Chapter 596: Second Qualification Round 1

"What do you want to do?" Zhen Yuan asked but Shen Xu didn’t answer.

Instead, he removed four swords from his storage ring.

"Let’s do a sword test." He said and Zhen Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"You want to see how much damage our bodies will suffer from a full-strength blow?" He asked and Shen Xu nodded.

"I will try it first." The double said and Zhen Yuan couldn’t help but frown.

After all, Shen Xu was his beloved taoist partner.

Although the strike was a test, Zhen Yuan didn’t like the idea of trying to harm Shen Xu.

Unfortunately, the double was determined and Zhen Yuan had no choice but to go along with Shen Xu’s experiment.

"Start with a level ten sword." Shen Xu instructed and quickly continued.

"It’s enough to use pure sworsdmanship." He said and Zhen Yuan nodded before swinging his sword towards Shen Xu’s arm.

Half a breath later, the two heard a dull thud where the sword struck the double’s body but the attack didn’t leave a mark, let alone cause an injury.

"Try the level eleven sword." Shen Xu encouraged and Zhen Yuan did so.

Level ten...

Level eleven...

Level twelve...

Level thirteen...

After trying the four swords, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan exchanged a glance and smiled.

"I can’t believe a full strength level thirteen attack can’t leave a mark on our bodies." Shen Xu muttered, looking at his flawless arm.

"That’s the benefit of our improved physiques." Zhen Yuan said but he was also impressed.

Although he knew that their physiques had improved, he was still shocked when he saw the evidence.

Time passed and before they knew it, it was the day of the second qualification round.

Because the participants were required to cook on the spot, the second round was held at Hefei city’s martial arena.

"What a grand spectacle." Shen Xu muttered, looking at the arena that was already filled with spectators.

"There must be more than one hundred thousand people in this arena." He continued and Zhen Yuan nodded in agreement.

"The stage is large enough. It won’t be a problem for one hundred chefs to compete at the same time." The man said.

"Mmh." Shen Xu nodded with a thoughtful expression

Eighty spiritual chefs would be eliminated in the second qualification round.

Knowing this, Shen Xu mentally reviewed his ingredient choices but soon tilted his head with a nonchalant expression.

’There is nothing to worry about.’ He thought.

"Xiaoxu, remember to activate an isolation barrier before you begin cooking." Zhen Yuan reminded and Shen Xu nodded.

One hour later, the double took his place on the stage and Zhen Yuan found a seat in the spectator stands.

"I heard that our Hefei City has produced a spiritual chef genius." A nearby spectator said, attracting the surrounding people’s interest.

"Is there such a thing?" A female cultivator asked and the knowledgeable person nodded.

"His name is Shen Xu. He scored fifty six points in the first round."

"Fifty six out of sixty points..., is that even possible?"

"The questions for the food festival are uniform in all cities. I heard that Shen Xu is the overall top scorer."

"How can such a genius be unknown until now?"

"Maybe he is a reclusive master."

"It’s possible that he was waiting for the food festival to cause a splash."

"Which one is Shen Xu?" Someone asked and the surrounding people subconciously turned to the stage.

"The one with red hair..." A male cultivator started, frowned, and quickly continued.

"I saw him last time and assumed that his fire aura was soo strong because he had just advanced and his cultivation was not stable. However, his aura doesn’t seem to have stabilised in the past year."

"He clearly has a fire element physique." Someone observed.

"That explains it!" The male cultivator exclaimed.

"Come to think of it, elder Ye has been searching for a fire element physique cultivator for more than two hundred years. Does anyone know fellow daoist Shen’s background?"

"Which elder Ye?"

"The fifth elder of the Eastern Immortal Palace." Someone said and quickly continued.

"I saw a poster in Nan’an City." He said.

"Will any fire element physique cultivator do?"

"Who knows?!" A female cultivator shrugged and narrowed her eyes before continuing.

"Why doesn’t fellow daoist Shen hide his physique?" She wondered.

After all, physiques; even the most common, tended to attract trouble.

Unless one had an extraordinary background, cultivators would do their best to conceal their physiques so as not to attract trouble, but what about Shen Xu?

Not only did he expose his physique, but he also seemed unbothered by the attention he was garnering!

"Could fellow daoist Shen have an extraordinary background?" Someone speculated.

"Is there a prominent family with the surname Shen?"

"The prominent families in Suzhou are Duan, Murong, Li, Lan, and Rong. There is no Shen."

"Maybe he is from another tier one city."

"Is there a reward for reporting a fire element physique cultivator?"

"One hundred thousand immortal stones." Someone said and the surrounding people immediately had an idea.

However, most didn’t dare to take such a task.

After all, Shen Xu had a mysterious background and they didn’t dare to offend him for one hundred thousand immortal stones.

"The competition is about to begin." Someone reminded and everyone turned to see that the host had already flown to the stage.

"The second qualification round of the food festival is to cook a body strengthening meat dish." The female host started and quickly continued.

"There are no restrictions on ingredients, equipment, fire, and water. However, pre-cooked items and harmful materials on the forbidden list must not be used in the competition."

"Additionally, the time limit is three hours. The dish must be prepared, cooked, and plated within three hours. Otherwise, the food will be disqualified without judgement."

The competitors turned solemn when they heard this.

However, none were panicked and they didn’t feel that the time was not enough.

"The competition will start in five, four, three,..." She counted and the competitors began to get ready.

Blue crystal fish had white scales, blue eyes, and ice blue scales.

At a glance, they looked more like a painting than living creatures.

However, Shen Xu didn’t care about their appearance at this time.

After preparing his equipment and removing a live blue crystal fish from his ’beast bag’, he stunned it and killed it in one swift move.

"What kind of fish is fellow daoist Shen cooking?" A spectator asked.

"It’s the blue-fin crucian." Someone answered but soon frowned.

"Is the blue-fin crucian useful for body strengthening?" He asked.

"I don’t think that’s a blue-fin crucian..." A female cultivator refuted with a thoughtful expression.

"If I am not mistaken, it’s a blue crystal fish." She continued and the surrounding people gasped.

"Aren’t blue crystal fish supposed to be extinct?" Someone asked and the female cultuvator shrugged before speaking.

"He may have encountered them in an unknown area." She said and turned to focus on the competition.

At this time, Shen Xu had already scaled, cleaned and deboned the fish.

After doing that, he placed the bones in a pot, added immortal spring water, a teaspoon of divine monster blood wine, and several seasonings including salt, and garlic.

While the pot was cooking, Shen Xu marinated the fish and when that was done, he prepared the ingredients that he needed to make a dipping sauce.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Shen Xu frequently used hand seals to manage the pot, the marinated fish, and other materials.

At this time, Shen Xu opened the pot and saw that the fish bones and other ingredients had broken down and turned into a smooth white soup.

’It’s ready.’ He thought and lowered his head to take a closer look at the soup.

After that, he separated the fish soup into three portions.

The first portion was poured into the container with the marinated fish, the second was poured into a bowl, and the last was left in the pot.

While the blue crystal fish was soaking in the soup, Shen Xu mixed the soup in the bowl with the dipping sauce materials.

After that, he used hand seals to mix the materials and an incense stick later, a red dipping sauce was prepared.

’It’s time to steam the fish.’ He thought and shifted his attention to the marinated fish.

A moment later, he placed the fish on a bamboo basket and then lowered basket into the soup container.

At a glance, the basket was shorter than the pot hence its bottom didn’t touch the soup.

However, this setting was perfect for steaming the blue crystal fish with the soup steam.

Time passed and with a cup of tea to spare, Shen Xu opened his pot and an appetising fragrance diffused around the stage.

’Smells good.’ The double thought and began plating.

First, he placed the fish on a large plate and garnished it with some vegetables.

When that was done, he placed the plate, the dipping sauce, and a bowl of fish soup onto a large tray.

"Time is up." A voice echoed and Shen Xu stepped back from his work table with a satisfied expression.