The Titan Snow Demon King suddenly slammed the table and rose, roaring, "This is outrageous! How dare they copy the boss's business? I think they're tired of living."
"No, are you sick?"
The Ice Empress was startled and glared at him angrily.
Li Qing pressed his hand down, saying, "What's the rush? Let's taste it first."
"Alright."
The Titan Snow Demon King sat back down.
The Snow Empress asked curiously, "Your strength should be considered one of the best in the human World, right? Do they not even have the most basic respect for powerful individuals?"
She didn't understand business, nor did she understand humans.
However, this didn't prevent her from discerning right from wrong. This behavior, in the eyes of their Spirit Beasts, was basically equivalent to a weaker individual forcibly intruding into a stronger individual's territory.
Wasn't that purely seeking death?
Li Qing smiled and said, "Human nature is much more complex than you Spirit Beasts. As long as there's enough profit, death isn't necessarily terrifying, and many people also harbor a strong sense of lucky psychology."
The Snow Empress shook her head, "I don't understand."
Li Qing said, "You don't need to understand. This is good as it is. Human nature isn't worth learning, otherwise, perhaps one day, you'll find that even you start to hate yourself."
The Snow Empress nodded, seemingly understanding yet not.
The Ice Empress, her face full of excitement, looked at him and asked, "Then what do you plan to do? Kill them all?"
Li Qing said, "No rush, let's see."
While they chatted, a waiter brought up the hotpot base, but there was no gas on the Douluo Continent; they used a special kind of charcoal.
The effect wasn't much different.
Then, small wooden carts were pushed in, laden with various dishes.
Li Qing carefully taught the Snow Empress and the others how to eat hotpot, and then watched the Titan Snow Demon King stuff a piece of half-cooked tripe into his mouth.
What a pity.
Although the Titan Snow Demon King had never eaten spicy food, the slight pain from the chili posed no threat to a fierce beast. He didn't see the scene he wanted to see.
"Hmm, delicious—!"
After a few chews, the Titan Snow Demon King was beaming and nodding frantically. After all, as a Spirit Beast, let alone seasoning, he rarely even ate cooked food.
Any food with a bit of seasoning was probably a delicacy to him.
Compared to the Titan Snow Demon King, who ate in big gulps, wishing he could stuff his entire mouth at once, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress were much more refined.
They chewed slowly, savoring the taste.
However, it wasn't hard to tell from their relaxed expressions that they, too, were conquered by the taste of the hotpot.
Li Qing also took a bite.
It must be said, this boss certainly had some skill. Even Li Qing couldn't taste much of a difference; it could already be considered a perfect replication.
Two hours later.
The boss of Heaven on Earth personally came to Li Qing's private room. There was nothing he could do; they were simply too good at eating. Four people had eaten enough for forty people and still weren't stopping.
If he let them continue eating like this, his shop would probably have to close today.
Although he said it didn't matter who he sold to, a table of customers acting as if they were going to eat him out of business made him nervous. What if they didn't pay? He would lose everything!
"My surname is Wang, and I am the owner of this shop. Are you all enjoying your meal?"
"!"
Hearing him say he was the owner of the shop, the Titan Snow Demon King, who had been burying his head in his food, suddenly looked up at him, and a terrifying aura instantly enveloped him.
The boss's hair stood on end, and cold sweat instantly drenched his entire body.
Li Qing also sized him up. The other party was a middle-aged man with a large head, thick neck, and a big belly, fitting Li Qing's usual stereotype of a chef.
"This, this, this…"
Boss Wang stammered, unable to make sense for a long time.
Li Qing looked at him with a smile and said, "Boss Wang, right? My name is Li Qing, the owner of Heaven on Earth. Shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
"Ah?"
Boss Wang was dumbfounded.
He knew Heaven on Earth would come looking for him sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to be so fast! His shop had only been open for just over three months. Had the news spread too quickly?
The Titan Snow Demon King threatened, "Kid, if you don't give an explanation today, you're going to suffer greatly."
Boss Wang couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. The mere aura the other party emanated made his entire body feel prickly, showing how terrifying the other party's strength was.
After all, he was an eighty-seventh-level Spirit Douluo.
But looking at the other party, who seemed to be a young man in his early twenties, when did such a Title Douluo appear on the Continent? He hadn't heard of it.
Moreover, the feeling the other party gave him was very strange. Boss Wang had seen Title Douluo before and had felt the aura of Title Douluo. To put it bluntly, it was spirit power pressure, but the feeling this white-haired man gave him was completely different.
His aura made Boss Wang feel fear from the bottom of his heart.
It was like… like a Spirit Beast.
That's right, it was a Spirit Beast.
When he was a Spirit Ancestor, he encountered a Spirit Beast over fifty thousand years old while hunting for a spirit ring with his family. The feeling he had then was not much different from now.
Only, this white-haired man was even more terrifying than that Spirit Beast.
Boss Wang composed himself slightly and bowed to Li Qing, probing, "Li Shao, the purpose of me opening this shop was not to make money or profit, but merely to attract your attention."
Li Qing: "???"
Boss Wang explained, "With Heaven on Earth's money-attracting ability, if it could open all over the Continent, it would definitely not be worse than the Great Spirit Arena and other businesses."
"I once approached Yang Wudi and the others and told them this idea, but they refused."
"I wanted to see you, but they stopped me and said you weren't around, so I had no choice but to resort to this, hoping to attract you through this method."
Li Qing looked at him intently.
Such a basic business model as a chain store is understood by any businessman. If they didn't do it, they naturally had reasons not to.
This guy, however, went to their door to give unsolicited advice.
It was already a testament to Yang Wudi's good temper that he wasn't beaten out.
If it was truly as he said, that the purpose of opening this shop was to attract Li Qing, then did he need to open a shop in this obscure corner?
Shouldn't he have opened one in a city near Heaven Dou City?
To put it plainly, he was just coveting Heaven on Earth's money-making ability, operating with a 'get what you can' mentality, and if he was confronted, he would just throw out his pre-prepared excuse.
Li Qing asked, "How long has it been open?"
Boss Wang: "Just over three months."
Li Qing asked, "How much have you earned?"
Boss Wang: "Excluding investment and labor costs, the net profit is around five hundred thousand."
Three months, a net profit of five hundred thousand. It showed how strong its money-making ability was, and just looking at this net profit, it was not hard to see that he copied more than just a hotpot restaurant.
Li Qing said, "Three million plus closing down, or death. Choose one."