Falling in Love to Escape the Original Book Plot [BL]-Chapter 389: Spiritual Food Master Challenge 2

Shen Xu had five fires – his spiritual root fire, the wood element fire, the lightning element fire, an earth fire, and a beast fire.

The beast fire was Feng Xue’s sub-fire.

Since she was a yin-yang phoenix and her fire was a rank two flame, the beast fire was Shen Xu’s most powerful flame for the time being.

However, he didn’t plan to use it for the challenge.

After all, such a treasure was enough to tempt the old monsters in the Tianxuan continent, let alone those in the sect.

’It’s okay to provoke trouble, but I must not attract more trouble than we can handle.’ The double thought.

After eliminating the beast fire, he considered his remaining flames.

Xiaomu and Xiaolei were in seclusion, and the situation was not so dire that he needed to interrupt their retreat.

As for the earth fire, it was a random fire he contracted when they were exploring the underwater volcano in the Yunshan secret realm.

Although it was powerful, Shen Xu usually treated it as a food reserve for his other fires and hadn’t bothered to properly advance it.

The final option was his spiritual root fire.

After a lot of effort, the fire was now a rank five flame, and its purity and power were equivalent to a level eight fire.

Thinking of this, Shen Xu nodded with a satisfied expression.

’The spiritual root fire will do.’ He thought and promptly took it out.

Seeing the fire, Chen Qian and the spectators couldn’t help but be surprised.

"Is fellow Daoist Shen really going to use his spiritual root fire?" Someone asked in an incredulous voice.

After all, even the fire of single root heavenly spiritual root cultivators was inferior to most plant and beast fires, let alone earth fires.

"Maybe his spiritual root fire is not ordinary?" Someone opined in an uncertain voice.

"Look at it? Where is it not ordinary?"

"It looks ordinary to me."

"Has fellow Daoist Shen given up even before trying?"

"It’s not unexpected." Someone sighed and quickly continued.

"Senior Chen Qian is a genius spiritual food master. It’s not strange that fellow Daoist Shen has chosen to give up."

"I don’t think fellow Daoist Shen has given up. Look at how carefully he has cleaned the ingredients and pots. Why would he do that if he was planning to give up?"

"Maybe he is trying to save face?"

"It doesn’t matter. We will know the answer in three hours."

With bated breath, the spectators and judges watched as Chen Qian and Shen Xu carefully prepared the food.

At a glance, both looked organised and confident.

However, lay people enjoy the show, but masters see the door!

Although Chen Qian used a high-grade earth fire while Shen Xu used his spiritual root fire, the latter was progressing as smoothly as the former.

Shen Xu had perfect control of his fire and was effortlessly extracting the ingredients’ essence while discarding impurities and preserving the spiritual aura.

"This kid is not simple." One of the elders said with a thoughtful expression.

The elder was Sun Yu, the peak elder of the eighth mountain and Chen Qian’s master.

Sun Yu originally didn’t want to get involved with the challenges.

However, he lost a wager to Luo Jiafeng and was forced to judge the spiritual food challenge.

"What are his chances?" Luo Jianfeng asked, but Sun Yu didn’t answer.

Instead, he narrowed his eyes and rubbed his long beard.

"Old man, can this kid be convinced to enter my eighth peak?" He asked.

Luo Jianfeng was shocked when he heard this.

[Are you really willing to wade in this muddy water?] He transmitted, and Sun Yu sighed.

[He is undoubtedly more talented than Qian’er. It wouldn’t be a loss to fight this fight.] He said, but Luo Jianfeng shook his head.

[I am afraid he won’t agree.] The swordsman said and quickly continued.

[I have only known them for several months, but I can tell they are people who don’t like to be fettered.]

[He may have a choice at other times, but their situation is not great. Don’t you think he will compromise to save his and his Taoist partner’s life?]

[Maybe.] Luo Jianfeng said, but he didn’t actually think so.

He originally thought Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan were fighting a losing battle.

However, after observing the two, Luo Jianfeng had an inexplicable feeling that they would manage, at least, six out of ten wins.

’That will help them avoid the mines, but it will create a whole new set of problems.’ He thought and sighed with a helpless expression.

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

After the last grain of sand fell, Yang Zitao collected the hourglass and halted the challenge.

"Serve your food and bring it to the judges’ table." He instructed, and the two didn’t waste time.

In no time, both carried their food to the table and stood in front, waiting for the verdict.

"The first assessment is presentation. "Yang Zitao said, but the outcome was clear.

The cultivation world favoured practicality over aesthetics in most things.

As a result, spiritual food masters rarely thought of ways to present their creations in a better light.

However, Shen Xu transmigrated from the modern world, and as a world-class chef, he was used to creating not only delicious food but also good-looking food.

At this time, his food looked obviously more beautiful than Chen Qian’s.

"Elders, please write your winner on the provided paper." Yang Zitao said, and the elders nodded before they began writing.

The outcome was not a surprise, and Shen Xu won five out of five votes.

However, Chen Qian was not fazed and only sneered.

"What’s the use of good-looking food?" He said and quickly continued.

"Rather than waste time on presentation, isn’t it better to focus on taste and spiritual aura?" He asked, but Shen Xu disagreed.

"Who wants to eat ugly-looking food? I certainly don’t." He said and shrugged.

"You..." Chen Qian started, but Yang Zitao interrupted him.

"Disciple Shen gains one point in this round, and disciple Chen gains zero points." He said, but Chen Qian smiled with a confident expression.

"At least you won’t get zero points." He said, and Shen Xu chuckled.

"I am afraid I can’t say the same for you."

The next assessment point was the spiritual aura value.

Although cultivators could naturally tell which food had more aura, food competitions usually relied on a testing cover.

The cover was an umbrella-shaped spiritual equipment.

Once activated, it could examine the spiritual aura of the foods placed underneath it, relative to the maximum possible for the ingredients.

"I will go first." Chen Qian offered, reached for the testing cover and placed it over his food.

Ten breaths later, a number appeared above the cover, and the spectators gasped. Even the judges were impressed.

"Senior Chen actually scored eighty-three out of one hundred." Someone exclaimed.

"Why is the value so much lower than his score for the inter sect competition thirty years ago?" Another asked in a confused voice.

"What do you know?" His friend said and began explaining.

"Although the ingredients were fresh, they were common and likely not perfectly stored before being used for the challenge. Also, common ingredients have more impurities and lose their aura more rapidly."

"Ordinary spiritual food masters can barely preserve fifty per cent of the aura, let alone eighty-three."

"It turns out senior brother Chen is so amazing." A female cultivator praised with stars in her eyes.

"He is not called a genius for no reason."

"I wonder what value fellow Daoist Shen will get." Someone wondered.

"Probably lower than senior Chen."

"Why?"

"First, senior Chen used a better fire and could burn impurities more thoroughly." A spectator said and quickly continued.

"Second, senior Chen has a higher cultivation and could handle the level seven ingredients more easily."

"Is that really the case? I don’t think fellow Daoist Shen struggled with the materials."

"I also don’t think he struggled with the ingredients. He looked relaxed for the entire three hours."

"Fellow Daoist Shen is a fusion realm cultivator. No matter how talented he is, he would definitely feel a little strained handling materials of the same level as his cultivation."

"I..." Someone started, but his friend stopped his words.

"Fellow Daoist Shen is about to test his food." He said, and the surrounding people immediately shifted their attention to the stage.

With a relaxed expression, Shen Xu picked up the cover and carefully placed it above his food.

If possible, the double would have wanted to spend more time removing impurities, preserving the aura, and locking the flavours.

Unfortunately, the challenge had a time limit, so he was forced to compromise on some things.

That said, Shen Xu was confident he had done enough to win the round.

’Don’t disappoint me.’ He thought and activated the testing cover.

Ten breaths later, the surrounding people gasped, and Sun Yu stood in shock.

"How can this be?" He muttered.