Translator: CatatoPatch Editor: Vermillion
The system’s serious voice resounded, leaving Bu Fang in a daze.
He stopped walking and furrowed his brows.
“Temporary mission: within one month, find two apprentices. Mission reward: a fragment of the God of Cooking Set.”
The system had given him another mission. It had been a while since he completed the last mission so Bu Fang was startled when he was assigned another one on this day.
Find apprentices?
Bu Fang rubbed his smooth chin, and the corners of his lips curled upward. He recalled that the system had given him a similar mission when he was still at the Imperial Capital of the Light Wind Empire. The reappearance of this mission meant the business at Cloud Mist Restaurant had been on the right track, and it was now time for him to leave.
He understood clearly that if he sought to improve his competence, only practicing would not help him much. He needed more revenue. He needed a large number of crystals to increase his power.
Only Fang Fang’s Little Store in the Light Wind Empire was not enough, by itself, to help him grow stronger. Although he now had Cloud Mist Restaurant in Heavenly Mist City to supplement Fang Fang’s, Bu Fang could still feel that his cultivation was advancing too slowly.
After all, higher competence required a higher turnover. Naturally, Bu Fang could also continue to complete the system’s missions in order to collect vitality and convert the reward so as to reduce the required overturn.
This could help him increase his cultivation base pretty fast.
No matter what, if Bu Fang wished to improve his cultivation fast, the revenue he earned would play a big role. Because of this, he understood clearly that he would definitely need to have more branches in the future.
With many branches in operation, his cultivation base would increase at a steady but fast pace.
After acknowledging the system’s mission, Bu Fang went to the kitchen. As he walked over to his stove, green smoke curled around his hand, and the Golden Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife appeared in it. With the glinting knife, Bu Fang began to process his ingredients.
However, he first took some time to practice his knife techniques. Practicing the Overlord Thirteen Blades daily was of vital importance. The layers of blades it produced created a very formidable attack.
Previously, when Bu Fang used the Gourmet Array and the Overlord Thirteen Blades, he was able to resist a Divine Soul Realm expert, even though he himself had only broken the first shackle of the Divine Physique Echelon Realm.
Divine Soul Realm experts and the Divine Physique Echelon Realm experts had different qualities.
A flip of the hand was all it would take for a true Divine Soul Realm expert to subdue a Divine Physique Echelon expert.
Furthermore, Divine Soul Realm experts cultivated the soul ladder. In each step of the ladder they could achieve, they would gain a whole new world!
Clatter!
Bu Fang’s arm only seemed to move slightly, but all the ingredients below his knife were cleanly chopped into small pieces.
His knife moved, and the minced ingredients soared into the air, falling directly into the Black Turtle Constellation Wok, which he had taken out earlier.
Oil splashed out from the pot, and soon, the smell of cooking oil filled the air.
The true energy in Bu Fang’s body surged and entered the Black Turtle Constellation Wok, after which he began to rapidly stir-fry the contents within.
Swoosh!
Blazing hot flames occasionally surged to the ceiling with so much force that one would think that it was about to push the roof off the restaurant.
He tipped the wok, pouring the food into a blue-and-white porcelain bowl. A cloud of steam and a pleasant aroma filled the air.
Bu Fang quick-boiled the pot. After that, he poured a fragrant cooking wine into the food, and a fragrant aroma instantly filled the kitchen. The bowl of Sweet ‘n’ Sour Ribs was finally completed.
He used ingredients of better quality than usual to prepare this bowl of Sweet ‘n’ Sour Rib. This made the spiritual energy in the dish reach an incomparable level. After making the dish, Bu Fang did not leave the kitchen.
Instead, he began to cook another dish.
After stirring the well-marinated Dragon Blood Rice, he began to fry it in the Black Turtle Constellation Wok. This caused the red-colored Dragon Blood Rice to rise like tidal waves.
Steam gushed out of the wok, and the aroma emanating from the food filled the kitchen.
Eventually, the food was poured into another blue-and-white porcelain tray, filling it completely. After that, Bu Fang put some more into another small bowl for Eighty.
When Bu Fang brought the dishes out of the kitchen, he saw Yang Meiji sitting in the restaurant.
The restaurant was closed at that moment, though.
After cooking, Bu Fang decided to rest. Many things had happened that day. Heavenly Mist City needed time to calm down. The interior of the restaurant was filled with a variety of rich aroma.
Yang Meiji could not help squinting and gulping a mouthful of saliva.
“It smells so good,” Yang Meiji’s murmured as she gazed at the dishes in Bu Fang’s hands with starry eyes. She knew that Bu Fang’s food had always smelled delicious. However, while in the restaurant, she had always exercised restraint by reminding herself that she was doing the alchemic stuff… She was always practicing her alchemy skills…
She hated herself for being too weak. Her grasp of refinement was too low, so she couldn’t help Heavenly Mist City. And when the enemy finally arrived, she was bursting with spirit, but she was powerless to do anything.
Now that the enemy had gone, Yang Meiji could only feel relieved.
When she smelled the fragrant aroma, she felt somewhat hungry.
“Blacky, here’s your Sweet ‘n’ Sour Ribs, and Nethery, here’s your Dragon Blood Rice,” Bu Fang said, serving the dishes to the Netherworld woman and the plump dog; both were already seated at a table.
Eighty stomped its feet hard and clucked vigorously.
Bu Fang gently served the small bowl of Dragon Blood Rice to the little fella.
Eighty wasted no time in pecking at its meal.
Yang Meij, who was sitting far from the group, watched an expression of excitement grace Nethery’s beautiful face when her dish was served. In the next few seconds, however, she grabbed the rice in the bowl with her hands and shoved it into her mouth. Her dining etiquette completely contrasted her exquisite appearance.
In summary, her table manners… were simply too horrible!
Yang Meiji was startled. Her gaze soon switched to Lord Dog. This was an ultimately terrifying dog.
When she saw the dog’s paw slap the Shura Sovereign’s head off, she finally knew that this plump dog was actually very formidable!
And, right now she was watching that formidable dog eat.
At this moment, however, it was not emanating the overbearing aura it had when it blew Shura Sovereign’s head up! It was obvious that the dog was lazy! That lazy dog, who had its long tongue hanging out, seemed to be whispering to the porcelain bowl.
After that, its tongue wrapped around the fragrant Sweet ‘n’ Sour Rib and pulled it into its mouth, after which it chewed and swallowed.
Between each mouthful, the dog would grin with satisfaction, revealing the bits of shredded meat stuck in the gaps between its teeth.
Yang Meji’s jaw dropped when she saw that. For the first time ever, she felt that her view of the world had changed.
Is that the manner in which legendary experts acts?
Lord Dog, who was happily wolfing down its Sweet ‘n’ Sour Rib, seemed to sense Yang Meiji’s blank stare, and its body stiffened momentarily. Then, it squinted its eyes and directed a sharp gaze at Yang Meiji.
After a few moments, it snorted, rolled its eyes, bared its fangs, and pulled the bowl of Sweet ‘n’ Sour Ribs closer to its chest, with an expression of extreme caution on its face.
Yang Meiji’s mouth twitched.
Is this plump dog trying to protect its food?
Nethery, on the other hand, continued to scarf her food down with her bare hands. Before she began chewing, she made sure to stuff her mouth so much that her pretty cheeks were puffed; however, her gaze never shifted from the bowl of Dragon Blood Rice.
As Yang Meiji watched the group eat, she could not help but want to eat as well.
Hence, her heart began to race.
Bu Fang exhaled gently. He pulled out a chair and leaned in it, relaxing his entire body.
This time, he had taken action, which left him really tired. Furthermore, he had almost used up all the true energy in his body. He cocked his head and expressionlessly looked at the far area of the room. He was wondering who he would make his apprentices.
After he got apprentices, he had to train them until they were able to run the restaurant on their own. However, one month wasn’t a long period.
“Who should I look for? That hilariously-stupid Nangong Wuque? Nah, that does not feel right. He is the head of a family, and he doesn’t have much free time to practice cooking skills.” Bu Fang murmured.
Searching for apprentices—two, to be exact—was now causing him a headache. In hindsight, searching for someone there to become his apprentice was a difficult matter.
Furthermore, even if he found someone, the person might not meet the system’s requirements and become his apprentice if they did not have the required cooking talent. Hence, it was not an easy mission to accomplish.
Nethery grabbed her porcelain bowl and licked its interior until it was sparkling clean.
Bu Fang turned and stared at Nethery, who blinked her pretty eyes as she slowly lowered the bowl.
“I will never lick the bowl again,” Nethery seriously said.
Bu Fang’s gaze made it seem as if she intended to make a move for her Dragon Blood Rice, and this made her anxious. However, Bu Fang had no intention of cutting down the amount of rice he gave Nethery. An idea had popped into his head when his gaze shifted to her. This woman was a Netherworld woman, and she liked to eat. What if he made her his apprentice? Would it be possible?
Looking at Nethery, Bu Fang’s eyes glowed brighter. He figured his idea was not a bad one. Perhaps, Nethery could become a good chef. It was said that a foodie had the potential to become an excellent chef, wasn’t it?
Nethery was a complete foodie, who ate a lot of rice. She could surprise him, perhaps!
After that, Bu Fang’s gaze shifted to Lord Dog. When he caught sight of the layers of fat on its body, Bu Fang no longer desired to look at it. Forget about it. That one was just a gluttonous lazy dog. Eat and sleep, sleep and eat… Only this lazy dog could pull it off so well.
Nevertheless, Bu Fang still thought that it would be possible to make Nethery his apprentice.
His eyes were still sparkling when he stood up from his chair. He tossed his Vermillion Robe aside and sauntered toward Nethery.
He pulled out a chair and sat down beside her, and the corners of his lips curled upward into an evil smile.
“Hey, Nethery…”
When Yang Meiji saw this from a distance, she arched her brows. Why did Owner Bu have such a despicable smile? What did he want Sis Nethery to do?
Although Yang Meiji was confused, she knew she had to do something.
Nethery was really pretty. Did Owner Bu really want to do evil things to her?
Yang Meiji quickly stood up and hurried over to Bu Fang, all the while giving off a terrifying amount of pressure.
“Owner Bu! Let go of Sis Nethery!” Yang Meiji demanded loudly.
At that moment, her heart was brimming with justice!
