Chapter 817: Chapter 816: The Legend of Source Ascension

“System: Congratulations to the host, ‘Pseudo Xuanjing’ recipe evolution successful!”

“System: Your mastery of ‘Merck’s Stardust’ (Taboo Spices) has reached 100%! Congratulations to the host for unlocking an achievement treasure chest!”

Ding!

The sound of a treasure chest falling prompted Xia Yu, lying in bed, to sit up instantly.

In his view, there was a treasure chest shimmering with gold, seemingly not a virtual projection, and its texture felt incredibly real.

Xia Yu held his breath for a moment, “Is there a new trick again?”

“Haha, isn’t it just opening a treasure chest? My genuine luck of an Emperor’s descendant is no joke—”

“Boom boom boom!”

“Big boom!”

He muttered, as if casting an incantation to open the chest.

Crack.

The lid of the box opened with a lift; Xia Yu’s pupils slightly contracted, and the two beams of golden light that burst into view almost made him shout in joy.

Ultimately, the treasure chest revealed three items, judging by the color, two were gold and one was purple.

First, he flipped open the golden item that looked like a card.

“Huh—” Xia Yu raised an eyebrow, quite surprised, for he thought it would be some indescribable fate tool, but it turned out to be a ‘Forbidden Ingredient Unlock Card.’

“[Forbidden Ingredient Unlock Card]: Can be used on any forbidden ingredient for which knowledge has been acquired. Once used, the ingredient will be unlocked in the system mall, and the host can exchange through Fame Points without quantity limits.”

“Usage: 1/1.”

Good stuff!

Xia Yu had just used ‘Morse Oil’ as spellcasting material for a stunning culinary performance. Now, without much thought or hesitation, he decided decisively, “Use! Unlock ‘Morse Oil’!”

“Ding, item used successfully!”

With a prompt from the system, the golden card in the bag turned into a stream of light and disappeared.

What about the second golden item?

His gaze quickly shifted down, and Xia Yu let out a strange sound, “Source?”

A crystal resembling a diamond was suspended in his view.

“[Source Stone]: An extraordinary stone that allows the host to instantly comprehend the origin of recipes and culinary skills. Current collection progress: 1/3. Collecting three pieces grants the following synthesis rewards—”

“1. Elevate any culinary skill perfected to a mirror-breaking improvement, reaching the legendary source level.”

“2. Unlock the source legend recipe lottery wheel, allowing the host to receive any legendary recipe at random.”

Got it!

Xia Yu excitedly pounded the headboard, “System, does this stone mean there are recipe and culinary skill levels above gold, in ‘Legend’?”

“Yes, reaching this level the host will surpass the Dragon level,” the system answered.

“The question is, is the only way to obtain such stones by opening achievement treasure chests?” Xia Yu asked with his chin rested on his hand.

“Yes!”

The system mechanically replied, “The host can only tackle the next kind of golden forbidden-level fantasy ingredient, reach a perfect 100% mastery, and then have a chance to open another achievement chest…”

“Wait!”

Xia Yu thought of a very crucial probability problem, “Opening achievement chests doesn’t guarantee a Source Stone, right?”

“…”

The system fell silent.

His excitement was suddenly extinguished like cold water poured over it, Xia Yu raised his middle finger in anger, “As expected, this is the usual trap of domestic games to make players spend money—only the wealthy can rely on opening chests to become stronger!”

“Let’s be practical!”

This time Xia Yu didn’t mention any Emperor’s lucky bloodline.

King of words after all just wants to brag; to fantasize about being the game company’s favorite child means going broke from opening chests. He never thought about surpassing Dragon Chef and catching up to the Heavenly King high above in the Chinese Realm through treasure hunting. Isn’t that a daydream? Wake up!

The third purple item is a [Famous Utensil Repair Stone], capable of repairing any damaged famous kitchenware, regardless of the degree of damage.

Overall, Xia Yu was very satisfied with the rewards from the chest opening, the chanting for a big explosion wasn’t in vain, even if the prospect of the Source Stone is too nebulous, at least it gives people a bit of illusionary hope, right?

Of course.

Xia Yu continued to check the system information.

“System: Task ‘True Face of Merck Stardust’ completed.”

He couldn’t help but snap his fingers as he checked the backpack column for three stacked Purification Stones, Xia Yu’s lips curled, “Hahaha, I’ve kept the ‘Jade Dragon Pot’ for too long, and I can finally fully purify it!”

“I refuse to believe this legendary kitchenware can only let its holder sense the location of other kitchenware. Being kitchenware itself, it should also have culinary functions, otherwise, why is it called kitchenware?”

…

Closing the door, Xia Yu counted his gains, while outside, the world was in uproar due to a preliminary round.

The first preliminary round just ended, and many websites popped up with the latest hunting quick-news.

“‘300 Points! King of the Prelims!'”

“‘It’s him!'”

“‘Famous Chef from Sapporo Appears on the Chinese Realm Hunting Stage, Announcing His Entry with a Perfect Score in a Demon King Stance!'”

Editors liberally used words like king and demon king, making the quick-news titles more eye-catching.

Hunting judges’ rest area.

Mu Xiaoyue came out of the restroom; earlier, her makeup was ruined by sweat from tasting dishes. Now her face was clean with no foundation.

She jogged to the chair and picked up the buzzing phone.

A fan chat group interface was displayed, with messages scrolling by rapidly, at least hundreds debating that bowl of ‘Lauding.’

“Sister Yueyue, come out quickly!”

“We weren’t at the scene; watching the live broadcast feels lacking. Is that bowl of instant noodles really that amazing?”

“Yeah, yeah, instant noodles getting a perfect score just seems odd!”

Instant noodles?

Mu Xiaoyue laughed heartily upon seeing this.

Humming a tune, in a good mood, she didn’t mind the fans’ skepticism about the so-called instant noodles. She gently pressed the lock screen button, tucking the phone into her bag, and mused aloud, “If such ‘instant noodles’ were sold on the market, how many people would go broke just to taste it!”

Turning to the makeup table mirror, she couldn’t help but slightly part her lips to reveal her pink tongue.

Her finger captured the slippery tongue.

Seeing the reflection in the mirror, it indeed had a faint, somewhat like phosphorescent powder, glow she couldn’t help but murmur, “This probably is the core of the spice memory constituting the Whale’s spices, what on earth is it?”

Mu Xiaoyue had no doubt; if she scraped off the layer of mucus from her tongue and used it in cooking, perhaps even the shadow of the Xuanjing would be seventy to eighty-percent restored.

The so-called spice memory isn’t just in the spiritual virtual level but also truly existing spices!

“A perfect score…”

At the Hunting Official Headquarters, Wei Qinglian was in the office, dazed.

At this moment, the Lan Family elder, appointed by the leader as the executive head of this hunting event, walked in wearing a cyan robe, hands clasped behind his back.

“The last time a perfect score piece appeared was about five years ago, when the ‘Five Chinese Talents’ were undergoing a transition, and Ye Feizhou emerged suddenly and became famous after one battle, wasn’t it?” the Lan Family elder said.

“Mm.”

Wei Qinglian responded, her eyes revealing a more peculiar look. Back then, Ye Feizhou scored perfectly in successive rounds, breaking into the top 20 effortlessly and specifically challenging the top Five Talents, winning brilliantly and earning the admiration of many industry seniors. And five years later, is it another new cycle?

“Let’s see if he can maintain his momentum!”

The Lan Family elder stroked his chin with a smile, “But I have a premonition that after this hunting event, some of the ‘Five Chinese Talents’ will fall, and there will be newcomers rising.”