Chapter 6: Opening Progress Loading

“Fresh soy milk, steamed buns, and tea eggs just out of the oven~” Qin Yueyan carefully placed the food onto the restaurant’s tables using a tray.

She pulled out a chair and sat down, taking a deep breath. “It smells wonderful! Let me try some first.”

Qin Yueyan picked up the soy milk, and the rich aroma immediately filled her senses.

She took a small sip; the silky texture and just-right sweetness instantly won her over.

“Much better than what you get outside!” Her eyes sparkled with the delight of tasting something delicious.

If the soy milk weren’t still hot, she would have drunk it all in one gulp.

Huhu proudly responded, “Of course! The ingredients are top-notch, plus you, Xiao Yan, have added your cooking skills.”

“You’re right,” Qin Yueyan agreed, taking another small sip before reluctantly setting the soy milk aside to cool.

Her gaze then shifted to the tea egg. Heh, she’d been craving tea eggs lately anyway.

She touched it, and as expected, it was still scalding hot.

She could only let it rest there and carefully peel it bit by bit with her fingertips.

While peeling, a sudden impulse struck her, and she used her identification technique on the tea egg.

[Tea egg: Consuming restores a small amount of mana and health.]

Qin Yueyan blinked. Restore health and mana? Food that heals?

Wow—such a familiar, intense gaming vibe.

She wondered if the other two items had the same effect and, amused, cast identification on the steamed bun and soy milk as well.

[Soy milk: Drinking restores a small amount of mana and health.]

[Steamed bun: Eating restores a small amount of mana and health.]

She was speechless.

It really did have that effect...

Huhu waved a paw in front of Qin Yueyan, who was still dazed. “What’s wrong, Xiao Yan?”

“This food all has special effects!” Qin Yueyan exclaimed, coming back to her senses.

“Huh?” Huhu tilted her head, puzzled. “Maybe it’s because of your special enhancement?”

“You don’t know either?” Qin Yueyan asked, surprised.

Huhu was still confused. “No, the previous host never mentioned it.”

The two stared at each other wide-eyed.

“I’ll ask,” Huhu said, pulling up the interface and typing rapidly.

---

Qin Yueyan had finished peeling one egg; she broke it in half and ate the yolk first.

It had a fragrant tea aroma and was flavorful; importantly, the yolk wasn’t as choking as she remembered.

She used to eat the yolk and then sip some water to help it go down.

Just now, when she wanted to sip the soy milk, she realized the yolk really wasn’t so choking after all!

She unconsciously wiggled her foot and ate the egg white as well.

The steamed bun was also more fragrant and softer than those outside—quite good.

But the restaurant owner still needed to keep an eye on things~

After Qin Yueyan finished the steamed bun and tea egg, Huhu had completed her inquiry.

“The top-ranking player said this might be a new skill born from the fusion of the current interface’s uniqueness and your maxed-out cooking skills,” Huhu explained, showing Qin Yueyan the ordering interface. “But food made from raw materials in the multiverse already has special effects; this just adds something new.”

“What kind of special effects?” Qin Yueyan recalled an incident from a few days ago. “Faster stamina recovery?”

“Hmm… more than that,” Huhu wagged her tail and pointed to the soy milk. “Like this cup of soy milk—regular drinking can beautify your skin, making it smooth and tender. It even works wonders against acne and menstrual pain.”

“Oh wow!” Qin Yueyan loved it!

She immediately dug into her dinner again.

Watching Qin Yueyan eat wholeheartedly, Huhu blinked, thinking that once the points increased, Qin Yueyan could exchange them for cultivation techniques to practice immortality, which would be equally effective.

And if people in this world traded cultivation techniques or elixirs, she could keep the ones she wanted.

But since nothing like that existed yet, she kept quiet for now.

“Eh?” Huhu suddenly exclaimed excitedly.

Qin Yueyan looked up. “What is it?”

“Someone has entered the fairy island’s range. Xiao Yan, it’s time to open the restaurant!” Huhu jumped up with joy.

“Ah? Now? It’s already eight o’clock!” Qin Yueyan glanced at the time but was happy to open, saying, “I’ll head to the front desk now.”

“No need, they’re still rowing at sea. They’ll reach the island in about eight minutes, and it takes roughly two and a half minutes to walk over.”

“Oh, okay. I’m almost done eating.” Qin Yueyan finished her meal in six minutes and leisurely returned to the front desk.

Unlike Qin Yueyan’s relaxed pace, Guyuan and Cheng Shuangshuang were paddling so fiercely together that sparks seemed to fly from their oars as they barely entered the fairy island’s range.

“It’s moonlight and starlight!” Guyuan stopped and exclaimed.

Cheng Shuangshuang looked up; it was truly beautiful. After only seven days inside, seeing the moon and stars again felt like a lifetime away.

For a moment, she even felt as if she had left that cursed black mist domain.

But she knew they hadn’t. The transparent interface before them clearly showed—they hadn’t left, only entered a special zone.

Cheng Shuangshuang scanned the surroundings; the black mist was gone—or rather, some force was keeping it out.

---

She looked toward the central fairy island not far off; it appeared ordinary, indistinguishable from normal islands outside the domain.

“Let’s go onto the island and take a look,” Cheng Shuangshuang said, withdrawing her gaze and speaking to Guyuan.

“All right,” Guyuan replied.

The two continued paddling their raft forward.

Before long, they reached the shore. In recent days, they had encountered other islands where visibility was limited to just a few steps.

The island also had monsters, including spirit beasts transformed from monsters, wild animals, and flora.

There were also some edible plants; otherwise, ordinary people like them would have starved by now, though the taste wasn’t great.

As for the elixirs brought in, they were useless here, so they were just candy beans—only good for filling the stomach when no other food was available.

The problem was, once the spiritual energy disappeared, the space ring wouldn’t open. But it was better than before; at least it still worked for a while after entering.

Originally, these spatial items opened through divine sense, but since divine sense gets trapped inside the spirit sea within this domain, they created space items that could be opened by either spiritual energy or divine sense.

The island looked normal for now, but Cheng Shuangshuang and Guyuan dared not relax.

As they stepped onto the island, they suddenly turned to look at each other.

“Senior sister, I think… I sensed spiritual energy?” Guyuan said.

“I feel it too!” Cheng Shuangshuang was overjoyed—this meant she could use spiritual energy, adding a layer of protection.

They immediately started circulating their cultivation techniques to restore spiritual energy.

However, when they tried to use it, they discovered they couldn’t.

“What’s going on?” Cheng Shuangshuang frowned. “We can absorb spiritual energy and feel it filling our bodies, but it’s unusable.”

Hearing this, Guyuan tried too. “I can’t use it either.”

Their joyful mood sank, and their expressions grew serious.

“Well, since we’re here, we should explore this central fairy island first,” Cheng Shuangshuang said helplessly.

In the darkness, a certain inn shone brightly. Having been uplifted by sensing spiritual energy, the two, after temporarily setting aside their frustration with using spiritual energy, immediately noticed the inn glowing with colorful lights in the dark.

They looked at the house strangely and wondered: When did this suddenly appear?

After a moment of hesitation, they decided to investigate—after all, they were here now.

Besides, the place itself was peculiar; perhaps they had already fallen into some trap, so it was better to explore.

“Junior Brother Gu, let’s go take a look,” Cheng Shuangshuang said, shouldering Shi Qingyu and reminding Guyuan, “Be careful with everything.”

“Mm,” Guyuan nodded.