Genshin Impact: A Mortal's Ascension to Godhood

"Searching for relics... this is not an easy job."

After returning home, Li Tao looked at the map on the table with some worry, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the different locations on the map.

"If you want to get holy relics, you have to fight elite monsters and bosses, or pass the trials in secret realms, or put your hopes on treasure chests in the wild. But I've been in Liyue for so long, and I've never seen treasure chests automatically refreshed in the wild. The most I've seen is a box used by the Hilichurls to store things in the Hilichurls' camp."

So, some game settings can't be taken seriously in the real world. As for the elite monsters near Liyue? If Li Tao doesn't fight, there are plenty of people who can fight. The Hill Rock Helmet King that he hadn't fought before had already been killed. As for whether that thing has any holy relics, only God knows.

Li Tao picked up a pen and drew on the map, marking out the locations of several secret realms: "The Golden House, used to fight the young master. Since the young master hasn't come to Liyue yet, this one doesn't count... Lisha Suburbs, the back of Tianheng Mountain, where the winding path leads to a secluded place... There are two places on Qiongji Wilderness, the Huaqing Guizang Secret Palace in Luhua Pond and the place where Xu Sanrenli left on Guili Plain... In Minlin, there are secret realms in Jueyunjian, Aozang Mountain, and Hulao Mountain... Add to that the secret realms near the Layered Rock Abyss and Wuwangpo in Qingce Village, and I think I'll have marked all the secret realms."

Looking at the densely packed red circles on the map, Li Tao was a little confused. "Do I have to visit all these secret realms in five years? It's not impossible, but it will take too much time!"

As soon as he had the thought of retreating, Li Tao slapped his thigh hard: Damn, Li Tao, what are you hesitating about? Don't you want to become stronger? The road to becoming stronger is right in front of you, why are you afraid? !

"Yes, we can't be lazy at this time. Let's plan the routes to the various secret places. This is indeed a task that cannot be completed in a year or two..."

.......

Two days passed after that.

Li Tao first went over Tianheng Mountain to find a secret realm called [A winding path leads to a secluded place]. Li Tao remembered that he needed to decrypt the secret to open it, but he could not find the place that needed to be decrypted and where the secret realm was. It was not until he found that the nearby earth veins were blocked and returned to Liyue in confusion to ask people in the know that he found out that the earth veins of Tianheng Mountain had fluctuated severely recently, which might have affected the balance of elemental forces nearby, causing the secret realm to be closed off instead of being open to the outside world.

Li Tao had no choice but to consider himself unlucky and return home in a dejected state. He was feeling depressed and just wanted to have a good meal and then have a good sleep.

"Now that things have come to this, let's eat first..."

Just as he strolled to Wanmintang near Chihuyan and was about to sit down and order some food, Li Tao suddenly realized that the nearby restaurants and food stalls were all in a festive mood, with the hawking and shouting louder than before. Some places even had red stickers on the walls, making it look as festive as the Chinese New Year.

What happened? I haven't been in Liyue for two days. What happened?

Although Li Tao was a little confused, he did not show any surprise because he had acquaintances here to ask.

When the waitress Xiangling came over to record the order, Li Tao asked her the question "Why is it so lively around here?"

"Hey, Brother Li Tao, don't you know?" Xiang Ling kept writing while happily explaining to Li Tao, "Recently, Liyue's Food Festival is coming soon, and several of our Liyue restaurants are going to get together to hold a cooking competition."

Food Festival and Chef Contest? What kind of classic 2D cooking show is this?

Just like there always have to be some kind of campus competition in hot-blooded school anime and some kind of cooking competition in gourmet cooking anime, it seems as if the consciousness of struggle is engraved in human genes, people always have to rank this or that thing to show that they are foresighted, blah blah.

Li Tao didn't know the details, so he just encouraged Xiangling and wished her and her father, Master Mao, the best of luck. Then he finished his meal and went home to take a shower and rest.

//////

The next day.

Li Tao was visited by the adventurer Xiao Qian, who took him to the Adventurer's Association.

"Brother Qian, why do you suddenly want us adventurers to gather together?" Li Tao was about to go out to find the second secret realm when he was taken away by Xiao Qian. Of course he felt very strange.

Xiao Qian grumbled helplessly, "It's all because of that crappy food festival recently...something went wrong in Liyue, and now the Adventurer's Association is fully staffed with missions. Sister Lan had no choice but to ask me to gather up the adventurers who are still free, so that you can share the pressure."

"What kind of trouble could possibly go wrong in the Chef Contest?" Li Tao felt that his brain wasn't enough. "Isn't it just that everyone sits together and enjoys delicious food?"

Xiao Qian looked at Li Tao deeply and said, "It would be great if that were true. Let's talk about the specific situation at the association, and then you will know what is going on."

When Li Tao and Xiao Qian arrived at the association, Sister Lan and Catherine, who were busy as hell, handed him some assignments. Li Tao immediately understood what Xiao Qian meant by "not that simple".

Li Tao got the first task, which required him to protect the fish that the client had caught early in the morning. The task description was that someone had poisoned the fish, killing all the fresh fish, which made the client furious and had to hire someone to take care of it. The second task required him to mediate a dispute between two merchants over the location of the stall. The client was the General Affairs Department. The General Affairs Department did not have enough manpower, so it had to hire some adventurers to help. The third task required him to urgently obtain rare ingredients. As long as the Adventurer Association sent the Ice Mist Flower and the Flame Flower Stamen, the client would give a high monetary reward...

"No, aren't these two things used for alchemy? Who would use Ice Mist Flower and Flame Flower as ingredients?" Li Tao was a little confused, and the other adventurers also looked at themselves and the tasks in others' hands with strange expressions.

In short, the problem behind all these tasks is vicious business competition.

Li Tao couldn't help but ask Sister Lan: "Sister Lan, doesn't Qixing care about this? For a food festival, competing to this extent, isn't it a bit too much?"

Sister Lan could only smile bitterly and shake her head: "Holding a Seven Star meeting for a food festival? This is impossible. Besides, the food festival is a festival set during a business meeting. If a Seven Star wants to take charge of these things, it is possible... Stop complaining about these things, and think about how to complete these tasks."

The adventurers all sighed and looked for tasks that suited them, then went out to the client's location to confirm. Only Li Tao did not accept the task. He said to Sister Lan, "Sister Lan, I don't think our Adventurer Association should be responsible for this matter... Please allow me to find someone who can be responsible for this matter. I want them to rectify the chaos behind the food festival!"

Sister Lan pinched her brows and asked tiredly, "Can you do it, Li Tao? This is not an easy task."

"If I had backed down because of difficulties, I would have died on the island near Guyun Pavilion!" Li Tao said fiercely, "The Food Festival should be a day for everyone to enjoy delicious food and feel happy, not a day for the disorderly development of commercial capital and the rampage of demons... I think not only me, but also my friends will agree with my point of view."

"This is not a mission. You are going against the association." Sister Lan reminded again seriously, "Li Tao, have you really thought it through?"

Li Tao's expression did not change at all: "This is my own action, and it is also the task I gave myself. I am not doing this for Liyue, but for my own happiness and to help my friends."