I Don't Agree to the Terms

This dark cuisine tasted alright, though its appearance was too horrifying, with those fish heads looking as eerie as if they were alive, even twitching inside his mouth as he ate.

But it must be said, it was this dish that gave him the physical fitness of a normal person, otherwise, he might have even thought of using it as a weapon, given how the eerie glow of the fish eyes was quite useful when he originally went to get food.

As for the idea of enhancing this dark cuisine to boost its effects, he had contemplated it but never implemented it because, with his original constitution, eating an enhanced version would definitely have killed him since it was too potent. It had to be gradually escalated.

First, eat the unenhanced version, then eat the enhanced +1, and then move on to +2, +3, etc., not jumping straight to +12 since such a leap would undoubtedly be fatal.

"If you keep doing this, my original self will soon change these enhancement rules for you, don't come crying then." Gu Shanhai quietly tweaked the feedback rules a bit. Original self? That was indeed him.

The one in the Godslayer Alliance was a fake he had crafted using Five Grains Spiritual Plant, the group was already half-mad—completely mad, probably in just a little bit more time.

Yes, this White Jade Gourd was the creation Gu Shanhai made using his Five Elements Sect status, relying on the Divine Skills of dimensional manipulation, sleeve cosmos, and morphogenetic transformation to form a special space.

Hiding with Wang Qi had its benefits—it meant the world wouldn't target him anymore. From when he helped Wang Qi kill those four ruffians, he had washed from the Divine faction into the main character faction.

As for the Godslayer Alliance matter? That had nothing to do with a grandfather figure like himself, it was clearly the other party that had plotted against him before they crazily released Divines all over. He was a victim too, otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up with Wang Qi.

Whitewashing was all about finesse, you couldn't force it. Just like Uchiha Itachi, as long as the narrative was well crafted, killing one's entire clan could still leave someone popular and a protagonist.

Originally he planned to send a clone here, but then thought that a clone seemed somewhat insincere. If he were to do so, he'd still be considered the hidden mastermind. So, if he was to do it, he had to go all out; being great and sparing oneself was not advisable.

Thus, after whitewashing, all targeting of Gu Shanhai by the world vanished, and he even received support.

Indeed, support, this left Gu Shanhai quite shocked; the world was truly flexible, probably driven to desperation.

For example, each time he helped Wang Qi, he would acquire a piece resembling a law fragment, which if a Divine obtained, could boost their own power. It's probably like the material transmitted during Tributes.

Gu Shanhai hadn't used any, just saved them all up. He planned to modify them before using them, or even if he didn't modify them, he wouldn't use them in this world but would wait until after he left this world.

But Gu Shanhai preferred to modify them before use, for example, to create manifestations of heaven and earth.

This thing was similar to the manifestations of heaven and earth, different from Divines, it belonged to the aspect of a blank slate, which is nothingness, and also fragmented. The quality was rather mediocre. To gather a complete aspect of blank slate, Gu Shanhai estimated it would take a million pieces.

This was indeed too many; even gacha games didn't require a million fragments to synthesize a single card.

So, assembling them was out of the question; rather, when Gu Shanhai needed to create Investiture of the Gods, True Spirit Map, or other types of manifestations of heaven and earth, he could use these fragments as glue.

Divines wouldn't just straightforwardly allow being crafted, so he'd need something to stick them together, and this stuff was well suited.

"Let's not talk about this anymore; if our boat keeps drifting like this, where do you think it can go?" Wang Qi asked, looking at the sea.

"I don't know." Gu Shanhai evasively responded with a non-committal answer.

"Aren't you able to predict the future? Predict something."

"Oh, due to severe dehydration from long-term lack of drinking water, you die and then turn into jerky."

This answer shocked Wang Qi, "So seawater really is undrinkable!"

He thought Gu Shanhai was joking, but it turned out to be true.

"Yeah, why would I lie to you? If you were a Transcendent it might be fine, but you're just a normal person, definitely getting more dehydrated the more you drink." Gu Shanhai's words added a hint of despair, before he further suggested, "You also need to manage your intake of fruits and vegetables, or else you'll lack certain essential nutrients in your body; the consequences, I prefer not to elaborate on."

"Right, what food did you stockpile?"

Gu Shanhai, of course, knew what he had stockpiled; he hadn't expected anyone to stockpile salted fish and rice.

Wang Qi, somewhat tremblingly, pulled out the previously mentioned Shanyuhai red berry and then asked, "Shanyuhai, look, is this enough?"

"What do you think?"

"I think it's probably not enough, right, what does your true form think about a tribute of salted fish and rice? Like if I offered it three times a day, would It accept?"

"How would I know? Just make an offering and see, maybe if you're lucky, It'll send you some fruits and veggies." Gu Shanhai joked.

"What if I'm not lucky?" Wang Qi swallowed hard.

"Then prepare to survive on dark cuisine every day. You've offended far too grievously; you're already on the blacklist. Don't expect any good stuff in the future; I'm arranging for all your meals to be dark cuisine." Gu Shanhai was openly seeking revenge for the previous tributes of corpses, bloody mud, and even rotten wood and spoiled fish that were sent to him.

Don't be fooled by his ability to stomach Banlangen instant noodles and Stargazing Pie; those dark cuisines were at least palatable. If he had to try stinky tofu now, and if he managed to keep it down, he wouldn't rid himself of the stench for the next three to five years; even a burp could make him vomit.

Eating too much might even make it a permanent effect.

"I... I don't believe it!"

At this point, Wang Qi thought he might still salvage the situation.

He took out a lot of rice and salted fish and directly made a tribute.

To show his sincerity, he took quite a lot.

The tribute process went smoothly, and the items were taken away; a huge wheel of cheese emerged.

"Is this also dark cuisine? Doesn't look like it; it even smells good." Wang Qi was somewhat delighted, thinking that he hadn't been blacklisted after all. Dark cuisine had miraculous effects, sure, but regular gourmet food did too, without any side effects.

"Yes, the name is Living Maggot Cheese Casu Marzu; the cheese is digested by the larvae of cheese flies which promotes a special kind of fermentation that helps break down the fats in the cheese."

"The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, and it even oozes a bit of liquid," Gu Shanhai remarked casually.

"Sheesh~ isn't this outrageous? Why are there still worms in it, wasn't this thing supposed to rot?" Wang Qi discovered the maggots in the cheese, still lively and jumping around.

"Yes, there are live maggots in the cheese, that's why it's called Living Maggot Cheese. Don't worry, it's definitely edible, as long as you can overcome the psychological and physiological barriers," Gu Shanhai declared, unbothered by whether Wang Qi ate it or not.

"Right, if you eat this, you might gain a Transcendent ability, though I'm not sure what it is exactly since it's given by my true form, not me."

Seeing Wang Qi hesitate, Gu Shanhai immediately gave him an irresistible reason.

"It's just bugs, once they're in the stomach they'll be digested." Wang Qi thought, if eating this could grant him Transcendent abilities, then it would be worth it.

The word 'might,' however, was subconsciously ignored by him.