Chapter 1588: The Place Where the Artifact Spirits Sleep
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Gluttony Soul Overlord had fallen. All the beautiful dreams the Soul Demons had fantasized had vanished like a bubble.
Rising from the desperate situation, the humans fought back. They raised their weapons, screaming and roaring while chasing after the Soul Demons with monstrous hatred in them. They had finally dominated the war, and they had to seize the opportunity to completely wipe out the Soul Demons, giving no chance for the foes to make a comeback.
Bu Fang returned from the broken star and landed on the top of the Luo Family’s skysc.r.a.per. The morning sun rising from the horizon radiated dazzling light that shone on him. At some point, Nethery had come forth and stood quietly behind him.
The people who stayed in the capital all looked up at him with respect and fervor. Although he was just a chef, he had saved the world, so he deserved the people’s respect. The battle had made him famous. Perhaps from now on, no one in the Chaotic Universe did not know his name.
“It’s finally over.”
Bu Fang yawned as a wave of exhaustion swept over him. He was really tired this time. Both the urgency in breaking through and the advancement test that came right after had put him under a lot of stress, and it was only now that he could relax.
The whole Luo Family’s skysc.r.a.per was swaying as if it would collapse at any moment. However, with the System here, it should stay standing. After all, the restaurant was located on its top floor.
Bu Fang put his hands behind his back and stepped into the restaurant. Then, he pulled over a chair and sat down. He needed to take a good rest and sort through his emotions. The disaster that almost swept through the whole Chaotic Universe had awakened many people. Although it was over now, there were still many questions he needed to think about.
Of course, after the disaster, his strength had also stepped to another level. Now, if he wanted to break through the next realm and become a HeavenG.o.d, he would need more turnover. So the restaurant must continue to operate.
Apart from that, Bu Fang also needed to find a way to wake the Artifact Spirits, which required him to travel to the land where they were sleeping. It was a mysterious place, and he still could not figure out where it was.
Was it somewhere in this Chaotic Universe or in some great world? Since it was the land where the Artifact Spirits slept, it should not be a shabby place. After all, the Artifact Spirits had to take care of their faces as well.
The one thing that shocked Bu Fang the most in this battle was Lord Dog’s real ident.i.ty. He had never expected that the black dog was actually the HeavenG.o.d of Time!
However, Lord Dog had not yet returned to his peak, and he had less than one-tenth of his HeavenG.o.d strength now. Otherwise, he would not have had such a hard time dealing with Soul Thirteen.
Soul Thirteen had wantonly attacked the Chaotic Universe. If Bu Fang had not broken through at the last minute and let the Qilin possess him, the battle might have ended differently.
That brought up the ultimate question: Where were all the HeavenG.o.ds?
Lord Dog was the HeavenG.o.d of Time, and he had not yet fully recovered, so it was understandable why he did not show up. Could it be that for some unknown reasons, the other HeavenG.o.ds had also reincarnated like him? In that case, who was the HeavenG.o.d that attacked him from inside the HeavenG.o.d Tribulation?
Bu Fang narrowed his eyes as he pondered over these questions. He knew very well that there were other HeavenG.o.ds in this Chaotic Universe who did not fall into transmigration as Lord Dog did.
What he could not understand was why did this HeavenG.o.d not show up when the Soul Demons attacked but gave him a slap when he had merely devoured the Laws with the divine flame?
Did this HeavenG.o.d like to bully the weak and fear the strong? Was it because Bu Fang was a good target for bullying? He touched his chin and wondered.
With a thought in his mind, he brought Lord Dog out of the Heaven and Earth Farmland. “Oh?” He paused for a moment when he saw a familiar figure come out together with him.
“Shrimpy?”
The shrimp’s round eyes rolled as it lay on top of Lord Dog’s head and seemed to be grinning foolishly.
The corners of Bu Fang’s mouth curled upward slightly. Ever since this little guy went into the farmland, it had never shown up. He did not expect it to come out by itself now.
Shrimpy landed on Bu Fang’s shoulder, its many legs moving rapidly as it crawled back and forth agilely.
Lord Dog was fast asleep under the Path-Understanding Tree. The battle had exhausted all the energy he had acc.u.mulated.
“Bu Fang… I’m hungry,” said Nethery. She was sitting not far away from Bu Fang, blinking at him.
That gave Bu Fang pause. He nodded, rose to his feet, and started toward the kitchen.
“Bu Fang young man, this king is… hungry as well,” Er Ha mimicked Nethery’s tone and blinked at Bu Fang. However, when he saw Bu Fang turn around, he quickly added, “Just give this king a spicy strip… and this king will be satisfied.”
Glancing expressionlessly at Er Ha, the corners of Bu Fang’s mouth curved upward into what looked like a sneer.
That look immediately sent a chill down Er Ha’s back and made him shudder. ‘Bu Fang young man has grown from a cub into a lion now… He even dares to sneer at me…’
Bu Fang stepped into the kitchen, where he began to wash vegetables and cooking utensils. Everything was being carried out orderly. He still preferred this kind of atmosphere and mood.
He took out dragon blood rice and began to cook it. When he was done, he did not bring the dish out. Instead, he produced the Soul Overlord meat.
It was a chunk of meat cut from the Gluttony Soul Overlord’s thigh, and it came with a very hard sh.e.l.l. Using the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife, Bu Fang carefully separated the sh.e.l.l and the meat. Soon, a piece of soft meat was slapped onto the chopping board.
The lines on the meat were surprisingly clear and neat. Bu Fang pressed it with his finger and clearly felt the meat bounce at his touch. His curiosity was aroused in an instant.
He spun the kitchen knife, grabbed it by the handle, then laid three fingers with his other hand on the meat and cut through it vertically. In just the blink of an eye, he had sliced the meat into hundreds of layers, each as thin as a sheet.
It was a test of knife techniques, but with Bu Fang’s current skills, it was very easy to accomplish this, even when this was a chunk of Soul Overlord meat.
After slicing the meat, Bu Fang took a moment to think about how to cook this food ingredient. Originally, he thought of deep-frying it, but after a second thought, he found that it was not suitable.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He took out the Black Turtle Constellation Wok and, without heating it, put the Gluttony Soul Overlord’s meat inside. Then, he held out his finger.
The silver divine flame immediately jumped out from his fingertip, flickering. However, it was not in the form Bu Fang had wanted, so his divine sense surged to control it. The next moment, the flame began to blow out at high speed.
After adjusting its temperature, Bu Fang pointed the jet of divine flame at the meat in the wok. As the fire neared, the meat began to change color at a rate visible to the naked eye. The Soul Overlord meat was somewhat similar to squid meat. The moment it was heated, it began to turn harder.
Bu Fang used the divine flame like a blow torch, heating the Soul Overlord meat at one small spot at a time so that the taste could be more concentrated and unique. Pushed by his hand, the wok began to spin slowly. The jet of fire was pointed at the meat, and as the wok spun, every spot was heated.
Soon, layers of the Soul Overlord meat were cooked, and a delicious aroma wafted out of them. A shocked look came over Bu Fang’s face as soon as he smelled the aroma.
“It smells so… good!”
The Soul Overlord was indeed a top-grade food ingredient. Just smelling it was enough to make one’s energy boil. Bu Fang was somewhat intoxicated and eager to taste it, but he needed to calm down and finish cooking it first.
After the burning was completed, the meat in the wok had transformed. It was now golden brown and coated in a layer of grease that made it s.h.i.+ne beautifully. At the same time, wisps of hot steam and a tantalizing fragrance rose from it, filling the air.
Bu Fang took the meat out and placed it on a blue-and-white porcelain plate. After that, he began to make the sauce to go with it.
He preheated the wok and added oil, which sizzled and splashed as soon as it touched the hot metal. He swung the wok to evenly coat it with oil, then poured all the ingredients he had prepared, stir-fried, and added his secret Abyssal Chili Sauce, as well as some special seasonings.
A dark brown sauce was soon ready. It was thick but silky smooth. Bu Fang took out a small bowl and filled it with the sauce. Then, he dipped the tip of a chopstick into it and put the sauce in his mouth. The taste was spicy and sour. The moment the sauce touched the tip of his tongue, the spicy and sour taste spread and seeped through it, causing his scalp to go numb.
After placing the small bowl beside the Soul Overlord meat on the blue-and-white porcelain plate, the dish was ready to serve. Carrying the dragon blood rice and roasted Soul Overlord meat, Bu Fang walked out of the kitchen.
Everyone in the restaurant could not wait to try the dish—the fragrance emanating from the roasted Soul Overlord meat had intoxicated them. It was an aroma so rich and delicious that it could have easily taken one’s soul away.
Even Bu Fang had not expected that the meat would be so aromatic. The perfect temperature of his divine flame had given the meat a golden brown color, while grease was dripping from between the layers, giving the dish a unique yet attractive appearance.
Er Ha was already stunned when the dish was placed on the table. Impatiently, he picked up a pair of chopsticks and wanted to try it first. However, his chopsticks were knocked away by Nethery’s, who then gave him an indifferent glance, sending a shudder through him.
‘What? Even Nethery has become so terrifying now? Has she also become a… lioness like Bu Fang young man? The youths nowadays simply have no respect for the elderly…’
Bu Fang handed the dragon blood rice to Nethery. Then, he picked up a slice of Soul Overlord meat with his chopsticks, dipped it in the spicy and sour sauce, and shoved it into his mouth.
The sauce’s taste exploded in an instant, followed by the meat’s. As he chewed, the meat bounced under his teeth. Bu Fang narrowed his eyes, indulging in the double impacts of the meat and the sauce.
He was right. The Soul Overlord meat was indeed a top-grade ingredient. But that was to be expected. After all, the meat of a Soul Overlord would not be too inferior.
Each piece of meat was cut very thin by Bu Fang and seemed translucent under the light when picked up. Everyone enjoyed the dish happily. It was very pleasant to be able to have a good meal after a great battle.
When everyone had eaten and drunk, Bu Fang cleaned up everything, walked out of the restaurant, and leaned against the railing on the top of the skysc.r.a.per, overlooking the entire capital.
The people were immersed in the joy of victory. It was the joy of having survived a battle of life and death, and it seemed to have influenced Bu Fang as well. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the sky.
Suddenly, a thought came to him. He had advanced to the G.o.d realm, but this time, he did not receive a fragment of the G.o.d of Cooking Set as a reward. It meant that he had collected all the fragments. He got a different reward, which was the qualification to be teleported to the sleeping place of the Artifact Spirits.
‘System, where is the sleeping place of the Artifact Spirits? Can you tell me a little bit about it?’ Bu Fang asked as the pleasant morning breeze was blowing in his face.
The System was silent for a while, then it answered seriously, ‘The sleeping place of the Artifact Spirits cannot be revealed to the Host. However, the Host should be warned that there is a risk when being teleported to the sleeping place of the Artifact Spirits.’
‘There’s a risk? It seems the place is not safe… Where could it be? You won’t ask me to go to the Soul Demon Universe, will you? Or send me to the lair of the HeavenG.o.d who slapped me?’ Bu Fang asked the System in his mind.
After a long time, the System said, ‘Can the Host guess which is the right answer?’
Bu Fang was speechless. It seemed that the System had become a little bit naughty now.