The scene shattered and disappeared abruptly.
"I want to eat more!"
Inside their minds, a voice spoke, and Qiushan Hong, Indira, and Shinohara Shigetaro, opening their slightly clearer eyes, looked down again at the bowl in front of them, a porridge like condensed milk, swallowing their saliva non-stop.
For a moment, the sound of eating porridge filled the air.
In July, eating hot porridge is sure to bring on a sweat; thus, under the camera’s follow shot, the faces of the three judges quickly became covered in sweat, even dripping down their chins onto the judges’ bench.
The venue was silent as a graveyard.
The audience, who hadn’t drunk the hot porridge, naturally had no idea what the judges were experiencing.
It was still that pure world.
Indira sat on the back of the Dragon, and in all four directions of the sky amidst the sound of thunder and storms, a colossal tortoise appeared—this was Xuanwu!
An immortal fireball descended from beyond the heavens, Vermilion Bird diving down with brilliant flames and stopping in front of the dazed Qiushan Hong and Shinohara Shigetaro, elegantly raising its long neck, casting an inviting gaze at the two men.
Amid the rumbling of wind and thunder, White Tiger, large as a hill, appeared.
Thus, the four Divine Beasts gathered, and the three judges, along with the Divine Beasts, swayed and danced together in the lightly golden-lit world of Nirvana.
This was the sound of the drum.
This was the sound of the gong.
The sky was suddenly filled with strange clouds, where gods and Buddhas stood faintly visible.
Two voices echoed through the entire world, causing the hearts of Qiushan Hong, Indira, and Shinohara Shigetaro to quiver intensely, their hearts so stirred they could not speak, as if they had truly reached that legendary mythological primordial world.
After a long while, the bowl of porridge was finished.
The images in their minds naturally vanished.
But Qiushan Hong, Indira, and Shinohara Shigetaro seemed to have forgotten their work, leaning back in their chairs, the sounds of that world still echoing clearly in their ears.
"Humph—" Qiushan Hong tapped the table with his finger, instinctively closing his eyes and shouting out,
A male and a female voice joined in.
Then Indira and Shinohara Shigetaro exchanged looks, blinking at each other.
"Humph, Ha?" Chiyoda Aichi tilted her head, scanning the three judges in confusion, and spoke hesitantly, "Uh, esteemed judges, could you please give a detailed evaluation of Chef Xia’s porridge?"
She didn’t specifically ask anyone in particular.
"Or rather, let me do it!"
Qiushan Hong, Indira, and Shinohara Shigetaro all had a strong desire to explain.
"Then, all three of you, please!" Chiyoda Aichi quickly responded.
"Cough, I’ll start off then!" Qiushan Hong looked at Xia Yu and asked, "Chef Xia, how were you able to cook the Jile Rice until it was so soft? The toughness of this Fantasy Rice is not at all inferior to ’Pitch-Black Rice’."
"Pitch-Black Rice has a deep cold defense, Jile Rice may not have as strong a defense as Pitch-Black Rice, but in terms of ultimate flavor, it’s much stronger."
He spoke and then suddenly said, "Do you know why we were reluctant to comment on Chef Kawase’s porridge just now?"
"Because his porridge was only halfway done, far from worthy of being talked about as conquered!"
"Chef Kawase’s control over the cooking temperature for Jile Rice was way off. When he finalized his recipe, he didn’t even realize this! A serious mistake!"
All eyes in the hall turned toward the resting area.
Facing the camera, Chef Kawase could only offer a bitter smile, "That’s right, my recipe was wrong from the start! Jile Rice is not suitable for porridge because real porridge needs to be well-cooked, and the control of heat is much higher compared to cooking or frying rice!"
The crowd finally understood.
No wonder the previous examiners and Chef Kawase himself were unwilling to say more.
Then, the whole venue’s gaze naturally shifted to Xia Yu, including Chef Kawase, who was staring intently at the young chef.
It was clearly rice unsuitable for making porridge, but why did it turn into a dense and smooth medicinal porridge like sweetened condensed milk under his hands?
Xia Yu wanted to unveil the mystery himself, but Shinohara Shigetaro didn’t give him the chance.
Shinohara Shigetaro exclaimed, "Chef Xia’s prolonged stirring earlier wasn’t futile at all. Preventing scorching was only one aspect; the technique of stirring in that spiraling motion was largely to ensure even cooking of the porridge!"
"Porridge that’s been cooked for 3 hours!"
He presented loud, crisp applause.
Soon, the screens above the venue played a real-time recording.
In the frame, there was a young man, continuously spinning a black dough stick, focused, steadily standing beside the charcoal stove, in a world of his own, the roaring heat seemingly unable to affect him.
When they looked back at Xia Yu’s culinary performance now, the whole venue was silent.
Xia Yu scratched his face, watching the image of himself, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"It’s my turn to speak!"
Indira forcibly composed her face, trying her best to appear serious and stern.
"Although my ascent into the realm of Lin Chef was through the path of spices, I’ve traveled the Chinese Continent for a considerable time and have also studied the theories of Chinese medicine, knowing how to pair medicinal dishes!"
"Don’t underestimate Chef Xia’s pairing of medicinal ingredients!"
She looked into the camera, with a serious face, "Job’s tears, lotus seeds, gorgon fruit, and poria are four medicinal ingredients that can be combined, and first, we need to ensure that there are no taboos!"
"Then, there’s the issue of ’Meridian Attribution’ in pharmacology; the ingredients in a bowl of medicinal porridge, of course, can’t be added haphazardly. The so-called ’Four Gods Porridge’ refers to the combination of these four medicinal ingredients—lotus seeds, gorgon fruit, Job’s tears, and poria..."
Halfway through, she suddenly inhaled sharply and turned her piercing gaze onto Xia Yu.
"But, the ingredients in this bowl of porridge, don’t end there!"
Indira could not hide her confusion.
"Why does your porridge have a hint of almond flavor when I clearly didn’t taste any almond component?"
Qiushan Hong and Shinohara Shigetaro exchanged looks.
"This is a break from the traditional Four Gods Porridge; an extra element of almond has been added to the framework of medicinal ingredients! It makes the porridge even more fragrant and lingering, leaving a lasting taste after eating!"
Xia Yu just gave a faint smile, "I didn’t put any almonds in it."
The venue immediately erupted into chaos.
Was this slapping the three examiners in the face?
However, including the three examiners, many professional chefs with sharp minds suddenly thought of a possibility.
"He used another Fantasy Ingredient!"
A bright female voice carried from the guest area.
Yuchuan Ayaka had stood up from her seat at some point, her fists clenched lightly at her side, and she uttered the name of a representative ingredient in a deep voice:
The audience, barely maintaining composure until now, went wild as soon as they learned that Xia Yu’s medicinal porridge incorporated a second Fantasy Ingredient.
Countless people covered their heads in disbelief.
"Miss Yuchuan, it seems you know me quite well!" Xia Yu chuckled.
At that moment, an IGO staff member hurried to the stage and whispered a few words at the judges’ bench, providing some kind of confirmation to the three examiners.
"So that’s how it was!"
"You requested this ingredient only this morning..."
Shinohara Shigetaro came to a realization and subconsciously looked toward the side, where Reiko Liangzi and Aoki Motota were standing at the entrance.
Reiko Liangzi was responsible for and managed the ingredients.
"So, do the three examiners think I’m qualified now?"
Xia Yu placed emphasis on the word ’qualified’.