Chapter 14: Breaking Through the Limit for the First Time
"How could it be? Isn't the roast duck at Uncle Chen's place delicious?" William Li asked, pretending to be surprised.
"It's delicious—for us Dragon Country people! But foreigners and people from England don't like it!" Li Wenhua replied with a wry smile.
"Then why not make it in a way that foreigners and people from England would like?" William Li said, his innocent eyes wide.
Before William Li traveled back in time, the largest Chinese fast-food chain in the world was called Panda's Cat Fast Food.
It made its fortune in America, and in 40 years, its revenue reached 20 billion. It became the largest brand in the global Chinese fast-food industry.
The reason Panda's Cat Fast Food was so successful was nothing other than its taste.
Its founder carefully studied the tastes of foreigners and adjusted Chinese cuisine to suit their preferences.
William Li had also researched this carefully and realized that due to some differences in this world, there was no Panda's Cat Fast Food here—not even a similar brand.
So!
He planned to guide Li Wenhua down that path.
"Make it something foreigners like—make it taste like something that people in Sakura Country would like?"
When Li Wenhua heard these words, it felt like thunder in his ears, and suddenly, something clicked.
Yes!
Since foreigners didn't like authentic Chinese fast food, why not research what they do like?
If he could figure that out, combined with the fame of Chinese fast food, it was entirely possible that it could succeed—perhaps even become massive!
Thinking about this!
Li Wenhua couldn't help but show a hint of excitement on his face. "That's a good idea—I should try it!"
The investment needed to open a fast-food restaurant was less than that of a regular restaurant. Even if it failed, the consequences wouldn't be too serious.
At most, he would lose some savings.
So, he immediately decided to give it a try.
And seeing this!
An undetectable smile flashed across William Li's face.
As long as he was willing to try!
As for whether he could succeed—
What a joke!
William knew exactly how Panda's Cat Fast Food had developed in the future. As long as he gave hints and guidance occasionally, how could it fail?
——
In the blink of an eye!
Three days passed.
During these three days, thanks to William Li's guidance, Li Wenhua gave up the idea of opening a branch and instead focused on researching Chinese fast food that suited foreigners' tastes!
At the same time!
After Hermione's hard work, William Li's farming value reached over 1,000, going up to 1,100 in the last three days.
Although Hermione worked very hard to "farm value," she was still a six-year-old child. After several days of pushing herself, her body started showing signs of exhaustion, and her efficiency in generating farming value gradually decreased.
Over these three days, she only contributed a bit more than 800 points. Adding the 200-plus farming points William had left, his farming value finally reached 1,100!
But regardless, he now had enough to attempt breaking through his skill level!
Thinking this!
William Li did not hesitate to add all the farming value to Transfiguration.
100!
200!
300!
Soon!
The value behind Transfiguration reached 999/1000!
However, at the last click, instead of the upgrade that William Li expected, a prompt appeared!
[Tip: Please choose one of the following three directions for the breakthrough!]
[Transfiguration → Transfiguration: Essence Strengthening]
[Introduction: Makes the Transfiguration spell significantly more powerful!]
[Transfiguration → Transfiguration: Consumption Reduction]
[Introduction: Reduces the cost of Transfiguration to half its original amount!]
[Transfiguration → Transfiguration: Soul Endowment]
[Introduction: When transforming an object (or creature), you can give it a soul, making it wise and eternally loyal to you! (Can only be used once a year!)]
The three options represented three different breakthrough directions.
Faced with these choices, William Li couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"Which of these three should I choose?" he murmured, not knowing which one to pick. After a moment, he decided to use the elimination method and said, "The first one, as the name suggests, directly enhances the power of Transfiguration. But what I need more from Transfiguration is versatility, not power!"
"If I wanted power, I'd just find a simple offensive spell—for example, the Fire-Making Spell or Avada Kedavra. If that didn't work, Petrificus Totalus would do the trick!"
"So, let's rule that one out first!"
William Li eliminated one option immediately.
Now, two choices remained.
"Consumption reduction is very appealing. What I currently lack most is magic power. If I choose this as the breakthrough, I will be able to use more Transfiguration spells in the future, which effectively improves my self-defense ability!"
"But... Soul Endowment seems useful too!"
"In a normal Transfiguration, no matter how lifelike the appearance, whether you transform an object into a living or non-living thing, it lacks a soul—it's just a shell. If I could give it a soul, then Transfiguration could do so much more!"
"Furthermore, due to my age, I can't handle many things. If I could grant a soul, I could transform something into a servant to help me with tasks that are beyond my current capabilities!" William Li thought for a while, still finding it hard to decide.
Both options had their merits.
Choosing between them wasn't easy.
However!
After more careful consideration, he ultimately chose Soul Endowment.
It wasn't that Consumption Reduction wasn't good enough.
It's just that from a long-term perspective, Soul Endowment seemed to be a more valuable option.
This choice represented a direction for a breakthrough.
According to the information given by the system, William Li knew that after breaking through, adding farming value to upgrade the skill would be different from leveling up before LV3. It wasn't just about becoming more proficient, but rather enhancing the skill in the breakthrough direction.
In other words, if Consumption Reduction was chosen, any future farming value added to upgrade the skill would only further reduce the magical cost—from half to a quarter, then an eighth.
That would be very helpful to him now, with his current magic power constraints.
But he wouldn't always lack magic power!
Once he developed a skill to increase magic power, or as he grew older and his natural magic power increased, the Consumption Reduction direction would eventually become somewhat useless.
As for Soul Endowment...
He wasn't entirely sure what future upgrades might entail.
But logically, it might allow for more frequent use—maybe twice a year, or four times, or reduce the cooldown from a year to six months or three months.
But regardless, it would be more valuable than reducing consumption in the long term!
So, that was his choice.
And the moment he made his choice, Transfiguration upgraded accordingly!
[Transfiguration: Soul Endowment LV4 - 0/2000]
At the same time!
A massive stream of information poured into William Li's mind.
Instantly!
Countless images flashed through his thoughts.
The images were all of him studying Transfiguration, conducting repeated experiments. After countless trials, he finally broke through the limits of Transfiguration and developed Transfiguration: Soul Endowment!
"I didn't expect breaking through the limit to feel like this—as if I personally studied and experimented until I broke through the boundary of Transfiguration!" William Li mused, amazed.
But then!
His tone shifted, tinged with excitement. "But none of that matters now. Since the skill has been upgraded, there's only one thing left to do—transform an object or creature, give it a soul, and gain my first subordinate!"