All skills are beneficial, and having many skills does not impose a burden.

On the way back, Su Yang heard the system's voice in his mind.

[Ding! Detected that the host's combat experience has increased after a fierce battle with a brown bear. Combat power has broken through to A-rank 82.]

[Ding! Detected that Meng Qianyu's favorability toward the host has increased to 40. Reward: 5 million, and one skill point card.]

[Ding! Detected that Tang Ziyun's favorability toward the host has reached 100. Reward: 10 million, healing upgraded to Level 2, and new skill acquired: Master Chef.]

Su Yang replied silently in his mind.

—Not bad. This wave of rewards is pretty generous.

—But a skill like Master Chef doesn’t seem all that useful to me, does it?

[It’s not even comparable. Previously, the host could only be considered decent at cooking. But with the Master Chef skill, you’ll effortlessly master any cuisine, creating dishes so irresistible they’ll leave people craving more. There’s also a high chance of increasing the favorability of bonded individuals.]

—Irresistible? That overpowered?

—Cooking is just about ingredients and seasoning, right? How much better can the taste really get?

[The ingredients and seasoning remain ordinary, but dishes prepared with the Master Chef skill will be on a completely different level. The host can try it out for themselves.]

Su Yang frowned slightly.

—Fine, whatever. More skills never hurt. I’ll reluctantly accept it.

Soon, the group safely returned to the campsite.

They saw Meng Wenzhou lying on a mattress by the riverbank, having somehow pulled it out of his tent to nap.

Su Yang thought to himself, "This guy really knows how to enjoy life. I should learn from him."

Hearing the voices, Meng Wenzhou slowly opened his eyes, stretched, and turned to look.

"Huh? Why are you back so soon?" He checked his watch. "Didn’t you say it’d take until at least two or three?"

"Ran into some trouble," Su Yang said, dropping his backpack onto the grass.

"What happened?" Meng Wenzhou stood up and walked over.

"Yang-ge, hurry up and tell us! I’ve been holding it in the whole way back!" Ji Bo chimed in, looking anxious.

Su Yang plopped down on the ground, took a deep breath, and then slowly recounted everything from when the fog rolled in.

When he mentioned the bear’s appearance, everyone except Liu Bo and the others who had been there widened their eyes in disbelief.

"Wait, wasn’t the outer area supposed to be bear-free?" Zhang Ziming gaped at Su Yang.

"Who knows? I thought so too, until it just showed up out of nowhere."

"And then what?" Meng Wenzhou pressed urgently.

"Yang-ge, let me tell this part!" Liu Bo glanced at Su Yang, signaling he’d take over.

Su Yang nodded and stood up, heading toward the table. "Go ahead. I’ll grab some water."

"Got it!"

Liu Bo then narrated the part where Su Yang fought the brown bear, embellishing it slightly with some exaggeration, leaving the others stunned.

Meng Wenzhou swallowed hard. "You’re saying Lao Su fought a several-hundred-pound brown bear one-on-one? And held his own?"

"Exactly! Not a single lie. Ask them if you don’t believe me." Liu Bo pointed at Pan Ning, Meng Qianyu, and Tang Ziyun.

All three nodded in unison.

Meng Wenzhou frowned at their unwavering expressions. "Fighting a bear alone? No way. It’s a bear we’re talking about!"

Meng Qianyu jumped in excitedly, "It’s true, ge! We saw it with our own eyes! Su Yang-ge picked up a wooden stick, jumped, and smashed it right on the bear’s head—the stick even broke!"

Meng Wenzhou: "..."

Liu Bo took a sip of water and continued, "Meng-ge, don’t doubt it! And I haven’t even gotten to my heroic moment yet."

He grinned and went on, "You should’ve seen it. Suddenly, the bear stopped fighting Yang-ge and charged straight at us. Yang-ge sprinted after it, leaped up, and grabbed its hind leg to stop it!"

"At that point, you guys were still passed out on the ground. Seeing Yang-ge struggling a bit, I roared and rushed at the bear!"

"I delivered a flying kick, followed by a devastating right hook straight to its head, sending it spinning like crazy..."

Liu Bo’s storytelling was so over-the-top that Su Yang couldn’t help but smirk, leaning against the table without interrupting.

But Pan Ning shot Liu Bo a glare. "Is that really how it happened? You think I didn’t see?"

"Uh... Well, did I or did I not fight the bear? In this epic man-vs-bear battle, I contributed at least 50-60%, right, Yang-ge?"

Su Yang chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. It was mostly thanks to Fatty. Without him, you guys might not have woken up at all."

"Really?" Ji Bo blinked in amazement. "My Fatty-ge is that badass?"

"You think I’m joking?" Liu Bo grinned smugly.

"So... you two actually took down the bear?" Meng Wenzhou still sounded skeptical.

"Well, not exactly. Its hide was too thick. But we beat it up pretty good, and the big guy eventually ran off with its tail between its legs."

"It ran away?" Ji Bo repeated, stunned.

"Yep. We scared it off. Then I woke you guys up."

"A bear got scared off by you two? That weak? Are you sure you weren’t just fighting a wild dog the whole time?"

Liu Bo bristled at Meng Wenzhou’s remark. "No way! Pan-jie and the others can vouch for us! It was 100% a bear—a big, strong adult brown bear!"

Meng Wenzhou looked at Pan Ning, then at Meng Qianyu and Tang Ziyun. "Qianyu, Xiao Tang, was it really a bear?"

"Mhm. A bear."

"What the—?! That’s insane!"

Meng Wenzhou scratched his nose. "Even if you say so, I still find it hard to believe without seeing it myself."

"Come on, Lao Meng! You’re so stubborn! It’s just that Yang-ge and I are just that awesome. A bear’s nothing—not some invincible monster."

"To me, it is invincible. I know the difference in strength between a human and a bear."

"Whatever. Ji Bo, do you believe it?"

Ji Bo nodded eagerly. "I do!!"

"See? Everyone believes it except you." Liu Bo rolled his eyes at Meng Wenzhou.

"But... we’re not gonna run into another bear here, right?" Ji Bo glanced around nervously.

Liu Bo waved it off. "No way. This is the very edge of Qianye Mountain—wide open space. Even if one shows up, we’ll see it coming. You guys just hide in the car, and Yang-ge and I will give it another beatdown!"

At this moment, Ye Wan, who had been sitting quietly without speaking, turned her head to glance at Su Yang, who was leaning against a pile of bags about two meters away. She stood up, walked over, and sat down beside him, lowering her voice as she asked, "Is what Liu Bo said true?"

Su Yang nodded. "Yeah, about ninety percent of it."

"You really fought a bear?"

"Yep. Though it wasn’t him punching it away. I held the bear down, and the big guy chased it off by smashing rocks against its head."

Hearing this, Ye Wan frowned. "You... held the bear? Just to be clear, you mean you grabbed it with your hands?"

"Sure did."

Ye Wan rolled her eyes and smirked faintly. "Somehow, that sounds even more far-fetched than his story about punching the bear."

Su Yang chuckled helplessly. "Believe what you want."

"It’s not that I don’t believe you, but from what you’ve described, that bear had to weigh at least four or five hundred pounds. You’re saying you stopped it with your bare hands?"

"Yep. If you don’t believe me, we can always test our strength against each other." Su Yang turned to her with a light laugh.

"Not right now. But... maybe another time." Ye Wan arched a brow, amused.