CHAPTER 651: CHAPTER 650: EGGS AND MOUNTAINS

Station number 2.

Li Han and Lan Chuhai had finished slaughtering and processing five ducks.

The plucked ducks, devoid of their innards, were laid out on the countertop, slightly gleaming.

The key wasn’t in the ducks. Xia Yu looked over and caught Li Han, his head dripping with sweat, transporting five large Chinese Iron Pots.

"Such big pots, and he brought five of them all at once... what are they planning to do?!"

Xia Yu couldn’t help but gasp softly.

He then glanced at the eight small clay pots in front of him.

Well, talk about being outmatched in presence!

Presence and such are, of course, just jokes; in a final, there’s no room for useless ingredients or cookware. As Xia Yu stared intently, he saw Li Han placing each of the iron pots on a simple stove arrayed before him.

"Chef Lan!"

Li Han called back.

"Come help!" Lan Chuhai said softly, pointing to the stack of white bags beside the counter.

What are these?

Xia Yu’s eyes widened as he now noticed these bags, "It’s definitely not flour; how heavy would six or seven bags of flour be? I wonder how many servings of food it could make!"

Apart from a large quantity of flour, Xia Yu racked his brain but couldn’t think of what other ingredient would require so much preparation.

Li Han answered him with his actions.

"Whoosh—"

Tearing open the bag, pouring it out, suddenly white grains filled a large basin to the brim.

Li Han continued to move bags, while Lan Chuhai calmly poured a sticky, semi-transparent liquid into the basin. At this point, the professionals could tell, and the venue was filled with gasping sounds:

"Salt...?"

"This much salt, mixed with egg whites?"

The guests wore an expression as if they had seen a ghost.

But inside, Xia Yu’s heart skipped a beat, his hair stood on end, and a bolt of lightning seemed to strike his confused thoughts clear.

"It must be that dish... that recipe!"

The sense of déjà vu was too strong.

Thinking of Lan Chuhai’s surname, and the heritage it represented, Xia Yu was very sure.

Indeed.

The following steps taken by Li Han and Lan Chuhai gradually matched the images Xia Yu had in his mind.

Salt mixed with egg whites, shaped into clumps.

The slick-skinned ducks, with no need for marinating or additional seasonings, were covered by the two men using the salt clumps, building it up like a wall, completely sealing the ducks inside.

Thus, station number 2 now had five spherical objects.

A fragrance of yams wafted throughout the venue.

The large Chinese Iron Pot was filled with yam strands and the ducks, tightly wrapped in salt, were placed on top of the strands. This scene, captured on camera, suddenly felt visually striking.

At the mountain platform for the "Red Leaf Hunting Festival" at Far Moon, Tanaka Hikari covered her mouth, "... why does it look like they’re building a nest, setting a giant white egg?"

A group of students nodded in agreement.

"Exactly!"

"The ducks are actually wrapped up into giant eggs by the salt!"

Alice’s eyes widened.

Sen Tian Makoto, sitting at the forefront of the first-year students, lost her smile; her delicate hands intertwined on the table, her sweat clearly visible. Her heart was pounding fiercely.

"Such a strong presence! This dish combination is extraordinary..."

Xingping Chuangzhen wore a serious expression.

"I have a feeling that the grand prize of this competition won’t be easy to claim!"

"Nonsense!"

The Italian youth Takeomi sitting at the next table glanced over, then stared at the TV, unconsciously assuming the tone of an admiring little fanboy, and swinging his fist, said, "But I firmly believe that Instructor Xia will be the ultimate winner!"

"Ha, Takeomi, have you completely submitted to Instructor Xia?"

"It’s admiration for the strong!"

"And what about me?" Xingping Chuangzhen laughed.

"You roll! Wait for my next challenge, coming soon!" Takeomi huffed.

Across from the first-year students.

The "Ten Masters of Far Moon" still focused on the television screen.

"Boom—"

Suddenly, the screen was dominated by spreading flames.

Ichise Hui, Si Yingshi, and others, their pupils constricting sharply, watched as five Chinese Iron Pots appeared intermittently in the sea of flames.

Lan Chuhai had already retreated outside the fiery circle, and the vague figure amidst the flames was naturally Li Han, who also mastered the Bursting Flame and other flame cooking techniques.

The scent of the wine was overwhelming.

One jar after another of high-proof Lu Zhou Old Vine was opened and used as fuel to ignite, pouring over the five Chinese Iron Pots, producing a roaring fire.

Kogama Shoji, the eighth seat holder, clenched his fist and grunted unhappily, "This guy, he’s starting again!"

"Indeed!"

Kobayakawa Ryodan revealed his sharp little fangs.

They had seen the first stage of Li Han’s Flame Cooking Skill and were deeply impressed.

Kogama Shoji, Kobayakawa Ryodan, and the others watched the flames sweeping across the arena, their feelings a complex mix of intrigue and anger as if their territory had been invaded. Such Flame Cooking Skills should uniquely belong to the ’Fire Magician’ of Far Moon.

Unconsciously, Xia Yu’s "Bursting Flame" had already left a personal mark in the minds of these students.

"Hmph, it sure is fiery!"

Returning to the competition, Tang Yuqiong looked away from the fiery number two cooking station.

"Elder Tang, let’s begin as well!" she said.

Tang Shan gazed deeply, then put away a small carving knife and nodded. Tang Yuqiong saw this and gently tapped on a large iceberg in front of her.

Crash!

Avalanche!

The ice chips splattered and flew like those carved by Xia Yu in the past. When the noise ceased, the large iceberg looked even cruder and simpler—except that the original solitary peak had split into five peaks, standing like five raised fingers, with the middle finger being the longest and most steep, and the thumb the thickest yet most stable.

The camera swept over, and the iceberg sparkled, its interior seemingly not completely frozen, showing strange movements.

The audience never expected Tang Shan to be an ice sculpture master, even Xia Yu was quite surprised.

"Masterful simplicity!"

Looking over at Five-Finger Peak at station three, Xia Yu instinctively thought of this phrase.

The essence!

The ability to evoke this word meant that the ice sculpture culinary artwork had profoundly touched the viewers, clearly showing the depth of Tang Shan’s skills.

But evidently, sculpturing was just the first step of the culinary artwork for Tang Shan and Tang Yuqiong.

Xia Yu steadied his heartbeat and looked only at the row of clay pots in front of him, worried he might start questioning life if he looked too much.

Half an hour later.

"Done!"

He quickly turned off the flames on eight stoves.

Zhu Qing meanwhile, ripped open the damp cloth covering the dough.

She looked happily at the completely fermented dough on the table, now several times larger than before; Zhu Qing randomly poked her finger into the green dough, leaving nearly through-and-through deep finger holes, "Looks good!"

"The holes didn’t shrink! Fully inflated!"

Without further ado, she brought out her personal utensils, a pair of silver chopsticks, and moved her chopsticks like a swift storm, picking out a small piece of dough multiple times per second with astonishing efficiency.

Soon, the four-colored dough had turned into a pile of evenly sized small pieces.

"You roll out the dough, I’ll wrap!"

Zhu Qing pointed at Xia Yu and then at his dark pasty stick.

The fillings were ready, and the dough skins were prepared, next was wrapping the fillings.

The ’Soul Suppressing Bun’ had a plain appearance, rather retro, preserving the most original look of a bun, indeed more like a stuffed steamed bun.

Sweat beaded on the foreheads of Xia Yu and Zhu Qing, clearly not having an easy time wrapping.

Some time later, from the arena came a shout:

"The flames, they’re getting smaller!"

"Is it almost done?"

At cooking station two, the scent of Old Vine wine gradually dissipated, and the flames also diminished as the alcohol burnt off.

Tap tap tap...

Footsteps.

Li Han, covered in soot, walked out from between the five burning Chinese Iron Pots and told Lan Chuhai, "Chef Lan, it’s almost time!"

They simultaneously looked at the timer.

"Elder Tang!"

Tang Yuqiong, hands trembling slightly, set down a shiny chisel-shaped tool. She appeared to have filled a gap in the Five-Finger Peak iceberg, as the iceberg, at first glance, now looked like a refined fish tank with shadows inside...

At cooking station one.

The steamer set over the pot was billowing with steam.

"The heat is just right!"

Xia Yu turned off the fire.

"But we’re still missing a prop," he murmured.

"Are you talking about that..."

Zhu Qing raised her hand and pointed towards a corner of the arena, where several craftsmen invited by the officials of the competition were retreating from near a bamboo boat.

Dazed, Xia Yu bowed to the craftsmen in the distance.

"So, let’s serve the dish—" he smiled softly.

Zhu Qing smiled and said, "Time to show off!"