Translator: CatatoPatch Editor: Vermillion
As he bit into the dish, a tender feeling filled his mouth.
It was almost as if the meat was sliding around his mouth. It rolled around the tongue as it was extremely slippery.
That feeling caused Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s eyes to widen. The hot and tender chicken meat, coupled with the fragrant oily juice, exploded in his mouth. Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s body started to tremble.
This taste was simply too exquisite!
Grandmaster Xuan Ming looked at Bu Fang and there was a pleasantly surprised look in his eyes. It was really too delicious! He had never eaten such a delicious chicken in his life!
“How can it taste so good?!” Grandmaster Xuan Ming munched on the chicken thigh non-stop and chewing sounds were emitted from his mouth.
Who would care about their image at this point? His image couldn’t compare to the delicious chicken meat. The aroma which was emitted from the tender chicken meat played a crucial role in this.
Grandmaster Xuan Ming ate till oil stained the sides of his mouth and, with a wave of his hand, he stroked his beard before continuing to munch on the chicken meat. His table manners were…
The other grandmasters were doing the same thing as Grandmaster Xuan Ming. Before they bit into the tasty chicken meat, they might have cared about their image. However, after savoring the flavor of the chicken meat, it was as though they had descended into a bottomless pit. It was impossible for them to extricate themselves.
“These old geezers have no table manners… After all, they are masters of alchemy. Shouldn’t they pay attention to their table manners?” The Shura Saintess licked her red lips and her throat twitched. She looked at the Heavenly Flame Braised Chicken and started to become restless.
The old servant glanced at the Saintess and his wrinkled face started to twitch. He said, “My saintess… You have to endure it.”
“I know…. However, looking at the situation, that alchemist looks like he is going to lose.”
The saintess looked at the old servant with anger in her eyes. The old foxy servant froze… He became silent. Indeed, At this point, he had no idea if Mao Shi was capable of winning the competition.
Crunch crunch…
On top of the stage, the few grandmasters lost control of themselves. They no longer cared about their image and as soon as they finished the chicken in their hand, they reached out for another. They directly grabbed onto the chicken neck as they started to chew on it.
Their actions were so exaggerated that all the audience members were stunned.
In just a while, all that was left of the Heavenly Flame Braised Chicken was the bones… Oh, there was also the chicken backside.
Bu Fang looked at that the chicken backside which looked uneven. His eyes narrowed. Were these old geezers looking down on the chicken backside?
Mao Shi stood rooted to his spot. The actions of the few grandmasters were completely unexpected. Never in his wildest imaginations would he think that they would enjoy the dish so much. The color on his face became horribly ugly.
“The taste of this chicken meat is really not bad… If this old one didn’t guess wrong, you should have used seventeen different types of herbs to boil that broth. Am I correct?” After finishing the last piece of chicken in his mouth, Grandmaster Xuan Ming asked. He calmly stroked his beard as he asked Bu Fang. A light gleamed in his eyes.
Bu Fang looked at this old geezer in shock. He didn’t think that this old man would be able to guess how many herbs he had added into the broth when he was enjoying the chicken meat.
It was a pity. It was a pity that Grandmaster had guessed wrong.
Looking at the confident expression on Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s face, Bu Fang opened his mouth and he seemed a little bit embarrassed.
“Actually there were twenty-two herbs…” Bu Fang said seriously.
Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s face froze and a tinge of red crept up his face. He coughed dryly a few times… This little rascal.
Master Gu He and the rest instantly laughed. They were finally able to see Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s shameful expression. It was indeed something which was hard to come by.
The head judge saw that the grandmasters had finished the chicken and were chatting on stage. He couldn’t help but purse his lips together.
Oh dear grandmasters… We are on stage right now.
“Dear esteemed grandmasters, what opinions do you have on contestant Bu Fang’s dish?” The head judge hurriedly cut into their conversation.
When the audience members heard the head judge’s words, all of them craned their neck forward. They tried their best to listen to the verdict as this was the moment when the winner would be decided.
If Bu Fang was the winner, things would get interesting. If he managed to enter the finals, the entire Pill Palace would be shocked. An extraordinary contestant managed to barge his way into the finals. It was something no one would have expected.
If Mao Shi won, things would also be interesting. The winning streak of the strongest dark horse would end with him. Mao Shi’s reputation would soar.
Regardless of who won or lost, it was something that attracted everyone’s attention.
So, in the end, who was the winner?
Grandmaster Xuan Ming pondered for quite some time. Before they announced the identity of the winner, all the grand masters calmed down. They smile on their faces disappeared and they walked up to their seats.
None of them dared to casually pass the judgment. They knew that the result was extremely significant.
They raised their heads at the same time and looked at each other. When their eyes met, all of them saw the decision in each other’s eyes. That’s right, they had all reached the same decision.
“Hmm… How do we put this… Although it was a tough decision, there has to be a winner since this is a competition,” Grandmaster Xuan Ming said with his arms crossed.
His voice traveled over the entire area and everyone sucked in a cold breath. All of them were silent as they waited for him to announce the winner.
“Mao Shi’s three-mark spirit pill was indeed high in quality. Its effects were extremely potent as well. However, there were some flaws in the pill and it was quite detrimental toward the elixir. It gave off the feeling that the pill had no soul. As for Bu Fang’s dish, the soul in the dish caused us, old geezers, some shock. It’s something we don’t see in young alchemists these days. However, today, we were able to see this in a chef…”
Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s words caused the audience members to widen their eyes.
An elixir has no soul but a dish had one?
Why did it sound so grandiose?
Grandmaster Xuan Ming did not care whether or not the audience had heard him clearly and he continued speaking. He didn’t explain it to them at all as they wouldn’t understand even if he did.
What’s was great about the honorable Cloud-ranked alchemists was that when they were refining elixirs, their body and heart would fuse with the elixir. The spirit pill which was formed would possess a soul.
A pill with a soul was a true spirit pill.
“Bu Fang’s chicken fused with twenty two different high-grade elixirs. Furthermore, the chicken was specially prepared and the spiritual energy within it gave it a mouth-watering texture. It fused with the elixirs and a unique effect was created. The dish had the same effect as a spirit pill.”
Grandmaster Xuan Ming continued. However, the more he spoke, the uglier the expression on Mao Shi’s face became.
“The five of us have judged that Bu Fang’s chicken has the same effect as a three-mark spirit pill. What’s more, it’s at the peak of a three-mark spirit pill!
“Hence, Bu Fang is the winner of this match!”
Boom!
As Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s words descended, the entire audience stand seemed to fall into silence for a moment before they erupted.
Oh god!
Mao Shi lost!
Even the genius alchemist from Heavenly Shine City lost to Bu Fang!
After Sorceress An Sheng and the Crazy Xiong Shi, Lord Mao Shi actually lost to Bu Fang as well!
This black horse was indeed awesome. Was he really going to go all the way and snatch away the championship?
It was terrifying!
“I lost? How did I lose? This… This is impossible!”
Hearing the words of Grandmaster Xuan Ming resounding through the area, Mao Shi stood frozen on the spot. His face was petrified as he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, there was an indignant expression on his face. He raised his head and glared at the few grandmasters.
“Impossible! You guys must have felt that the dish tasted good! That was the only reason you chose Bu Fang as the winner! You childish old men, I don’t admit my defeat! ”
Mao Shi took a few steps back as his face was flushed red. He angrily yelled at the five grandmasters. His roar resounded across the entire central square.
The audience members were all stunned.
Did Mao Shi go crazy? How did he dare shout at the five grandmasters in front of everyone else?
Grandmaster Xuan Ming’s face suddenly darkened. Even Mao Shi’s master, Grandmaster Yao Guang, had a dark expression on his face. It became as dark as storm clouds.
“You bastard! What did you say?”
Master Yao Guang roared and an imposing and terrifying aura blanketed the entire plaza.
“I don’t admit my defeat! I don’t believe that my elixir will be beaten by a mere dish!” Mao Shi’s hair began to float behind him as his eyes became bloodshot. He continued his outburst at the five grandmasters.
He had used even the Shura pill… How could he lose? How much had he paid? A single sentence from these few old geezers would send him down to hell?!
How could he admit his defeat?
Grandmaster Yao Guang was angered by the crazy Mao Shi and raised his hand to point at the latter. His hand trembled as he pointed at his disciple.
Suddenly, a soft sound suddenly rang out.
“You don’t admit it? Then why don’t you have a taste of the dish? Don’t act like a child and throw a fit after losing.” Bu Fang expressionlessly looked at the crazy Mao Shi and lightly said.
Everyone froze as they didn’t know what Bu Fang was trying to do. When Bu Fang interrupted Mao Shi at this juncture, wasn’t he just adding fuel to the fire?
However, Bu Fang’s action made everyone’s eyes widen.
“Hu… Just nice, there’s still the chicken backside left. Why don’t you try it?”
Bu Fang’s hands moved and the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife spun. It sliced toward the chicken backside which was left on the plate. With the point of his finger, the chicken backside lit up with a bright flame.
Then, with a slap of the kitchen knife, the chicken backside was sent flying toward Mao Shi.
Smack!
Mao Shi raised his hands, catching the chicken backside flying toward him. His face became redder and redder and his entire body started to tremble.
“You dare to humiliate me?! You actually dare to humiliate me with a chicken backside?!” Mao Shi looked at the chicken backside in his hand. He was so enraged that he was about to spit blood.
The audience was also the same and their gazes became cold.
All of them sucked in a deep breath.
This chef was truly too despicable.
He actually asked other people to eat the chicken backside.
Anyway, another thought flashed through the audience’s mind. Was Mao Shi going to eat it or not?
“Don’t hold back. You’ll understand why you lost after eating it.” Bu Fang was too lazy to say too much to Mao Shi. With a wave of his hand, the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife disappeared from his hand.
The Black Turtle Constellation Wok also disappeared.
Bu Fang slowly walked over to the Eight Treasures Chicken and picked up the terror-stricken Eighty which was looking at the leftovers of the Heavenly Flame Chicken. Then, he walked down the stage.
Mao Shi opened his hands and on his palm, a piece of burning chicken backside appeared.
He looked at the figure of Bu Fang picking up the chicken and walking off the stage. There was an unresigned expression on his face.
“Stop right there! I’ll eat it! I want to see how this piece of chicken backside will make me admit my defeat!”
