Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Bu Fang chose to proceed with the second test without taking a rest.
The people around him did not approve that. Knife techniques were a solid test of a chef’s skills, and they could cause a strain on the chef’s mental and physical strength. In turn, it could easily cause physical and mental fatigue.
A difficult cutting task was a tremendous load for the mind and body, so they could not understand why Bu Fang did not rest. There was a small break after each test was over, and as long as he took advantage of it to recover his mental force, he would be able to complete the second test better.
The fact that Bu Fang could break the record set by Master Cheng was out of everyone’s expectation. Even Luo Sanniang was surprised by that. She had thought that Bu Fang was extraordinary. Although he was just a Demigod, he was able to defeat Master Cheng, who was a God and an Earth Divine Chef.
That was why she brought him here, to see if he could work miracles and break the seal. And sure enough, Bu Fang had brought her a surprise.
‘Interesting… This is really very interesting…’ Luo Sanniang’s red lips pursed a little. She rested her eyes on Bu Fang, and when she saw the tofu in his palm, her eyes shone brighter and brighter. She wondered if this young man could bring her an even bigger surprise?
The uproar quickly died away. Bu Fang had broken Master Cheng’s record by completing the first test in twenty breaths, but the crowd’s tumult did not last for too long. After all, he was about to start taking the second test. It would be their fault if their noises caused Bu Fang to fail, and the Divine Chef Temple would not forgive them.
Some people left with excitement to spread the news, while some Divine Chefs who were on good terms with Master Cheng quickly went to tell him that his record had been broken.
…
Master Cheng sat on a chair in his residence in another distinguished guest tower. His room was filled with a rich aroma of divine tea.
The divine tea was a kind of Path-Understanding Tea growing in the Great Buddha Pagoda World, which could enhance one’s divine sense and strengthen one’s soul. Master Cheng did not usually drink it because it was too precious.
However, his cooking was interrupted by a young man, who even beat him afterward. It was a great humiliation, and he could not stand it. The fury had prevented him from calming down, so he took out the divine tea and brewed himself a cup to soothe his restlessness.
He narrowed his eyes, brought the cup up to his nose, and sniffed it. Wisps of steam rose from the hot tea. He took a deep breath with satisfaction as a hint of a smile appeared on the corners of his lips. His heart was as still as water as if he had entered the Zen state mentioned by those Buddhists.
“My heart is as tranquil as the summer sea…” Master Cheng murmured, twisting his beard with his fingers. Then, he opened his mouth to take a sip of the tea.
However, just when his lips touched the cup, a loud cry came through the door.
“Master Cheng… Broken! It’s broken!”
The voice was hoarse and full of shock, and it made Master Cheng frown with dissatisfaction.
“Broken? What is broken? Can’t you calm down a little? You have to learn how to make your heart as calm as water!” Master Cheng growled as he looked at his friend, who pushed open the door and ran into the room.
The Divine Chef’s face became a little embarrassed, but then he was impressed by Master Cheng’s composure. ‘His record had been broken by someone, and yet he can still be so calm… It just proves that his state of mind’s cultivation is way beyond mine… Well, I’d better not offend him.’
Master Cheng’s good friend sat down, breathed a sigh of relief, and then he said, “Your record has been broken! It’s unbelievable… I never thought someone could actually complete the first test in less than thirty breaths, which is the record you had set!”
That gave Master Cheng pause. With some tea in his mouth, he looked at his friend with astonishment in his eyes as if he was asking, “What did you say?”
“Your record is broken! Surprised?!” asked the friend.
Puke!
Master Cheng could not hold it anymore. The tea in his mouth spurted out and sprayed onto his friend’s face, who was struck dumb in an instant.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?! Who could break my record!”
‘My heart is as tranquil as the summer sea? Tranquil my ass! How could I calm down when my record is broken?!’ Master Cheng roared in his mind as he flew into a rage. He could not believe that his record had been broken! ‘Who broke my record?!’
Before his friend could react, he already bolted out of the room and ran toward the building where the inheritance was located.
“I thought he asked me to learn how to make my heart as calm as water?” His friend was dumbfounded.
…
The second test was to cut a piece of tofu with the Kitchen Knife of Affliction. Unlike the first test, it was much harder.
Bu Fang had to make nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine cuts on a piece of tofu, which was extremely fragile and glittering like jade. That was ten thousand more cuts than the first test. Besides, he could not damage the tofu. It must still be in one whole piece when he was done!
He had frowned when he first sensed the test. It was really too difficult. Nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine cuts were no joke! Moreover, he would be making cuts on a piece of tofu. A careless mistake would easily break it in half!
It required extremely strict and precise control of strength, mental force, and the knife technique!
Bu Fang took a deep breath, and his eyes grew sharper. His divine sense was as taut as a string, and it might break if he put further force into it.
Many people knew what the second test was, so no one thought he could complete it. In fact, so far, no one has done it. Master Cheng had broken the first test, but he had failed the second one.
After all, there were three tests to complete in half an hour, so while completing the second test, one had to reserve time for the third one. The difficulty was just too great. Even a Heaven Divine Chef might fail, not to mention an Earth Divine Chef.
“It has begun! His knife… is moving!” Someone with keen eyes saw Bu Fang move and immediately cried out excitedly.
As the voice spread, all eyes fixed at Bu Fang. Luo Sanniang glanced around and put a fair finger over her red lips, signaling the crowd to quiet down. At that gesture, all Divine Chefs fell silent and watched with gleaming eyes.
The Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife spun in a beautiful pattern, but Bu Fang’s palm was as steady as a boulder, not moving at all. All of a sudden, he held the knife firmly, turned it sideways, and his divine sense poured out like a fierce torrent.
In a flash, he rehearsed the Kitchen Knife of Affliction countless times in his mind. Then, his eyes flickered brilliantly, and he thrust out the kitchen knife. Thousands of knives emerged and followed it.
A fine line split across the tender tofu as the knife touched it, but before it could grow longer, Bu Fang gently shook his hand, and the blade lifted marginally and fell next to the line. The gap between the first cut and the second one was less than a millimeter.
The nearby Divine Chefs all sucked in their breaths when they saw that.
“Unbelievable! This is such a precise control!”
“Where did this monstrous young man come from?! His control of the knife is so amazing!”
“Incredible! That slash just now… I bet he must have made hundreds of slashes at the same time!”
…
The nearby Divine Chefs all whispered to one another. As for Luo Sanniang, she stuck out her tongue and licked her lips as the amazement in her eyes grew stronger. She felt hopeful. She thought maybe this young man could really break the record and complete the second test!
A counter appeared over the array once again, showing the cuts Bu Fang had made. The number was jumping rapidly, increasing by hundreds every time.
Five hundred, one thousand two hundred, one thousand eight hundred… Although the increment was irregular, it was extremely fast!
In everyone’s eyes, the tofu in Bu Fang’s hand was shaking slightly while the kitchen knife moved up and down over it, glowing like the sun.
Suddenly, Bu Fang’s kitchen knife stopped, and his brows furrowed.
That shocked everyone. ‘What happened? Why did he stop?’ Those were the questions in everyone’s mind.
If he continued at this pace, Bu Fang was very likely to complete the second test. He even had a chance to take up the third test and completely break the first seal of the inheritance!
The crowd’s emotions were already roused, and yet Bu Fang stopped at this critical moment! The time would not stop even when he paused, and every second was extremely precious in this task!
Luo Sanniang clenched her palms into fists, and her eyes went so wide that her eyeballs seemed to pop out. “Don’t stop…” she let out a low growl.
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out in the distance, then a figure bolted over.
“Who broke my record?! Who the hell is it?!” roared an old voice filled with rage.
The crowd froze at that, then everyone turned and stared angrily at the owner of the voice. They finally realized why Bu Fang did not continue. If he were still cutting the tofu, the thunderous roar would have shocked him and caused him to make mistakes. That was the reason he stopped!
Luo Sanniang figured that out, too. While she was praising Bu Fang’s cautiousness in her head, she was infuriated with the troublemaker. “I don’t care who you are… Get the hell out of here!”
She turned and rested her eyes on Master Cheng, who was rushing over with an angry look. The next moment, she twisted her slender waist, disappeared, and came in front of the old man in a flash.
Master Cheng wanted to roar again, but Luo Sanniang had already grabbed him by the neck, forcing him to swallow his words. He looked confusedly at the beautiful woman, not knowing what just happened…
With the old man’s neck tightly held in her grip, Luo Sanniang turned and strode out of the building, while Bu Fang resumed his cutting…
