Falling in Love to Escape the Original Book Plot [BL]-Chapter 388: Spiritual Food Master Challenge 1

"Shen Xu, I know you are good at brewing wine, but you shouldn’t stand here to embarrass yourself. I am the undisputed genius of spiritual foods." Chen Qian said with an arrogant expression.

But who was Shen Xu?

Could anyone be more arrogant than he was? 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

After hearing the provocation, he tilted his head and smiled.

"Genius, huh ..." He drawled with a lazy expression.

"I am also the undisputed genius of spiritual foods." He stated and turned to Zhen Yuan.

"Ayuan, am I right?" He asked, and Zhen Yuan immediately nodded.

"You are the best." The man said, and Shen Xu nodded in satisfaction.

"Did you hear that? I am the best." He said and raised his chin with a proud expression.

Chen Qian almost spat blood when he witnessed the interaction.

He didn’t expect that someone would be more arrogant and unreasonable than he was.

However, this fuelled his determination to win.

"Care for a bet?" He asked, and Shen Xu raised an eyebrow.

"What are we betting on?" He asked.

"We will bet on our challenge." Chen Qian said and quickly continued.

"The loser will give the winner a valuable ingredient. What do you think?"

"I am interested, but what is the definition of ’valuable’?" Shen Xu asked,

After all, he and Zhen Yuan had collected countless precious ingredients, especially in the Tianqi continent’s forbidden zone.

"I recently got a twenty-thousand-year-old golden pine mushroom. Do you dare to produce something of equal value?" Chen Qian asked, and Shen Xu almost broke out in a happy dance.

He had many kinds of mushrooms.

However, he didn’t have a single golden pine mushroom.

Pine mushrooms were rare and could be considered as precious food ingredients, but golden pine mushrooms were even more valuable.

In terms of flavour, fragrance, spiritual aura, and other benefits, golden pine mushrooms were at least thirty times more precious.

"Since senior Chen has set the bar, I am willing to wager half a kilogram of red oak white truffles." Shen Xu said, and Chen Qian couldn’t help but be surprised.

Red oak white truffles, and pine mushrooms were equally valuable in terms of nutrition, flavour, and spiritual aura.

However, red oak white truffles were rarer, and Chen Qian didn’t expect Shen Xu to have half a kilogram.

’I will make good use of them after I win them.’ He thought, and a trace of determination flashed in his eyes.

At the same time, the spectators were boiling with excitement.

They didn’t expect the two people to suddenly increase the stakes.

However, they were there for the entertainment, and the treasures had nothing to do with them.

"I think senior Chen will win." Someone said in an excited voice.

"I am putting my spirit stones on fellow Daoist Shen."

"You think he will win just because he brews good wine? Don’t be confused. Some spiritual food masters are only good at cooking or brewing, not both."

"You are right, but fellow Daoist Shen doesn’t seem worried. I think he has a good chance."

While the crowd was speculating, Yang Zitao signalled a female elder, and the woman nodded before walking to the long, empty table.

Soon after, she waved her hand and countless ingredients appeared on the table.

"The challenge is simple." Yang Zitao said and quickly continued.

"You have three hours to prepare a full course meal with at least one tea, an appetiser, a meat dish, a fish dish, a vegetable dish, a soup, a staple, and a dessert."

"The meal should be level seven and can only use the ingredients provided on the table." The man said and pointed at the table.

"That said, you are allowed to use three personal ingredients. However, the items are limited to condiments. Do you understand?" Yang Zitao asked and only continued after the two nodded.

"The food will be judged on three criteria: appearance, taste, and spiritual aura."

"Appearance will carry one point, taste will carry two points, and spiritual aura will carry seven points for a total of ten points."

After explaining the rules, Yang Zitao took out an hourglass from his space ring and injected a strand of qi into it, causing the device to float above the competition stage.

"Your three hours start now." He said.

Hearing this, Shen Xu and Chen Qian walked to the ingredients table.

From a casual glance, Shen Xu realised that all the ingredients were fresh but ordinary.

However, he didn’t care about this.

Back in Blue Spring town, when he first got into spiritual cooking, Shen Xu could only access ordinary ingredients. Because of this, he didn’t look down on common foods, although they lacked the flavour profile of precious ingredients.

’What should I cook?’ He wondered and began checking the ingredients.

Soon after, he stopped in front of a batch of yellowfin tuna.

Looking at the fish, he recalled his and Zhen Yuan’s lie and immediately thought that cooking tuna was a kind of poetic irony.

With that in mind, he examined the fish and chose the one with the best quality.

’It will be delicious when made into seared tuna.’ He thought and put the fish in his storage ring before moving to the next ingredient.

In this way, Shen Xu chose the ingredients he needed and some he thought he might need but wasn’t committed for the time being.

At the same time, he considered all the condiments he usually used.

While most could be made with the ingredients provided on the table, others could not. For this reason, the double considered carefully before deciding which three personal ingredients he wanted to use for the meal.

The first was a spice blend, the second was a cooking wine he specially brewed, and the third was the ten-elements honey bees’ honey.

After returning to his worktable, Shen Xu took out a basin of spiritual water and began cleaning the ingredients. On one hand, it was to remove the external dirt, and on the other, it was to remove the internal impurities.

While the ingredients were soaking, he took out his kitchenware and began cleaning it.

At the same time, he thought about his fires.