It is now the third night of their vacation, and Xiaoxia was having the weirdest meal of his life. The trio of Gu Di, Jay and him just arrived that evening. The next thing on everyone’s mind, as to have a hot meal.

The schedule was actually only to spend a night at the Onsen, but Gu Di changed the plans on the eleventh hour. He seemed to be enjoying it more than the others.

They were further delayed the following day, when he insisted on soaking in the hot springs another time, before departing for the crater resort.

The ‘Gateway of the Heavens’, apparently did not boast a hot spring which was better than the one they were in.

Besides, as Gu Di said, they were going to the resort only for the food. There was also one other thing, but he did not go further into details. He have reserved private dining rooms, in some of the available restaurants there.

Xiaoxia was too distract with his meal, to remember asking Gu Di about the other thing. He noticed that the itinerary in particular, had a slot which just said ‘hike’. It was unlike the others, where clear details were specifically given on what they were going to do.

“How am I supposed to eat this?” he asked, poking at his meal with a fork, and the substance in the bowl just sluggishly slipped off it.

In the bowl, there was something with a mucus like texture, and looked extremely similar to snot. It contained pieces of something, which looked suspiciously like dried flesh.

“You are supposed to drink it,” Gu di answered him.

Jay was also looking at that dish with some disgust, and snapped, “Drink it? I wouldn’t drink anything that isn’t grog!”

Gu Di downed his third helping, while smirking at the other two. His looks spoke volumes, and it indicated that they did not know what they are missing out on.

“This isn’t what it seems, and its actually one of the more beneficial dishes here,” he enlightened them, while pointing vaguely at the other dishes on the table.

Both Jay and Xiaoxia were looking at him as though they had been ridiculed, because the other dishes looked just as bad. Many of they seemed like they were made from some weird swamp creature, that is common in the marshlands of MeisterSchloss, while others were the stuff of nightmares.

“Besides, this is Hasma, and it is made from the Ki rich fatty tissue of a snow frog,” Gu Di added.

(AN: Hasma was a Chinese dish which was only served to the Emperor, google it. The real life version doesn’t have Ki in it.)
They didn’t even bother to ask further. Xiaoxia then decided to take a leap of faith, while Jay just sat there nonchalantly.

“Ugh,” Xiaoxia held his breath while pouring the Hasma down his throat. Moments later, his eyes suddenly went wide, “Oh?!”

The dish was unlike anything he expected, and it went down surprising well. A sweet taste erupted in his mouth, while the pieces of what looked like dried flesh, had a fruity tangy taste that gave a good balance.

“Nice isn’t it?” Gu Di asked, smiling knowingly at him.

“Yes, it is! What is this?” Xiaoxia asked, taking a piece of the flesh like thing and observing it.

“That is dried Joojoobees, one of the naturally growing flora in this area,” he informed him.

(AN: Joojoobees is a paradox of Jujubes aka red dates, another widely used herb in Chinese tonic soups)

Seeing Xiaoxia gulped down the dish, Jay followed suit. Finally they both had a few more servings before helping themselves to the other dishes. It did not take Xiaoxia and Jay much time to reduce the pile.

There were long reptile like creatures, which offered a flesh so silky, that it slid down the throat smoothly. The aroma emitted from it was delicious. The tender white flesh was marinated with something exotic, and had a quaint spiciness to it.

Another dish looked like an angry red bug, it was huge and its body was almost half the size of Xiaoxia. It looked somewhat like the crustaceans he had eaten before, but this was unlike any he have seen. It had twelve limbs, and was perfectly circular.

It yielded a pinkish flesh that was rich and flavorful, and this time the condiments and sauces gave it a rich tangy sweet and sour taste. There were slivers of some leaves in it, which let off a refreshing minty taste.

The most outstanding of all, was a dish smack in the middle of the gigantic dining table. It was an oversized fish, or rather it looked like a fish, and was about 10 feet in length. The thing that really set it apart, besides the fins and the scales, were a dog like snout and two webbed front feet.

When it arrived, it was caked in a thick mud-like crust. The detailed description on the menu, stated it had been layered with thick coating of volcanic mud. Then, in the depths of the dormant mega volcano, where there is still some degree of thermal activity with exceedingly high temperatures, it was placed for over a week to slowly bake.

Images and information in a brochure, showed a vast oven like cavern, where it was baked. There were tens of thousands of these placed neatly around the cavern. Recorded temperatures there, were easily enough to cook a person alive in less than an hour.

The mud coating and the scales, retarded the cooking process. This also helped keep the meat moist and succulent. It can remain in this condition for over two weeks, while hardly losing any heat.

The restaurant chef who served the dish, had to literally chisel off the thick mud coating at one side of their private dining area. The week long bake, made the mud as hard as bricks. Eventually chunks of it came out, and the glistening silver scales of the fish could be seen.

Once all the mud came off, it was carried by 4 persons and placed onto the dining table. It was extremely heavy for its size.

Before it can be eaten properly, the servers have remove the scales on it. The moment a scale was slightly peeled back, there was a loud hiss, as the heat, pressure and hot air escaped through the gap.

It caused a burst of overwhelmingly rich fragrance, that quickly filled the entire room. The smell still lingered on the body, even for customers who had eaten it the previous day.

The meat was red, similar to the Bovmatadon widespread all around the empires. However, the similarities stopped there.

(AN: Bovmatadon, an animal similar to the bison. But these are ten times the size.)

Unlike the tougher meat of the Bovmatadon, this was heavenly in comparison. It was so succulent and rich in marbled fats, that it literally melted in the mouth.

A rich meaty flavor exploded once it was bitten, and there was no hint of any condiments or ingredients used to prepare this dish.

The taste buds were tingled with sensory overload, and it was no doubt deserving of the number 1 dish of that particular restaurant. It was also the most highly sought after, and very expensive.

Hundreds of millions of visitors arrive at that restaurant each year, just to get a taste. It was exceedingly hard just to get a piece of its meat, not to mention an entire ‘fish’. Tens of thousands of these, were hardly enough to cater to all.

How Gu Di managed to secure private dining areas, was totally beyond the other two. All they could care of now was looking forward to the next meal.

“Any grog to wash it all down?” Jay was asking, slumped on his chair, with a protruding belly. It looked really weird on his well-toned body.

“What is this grog you are talking about?” Xiaoxia asked, he was similarly bloated.

“That my little monster is something you can only experience after 18 years old, you wouldn’t be permitted to partake it no matter where in the world you are,” Jay replied.

He went further to explain that grog, was made from various types of ingredients. Mainly it comprises of 50% alcohol, some citrus fruits, naturally aerated water, a sprig of dried tree bark and sugar.

“They don’t have that here, but there is something even better. Besides anyone of any age can consume it,” Gu Di told them, while motioning to a waiter.

He indicated something on the menu, and the waiter opened his eyes in slight surprise. The waiter then exited the room, and whispered something to his colleague at the door.

In a matter of moments, a regal looking gentleman entered, and had a barely audible conversation with Gu Di. Both Jay and Xiaoxia’s ears were growing larger by the moment as they tried to eavesdrop on the conversation.

The dining table was really enormous, and was thirty feet in diameter. The three of them were spread evenly around it, and even had to speak louder due to the distance between them.

“… rare … expensive … upfront … tomorrow …” were the only thing they could grasp from it.

“How much is everything?” Gu Di finally said out loud.

The regal looking gentleman paused for a moment, and whipped out a tablet. It looked very simple, but had a glowing screen on it.

“That will be a total of, 1 Imperial Diamond, 3 Imperial Rubies, 371 rhodium, 210 gold and 917 silver,” he eventually surmised.

Without a word, Gu Di whipped out a card similar to what Xiaoxia has. But unlike his, Gu Di’s card was made purely of a transparent material. There were shimmering lights shining in it as well.

The regal gentlemen, who by now Jay and Xiaoxia figured to be the manager, was dumbfounded by its presence.

“At once Milord,” the manager said, after quickly recovering his composure and left hurriedly.

“What is that?” Xiaoxia quickly asked.

“This? A spatial bank,” Gu Di just shrugged.

“I know, but why is it different from mine?” Xiaoxia pursued the matter.

He already knew his card was missing, and he guessed that the girls may have taken it. He did not even consider it stealing, as he knew they were desperate to win the World Cup. Hence he was not really bothered over it.

“Oh, it’s a matter of loyalty and longevity,” Gu Di just vaguely offered an explanation.

Unbeknownst to the other two, the card that Gu Di flashed, was made from cut Imperial Diamonds, and its status was a million folds more than what Xiaoxia had.

Amelia who have given Xiaoxia his card, was only qualified for a rhodium one. While the next higher was Imperial Ruby and finally Imperial Diamond.

(AN: 1 Imperial Diamond=1,000 Imperial Rubies; 1 Imperial Ruby=1,000 rhodium; 1 rhodium=1,000 gold; 1 gold=1,000 silvers; 1 silver=1,000 coppers)

“And our meal is more than 1 Imperial Diamond?!” Xiaoxia exclaimed.

The entire Black Iron Anvil Town, before it was 6th Tier, only had an average income of 500 Imperial Rubies and change per annum. This made their meal worth more than 2 years of its total income.

(AN: Black Iron Anvil Town was a Tier 5, with 140,000 odd residence. It has been promoted to Tier 6 during the time Xiaoxia was in the Academy, when it exceeded 150,000 residence.)

While Xiaoxia had more than 10 Imperial Diamonds given to him by Amelia, plus other precious valuable Ki crystals, it was still an exorbitant amount to pay for a meal..

“It is a respectable price, you will spend more at places not even serving one of a kind dishes,” Gu Di explained.

He went on to further reiterated, that over the thousands of years he explored the known places of the world, he had eaten even more expensive meals.

It is not even considering the inflation rates over the millenniums, and their prices will have no doubt gone up even higher.

“Well, that is true, I have my fair share of crazy places with prices that are out of this world,” Jay agreed.

He have spent the earlier half of his life exploring the known world as well.

In recent years and lately, it occurred to Xiaoxia that the emphasis on food was becoming more pronounced as time went by. It became more obvious with this trip.

“Senior Gu Di, is it my imagination, or has there been more frequent attention to food consumption lately?” he asked.

“I am glad you know, it is one of the foundations of my people. It is not merely a simple theory, but more of an actual result orientated fact,” Gu Di replied.

“I do not argue the point, it have been nice to eat well every now and then. But as far as I know, it doesn’t seem to be having any particular benefit for me,” Xiaoxia debated.

He has been eating the specially prepared meals by Gu Di for the past seven years, and it did not seem like there was anything to it.

His abnormal growth from Adept Realm 9th Tier to Grandmaster Realm Lower Tier, could be easily explained by his God given physique.

“You will find out soon enough, it may not be apparent now, but when the time comes you will appreciate it all,” Gu Di offered.

While over the years, Gu Di had previously went into many details on proper nourishment, they all seemed like a matter of simple conjecture even till this day.

“Besides, tomorrow, you will know some things are not just plain old training and relaxation. It’s also about the food you eat,” he added.

They were scheduled for a hike, according to the itinerary. While Xiaoxia wanted to ask more details, he was redirected to another topic skilfully.

The more he tried to bring the matter back into perspective, the more details were less forthcoming. Hence he decided to give up, and wait for it to actually happen.

The only piece of information he got, was that they were heading to the mountains.

The edges of the crater, formed a mountain range, rising 20,000 feet above the resort and lake. It encircled the entire area, and from above it can be seen causing a bowl-like depression.

Their destination was the direct opposite of the resort, approximately over 80 miles away. Xiaoxia did not know how much distance was going to be covered on feet, and how much by spatial transportation.

“On the other hand, I am almost certain that you will not want to leave once we get there,” Gu Di smiled at him mysteriously.