"Qin Yao, you've got a pretty good grasp of all the soup bases, but you still need more practice," Qi Han said, then turned to Qin Yue on the other side with a smile. "Qin Yue, you're doing well too. Your radish slices have met my standards, but you need to keep practicing cutting other ingredients, and the preparation of foods like shrimp paste still requires more work."
After saying this, Qi Han once again pointed out specific areas where both of them needed improvement.
Over the past twelve days, the two sisters had already practiced the basics at home, so after each business day, Qi Han would take about half an hour to personally coach them.
Though one was not good at knife skills and the other not good at cooking, the sisters had strangely high talent in their respective areas, and their progress was even faster than Qi Han's—if you included the training space time, that is.
"Goodbye, boss!"
After the session, the two girls packed up their things and left the shop.
Qi Han watched them leave before going upstairs, holding Pururu in his arms.
He had thought about having Keke learn some cooking as well, but it turned out Keke had no particular talent for it.
After a few tries, they had to give up. Now, whenever Qi Han was coaching the sisters, Keke would head up to his room on the third floor to either read or try to cultivate.
Although Keke had yet to absorb his first spirit ring and was stuck at level 10, unable to break through, he could still continue accumulating spirit power. Once he absorbed a spirit ring and broke through the level cap, all that accumulated power would convert into higher levels of spirit energy.
This, too, was a finding from the research of that famous grandmaster from 5,000 years ago.
Once on the third floor, Qi Han glanced at Keke's closed door, smiled slightly, and went into his room, where he lay on the bed with Pururu in his arms, quickly drifting into sleep.
The next afternoon was the final between Shrek Academy and Star Luo Royal Academy.
It seemed the match had affected business, as lunchtime at the restaurant was quieter than usual. The excited fervor of the masses had briefly overshadowed the allure of food.
But this wasn't much of an issue for Qi Han. His thoughts were already at the arena.
More than anything, he couldn't stop thinking about the last time he sat next to Yue Lengxin during the match—how his heart had raced uncontrollably. Would he get to sit beside her again this time?
After the lunchtime service and the usual coaching session with the Qin sisters, Qi Han was just about to head to the match when, just as he stepped out the door, he stopped.
He turned back, grabbed the confused Pururu from the divider, and, with a spring in his step, left the shop.
"Pururu, you're the key to this plan!"
"Meowww~"
I don't want to help...
"I will give you double the cat food!"
"Meowww!"
Pururu's deep purple eyes lit up.
Deal!
And so, on the way to the arena, a joyful agreement was struck between man and cat.
...
The finals were bound to be more exciting than the round-robin matches, not just because the eight teams competing had all won their previous matches, but also due to the nature of the finals format.
As mentioned earlier, the competition methods for the Advanced Spirit Master Academy Fighting Tournament are generally divided into three types: one-on-one duels, two-two-three small group battles, and seven-on-seven team battles.
The elimination matches use the seven-on-seven format, as it is the most comprehensive test of a team's abilities and only requires one match to determine the winner.
The group round-robin matches use a random draw to select one of the three formats for each battle—after all, luck is a form of strength too.
But the finals are far more serious. The teams compete in all three formats in sequence: one-on-one, two-two-three, and then seven-on-seven, with no rest between rounds. The final result is determined by a best-of-three system.
Naturally, this makes the finals much more thrilling.
The organizers from the Star Luo Empire knew that the public wasn't as interested in the match for third place as they were in the showdown between Shrek Academy and Star Luo Royal Academy for the championship, so they made a "thoughtful" arrangement.
They scheduled the championship match to be held last.
How many people cursed this decision is unknown, but it certainly kept everyone in suspense—and raked in a lot of ticket sales.
Qi Han, holding Pururu, almost got stuck outside the packed arena, with no space to stand in the plaza. It wasn't until he spotted Fu Ya waiting for him in the distance that he found his way through the crowd. Using his strength as a three-ring spirit master, he quietly pushed through and finally reached her.
"Boss, let's go," Fu Ya said with a bright smile when she saw Qi Han approaching.
This was the finals. As a substitute team member, she had almost no chance to play, but witnessing Shrek Academy's victory in person was enough to make her happy.
As for the idea that Shrek might lose?
Neither Shrek's competitors nor the spectators had ever considered that possibility.
Even though they were up against the strongest academy from the Star Luo Empire, led by the empire's crown prince himself, people firmly believed Shrek would defend its honor.
After all, in the previous semi-finals, Shrek's team captain, Sun Changhao, had revealed his true power:
A six-ring spirit emperor!
Meanwhile, the Star Luo Royal Academy's strongest member was the first prince, with just five rings.
The outcome of the match seemed inevitable, but the crowd was eager to see a spectacular clash between top-tier spirit masters.
Qi Han, having been to the Shrek Academy's spectator area before, followed Fu Ya into the section quickly.
Unsurprisingly, he spotted Yue Lengxin sitting alone nearby.
No one sat next to Yue Lengxin.
Being the senior disciple of the inner court and having a rather cold demeanor, the other participants were a bit too shy to sit beside her.
Before Yue Lengxin could react, Fu Ya cheerfully spoke up, "Boss, there's a seat next to Senior Sister. Why don't you sit there?"
Fu Ya, the ultimate wingman, strikes again.
"No—" Yue Lengxin's pupils contracted.
She knew that if she didn't refuse, she would once again experience the awkwardness she felt last time sitting next to Qi Han during the match.
But before she could finish her sentence, a "meow" rang out from Qi Han's arms. A small silver-gray figure swiftly jumped out of his embrace and into Yue Lengxin's lap.
Instinctively, Yue Lengxin started petting Pururu, stroking its soft, fluffy fur.
By the time she realized something was off, Qi Han was already sitting next to her with a slight smile on his face.
And in his arms was Pururu Number One.
The cat that had jumped into Yue Lengxin's lap was, of course, Pururu Number Two.
Pururu, in its pursuit of double the cat food, had once again become the ultimate wingman.
Seeing Qi Han now sitting beside her, Yue Lengxin opened her mouth, but couldn't bring herself to say anything.
After all, he was already seated, and she was holding his cat—could she really tell him to leave?
Is this okay?
No, it's not.
<+>
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