Was it an enviable thing to be the Great Demon King’s apprentice chef?
Of course, it had to be.
The biggest name in the Immortal Cooking Realm today was not the realm lord nor the city lords, but the Great Demon King. Whether it was fighting his way through the Immortal Chef Tournament or preventing the Nether Prison invasion, they made the Great Demon King’s fame resonate throughout the realm. There was no one who hadn’t heard his name.
It’s an honor and blessing to be an apprentice chef of someone so famous.
Xixi was still young and didn’t yet understand what an honor it was to be an apprentice of Bu Fang. However, she had always followed his example and wanted to be a chef like him. That’s her goal.
Bu Fang’s glance was sharp. All participants in the arena trembled with fear as he scanned them with his eyes.
Many people felt their hearts sink when their eyes met with his, and they quickly turned away.
Xixi was the only one who held her head up proudly while carrying her dish with both hands. She believed that her dish would never embarrass Teacher Bu.
“Oh, I forgot to mention that Bu Fang had just been assessed by the Realm Lord, the City Lord, and me. He has passed the Second Grade test, and the Great Demon King is now a… Third Grade Immortal Chef.” With her hands clasped behind her back and a smile on her face, Meng Qi narrowed her eyes and told everyone the piece of news.
That gave the crowd a pause. The next moment, they all gasped.
“The Great Demon King passed the Second Grade test?”
“Wait… How did he become a Third Grade Immortal Chef when the test he passed was the Second Grade?”
“Even though the Great Demon King is a hero, they can’t open the back door for him like this!”
“No, they can’t… because there is no back door to the Immortal Chef test. Don’t forget that the Will of the Immortal Tree is witnessing the whole assessment. Therefore, he can never become a Third Grade Immortal Chef if he doesn’t have the corresponding strength.”
“That means…”
“After passing the Second Grade test, the Great Demon King went on to take the Third Grade test and passed?!”
It was beyond their imagination.
The crowd was horrified and couldn’t believe that.
Although the Great Demon King was a hero, his cooking skills had always been criticized by many. He had made a name for himself in the Immortal Chef Tournament, defeated many geniuses, and eventually became the champion, but he was still a First Grade Immortal Chef. Compared with a Second Grade or Third Grade Immortal Chef, his cooking skills were still too weak.
In the Immortal Cooking Realm, one spoke with cooking skills.
Even if you had a very strong true energy cultivation base, if your cooking skills were lacking, others would only fear you but not respect you.
However, the Great Demon King’s cooking skills had now reached the Third Grade Immortal Chef level.
It changed everything. In other words, the Great Demon King had become an existence respected by the many immortal chefs of the Immortal Cooking Realm.
“That’s right. As you might expect, after completing the Second Grade test, Bu Fang went on to take the Third Grade test and passed it,” City Lord Meng Qi said with a smile on her face.
As soon as she confirmed it, the whole room exclaimed. Everyone sucked in a cold breath in disbelief, and the way they looked at Bu Fang changed.
The participants brought up their dishes and placed them on the table in front of the judges, shivering with fear.
Bu Fang lightly drummed his fingers on the table and glanced at the first participant, who was a boy of eleven or twelve years old and the one who laughed at Xixi the loudest.
The boy stood not far away from Bu Fang. His head was bowed, and he didn’t dare to look at him. He had laughed loudly at Xixi and even mocked her, and now her teacher was sitting in front of him. It filled his heart with a grievance.
Every dog had its day… One should never underestimate any potential talent!
“Look up and introduce your dish,” Bu Fang stopped drumming the table and said coolly.
The boy trembled and squared his shoulders.
“Dear judges, this dish is my specialty. It’s called Emerald Glaze, which is made from the roe of a kind of sea fish. It is prepared through various processes and stewed at low temperature…” Under Bu Fang’s glance, the boy’s confidence grew weaker as he introduced the dish.
It had to be said that the dish did have its uniqueness. The idea of cooking with roe was a good one, but the dish’s flaws were obvious to Bu Fang.
If truth be told, the boy’s knife skill and control of temperature were just average. They were good, but nowhere near as good as that of a First Grade Immortal Chef. The dish was special mainly because of its ingredients—just the roe had elevated its grade significantly.
However, Bu Fang didn’t mind. The ingredients themselves could also be an aspect of the chef’s skills. Finding good ingredients was a skill by itself, so he didn’t say anything.
The judges took out spoons and scooped the Emerald Glaze into their mouths.
There was a slight warm feeling when the food entered the mouth. Bu Fang frowned as soon as he felt that, and he glanced at the boy, making the latter shiver.
The other judges around him furrowed their eyebrows as well.
“Your dish is good only because of its ingredients. Both your knife skill and control of temperature are lacking. My suggestion is that you need to train harder,” said Bu Fang.
The other judges exchanged glances.
What Bu Fang said was true, but wasn’t that too harsh? According to normal circumstances, the boy could pass the First Grade test, albeit barely crossing the passing line.
However, since the Great Demon King had said that, they didn’t dare object his critique.
Meng Qi covered her mouth with a hand and smiled.
‘Train harder?’
Bu Fang was indeed harsh. Although his comments about the boy were accurate, the city lord felt that he was using his position for his own private revenge.
She stared at him with her beautiful eyes. She found that he was a little cute when he said that in a serious face.
“I…” The boy opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say. Bu Fang was right—the ingredients were purposely prepared for the test. He knew his weaknesses, so he planned to make up for them with excellent ingredients. However, he never expected that he would have to face Bu Fang…
The first participant was eliminated.
The others trembled with fear.
The second participant served his dish, and the judges gave their comments after tasting it.
Bu Fang would not abuse his power of a judge for his own private revenge. However, now that he was the judge, the requirements for the dishes to pass the test had become much stricter. Many teenagers who tried to push their luck were defeated by his remark of ‘train harder.’
After the assessment of dishes was done, only two of all the participants except Xixi passed the test. It was one of the strictest First Grade tests in the history of the Immortal Cooking Realm.
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The participants could only swallow the bitter pill in silence because they brought this upon themselves.
At last, it was Xixi’s turn.
All the participants cast their bitter eyes on her. It was because of this bumpkin that many of them didn’t pass the test, and they couldn’t wait to see what she got.
Xixi was just seven years old, and she was even shorter than the stove. What dish could she cook?
In their view, the Great Demon King was just trying to get her to see the world.
Many people couldn’t wait to see how unsightly the Great Demon King’s face would be when his own apprentice was eliminated by himself!
Meng Qi, on the other hand, was a little curious. Xixi hadn’t given her any deep impression. She was curious to know what dishes the little girl could cook, when her teacher, Bu Fang, was a monster in cooking.
Xixi served her dish, with wisps of hot steam rising from it.
It was a deep-fried fish.
There was nothing unusual about it. Although it was surrounded by immortal energy, it only had one stream of immortal energy. It was not very shocking.
“This dish is called Sweet ‘n’ Sour Fish…” Xixi said shyly while twisting a corner of her clothes with her hand.
She wanted to introduce it with her head held high and her shoulders squared, but when she saw Teacher Bu’s eyes, she felt shy and scared, so she just briefly introduced it.
Many participants eliminated by Bu Fang sneered instantly. They were young, after all, and naturally, they were not happy to be eliminated by Bu Fang. Therefore, even though they were facing the Great Demon King, they still expressed their dissatisfaction.
“Sweet ‘n’ Sour Fish?” a judge said in surprise. The dish aroused his curiosity.
Sweet ‘n’ Sour Fish was a rather tricky dish. He wondered if a seven-year-old girl could cook such a difficult dish, especially in the absence of immortal tools.
Of course, the most important thing about Xixi that piqued the curiosity of the judges was her status as an apprentice of the Great Demon King. Since she could become his apprentice, there must be something different about her.
A judge reached out his chopsticks and picked up a small chunk of fish.
Steam rose from the tender and moist fish. He dipped it in the orange sweet-and-sour sauce and then put it into his mouth.
The aroma of the fish exploded instantly. The sweetness and sourness were just right. His eyes lit up as he looked dubiously at Xixi.
‘Is this dish really cooked by a seven-year-old girl? Her control over the flavor is almost on par with a Second Grade Immortal Chef!’
Bu Fang picked up a chunk of fish and shoved it into his mouth. As its fragrance filled his nostrils, he nodded slightly. It was a rather superior dish.
‘Xixi’s cooking skills have improved significantly after helping in Immortal Chef Little Store for so long. After all, she has a very good gift in cooking, and together with her immortal tongue… She is born to be a chef.’
Of course, the dish had its flaws, but they could be omitted when compared with its merits. As a result, all the judges agreed that Xixi had passed the test.
A soft fire made sweet malt. As long as you cooked with your heart, you could cook delicious food without any immortal tools or cutting-edge kitchen utensils.
“I’m not convinced!”
No sooner had Bu Fang announced that Xixi had passed the test and become a First Grade Immortal Chef than someone began to voice their discontent.
The group of teenagers who were eliminated by Bu Fang protested against him. They thought that the Great Demon King was biased. Otherwise, how could a seven-year-old girl become a First Grade Immortal Chef? The record of the youngest First Grade Immortal Chef was not that easy to be broken!
“Shut up! You can’t question the decisions made by the judges! Just admit that you are not as good as her and stop embarrassing yourself!” said a judge as his face turned cold.
The group of protesting teenagers fell silent instantly.
“We’re not convinced! This little girl doesn’t have immortal tools, an immortal flame, or even top-grade ingredients! Why can she become a First Grade Immortal Chef but we can’t?!” a teen said discontentedly, his face flushed with anger.
They thought Bu Fang was partial to Xixi.
Meng Qi frowned and looked at Bu Fang. She wanted to see how he would solve this problem.
The atmosphere grew tense. Many people rested their eyes on Bu Fang.
Tears started to well up in Xixi’s eyes again. Why were these people questioning her cooking? When she had begun to practice her knife techniques, they were still fast asleep!
The sound of a chair being pushed away rang out.
The whole room fell silent again.
Bu Fang rose to his feet and gave the group of dissenting teenagers a glance. Then, he walked slowly to Xixi’s side and rubbed her head. The next moment, his eyes suddenly became sharp.
“Who are you to question my apprentice? Which of you is unconvinced? Step forward. Since you think you are better than her, you can have a Chef’s Challenge with my apprentice…” Bu Fang said indifferently.
A Chef’s Challenge?!
That gave Xixi a pause.
The group of teenagers was stunned, while the judges took deep breaths.
“The Great Demon King is so bold… If his apprentice loses the challenge, it would leave a permanent wound in her heart!”
“Fine! We’ll have a Chef’s Challenge! I’m not afraid of a hairless little girl who doesn’t have immortal tools, kitchen utensils, or an immortal flame! I’ll surely crush her!” The teenager’s eyes lit up as he began to shout excitedly.
The judges gasped once again and turned to look at him…
“He’s really… Well, a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers!”
Meng Qi also shook her head and didn’t know whether to laugh or weep…
‘These teenagers really don’t know the meaning of despair… Kitchen utensils, immortal tools, immortal flames… Does the Great Demon King lack these things? Moreover, the Chef’s Challenge is a thing created by the Great Demon King himself!’
Bu Fang squinted at the teenager.
“Very good. In this case, Xixi… Let him taste the despair. You don’t have to worry about me and just torture him as best you can!” said Bu Fang.
When he had finished speaking, an array flashed, and the crystal knife cabinet emerged out of it.
Bu Fang slapped open the cabinet door. Instantly, waves of immortal energy poured out of it as radiances of knives filled the void.
“Xixi… You can pick any kitchen knife from my knife cabinet. No matter if you want a supreme-grade immortal knife or a high-grade immortal knife, I have them all,” Bu Fang rubbed Xixi’s head and said gently.
The group of teenagers was struck dumb. When they saw the crystal cabinet with all kinds of knives, they could only curse in their minds…