CHAPTER 733: CHAPTER 732: "GREEN PHOENIX

Thud, thud, thud!

Zhu Qing descended the stairs, and though the little shop was devoid of voices, the bustle of the kitchen didn’t cease.

"Mr. Yan—" Zhu Qing greeted the Dark World leader in the storefront, then gracefully took a seat at the bar, propping her sharp chin up with her hand, her gaze fixed on the main chef busily working behind the window.

"Aren’t we not operating normally?" she asked lazily, yawning.

Yuchuan Meisha quietly explained from the side, "Boss Xia said he wanted to prepare a table for dinner himself."

"Eh!"

Zhu Qing’s eyes suddenly brightened, her lethargy completely gone, and she swiftly floated away in a light voice, "I’m going to freshen up!"

Xia Yu didn’t even lift his head.

In fact, he was well aware of Zhu Qing’s hardships.

Not only had he been anxious and scared these days, but, tasked by the old man, Zhu Qing was even more cautiously protecting the "Jade Dragon Pot," barely getting any good sleep at night and having to find time during the day to catch up on rest after becoming fatigued.

Just right—

Rubbing and kneading the dough in the mixing bowl, Xia Yu’s lips formed a faint smile.

The store had a stockpile of the highest quality ingredients.

The mixture of wheat flour and buckwheat was ready; soon it would be the main pillar of the noodles.

As for the broth, behind him the stove had already been lit with flames before Zhu Qing went downstairs. Atop the stove sat a large stockpot, the gap sealed with a clean white cloth, and not a wisp of steam escaped.

Inside the pot was, naturally, another world.

Compared to three days prior when he was just beginning to learn, these past few days, Xia Yu had fully absorbed and digested the "Enlightenment Crystal" bestowed to him—a deep understanding of the Demon King’s recipes. In other words, he now could guarantee—

This recipe truly belonged to him!

Tiqie Xianzuowen’s words still echoed in his ears.

Continue the research... other insights?

That’s nothing but a faintly visible intersection on the road of culinary dominion and the Food Dominator’s path.

This point was once blurry to Xia Yu, but after learning the Demon King’s recipes, it became much clearer.

"Please make another Xia’s Flowing Focaccia! I’ll buy it all!"

Before Zhu Qing could return, another anxious voice rang through the store.

Chen Yang paced back and forth inside the store before finally, unable to hold back, he approached the bar and shouted toward the open kitchen.

"Sorry, the earlier was a complimentary treat for the guests, but now it’s time to prepare for dinner," Xia Yu looked up at Chen Yang and set aside the kneaded buckwheat dough; after a while, once the dough had rested, he would be ready to roll and cut it.

His gaze swept toward Yan Qi.

"Mr. Yan, would you like to stay for dinner?" This was a friendly invitation.

To Xia Yu, Yan Qi was respected as an elder, not only for his culinary skills but also for his personal character; Xia Yu held him in high esteem, truly honoring him as a senior in the field.

Yan Qi nodded, "It would be my pleasure."

Yet, Xia Yu gave no such attention to Chen Yang, causing Chen Yang to anxiously wring his hands, throwing pleading looks at his senior, Yan Qi.

"You come out—"

Yan Qi said this to Chen Yang, and the two stepped outside the store.

"Not going to battle in a culinary showdown for the ’Jade Dragon Pot’ anymore?"

Chen Yang’s face shifted between clouds and sunshine.

On the one hand was the ’Jade Dragon Pot’—after all, a legendary cookware, but too ethereal; even if the pot had been tainted, it would be no more than a ruined pot once in their possession. He and his mother’s persistence on the matter was, when it comes down to it, simply because the clan head coveted it, and the mother and son would spitefully bother and disgust this foe, who forced the Chen Family to flee overseas.

On the other hand was the ’hope dish’ that greatly excited Chen Yang, barely glimpsing a breakthrough dawn.

His ’gourmet cells’ had awakened, unreasonably so!

Moreover, Chen Yang discovered that his ’super hearing,’ a gift from the demon within him, now had a broader range of coverage. To put it in perspective, at this bustling shopping street filled with voices, he could now hear the delicate sound of a coin dropping a hundred meters away.

This was his Power of Food Dominator!

Listen!

"Yes, I give up!" Chen Yang’s gaze flickered, "I had planned to bet my father’s Chen Family heirloom on the table but now it seems..."

His expression eased.

Using his father’s treasured inheritance as stakes in a culinary battle, Chen Yang had also been under enormous pressure. Moreover, with such a powerful opponent, his insistence on a culinary battle wasn’t driven by certainty of his odds, but entirely by hatred.

Observing Chen Yang’s expression carefully, Yan Qi was rendered speechless.

It was evident that the disciple had truly let go.

But...

There was another passion in Chen Yang’s eyes, replacing his previous obsession with the "Jade Dragon Pot." This was the desire for self-improvement in his culinary skills and strength!

Yan Qi nodded secretly, a chuckle in his heart, "The Xia Family kid is likely to be troubled."

"Bring it here—"

The Eight-faced Building Owner reached out to Chen Yang.

"What?"

Chen Yang was astonished.

"Meal money!" Yan Qi said indifferently.

"..."

After a moment of confusion, Chen Yang caught on, but then he made a bitter face and said, "Master Yan, I asked earlier, and he wouldn’t accept my payment either!"

"There are always exceptions..." Said Yan Qi with a mischievous look in his eyes, "Didn’t you just taste that mysterious and elegant spice and identify what it was?"

"Yes!"

Chen Yang’s face brightened.

"’Merck’s Stars,’ very precious. The only bottle he had, was obtained through a culinary battle from Tiqie Ji! I can pay with ingredients!"

Seeing his disciple awaken, Yan Qi laughed, shaking his head, and headed back to the small shop first.

Chen Yang didn’t hesitate and immediately took out his phone to call a number in the United States.

"Yangzi, did you win?"

On the other end, a slightly cold female voice.

"No, I gave up the culinary battle!" Chen Yang took a deep breath and began to recount to his mother the awakening response he had experienced after tasting "Xia’s Flowing Focaccia."

On the other side of the Pacific, on a continent.

In a bustling city illuminated by brilliant lights, where crowds surged through Chinatown.

A woman, dressed in a traditional, rather loose-fitting green cheongsam, put down the cloth in her hands in surprise.

No one could imagine that one of the Eight Lin Giants of the "Culinary Society," known as "Green Phoenix," ranked number one and nearly breaking through to Dragon level, was quietly operating a small restaurant in a corner of the city.

"Yangzi, are you sure? A Western baked dish, using ’Merck’s Stars,’ spontaneously awakened the culinary cells within you..."

"It’s true, Mother!"

The voice was so assured, brimming with excitement.

"But, ’Merck’s Stars.’ You tried it at the base too, but this mysterious spice isn’t one of your resonating ingredients!"

Li Qingfeng shook her head, her expression unusually serious.

Even at her culinary level, on the verge of breaking through to Dragon level, she had never heard of food, other than "resonating ingredients," that could enhance the culinary cells inside a Food Dominator Chef.

Otherwise, Food Dominator Lin Chefs wouldn’t be so rare, and most chefs at the pinnacle of their skills would be stuck at a bottleneck for a long time until they found the next "resonating ingredient" that could help them break through.

Chen Yang, Mars, and Ghost Father Tiqie Ji were all living examples of this impediment.

"Mother, please send me a batch of ’Merck’s Stars’ to Japan, urgently! It is extremely urgent!" Chen Yang spoke into the phone.

"Mm."

She agreed and then hung up, trusting her son. Regardless of the truth, since her son needed ’Merck’s Stars,’ she would just ask headquarters for some.

Thus, she spoke to the quietly standing female assistant next to the bar, "Contact headquarters! Also, collect a list of the owners of ’Merck’s Stars’ spice for me. If the headquarters has no surplus to dispatch, then I’ll have to request it from these people."

Within the Culinary Society, Li Qingfeng had the means to gather ingredients.

If all else failed, there was still the means of a culinary battle.