Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Treasured Pagoda Meat—a new dish. It was the system’s reward for breaking through.
As the name suggests, the dish consisted of meat piled up high like a pagoda.
This was a dish that required a high level of proficiency in Knife Skills, and Bu Fang fell into deep thought after looking through the menu.
The Treasured Pagoda Meat was made by piling up sorted cube-shaped meat slices. The gaps between the meat must be uniform. If the gaps were too small or too big, it could affect the aesthetics and texture of the dish.
Since this dish was provided by the system, the selection of ingredients was also regulated by the system. Of course, Bu Fang could choose to use more luxurious ingredients, but he was not in a hurry and decided to use the ingredients provided by the system as a practice.
The difficulty level of this dish was higher, or to put it in other words, the recipes provided by the system were getting harder and harder and was not as simple as it used to be.
After reflecting for a moment, Bu Fang seemed to come to a decision. He exhaled lightly and gave a smile.
He walked towards the cabinet and pulled out a drawer. The ingredients that the system had provided were arranged neatly within it.
A large piece of white spirit beast meat, which was suffused with a thick spiritual energy, was lying in the drawer.
“A Divine Physique Echelon Realm spirit beast. It transformed into a spirit boar, and its habitat was the Ancient Jade Holy Grounds of the Hidden Dragon Royal Court in the Hidden Dragon Continent. It subsisted on Heaven and Earth Spirit Fruits and drank from the spirit springs of the Ancient Jade Holy Grounds since its birth. Its meat is fatty and succulent with a delicious texture. Within the meat, there is also a unique fragrance. It also exudes a dense air of spiritual energy. Simply put, this is a top tier ingredient.”
In Bu Fang’s mind, the system sounded out to provide all the information regarding the pork from the Ancient Jade Holy Grounds.
This snow-white piece of meat was pork, and it was not just any ordinary pork. It was pork from the Ancient Jade Holy Grounds.
Perhaps this was a spiritual beast boar reared especially by the Ancient Jade Holy Grounds.
Bu Fang took the piece of meat out. Its surface was extremely smooth, and it felt as slippery as a piece of soap. It seemed like it would slide out of his hand at any moment.
However, Bu Fang was a chef after all, so his experience regarding ingredients was rich. With a shake of his hand, he slapped the pork with his palm, causing it to fly in the air to land on the stove.
Boom!
After landing, the pork was still vibrating vigorously, the fats in it trembling with the impact.
Bu Fang clapped his hands as he continued to select ingredients from the cabinet. The variety of ingredients were diverse. There were spirit herbs and spirit ingredients, and even though these were not high quality, they were already considered top tier in the Divine Physique Echelon Realm.
When Bu Fang held the spirit ingredients, a thick aura of spiritual energy slowly spread out from them, radiating around his arm.
Bu Fang then used boiling-hot Heavenly Mountain Spirit Spring Water to blanch the spirit ingredients.
After blanching them with the Heavenly Mountain Spirit Spring Water, not only did the spirit ingredients not shrivel up, they became even more succulent than before. These processed spirit ingredients were then placed to the side for Bu Fang’s use later.
Waving his arm wrapped with a black bandage, a black mist seemed to disperse out and coalesce into the Black Turtle Constellation Wok.
The current Black Turtle Constellation Wok was capable of emanating a crushing pressure on onlookers, and there seemed to be a slight flow of golden light above it.
Bu Fang then placed the Black Turtle Constellation Wok onto the stove.
In his left hand, the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife floated into existence. Holding the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife, he flicked his wrist, causing a scintillating display of light reflected by the knife.
Next, Bu Fang’s gaze landed on the pork as he prepared to process it.
This Treasured Pagoda Meat dish was putting Bu Fang’s knife skills to the test. One’s skill with the knife could be considered the most important process in cooking.
The significance of the Knife Skill was that if any mistakes were made, it could result in dire consequences to both the texture and the aesthetics of the dish.
With a flick of his fingers, the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife spun into life in his hand. It was as if the knife was striving to slice the air up into little strips.
Pressing down the pork with one hand, Bu Fang pinched the meat forcefully. It bounced back with incredible flexibility, which seemed to satisfy Bu Fang. This was indeed a good ingredient.
In the next moment, Bu Fang’s entire disposition changed. His aura became overwhelmingly overbearing.
Rip!
Like shooting stars sliding across the night sky, the piece of pork was carved into two halves by a sweep of the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife.
With one hand pressing down on the pork, he held the kitchen knife horizontally.
Shred…
Gently sliding his kitchen knife back and forth, the pork was instantly carved up, and it did not seem thick at all.
Pointing the knife tip downwards, Bu Fang slid it across the pork mercilessly. The edges of the pork were cut open, resulting in the entire pork expanding to a six-edged shape.
The first step was finally completed.
The purpose of this first step was to prepare the base of the pagoda. Actually, it was not that difficult. As the layers of meat in the pagoda increased, so does the difficulty of the Knife Skill.
Bu Fang exhaled lightly, his mental energy surging out instantly. Since this work was meticulous and requires great concentration without any errors, he decided to release the mental energy hidden within his spirit sea.
When the second piece of pork was taken out, Bu Fang’s knife flew over it instantly. It was so fast that it seemed as though the knife left after-images in its trajectory.
He finished carving up the second piece of pork very quickly.
With a shift and a flick of his knife, the carved pork was sent soaring in the air. The six-edged pork spun around in the air before falling down to stack precisely on the base of the pagoda.
The fit was immaculate. Between the two pieces of meat layers, the size of the gaps at their edges was barely that of a quarter of a fingernail.
Bu Fang took out another piece of meat, and with a flash of his knife, this third piece of meat was also completely carved up.
A six-edged piece of pork was, again, stacked onto the pagoda.
The gap between the piece of meat was still maintained at a size of less than a quarter of a fingernail.
Within the kitchen, the atmosphere was oppressive. Bu Fang’s mental energy spread out slowly, and eventually, everything seemed as if it was enveloped in a thick marsh.
Piece by piece and layer by layer, the pagoda was slowly creeping upwards. Every slice of meat was thin, and by the time the last slice was stacked onto the pagoda, the meat tower in the shape of the pagoda was finally completed.
With a strict requirement of gap size between the slices of meat, the six-edged meat pagoda looked very neat and tidy.
An aura of spiritual energy surrounded the pagoda, making the pork slices tremble slightly.
Bu Fang looked at his creation and involuntarily took a deep breath. This dish… was really a mental drain.
However, without a doubt, the mere sight of the dish would make people salivate.
Taking out a porcelain plate, Bu Fang’s kitchen knife swiped across the surface of the stove to lift up the entire meat pagoda. He placed the pagoda on the plate and began heating the wok.
He opened his mouth, and instantly, a ball of gold-laced, crimson-colored Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame shot out.
The flame burned ferociously. It seemed like a mutated Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame, and its temperature was much higher than that of the Ten Thousand Bestial Flames. As the flame roared, there was a unique aura flourishing within it.
Swoosh!
Next, he took out an urn of Ice Heart Jade Urn Wine. The moment he unsealed it, the dense aroma of alcohol diffused into the surroundings.
He then poured some Heavenly Mountain Spirit Spring Water into the Black Turtle Constellation Wok and placed the Treasured Meat Pagoda into it. Hot air then rose up sporadically from within the wok.
Bu Fang then emptied the Ice Heart Jade Urn Wine into the wok. In an instant, the alcohol trickled downwards from the apex of the meat pagoda, covering every single piece of meat as the alcoholic aroma spread through the pork.
After the alcohol shower from the Ice Heart Jade Urn Wine, the meat pagoda sparkled, as if it was coated with a layer of glaze. Under the light, it emitted a shining brilliance.
With just a thought, the opening of the Black Turtle Constellation Wok immediately began to close. It was as if the lid of the wok was slowly being shut.
It was now time to steam the Meat Pagoda.
During the steaming process, Bu Fang began preparing his other ingredients.
He retrieved a crimson red spirit fruit from the cabinet. Intricate patterns were running along the surface of this fruit, and within those patterns, evanescent red lights could be seen.
This was a Lantern Fruit. It was like a lantern, and the heart of the fruit was inedible.
The kitchen knife swept out, splitting the skin of the Lantern Fruit. He then removed the golden core of the fruit and threw it away.
After carefully cutting the Lantern Fruit up into slices, he placed it aside to be used later.
Bu Fang then took a ball of jade green spirit cabbage out. He held the spirit cabbage in one hand and swished his kitchen knife around in his other hand. As the spirit cabbage was trimmed to perfection, the whole scene was reminiscent of a sculptor carving a masterpiece.
The other ingredients were then similarly carved up and set aside onto a plate for his convenient use.
Bu Fang then fetched a long porcelain plate over. The meticulously carved spirit cabbage was placed in a corner, and after that, the sliced Lantern Fruits were scattered over the plate.
After completing those tasks, Bu Fang shifted his attention towards the Black Turtle Constellation Wok. He stretched out his hand and covered the wok with his palm. He infused his will into it and sensed how the spiritual energy swirled within the wok.
His mental energy flowed gently like a small stream to control the movement of spiritual energy in the ingredients.
Bu Fang could sense that after the Treasured Pagoda Meat was cooked, it expanded at a rate visible to the naked eye. When the meat swelled, the pagoda seemed even more majestic and overwhelming than before. It was as though the pagoda of meat exuded an air of dominance!
This air of dominance was the residual aura from the use of Bu Fang’s Overlord Thirteen Blades when the meat was sliced up.
The Overlord Thirteen Blades was more than a knife skill used against enemies. It was also a knife skill to process ingredients. It could even be said that using the Overlord Thirteen Blades to process ingredients was its primary purpose, and using it against opponents was secondary.
After approximately the time for half an incense to burn, the Treasured Pagoda Meat in the Black Turtle Constellation Wok was completely cooked. The Heavenly Mountain Spirit Spring water was fully evaporated, and the alcohol from the Ice Heart Jade Urn was absorbed by the pagoda.
This alcohol added a clear aroma into the dish, and at the same time, it also perfectly preserved the unique fragrance from the pork.
With a thought, the Black Turtle Constellation Wok opened gradually, and in an instant, the steaming hot air and the dense meaty aroma surged out from within.
The hot steam emerged from the wok like a giant mushroom cloud, and it drifted slowly towards the ceiling.
With a twitch of his hand, the Treasured Pagoda Meat was removed from the wok.
The freshly steamed Treasured Pagoda Meat looked extremely mythical, and it looked as if it had been glazed over. The meat exuded a steamy fragrance, and the evanescent alcoholic aroma was even more attractive. It was, indeed, mesmerizing.
With a swipe of his kitchen knife, the Treasure Pagoda Meat was lifted up and placed onto the long porcelain plate in a smooth movement.
Rinsing the wok and the ingredients, then pouring the oil into the wok and heating it up, this set of moves was fluid and elegant when executed by Bu Fang. After doing all these, the previously processed ingredients were all emptied into the Black Turtle Constellation Wok.
Hot air surged out as the aroma of the ingredients suffused the air. If anyone were nearby, it would surely rouse their appetite.
After being handled by Bu Fang, the ingredients rapidly melted and combined, transforming into a rich golden broth. He tilted the wok and scooped up the golden broth, which was then drizzled over the Treasured Pagoda Meat.
Trickle, trickle….
It sounded like the gentle flow of water, and its steamy fragrance assailed the senses.
Fragrance, spiritual energy, and heat were presented in an overwhelming crescendo.
In an instant, the Treasured Pagoda Meat was instantly colored gold. A golden glaze, shining with a golden brilliance—this was the imposing color of gold. It seemed as though the dish was truly transformed into a golden pagoda that was completely awe-inspiring.
Around it, the jade green spirit cabbage and a few other decorative ingredients enhanced the scenic beauty at the base.
As the ladle swirled around in the wok, a thick white broth was slowly produced.
Bu Fang lifted the entire wok, pouring the broth on the porcelain plate where the Treasured Meat Pagoda was placed. Instantly, the white broth covered the entire porcelain plate, and this created the image of a small lake.
The pure white waters of the lake, together with spirit vegetation growing around its boundaries, completed the magnificence of the majestic golden treasured pagoda rising from its very center!
It was a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
Bu Fang put the Black Turtle Constellation Wok down gently and stepped back before exhaling gently.
The Treasured Pagoda Meat is now complete!
