"Senior, sorry to keep you waiting." Yukikawa Yukie ran over carrying a guitar bag, dressed in a dazzling outfit consisting of a short skirt and a white shirt. Against the backdrop of snow, cherry blossoms, and plain stone steps, her long legs clad in black silk stockings were particularly eye-catching.
"I could play with those legs for a year." Mo Bai inadvertently revealed his inner thoughts.
"Huh? Senior, what did you say?" Having run all the way from the shrine to the foot of the mountain in one breath, the panting Yukie failed to catch Mo Bai's words.
"Why are you wearing a short skirt? Isn't it cold?" Mo Bai, who in his previous life could never understand why girls wore short skirts in the freezing cold of winter and spring, seized the opportunity to voice the doubt in his heart.
"It is cold," Yukie said, bringing her legs together as they trembled in the chilling wind. She rubbed her hands and breathed warm air onto them. Between the black silk and the pure white, the 'Absolute Territory' revealed by her fluttering hem appeared indistinctly. "But Grandma told me this is the most popular style down the mountain."
An image of that Great Miko, who could still run and jump despite being over seventy, giving a thumbs-up flashed before Mo Bai's eyes.
But was Mo Bai the kind of vulgar person whose firm will would be shaken by beauty?
"Mn, correct, she's right."
That Great Miko knows her stuff.
"If it's cold, get in the car quickly." Mo Bai, choosing to follow his heart, pulled open the car door.
"Oh, right, Senior. This is something Grandma wanted me to give you." After crawling into the car and sitting firmly, Yukie remembered the Great Miko's blessing and took out an object wrapped in white cloth from the outer pocket of her guitar bag.
Upon opening it, Mo Bai found a palm-sized wooden plaque inscribed with the four characters [Yukikawa Shrine]. Above the characters was the customary pattern of Snowy Mountain Cherry Blossoms blooming atop a snowy peak.
"This is the wooden plaque for a Guest Elder of the Yukikawa Shrine. If you hang this up, no one will dare to cause trouble in your shop, Senior."
"Please thank the Great Miko for me." Mo Bai, having witnessed Yoshino Takashi's petty tricks during the Akihabara Summit Battle, naturally no longer believed that having a backer didn't matter.
Dōjima Gin, who had gone hungry for a day and a night inside the barrier and even caught a cold, had departed earlier with a broken heart, resulting in only Mo Bai and Yukikawa Yukie, who was heading to the Tōtsuki Detached Palace for an exorcism, being on this return trip.
During the long drive, with the black curtain separating the driver's cabin, the situation of a lone man and woman in the spacious back seat made even Mo Bai feel a hint of awkwardness.
"Yukie, I'm going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when we arrive."
"Mn." Yukie played with her smartphone without lifting her head.
Mo Bai peeked over; on the phone screen, a young girl wrapped in a cotton duvet held a golden sword high and slashed downward with all her might, a golden pillar of light piercing through heaven and earth.
Clearing the map with blue damage numbers despite class disadvantage.
"Hiss~ An NP5 whale, terrifying." Glancing at Yukie's thick, jet-black hair, Mo Bai swallowed his words of caution.
Since Dream Ingredients have appeared, there must be ingredients for hair growth and liver nourishment.
Obediently shrinking into the corner, Mo Bai focused his attention on the center of his palm.
Instantly, a vast expanse of icy, snowy land came into Mo Bai's view.
The Little White Dragon couldn't wait to rush out from Mo Bai's sleeve. Perhaps because it had returned to a familiar environment, it clawed at the air, appearing exceptionally excited.
"Let's go, we're going to patrol the territory." Mo Bai, whose heart was also leaping with joy, clenched his fist, and then his entire person was lifted afloat by the cold wind.
Having learned from Ryougi Shiki how to use that gem representing ownership of the Ice Continent, Mo Bai was not at all afraid of the many terrifying existences there.
Although he couldn't subdue these big guys at this stage, no one could stop him if he wanted to slip away, given his cooldown-free teleportation skills and ability to alter the terrain within the Ice Continent.
The wonder of the authority to dominate the earth lies solely in the heart.
One man and one dragon soon turned this seemingly lifeless, yet actually species-rich Ice Continent upside down.
Speed-dropping from thousand-meter snow peaks. Skydiving from ten thousand meters without a parachute...
They saw herds of cattle on the ice plains, giant white bears, and even took advantage of a Steel Dragon's absence to explore its nest; the man and dragon had a blast performing various acts of courting death.
However, the Little White Dragon seemed to discover something very quickly, leading Mo Bai over a high mountain and then diving headfirst downwards.
Mo Bai, who thought the Little White Dragon had crashed, hurriedly followed to land, only to unexpectedly discover a large field of fresh flowers reflecting colorful light on the sun-facing back of the snow peak.
The gem in his palm symbolizing the dominion of the Ice Continent transmitted information to Mo Bai, and immediately, Little Bai converted the information into a list.
[Ingredient: Ice Prism Flower]
[Ingredient Quality: One Star (50)]
[Evaluation: Flowers with irregular polygonal ice crystal petals blooming on the sun-facing side of the Ice Continent's snow peaks. It possesses a pure sweetness similar to rock candy and a unique crisp texture. The Snow Woman clan cultivates it on a large scale as a source of sweet seasoning.]
"Dream Ingredients! So many?!" Mo Bai hurriedly grabbed an Ice Prism Flower and stuffed it into his mouth.
The ice-crystal-like petals did not have the expected hardness, but rather a crisp texture similar to ice plants, exuding a refreshing sweetness upon chewing.
Not intense, yet very rich, a superb sweetness with no lingering aftertaste that made Mo Bai narrow his eyes in bliss.
"As expected of a Dream Ingredient, if these Ice Prism Flowers were used to make desserts..." Mo Bai looked at the endless field of flowers, struggling with a difficult internal battle.
"Taking without asking is stealing."
"Stealing my ass! The flowers grow in the ground; is it wrong for a landlord to take a few?"
"Right. I am the landlord!" Conscience and greed quickly reached a consensus; the struggle ended there.
"I am a ruler of the Ice Continent; the entire Ice Continent is my territory, dammit!"
"Consider it collecting rent in advance." Mo Bai waved his hand righteously, and a patch of the Ice Prism Flower field's edge disappeared. The vanished flowers were transferred by him into the cave where the Gourmet Showcase originally stood.
"Little Bai, what other specialties does the Snow Woman clan have?" Mo Bai couldn't beat the animal-type Dream Ingredients, but surely he could handle the plants!
This is the Inner World! An Inner World full of all kinds of unscientific Dream Ingredients!
With ten thousand thoughts born in his heart, Mo Bai's eyes were redder than a rabbit's.
[Ingredient: Crystal Rice]
[Ingredient Quality: One Star (30)]
[Evaluation: Rice as clear as ice crystals growing in severe cold zones. Once cooked, every bite allows one to experience a sensation named warmth.]
===
[Ingredient: Snowflake Salt]
[Ingredient Quality: One Star (10)]
[Evaluation: In the east of the Ice Continent, there is an open shallow sea area. As the tide rises and falls, seawater remaining on the beach gradually crystallizes. Because the alternating ocean currents around the Ice Continent bring abundant algae resources, Snowflake Salt can be called a Dream Salt carrying umami.]
Because it ranked third and was white in color, Mo Bai named the Little White Dragon "San Bai" (Three Whites), or "Xiao" (皛).
"Xiao, can you find the surrounding Dream Ingredients?" Mo Bai thought of the Little White Dragon who had discovered this flower field first.
"Wu!" The Little White Dragon raised its head proudly.
"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go!"
"A Food Spirit that can bring good luck and find Dream Ingredients... I really want to raise one too." Yukie looked at the Little White Dragon lying on Mo Bai's shoulder, her heart filled with envy. "Senior, we have arrived at Tōtsuki Resort."
Mo Bai didn't know if the Little White Dragon could bring good luck, but he genuinely admired its ability to find Dream Ingredients.
In the two huge caves, upper and lower, where the hundred-meter-tall Gourmet Showcase originally stood, the lower layer was already piled high with plundered Dream Ingredients within just a few hours.
Mo Bai, having pulled off a big heist in the Ice Continent, woke up leisurely.
That night, the ice plains were once again thrown into a chaotic frenzy.
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