Bu Fang did not pay much attention to the Heavengod Tribulation. His attention was focused on the long-lost voice of the System.
He could not remember how long it had been since he had heard the System’s voice. It was a little different from what he remembered. In the past, the System’s voice was serious and sounded almost robotic, but the voice ringing in his head now seemed a little more… spiritual.
‘System upgrade completed, updating database…’ the System said in a tone that sounded like it was chatting with Bu Fang.
Bu Fang’s brows furrowed. He stood where he was and kept stuffing Sweet ‘n’ Sour Ribs into his mouth. Each piece of ribs was extremely soft and tender.
His lost senses of taste, touch, and smell all came back. In a daze, he felt like he was having a dream, and it was a very realistic dream.
His mouth was filled with a salty taste mixed with a hint of sweet and sour. This was the flavor of Sweet ‘n’ Sour Ribs. The taste of the sauce combined with the taste of the meat had created a wonderful flavor.
It was hard to imagine that this was a dish cooked by a chef who had lost his senses of taste, smell, and touch. To put it more artfully, this was a dish cooked from the heart. It had nothing to do with his senses of taste, smell, touch, or even his mental force.
But, in a nutshell, it was a work of experience. Bu Fang used his countless years of experience to complete this dish. He had broken the shackles and his inner confusion, tearing open a bright path in the fog that veiled his future.
He really put his heart into cooking.
As Bu Fang stood there and immersed in the deliciousness of the food, the dead star under his feet was completely revived. It was as if it had been reborn. Flowers and green leaves covered all its mountains, while streams of water were nourishing the earth.
A star that had been dead for countless years was revived by Bu Fang’s dish. This was beyond the imagination of ordinary people!
In the sky, dark clouds were constantly gathering, emitting dull rumblings of thunder. The power of Law was churning in them. Bu Fang’s actions had drawn the attention of the Laws of the Universe. A Wheel of Law emerged in the starry sky, tearing the void apart.
Bu Fang had seen a Heavengod Tribulation before. Years ago, the Xiayi Divine Emperor had transcended one in the capital. Unfortunately, he encountered an ambush that time, which almost killed him.
In the end, Bu Fang drew the attention of the Heavengod for meddling in the tribulation, and the Heavengod gave him a slap that almost wiped him out.
Therefore, Bu Fang naturally would not forget the terror of a Heavengod Tribulation.
‘Database update completed… Detected that the Host is eligible for level up. Does the Host want to level up now?’ The System’s voice was still somewhat serious, but with a little bit of spirituality.
Bu Fang’s expression remained the same as he put his hands behind him and looked up into the boundless sky. After advancing to the next level, he should be a Heavengod. He, too, had some expectation for this profound realm.
‘System… Have you become a spirit?’ Bu Fang suddenly asked an unrelated question.
It took the System a while to reply, and when it finally did, it said, ‘How can a brilliant man like you, who wants to be the God of Cooking and stands at the peak of the starry sky, tease a little system like this?’ said the System in a slightly playful tone.
If the System were a human standing in front of Bu Fang, it would be rolling its eyes when it said that.
The corners of Bu Fang’s mouth twitched. Sure enough, the System had really become a spirit. Or was this the real System?
Bu Fang took a deep breath and replied, ‘I choose to level up now!’
With his answer, a rumbling sound erupted in his head. He felt as if his spirit sea was about to explode. Suddenly, his eyes went black.
His consciousness came to his spirit sea. Everything here was rather broken, just like the dead star when he found it.
‘Is this really my spirit sea?’ Bu Fang was in a bit of a trance. His once vast and boundless spirit sea had actually become completely dried up? What happened? He frowned.
‘Could it be that all the mental force in my spirit sea had been drained away by the System as energy for the upgrade?’ He thought this was very likely the answer.
Even as he was thinking, his spirit sea began to collapse. In just an instant, everything was completely gone. Then, there was a loud explosion. Dazzling fire swept out in all directions, followed by the roaring of different beasts.
The gray mist that had concealed the Artifact Spirits drifted slowly over and covered his spirit sea. Gradually, dots of light bloomed in his head and then transformed into stars. Before long, his spirit sea had become a boundless starry sky full of countless stars!
Roar!
The Golden Dragon wheeled in the starry sky, looking divine. The Vermilion Bird spread her wings as she emerged from the fire. The White Tiger walked out one step at a time, roaring. The Black Turtle carried a huge mountain on his back and slowly emerged. The Qilin soared into the sky, emanating a powerful aura.
The five Artifact Spirits sat in the five corners of the starry sky, filling the void with a majestic aura. Each of them had a pillar of light rising from their bodies, which represented a supreme Law of the Universe. They made Bu Fang’s spirit sea extremely stable.
Compared to the vast ocean in the past, this starry sky was countless times tougher!
In the starry sky, the stars began to converge and kept forming into strange patterns. Bu Fang’s pupils constricted. Looking at those patterns, he suddenly found them very familiar.
“Gourmet Arrays?” Bu Fang muttered.
Yes, the patterns formed by those stars were Gourmet Arrays.
Different Gourmet Arrays entrenched in Bu Fang’s spirit sea, stabilizing the light beams of supreme Laws and causing his aura to rise continuously. There was a Gourmet Array sitting around every supreme Law.
Bu Fang slowly opened his eyes. They bloomed with a brilliant light, which shocked Mu Hongzi and the others and seemed to brighten the entire starry sky. Suddenly, a surge of aura erupted from his body. At this moment, his spirit sea was completely revived.
‘Dear Host, you have a system panel to inspect. Would you like to inspect it now?’
The System’s playful voice rang out, causing goosebumps to rise all over Bu Fang’s body. He still found the previous System more interesting.
‘Show it to me,’ he said.
At his reply, a system panel appeared before his eyes. It was completely different from the previous system panel.
Host: Bu Fang
Cultivation level: Heavengod (still in the process of leveling up…)
Cooking skill level: Quasi-God of Cooking
Exclusive God of Cooking’s Menu: Not yet activated
…
When Bu Fang saw the panel, he froze for a moment. He found it a little familiar and a little strange at the same time. It was simpler than he had expected. The previous panel had a lot of information, including his knife techniques and cooking skills, but with the latest upgrade, everything was gone.
Also, what was the meaning of Quasi-God of Cooking on the column of cooking skill level? Bu Fang felt his heart beat faster. ‘The Quasi-God of Cooking… This must mean that I am only one step away from becoming the God of Cooking…’
‘Please wake up, Host. A God of Cooking may not be found in ten thousand Quasi-Gods of Cooking. Please know where you stand. This System doesn’t want to give the Host too much of a blow,” the System said.
Those words made the corner of Bu Fang’s mouth twitch. Sure enough, the serious System was more to his liking. The current System had not only become a spirit, but even learned to undermine the confidence of others.
However, according to the System, the Quasi-God of Cooking might just indicate that he was getting closer to the realm of the God of Cooking. In any case, he was now much clearer compared to his previous muddle-headed state.
Bu Fang felt as though there was a clear road before him, and all he had to do was to follow the thorny and muddy road to the peak, even though it was full of hardships and death.
‘System, what is the exclusive God of Cooking’s Menu? And why is it not activated?’ Bu Fang asked, puzzled.
‘This is the function of the System after the upgrade. It is the main way for the Host to increase your strength,’ the System replied. ‘Every time the Host cooks a dish that can be included in the God of Cooking’s Menu, the strength and realm of the Host can be upgraded.’
‘Hmm? Haven’t I already reached the Heavengod realm?’ Bu Fang frowned. If he could level up again, what realm would he enter? A Transcended Heavengod? Wouldn’t that be a God of Cooking?
“If the Host wishes to know more, please become a Heavengod first,” said the System.
The corners of Bu Fang’s mouth twitched again. How did the System become so naughty? A naughty System was not a good System!
He took a deep breath, and his eyes became clear. His consciousness left the system panel and returned to his body.
In the starry sky, many of his old friends were looking at him, including Tian Cang, Mu Hongzi, Summer, and Realm Lord Di Tai.
The Heavengod Tribulation was a catastrophic disaster, which could be seen from the Xiayi Divine Emperor’s miserable condition after transcending it. In the Chaotic Universe, the Heavengods did not allow new Heavengods to be born. Had it not been for Bu Fang’s interference, the Divine Emperor would probably have fallen long ago. Therefore, everyone was curious how he would deal with it.
Bu Fang prepared his mood on the planet for a while, then walked up toward the starry sky. The thunderclouds immediately flew over and engulfed him.
There were palaces standing above the thunderclouds, which were condensed by thunder, and they emanated an extremely terrifying aura.
Before he became a Heavengod, Bu Fang already had the strength to fight against a Saint of the Great Path. In fact, he had no concrete idea of his actual fighting prowess.
There must be different levels of Heavengods, just like the Soul Overlords and the Great Soul Overlords. He needed to explore the difference by himself.
Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled. The Heavengod Tribulation’s power covered almost a quarter of the Chaotic Universe.
Countless experts in the Titan Divine Dynasty, the Xiayi Divine Dynasty, and the Immortal Spirit Divine Dynasty sensed this terrifying fluctuation, and they all looked up at the starry sky at the same time.
In the Xiayi Divine Dynasty Palace, the Divine Emperor’s old face suddenly trembled. He sensed a familiar aura that made his body shiver slightly. “This is a Heavengod Tribulation… Who’s transcending it?!”
In that instant, the entire Chaotic Universe stirred.
On the thunderclouds, the palace surged and rumbled. Suddenly, the thunderclouds were torn apart. The lightning punishment had descended at last!
The lightning was purple-black. In the Primitive Universe, it had a general name called the Apocalyptic Thunder Tribulation! It was a tribulation that even a Chaotic Saint would not touch lightly. Compared to the Heavengod Tribulation that the Xiayi Divine Emperor transcended, this was countless times more powerful. This also showed the strength of Bu Fang.
The next moment, innumerable lightning soldiers rushed out from the thunderclouds, filled with monstrous killing intent. They were all armed with divine weapons and clad in lightning armor. Some of them were on chariots, while others rode lightning dragons.
In an instant, a crushing pressure came down on Bu Fang, making him feel like he was carrying the universe on his back.
Mu Hongzi and the others had already retreated into the distance. They dared not touch this tribulation lightly. If they were implicated, the lightning would instantly blast them into dust.
Except for Mu Hongzi, who was able to slightly withstand the power of this lightning punishment, everyone else present would instantly disintegrate as soon as they touched it, and even their souls would be wiped out.
At this moment, Bu Fang was facing a sea of lightning and thousands of lightning soldiers!
Suddenly, he began to laugh, and his eyes sparkled. He was clad in the Vermilion Robe, holding the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife in his left hand and the Qilin Transmigration Ladle in his right hand, with his feet on the White Tiger Heaven Stove and the Black Turtle Constellation Wok over his head. He looked very spirited.
So what if he was facing an Apocalyptic Thunder Tribulation? So what if the Heavengods were spying on him? So what if he was being pressured by the Laws? He would crush them all!
With this in mind, Bu Fang burst into laughter and rushed toward the sea of lightning and the countless lightning soldiers.
