Bu Fang felt that he had entered a new place, a kitchen isolated from the world. This was the promotion test given to him by the System.
Unlike others, his cultivation base did not need to be gradually improved. Whenever he broke through a new realm, as long as he could successfully pass the dish test, his cultivation base would be able to take a big leap.
This had happened many times in the past, so Bu Fang had been very familiar with it. However, he did not dare to have the slightest relaxation on the test because there was a penalty for failing it, and it might even lead him into a hopeless situation.
So, he was very serious about the promotion test.
In his head, the System’s serious voice was telling him things he needed to pay attention to. Finally, there was a flash of light in front of his eyes, and then the recipe for a dish appeared in his mind.
‘Attention, Host, the dish for this promotion test is Divine Flame River Snails Rice Noodles. Host only needs to complete the cooking of this dish to advance,’ the System said seriously.
There was no doubt that this was a new dish. Bu Fang did not say anything, as his mind was completely attracted by it. At this moment, all he needed to do was to cook this dish.
His face had a slightly odd look. River snails rice noodles was a dish on earth, but there was something strange about it. Like stinky tofu, it was famous for its taste. The smell it gave off was as… profound as the stench of stinky tofu. Perhaps only those who knew how to appreciate it could understand the stench of this dish.
‘Such a coincidence? At this critical juncture, the dish of the promotion test the System gives me is actually… river snails rice noodles?’ Bu Fang narrowed his eyes.
Without thinking too much, Bu Fang began to prepare the ingredients.
Many ingredients needed to be prepared to cook a bowl of authentic river snails rice noodles. Among them, the choice of river snails was crucial. Of course, the other ingredients were also very important. In fact, this dish was all about its ingredients and broth.
The river snails were provided by the System. Bu Fang was grateful for that. A clay pot filled with river snails was placed in front of him. With a shake of his hand, he flung out a silver divine flame, then controlled it to soak into the clay pot so that it covered all the snails.
Miraculously, instead of being burnt to ashes, the river snails began to breathe in and out the divine flame as if they were bathed in water, expelling all the impurities from their bodies.
These impurities had a great impact on the taste of the dish, so they must be removed first. Perhaps it was because the river snails must be cleaned with the divine flame that the dish was called the Divine Flame River Snails Rice Noodles.
When the snails no longer spat impurities, Bu Fang removed them from the clay pot and set them aside. Then, with a thought in his mind, he took out a dragon steak and cut it into thin slices.
After that, he prepared the other ingredients, including his secret pickled bamboo shoots, pickled cabbage, pickled radish, and some seasonings and herbs. He laid out all the ingredients on small plates.
Next, Bu Fang started to cook.
He took out the Black Turtle Constellation Wok, preheated it over the divine flame, and then poured in the oil. While waiting for the oil to heat up, he got the two-color bean curd sheet ready. When the oil finally began to bubble, he immediately put the bean curd sheet into the wok.
Sizzle…
The bean curd sheet rolled in the boiling oil and slowly became crispy. When it was done frying, he took it out from the oil, then went to the Heaven and Earth Farmland. He took out a jar of Abyssal Chili Sauce he had made with a new recipe, which he had been storing for a long time, then mixed it with the oil used to fry the bean curd sheet to make chili oil.
Next, he began to prepare the broth. He first used a chunk of dragon bone to boil a dragon stock, then began to stir-fry the pickled bamboo shoots, pickled cabbage, and pickled radish. When they were done, he took them out of the wok and set them aside on a plate.
Bu Fang then began to cook the river snails. He added chopped Purple Garlic, Son Mother Ginger slices, and some other ingredients into the wok, then fried them until fragrant. After adding the snails, he began to vigorously stir fry them. Finally, he added the dragon stock into the wok and let everything boil together.
Soon, the river snails were rolling and spitting divine flames in the stock, looking very dazzling.
Bu Fang needed to control the temperature very carefully now. He was making the broth, and the flavor of the broth determined how delicious the dish would be.
His divine sense poured out and went into the wok, sensing the changes in the ingredients within the stock. When the river snails finally fell out of their shells, Bu Fang added the chili oil he had prepared earlier into the wok.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the broth boiling in the wok. At this point, the dish was almost ready.
He took out a blue-and-white porcelain bowl and poured the broth into it. A layer of bright red chili oil floated over the broth, which looked very appetizing. Then, he took out the noodles. They must be thick noodles so that the dish was refreshing to eat.
Bu Fang added the slippery noodles to the broth, placed the fried slices of dragon steak on top of them, and finally added the other side dishes and toppings. Among them, the most important one was pickled bamboo shoots as it was the essence of the river snails rice noodles.
After Bu Fang wiped the oil stains off the edge of the porcelain bowl with a white cloth, beams of dazzling light immediately shot out of the bowl, so bright that he could hardly open his eyes. Immediately after that, a sour stench filled the air, causing his eyebrows to prick up.
Compared with stinky tofu, the smell of this river snails rice noodle was… even more overwhelming. Bu Fang reckoned that if the stench of these two dishes were combined, it would be the foulest smell in the whole universe!
However, unlike stinky tofu, this river snails rice noodles looked very delicious. Just by looking at it was enough to arouse one’s appetite. Its bright red broth, the aromatic dragon steak slices, and everything else looked so perfect—except for its choking stench…
…
The aura around Soul Thirteen was constantly trembling as his cold eyes were fixed on the man in the distance, who was slowly standing up. Yes, it was a man. The black dog had transformed into a man before him, before all eyes!
What shocked him was not the fact that the black dog could transform into a man. The ability to turn into a human was not uncommon. In fact, any ferocious beast or divine beast with a sufficient cultivation base could take on a human form.
Soul Thirteen was stunned by the aura emanating from the man, which made his heart race faster and faster. It was the aura of the Heavengod in this Chaotic Universe! It was definitely the aura of a Heavengod!
He knew he was right. After all, he was always on the lookout for the Heavengods in this universe. However, he never expected this Heavengod to be a dog!
‘I must finish him off before he completely transforms into a Heavengod!’
Soul Thirteen moved. The energy of sin quickly gathered in his hand, and then he threw his palm at Lord Dog. He was so fast that the void was tearing up before his sharp claws.
Lord Dog had taken the form of a human. Judging by the appearance, he was a man.
“I seemed to have remembered something of great importance… Bu Fang boy, you have to work harder to live up to my expectation!” Lord Dog’s gentle and magnetic voice rang out, and then he seemed to be sighing.
The next moment, he raised his hand that glowed softly and was filled with the power of the Law of Time, and pointed it at the black energy of sin that was closing in on him. With a thump, the sinful energy instantly dispersed like a balloon that had been punctured.
“He really is a Heavengod of the present age!” Soul Thirteen pupils constricted as he sensed a nebulous connection between the man and the Chaos.
He had heard that the Heavengods of the present age had all entered the Chaos, and that was why they did not show up even when the Soul Demons had invaded this universe. However, he found this statement somewhat illogical.
This universe was, after all, the root of these Heavengods. Once all the living beings became extinct, their power would also be affected. Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for them to stand idly by.
Now, this Heavengod of the present age had finally appeared. However, he turned up too late!
“I have long since become a Soul Overlord! Even if he is a Heavengod, I can still fight against him! And if I’m really no match for him, I can still run away from him!”
Suddenly, he felt something flicker in his eyes, and then he saw the figure that the black dog had transformed into appear in front of him, throwing a punch toward him.
At that moment, the punch seemed to have become the center of the world as everything was attracted. This was the might of Heavengods. Every move they made was capable of causing the world to change.
Rumble!
Soul Thirteen did not flinch. Instead, he raised a fist, his insect scales crackling, and threw it at Lord Dog’s punch. A loud explosion echoed out as they collided in midair!
Then, the two of them turned into two streams of light—one silver and the other white. They fought from the ground to the sky, broke through the clouds, and rushed into the starry sky!
The fight between them was terrifying. Every little wave of energy leaked from their exchange always caused a star to explode!
Down below, the humans were cheering. A Heavengod finally showed up… Humans were saved!
Nethery’s gaze, on the other hand, was frozen. ‘Lord Dog is a Heavengod? When did he become a Heavengod?!’
The Xiayi Divine Emperor, too, was stunned. It turned out that the Heavengod of the present age he was expecting had been by his side all along, but he had not noticed it!
While the humans were cheering, Nethery and the others were shocked by Lord Dog’s identity.
Er Ha was dumbfounded and kept on mumbling to himself, “That mangy dog is a Heavengod, and not only that, he is a Heavengod of the present age who masters the Law of Time… Is he the Heavengod of Time?
“But if he’s a Heavengod, how could he have ended up in that shabby corner of the Netherworld? And why was his strength so weak?
“Could it be that… he is the reincarnation of the Heavengod? But that doesn’t seem right. Why would a Heavengod want to be reincarnated as a dog?”
Er Ha looked confused. It was as terrifying as if one of his classmates suddenly became the richest person in the country…
Meanwhile, the battle in the starry sky turned white-hot almost instantly. Soul Thirteen and the figure that Lord Dog had turned into were locked in a fierce fight.
Soul Thirteen was very excited because he found that the Heavengod was incomplete. In other words, the figure’s strength was not perfect—it would not last long!
Although he did not know what caused this, he knew it was his chance! If he could swallow a human Heavengod, then his cultivation base would be completely stable, and he would even be able to break through to a higher level!
Greed, desire, excitement… All kinds of emotions erupted within him, making him want to immediately cut the Heavengod in front of him into pieces, and then devour it piece by piece. The delicious taste, the tasty aroma…
“Hmm?” Suddenly, Soul Thirteen paused. He noticed that he seemed to smell some kind of food. It was a real aroma, not something he had imagined. “What’s that smell…”
He looked down sharply and saw that the chef, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, had finished cooking, and the strong fragrance was coming from there.
Soul Thirteen could not help but swallow.
Bam!
Just in the moment he wavered, Lord Dog approached. The power of the Law of Time turned into a reverse-flowing river of time and crashed down on him. It was an extremely terrifying blow!
Soul Thirteen let out a miserable howl. He felt as if all his insect scales were about to crack. The next moment, he was smashed into a huge star with a deafening crash. The tremendous impact caused the star to fall apart instantly.
On the crumbling star, Soul Thirteen stepped on the surface of a broken boulder and stared icily at Lord Dog. Suddenly, his forehead split open into a vertical eye.
“This is the Sinful Eye of a Soul Overlord, the source of our Seven Sins… Now, I will grant you death with its power!” Soul Thirteen growled.
The next moment, the countless debris around him completely turned into powder as black and red energy began to converge in front of his third eye. It was the Power of Sin that represented the Soul Overlord realm, the gluttony power that belonged to him.
Rumble…
The convergence of this energy seemed to make the entire Chaotic Universe restless…
Lord Dog looked up into the depths of the universe and sighed. Then, his aura began to weaken. He shook his head helplessly.
He had planned to kill Soul Thirteen within the short time his Heavengod’s strength was returned to him, but he had not expected that his strength had weakened to such a serious extent.
‘It seems that… I’m unable to kill this fellow now, and it is even likely that I will be… killed by him. Well, this does not feel good at all…’
Soul Thirteen noticed that as well, so he laughed wildly with excitement. In his mind’s eye, he had a picture of the Heavengod being devoured by him. His mouth watered at the thought of the delicious taste…
Suddenly, the third eye on his forehead burst into dazzling light. “You can go to hell now!”
Vaguely, there seemed to be a woman shrouded in darkness letting out a shrill scream. With a buzzing sound, the black and red Power of Sin turned into a straight energy beam and shot toward Lord Dog! In just a flash, it sped across the starry sky, passing through stars and causing them to burst into pieces!
Lord Dog stared expressionlessly at the energy beam and sighed. “This is bad,” he muttered helplessly.
Suddenly, just as the beam was closing in on Lord Dog, the void not far in front of him tore apart. Then, a figure slowly stepped out of it with a blue-and-white porcelain bowl in one hand, his hair waving in the wind.
