Of course, that didn’t count Spirit Possession. Bu Fang had no specific estimate of how strong he would be after using it, but he thought he should be able to reach the level of Little Saint. However, even he was a little uncertain about this. After all, none of the Artifact Spirits in his spirit sea looked very reliable.
This Crazy Sword Pot actually had one shortcoming, and that was it consumed too much of his mental force. Bu Fang could feel that it had endless demand for his mental force, like a bottomless pit. He didn’t know if he had enough mental power to use it. In fact, the mental force required to use a Crazy Sword Pot was almost equal to that of several Perishing Pots. It was also because of this reason that he didn’t choose to experiment with its power.
He didn’t feel he had enough mental force to use this Sword Pot now, not to mention that he didn’t know where to test its power. Therefore, he decided to put it away for the time being, until he was strong enough.
Still, Bu Fang was excited about the addition of one more offensive means.
Far off, his apprentices were already struck dumb. Naturally, they now knew the Death Food Tools he had. Whether it was Explosive Meatballs or Perishing Pots, those were terrible attacks that they never imagined before. They didn’t expect that he would develop another new Death Food Tool today.
With Death Food Tools, even chefs could demonstrate great fighting capacity.
Bu Fang asked his apprentices to continue their discussion. Once in a while, he would give them some advice and teach them some new knowledge. Although he had taken them as apprentices, he always believed in the principle of ‘the master teaches the trade, but apprentices’ skills are self-made.’ He didn’t take the initiative to teach them anything, because only they knew what was best for them. Of course, if the apprentices had questions, they could come to ask him, and he would always answer them.
After glancing at the apprentices, who were having a heated debate, Bu Fang turned and left the farmland and returned to the restaurant.
He went back to his room, took a hot bath, and then came out of the steam-filled bathroom, clad in a bathrobe. He was content with this leisurely life.
He leaned against the window, looking out as a breeze came blowing at his face. With a thought, he took out a blue-and-white porcelain cup and poured himself a drink.
When his hair was dry, Bu Fang climbed into bed and slept quietly.
It was quiet throughout the night.
The next day, warm sunlight came slanting through the window and fell on his face. It was as if little hands were caressing his face, and it made him feel at ease.
He sat up in bed, tied his loose black hair with a velvet rope, and stepped into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.
As he came out of his room, he caught sight of Nethery opening her door. Her gray-green hair fell over her delicate face.
She looked up at him.
After more than half a year of recuperation, Nethery’s face had grown rosy, but her gray-green hair couldn’t go back to its previous color. After all, the outbreak of the cursed snake still had an impact on her body.
They went downstairs. Bu Fang went into the kitchen, while Nethery walked to the front of the restaurant.
In the kitchen, Xixi was already practicing cooking in high spirits. When she saw Bu Fang come in, she smiled cheerfully at him and said good morning.
Bu Fang nodded, grabbed a kitchen knife, and began to practice his knife techniques.
A busy day began again.
As for Xixi, it was just another busy day for her as well.
…
At the door of the restaurant, Bu Fang lay back in a chair with his head raised. The warmth of the sun shone on his body and made him exude an air of laziness.
Realm Lord Di Tai came at full speed from a distance. At this hour, there were not many diners in the restaurant. After he greeted Bu Fang, he stepped into the restaurant, ordered his food, and then went outside again to speak solemnly to Bu Fang.
What he told him was about the Netherworld’s Tournament of the Great Path.
“A few days ago, the nine clans of Nether Prison sent their men here. I’ve confirmed a few things with them,” Realm Lord Di Tai told Bu Fang as he grabbed a blood lobster, expertly peeled off its head, sucked the liquid out of the head, and grabbed the body with one hand.
Bu Fang sat in his chair and looked at the realm lord without expression.
Realm Lord Di Tai crushed the lobster shell with his teeth, then concentrated on peeling it.
“Ugh, what do I want to tell you now?” said the realm lord. In his hand, the glittering flesh of the lobster jumped out of its shell and was put into his mouth. The soft, smooth texture put an excited look on his face.
“This is the taste! That little girl Xixi is getting on with her skills! Now she can cook something up to your standard!” Realm Lord Di Tai grinned.
Bu Fang twitched the corner of his mouth and said, “Get to the point.”
Realm Lord Di Tai licked his finger stained with red and spicy juice and sucked it for a moment before he looked up at Bu Fang.
“It has been confirmed that the nine clans will take part. However, although Nether Prison has opened up the Tournament of the Great Path, the nine clans still cherish their skins. Therefore, they won’t show up in the preliminaries and semifinals, but only in the finals. Of course, you can meet them in the team competition.”
Bu Fang was puzzled.
“Also, Nether Prison has discussed with all parties. The first three preliminary rounds will be held in Earth Prison, so we will have to decide who will take part in the tournament in the next few days, then set off for Earth Prison.”
After he had finished speaking, Realm Lord Di Tai pulled out another blood lobster and peeled it expertly. With a crack, spicy red juice trickled down from the shell, and he quickly licked it with his tongue.
“Will the Nether Puppeteer Clan participate in the tournament?” Bu Fang asked the question he was most concerned about.
“Of course. However, you may only meet them if you enter the finals in individual competitions or the top ten in the team competitions. Well, my advice for you is to not provoke the Nether Puppeteer Clan. Of the nine clans in Nether Prison, apart from the most powerful Di Ting Clan, the Nether Puppeteer Clan is the most unfathomable. You’d better not mess with them,” Realm Lord Di Tai said.
Bu Fang twitched his lips. He had no intention of messing with them. He just wanted to borrow the heart of a Three-revolution Sacred Nether Puppet from them.
“I’ll participate in the tournament. Inform me of the exact departure time when you have it.”
“No problem. By the way, Owner Bu, your cultivation base has now reached the level of half-step Saint, but your cooking level is still at that of the Third Grade Immortal Chef, which is somewhat inappropriate. Why don’t you try to break through the Qilin Chef realm?”
After swallowing a lobster, Realm Lord Di Tai grabbed a glass of wine Xixi had brought him with his greasy hand and drank it. When he had finished, he grinned with satisfaction.
Bu Fang frowned. ‘Breaking through the Qilin Chef realm?’ He twitched the corner of his mouth and thought, ‘That’s not the most important thing…’
He hadn’t taken the System’s Little Saint realm assessment yet. Once he passed, his standard would be basically the same as that of a Qilin Chef. Of course, his cooking level now was comparable to the average low-level Qilin Chef. But none of this mattered. Whenever Bu Fang broke through a realm, it was always related to the System’s assessment, and that was the most important. And so, he turned down the realm lord’s offer.
“Well, I won’t force you. I’m going to find other participants now, and then you can form a team to represent the Immortal Cooking Realm. Although the realm has recovered, we have only developed for a very short time, so there are still too few top experts. We’d still struggle if we were to face Earth Prison, Nether Prison, and even the Abyss,” Realm Lord Di Tai said, sighing. He felt a little sad. After removing the shell of the last blood lobster and putting it in his mouth, he paid the immortal crystals and swaggered away.
Bu Fang couldn’t help but twitch his lips as he watched the realm lord leave. This guy didn’t look sad at all.
As soon as Realm Lord Di Tai was gone, Bu Fang leaned back in his chair again and closed his eyes for a nap.
As the day began, the line outside the restaurant grew longer.
Bu Fang was bathed in the warm sunshine, while Lord Dog was lying not far away from him, basking in the sunshine as well.
…
The next day, Bu Fang got out of bed, dressed in his striped red-and-white Vermilion Chef Robe, and walked out of the restaurant toward the Immortal Kitchen Pavilion.
The pavilion was noisy with people coming and going. There were dark clouds and thunderstorms constantly gathering over it, caused by the assessments of immortal chefs inside.
The revival of the Immortal Tree had raised the immortal energy level of the whole Immortal Cooking Realm to a new height, so there were more and more geniuses. These people were the hopes of the realm.
Bu Fang came to the pavilion’s council hall. The city lords were already sitting in their seats with serious looks, while Realm Lord Di Tai was sitting on the throne, toying with his fingers.
All eyes turned to him when he came in.
“Oh, Owner Bu, there you are at last! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!” City Lord Zou’s eyes lit up, and he held up his fingers like a woman when he saw Bu Fang.
Meng Qi covered her mouth with a hand and smiled, while Gongshu Baiguang cleared his throat.
Bu Fang gave City Lord Zou an expressionless look, then took a seat.
“It’s great that Owner Bu didn’t turn down the Netherworld’s Tournament of the Great Path,” said Realm Lord Di Tai. As soon as he saw Bu Fang sit down, he started talking.
“The tournament is divided into individual and team competitions. We are facing opponents from the Netherworld, the Abyss, and dozens of other small worlds and continents at the same level of fighting capacity. The rewards are great and tempting, but most importantly, it’s a good experience. This kind of fighting and competition is necessary if the Immortal Cooking Realm wants its juniors to stop being flowers in the greenhouse. We have to let them compete with the real experts and geniuses out there!”
Bu Fang glanced at Realm Lord Di Tai and said, “Say what people can understand.”
Realm Lord Di Tai smiled. “What I mean is I hope Owner Bu can take these juniors out to see the world. The other participants are selected by the city lords and me after discussing and voting.”
Bu Fang frowned. “You don’t plan to send city-lord-level experts? The average juniors of the Immortal Cooking Realm are no match for the geniuses of Nether Prison, Earth Prison, and the Abyss.”
“The city lords are all very busy. The Immortal Cooking Realm is now in the stage of taking off, and there are too many things to deal with, so naturally, they cannot participate in the tournament,” Realm Lord Di Tai said with a wry smile. He did understand what Bu Fang said.
“And don’t you worry. There is not much for you to do in this tournament, and you don’t have to be the leader. I just need you to take care of the little ones when it’s time. The main purpose is to show them the world.
“The participants are three juniors selected from the geniuses of the top families in the whole realm and a newly rising genius immortal chef from the first layer, who went from a First Grade Immortal Chef to a Second Grade Immortal Chef in just six months. He’s not from an aristocratic family, but…” Realm Lord Di Tai wanted to continue, but he was interrupted by an impatient Bu Fang.
Bu Fang felt that after the realm lord came back from the Abyss, his other skills did not improve. However, his ability to nag became much better.
“Well, I won’t say too much. I’ll just let the few lads meet Owner Bu.” Realm Lord Di Tai grinned, raised his hands, and clapped.
With a sound of footsteps, a few figures slowly appeared outside the door.
A hearty but extremely proud voice rang out, “So, he’s the Great Demon King who shook the entire Immortal Cooking Realm? I’ve wanted to see him for a long time!”
