162: Chapter 162 Tony's Breakdown: Can't You Go to Another Shop to Cause Trouble?

Soon, the first dish was served.

Charcoal-grilled Tier 3 Earth Dragon Spine.

A palm-thick, dark red steak lay on a black stone slab,

its surface charred and fragrant,

and its interior glowing with a faint orange luster...

That was the manifestation of Source Energy remaining in the meat fibers,

which had been rendered docile after being prepared by the head chef.

Su Ming picked up a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

The meat was tender and delicate, with a wild, savory aroma,

bursting with juices upon biting into it.

Delicious.

But what surprised him even more was...

In his mind, the long-awaited System notification sound rang out.

[High-energy organic carbon-based biomass intake detected...]

[Note: The Source Energy density of this substance exceeds the conversion threshold. The stomach digestion pathway has been activated.]

[Stomach digestion and conversion in progress...]

[mass points +25]

Su Ming's pupils dilated slightly.

Holy crap?

Just eating a normal meal can yield mass points?!

He had always thought that he could only harvest points by using his hands as black holes to devour things.

The System followed a 'mass conversion' route,

and while his hands were the active devouring pathway,

stomach digestion was essentially decomposing matter as well.

It was just that he had eaten ordinary food before,

which had an energy density as low as plain water,

completely insufficient to trigger the System's minimum conversion standard.

Tier 3 Source Beast meat?

The energy density of every single bite of this stuff

was probably equivalent to hundreds of pounds of ordinary food.

No wonder there was no reaction before...

It wasn't that it didn't work, but that he was previously too poor to afford 'qualified rations'!

He really had been living a hard life before!

Eating hotpot and singing songs,

while his strength steadily rose?

This was absolutely awesome.

Su Ming grinned so hard his eyes squinted shut,

his chopsticks flying,

as he stuffed plate after plate into his mouth.

This wasn't just eating a meal;

this was topping up his account.

"Brother Ming! This meal is miraculous! I feel like my [Nine Heavens Thunder Body] is coming alive!"

Ye Xiao put down his chopsticks, his Face filled with disbelief.

Although he was the young master of the Ye Family,

and had never lacked money since childhood, he had never been particular about food or clothing.

He used to think that those Source Beast spiritual feasts costing hundreds of thousands of dollars per meal were just Face-saving vanity projects for the rich.

But after this meal today,

the lightning-attribute Source Energy in his Meridians was bubbling rapidly,

feeling as comfortable and clear as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

Even the few tiny branch Meridians that were usually the hardest to break through showed faint signs of loosening.

This stuff... could actually assist with Cultivation?

Ye Xiao's heart burned with excitement; a new door to cultivation had opened for him!

All his New Year's money from the past dozen years had been confiscated by his dad under the guise of 'saving it for you'.

In the past, he couldn't be bothered to argue, since he didn't lack pocket money anyway.

But it was different now. He had to get that money back

and spend it all on eating!

As he was calculating, he looked up and saw

three empty plates already stacked in front of Su Ming.

"Brother Ming, aren't you afraid of choking, eating so fast?"

"Shut up and eat your food."

Su Ming mumbled, his mouth stuffed with meat.

By the end of the meal,

dozens of dishes had been completely wiped clean by the two of them.

Ye Xiao let out a loud burp,

the activity of the lightning Source Energy in his body clearly enhanced,

and squinted his eyes in comfort.

Su Ming silently checked his mass points balance in his mind.

A single meal had increased it by over eight hundred points.

It wasn't a huge amount,

but it was incredibly easy and comfortable.

From now on, he could add 'dining out' to his daily Cultivation routine.

Teacher Lin Qinyin's one billion credits

had finally found the most perfect way to be spent.

Eating their Source Energy ore, spending their money, and harvesting their mass points.

Triple dipping all by himself.

The waiter handed over the bill.

A total of 3.72 million.

Su Ming tapped his black card against the card reader.

"Beep... Supreme authorization, PIN bypassed."

The Pavilion Master appeared once again, holding a diamond VIP card with both hands.

"Mr. Su, please visit us often in the future.

The top floor will always be reserved for you.

In addition, please accept our restaurant's highest-level diamond card.

For any future visits, you will receive a 50% discount on everything!"

Su Ming casually took it and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Sure, sure."

The two of them stood up and walked out.

Along the way, the waiters lined up in two rows and bowed ninety degrees in unison.

Ye Xiao walked down the middle, his chin held so high it was almost pointing to the sky.

"Brother Ming, I feel like I can never go back in this lifetime."

"Go back to what?"

"Go back to eating my mom's cooking."

...

Leaving Moonview Pavilion, they strolled onto the commercial street.

Su Ming brushed the hair away from his Face.

With his rapid growth over the past few days,

his hair had also grown like crazy,

and his bangs were almost poking his eyeballs.

"I need to clean up my image," he muttered.

Just then, he saw a shop up ahead.

It was the ridiculously luxurious "Edge" styling salon,

the most expensive hair salon in Jiangcheng.

It specialized in serving the Awakened.

Su Ming pushed open the door and walked in.

"Wash, cut, and blow-dry! Give me your most expensive director!"

...

Seeing his school uniform,

the receptionist hesitated for a moment

before calling out the director and chief hair stylist.

The director's surname was Chen, known in the Jianghu as 'Teacher Tony'.

He was forty years old, an Awakened hair stylist,

who claimed he could cut any hair.

With a flick of the salon cape, he draped it over Su Ming's shoulders.

"What style would you like, handsome?"

Su Ming glanced in the mirror and gave a serious warning:

"I'm telling you, I'm an Awakened."

"My Awakening is... Hair Steelification."

"Be careful when you cut it."

Teacher Tony smiled.

Another day, another customer bragging and challenging his skills.

"Don't worry, there's no kind of Awakened I haven't served here.

Steelification types, Petrification types, even spiky Hedgehog types—I've cut them all."

He picked up his scissors,

struck a stylish pose,

and snipped at the ends of the hair.

*Screeech...*

A harsh sound of metal scraping metal rang out.

It was like trying to cut steel wire.

Teacher Tony looked down...

There was a chip in the blade.

The hair was completely undamaged.

"..."

With a calm expression, he put down those scissors and picked up a new pair.

*Crack...*

The scissors snapped right in half,

and half the blade flew out,

embedding itself into the wall with a thud.

Teacher Tony leaped out of his chair.

"Did you... did you bury steel rebar in your hair?!"

Su Ming innocently twirled the ends of his hair.

"No. It's... just a bit stiff."

Teacher Tony took a deep breath,

turned around, and walked into the tool room.

When he came out, he held a pair of entirely silver-gray scissors,

with the inscription 'Grade-B Alloy' engraved on the blade.

"These can slice through the hide of a Tier 2 Vicious Beast."

Striking an incredibly artistic pose,

he flicked his wrist,

aiming precisely at the lock of hair on Su Ming's forehead...

and snipped with all his might.

*Snap.*

A crisp snapping sound.

But it wasn't the hair that broke.

The Grade-B Alloy scissors snapped clean off at the handle.

He almost cut his own hand.

Teacher Tony's grip loosened, and the scissors dropped to the floor.

His knees buckled, and he fell to his knees.

"Brother..." his voice trembled,

"with a talent like yours, you could probably apply for a special federal subsidy, right?"

"Our little shop... really cannot serve you."

"I don't want the 880 credits for the haircut. I'll even pay you a thousand,

can you please just go ruin another shop?!

I still need these hands to make a living tomorrow!!"

The surrounding apprentices were so terrified that they all shrank into the corners,

looking at Su Ming as if they were looking at a humanoid Vicious Beast.

Su Ming and Ye Xiao looked at each other.

Well, this was awkward...

Su Ming sighed.

"Sigh, the quality of military-grade products these days is really getting worse with each generation. They can't even handle an F-grade talent."

He pulled out his black card and slapped it on the table.

"It's my fault. I'll pay for the scissors."

How could Teacher Tony dare to accept? He waved his hands frantically,

then looked at the broken blades scattered all over the floor,

and bowed ninety degrees to Su Ming, completely resigned to his fate.

"Brother, let me recommend a shop to you..."

"Next to the slaughterhouse, the Alloy Cutter Specialty Shop."

"They have laser cutting machines..."

Su Ming: "Are you being polite right now...?"

The shop assistants turned red from holding back their laughter.

Su Ming stood up expressionless,

and ripped off the cape.

In the end, he still swiped his card to pay.

Walking out of the shop,

Ye Xiao, who had been holding it in for a long time, finally burst out.

"Brother Ming! Is even your hair invincible?!"

Su Ming rubbed the lock of hair on his forehead that hadn't budged at all,

and sighed.

"It's lonely at the top!

I'll borrow Shen Qingci's cold edge to try later,

though I don't know if it's sharp enough..."

"Where are we going next? To the martial arts hall for sparring?"

With his hair still sticking up,

he grinned, his eyes gleaming.

"Spar my ass."

"I'm taking you to a great place."

"Where?"

"A... mass... age."

...