CHAPTER 584: CHAPTER 583: THE PRACTICE OF ’QI

Start eating!

Taking a bite, aside from the rich aroma of baked wheat crust and its crispness, a large soft mass squeezed into the mouth.

My eyes widened slightly.

After chewing, there was a more intense grain flavor.

However, amidst the grain melody, an egg aroma solo could not be overlooked. Even as I chewed and savored more, this egg aroma was endlessly memorable, with a light meat juice flavor carrying a stimulating sourness for the taste buds.

Luo Ying’s pancake emphasized a multi-layered structure of ’flavors,’ appearing vibrant, yet Dojima Yin’s pancake did not fall behind in creating a diverse taste experience!

"I see..."

Adelaide stared blankly at the pizza-like pancake missing a corner.

The pancake looked like pizza on the outside, but the base was stuffed and filled with bright-colored rice grains.

Yes, they were rice grains!

Each grain, exposed in the limelight, looked like a miniature version of an egg yolk!

"Egg yolk rice, fantasy ingredients!"

Sta commented while chewing.

"Oh, egg yolk rice mixed with meat juice, cooked into Turkish Meat Gravy Rice, this kind of rice was used as stuffing inside the pancake. A trace of sour, salty milk taste unexpectedly, also a type of fantasy yogurt, what kind of livestock’s dairy product is it?" Sta was curious.

The flavor was indeed too rich. Unless one had a ’God Tongue,’ Sta found that even as a Lin Chef, it was hard to discern the true nature of each ingredient.

Abruptly, while Sta was chewing, his facial expression twitched, and he threw down the pancake in his hand.

"At first, it was impactful, but the more you eat..."

Andrea also put down Dojima Yin’s pancake, stammering a bit.

"Whew!"

Dojima Yin was momentarily stunned, asking with a rueful smile, "The more you eat, the weaker the taste, even making you feel fatigue and aversion?"

"I understand now!"

Waving his hand, not needing more judge commentary, Dojima Yin frankly admitted his defeat.

But this defeat was not lost to Luo Ying, but to the previous ’Xia’s Seven Kingdoms United Fried Noodles.’

Thus, Dojima Yin faced the camera with an inexplicable grievance.

"Haha, hahaha!"

Laughter filled the backstage.

Morioka was trembling with laughter on the sofa, winking at the slightly dazed Xia Yu, "You truly tricked President Dojima."

The Yuchuan Sisters were also in a daze.

On the screen, the voting phase of the second round of the finals proceeded in a strange atmosphere.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Please vote!"

The female host shouted, and as her voice fell, the five judges remained silent; no one acted.

Finally, the outcome was astonishing—

All five votes abstained.

The match between Luo Ying and Dojima Yin ended in a draw!

Tanaka Hikari looked at Xia Yu with a strange expression.

The Yuchuan Sisters, Yuchuan Meisha, and Yuchuan Ayaka, looked at him as if he were the Demon Lord of Mayhem.

Eriina was petrified.

The broadcast from the Chief Judge Kogawa Shinyiro conveyed a regretful tone:

"Apologies, both chefs’ dishes were creative. One excelled with ’Golden Wheat’ in ingredients, while the other triumphed with a unique furnace cooking style and Chef’s Heart Mark in the spiritual realm."

"But regrettably, the dishes failed to move us..."

Xia Yu had not expected that his performance would affect the entire final.

On the screen, Luo Ying and Dojima Yin were filled with resentment; even from afar, Xia Yu felt it and chose to flee, hiding in the backstage kitchen, locking the door behind him.

Since a draw counted as points, the Far Moon and White Jade Building teams each scored one point in the second round.

The score was 2:1, with Far Moon temporarily in the lead.

The third round would feature a direct face-off between the aces of each team, Li Quan versus Saito Chiyokuro!

Sitting on a chair in the kitchen.

"If it goes as expected, Shura should win, at worst a draw, each earning one point, and the Far Moon team’s victory chances will greatly expand..." Watching the task of ’Purify the Jade Dragon Pot’ in the task panel, Xia Yu’s gaze was sparkling.

This task rewarded a golden Evolution Crystal Stone, a golden recipe book.

The recipe book was secondary. The crucial part was the golden Crystal Stone!

Having found that perfect culinary skills carried inherent culinary meaning, capable of imparting ’intent,’ Xia Yu was eagerly anticipating how overbearing and powerful the perfected [Spice Inequality] would be.

After sitting quietly for a while, organizing his thoughts.

The outcome of the finals was set, with no need to think further.

His mind returned to the ’Qi’ he had just acquired!

"Qi!"

In the Chef God Space, in that isolated tranquil room, Xia Yu could easily sense a stream of air occasionally flowing from the dan tian below his belly; with the method of internal viewing, he could even vaguely see a swirling Qi mass.

However, in the outside world, no matter how calm Xia Yu remained, with a clear mind like a polished mirror, he could not detect any Qi stream or mass. After nearly half an hour of effort, he had to temporarily give up—

At the root of it.

It was still because the attribute of ’Inner Qi’ was not strong enough.

"How to use it?"

His eyes clearly showed a restless eagerness.

In the space, seeing mysterious chefs using Qi-infused culinary skills to cook dishes, Xia Yu’s mind was full of thoughts about putting ’Qi’ into practice...

Thinking and doing, pondering the available ingredients, Xia Yu stepped up to the call box in the kitchen, directly contacting the event’s ingredient logistics.

Ten minutes later.

Staff delivered four sealed boxes.

These boxes were pre-arranged by Xia Yu with the event logistics for storage, ready to be accessed at any time. Now that his turn was over, they no longer needed storage.

After opening the four boxes, besides the Taboo Egg Liquid and Gem Meat, the other two ingredients were extremely unfamiliar "Demon Big Snake Meat" and "River Puffer Whale Meat."

By defeating Tiqie Ji, Xia Yu had won these two as ingredient wagers; the other two were "Merck’s Stars" and "Beautiful Gold Spearfish."

"Demon Big Snake Meat!"

Wearing gloves, opening the box let out a rush of cold air as Xia Yu touched the incredibly lively meat piece.

A vigorous absorbent force transmitted from his palm, as if touching warm tentacles rather than a piece of meat already separated from the main body.

"Qi!"

Xia Yu meditated and activated [Perception Eye] to analyze the ingredients.

After a while, he withdrew his hand, shaking his head: "No response?"

"Can’t directly affect it, need to use culinary skills?"

Carefully recalling the cooking images in the Chef God Space, Xia Yu did not give up, closed the box with a bang, moved to the box containing "River Puffer Whale Meat," hesitated briefly, then summoned [Fragmented Jade Knife], cutting a strip of meat about half a finger’s width from the large piece of white jade-like meat, then reluctantly closed the box lid.

Currently, "River Puffer Whale Meat" consumed a piece whenever used, because the system had not unlocked it, and there was no access to purchase.

"How should River Puffer Whale Meat be handled?"

Xia Yu rubbed his chin, staring at the white meat strip on the cutting board.

Raw fish slices were certainly not an option, after all, the goal was the practice of ’Qi.’

"Let’s try grilling!"

Finding a small charcoal grill in a corner and setting it on the cooking table, he made charcoal, lit a fire, and put a dense wire mesh over the charcoal grill. Xia Yu used chopsticks to hold the white meat strip, placing it on the wire mesh.

Wisps of visible smoke drifted.

How should ’Qi’ affect it?

Stunned for a while, Xia Yu clumsily flipped the meat strip over.

Huff, huff.

Suddenly, his ears twitched, and faintly, Xia Yu seemed to hear the soul of the flames whispering; he stared blankly at the roaring charcoal fire inside the grill, "...Is this it?"

He found a small fan and started fanning the grill.

The charcoal fire and temperature fluctuated with Xia Yu’s movements, alternately strong and weak.

Gradually, Xia Yu seemed to grasp an indescribable feeling.