Chapter 598: Second Qualification Round 3

On the stage, Chef Fang looked at Shen Xu and nodded.

"Level twelve dish, nine points." He said and the other judges nodded in agreement.

After that, one of the judges transferred Shen Xu’s food to the special plate and everyone waited with bated breath.

One breath...

Two breaths...

Three breaths...

Suddenly, the plate lit up and a number appeared above the food.

"Elevel points?" One of the judges exclaimed in shock.

"How is this possible?" Another asked.

"Does this mean that chef Shen’s level twelve dish can strengthen the body of a great immortal realm cultivator?"

"... but he used level twelve ingredients! Its limit should be heaven immortal realm cultivators."

"Let’s taste it and then decide." Chef Fang said.

At the same time, he looked at Li Qingci and nodded before speaking.

"Alchemist Li, why don’t you have a taste?" He offered and Li Qingci agreed.

After all, she had come to Hefei city because she wanted to assess Shen Xu’s level.

A breath later, Li Qingci and the judges each had a taste and a trace of shock flashed in their eyes.

Soon after, the few people demolished the food and then turned fo Shen Xu with unsatisfied expressions.

’One fish is not enough.’ They thought but forcibly suppressed the desire to ask for more.

"Ten points for taste." One of the judges said and quickly continued.

"Also, I agree with the testing plate. The dish has surpassed its level and can strengthen the body of a great immortal realm cultivator."

"The dish is equivalent to a natural treasure." Another judge sighed and glanced at Shen Xu with a complicated expression.

"Alchemist Li, what do you think?" A judge asked but Li Qingci didn’t immediately answer.

Instead, she looked at the empty plate and eventually sighed in resignation.

’Qingrong is a genius but Shen Xu is a monster.’ She thought and sighed again.

"Excellent. It’s worth ten points for taste and eleven points for efficacy." She finally said and Chef Fang nodded.

"The total is thirty points out of thirty points." The man said and recorded the information in Shen Xu’s jade square.

Since the competition was not over, the judges didn’t keep Shen Xu and allowed him to leave the stage.

Seeing this, Zhen Yuan left his spectator seat and walked to Shen Xu.

"Good job." The man said, rubbing the double’s hair.

[I added moon essence liquid to the pond that I use to raise the blue crystal fish. As a result, the fish have transformed and become more effective than normal. Unfortunately, this level is still not enough to affect us.] Shen Xu said.

[It doesn’t matter.] Zhen Yuan said and the double agreed.

Even though the blue crystal fish was ineffective, it was still delicious and most importantly, they had other body refining treasures including moon essence liquid, divine monster blood wine, and the boiling blood pool.

While Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan were talking, the spectator stands broke in uproar.

"Is it really possible for level twelve ingredients to cook a level thirteen dish?" Someone asked.

"It’s normally not possible but the testing plate doesn’t lie. Also, the judges confirmed the result."

"I didn’t expect that a simple dish of steamed fish would receive a ten for taste."

"Chef Shen is becoming more and more unfathomable."

"Do you think Chef Li will have a sense of crisis when she hears this result?" Someone asked and a trace of schadenfreude flashed in his eyes.

"I originally thought that chef Shen would be at a disadvantage in later competitions because he is a level twelve chef. Unexpectedly, he can actually use level twelve ingredients to cook level thirteen spiritual meals."-

"How do you know that he is a level twelve chef?" Someone asked.

"Isn’t it obvious? He has only made level twelve food so far."

"I don’t think that explains anything. After all, each level thirteen ingredient is precious. Who would use them for the qualification rounds?"

"I agree with this fellow daoist. Most of the chefs won’t use level thirteen ingredients in the early stages."

Time passed and the judging ended.

At the same time, the judges announced the list of qualified chefs and as expected, Shen Xu topped the list.

After announcing the results, the host waited for the spectators to calm down before continuing her announcement.

"The third qualification round will be in three years." She said and quickly continued.

"The topic is a spiritual meal that can detoxify the five-step poison." She said and many spectators gasped in shock.

"Isn’t this topic abit too difficult?" Someone asked.

After all, the five-step poison was a domineering venom that killed a same-level cultivator in just five breaths.

Additionally, the antidote pill for the five-step poison was difficult to refine and required rare immortal grasses.

"Are three years enough to research such a special meal?" Another spectator wondered.

"As expected, it’s not easy to qualify for the Suzhou finals."

"What if someone mixes a detoxifying pill in their food?"

"Do you think the testing plate and judges are easy to fool?" Someone sneered and quickly continued.

"It’s almost impossible for any tricks to successfully fool the testing plate."

"Can the meal be anything?" Someone shouted and the host nodded.

"The meal can be anything: soup, porridge, stew, salad, dessert, ... However, it must have atleast five ingredients and can’t be a raw dish." She said and the spectators immediately understood.

With such requirements, the organisers had made sure than no one would produce a detoxifying fruit or other such treasure and present it as a meal.

[How?] Zhen Yuan asked and Shen Xu smiled.

[I don’t have a ready recipe but I know several detoxifying meals. I will use them to design a recipe for the five-step poison.] The double said and Zhen Yuan nodded.

[Let’s leave.] The man suggested and Shen Xu nodded in agreement.

With that, the two avoided the people that were trying to get close to them and slipped out of the martial arena.

However, they didn’t return to their courtyard.

Instead, they boarded a teleportation array and left Hefei city.