The tea tree was sparkling, while an immortal tune, the chanting of a Buddha, and all kinds of voices surrounded it, which woke Lord Dog, Fire Demon Patriarch, and Nether King Er Ha from their intoxication of the Roc meat. Their eyes and attention were immediately attracted by Bu Fang’s dish.
At this moment, the Power of the Law began to spin in the sky. A strange power seemed to project out of the rotating Wheel of Law, and it rumbled as stars appeared inside. There were three rows of ten stars, and each row represented Lord Dog, Fire Demon Patriarch, and Er Ha’s ratings of Ah Zhuang’s dish. The ratings accurately reflected their evaluation of the dish and could not be faked.
All the people present raised their heads and stared at the wheel. The ratings of the dish would determine the outcome of the Chef’s Challenge. Since they could not taste the Roc meat, they could only rely on the ratings to guess its taste.
A buzzing sound rang out. The next moment, the first row of stars began to light up. It represented Er Ha’s rating, as half of the Runes of Law drifted away from him and rushed into the Wheel of Law.
With the return of the runes, the stars began to slowly light up.
One, two, three…
As the stars lit up, everyone’s minds seemed to be pulled into the wheel. Even Ah Zhuang, who had always felt so confident about himself, could not help but stare anxiously at the stars. He was eager to know the ratings of his dish.
Eight, nine…
Finally, the stars stopped lighting up. Of the ten stars, nine were lit, and the last one hung alone over the wheel.
An uproar broke out in an instant.
Nine stars?! It actually got a high rating of nine stars!
The crowd was horrified and felt more and more that Bu Fang was less likely to turn the tables. Even Nether King Er Ha, who had always been a picky person, had given the dish nine stars. How could he win the challenge?
“How could my dish only get nine stars? What’s not good about it?!”
However, Ah Zhuang was very unhappy with the rating. He widened his eyes and stared fixedly at Er Ha, while a terrible pressure exploded out of him. He didn’t understand. For him, not getting ten stars for his dish was a shame!
“It’s easy to understand why I only gave nine stars…” Er Ha took a deep breath and pushed a lock of hair out of his forehead. A touch of melancholy came over his face as he produced a spicy strip, put it in his mouth, and sucked it.
“You want to know why I deducted one star? Not because I’m worried that you will be cocky. Although your dish is delicious, it still cannot make me forget the taste of spicy strips. This is a failure, so I deducted one star. Try harder next time,” Er Ha said with the spicy strip held between his lips.
All the people could not help rolling their eyes.
Ah Zhuang, however, nodded with a serious look. “You have a point. The feature of my dish is hot, and once you eat it, you cannot remember any other dishes. Since you still remember spicy strips, you have reason to deduct a star from the rating!”
Though unwilling, Ah Zhuang admitted the mistake.
Next came Fire Demon Patriarch’s rating. He was still immersed in the delicious Roc meat at the moment. He had never tasted food so delicious. It was as if the fire on him were going to become more and more vigorous. That kind of feeling was really amazing.
One star, two stars, three stars…
Before long, the second row of stars slowly lit up in the eyes of the crowd. In the end, just like the first row, only nine stars were lit.
All the people present were slightly stunned. No one expected Fire Demon Patriarch to give only nine stars.
“Why?” Ah Zhuang asked coldly. If he couldn’t get a satisfactory answer, he would surely slap Fire Demon Patriarch to death!
“I wanted to give you full stars, but… I suddenly remembered a saying passed down from my ancestors. It is said that the delicious food that can truly touch the heart of a Fire Demon will extinguish his fire…” Fire Demon Patriarch said. “Although your dish is delicious, it failed to put out my fire… So I gave you nine stars. I keep the last one so you won’t be too cocky.”
“Do you believe I’ll kill you?” Ah Zhuang asked coldly.
Fire Demon Patriarch shivered. He rated the dish based on his true feelings. After all, he was now tangled by the Runes of Law and could not lie. He was just telling the truth, so why would that get him killed?
Ah Zhuang was just scaring Fire Demon Patriarch because he was unhappy that the latter did not give him full stars. His eyes shifted sideways and finally fell on Lord Dog.
‘A dog… I should get full stars this time, right? Dogs like meat best, so he will surely give me full stars! If I can’t conquer a dog, what’s the difference between me and garbage?’ Ah Zhuang thought to himself. He was very confident that his dish would conquer this black dog.
Lord Dog’s fat jiggled as he raised his eyes and glanced at Ah Zhuang. Then, the third row of stars began to light up.
One, two, three…
Seven, eight…
Ah Zhuang’s pupils constricted. ‘Yes! It’s going to be ten stars this time! I should be able to conquer a dog!’
Suddenly, his expression froze. He felt that he was mercilessly slapped in the face by the black dog.
Eight stars! The rating stopped at the eighth star and did not light up anymore! What did that mean? It meant that his dish couldn’t even conquer a dog! And he was even given the lowest rating by the dog!
“You dog… Have you ever eaten Roc meat?! How can you give it such a low rating?!” Ah Zhuang growled loudly. The rating was much lower than his expectation.
Lord Dog looked up lazily, glanced at Ah Zhuang, and said, “Why should I explain my rating to you?”
Ugh… What an arrogant dog!
Then, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lord Dog walked with his elegant cat-like steps to Bu Fang’s side. As soon as he approached, his eyes narrowed because he smelled a rich aroma, which was the combination of tea and prawns.
Lord Dog knew very well that if Bu Fang wanted to make a spicy dish with prawns, he could choose to cook the Spicy Blood Lobster. However, Bu Fang had decided to cook prawns fried with tea leaves, which was a light dish. This puzzled him.
Er Ha also leaned over and studied the dish curiously. Bu Fang’s dish was much more exquisite than Ah Zhuang’s. Every prawn was properly processed, and the rising immortal energy made him feel as if he were in the celestial world.
Fire Demon Patriarch also drifted over. He sniffed, getting closer and closer to the dish.
Bu Fang glanced at Fire Demon Patriarch and frowned slightly. “Watch out for the fire,” he said.
Fire Demon Patriarch paused. Fire? What fire? As a Fire Demon, how could he be afraid of fire? He thought Bu Fang was just trying to scare him, so he didn’t mind and continued to approach the dish. The swaying tea tree seemed to have a charm, which was constantly pulling his mind.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he screamed. Then, his face began to twist and slowly disappear.
“This… What’s going on here?!”
Fire Demon Patriarch’s mind was trembling. This was too terrible… What happened? Why was his face disappearing? Also, he was a Fire Demon, but why did his face feel burned? Was there a fire burning him? But where was the fire?
Bu Fang sighed softly. He was too lazy to pay attention to this death-seeking Fire Demon. Still, he snapped his fingers. Immediately, the invisible flame burning on Fire Demon Patriarch’s face flew back to him. As a Divine fire, the flame could incinerate even Immortal flames, not to mention Fire Demon Patriarch.
“Try my Nine Revolution Great Path Prawns,” said Bu Fang.
Lord Dog glanced at Bu Fang and seemed surprised by his confidence. On the other hand, Er Ha flipped his hair and reached out his chopsticks impatiently. However, he couldn’t pick up the prawn because it was too slippery. That turned his face slightly red.
“A careless mistake…” Er Ha said, pursing his lips.
He reached out his chopsticks again. This time, he successfully picked up a tender pink prawn. It was as if he had picked up the whole world at this moment—glory, honor, excitement, and other emotions washed over him. Of course, his most important task was to taste the dish, so he put the prawn into his mouth.
Er Ha had thought that the prawn should have a very bland taste, but as he chewed it, the flavor of the springy prawn immediately froze his face. “Oh?” He chewed faster, and his eyes grew wider and wider. “This… How is this possible?!” he said incredulously.
His reaction left all the people present curious and eager to know the taste.
‘A bland dish? If they really think so, then they’re totally wrong…’ Bu Fang thought to himself as the corners of his mouth curved upward slightly.
The dish was the first show of the invisible Divine flame. How could a dish cooked by it, which had devoured countless Immortal flames and Nether flames, be bland?
Er Ha’s face flushed as all kinds of strange tastes filled his mouth. He even tasted spicy strips! How was that possible? How could the prawn taste like spicy strips?
The tea gave the prawn a bitter taste, but it was very mellow. After eating it, Er Ha felt as though his restless heart had calmed down. He narrowed his eyes and indulged in the rich taste of the prawn.
Fire Demon Patriarch did not believe that the prawn was really so delicious.
‘How can it possibly be as good as the Roc meat?’ He picked up two prawns with his chopsticks, stuffed them into his mouth, and began to chew. As soon as they entered his mouth, however, he froze, and the flames on him began to flicker.
It was a very provoking taste. At this moment, it seemed as if a storm was stirring in his heart. He felt as though he was floating in the ocean with towering waves washing over him, while burly prawns in armor rose from the water and pricked him with spears.
“Ahhh!”
Fire Demon Patriarch closed his eyes. He felt as if there was a tea tree growing slowly over his head and that what he was eating was not prawns, but a world! It was an incredible feeling!
As he fell silent, the flames on him suddenly went out.
All the people present were stunned. What happened?! The flames on Fire Demon Patriarch were put out by a dish?
Lord Dog was surprised, and he waved his paw. Immediately, several prawns flew over and shot into his mouth like bullets.
“What the f*ck!”
In an instant, his eyes widened, his hair bristled, and his fat jiggled!
“This is… prawn? Are you sure it’s not Sweet ‘n’ Sour Dragon Ribs?!”