astral meridians and possessed an extremely strong restraining effect on culinary masters as well.

"Winners and losers are decided by fate; I suppose I've栽 (fallen) this time."

Cao Yu looked at the rare spirit in Qin Lang's arms and snorted coldly. "However, kid, there's no way you'll be able to keep the rare spirit in your hands."

"The Culinary Master Association, a bunch of hypocrites who only allow officials to burn down houses while forbidding commoners to light lamps, will definitely find all sorts of excuses to take the rare spirit away from you..."

"Shut up!" Tang Yu frowned deeply. "You are not allowed to slander the Culinary Master Association. It is clearly you people who use disgraceful methods such as theft and robbery in an attempt to monopolize rare spirits."

"Besides, do I need to spell out what you people have done to rare spirits?"

Cao Yu's expression stiffened; he lowered his head and said no more.

"Um... Sister Tang Yu."

Qin Lang raised his hand. "Let me interrupt for a moment."

"So what exactly is a rare spirit?"

"A rare spirit, short for rare-grade spirit." Tang Yu looked at Qin Lang, her expression softening a fraction. "Unlike culinary spirits, it does not originate from cuisine."

"In every corner of the world, there exists a power known as star force. Nourished by this power, the quality of ingredients improves."

"Different ingredients absorb star force differently, which is why there are high-quality ingredients and low-quality ingredients."

"However, beyond high-quality ingredients, there are even more outstanding individuals capable of absorbing massive amounts of star force to become rare-grade ingredients."

"The quality of rare-grade ingredients far surpasses even high-quality ones. In addition, the greatest characteristic of rare-grade ingredients is that a special spirit known as a rare spirit is born alongside them at their inception."

Tang Yu paused slightly.

"I suppose you have already scanned its stats."

"Unlike culinary spirits, rare spirits lack combat capability. Each rare spirit has two attributes and corresponding levels, and is also subject to attribute restraint."

"It is precisely for this reason that rare spirits were once subjected to massive capture and abuse in the early days." With that, Tang Yu glared fiercely at Cao Yu.

"This..." Qin Lang frowned slightly.

From the sound of it, rare spirits seemed rather useless.

They possessed attributes and strength in name only, yet could only passively take a beating.

"But why would these rare spirits be abused?" Zhao Qian couldn't help asking out of curiosity. "Could it be that they can be used as ingredients?"

"No, rare spirits are not ingredients." Zhou Tianhao chimed in with a cheerful smile. "But theoretically, they can generate ingredients almost infinitely."

Qin Lang: "???"

Zhao Qian: "!!!"

"Rare spirits are born from rare-grade ingredients," Tang Yu explained slowly. "Therefore, when a rare spirit suffers damage, it drops rare-grade ingredients."

"In addition, if a rare spirit is raised together with ordinary ingredients of the same species, it can slowly elevate the quality of those ordinary ingredients."

Hearing this, Qin Lang could not help but gaze down at the little fat chicken in his arms, which was sleeping so soundly that a snot bubble had formed on its nose.

Getting injured drops rare-grade ingredients, and it can even raise the quality of other ingredients of the same species?!

This fellow...

Is it really this valuable?!

He suddenly thought of the golden feather he had found earlier.

Now that he thought about it, that must have been nothing more than a chicken feather dropped when the little fat chicken flew out of the woods and brushed against a tree branch.

A tree branch couldn't inflict much damage on a rare spirit, so it could only drop a chicken feather.

Observing Qin Lang's expression, Tang Yu guessed his thoughts and spoke solemnly, "Unlike culinary spirits, when a culinary spirit loses its combat capability, it returns to its master's astral meridians to recuperate until it recovers completely."

"Rare spirits can also be housed within a culinary master's astral meridians, but the meridians are merely a temporary dwelling place and cannot help them recover from injuries."

"If the injuries are too severe and fail to heal naturally, the rare spirit will die."

"The most sensible way to utilize a rare spirit is to let it live alongside ordinary ingredients, catalysing higher-quality ingredients while, with the rare spirit's consent, allowing it to periodically produce rare-grade ingredients."

"This is also the consistent approach of the Culinary Master Association toward rare spirits."

"The reason the Rare-Hunting Team is wanted across the entire region is not only because they steal and plunder ingredients, but even more so because they relentlessly extract rare spirits to obtain massive quantities of rare-grade ingredients, ultimately leading to the deaths of many rare spirits."

"As for what Cao Yu just said about the Culinary Master Association snatching rare spirits," Tang Yu gave a light snort, "that is sheer nonsense."

"Rare spirits are scarce. If someone possesses one but lacks the conditions to protect it, it is unfavorable for both the owner and the rare spirit. It is generally recommended to hand them over to the Culinary Master Association for cultivation."

"However, if the owner is unwilling, the Association will not force the issue."

"I merely came here to bring the Rare-Hunting Team to justice, and I dragged Zhou Tianhao along to help." Tang Yu looked at Qin Lang and Zhao Qian, speaking slowly.

"Therefore, whether this rare spirit in your hands should be turned over to the Culinary Master Association is entirely up to you to decide."

"I will only add one thing: if you turn it over, the Association will not take it for nothing; a reward of tens of millions is still guaranteed."

Hearing this, Qin Lang could not help but look at Zhao Qian.

"Why are you looking at me?" Zhao Qian spread her hands. "You're the one who kept searching for it; I just had a meal cooked by you and came along to help."

"However..." She swallowed hard. "If you choose to keep it, you have to share some rare-grade ingredients with me to taste in the future!"