"In my sixteen years of life, I've never heard of anyone possessing such a strange ability, even more powerful than the legendary Grand Appraisal Technique..."

  Before entering the cave, Bai Wushang had discreetly tested it several times. As long as he was within ten meters, focusing his gaze on any zombie would cause a detailed attribute panel to appear in his pupils.

  Even more bizarrely, a mysterious pattern of a golden knife and silver fork had materialized on the back of his right hand.

  Bai Wushang had done a test with Mu Xiaoxiao, discovering she couldn't see the pattern at all; it seemed only he could perceive it.

  "What exactly is this?"

  Bai Wushang stared at the golden knife and silver fork on the back of his hand, lost in thought.

  As he watched, an ethereal, illusory voice suddenly echoed in his ears—

  "Activate the God of Food Altar?"

  Startled, Bai Wushang glanced left and right. Everything seemed normal; nothing was amiss.

  "Activate the God of Food Altar?"

  The voice sounded again. Bai Wushang carefully tried to pinpoint the source, realizing it seemed to be emanating from the golden knife and silver fork.

  "God of Food Altar... God of Food..."

  Bai Wushang mulled over this strangely familiar term twice, then had a sudden realization: "Before Qin Long died, wasn't he fixing a game bug named 'God of Food'..."

  "No way... Could it be, just like in Qin Long's memories, every transmigrator from Blue Star comes with their own 'golden finger,' only this one originally belonged to Qin Long, and now I've hijacked it?"

  Bai Wushang's heart thumped wildly, a mix of excitement and shock.

  Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, Bai Wushang constantly reminded himself to remain calm and composed, and absolutely not to act rashly.

  He looked up to check on Mu Xiaoxiao, confirming she was deeply asleep and wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

  Then, Bai Wushang tiptoed to the cave entrance and peeked at the outside situation for a moment. Occasionally, a few hungry zombies shuffled past, but none noticed the hidden little cave.

  Confirming it was safe, Bai Wushang refocused his gaze on the golden knife and silver fork pattern.

  "Activate the God of Food Altar?"

  "Yes..." Bai Wushang thought silently.

  Endless darkness enveloped him like a tide, and suddenly, he couldn't see anything.

  The next second, his vision brightened. Bai Wushang found himself in a ruined palace. The ground was littered with broken stone pillars scattered everywhere. The surrounding walls were riddled with cracks, hinting at an ancient, unknown past.

  This ruined palace covered about three hundred square meters and was roughly circular in shape. Along the outermost edge stood thirteen pure black statues. Some were humanoid, others insectoid covered in limbs, and some even resembled giant dragons—all were bizarre forms.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  After scanning his surroundings, Bai Wushang's gaze fell upon the very center of the palace.

  There stood a massive bronze square cauldron, covered in rust spots, filled with the mottled patina of age.

  Just as Bai Wushang was about to approach the bronze cauldron for a closer look, he suddenly noticed something strange about himself.

  "Why does my body feel so light..."

  Looking down, he saw his body was actually translucent.

  Pinching his arm and thigh still produced a tangible sensation, but he had lost the sensation of pain.

  "This likely isn't my physical body, but my consciousness or some kind of spiritual body that has entered this space. How do I get out?"

  Just as this thought emerged, Bai Wushang's vision went black, then bright again, and he opened his eyes back in the real world.

  Looking around, almost nothing had changed, indicating that the flow of time here was similar to the outside world.

  Confirming this, he once again entered the God of Food Altar, arriving at the very center of the ruined palace.

  Observing the bronze cauldron closely, Bai Wushang noted its height was equal to his own. It had two loop handles and stood on four legs, its form simple and solemn.

  On the outer surface of the greyish-bronze cauldron were branded countless miniature engravings: a sky-obscuring Three-Legged Golden Crow, a World Serpent coiled around an entire divine mountain, a fifty-headed, hundred-armed ancient giant... Numbering in the thousands, without exception, they were all creatures of myth and legend.

  "What is this cauldron? It looks so ancient and mysterious..."

  Bai Wushang circled it once but found nothing more. He then tried standing on tiptoe to peer inside.

  The interior of the cauldron was pitch black, distorting all light. Bai Wushang looked left and right but couldn't see anything.

  Staring for too long, he even began to feel palpitations, as if the dark, profound depths within the cauldron were a bottomless abyss, and the next second a gaping, bloody maw would appear to devour him. Frightened, Bai Wushang quickly retracted his gaze.

  "Clearly, this bronze cauldron, placed in the center of the God of Food Altar, must be the most important item. What is its purpose? How should I activate it, or rather, how do I use it?"

  After hesitating for a while, unable to figure it out, Bai Wushang tentatively touched the cauldron's body with his finger.

  Completely different from the cold metallic texture he expected, the cauldron's body was scorching hot to the touch, as if it had just been seared by flames.

  As if triggering some change, the bronze cauldron began to rumble and tremble. The commotion grew louder and louder, and the entire palace began to shake.

  Startled, Bai Wushang tried to pull his finger away.

  But unexpectedly, a powerful suction force emanated from the cauldron body, latching onto Bai Wushang's entire right palm, holding it firmly against the bronze cauldron. He was unable to break free no matter how he struggled.

  【Fault Diagnosis... Original Holder Qin Long deceased... Triggering Re-binding...】【Target Authentication... Bai Wushang... Judgment Result... This Altar's sole host...】【God of Food Altar activating... 30%... 60%... 100%... Activation complete!】

  Line after line of small text floated before his eyes. Bai Wushang froze, his brain feeling like it stalled.

  "Is this... a system? Or something else?"

  Having experienced Qin Long's life, Bai Wushang quickly recovered from his surprise.

  The suction force on his palm vanished. Bai Wushang pulled back his right hand and then saw a mass of seven-colored flame surge out from the pitch-black depths of the square cauldron. Radiating streams of light, it illuminated the entire ruined palace, making it as splendid as a dreamscape.

  【Determined current host is first-time activator, triggering bonus reward - "God of Food's Gift," obtained Tier 1 God of Food Treasure Chest *1】

  A backpack-sized treasure chest, shimmering with a clean, porcelain-like luster, materialized out of thin air from the seven-colored flames, floating in mid-air.

  "God of Food Treasure Chest? Does this mean it's like a lottery?"

  Just as the question arose, the small text in Bai Wushang's vision immediately changed:

  【Hint: God of Food Treasure Chest contains special God of Food items that can assist the host's growth.】【God of Food Treasure Chests are divided into ten tiers, one being the start and ten the end. The higher the tier, the rarer the reward obtained.】【Tier 1 God of Food Treasure Chest Item Drop Rates - Extraordinary Recipe 98.9%, God of Food Tool 1%, God of Food Secret Art 0.1%】

  "Amazing. This thing seems capable of reading my mind and answering questions directly..."

  Thinking this, Bai Wushang tried calling out mentally:

  "Hello, what should I call you? System? God of Food? Or something else?"