Hearing his voice suddenly deep and changed, Xia Qing chuckled under the skywell at Shu Restaurant, "You should exercise more, or you’ll break down at critical moments . To become a Lin Chef, a Dragon Chef, your physique must be extraordinary!"
Xia Yu protested, meanwhile cursing under his breath—whatever that plague technique was, it was totally unreasonable!
The old man teased, "You’re relying on... those so-called gourmet cells? The exercise I’m talking about is improving oneself, as the saying goes, ’Nature flourishes with vigor, and a gentleman should strive for self-improvement incessantly.’ Self-improvement is much more reliable than any external factor."
"Let’s not talk about that!"
After taking care of his runny nose with a tissue, Xia Yu glanced at the eight clay pots on the stove, estimating that it would still be a while, and got up to walk out to the corridor outside the enclosed kitchen. He opened a window and gazed into the mountain scenery under the night sky.
"Any news on the second round’s topic?" the old man asked.
"You’re quite concerned, indeed it’s out. The topic is ’The highest good is like water’!"
"The highest good is like water?"
The other end expressed surprise, "That’s a phrase from ’Laozi.’ Our chefs in the Chinese Realm may understand it, and the competitors from Shinohara’s team in Japan too, but what about the two Food Dominator teams..."
He went on, then burst out in hearty laughter.
Xia Qing exhaled, "The question setters are that group who love to watch the excitement. Speaking of which, I’m acquainted with all four of them, we have connections."
"The highest good is like water ..." Xia Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, "It refers to a state of being, applied to culinary arts, it’s about constraining the ’essence’ of gourmet food. I actually think the topic is quite clever. Chefs aren’t limited by the form of their dishes, whether it’s Western cuisine, Chinese cuisine, whether they’re making flatbreads or frying rice, or serving delicacies at a queen’s dinner table, as long as they can imbue them with the philosophy of ’the highest good is like water,’ they’ll have met the criteria!"
Loud applause came through the phone.
"It seems your head isn’t clogged up with snot after all, the topic has just been released today and you already have your own approach to it, well done!" the old man praised.
Xia Yu’s face darkened, "What do you mean, ’head clogged up with snot’?"
While saying that, he sniffed hard to clear his nose and quickly changed the subject, "Hey, I was saying, old man, after the Sapporo event I want to go back to China for a while..."
"Going back to China?"
The laugh faded from the other end.
"What’s the plan on returning?" Xia Qing’s voice contained a rare hint of interrogation.
"I’m coming back to help you!" Xia Yu said as a matter of course.
Hearing that, the old man sitting below the skywell at the Shu Restaurant relaxed his tense face, his voice once again filled with laughter, "Want to come back? You’re not quite there yet. If you return now, you’ll only make a mess and hold me back. Don’t tell me you want to be living off your parents?"
A vein popped on Xia Yu’s forehead, "I’m serious!"
"So am I! Don’t come back, at least not now!"
"How about this..." he grunted, "Lin level!"
"Once you’re promoted to Lin level and become a true Lin Chef, even if you’re unwilling to come back, many people will go to Japan to find you. Because, reaching the ’Lin’ level makes you a threat in their eyes."
With that, the call came to an end.
Xia Yu locked his phone screen, murmuring to himself, "So I can’t even think of going back home?"
He rubbed his eyebrows.
From the old man’s warnings, it seemed that the Xia Family was not in a good position domestically, and Zhu Qing was very vigilant about this. He had wanted to ask several times but was deftly sidetracked each time. But from his interactions with chefs from the Chinese Realm in this period, even the Wu Family’s fairy, Wu Yingying, who bore a grudge, showed little hostility towards him. Could the Xia Family’s dire situation exist at a higher level among the Lin and Dragon chefs?
Xia Yu was certain that the Xia Family’s difficulties were inseparably linked to the old man taking him abroad to East Crossing.
He clenched his fists.
"Now I’m only half a Lin Chef?" Xia Yu thought to himself. "The King’s Road route of ’Food Spirit’... Full level Bursting Flame can indeed bestow Food Spirit onto the cuisine, but is too limited. If I force it, it would take years to possibly understand the Food Spirit—far too long!"
"The Food Dominator route, I have mastered the ’Gem Meat,’ ’Golden Wheat,’—two Taboo Resonance Ingredients—and I’ve already taken a big step forward, but the crucial step has yet to progress..."
The direct manifestation of Food Spirit is sound.
For example, Zhu Qing’s ’Transformation’ Food Spirit in "Rainbow Wine" is the sound of a spring stream’s gentle flow, the buzzing of summer night cicadas, the rustling of autumn winds, and the roaring of fierce winter gales.
Lan Chuhai’s ’Detachment’ Food Spirit in the "Snow Bubble Plum Blossom Shrimp" is like the voice of a hermit chanting poetry, growing fainter and fainter in the distance.
And the Food Dominator, well, most top chefs define it as ’gourmet cells.’
But that’s just an amateur perspective. Having actually pursued this route and considering the situations of giants like Mars and Tiqie Ji, as well as his past experiences tasting Lin-level Forbidden Dishes, ’gourmet cells’ are just surface level. Deeper down, there’s a mystery comparable to the voice of Food Spirit—
Tiqie Ji had stumbled upon this path and could control "Demon Big Snake Meat" to bind the taster’s tongue and taste buds, summarily, using his own dishes to aggressively invade the taster’s palate with a strong psychological imprint!
Xia Yu could walk both paths.
To pursue the ’Food Spirit’ route and become a King’s Road Lin Chef, the most straightforward approach is to amass 100 talent points and upgrade the "Heart of Cooking" to gold—it’s a sure thing.
He has already amassed 29 points, nearly one-third.
"The Food Dominator route requires further observation."
Xia Yu thought quietly to himself.
Perfect, taking advantage of his current illness, he could observe the culinary performances of Lei Zhe and Desani, two Food Dominator Lin Giants, from the sidelines.
Just like advancing to a special-class chef, ascending to Lin Chef also requires deep accumulation and profound foundation.
Observing in secret first could never be wrong.
Xia Yu’s absence from the second round of the elimination match had become a fact, regardless of public discussion. The competition continued without him.
In the blink of an eye, it was another competition day.
At nine o’clock in the morning, the Far Moon group headed out early in a bus to get to the competition venue.
"Saito-senpai, it’s in your hands!"
Backstage, Xia Yu gave Saito Chiyokuro a thumbs-up.
Saito Chiyokuro felt immense pressure, his smile gone, his face serious. Clearly, for him, partnering with Zhu Qing to carve a path through the multitude and break into the final top 3 was no easy task.
"Saito’s Food Spirit is ’Shura,’ and mine is ’Transformation.’ To use them to create a culinary atmosphere that fits the gentle and yielding theme is too difficult!"
She said, then immediately bit her lip, her beautiful eyes filled with envy.
"The highest good is like water, which benefits all things without striving!"
"That woman Lan Chuhai, her ’Detachment’ Food Spirit is so well suited to the theme. The pastoral, uncompetitive atmosphere, if she can express it through her cuisine, will perfectly meet the theme! One of the top three seats in the finals is definitely reserved for her and Li Han’s duo!"