Chapter 11: The First Meal in Another World

  What a lovely little loli! Although she didn't dress up much, that shy and reserved appearance is really captivating.

  Hu Gao wiped away the saliva that was about to drip down his chin and said with a smile, "It's Qinglian, come in quickly."

  The little girl nodded, walked into the house with small steps, and very skillfully put the small basket in her hand on the table that was about the same height as her, pursed her lips and stood aside, not saying a word.

  "Xiao Qinglian, what's wrong with you? You look so depressed." Hu Gao sat down and carefully lifted the gray cloth covering the basket. I don't even know if people in this strange world eat with their hands or chopsticks, let alone knives and forks.

  "I thought I'd never see big brother again." Qinglian saw that Hu Gao's expression seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary, and she carefully moved a small stool from beside him, one hand on the table, and sat down.

  Hu Gao was taken aback! If the Totem Descension really occurred, then that poor Qing Hao would probably disappear into thin air as well. Just like what some unknown elder said when he first woke up, he was a freak who could survive after being used as a sacrifice. However, how to explain this to the little loli in front of him made Hu Gao somewhat worried.

  "How did you know about Big Brother's thing?"

  "Hmm." Xia Qinglian's face turned red, "Forgot... forgot to tell... big brother, my grandfather is the Great Elder of Youming, he told me that big brother has lost his memory now and doesn't remember me."

  Pfft! Isn't the Great Elder of the Underworld just the master of the Li Qing lineage? No wonder every time there was an old man with a full head of green hair standing on my side speaking. It turns out there's this layer of connection. However, could it be that this little loli is the Great Elder's test to see if I've really lost my memory or not?

  But it doesn't matter anyway, after all, I'm a genuine amnesiac. Thinking of this, Hu Gao smiled suddenly, "Yes, big brother has lost his memory, from now on he'll have to rely on Qinglian."

  "How...how is this possible! Although big brother has lost his memory, he's still escaped a calamity and is now the successor, the hope for the family's revival."

  Hu Gao couldn't help but reach out and rub the little loli's head, "Looks like our little Qinglian knows a lot of things."

  "Grandpa loves Qinglian the most, and many things he will only tell me." Xia Qinglian chatted and wasn't as timid as before, and even her speech was no longer stuttering. "Alright, big brother must be hungry, let's eat something first, this is specially made by Qinglian!"

  Hú Gāo didn't need anyone to remind him; he had already been eyeing the food in the basket, thinking about where to start first.

  "Huh?" He curiously picked up a golden, spherical object from the ancient-looking, ceramic-like thing and asked: "What is this?"

  "This is a less than six-month-old golden retriever, shaved and cooked with the simplest 'fire control technique' in an extremely short time at high temperature. It's said that this cooking method was originally created by big brother."

  "Hmm, no wonder it smells so good," Hu Gao exclaimed, he never thought that the original Qing Gao was a foodie, this is a bargain for himself. He didn't say another word, his two hands clamped onto the meatball and took a bite, chewing slowly and savoring the flavor.

  Yes, it's really good. The outer skin is crispy and oily, while the meat inside is even more tender than the shrimp balls in Huaxia Country. What's most interesting is that after eating it, there seems to be a ball of something wrapped inside, which is smooth on the tongue and leaves a rich aftertaste.

  Awesome! Really awesome! Hu Gao's elegance was completely stripped away in front of the little loli, and he quickly devoured the golden retriever meatballs, getting oil all over his mouth and hands. Then, under Qinglian's fluent explanation, he began to wolf down the remaining food in the basket.

  After air-drying, the meat of the pheasant is marinated with kiwi powder to create a rich and numbing flavor that lingers after each bite; thinly sliced transparent mirror-smooth hamachi sashimi cut with extremely fast knife skills, dipped in a bit of dried sap from an adult yang tree, transports the entire person into an icy world; finally, some freshly picked melon with dew still on it is served, sweet and juicy, blending with the various wonderful flavors in the mouth, making Hu Gao almost faint with happiness...

  Hehe, Hu Gao rubbed his bulging belly with both hands, almost lying down with his hands supporting his head, and sang a sentence to Qinglian beside him, "Come give Master a massage."

  She probably wouldn't refuse either, Hu Gao thought to himself.

  "Big brother is reading [Tutengyuanjie]!" Qinglian saw that Hu Gao had eaten his fill, so he jumped down from the stool and ran to the bedside to pick up the book left behind by the Transmission Elder. He flipped through it casually and said, "The earliest version of this book can be traced back to the Ice River Riot period. It is said that it was written personally by the Grand Priest of the Mengyue Empire at that time, but many key contents were lost later."

  Hu Gao was stunned, he found that the little loli was not shy at all when talking about knowledge-related things, and her logic was clear. Was this the legendary emotional cognitive disconnection-induced language disorder?

  "Has Qinglian condensed his Totem?" Hu Gao suddenly became very curious about this, he felt that Qinglian was a freak, and might even be a genius.

  Who would have thought that Qinglian shook her head, and the excited mood just now instantly turned dull and hopeless. "Qinglian can't enter a meditative state, so... no... way."

  Wow, there's actually such a coincidence. Little Loli can't even enter meditation, it seems that meditation also has a threshold, otherwise the entire continent would be full of totems, which is indeed unreasonable.

  "It's okay, big brother can't enter meditation as a successor either." Hu Gao couldn't help but stretch out his hand and rub Qinglian's full head of green hair, "By the way, is it difficult to condense the Totem?"

  According to the first generation king of the Dragon and Tiger Empire, Fang Wuxu, ordinary people need to reach the level of "Wang Wu" in their spiritual power to enter a meditative state. However, up until now, the method for determining one's spiritual power level has been completely lost, and everyone can only judge a person's spiritual strength by communicating with the heavenly yuan force during meditation.

  Entering meditation is just the first step in condensing totems, and when summoning the heart and soul, only one out of ten can succeed. That's why later on, some extraordinary people created a method to hunt for beast souls to condense totems, but the success rate isn't high either."

  Hehe, Hu Gao was thoroughly stunned by Qinglian this time. He had thought that as a genius like himself, he could just ponder and study at home, then go out and show off his knowledge to trample others underfoot. Who knew the road ahead would be so arduous!

  He let out a sigh, looked at Qinglian with what he thought was a profound gaze, and said, "Perhaps, only the kind of ordinary people who need to look up to me can be my sole motivation for moving forward!"