Chapter 907: Chapter 906: Prey and Hunter (Part 2)
This was destined to be an extraordinary food battle.
Footsteps gradually approached the steps leading to the stage. The corridor was no longer empty; a few security personnel arranged by the Liu stood by the corner.
Upon hearing the footsteps, these security personnel all turned their attention to the boy.
Their gaze towards Xia Yu mirrored a corner of the audience’s perspective on this food battle, filled with doubt, indifference, and encouragement.
Xia Yu was not in the mood to wave and greet these security personnel. Carrying a black stick on his shoulder and a kitchen utensil box in hand, he walked forward casually. As he stepped onto the stairs, ding, a sudden sound in his mind gave him a slight shock.
Whoa, how did I forget the task!
Both hands were occupied, otherwise, Xia Yu would have surely slapped his forehead in realization.
Quickly check the new task just received.
“Relentless Breakthrough: The host must secure victory in a crucial battle.”
“Reward: [Food Dominator Seed] (Talent).”
“Failure penalty: Delete account.”
The task details, rewards, and even the penalty sections were succinct and easy to understand.
Xia Yu’s mouth twitched, “Wait, what does deleting account mean?”
“Task failure results in the host being marked with the taste-impaired emblem, thereby erasing all stored character data,” the mechanical voice from the system made a drop of cold sweat roll down Xia Yu’s forehead.
Oh my.
Clear character data?
“Does it mean, my existence will also be erased?” his throat tightened.
When the threat of annihilation seemed to loom over his head, Xia Yu realized he couldn’t laugh it off.
“No.”
The system gave a clear answer, but Xia Yu found it hard to relax. If defeated, his yearlong efforts would be in vain. Although there was hope for a fresh start, the system data was one thing, but being marked with the taste-impaired emblem was an indelible disgrace!
Cannot afford to lose!
Taking a deep breath, Xia Yu’s eyes became resolute. He lifted his foot again onto the steps leading to the stage, under the dazzling lights. Unlike the enclosed passage, numerous eyes were fixed upon him, stirring the excitement buried deep within his veins.
“Has that guy arrived early?”
From a distance, he glanced at the open kitchen on the opposite stage, where Wei Zhong coldly stared at him from behind the kitchen counter.
As Xia Yu walked into his kitchen, he maintained his dialogue with the system, “System, what is the Food Dominator Seed, can you explain it clearly so I’ll have more motivation?”
“This talent is the core of the Food Tyrant System, equivalent in status to the culinary heart of the Food Justice System.”
“With this talent, the host will find it easier to handle fantasy ingredients, and the door to a vast world of unimaginable ingredients will open up to the host.”
For some reason, though the system’s mechanical tone remained the same, it subtly enticed Xia Yu.
A gateway to a broader world?
Xia Yu almost smiled, choosing to suppress his questions for now. He stopped, letting the kitchen utensil box fall to the floor with a thud, while the black stick on his shoulder was placed horizontally on the kitchen counter in front of him.
Sigh——
Finally, Xia Yu had a moment to pause, halting his exchange with the system, and glanced up at the dense audience seats.
Several cameras, some grounded, others extended on mechanical arms in mid-air.
The silent venue broadcasting his live state worldwide, along with the judging panel not far off, gazes from Lan Fengxian, Old Grand Duke Liu, and others…
His heart remained unmoved.
Xia Yu chuckled inwardly, “This scene is not much different from past competitions or food battles, but the opponent this time…”
Cast a glance once more towards the opposite kitchen.
Seeing the figure standing with arms crossed, Xia Yu’s pupils contracted slightly, his heart resting on his chest as he exhaled a deep breath, “Thump thump!”
Playfully, he mimicked the sound effect.
“Ha, that’s right, it’s this thrilling feeling!”
His previously stoic expression gradually shifted to a genuine smile from the heart.
In the lens, the boy’s smile carried an extraordinarily infectious charisma.
In the first row of the guest seats, Ye Feizhou gazed up at the broadcast screen, the enlarged youthful face, thump thump, thump thump thump, hearing the faint sound of urgent battle drums within his heart, as a black cloud swept in, seemingly ready to crush the small mountainous city beneath it with its airflow.
Roar!
The rampaging black dragon emerged from the dense black cloud, clearly showing excitement in its eyes.
Ye Feizhou felt his heart racing, “Is this his voice?”
“Hmm?”
Wei Zhong, locked in Xia Yu’s gaze, squinted his eyes thinly.
“Do you fancy yourself a dragon?” he sneered, “If you are a dragon, you’re still an undeveloped hatchling that should be lurking in the deep pool, biding its time instead of causing trouble!”
“In my generation, I’m far from old, this isn’t your time yet!”
Bang!
Wei Zhong slapped the counter, instantly shattering the vision of the black cloud and dragon overshadowing the city that Ye Feizhou vaguely saw, as a pair of hands engulfed in golden light clasped the malevolent dragon like a divine handprint from the sky!
“Watch me use the Dragon Capturing Skill——”
In the lens, Wei Zhong’s lips moved as if conveying this lip sync.
Xia Yu’s mouth silently opened and closed.
Three arrows?
Wei Zhong frowned, what does that mean!
“Clang!”
At this point, the golden gong rang out at the side, as the female host Qi Qingyan loudly announced, “I declare this food battle officially begins!”
“The cooking time for the food battle is limited to 2 hours!”
“Contestants are free to use any kitchen tools and ingredients, with the final victory determined by the number of votes from judges, with the first to acquire 3 votes automatically declared the winner!”
It’s begun!
Xia Yu immediately withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and picked up a bag of flour from the kitchen counter.
Flour is the fundamental element in pastry.
As for the recipe, Xia Yu had prepared it days beforehand, so this food battle was unlike previous ones. As the opening gong barely faded, both Xia Yu and Wei Zhong swiftly immersed themselves in work.
Unlike Xia Yu, who started with flour, Wei Zhong surprisingly first laid out a large slab of fresh pork on the countertop!
“It’s just ordinary pork, not fantasy ingredients?”
There were murmurs from below.
“Hmph, I’ve never seen Chef Wei use those fantasy ingredients!” joked a guest.
“Look——”
With the pork, Wei Zhong then casually retrieved a cleaver from his toolbox, simultaneously using his left hand to fish out a smaller, fruit-handling dagger-shaped kitchen blade from the same box.
Thump thump thump!
Both hands worked in unison!
The camera zoomed in to capture many startling small details.
“Do you see this? My gosh, the pork pieces look like they’ve been machine-cut, all the size of soybeans!”
“And these white particle-like vegetables… are they water chestnuts?”
Such a minuscule display of knife skill stunned many spectators.
At the guest seats, Lan Fengxian watched intently, “This exquisite mastery can only be achieved when the ‘Divine Hand’ is honed to uncanny proficiency! Indeed, he is the prized student of Huang He, having mastered most of that old fellow’s skills as his own!”
Wang Gong, Old Grand Duke Liu, also fixated on Wei Zhong’s knife-wielding hands, “There’s the living mechanical hand!”
The focus wasn’t just on a box full of high-quality kitchen blades, but on these hands!
Even the sharpest kitchens knife is an external tool, but if one’s hands possess the dexterity as a personal talent, comparable to super scent, super sight, and super hearing, it’s truly terrifying.
Undoubtedly.
Most of Wei Zhong’s culinary skills focus on these hands.
“Hmm, the salt is too strong; the amount can be reduced.” Before mixing seasonings and salt with the pork pieces, Wei Zhong flicked a few grains of salt onto his fingernail, scrutinizing the taste in his mouth.
Because the salt varies significantly by origin, with each area’s salt being somewhat more or less salty or enriched with certain trace elements.
Such details are deemed essential for master chefs!