Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A small boat glided across the South Sea. It was controlled by an old man with a hat and a straw coat, holding a long bamboo pole in his hand.
Every time the old man thrust the bamboo pole into the water, the little boat would move forward like a rocket. Water splashed continuously on its sides as if it were a speedboat.
A rumbling sound filled the air as the water behind the boat churned, while the small vessel itself left a straight light on the surface of the water and moved forward at a great speed.
Suddenly, huge waves appeared not far in front of the boat. The tumbling waves seemed to turn into a great wall to stop the old man from going any further.
When the boat came in front of it, the old man simply raised the bamboo pole and swung it at the waves that were tens of meters high. Shockingly, he cut through them as if they were tofu—the cut side was perfectly smooth.
However, as if he had done something insignificant, the old man went on his way. After a while, the outline of the Jewel slowly appeared before him.
…
Bu Fang raised his head and looked suspiciously at the handsome man hovering in the pool of blood, then at the carriage pulled by the one-horn horse. His expression remained unchanged.
In fact, besides these two men, he also sensed many auras peering around. This made his brows furrow slightly.
“Didn’t Hua say it wouldn’t participate in this operation? Why is there a Hua guy here?” The handsome man played with his fingers and glanced at Bu Fang. There seemed to be blood flowing in his eyes.
“Hehe… Count Dracula, it’s been a long time. How have you been doing lately?”
With a creak, the door of the medieval-style carriage was pushed open, and then a red-faced old man with white hair and white beard stepped out. Clad in a large green robe and holding a withered branch in his hand, he smiled at the handsome man.
“Oh, I didn’t expect to see the Great Wizard here…” the handsome man said with a smile on his face. His every twinkle and smile exuded the ultimate charm.
“What can I do? How can I not come to such an important place as the spiritual energy sealing point? If I don’t come, my old bones wouldn’t last much longer,” the old man said.
Dracula curled his lips. “I heard you say the same thing a century ago… You liar!”
Bu Fang looked at the two men talking in midair. Their spiritual energy was strong, even stronger than Yamata no Orochi who he had killed. It looked like they were superhumans on Earth, and they were from the West.
Yu Ge had told him that the top cultivators of Earth had found four spiritual energy sealing points, and they were going to use these four sealing points to bring the spiritual energy back to Earth. Bu Fang felt that these two men should be part of that group of top cultivators.
‘Later, if I have free time, I can ask these two men where the other three spiritual energy sealing points are,’ Bu Fang thought to himself.
The first thing he needed to do, of course, was to wake up the Vermilion Bird. ‘According to those images, there should be an egg behind the bronze door, and Vermilion Bird is sleeping inside. Wait… In the images, Vermilion Bird transformed into a woman… Had she taken human form in real life as well?’
Bu Fang was suddenly a little curious about the appearance of the Artifact Spirits after they had taken human form.
In midair, Count Dracula glanced at Bu Fang and burst into an evil laugh. “My lord, will you join me in getting rid of this Hua guy? Hua is not involved in this operation. In that case, let us, the Western powers, occupy this spiritual energy sealing point!”
Dracula’s proposal was attractive. At the very least, the group of vampires behind him was already somewhat impatient to kill Bu Fang.
“Oh, you’d better do it yourself. I am too old for such a fierce fight.” The Great Wizard laughed.
Dracula curled his lips and dismissed the idea for the moment. He felt a sense of threat from Bu Fang. It was a vampire’s instinct. Whenever he met a powerful being, he always unconsciously felt threatened.
He knew that this Hua man was an unusual one. But he would not fight him alone. He was not a fool.
“Dracula?” Bu Fang suddenly raised his head and gave the handsome man a quizzical look. He heard the conversation between the vampire and the sorcerer.
“Yes?” The vampire gave Bu Fang an indifferent glance.
“Do you have a brother named Nicholas?” The corner of Bu Fang’s mouth twitched a little. He could not help but think of Nicholas the Handsome Dragon upon hearing the vampire’s name.
‘Is this guy nuts?” Dracula rolled his eyes.
Without waiting for the vampire’s answer, Bu Fang put his hand on the bronze door and pushed it open. With Foxy and Shrimpy, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
Count Dracula and the Great Wizard looked at each other. They hurriedly landed in front of the bronze door, pushed it open, and stepped inside with their men as well.
After closing the door, they found themselves in a chaotic space. Dracula’s eyes narrowed slightly as he raised one hand and waved it at the men standing behind him. Several vampires immediately escorted a few chefs to him.
“Cook with your best skills. I will reward you with eternal life if your dishes can open the array.” Dracula’s lips curled into a gentle smile.
The chefs shuddered in horror at once. If they were given eternal lives by a vampire, would that not mean they’ll become vampires as well? Could they choose to refuse?
The place they were in now was the inner part of the array, and it was also the most crucial part. Experts from all over the world had studied it for a long time, and finally, they concluded that to enter the array’s core, they needed to cook a delicacy that could trigger it.
Bu Fang stood quietly to one side.
“That Hua guy didn’t come with a chef. I think he is planning to wait for us to open the array before following us into the core… My lord, are you really not considering joining hands with me to kill this fellow?” Dracula said in a seductive tone as he looked at Bu Fang, who was pondering on the side.
“Haha… The people of Hua are not to be trifled with. I’ll stay out of it.” The Great Wizard’s stance was firm.
Dracula could only shake his head helplessly. Then, he glared at those chefs, signaling that they could start cooking.
The five chefs stood trembling in front of the array. Only now did they realize that the so-called World God of Cookery Tournament was nothing but a scam! It was a trap that would get them killed!
Not only did they not get the promised one hundred million dollar prize money and the mysterious gift, but they were even abducted and brought to this strange place. Worst of all, they now had to cook for something they could not see, and if their dishes were not delicious, they would be turned into vampires!
‘Why are there so many challenges to being a chef these days?!’
The chefs wailed in their hearts, but they dared not to slow their movements. Hurriedly, they used their best cooking skills to cook delicious dishes. After all, if they wanted to survive, they had to make the best dishes.
Dracula was pleased with his ability to intimidate. He just loved to see these people cower before him. Suddenly, he saw the Hua guy take out a huge piece of meat. ‘Ugh? What kind of meat is that? Why does it contain such strong spiritual energy?’
Bu Fang ignored Dracula and the Great Wizard. From the System’s storage space, he took out many cooking utensils. These were all ordinary cooking utensils, and he was going to use them to cook.
He put the snake meat on the stove and grabbed a blue kitchen knife. Although the knife was good, he felt uncomfortable using it. He still found the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife the most comfortable to use.
Covering his hands with a layer of spiritual energy, he began to process the snake meat. First, he removed the skin and bones, cut it into shreds, and then washed it clean. Next, he put a black wok on the stove, lit the fire, and heated the pot. When the oil was hot enough, he put the cleaned snake meat into the wok and stir-fried it.
Grabbing the wok with one hand, Bu Fang tossed it with a very skillful movement. Each time the wok collided with the stove, it made a loud, almost deafening noise as if it was going to crack.
In the distance, Dracula and the Great Wizard watched with a dumbfounded expression.
“This Hua guy actually chose to cook by himself?”
“Is he a chef? This is kind of interesting…”
“Oh? It smells quite good… What kind of meat do you think he’s stir-frying?”
The two top superhumans were amazed.
Bu Fang stir-fried for a while, then poured in soup and began to boil the meat. When the meat gave forth a nice aroma, he sprinkled some seasonings, took out a purple bamboo steamer, put the snake meat and the soup in it, and let them steam in it for a while.
As the temperature rose, the surface of the bamboo steamer glowed dazzlingly, looking quite magical.
Both Dracula and the Great Wizard were very curious. They wanted to know what kind of dishes Bu Fang was cooking. Of course, they would never have guessed his main ingredient, and he would not tell them either.
Bu Fang did not expect the Artifact Spirits to be so pompous that he had to cook a dish to wake each of them up. Fortunately, he had just killed Yamata no Orochi and got himself a piece of good quality meat.
He removed the steamed snake broth from the steamer and took out the shredded snake meat. By this time, there was already thick soup boiling in the black wok, simmering with shredded chicken slices dipped in egg white and starch as well as some side ingredients he had taken out from the System’s storage space.
The thick soup was bubbling. It was slightly sticky because of the starch added. Bu Fang put the shredded snake meat into it, sprinkled in some seasoning, and let everything continue to simmer for a few minutes. Finally, he put out the fire and ladled out the thick soup, filling a blue-and-white porcelain bowl.
Shredded snake meat, shredded chicken, and some other ingredients made up the bowl of snake soup. The surface of the thick broth gleamed brightly, and a strong aroma that made one’s mouth water kept wafting out of it.
Bu Fang took a deep breath, and a slightly intoxicated look came over his face. He had never made snake soup before. However, since Yamata no Orochi was a mythical monster, the quality of the meat should be very good.
As the aroma of Bu Fang’s dish spread, Dracula and the Great Wizard looked at each other. They both saw the astonishment in each other’s eyes.
Although they did not want to believe it, the Hua Qi cultivator had actually made a delicious dish! Just by smelling the aroma that filled the air, they knew that this dish was extraordinary.
Bu Fang did not pay any attention to them. Instead, he rubbed his hands and picked up the bowl of snake soup.
“What? Didn’t he plan to let the array spirit taste the dish first?” Once again, the two top superhumans were baffled. “Isn’t he cooking the dish to open the array? Why is he tasting it first?”
They were somewhat speechless. However, the fragrance in the air was just too good. It was the aroma of meat, and a different kind of meat at that. It seemed to penetrate deep into their stomachs, tantalizing their innermost appetites. That feeling made it a little difficult for them to control their bodies.
Bu Fang held the bowl and scooped up come snake soup with a blue-and-white porcelain spoon. The broth looked slightly thicker. He blew on it, then sucked the soup into his mouth.
Slurp…
The tender and fragrant shredded snake meat immediately entered his mouth and slid into his stomach. Bu Fang’s brows jerked up. ‘Oh… This tastes pretty good…’ he thought to himself.
Glancing at the array spinning in front of him, Bu Fang seemed to be able to see a huge egg floating behind it. The egg appeared as if it was eager to taste the snake soup in his hand. But he simply ignored it and continued to eat the thick soul happily.
The five chefs in the distance were also attracted by the fragrance. Sniffing the aroma that filled the air, they felt a sense of failure. Based on the smell alone, they knew they had lost—they felt that their dishes had become tasteless.
Dracula and the Great Wizard had a bad feeling. They looked at each other and then moved closer to Bu Fang.
“It smells really good!” The closer they got, the more their appetites were aroused. The white beard of the wizard trembled as he asked, “Mysterious Qi cultivator from the East, can you tell me what kind of meat you’ve cooked?” He had a smile on his face, and his tone was polite.
Bu Fang took another sip of the snake soup. The meat melted in his mouth and made him feel very satisfied.
“This is snake meat… Do you know Yamata no Orochi from Sakura Island? This is that fellow’s meat. The soup tastes good, but the quality of the snake meat is still quite poor. Otherwise, the snake soup would be even more delicious!” Bu Fang smacked his lips, and his tone sounded as if he had some regrets.
Yamata no Orochi? Dracula and the Great Wizard froze, their expressions suddenly becoming stiff.
‘What did this young man just say? What snake did he say? Yamata no Orochi? That’s a f*cking SS-class spirit beast!’
