Chapter 972: Immortal Chef Test… Begins!
Translator: Zen.o.bys, CatatoPatch
The surroundings were completely quiet.
Everybody was stunned, having witnessed the events that had just ensued in front of the small restaurant.
Unexpectedly, it was an embarra.s.sing scene.
Someone from an aristocratic family in Immortal City… The genius chef, Tong Cheng, got puked on by his guards.
It was somewhat mind-blowing.
What had happened in the restaurant?
When the onlookers got a hold of themselves, they became even more curious about the situation inside. Indeed, Tong Cheng’s embarra.s.sing plight had piqued their curiosity.
Tong Cheng was shocked. His eyes were wide, and his body trembled.
He had germophobia.
As an Immortal Chef, he was obsessed with cleanliness. He cleaned his kitchen knives often, and his clothes were always spotless. When needed, he would use the Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame to disinfect his items.
He was a man who liked to stay really clean.
However, this time, he had miscalculated.
At the moment, he was trembling hard. He had come to this restaurant to mock that mortal, messing up his train of thought so he would be distracted and unable to perform well in the Immortal Chef test. When that time comes, it would be easier to deal with him, a mortal who will be without the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion’s protection.
However, was this f*cking place a restaurant?
When the doors were pushed open, Tong Cheng thought that he had just walked into a toilet.
That disgusting stench in the air almost suffocated him.
More importantly, Xuanyuan Xiahui was in there, and he was eating!
Eating, your sister!
As the Young Master of the Tong family, the acclaimed genius chef, how could he cook something that resembled t.u.r.ds, just like what he had seen in there?!
“Get lost! All of you!” Tong Cheng’s eyes reddened as he bellowed.
His True Immortal Realm aura surged from his body, instantly expelling all the dirt on him. Then, he turned into a beam of light and vanished.
The onlookers tried hard not to laugh.
Eventually, they couldn’t rein in their curiosity, so they pushed open the doors of the restaurant, eager to see what was going on inside.
Almost immediately, their eyes widened, and their jaws dropped.
The interior of the restaurant reeked of a disgusting stench. Furthermore, the newly-promoted Immortal Chef Xuanyuan Xiahui was sitting at a table, happily eating the stinky food.
My G.o.d!
The onlookers’ world seemed to turn upside down.
…
After Xuanyuan Xiahui tossed the last cube of stinky tofu into his mouth, he exhaled in satisfaction.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The bell jingled again. Bu Fang walked out of the kitchen and glanced at Xuanyuan Xiahui, the corners of his lips curling upwards.
“Are you done?”
“Owner Bu’s food… is really special. It gives off a disgusting stench, but at the same time, it tastes so good. It’s like magic.”
Xuanyuan Xiahui wiped the black sauce off his mouth with a handkerchief.
The gaze he had directed at Bu Fang became complicated. This dish was really delicious, but why did he have to make it with such a stinky smell?
Did Bu Fang know that this kind of dish would easily make him lose his customers?
Who could endure this stench?
“Today is the day we open for business. Thank you for joining us. This is why we’ve provided a good dish for free. We hope you guys enjoyed it here,” Bu Fang said.
The stinky tofu was just an appetizer, the restaurant’s first step towards fame.
Although the restaurant was located in a remote area, by using stinky tofu to attract customers over and then gourmet food to entertain them, this little restaurant could set foot firmly in this Immortal City.
“Will the next dish be another stinky one?” Manager Chen asked, stroking his beard. He glanced at Bu Fang and snorted.
He could not deny that the stinky tofu was delicious. The problem, however, was its smell. It was really disgusting.
“No. Wait for a bit,” Bu Fang answered with a shake of his head. After that, he returned to the kitchen.
Nether King Er Ha had eaten enough. He was already sucking on a Spicy Strip, casually watching Xuanyuan Xiahui and the others.
His handsome face attracted a lot of people. It only stood to reason that people would feel better when they saw something nice.
Mu Liuer and Xuanyuan Xuan were also attracted.
After the Black Dragon King had eaten his fill, he smiled and rubbed his bald head. Wasting no time, he stood up at once and ran to tease his daughter.
Finally, Xuanyuan Xiahui and the others got in the mood to look around the restaurant.
They spotted Lord Dog, who was lying on the floor with Flowery beside him, clutching his thigh.
Bu Fang had a dog?
In the Immortal Cooking Realm, many chefs kept spirit pets, so they weren’t really surprised.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The metal bell on the kitchen’s door frame rang out.
This bell was provided by the system. The sounds it made were sharp and pleasant to the ears, which had the power to cleanse one’s soul.
This was quite similar to the stinky tofu’s effect.
Bu Fang walked over and placed a bronze pot in front of the four, watching them expressionlessly as he set it up.
Mu Liuer’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, Owner Bu is serving us hotpot, right?”
Mu Liuer had tried Bu Fang’s hotpot before, and she had been unable to resist its delicious taste.
Eating hotpot together with other people was a delightful experience.
Hotpot?
Xuanyuan Xiahui and Xuanyuan Xuan were amazed.
As for Manager Chen, his face darkened even more.
“The hotpot that had stirred a huge buzz in Immortal City was Owner Bu’s concept. Indeed, Owner Bu’s creativity is not something I can match.” Xuanyuan Xiahui sighed emotionally.
Xuanyuan Xuan looked up at Bu Fang with a twinkle in her eyes.
Bu Fang could definitely become an Immortal Chef!
As someone who wanted to win the heart of an Immortal Chef, Xuanyuan Xuan felt she had to win Bu Fang over before he became an official Immortal Chef. One does not skip temporary richness and honor.
This was why Xuanyuan Xuan’s thoughts were in disarray. However, the way she looked at Bu Fang made him shudder.
Bu Fang opened his mouth and spouted a ball of dark gold flames.
When Xuanyuan Xiahui saw this, he smiled and said, “Owner Bu, why don’t you retract your Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame?”
“Yeah?” Bu Fang asked, surprised.
“My Immortal Flame could perhaps enhance the heat and flavor of the dish,” said Xuanyuan Xiahui.
Immortal Flame…
Bu Fang was quiet for a while. A few moments later, he raised his hand, and his Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame, which had flown under the pot, disappeared.
“Please do,” Bu Fang said.
The corners of Xuanyuan Xiahui’s lips curled upward. He shook his hand once, stimulating his true energy.
As someone who had pa.s.sed the Immortal Chef test, Xuanyuan Xiahui was not weak. In fact, anyone who becomes an Immortal Chef was not weak at all.
For one to make their dishes contain immortal energy, they would need immense body strength and a strong mental force.
If either was insufficient, any attempt at condensing immortal energy would be in vain.
Boom!
A crystal ball of light appeared in Xuanyuan Xiahui’s hand, which resembled a flaming chrysanthemum. Eventually, its color became a sparkling deep green.
The moment this flame appeared, the temperature inside the restaurant increased drastically, and intense gusts of heat kept blowing.
When Bu Fang saw the flame, his eyes widened.
“Is that an Immortal Flame?” Bu Fang exhaled in an attempt to calm himself.
“It is. The flame that every chef yearns for. It’s an immortal item that even First Grade Immortal Chefs desire,” Xuanyuan Xiahui said.
Talking about coincidence, Xuanyuan Xiahui had surprisingly obtained this Crystal Immortal Flame by chance. Once he started using it, his cooking skills had improved greatly, and in turn, it helped him achieve his Immortal Chef rank.
He valued his Immortal Flame, so he protected it seriously.
“It’s not bad at all,” Bu Fang sincerely said.
Indeed, as soon as the Immortal Flame appeared, his dark gold Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame, which was a combination of two Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flames, paled in comparison to it.
Boom!
When Xuanyuan Xiahui flicked his fingers, the crystal flames went below the pot and began to burn brightly.
Instantly, the red broth began to boil, and its spicy aroma permeated the air.
Since the Immortal Flame could improve the taste and aroma of the ingredients, Bu Fang decided to get himself an Immortal Flame as well. The Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame he currently had was no longer useful for his current level.
After gazing deeply at the Crystal Immortal Flame, Bu Fang turned around and walked into the kitchen.
A moment later, he returned with the ingredients he had prepared beforehand.
Unlike the stinky tofu, the smell of this spicy hotpot was fragrant. Of course, the spicy aroma delighted the four guests.
…
Inside the Heaven and Earth Farmland, Bu Fang appeared in the ma.s.sive meadow.
As a gentle breeze blew by, numerous ears of wheat brushed against each other, and the green gra.s.s, which stretched as far as the eye could see, fluttered gently.
The air was filled with the pleasant aroma of fruits. Specifically, ripe spirit fruits.
Bu Fang clasped his hands behind him and strolled around the farmland.
He came to his farmland to prepare the ingredients he needed for his Immortal Chef test.
At first, Bu Fang wanted to cook the Heavenly Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, but yesterday, Xuanyuan Xiahui told him that the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall had a complicated combination of ingredients, so it would be difficult to condense a wisp of immortal energy out of it.
In reality, the so-called immortal energy was actually the energy within the ingredients themselves. Every ingredient had its own origin, and when that original energy was extracted, gathered, and condensed, the resulting energy would be the immortal energy.
When original energy becomes immortal energy, the taste of the dish will soar immensely.
The more original energy was extracted, the more immortal energy would be formed after condensing it. However, this process was really difficult.
Since the original energy in each cooking ingredient was little, a chef had to have an enormous mental force in order to condense a large amount of it.
This was the reason why no Immortal Chefs were weak.
With a low cultivation base, a chef would be unable to extract and refine the original energy of their ingredients.
Higher grade cooking ingredients had more original energy. This was the reason why ingredients produced or grown on the Immortal Tree were highly sought after by Immortal Chefs.
Since the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall had a lot of different ingredients, which made it difficult to condense immortal energy, Bu Fang decided to make another dish. It was good that he had just received a reward from the system for completing his task.
The reward was a recipe for a new dish, Crystal Glazed Soup Dumplings. After reading the recipe, Bu Fang realized that this dumpling was a high-level dish.
It was a dish for Immortal Chefs.
This was because, in the system’s description, in order to create a perfect Crystal Glazed Soup Dumpling, a chef was required to create a wisp of immortal energy.
“Crystal Glazed Soup Dumplings: Use Guanyin Pearl Tear Rice to create flour. Use five types of spirit beast meat, along with a crystal clear white cabbage soup as stuffing. A strict kneading technique is used to create the thousand-pleat Crystal Glazed Soup Dumpling.”
This was the description provided by the system.
Of course, the new recipe made Bu Fang excited.
Bu Fang had already been growing Guanyin Pearl Tear Rice in his farmland. As for the five types of spirit beast meat, he had Blood Lobster, Demon Frog, Papillion Dragon, Brother Octopus’ tentacle, and Eighty’s thigh… Almost perfect.
Although these spirit beast meats would not make the best combination out there, Bu Fang believed that they would suffice for his Immortal Chef test.
However, the method of cooking this dumpling, as stipulated by the system, seemed really difficult.
At this moment, Niu Hansan saw Bu Fang, and he smiled brightly as he walked over to him.
He handed Bu Fang the ingredients he had prepared after receiving Bu Fang’s request earlier.
After talking for a while, Bu Fang left the farmland, promising Niu Hansan that he would find more spirit vegetables, herbs, and spirit beasts to grow.
Niu Hansan had come to consider the Heaven and Earth Farmland his home. He was able to relax his body and mind here, and this made him delighted and satisfied.
Whenever he had free time, he helped Bu Fang explore more of the farmland. As Bu Fang’s cultivation base grew, the farmland expanded as well.
Whenever Bu Fang left the restaurant and saw the ma.s.sive Immortal Tree, he had the urge to bring it to his farmland and plant it there.
If he could bring the Immortal Tree into his farmland world, it would cause earth-shattering changes there.
However, that was just wishful thinking. With his current cultivation base, Bu Fang would be unable to even move the tree’s branch an inch.
Another night pa.s.sed by…
A bright sky signaled the arrival of a new day. Sunlight shone down for thousands of miles, and the air was filled with pleasant fragrances.
Bu Fang pushed open the doors of Immortal Chef Little Store.
He stretched his neck and looked at the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion, his Vermilion Robe and hair fluttering in the wind.
Three days had already pa.s.sed. Today was the day of his Immortal Chef test.
Bu Fang was really looking forward to it.
At the entrance of the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion, a large number of people were rus.h.i.+ng in.
They knew that today was the day that the mortal chef and Tong Cheng would take the challenge.
If that mortal could become an Immortal Chef, he would be alright. But if he couldn’t become an Immortal Chef, Tong Cheng from the Tong family would never let him go.
In fact, one could say that this test would determine that mortal’s fate. He had no way to escape it.
At a location far away…
A sand storm billowed.
Amidst the dust clouds, a lean figure could be seen walking slowly with his hands clasped behind him.