Reborn in Japan as a Chef God-Chapter 979 - 978: Fierce Battle (Part 1)

Camel, take flight!

Even if the blood has drained and the innards have been cleaned out, the carcass of this adult, two-humped camel still weighs several hundred kilograms.

Without mentioning Xia Yu’s astounding arm strength, just talking about how he hoisted the camel and grabbed four chains, causing the camel to spin rapidly in the air... the clanging of the iron chains, the buzzing pressure of the air current around the spinning camel, the walls of flame being kept at bay, wild flames scattering everywhere...

All of this forms an extraordinary bonfire scene.

Of course.

The temperature emanating from the charcoal fire also defies common sense.

"The temperature, it’s too high!"

In the front row of the audience, a middle-aged female gourmet is drenched in sweat, showing symptoms of heatstroke. Staff quickly approach to inquire softly.

On stage, Yan Qi sees a small commotion start in the square of White Cloud Pavilion and stands up to take charge of the situation: "Everyone move back ten meters to give Chef Xia enough room to perform!" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The sound of chairs being moved momentarily drowns out the clanging of the chains.

Moving ten meters back, many people let out deep breaths, relieved, including some renowned Special Chefs and even Lin Chefs.

"This majestic power is terrifying..." Aoki Motota is tongue-tied, being a monk with a bald head covered in sweat.

"These are no ordinary flames!"

The female main character speaks softly, her clear eyes reflecting a sea of fire.

Faintly, the sea of fire seems to weave into a throne of flames in her eyes.

"Hey, of course, it’s not just ordinary flames." Dojima Yin, also looking as if he’s in a sauna with his face streaming with hot sweat, wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, slightly grinning as he says, "At least, this terrifying high temperature can’t be created by ordinary charcoal. You know, just piling up more charcoal doesn’t increase the temperature. Flames and temperature need a medium, and this medium is..."

"Oil!"

Saito Chiyokuro directs his gaze towards Tiqie Ji, who is the third person standing in the square besides the two competing chefs and the female host.

Tiqie Ji is holding a large oil bottle with a capacity of several liters, roughly half-filled with golden oil; from a distance, the oil looks almost the same color as the flames.

Mysteriously, not just those from Far Moon, but all the famed chefs observing this bonfire scene have a word spring to mind—

Adding fuel to the fire!

"Excellent!"

A whisper comes from the center of the flames, "Let’s keep this rhythm going continuously!"

Xia Yu’s hands grasp a large bundle of chains.

No need to say more, this technique of spinning like a meteor is originally a cooking technique named ’Sky Hero Flame Wheel’, and when paired with ’Bursting Flame’, it becomes a formidable bonfire combo of ’momentum’ and ’spirit’.

His ’Sky Hero Flame Wheel’ is far from matching the advancement of Bursting Flame, but it excels in proficiency. Plus, with his cellular metamorphosis and comprehensive physical attributes gaining another level, swinging a camel weighing several hundred kilograms is akin to swinging a stone in the past. This cooking technique focuses on arm strength and physical fitness, and once those are up to par, the execution is straightforward.

A faint fragrance of wine drifts to Xia Yu’s nose, he sniffs, feeling the floodgates of his extreme sense of smell rumble open.

Is this the fine wine from the camel’s hump...?

His nose is exhilarated, and the slight scent of wine is more potent than a century-old brew, easing the tension in Xia Yu’s heartstrings. It’s no wonder that the fresh ingredients delivered to the scene by Ghost Father himself boast such exceptional quality; the fine wine stored in this ’Wine Camel’s’ hump has already reached the pinnacle of ingredients.

Just by discussing the quality of the wine, it can compete with the ’Miracle Wine’.

Perfect timing.

While roasting the camel, a faint trace of wine aroma leaks out, and Xia Yu identifies it as red wine by its scent. During his hunting journey, one pivotal step in the barbecue recipe he devised around ’Rock Alpaca Meat’ was to soak the tough meat in high-quality wine to tenderize it.

Therefore, he aims to craft an elevated recipe with the ’Wine Camel’, but that’s just one of several considerations.

About half an hour later.

"Pull—"

When Xia Yu’s arm drops, the camel that had been spinning at high speed lands with a thud on the grill net in front of him, smoke billowing from the camel’s carcass.

Judging by the appearance alone, it’s golden and oily, a color indicative of being fully roasted, but Xia Yu knows that roasting an entire camel isn’t easy to cook thoroughly, and this camel is around medium rare—about 50% done—if you peek inside the hollow cavity, you can find it still full of raw juices and smells.

Medium rare, just right.

If it were a bit more cooked or less, it would ruin this stage’s perfection.

Xia Yu pauses to wipe his sweat and gasp for breath, "I can proceed to the next major step now..."

His words suddenly stop.

He frowns, estimating internally that he’s finished roasting the camel already, but there’s no movement from Huang He.

Too quiet, something’s amiss!

His heart skips a beat, Xia Yu looks toward Huang He’s place.

The crane has been slaughtered.

On the cooking table there’s a plate lined with lettuce leaves, the crane meat has been chopped into three-centimeter squares, neatly stacked on the plate, each piece glistening beautifully.

Huang He is now slaughtering the turtle.

In fact, the methods for slaughtering turtles and softshell turtles are quite similar, starting from the stomach and the seam of the shell, splitting the whole turtle in two.

It’s widely known that the ’money turtle’ is the most precious edible turtle in the country, with a single one priced at over a thousand, and the ’green-haired turtle’ that Huang He is using is even more valuable than the money turtle.

Huang He scrapes off the layer of algae on the turtle’s shell with a small knife, then, abandoning the knife, rolls up his sleeves and uses his hands to massage the hard shell, causing the dirty keratin membrane covering the shell to crack and fall off.

Once this keratin membrane is removed, the shell is completely clean and can be put directly into the pot to simmer without worry of ruining a good soup with dirt.

Next, Huang He eviscerates the turtle and cuts the meat into pieces.

After placing the shell and the turtle meat into the water basin to wash away the blood, whispers finally start buzzing through the quiet square.

The water is clear, and when the turtle is immersed, soft ripples spread out.

In a trance, it seems as if the turtle extends its limbs and swims leisurely.

"The mouth and toes were cut off, but... how could the turtle still be swimming in the water?"

"You must be mistaken! It’s gutted, there’s no way it’s still alive!"

Xia Yu’s eyes narrow as he watches.

"No!"

"It’s still alive!"

He focuses intently on Huang He’s hands grasping the turtle shell and the turtle’s back.

Different from ’super hearing’, unlike Rein’s stick of the spirit talisman in past communications and offerings with ingredients.

Huang He’s golden ’Divine Hand’ is engaging deeply with the ingredients. Xia Yu’s skill in this technique is nearly perfect, stuck at the bottleneck before ascending the bronze frame to gold, yet he can roughly infer the capabilities of the golden ’Divine Hand’.

Awakening ingredients (Ultimate).

In the audience, Dojima Yin, Shinohara Shigetaro, and Saito Chiyokuro exchange puzzled looks.

"I can’t find any fault in his method of slaughtering the crane and the turtle," Shinohara says gravely, "Maybe it’s some Dragon Chef technique that we can’t discern?"

Saito Chiyokuro is deep in thought.

Yan Qi and Xia Qing exchange glances.

"Longevity Turtle." The old man hums, "I suppose Huang He might have realized something; otherwise, he wouldn’t use this recipe and these ingredients."

Standing by the open window on the third floor of the White Cloud Pavilion is Dragon Head Zhu Ji, watching the cooking table. "Longevity Soup?"

"Is he taking this recipe, taking these ingredients, reinventing and upgrading them?"

Zhu Ji muses.

This speculation implies that Huang He is making strides, giving the impression of reaching new heights from an already lofty position.

This isn’t good!

With a slight pulse at his temples, Zhu Ji looks towards where Xia Yu stands, just as Xia Yu grabs a camel by the forelock, lifting it onto the cooking table, now pouring wine. "What is he..."

Zhu Ji’s pupils contracted.