A huge thanks to the donations of GreenKitea, Katy, Jellyfish, and Violetkitty09 on kofi. Enjoy these bonus chapters!

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Gareth and his sister were munching on stale bread, the aroma wafting toward their noses. 

They felt more and more that what they were eating was bland and tasteless.

It was strange—when they were out and about, they always ate this way for convenience, and they were used to it.

As martial artists, they shouldn’t be attached to such worldly things—that’s what they’d always believed. 

Oh, so it was simply because no one had ever leisurely enjoyed a sumptuous meal while they were munching on bread?

This cook must be highly skilled—the spare ribs were pan-fried to a light crisp, their surfaces glazed with a tempting layer of sauce, the aroma wafting on the breeze to the tip of his nose. The cucumbers must be a very expensive variety—so fresh and green they looked as if they’d drip with juice—tossed in a spicy-sour dressing with a tangy, refreshing fragrance that truly whetted his appetite. 

Gulp.

Mia silently swallowed.

She suddenly sped up, but she still couldn’t outpace the person beside her. 

Turning her head, she saw her brother shoving the dried meat into his mouth as if it were an enemy, chewing it viciously with a ferocious expression! 

“We’re done eating!”

The sudden loud voices of Gareth and his sister, who had been fully immersed in their meal, startled him.

Surprised by how quickly the two had finished their meal, he looked up in confusion, swallowed the food in his mouth, and nodded: “Okay.”

The two of them quickly got up and left, seemingly intent on continuing to mine. 

He reminded them, “Aren’t you going to take a break?”

It was the health tips God Has No Form had shared with him: after eating, it’s best to rest for a while first, rather than engaging in physical activity right away.

The brother and sister looked even more determined than before.

Gareth: “No need! We only have 24 hours—we have to make the most of our time.”

Mia: “That’s right! The magic crystals are waiting for us!” 

It was so inspiring that even Qiyu felt they’d managed to convince him.

However, while the magic crystals were certainly important, delicious food was just as important. If they hadn’t brought it out to eat, that would be one thing, but since they’d already started eating, he was going to savor every bite.

In his heart, good food would always hold an irreplaceable place.

“Good luck, you two,” Qiyu offered encouragingly, then went back to eating.

Gareth and his sister made a point of moving farther away to ensure they couldn’t smell the tempting aroma.

“Damn it,” Gareth muttered under his breath once he was sure they were far enough away that his whispers wouldn’t be overheard. “He said he’s from the countryside—he must be a noble mage from some ancient, remote region.”

“Look at his food. I’ve eaten at restaurants where the average bill is 20 gold coins, and it wasn’t nearly this delicious. He must have a really talented personal chef—maybe even a private chef?” 

Mia looked pensive: “I suddenly realize that storage items with preservation functions aren’t a bad place to keep some tasty treats after all.” 

Gareth: “? Are you getting that full of yourself already?” 

They, too, owned high-grade storage items from the market.

However, the main distinction between low-, mid-, and high-level storage items is the amount of space they can hold.

High-level spatial items might slightly extend the freshness period, but to achieve the effect Qiyu had—where food remained steaming hot as if just out of the pot even after many days—was generally beyond the capabilities of standard high-level spatial items.

For example, Qiyu currently owns two high-level spatial items: one is a high-level storage backpack he bought from the wandering merchant Duo Ju in the Star Forest; the other is a high-level spatial ring he purchased for 500 gold coins from the mages association shop. 

Both have the same capacity and are similarly priced.

However, the subsequent spatial ring did not possess such powerful preservation capabilities—or what might be called a “time-stopping” effect.

Qiyu is currently unaware of just how valuable this ability is.

In the outside world, professionals have to pay extra gold coins—a great deal of gold coins—to obtain spatial items with this effect.

Moreover, such items usually have limited capacity.

Professionals generally store the following inside them: the flesh and blood of high-level exotic beasts, rare medicinal herbs that are a thousand years old, precious high-grade potions… all the valuable items that need to be preserved at their peak condition. 

Who would be rich enough to store ordinary, everyday meals in such a precious item?¹

Although the mage’s meals look truly appetizing, judging by the energy fluctuations of the food, they’re definitely not made from high-grade exotic beast ingredients—they’re simply ordinary food of good quality.

Gareth felt a pang of envy toward the wealthy. He muttered darkly, “He’s already so rich, and on top of that, he’s so lucky! He walks into the resource zone just once and stumbles right onto a magic crystal vein.” 

He didn’t doubt Qiyu’s words, though. 

He didn’t even know that magic attacks can’t be used on magic crystal veins. A rookie of this caliber couldn’t even pull off pretending. 

Mia: “Stop rambling about this and that—just tell me if it smells good!”

Gareth: “…If we can mine enough magic crystals this time, we’ll buy one!” 

Qiyu noticed that the siblings were mining much faster than before.

He cupped the bowl of soup in his hands and took a leisurely, big sip. Sure enough, he had more energy now that he was full.

After offering his health advice, Qiyu sat where he was and rested for over ten minutes. Then he strolled over to where Gareth and his sister were. It felt like nearly half an hour had passed before he returned to the large pit, pulled out his staff, and resumed smashing away.

By now, he had practically carved out a passageway here.

After digging deeper for several hours straight, Qiyu was now nearly ten meters from the entrance to the cave. Seeing him still stubbornly digging here, Gareth thought, ‘He’s really putting his all into this, isn’t he?’

While Qiyu was battling it out with this massive mine shaft, the others were reaping the rewards. They ran the numbers: at this rate, they stood to make a fortune.

Mia, who was fighting for her future culinary freedom, shrugged it off upon hearing this: “This guy clearly isn’t short on gold coins. He’s wearing a mage’s robe—he looks low-key, but he’s definitely no pushover.”

Not to mention that self-harm and killing were prohibited in this resource zone; even if they’d encountered Qiyu in the red or black zones, the two of them would never have dared to provoke him.

A Level 3 mage capable of casting spells across all three elements, who could afford the luxury of using high-grade containers for food, and who wore a mage’s robe so well-crafted that even they couldn’t discern its true nature—a mage like that simply couldn’t exist without a powerful backer.

Mages are a group that places immense importance on tradition. Who would believe that a junior whom his master holds in such high regard wouldn’t have some sort of life-saving item—or even a spiritual mark—to protect him?

Gareth mused, “You’re right. As long as he’s having fun, that’s all that matters.” 

Qiyu hadn’t even realized it, but he had suddenly transformed into “Sir.” 

He kept hurling them inward. After half an hour, he realized something was off.

The rock had changed.

Although to the naked eye they still looked like the same dull gray-white stone walls, it was obvious that when he struck them with his staff, the force rebounding back to him was different.

Compared to before, the rock was harder, and chiseling through it required more physical exertion.

But a strange, sixth sense had also become more pronounced. His intuition told him: there was something good further ahead. 

Gareth’s assessment of him was spot on; his personality did indeed have a “bull-like tenacity.” 

Whenever he set his mind to something, he would quickly become fully focused and immersed in it; unless someone reminded him, he would easily forget everything else.

By the time Gareth and his sister realized that the “thump, thump, thump” sounds coming from inside were growing increasingly slow, another three hours had already passed.

“Something seems off,” Mia and her brother said, both looking a bit worried as they moved to the side.

Although they were mining partners they’d only just met, they’d formed a favorable impression of each other. There were no conflicts of interest between them, and they didn’t want to see anything happen to Qiyu.

Qiyu was drenched in sweat; he hadn’t felt this exhausted since becoming a mage.

But his eyes were shining brightly; he could already sense it.

Behind this stone, elemental power was surging so vigorously it seemed on the verge of erupting.

“Mage? Qiyu? Are you okay?” a voice called from outside, and someone tapped on the wall. The sound echoed, making it seem somewhat muffled. 

Qiyu heard it, but he was in a state of intense excitement and didn’t answer right away. So the two of them slowly made their way deeper inside.

“He’s here,” Gareth muttered. The interior was far deeper than either of them had imagined. “What on earth did this mage eat to grow so strong?” 

His physical prowess is already on par with that of an average Level 3 Warrior, isn’t it?

The two spotted Qiyu.

They also sensed something unusual about the stone walls, as well as… an extremely dense concentration of magical elements—so intense that even as martial artists, they could perceive it.

A look of shock gradually spread across Mia’s face: “Could this be…” The two stopped in unison, refusing to go any further.

They had realized something; this action was meant to signal their intentions and avoid arousing Qiyu’s suspicion.

Qiyu had been keeping a portion of his mental energy focused on the situation behind him; seeing that the two hadn’t approached, he relaxed slightly.

Raising the Heart of the Great Tree Staff, he gathered power in his already aching arm—

The final blow struck the rock wall with tremendous force.

Large chunks of rock fell, and countless brilliant rays of light surged forth like a rushing stream. 

From Qiyu’s perspective, a river of green light—so dense it was almost tangible—enveloped him.

His weary body and aching muscles quickly returned to peak condition under the influence of this surging vitality.

He closed his eyes contentedly, letting himself fall back with the surging tide of magical crystals, allowing the green light to envelop him. 

“……”

The two people behind him who witnessed this scene stood frozen in shock.

A long time later.

An envious monkey’s cry echoed through the stone cave: 

“Knocked out by a mountain of magic crystals—when will I ever get to have a dream like that?!”