Super Gene Optimization Fluid

Xia Fei's expression turned ugly. This was because the bill had a series of zeroes on it that made his eyes bulge. Not even in his wildest dream could he imagine himself eating 2.37 million pearls worth of food over three days!

"That's not right. I haven't eaten any boiled turkey, and I've only eaten four dishes of suckling pig; how did it become nine?!" Xia Fei pointed at the bill and asked.

The captain frowned. He pointed to the electronic signature in the most left hand corner of the bill and said, "Brother Xia, please don't joke around with me. This very clearly states that you ordered all this food. Besides, since Boss Xiang booked out the entire ship, you're our only passenger. Our crew ate in the staff canteen; how could they run all the way to the garden restaurant to order food?"

Xia Fei was speechless. It turned out that that d*mn old man was not just a gourmand and a glutton; he was also a swindler! To think he would actually forge his electronic signature and eat under Xia Fei's name!

"You were pretty happy eating those dishes, but what about now? Everything comes with a price; that's something you've always been saying. How could there ever be such a thing as free meal in this universe?" Radix mocked him mercilessly from the side.

Xia Fei sighed. He opened his spatial ring to settle the bill. If Xiang Beiyang had not given Xia Fei ten million pearls before he left Red Dwarf Star, Xia Fei might very well end up in the very awkward situation of having no money to settle the bill.

The captain accepted the money with a grin as he said, "When I fist took over this ship, I thought that no one would order the expensive food from the cold storage. Turns out that there are people out there who'll do just that!"

...

After getting off the ship, Xia Fei made a beeline for Golden Eagle 19's capital.

Golden Eagle 19 was a lot more prosperous than Red Dwarf Star, and though it was already the wee hours, it was still as bustling as ever. People came and went, as street neon lights flashed nonstop.

Xia Fei was not in the mood to indulge in the beauty of this nightscape. His mood was quite literally at its worst. What money he had saved up was for buying precious medicinal resources, but before he even took a single step into an apothecary, it was already reduced by more than two million pearls. It was simply preposterous.

As for that d*mn old man, Xia Fei felt angrier the more he thought about it.

At the city center, Xia Fei was about to find a random inn to stay for the night before he set off the next day and got on with his business when he heard someone call him in the middle of the road.

"Young one, are you interested in tasting the most delicious supper here on Golden Eagle 19?"

Xia Fei lifted his head up and found that old man from before poking his head out from the rooftop of a building beside him; he was smiling broadly and even had a few glasses of red wine in his hand, looking particularly pleased with himself.

'Speaking of the devil.' Xia Fei forcibly composed himself and nodded slightly; he then took the elevator up to the roof.

It turned out that this place was an open air restaurant. It was so late at night that the old man was the only diner, seated at a dish-laden table located right next to the street. There were several side dishes, a big bowl of broth, and half a bottle of red wine on the table. The old man was currently having the time of his life, eating and drinking to his heart's content.

Xia Fei sat across from the old man with a livid expression on his face. One of the service staff came with a wine glass and a set of cutlery, which invited a fierce glare from Xia Fei. The man on the receiving end trembled in fear, quickly scurrying off after setting everything down.

"Oh? Young one, why do you look so unhappy?" The old man swirled his wine glass casually as he asked this question.

Xia Fei retorted coldly, "I just got conned by someone of over two million pearls; would anyone feel happy if they were in my shoes?"

The old man did not seem to agree with his statement, muttering, "Sure, the money's spent, but you managed to enjoy the finest delicacies known to mortals. Wasn't that enough?"

"Enough talk!" Xia Fei looked grim as he shouted. "It's fine if I only paid for my own portion, but why must I pay for yours? Return the money that you owe me!"

The old man shook his head slightly and heaved a sigh. "So young and all you're concerned with is money. You must know that no matter how much money you have, you simply can't buy happiness. If not for me, you'd never have the chance to taste all that delectable food your entire life. Forget it. I'll just pay you back, but try this golden quail broth first."

With that, the old man pushed that bowl of broth forward. He indicated his wish for Xia Fei to try it. Actually, Xia Fei could already smell the tantalizing scent coming from the broth. It was not particularly strong, yet this scent felt like a bolt of lightning striking his very bones. It seemed like this broth was another delicacy.

Xia Fei ladled himself a bowl and held it up to his mouth with both his hands, drinking everything at once.

*Swoosh*

Downing that bowl of broth not only made Xia Fei feel a comfortable sensation washing over him but also gave him a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach, which spread to his entire body. It was like taking a pleasant dip in a sauna in the middle of a snowy landscape, his pores opening up as if to expel all his body's toxins. He felt as though he had completely been renewed afterward.

The old man laughed as he detailed, "This broth was carefully prepared using the eggs of a certain type of golden quail living in the desert and feeding on the various heat-resistant herbs growing there. A pair of golden quail will only ever produce a single egg their entire life; this broth was made with twelve of them."

"The quail eggs were first baked in an oven for seven whole days. The temperature couldn't be too low and was maintained precisely at 228 degrees to let the eggs absorb enough heat. Afterward, the eggs were placed in a container kept at a temperature 91 degrees below zero for seven more days; this was done to remove the smoky flavor and, at the same time, allow the natural aroma produced by the eggs to seep into the yolks.

"Completing these complex processes only constituted the very first step of making this golden quail broth. The next step required the expertise of a certain craftsman in cracking open the eggs. The shells of golden quail eggs are unexpectedly sturdy, and nothing short of exceptional craftsmanship can completely extract the contents of such eggs.

"Afterward, there's the stock. Only a handful of soup stock can complement the golden quail egg. This restaurant here used Biyun spring water, along with the wings of the red tip black-bone chicken, prickly pear ginger, and Silver Valley pepper to make this soup. All were simmered over a low flame.

"It's a good idea. Too bad that they put one too many of the Silver Valley pepper, causing the scent of this spice to overpower the natural fragrance of the golden quail eggs. A good bowl of quality broth ended up becoming some middling broth."

Xia Fei could not be bothered to listen intently to what the old man was saying. In no time at all, he finished the broth, which caused the old man to frown deeply and to advise him in a low voice, "Take your time to taste it, young one. Who knows what year it'll be till you come across the golden quail eggs again after this meal?"

Xia Fei could not care less about that, drinking the golden quail soup to the last drop. He then tossed the ceramic bowl onto the table, wiped his mouth, and said, "I'll take it as I go; you may be treating me to this meal tonight, but I still expect you to return the money you owe me."

The old man smiled wordlessly. Staring at Xia Fei for a good while, he asked, "Are you an apothecary?"

Xia Fei was somewhat shocked. It had not been long since he arrived in the Alpha Universe and had hardly spent time with this old man; how did he learn that he was an apothecary?

"That's right. I learned a bit of the skills to concoct medicine from my hometown," Xia Fei answered honestly.

"Toxins are natural in any medicine. One look at your body and I could tell that you used potent medicines to increase your cultivation several years ago. While those naturally achieved the effect you wanted, they nevertheless buried a hidden danger in you."

"From that point on, any injury you receive gets exacerbated. Injuries that should take ten days to recover take an entire month, taking even longer the more severe they are. Ultimately, you'll die due to the accumulation of too many toxins in your body," said the old man with squinted eyes.

"Bad practices die hard, huh?"

"That's right."

"What proof do you have?" Xia Fei stared at this strange old man and asked.

When he first began his journey on the road of cultivation, Xia Fei's seventh brain region was defective, and he relied on Phantom's pharmacology knowledge to get promoted. The Assassin Sect's concoction skills utilized everything to the extreme, using contradictory poisons as the main ingredients. Thinking back now, Xia Fei had to endure torturous pain every time he took those drugs. Such a situation had persisted for quite some time.

If normal medicine had 30% toxin, then the Assassin Sect's drugs were poisonous to the extreme. Even Xia Fei did not believe that taking all those poisons would not have lingering detrimental effects on him. It was just that Xia Fei had been perfectly fine all these years that he slowly forgot about all those drugs he had taken when he first started all those years back.

Given how this strange old man had easily deduced that he had consumed too many dangerous drugs when he was much younger, how could Xia Fei not feel chilled to the bones?

The old man smiled. "Of course, I could tell. You're currently bothered by the pain, yet you actually resorted to using the old method of treatment just so you could alleviate some of the discomfort… You're practically courting death!

"Even if you do manage to cure your injuries this time, the medicine will only accumulate in your body, and by the next time you find yourself injured again, it won't simply be three times the penalty, but six! Going by this analogy, if you get injured a few more times later, you'll pretty much end up paying with your life."

Not just Xia Fei, who was currently mulling this old man's words, even Radix felt anxious. "What this old man said makes sense… Toxins do accumulate. Also, aren't medicinal ingredients of the most exceptional quality the only things that still work on your body right now? That's the best proof of his point. Just who in the world is this old man? How come he knows these things so well?"

Just as they were wondering about this, the old man pointed at Xia Fei. "Take a look at your own body. After several days of adjustment, you're already seeing the initial effect. Unfortunately, you didn't listen to my advice moments ago and drank the golden quail soup at one go, so you failed to gain the appropriate effect. What should've been a feast was ruined by your action."

The old man sounded pretentious, but Xia Fei quickly checked himself with his senses, and what he saw left him feeling utterly surprised!

He had sent several million concocting different types of medicine, yet the effects of all those pales in comparison to the effects of those meals he had eaten with this old man?! How inconceivable was that?!

"So how was it? Do you believe me now?" A mysterious smile hung on that old man's face. "Don't think that medicine is the only thing in the world that can heal injuries; food can achieve the same thing as well."

Xia Fei had, of course, believed this old man at this point. In fact, his eyes now burned with earnest intensity as he gazed at the old man.

"This old man's really like a god! To think you could get healed just from eating all that food? I've never heard of anything more fantastical than this!" Radix gasped in awe.

Getting up, the old man giggled mischievously and said, "I'm going to take my leave. I take it that you won't feel that you've been scammed if you cover the cost of this meal, right?"

Xia Fei hurriedly nodded. "Old man, I am at fault for blaming you. I wonder if you'd…"

Just as he was in mid-speech, that old man interrupted him. "There's a tea house in this city called the Tianyan Pavillion. Early in the morning tomorrow, I'll be having my morning tea there. You may join me if you're interested."

"Yes, I'll definitely meet you there." Xia Fei nodded repeatedly.

Evidently, this old man was not just a simple gourmand. Xia Fei was very impressed by his ability to tell that he had suffered injuries in the past; besides, dining with the old man could actually treat his injuries! This was a great boon to Xia Fei!

The usual medicinal ingredients were already ineffective to Xia Fei when he used them. Forget the need to search for treasured ingredients, even if Xia Fei really did locate such, he was not 100% confident that they would be enough to treat the injuries he was suffering from.

The mysterious old man's food treatment opened a completely new path for him, and its effects were proven to be laudable, surpassing his expectations!

"The old saying that 'medical supplements aren't comparable to dietary supplements' rings true!" Xia Fei blurted out in his excitement as he watched the old man walk away.

Soon, however, Xia Fei could no longer remain ecstatic, for a bill with many zeroes had appeared in front of his eyes once again.