"Guy... Do you feel them as I am right now?" Shen Mi Kang whispered after arching himself closer to the table. Instead of speaking, he let his eyes do the rest of the talking. The others naturally understood his words and moved their body forward as he did.

That includes Nick.

"En," everyone else nodded in response.

"Let's quickly finish the food and get back. Who else here had something to do after dinner?" Shen Mi Kang added. Unbelievably, there's a serious appearance behind his cheerful and loud personality.

"I need to buy an extra Yuan Qi Turquoise Fruit from the Contribution Hall after this." Nick interrupted. Regardless of this matter's seriousness, it should not obstruct him from obtaining more cultivating resources.

"Alright. We'll keep this matter aside until we're back in our room. Let us continue eating." Shen Mi Kang said. The rest returned to their relaxed position and continued to battle for the food.

The discovery naturally didn't stop them from fighting for the dishes through a battle between four pairs of chopsticks. It lasted until the last piece of pork was taken by Nick into his bowl.

Their body was replenished with a trace of Yuan Qi after dinner. Although it wasn't much, the discovery made their heart palpitate faster. After all, nobody would complain about things that could recover and replenish the Yuan Qi in their body.

It was a minuscule amount of Yuan Qi. Still, the replenishment was enough for them to materialize their Innate Spirit for a minute or two. Something like this was obviously important for them, hence the secrecy.

After finishing their food, the group gave the Contribution Hall a visit. Due to the lack of funds today, Nick only purchased a single Yuan Qi Turquoise Fruit before returning to his room with the others.

But there won't be a difference if Nick added the fruit he had gotten from the stockkeeper earlier.

Apparently, Rou Mian Fen was nowhere to be seen throughout the day. The first impression they got was the supervisor was busy.

Still, they were informed on the next that Rou Mian Fen had left Nanyao City to complete a mission.

...

...

Nick and Shen Mi Kang's room.

Alright. Nobody is outside. It should be safe to speak between us here while keeping our voices low." Shall we have our own closed-door discussion now?" Shen Mi Kang asked after ensuring their wooden door was tightly shut.

"First, what was the seasoning you added to the food earlier? Where did they come from?" Shen Mi Kang continued.

"I don't have a proper answer for this, honestly. The seasoning came out while I cut the ingredients using my Tool Spirit from these two days. Since the amount was too small, I had no idea of their uses except its edible." Nick replied.

It was an answer Nick fabricated after giving it a thought on their way home. The answer was a lie, naturally. But there's nothing to worry about.

Stolen novel; please report.

After all, it's not like the rest would force Nick to bring them his proof. In addition, there is plenty of mysterious ability in everyone's Innate Spirit that's yet to be discovered.

While something like this seasoning was unheard of, it was not uncommon either. There have been rumors that the food eaten by the people living in the Core District could all replenishes Yuan Qi.

"Can they be considered as cultivation resources?" Shen Mi Kang continued.

"That's true. Also, I am curious if they'll work without mixing into the food." Ah-Fei joined the exchange between Nick and Shen Mi Kang.

The suggestion immediately piqued their curiosity to open the container to have a try. Since the seasoning comes from Nick, it is only proper for him to try that out.

Under their curious gaze, Nick poured some salt crystals onto his palm and gave it a taste. He continued with the sesame seeds before ending the test by putting both seasonings into his mouth.

The disappointed expression on his face already answered their curiosity without needing Nick to open his mouth.

Apparently, the Yuan Qi replenishing effect cannot be brought out. The reason is that it has to be used along with compatible food, or there's a certain requirement yet to be fulfilled. And since they have no food, it is pointless to try anything further.

"Well... We always have the next day to try everything out." Tian Wenhao said. "Furthermore, do you guys know how significant these seasonings must be before they're considered cultivation resources?" he added.

As someone with parents that awakened their Innate Spirit, Tian Wenhao naturally knew slightly more than the trio.

Hence, he could take everything more positively than everyone else here. And regardless of disappointment, there's nothing much to complain about here.

After all, everyone had properly flavored food today. That alone was enough to invigorate everyone's body and give a feeling of fullness in the bellies.

"Well, we can always check if things are different tomorrow. We'll be going back to our room first. You two should get a rest, too." Ah-Fei continued to get rid of the unease between them.

After the two left, Shen Mi Kang quietly patted Nick's shoulder before he lay on his bed.

He appeared to be thinking about something, but the fatigue was real. In less than five minutes, Shen Mi Kang has fallen asleep and snoring.

(How quick is this guy in falling asleep...)

Nick chuckled and took a Yuan Qi Turquoise Fruit out of his pocket. After swallowing the fruit in a few chewing, Nick waited in silence until the Yuan Qi gradually plugged the space around his abdomen.

(Let's do it again!)

Nick's expression changed while staring sharply at his left palm. The Yuan Qi redirected to his hand causes the Spirit Marking to glow brightly. And before Nick realized it, his surrounding had changed.

It was the same Landing Point as before, with a few stone stools, a Stone Door, and stone-layered floorings surrounding him. He didn't carefully observe this place previously. Still, after he did, Nick noticed that this place was as spacious as the room he shared with Shen Mi Kang.

Without wasting his time, Nick took the second Yuan Qi Turquoise Fruit out and swallowed the fruit. With slightly more Yuan Qi than before, Nick summoned the Tool Spirit to his hand before stepping onto the grassland.

The monster's information boxes instantly appeared once Nick entered the hunting zone.

As this was his second time here, Nick no longer maintained the kind of carefulness before this. He might have no world map in his head, but the tall Stone Door would always tell him where his exit point was, and the floating boxes would be where the monsters were.

Using these two to his benefit, Nick quickly came to the side of a Spice Slime.

The fighting experience from yesterday allows Nick to roughly remember the monster's fighting habit and devise a solution quickly.

At first, Nick uses the trick of running around to provoke the slime's aggression. The Spice Slime apparently would immediately fire the water ball attack, regardless of how close or far the target was once it locked its attention on something.

This gave Nick plenty of opportunity to attack after he no longer had to worry about the water ball and its gas attack.

Although there's still a struggle, Nick had it more easily than yesterday.

**Ding!**

**White Peppercorn x 20gm is added to your inventory. A 1/10 storage slot was used.**