Chapter 17: Official Spirit Chef

The morning sunlight filtered through the half-drawn curtains, casting sparse rays into the dim room. These beams created luminous paths in the air before landing on the head of the bed, rousing the sleeping figure within.

"Mmm..."

Qin Lang’s furrowed brow smoothed out before he slowly opened his eyes. He sat up, his gaze still lingering in a state of half-conscious haze.

"Gulu~"

A soft sound echoed in his mind, and Qin Lang’s consciousness fully cleared. He tapped the spot on his forehead corresponding to the Tianshu Star Pulse. The pulse shimmered, and Danbao flew out, looking exceptionally excited.

"Morning, Danbao." Qin Lang stroked Danbao’s large ears, his eyes filled with curiosity. "What does it feel like to stay inside the Star Pulse?"

Upon hearing this, the smile on Danbao’s face vanished instantly. It puffed up, chirping "Gulu, gulu" in an agitated flurry.

In summary: the space inside the Star Pulse looked large, but it was actually quite cramped, making it feel very uncomfortable.

Qin Lang: "..."

If he guessed correctly, this had a lot to do with the *Traveler's Tome*. A normal Star Pulse space was certainly large enough to accommodate a Spirit Eater. However, the *Traveler's Tome*, an outsider, occupied the vast majority of the Tianshu Star Pulse, and Danbao was unable to perceive the Tome's presence. Naturally, it would feel quite cramped. He just wondered if the same situation would occur once he opened his second Star Pulse, the Tianxuan.

"It’s alright, you can just stay outside from now on," Qin Lang said, looking at Danbao with sympathy. "I’ll make you more good things to eat."

"Gulu! (≧‿≦)"

Danbao’s sullen mood came and went quickly; upon hearing Qin Lang’s promise, it immediately brightened up again.

"Let’s go. Get up and wash, then we’ll have breakfast."

"Gulu gulu?"

"What’s for breakfast?" Qin Lang smiled. "Remember what we put in the fridge before we went to bed last night?"

"That’s what we’re having."

With that, Qin Lang went to the bathroom and reached for his toothpaste to brush his teeth. Danbao’s attention instantly shifted from breakfast to the toothbrush moving back and forth in Qin Lang’s mouth. It watched the foam appear with a look of great interest. Once Qin Lang finished rinsing, Danbao leaned in and rubbed itself vigorously against the toothbrush.

"Gulu!"

"You want to do it too?" Qin Lang looked at Danbao, appearing troubled. "But you don't seem to have any teeth..."

Danbao: (*꒦ິ﹏꒦ີ)

How detestable! Does one really need teeth to brush their teeth? That makes no sense!

"Don't be sad, let me wash your face." Qin Lang, caught between laughter and tears, took a washcloth, dipped it in warm water, wrung it out, and reached toward Danbao. "Come on, stick your head out~"

"Gu!"

Danbao obediently poked out its yolk-like head, allowing Qin Lang to wipe its round little head clean with the cloth. It then pulled its head back in, waiting patiently for Qin Lang to wipe the rest of its body.

"Alright, let’s start making breakfast."

After finishing their wash, Qin Lang brought Danbao to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. A large bowl came into view. It was covered with plastic wrap, and inside was a dough that had turned from white to a yellowish hue, having risen enough to stretch the wrap taut.

Seeing this, Danbao’s eyes widened in shock. It remembered that when Qin Lang put the bowl in the fridge last night, it had only been the size of a fist. After one night, it had grown so large.

"This is called cold overnight fermentation," Qin Lang explained with a smile. "Don't let its size fool you; its actual weight hasn't changed. It got bigger because of all the tiny air pockets inside. This gives it a unique texture."

Danbao nodded as if it understood. It watched as Qin Lang quickly shaped the dough into buns and placed them into a steamer once the water began to boil. He steamed them for fifteen minutes and let them rest for another five.

One by one, soft, fluffy, and perfectly shaped buns were pulled fresh from the steamer, radiating a rich, wheaty aroma. The thorough fermentation made the texture exceptionally light and wonderful, with no risk of choking, and the loose structure made it easier for salivary amylase to take effect.

Qin Lang picked one up and chewed for a moment. He found that the bun became sweeter the more he chewed; it was absolutely perfect even without any side dishes.

"Though, having said that, I should find time to make various pickles or sauces," Qin Lang muttered to himself while eating.

This world had its own variety of pickles and preserved vegetables, but the techniques were different from his previous life. Many dishes from his former world required specific sauces or pickles to truly reveal their complete flavor profiles. Therefore, making his own sauces and pickles was a necessity for the future. Such things often required the passage of time to mature, so the earlier he started, the better.

Danbao, on the other hand, cared nothing for sauces or pickles; all its focus was on the freshly steamed bun.

*Miamiamia~*

So delicious!

After finishing breakfast and cleaning the kitchen, Qin Lang took Danbao straight to the Spirit Chef Association. Only after registering one's first Spirit Eater at the Association could a Spirit Chef complete their official certification and enjoy the organization's benefits.

The perk Qin Lang cared about most was the 20% subsidy on ingredients purchased by Spirit Chefs—essentially a 20% discount. And that was just for a formal Spirit Chef; as he activated more Star Pulses and achieved higher rankings in the future, the discounts would only increase.

"Please temporarily retract your Spirit Eater into your Star Pulse," the staff member in charge of certification explained. "In the past, there have been cases of people borrowing others' Spirit Eaters to impersonate Spirit Chefs. Retracting it proves the existence of a binding contract between the Spirit Chef and the Spirit Eater."

"Understood." Qin Lang nodded, retracted Danbao, and then summoned it back out.

"That will do." The staff member nodded, skillfully processed the certification, and handed a Spirit Chef badge to Qin Lang. "This is your badge. Your information is encoded within it. With this, you receive a 20% subsidy on ingredients, and you’ll also enjoy corresponding benefits at malls and hotels affiliated with the Spirit Chef Association."

"Furthermore," the staff member gestured toward a testing room on the right, "you may go in there to test your Spirit Eater's Flavor Value and Traits."

"Thank you." Qin Lang carefully accepted the badge, which had his name and registration number engraved on the back and the Association's emblem on the front, then turned his gaze toward the testing room.

The Spirit Eater scanning device could capture most of a Spirit Eater's data. However, there were some metrics it could not scan—or rather, metrics intentionally left out of the scanning function to protect privacy. Aside from self-taught combat skills, the two most critical and important indicators were the Spirit Eater’s Traits and its Flavor Value.

Traits were the innate, unique properties every Spirit Eater was born with.

Flavor Value was the key indicator representing individual differences among Spirit Eaters.