The old turtle finally understood the current situation.
He floated upwards reluctantly.
However, the higher he went, the more severely the old turtle trembled, as if something terrifying was above.
But Zhang Wei and the others were unaware, only urging him on!
Under the threat to his life, the old turtle had no choice but to comply.
He saw the mountaintop!
The area was vast!
The world on the mountaintop stretched for a thousand li and was a hundred li wide, covering an area of over 3,000 square kilometers.
As soon as Zhang Wei and the other landed, the old turtle frantically fled, diving into the clouds and descending rapidly.
"This old turtle is quite timid."
"Never mind him..."
Zhang Wei looked at the mountaintop world, which resembled a paradise, filled with the novelty and wonder of exploration.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The floating turtle descended with all its might, but a chilling sensation lingered!
A shadow appeared in the clouds, a clawless creature resembling a divine dragon suddenly emerged. The massive floating turtle was like a boiled egg in its presence...
Blood splattered.
The giant dragon-like creature vanished again.
...
"Mr. Zhang Wei, these plants are so strange. I've never seen many of them before."
Zhang Wei did not reply.
The human-skinned doll looked at Zhang Wei in confusion and asked, "Chef, what's wrong?"
"Heavens... this is simply a treasure trove!"
"What?"
Zhang Wei immediately crouched down and picked up an unknown small grass from the ground: "Soy sauce flavored leek flowers!"
"They can be used to make a dipping sauce for leek flowers, perfect for hot pot, a superior condiment far better than garlic paste!"
"Furthermore, these leek flowers were said to be abundant in ancient times but have been extinct for hundreds of years. I never expected to find them here!"
Zhang Wei took a few more steps and reached into the soil.
Highland Snow Ginseng!
A prime ingredient for medicinal cuisine, a small amount can greatly replenish vital energy and nourish the body!
Similarly, this ingredient has been extinct for hundreds of years.
Then, Zhang Wei took a few more steps. Each time he picked something up, it was a top-tier, extinct ingredient.
The human-skinned doll said with a touch of admiration, "Heavens... Chef, you know so much!"
Zhang Wei scratched his head.
As soon as he arrived, the system notifications had flooded his screen.
All the information he knew came from the system prompts!
"Where do we go now?"
"Go? Where to?"
Zhang Wei looked at the treasures scattered everywhere and said, "Every ingredient here could make ordinary chefs fight to the death outside. Of course, we'll take as much as we can dig up!"
Ding~
Ding~
Ding~
[Found storable ingredient: Rouge Beetle]
[Capture Level: 3-40]
[Description: A precious insect used for pigments. After consumption, even the droppings are lipstick-colored.]
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[Found storable ingredient: Plump Bone Worm]
[Capture Level: 6-40]
[Description: A delicious exoskeleton creature with superior bone marrow as its internal tissue, incredibly delicious with simple processing!]
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[Found storable ingredient: Ancient Dried Fish]
[Capture Level: 48]
[Description: A non-renewable ingredient, dried for tens of thousands of years from an unknown ancient fish, preserved with salt. It is as hard as iron and its flavor endures eternally...]
————————————————
Although the levels were not high, they were all extremely rare ingredients, virtually impossible to find anywhere else.
This was truly a massive windfall!
And there were plenty of them. Were there no herbivorous animals here?
Zhang Wei was like an excavator, leaving nothing behind wherever he went.
Extinct?
How could that be!
Anything stored by Zhang Wei was akin to eternal life!
It represented the permanent survival and sublimation of a species.
The human-skinned doll was initially enthusiastic, but eventually grew bored and sat aside, lay down, or paced back and forth...
"Why don't you go explore a bit?"
"Should I? I'd rather stay here with you?"
Zhang Wei pondered, "Consider it scouting. I'm sure there are many interesting things here."
"Scouting... Alright!"
At least it was a proper excuse.
"Wait a moment..."
"What?"
"Be careful!"
The human-skinned doll patted its chest and said, "Even in enemy camps with thousands of guards, few could harm me. How much less here... But don't worry, I'm extremely cautious!"
Zhang Wei trusted the human-skinned doll's professionalism.
After sending the human-skinned doll away, Zhang Wei continued his storage!
[Storage complete: Rouge Beetle...]
[Replication Time: 15 days]
[Replication Time: 13 days... 11 days... 9 days... 5 days... 48 hours... 26 hours... 24 hours...]
Each halving of replication time required about five storage operations.
Reducing it from ten days to one day took approximately 16-25 storage operations.
Reducing it from a hundred days to ten days required approximately 32-50 storage operations.
This was just an estimate, and Zhang Wei noticed that as his strength grew, the number of storage operations required rapidly decreased. In the past, reducing an ingredient's replication time from thirty days to one day would have required at least 300-600 storage operations!
Participation was also a crucial factor. If Zhang Wei was involved in hunting, gathering, or cultivation, the replication time would be further reduced.
"It seems... waiting in one place for ingredients to be brought to me is not the best method. Perhaps I should become a culinary hunter!"
50 storage operations were not many.
In just a few hours, the replication time for four or five ingredients had been reduced to one day.
"Another Highland Snow Ginseng!"
"There are three within a hundred meters, an incredible density of ingredients. According to ancient texts, the growth interval for this plant should be at least five thousand meters!"
[Found storable ingredient: Ancient Dried Fish!]
[Found storable ingredient: Ancient Dried Fish!]
A dozen consecutive notifications!
Zhang Wei was startled and dug up all the soil in front of him. Inside were amber-like stones.
They emitted a nauseating, pungent stench!
"So many ancient dried fish!"
Over time, these dried fish had become like fossils! It was said that processing their edges alone would take half a year!
"I can't resist!"
"National Chef!"
"Seven Knives!"
With Seven Knives in hand, there were no ingredients that couldn't be processed!
For such meticulous work, Zhang Wei chose the latter four knives: the Literary Knife, the Sharp Knife, the Gentle Knife, and the Skillful Knife...
He stroked the ancient dried fish, feeling the patterns on the amber shell.
"Strange... This small dried fish is so fishy, even my damaged sense of smell can detect it."
Wiping away the dust.
Using the Gentle Knife, he rubbed off a small amount of powder and put it in his mouth.
"Indeed, it's very fishy... It has a texture similar to solidified fat..."
"And the energy within is so abundant! Just a tiny bit of powder makes me feel my body warming up..."
Zhang Wei continued rubbing with the Gentle Knife!
The rough powder on the outermost layer gradually disappeared, and the amber revealed a gemstone-like color!
Crystal clear!
Through the gem-like outer shell, a shriveled fish could be seen within.
"Why does this fish look so strange? It's a bit like..."
"Holy crap!"
"A whale!!!"