Chapter 1752: Unexpected Challengers
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Chaotic Energy! It really is Chaotic Energy! This is incredible!”
The bowl of noodles really gave Viscount Ash Chaotic Energy. The birth of the energy allowed her to take her strength, which had already broken through earlier, another step forward. She had become one of the top experts in Void City! Now, she only needed one more step to become a Chaotic Saint and qualify to be a duke!
A bowl of noodles had created an existence worthy of being a duke!
Everyone, including Master Zhen Yong and the people in the other districts, was stunned. They thought Bu Fang was going to use some kind of divine herbs to give Viscount Ash Chaotic Energy.
It was well known that some herbs, which grew deep in the universe and had absorbed the essence of the whole universe, could enable a Saint of the Great Path to produce Chaotic Energy. After all, the Will of the Universe was a supreme existence.
But Bu Fang did not do that. He just used a bowl of noodles to give Viscount Ash Chaotic Energy!
Many people were swallowing involuntarily. Looking at Viscount Ash, standing in the restaurant and surrounded by what seemed to be materialized Chaotic Energy, they all showed envious expressions.
At this point, they thought of a very serious fact. If the chef could cook a bowl of noodles like this, he should be able to cook many more. In other words, he was able to make a lot of people have Chaotic Energy!
At the thought of that, the people’s eyes lit up, including those who were watching the scene through projection arrays. Everyone was breathing fast. It was not hard to come up with such a conclusion. After all, these people were not fools.
If this were true, the Queen’s faith would not affect them at all. The benefits were compelling, and at this level, they were enough to drive anyone crazy. For these people who were banished to Void City, abandoning their faith was just a small matter.
As long as they completed the chef’s challenge, they could get the food cooked by him! The moment the thought appeared, it grew uncontrollably in their minds.
In the restaurant, Bu Fang put his hands behind his back and looked at Viscount Ash.
Her aura was soaring. A wisp of Chaotic Energy swirled around her like a mist. She was feeling the boosted strength as well as savoring the taste of the noodles.
She never thought that her breakthrough would happen under such circ.u.mstances. She had actually relied on the help of a chef to break through the bottleneck that had imprisoned her pace for tens of thousands of years.
After a while, her aura subsided. She looked at Bu Fang, her eyes complex and confused. She used to trust the Queen of Curses so much that she thought chefs were all garbage and the so-called cuisine was fake. But today, a bowl of noodles had completely shattered her perception.
It turned out that food was not that simple. While she was eating the noodles, she felt as if she were traveling in the starry sky on the back of a dragon. The feeling thrilled her deeply.
“I…” She opened her mouth, but she did not know what to say.
“Have you finished your noodles? If yes, you can leave now.”
After saying that, Bu Fang turned to the door and, with a faint smile on his face, said to the crowd gathered outside the restaurant, “Today’s challenge is over. If you’d like to try some of our dishes, then please complete the challenge. Only those who complete the challenge will get the opportunity to taste my dishes.”
Previously, Bu Fang was just planning to rely on the challenge to open up the restaurant’s popularity and spread its reputation across the city. But just now, he suddenly thought of an idea. He was going to use the challenge to make his dishes rare.
When something was easy to get, people tended not to cherish it, but if it was rare, everyone would fight for it. This was human nature.
“The cuisine of my restaurant can strengthen your cultivation base, allow you to break through bottlenecks, and give you Chaotic Energy…”
The corners of Bu Fang’s mouth lifted slightly, and his expression was enigmatic. Then, he turned around and walked toward the kitchen.
“If you’d like to try our dishes, please get ready for tomorrow’s challenge. Xiao Ai… send off our guest and close the door.”
Xiao Ai paused for a few seconds, then hurriedly answered. Bu Fang was, after all, her boss, so she still needed to do as she was told.
Viscount Ash suppressed the excitement inside her and took a deep look at the restaurant as if to enshrine it in her mind. Then, led by Xiao Ai, she left the restaurant.
The restaurant door closed with a creak. Looking at it, Master Zhen Yong felt his heart bleed. He had come so close to pa.s.sing the challenge.
‘Why couldn’t I keep going? If I had gritted my teeth and pa.s.sed the challenge, I would have acquired Chaotic Energy by now…’ he thought to himself. Anger, resentment, regret… All kinds of negative emotions filled his mind.
At this moment, Viscount Ash pa.s.sed by him. She stopped and said lightly, “Master, don’t be angry. There will be another challenge tomorrow. As long as you complete the challenge, you will have the opportunity to enter the restaurant and get Chaotic Energy. You’ve been waiting for tens of thousands of years. Would you care to wait one more day?”
Her words sent a shock through Master Zhen Yong’s body. ‘She’s right! There’s another challenge tomorrow! I’ll be back tomorrow for sure!’
The crowd slowly dispersed, but the news that Bu Fang had used a dish to give a Saint of the Great Path Chaotic Energy had spread throughout Void City.
“Heck… Viscount Ash’s cultivation base was already on the verge of a breakthrough. After all, she is one of the top Saints of the Great Path in Void City! It’s probably just a coincidence!”
“Are you kidding me? To enjoy a chef’s food is to betray the Queen’s faith! Such people should be executed!”
“Don’t let that chef fool you! Perhaps Viscount Ash is with him, and the so-called challenge is just a hoax!”
A lot of people were whispering to each other. However, not everyone was a fool. They had witnessed the horrible challenge and saw with their own eyes how the curry rice had choked the challengers and made them weep nonstop. Some onlookers even gave the dish a taste and were defeated after taking just one spoonful of rice.
Therefore, the notion that Viscount Ash was an actor hired by Bu Fang simply did not make sense.
For most people, the news was shocking, but for those big shots, it was not such a big deal. Soul, for example, just laughed dismissively when she got the news and then went back to cultivating and preparing her plans.
…
As the news spread, the entire Void City was in a state of agitation.
On the third day, almost half of the people in District A gathered in the area where the restaurant was located, bringing traffic there to a near standstill. If it were not for the dukes’ men who controlled the situation, there would be even more people.
In the absence of a better solution, the dukes could only send their men to set up a projection array to broadcast the challenge throughout the district.
Perhaps because of Viscount Ash’s breakthrough yesterday, today’s challenge was like a fuse, which ignited the excitement in the people. The crowd waited impatiently, and some even began to fantasize about the scene of them tasting the food.
Food, which was originally hated by everyone, was no longer rejected by so many people. To them, anything that could enhance their cultivation base was a good thing, and they would not hesitate to turn their backs on the Queen’s faith to get it.
The door of the restaurant creaked.
“There he is!”
Everyone stared at the door, wide-eyed. They did not know what kind of dark cuisine Bu Fang would come up with today, but that did not stop them from looking forward to the reward they could get if they succeeded in the challenge. Unwittingly, the challenge had provoked the people to be compet.i.tive.
Bu Fang walked out of the restaurant. He glanced at the large crowd outside the door, yawned, straightened his hair, and said lightly, “Today’s challenge will be opened up to one hundred people…”
He paused for a moment, let that sink in, and then continued, “Those who succeed in the challenge will get the opportunity to taste the gourmet food cooked by me. I’m sure you all know the effectiveness of my dishes, right?”
Many people became so excited that they began to breathe faster and faster. Master Zhen Yong’s eyes widened as hot air kept puffing from his nostrils. He was back for another challenge, and he would not give up easily this time.
Viscount Dao Lun did not come. The two failures had taken away his pride like a farmer plucking onions, so to save himself some dignity, he did not come today.
“Owner Bu, what’s the challenge today?” Viscount Ash asked.
As the only one who pa.s.sed the challenge, Viscount Ash was ent.i.tled to taste the food in the restaurant. Of course, she had to pay. The intoxicating feeling that the bowl of noodles brought her yesterday still filled her like a beautiful dream. She could not forget it, so she was here again today.
She came here not only because she was curious to know what today’s dark cuisine was, but also to taste gourmet food. She had become a prisoner of the food cooked by Bu Fang.
Bu Fang glanced at her. To the first customer of Cooking G.o.d Little Kitchen, he was gentle. “Today’s challenge, the third dark cuisine, is called the Death Spicy Strip.”
The name froze everyone. They had never heard of such a thing.
Looking at the bewildered crowd, Bu Fang sighed. ‘If Er Ha were here, he’d be jumping with joy…’ he thought to himself. Of course, this spicy strip was not like the one he once made. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
As his voice echoed out, shouts of surprise suddenly rang out in the crowd. He paused.
Soon, the crowd parted, and a few people walked out from it. At the sight of the newcomers, everyone gasped.
“Countess Aitang! Countess Luming! And Marchioness Ruoshui! They’re all the big shots in the city!”
Bu Fang squinted at them. They were all dressed in brocade robes and exuded a very powerful aura. The leader was a beautiful woman, and by her side was Countess Aitang, who had once fought with him. At this moment, the countess’s face was a little ugly.
Next to Countess Aitang was a woman with short hair and a huge axe on her back. She was Countess Luming. In addition to the three big shots, there was a little girl with her hands behind her back, who carried herself like someone old.
In the face of this group, no one dared to breathe too loudly.
“What are they doing here?” Many people were dumbfounded. “Are they going to destroy the restaurant because it makes others turn their backs on the Queen’s faith?”
However, what Countess Aitang said next instantly turned everyone to stone.
“Hey, you stinking chef… We’re here to try your dark cuisine challenge!”
“What?! Even the countesses and marchioness are taking the challenge? Are they also attracted by this chef’s dishes?!”
Bu Fang narrowed his eyes. He had not expected them to come. However, he did not care too much.
“Very well, there are a hundred spots anyway. But now that you’re here, the difficulty of the challenge is going to be slightly elevated.”