Chapter 816: Chapter 815: Headache

Ye Feizhou heard the commotion outside the room, and without much hesitation, put aside the ancient cookbook on his knee and went out to greet his two masters.

Actually, in the White Jade Tower, Huang He, Wei An, and Kong Chun, the three Dragon Venerables, were indeed Ye Feizhou’s real mentors.

Huang He taught Ye Feizhou the ‘Divine Hand’ technique, akin to turning stone into gold.

A few days ago, during the Food Duel on the Loulin Ship, the ‘Divine Hand’ made a subtle appearance. However, Xia Yu, who only caught a glimpse of this culinary skill, considered it nothing but a gimmicky method for massaging ingredients.

Wei An, on the other hand, was the chief among all Imperial Chefs. In the words of worldly society, he combined various culinary techniques into one and mastered them to perfection.

His skills and knowledge could both be praised as “extensive” and “profound,” even surpassing those of Kong Chun from the scholarly Kong Family. For this reason, Wei An always excelled in preparing national banquets for important foreign guests, becoming an impeccable and perfect host. In some ways, Wei An’s dishes probably represent the clearest impression of Chinese cuisine to many world leaders.

If there were still a Honglu Temple responsible for managing large national ceremonies and banquets, Wei An would definitely be unanimously recognized as the Minister of Honglu Temple by the Elder Council.

So, what Ye Feizhou learned from Wei An was more about general knowledge, including foreign culinary cultures. After all, Wei An often represented the Chinese Realm, traveling with political leaders to visit various parts of the world.

From Kong Chun, Ye Feizhou gradually developed a comprehensive culinary philosophy under meticulous guidance.

In short.

The entire White Jade Tower had long regarded Ye Feizhou as a successor in training.

Seeing Ye Feizhou emerging from the quiet room, Wei An and Kong Chun, who were chatting in the villa hall, fell silent abruptly.

“Master Wei, Master Kong!”

Greetings weren’t just a nod; they required the etiquette of a disciple. Raised by the descendants of the Kong Family, Ye Feizhou’s manners were impeccable.

Wei An opened his mouth several times but stopped.

Kong Chun smiled slightly, “Feizhou, go back and continue studying that cookbook. Don’t leave the house for the next ten days, cut off the internet and communication. If you need anything for daily life, just ask Uncle Chen, the steward.”

Hearing this, Ye Feizhou showed a hint of confusion but still respectfully replied, “I already planned to seclude myself, please don’t worry, Masters!”

Not worry?

Watching Ye Feizhou retreat back to the quiet room, Wei An sighed and moved with Kong Chun to a secluded corner of the garden.

“Don’t you plan to let him watch cooking videos of strong opponents before the competition, to know oneself and the enemy?” Wei An asked.

“Know oneself and the enemy?”

Kong Chun couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head and sighing, “If the gap is not substantial, ‘knowing oneself and the enemy’ is indeed crucial in a confrontation. But if the gap is too vast, wouldn’t understanding the opponent’s bottom line in advance destroy your own confidence before the competition?”

Wei An naturally knew that the gap Kong Chun was referring to was between their beloved apprentice, Ye Feizhou, and the Young Devil, who recently showed arcane spice artistry summoning Xuanjing on stage, highlighting the difference in their culinary skills.

As Wei An left the scene, he heard the audience exclaim “Young Devil” and now, when thinking of his apprentice Ye Feizhou and that person, he subconsciously gave the same evaluation.

“But if we don’t inform Feizhou, and he suffers a horrible defeat on stage in the future, wouldn’t that be…” Wei An’s expression slowly turned gloomy.

“This defeat is unavoidable!”

Kong Chun said resolutely, and his eyes seemed to shine with a divine light, like a whale’s shadow. This famous Dragon Supreme’s mind was once again occupied by the whale’s shadow.

Is this the memory of spices?

Clearing his mind of the whale’s shadow, Kong Chun was amused and surprised, “It’s just the aroma, we haven’t even tasted the food, yet we are also affected!”

Wei An slapped his forehead, frowning, “Alright, this headache again! Ah, it’s an old ailment!”

“All I hope now is that Feizhou can earn a bit of prestige back for us old folks, otherwise, that Xia Family grandfather and grandson are likely to stir up stormy waves in the Chinese Realm. Ah, and also, Huang He stepped back, not of his own volition; he lost the Food Duel without complaints, but the question is who will succeed him? One of the three Pavilion Master chairs at the White Jade Tower has been empty for too long, causing chaos in the Chinese Realm.”

Kong Chun also began rubbing his forehead.

The two Dragon Chefs sighed in the corner of the suburban Shanghai estate, lamenting over two troublesome matters.

As luck would have it, both issues were spearheaded by the Xia-named chefs.

One old, one young, so infuriatingly unruly.

Thinking of this, Wei An rubbed his temples vigorously:

“Ouch!”

“This headache of mine!”

…

Xia Yu passed the second round qualifiers with full marks, assuming the demeanor of a Demon King advancing to the next round.

The first and most anticipated qualifying battle today concluded precisely at noon, but this was just the first match. Multiple venues still had more than a dozen battles taking place today.

The subsequent two days continued with the second round schedule, and in three days, only about 300 qualifiers would stand proudly at the entrance of the third round’s checkpoint.

From three thousand to three hundred, the reduction in numbers was astonishing.

The third round is the most brutal 30-person life-and-death selection before the 20-strong advancement battle, where 300 top talents from the Chinese Realm, only 30 could stand out.

However, to Xia Yu, such an event, extremely harsh to others, did not pressure him in the slightest.

What, after the second round there’s a third, and only then it is the 20-strong competition?

Returning to his lodging from the venue, upon hearing from Zhu Qing, Xia Yu shook his head immediately, “This is really troublesome; you have to reach the top 20 to qualify for challenging the ‘Five Chinese Talents’.”

“What did you think?” Zhu Qing laughed, “This is also the stage for many newcomers to challenge the Five Talents. Otherwise, on usual days, those high and mighty Five Talents, who would pay attention to those unknown Food Duel Challenges?”

Xia Yu shrugged.

Seeing his little gesture, Zhu Qing chuckled, “Okay, I know you’re strong; you’ve already publicly defeated several of the Five Talents, nearly taking them all down. I’ll give you a new nickname, Chinese Spear Little Overlord, spearing like a dragon, spear thrusts directly penetrating the Five Talents.”

Originally, Xia Yu thought this was fine, he’s Chinese Little Overlord, after all, and even the New Chinese Cooking Master; however, Zhu Qing’s winking and sneering appearance immediately made Xia Yu’s expression tense.

“How can your thoughts be so filthy and evil!” Xia Yu exclaimed righteously.

“You’re impressive!”

Zhu Qing gave him a thumbs up, “Why not see how you tormented those three female judges today, publicly…”

While speaking, a sudden vibration came from the phone in the pocket.

Zhu Qing blinked and flipped through a just-received text message, slightly opening her mouth in a daze, “What’s Yuan Lanzi wanting with me?”

She bit her lip, giving Xia Yu a strange glance before quickly turning around.

“So inexplicable!”

Xia Yu didn’t mind her leaving, wishing for some peace and quiet for his ears, hurried back to his bedroom, shut the door tight, fell back hard on the soft bed, laughed twice, and finally got a chance to check the system rewards.

That’s right.

The live practice on stage that was thrilling yet uneventful this time was a success, with extremely rich rewards gained.