Bei Feng was slightly surprised with w.a.n.g Jian"s call. It was unclear what he had been busy with as of late, but it had truly been quite long since his last visit.
"There"s indeed a new dish... does Boss w.a.n.g intend to come over to try it?" Bei Feng asked.
"En, I"ll be bringing a business partner too."
w.a.n.g Jian felt a headache whenever he thought about that business partner of his. This fellow was different from his other business partners--his personal net worth alone was several times higher than Qingshan Corporation itself! This time, w.a.n.g Jian had an important project which required him to work together with that person.
"Even my son is not as difficult to handle as this guy!"
w.a.n.g Jian thought gloomily. Despite him working so hard to get the approval of that person, he hadn"t managed to get him to agree to the proposal. This would be his last attempt to convince him. If even Bei Feng"s food didn"t work, he would not bother himself with the matter anymore.
The reason for this was, the last few times he"d invited that business partner to discuss the proposal over a meal, no matter which restaurant they went to, the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d never failed to veer off the topic, making all kinds of comments about the food.
It was always about how a certain dish was not up to par, that the seasonings were either too many or too few, or how he felt that the chef must have f*cked up the fire control.
In the end, before he could even talk about the proposal, w.a.n.g Jian was already sitting on a bellyful of fire.
The way he criticized the food was so brutal that the chef would even go red with shame.
"Ok. When will you be coming? I"ll go and prepare for it."
Bei Feng immediately agreed.
"Hmm, let"s make it tomorrow in the afternoon. It"ll be a table for four. Xiao Feng, you must really bring out your true skills tomorrow! That old fellow"s mouth is extremely sharp and merciless!"
w.a.n.g Jian remarked with worry.
"Don"t worry."
Bei Feng replied blandly as he ended the call.
"What kind of joke is that? Bring out my true skills? I"ve never had any skills in the first place..."
Bei Feng smiled queerly as he looked at his phone.
He had relied on the superior ingredients from the Myriad Worlds all the way, and was not a real chef.
With his skills, if he was asked to prepare simple everyday dishes like stir-fried shredded potatoes, he could still manage that.
But to expect him to create heavenly delicacies that look, smell and taste amazing using regular ingredients... that was simply too unrealistic!
"Whatever, when the water rises, we"ll raise the earth to keep it back. When the soldiers arrive, we"ll send a general to fend them off." [1]
Bei Feng was not worried in the slightest. As long as the food tasted good, who"d care about presentation and other external stuff? As for the taste, he still had a lot of confidence in the Demonic Beast meat from the Myriad Worlds.
As he put away his mobile phone, Bei Feng peeled off his s.h.i.+rt, revealing a lean and muscular upper body. The lines around his many muscles were clearly defined, and the arrangement of his muscles looked infinitely close to perfection.
Ever since he discovered that the modified Minor Illumination Breathing Technique"s movement set was a very useful body tempering technique capable of improving his control over his strength, Bei Feng became embroiled in a love-hate relations.h.i.+p with it.
It was love on one hand because his strength would increase slightly after every session. This could be said to be the period where he would see the greatest improvement after his recent breakthrough to 1 star level.
It was hate on the other hand because he would always be smashed into the ground until he lay sprawled on the ground like a dead lizard, depleted of all his strength and drenched in sweat at the end of the session. And, it wasn"t just once or twice, but... every single time! Who would enjoy that?
"Say, do you guys think that boss is some kind of an actor? Look at the way he falls! That act is really too realistic!"
Mystic Three leaned in and whispered in Mystic Two"s ears.
"No, not an actor. That"s a professional scammer technique. Look, do you see how he brutally smashes himself against the ground? And that expression? Those are not something that one can just learn without at least 3-5 years of practice!" [2]
Feeling the hot breath in his ear, Mystic Two hurriedly moved farther away from Mystic Three before looking at Bei Feng again and evaluating the latter seriously.
More than an hour later, after being smashed to the ground and crawling back up for over ten times, Bei Feng finally stopped.
It wasn"t because he"d run out of energy and was forced to stop. Rather, he discovered that a small crowd had gathered nearby. Bai Xiang and the rest were all looking at him with strange gazes, as though they were observing a r.e.t.a.r.d.
Mystic Two and Three were standing quite far away, and were rather confident that Bei Feng could not hear their conversation since they had kept their voices down. But, Bei Feng who had already broken through to the 1 star level had extremely sharp ears and eyes. A mere distance of 10 over meters was not much at all. He had naturally heard everything!
"Hey, Mystic Two and Three, now that you guys have been practicing with Bai Xiang for so many days already, how about letting me a.s.sess your progress?"
"Yes!"
"We"re finished!"
Needless to say, the first, excited cry filled with fighting spirit was issued by the simple-minded Mystic Two.
The second was the whisper in Mystic Three"s heart as it was dropping to the ground.
"I wonder how an idiot like Mystic Two became a human trafficker. With this kind of intellect, the fact that he didn"t end up being sold by the other human traffickers must really be a result of some crazy dog-s.h.i.+t luck!"
Bei Feng laughed soundlessly as he looked at the enthusiastic Mystic Two.
"Rest breeds rust. It"s obvious that the two of you are still very far off the mark. From today onwards, the time you spend sparring will be doubled!" [3]
10 minutes later, Bei Feng dusted his hands, picked up his s.h.i.+rt and left.
Mystic Two and Mystic Three were left behind, groaning and moaning as they lay on the cold ground. This result came about due to the fact that Bei Feng had controlled his strength carefully. Otherwise, the frail limbs of the two would not be able to endure Bei Feng"s rough abuse.
Time pa.s.sed, and the rest of the night went by uneventfully.
Bei Feng got up early in the morning and left for the mountain. He was like a shadow flas.h.i.+ng through the woods--by the time one spotted him, he"d be already gone.
Although he didn"t know any skills like Qinggong, his speed was not slow at all. It was as if his body was as light as a sparrow.
By the time he reached the stone platform, Bei Feng still had the time practice the proper movement sets for a few rounds before he started cultivating Minor Illumination Breathing Technique.
After a very skillful execution of the breathing technique, just as he finished, the sun rose with perfect timing.
A bright ray of sunlight burst through the clouds, chasing away the darkness. It was so radiant, and the sight of it so intoxicating.
The ray of sunlight shot into Bei Feng"s body, but before it was able to do anything, it was immediately broken apart by the raging furnace that was the mix of his blood and Qi!
The ray of light completely disintegrated, turning into countless tiny b.a.l.l.s of light which were quickly swallowed up by Bei Feng"s blood and Qi and carried to every corner of his body.
A warm and comfortable feeling emanated outwards from within Bei Feng"s body, giving him a nice feeling of compatibility.
Bei Feng"s mastery of Minor Illumination Breathing Technique was already at the Peak of Minor Completion. There was no way to absorb bigger sunrays before he broke through to Grand Completion.
Right now, the pitiful amount of that sunray no longer held as much benefit for Bei Feng. Still, something was better than nothing. His body would still improve if he continued absorbing the sunrays, painstakingly acc.u.mulating them over a long period of time.
This could also be considered as a good method of solidifying his foundation. The more stable his foundation, the wider his future path would become.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on his body and was quickly absorbed by his clothes. There were no longer any impurities being excreted by his body at this point.
Bei Feng knew that this was not because his body was truly rid of impurities. Rather, the remaining nasty stuff was hidden much deeper within his body!
The Peak level of Minor Completion Minor Illumination Breathing Technique had no way of forcing those impurities out!
"The distance to Grand Completion is just a tiny step away. There"s only a tissue-thin barrier blocking me. As long as the right method is used, it will be broken with a light touch! But if the right method wouldn"t be found, that thin barrier will be like the distance from the Earth to the Heavens!"
Bei Feng thought. He didn"t try to force the matter since this kind of stuff was best left alone. When water flows, a channel will naturally be formed.
Das.h.i.+ng down the mountain now held no risk for Bei Feng. The rugged downhill terrain might as well be flat ground to him.
"Chairman Huang, let"s go to a nice restaurant and we can discuss the matter of the proposal in more detail today."
w.a.n.g Jian saw that it was almost time and hurriedly gave a call to the Chairman of Brilliant Splendor Corporation.
w.a.n.g Jian"s tone when speaking to this person was slightly more respectful than usual. After all, the other was a person he was hoping to obtain help from. To be able to build up such a fortune from his humble beginnings was something that even w.a.n.g Jian admired.
"Oh? If the food tastes the same as the last two rounds, we can just skip the meal and discuss the proposal directly."
Huang Lin chuckled.
"This time, you"ll definitely be satisfied with the food!"
w.a.n.g Jian was filled with confidence. Even so, he was complaining about the old fellow in his heart. A deal worth several billion yuan was not even as important as a meal to him!
"Hmm, since even Boss w.a.n.g is praising this food to the skies, my interest has indeed been aroused."
Huang Lin began to feel a bit of antic.i.p.ation.
To be honest, Huang Lin was also in favor of cooperating with Boss w.a.n.g. But as a businessman, his priority had to be placed on maximizing his own profit.
Furthermore, his own company would be placed in the leading position of this project, so he had to try to get more benefits from w.a.n.g Jian for the sake of his own company. [4]
[1] ED/N: Or to be exact, "counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir", a Chinese idiom (we changed it a bit coz who would get wtf is "weir", for example I didn"t). Anyway, it means "to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation".
[2] TL/N: This is a widespread fraud involving deliberately throwing oneself in front of cars and then demanding compensation.
[3] ED/N: It"s a reference, and interestingly enough to Aristotle--"life is motion".
[4] TL/N: I a.s.sume author also means Huang Lin"s company would be investing the most money as well since they"re leading the project.