Bursting Flame advanced to the golden frame, and thus Xia Yu naturally awakened his second divine-level talent—
The talent he awakened by training Bursting Flame to max level was drastically different from those attained through spinning the wheel or adding Talent Points for a lucky breakthrough; the biggest difference was that Xia Yu could activate it at will, with an insignificant consumption of spiritual power.
Like a child thrilled with a new toy, Xia Yu chased the trail of the wind for a while, then took a lighter and, after toying with it in various ways until it broke, finally stopped; he even felt the gradual change in the water temperature while soaking in the bath with his eyes closed.
From his enthusiastic experience, Xia Yu came to a conclusion—
No wonder in the Chinese Realm series, those chefs who had awakened divine-level talents were all martial arts masters.
Even if an ordinary person unintentionally awakened talents like [Ultra Hearing] or [Ultra Touch], regardless of their basic skills, they could immediately become great masters who mastered arts like ’listening to the wind to discern position’ or ’capturing people with qi’.
Xia Yu even had the confidence to confront firearms head-on.
Of course, that was under the premise that his body could keep up with his neural reactions.
After playing with the door closed until evening, Xia Yu finally turned around and glanced at the ’luxury lottery chance’ that had been neglected all afternoon.
This was the final reward.
"Would you like to use a chance to activate the ’luxury prize wheel’?"
As soon as he spoke, his view was dominated by a magnificent golden wheel.
This wheel was a bit unusual; not only was it entirely golden, but its surface was actually inlaid with mysterious, finely crushed crystal stones, forming a pair of hollow eyes right on the front of the wheel.
A sense of fate and fortune.
The wheel had 36 spaces, among which a striking 12 spaces were shimmering with golden light.
In other words, the chance of drawing a golden item was...
After this bountiful harvest, Xia Yu couldn’t be more satisfied, so he didn’t dawdle with prayers and simply said, "Start—"
And so, the pointer of fate began to turn.
After two seconds, Xia Yu suddenly spoke, then stared at the slowly decelerating pointer. As the pointer indeed moved toward a space gleaming with golden light, the odds of landing on a golden item were nearly certain.
Today was indeed his lucky day!
"Beep, you have obtained [The Card of Fate] (Gold)."
What the heck is that?
His face stiffened slightly; while it was nice to receive a golden item, getting junk would be even more frustrating.
Suddenly, the boy’s face was full of baffled expressions.
Here, there should be an emoticon.
The Shokugeki representing the A district champion had concluded, but the influence of the competition was just beginning to ferment after the event.
The boy, engrossed in his room playing with his new toy, clearly hadn’t noticed the television programs and online media platforms that were now ablaze with the stunning display he put on during the Shokugeki, creating a storm of light.
Tokyo Delicacies Express—"[The Radiant Cuisine!]"
Neon Food Guide—"[The Unprecedented Genius! The Cuisine that Brings Happiness!]"
The local media in Japan were full of praise, sparing no effort in their compliments.
Let’s not forget, this was a Shokugeki at an international competition, and many foreign media outlets closely followed and reported on the event. As the groundbreaking victor was announced, countless media in the United States worked overtime to revise their articles.
Chinese Cuisine World, the media mouthpiece of the Chinese Realm, shocked the headlines on the web portal with a striking title—
"[A Timeless Classic Born Today! ’Gold and Jade’!]"
Twitter, Facebook, Weibo.
Every social media platform Xia Yu had verified accounts on was now teeming with fans who had come seeking him. Initially, Xia Yu’s Twitter and Weibo followers numbered only in the hundreds of thousands, far from being an internet celebrity, but due to this Shokugeki, in just one afternoon, the number of followers had surged by several millions.
What was both amusing and baffling was that Xia Yu had neglected to manage these platforms; actually, he had abandoned them after registering. The most recent personal post was from three months ago— a picture of Hua Mao sunbathing in the courtyard with a simple caption:
"This little guy got fat again (smiley face)."
Originally, his mundane diary entries, with only a handful of shares and comments, skyrocketed to more than a hundred thousand.
"Ah ah ah, he’s been verified, this must be Chef Xia’s Weibo!"
Someone replied, accompanied by a picture.
One image depicted a young man tending a bellows in front of a fiery stove, his focused side profile slightly sweating like that of a blacksmith. This picture drew a crowd of onlookers.
Another image was a high-definition close-up of the ’Gold and Jade’ dish, likewise causing countless drooling spectators to crave a taste.
Meanwhile, an incalculable number of media outlets and web portals were sending private messages to Xia Yu’s personal social media platforms, requesting authorization or extending very formal interview invitations.
In Beijing, within the Forbidden City.
The television was broadcasting exciting highlights from the culinary competition.
An old man with white hair watched it several times, "It’s glowing cuisine, no doubt about it!"
He stood up and, as the attendant outside heard movement, respectfully asked, "Boss, do you have any instructions?"
"Prepare for a secret meeting! Notify the owner of the Eight-Sided Tower for me, I want to see him in a video conference in half an hour!" the old man said unmistakably.
The secretary’s voice trembled.
Soon, in an old-fashioned meeting room where only the old man sat, a beep sounded and the screen lit up, revealing a middle-aged man in a large black robe sitting opposite.
Even the current Dark Food World leader had to bow his head and use a respectful title.
"Yan Qi, have your Eight-Sided Tower Team withdraw from the competition," the old man began.
The middle-aged man’s expression remained calm, revealing no surprise; instead, he lightly chuckled, "Boss, do you feel threatened by that team from Japan as well?"
"Hmph, the team from Japan?"
"Hehe, after all, their cover is Far Moon, and outside it represents the Japanese Food Industry... Xia Qing commanding a team remotely in order to compete for our nation’s Divine Artifact is problematic, you should have intervened sooner," the Dark Leader Yan Qi said.
He paused for a moment, then his gaze twinkled as he continued, "If you have the Eight-Sided Tower Team withdraw during the Special Chef Showdown, then the promise you made before..."
The Dark Leader breathed a sigh of relief.
The old man stood up, turned away from the screen with hands clasped behind him, and said, "You understand the purpose of having your teams withdraw, don’t you? Whether it’s the Eight-Sided Tower Team or the White Jade Building Team making it to the finals, there will inevitably be a bloody battle between the two teams. If a battle ensues, many secret techniques of top chefs will unavoidably be revealed, giving the Far Moon Team an advantage in gathering information."
Yan Qi said and, after a long silence with the old man not speaking further, he couldn’t help asking, "Are you really not going to intervene and make Xia Qing back off?"
"Back off, why would I?"
"I only want the final outcome. If the nation’s Divine Artifact can return to its homeland, it doesn’t matter whose hands it’s in."
Upon hearing this, the Dark Leader fixed his gaze on the old man’s silhouette on the screen, his eyes reflecting a mix of sighs and admiration.
Such grand vision, such magnanimity!
In this era, it’s no wonder that the Dark World has always been suppressed by the Light Realm.
The Dark World also needs a sovereign leader to rise and stir the waves.
Yan Qi’s gaze dimmed slightly, "When will the Dark Cuisine World restore its former glory of one hundred and eight Qilin Chefs and the Five Tiger Stars?"
The ’Gourmet Club’ also convened an internal video conference.
A tall man in the video erupted in anger.
"Tiqie Ji, get back to the United States headquarters immediately!"
The middle-aged man in black looked defeated.
At the Gourmet Club, both competing teams had gathered, with Lei Zhe leading the research faction, indifferent to Tiqie Ji’s situation. The academy faction, led by Desani, merely cast sympathetic glances at the defeated.
Within the Gourmet Club, it was foreseeable that the losers would face a dire fate.
The meeting adjourned.
As the special chefs left, only five Qilin giants remained in the conference room:
’Sta’ the Dragon Tamer, ’Andrea’ with the Burning Purple Rose, ’Lei Zhe’ the Research Maniac, ’Desani’ the Professor of Heavenly Eye, and Catherine the overseer sent by the Gourmet Club leader.
"Let’s talk about that young man..."
The voice of the Gourmet Club leader came through.