Armoured Dragon Calendar year 401. As agreed, Dan Feng and Roxy once again arrived at the Central Continent, the continent with the strongest national power.
The purpose of their visit this time was to first investigate the two people Orsted had mentioned. Both held immense power in their respective kingdoms, so gathering intelligence wasn't easy—they could only inquire among the residents.
Their first destination was the royal capital of the Dragon King Kingdom—Vibon. This city also had a very long history. It was said that many powerful figures had once gathered here, all to subjugate the Dragon King.
In the end, the Dragon King was defeated by the second North God, Alex. From that battle, the second North God Alex rose to fame in a single fight and obtained the Dragon King Sword, crafted by the world's foremost weapon artisan using materials from the Dragon King's corpse.
Dan Feng and Roxy slowly walked along the streets of Vibon. Although this city couldn't compare to the royal capital Ars of the Asura Kingdom or Millishion of the Holy Country of Millis, it was still quite spectacular compared to the capitals of other kingdoms.
Because the food culture of the Dragon King Kingdom had many similarities to Dan Feng's previous life, he had quite a favorable impression of this place.
Especially when he discovered that extremely rare white rice was available here, it added several degrees of fondness toward the location.
Thus, Dan Feng enthusiastically led Roxy wandering through the large and small streets of the Dragon King Kingdom.
Every time they entered a shop, Dan Feng would skillfully strike up a conversation with the shopkeeper, trying to glean some information about the current king of the Dragon King Kingdom from their words.
However, after some inquiries, Dan Feng learned that the current king of the Dragon King Kingdom seemed not particularly fond of holding grand ceremonies in public.
This led many residents to speculate and wonder about the king's personality.
Some thought he was arrogant, while others praised him as a wise ruler.
Dan Feng silently noted these varied opinions in his heart. He knew well that arrogant people often brought ruin upon themselves, so he wasn't overly worried about whether he could successfully kill this king in the future.
Unknowingly, time had reached mealtime.
Dan Feng recalled something he had heard from some merchants earlier—that there was a restaurant in Vibon widely regarded as the best.
Thus, full of anticipation, he took Roxy to this restaurant, ready to enjoy a hearty meal.
The reason for Dan Feng's high expectations was naturally because this restaurant could serve the white rice he had been longing for.
One must know that the texture and aroma of white rice were incomparable to ordinary mixed-grain rice—just thinking about it made one's mouth water.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, Dan Feng was immediately told that the white rice had sold out and only other types of rice remained. This made him fully realize one thing.
White rice in this other world was truly as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. If he wanted to eat white rice here, he would probably have to grow it himself.
Fortunately, he possessed the Permansor Terrae ability, which could accelerate plant growth. In that case, achieving white rice freedom wasn't out of reach.
Since he couldn't eat white rice, he might as well try the local specialties.
Grilled rice balls... hmm... this thing looked a bit strange.
First of all, it wasn't made with white rice, which already robbed the rice ball of a certain unique charm.
Moreover, the rice ball was brushed with some unknown sauce and then grilled over a fire before being served on a plate just like that.
Honestly, the taste of this grilled rice ball was really average—just an ordinary rice ball brushed with some sauce, nothing special. At best, it could fill the stomach.
After eating their fill, both felt it was time to leave.
After all, the purpose of their trip had been achieved—they had successfully obtained information on the king's personality traits. There was no point in staying longer.
However, there was still one important matter Dan Feng needed to attend to.
Dan Feng turned to the restaurant owner and asked, "Boss, where did you buy this white rice? I'd like to buy some seeds to plant at home myself."
Upon hearing Dan Feng's request, the owner immediately pointed him in the right direction, telling him that in the remote villages on the edge of the Dragon King Kingdom, he could simply ask the local villagers and buy white rice seeds.
However, since that village was quite far away, the owner himself rarely went there to procure goods.
Dan Feng thanked the owner promptly, then left together with Roxy.
As they walked and chatted, Roxy suddenly asked curiously, "Dan Feng, are you really planning to grow white rice yourself? There's plenty of space in the backyard of our home for planting crops."
Dan Feng nodded and replied, "Mm, I do have that idea. I prefer eating rice, and this white rice tastes much better than mixed-grain rice, so I want to grow some myself."
Once they left Vibon, Dan Feng took Roxy and flew toward the remote village the owner had mentioned.
Along the way, they overlooked the terraced fields of the Dragon King Kingdom and saw that almost all were planted with rice, though most weren't white rice but various strange and unusual varieties.
This also explained why white rice was so rare—most people were unwilling to plant it, perhaps because the yield was low, not enough even for themselves, and few were willing to buy it.
They soon spotted the village the owner had described.
Thus, Dan Feng and Roxy landed in a nearby forest, preparing to walk out from there to find local villagers and buy some white rice seeds.
The transaction with the villagers went smoothly. Dan Feng successfully exchanged some copper coins for the white rice seeds he had longed for.
Dan Feng told Roxy to keep them safe and store them properly in the storage scroll.
Seeing how seriously Dan Feng spoke, Roxy found a piece of cloth, carefully wrapped the seeds, and placed them into the storage scroll.
Just as they were about to set off again, they heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Please, I can give you copper coins—I need food!" A miserable voice rang out not far away. Dan Feng found this voice especially familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
Turning his head, he saw the boy named Paul Greyrat whom they had encountered in Roa a year ago.
He looked quite disheveled, as if he had traveled a long and arduous journey—his golden hair was a messy tangle.
There was none of the youthful vigor of a 13-year-old; he looked exactly like a down-and-out swordsman.
Roxy also spotted the boy they had met in Roa a year earlier at a glance. She said to Dan Feng beside her, "Dan Feng, are we really so fated with him? We met again."
"When it comes to fate, it really does seem so."
After all, this was already the third time Dan Feng had encountered Paul—the first at the banquet in Ars, the second in Roa, and the third here.