Two groups of staff members, distinctly separate, formed two lines and shuttled through the central stage of the venue.
Ten minutes later, the ingredients were ready.
The tools were ready.
The camera first gave a close-up of Tiqie Ji’s tools and ingredient box.
On the countertop, there were two sealed metal boxes, undoubtedly housing two kinds of precious ingredients.
"Two Forbidden Ingredients?"
Xia Yu was also paying attention to Tiqie Ji’s countertop. His heart skipped a beat as he saw it, "Can both resonate, or just one?" He couldn’t help but speculate, as the difference was too big and had critical implications for victory or defeat.
The entire audience focused their attention as Tiqie Ji opened the box with a faint smile on his lips, composed.
The lid opened, and a dark sheen flashed.
The crowd craned their necks, and the broadcast cameras also aimed at the box. Once the dark sheen faded, two large chunks of bloody meat were strikingly present at the bottom of the box.
The chunks of meat were incredibly tender, with an indescribable allure.
"It’s moving, the meat is moving!"
A piercing exclamation.
"Have you gone mad?!" rebuked a bystander.
The camera held still for a good ten seconds, obviously the cameraman was startled too, it took a while before giving a close-up of the meat.
In the close-up, the meat at the bottom of the box was indeed trembling slightly, to the audience’s horror.
At this moment, a judge spoke up. It was Luther, the director of the IGO Research Headquarters, who said gravely, "This is a type of snake meat with extremely high cellular activity, from a species of fantasy snake that lives in dark caves, formally known as the ’Demon Serpent.’ This snake can still attract and reattach its severed body parts to heal and regenerate. So, these two chunks of meat are moving, or more accurately, the active cells within are causing this motion..."
This German authority on research went into great detail. Unlike previous competitions, where the judges were vague about Forbidden Ingredients, cautious, not even introducing their names, they were basically deceiving the audience.
"My God, the meat can still move after being torn off..."
"Can we really eat this kind of ingredient?"
Hearing the uproar, Luther stressed again, "From the perspective of culinary research, there are no unusable ingredients. The key lies in how they are cooked, how they are tamed and mastered!"
"Forbidden Ingredients that have been successfully tamed are the ultimate delicacy and can be safely consumed by the general public!"
The audience was still whispering among themselves.
Today’s cooking battle, with those rare ingredients, was destined to refresh many people’s concepts.
The chefs, however, remained silent.
Forbidden Ingredients were not just precious delicacies but also deadly poisons. Failing to master them before use in cooking could lead to endangering lives.
As a result, most chefs, much like ordinary viewers, were just spectators, their skills still insufficient to comprehend the cooking techniques of the two competitors.
Hearing the commotion that refused to subside, Tiqie Ji’s smile grew more pronounced. He met Xia Yu’s gaze with faint scorn in his eyes, "You’ve prepared a gift for me, and I too have prepared a welcome gift for you! Accept it."
He opened the ingredient box!
A dazzling burst of golden light flashed in an instant.
As the light faded and everyone’s eyes adjusted, a wave of exclamation rose; people hadn’t expected that the large ingredient box, mainly occupied by sponge padding, harbored a small glass bottle resting quietly in the slot.
The bottle contained some glittering golden powder.
The audience was bewildered.
Jintan Shun and Tulip, however, stood up involuntarily with faces full of shock as soon as they saw this special seasoning.
Not just the two of them, surprised murmurs also came from the judges’ seats. The ’Regenerator’ from IGO, Adelaide the Third, exclaimed, "Merck’s Stars!"
Chiyoda Aichi and Dubian Yuuki exchanged puzzled looks, as they had never heard of this name—it was very unfamiliar.
"Duke Adelaide, could you please elaborate?" Chiyoda Aichi asked cautiously.
The blonde young man exhaled, having finally contained his surprise, and smiled, "Merck’s Stars, also known as Merck Star Dust, is a golden powder obtained from grinding a mysterious golden stone, composed of new amino acids. Just a sprinkle can transform the most ordinary dish into an exquisite delicacy. In other words, it’s a kind of super seasoning..."
As he spoke, Adelaide turned his gaze towards Sta and Andrea, who were sitting with the judges.
"You two should know more about ’Merck’s Stars’ than I do, right?"
"This super seasoning has quite strict prohibitions on its usage within our gourmet society, and even without these regulations, a regular Lin Chef wouldn’t normally be able to obtain ’Merck’s Stars,’" said Sta, wearing an iron mask, indifferently.
It was the female Lin Chef known as ’Burning Purple Rose’ Andrea who showed interest, "This forbidden spice, if eaten directly, can cause an addiction similar to that of drugs, and it’s the kind that can’t be cured. Therefore, the proper use of ’Merck’s Stars’ is to pair it with ingredients of the same forbidden caliber, which maximizes its value!"
At the exclusive Far Moon seats, Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro exchanged glances.
’Living legend’ Dojima Yin’s forehead was beaded with cold sweat as he couldn’t help but say, "When did Tiqie Ji master ’Merck’s Stars’?"
"We’re making progress, and he hasn’t stopped either!" Saito Chiyokuro sighed.
Zhu Qing just came from backstage, and upon seeing this, the smile on her face disappeared.
"A foreboding presence..." she murmured.
The couple Tiqie Zongwei and Roland Chapele were already looking solemn.
Tiqie Eriina, dressed in a white ball gown, clenched her fists in her seat and silently thought, "He will not lose!"
For a while, the camera moved away from Tiqie Ji’s cooking station and switched to Xia Yu’s side.
The bellows are not worth mentioning.
Earlier, when Xia Yu brought the bellows and toolbox on stage, it had attracted quite a bit of attention. Now, as the camera focused, the image of the vintage tools astonished everyone. With modern machinery available for fanning, why use something so clumsy and inconvenient?
But before people could discuss, a roar cut through the air, a cart with omnidirectional wheels was pushed onto the stage by two burly staff members.
Then, more people gathered to take a large, portable stove off the cart and place it beside Xia Yu’s cooking station.
Undeniably, the stove was unsightly, looking like a lump of stone, completely mismatching the modern, sleek cooking station.
Xia Yu didn’t say much, and after thanking the sweating staff members, he placed the bellows next to the stove, directing the nozzle at the stove’s air inlet. Then, a group of workers carried over bags and bags of charcoal.
He waved to the female host.
Chiyoda Aichi came over, looking bewildered, and Xia Yu pointed to the sixth chair beside the judges’ table, "Isn’t it time to invite a special guest on stage?"
The female host immediately realized that there was a special segment before the cooking started.
She quickly turned to look at the Far Moon seats, raising her voice to call out, "Please welcome ’Divine Tongue’ Tiqie Eriina!"
Thus, the girl, to the astonishment and confusion of all, gracefully ascended the stage in her white princess dress. She greeted each of the five judges in turn and then took her seat in the sixth chair.
"This is one of Far Moon Team’s conditions for the culinary battle."
The other female host, Dubian Yuuki, spoke, and the commotion immediately subsided; no further explanation was needed.
At this point, Xia Yu also opened the ingredient box delivered by the staff.
The camera switched back just in time to catch a dazzling white light suffusing the scene.
"What has Chef Xia prepared?!"