Chapter 1088: The Encyclopedia of Cooking Is Unfathomably Deep

The poisonous ingredients left from brewing the broth had not been entirely depleted, so Song Tianjing bit into a dried scorpion. Normally, a dried scorpion would turn his lips purple, make his vision swim with dizziness, or, in severe cases, plunge him directly into a coma.

Yet looking at himself now, he was perfectly fine even after consuming an entire dried scorpion.

"The Myriad Poison Sacred Physique—indeed, this is the Myriad Poison Sacred Physique!" Song Tianjing was overwhelmed with excitement; such a legendary constitution had actually manifested within his own body.

Though his current mastery of the Myriad Poison Sacred Physique could not even be considered introductory, it was an auspicious beginning nonetheless.

Song Tianjing was utterly thrilled; it was merely a single dish, yet it had not only granted him a breakthrough but had also endowed him with a constitution impervious to a hundred poisons!

After the initial rush of excitement subsided, Song Tianjing began to reflect calmly on why the dish recorded in the recipe would grant him such an immunity.

"Of course. In ancient times, the human race did not know which foods were edible and which were not; toxic things were omnipresent. For the great prosperity of humanity, the Ancestor of Spirit Chefs designated the very first dish in the recipe as a detoxifying one, precisely to grant humans the ability to avoid being poisoned to death."

"The Ancestor of Spirit Chefs truly hid profound intentions within a bitter heart."

Since the first fish soup possessed such miraculous efficacy, Song Tianjing could not wait to study the second dish. He had already scanned the recipe briefly while brewing the broth earlier, but now he needed to examine it with meticulous care.

"The second dish is named the Eight Treasures Chicken, Duck, and Fish."

"Do not discard the fish bones from the first dish. The fish bones have absorbed the essence of the first dish; extract them, roast them dry, and grind them into powder to serve as the culinary catalyst for the Eight Treasures Chicken, Duck, and Fish."

"A culinary catalyst?" Song Tianjing was full of questions; he had only ever heard of medicinal catalysts, but this was his first time hearing of a culinary one.

No matter, he would simply follow the instructions laid out in the book.

"Feed the fish bone powder to the chicken and duck, and they will fall into an unconscious stupor. Then, take them by surprise and slaughter them."

"The internal organs of chickens and ducks embody the profound principles of the Five Elements and must not be discarded. Slice open the duck's belly, stuff the chicken inside, supplement it with the eight treasures ingredients, and steam it in a pot for two shichen..."

The ingredients recorded in the recipe were far too absurd. They were either ancient exotic species, divine herbs, and immortal flowers, or things long extinct and impossible to find; Song Tianjing could only search for substitutes as best as he could.

Two shichen later, Song Tianjing looked at the chicken and duck in the dish, which had died with their eyes wide open, and wondered if his substitutions had been a bit too egregious?

Never mind, time to eat.

Song Tianjing steeled himself and took a bite. It was, beyond doubt, a supreme delicacy of the mortal world. Within the chicken was the flavor of duck, within the duck was the flavor of chicken, and a careful savoring revealed the hint of fish; the three flavors danced upon the tip of his tongue, leaving an endless aftertaste.

Song Tianjing devoured the dish ravenously, rubbing his stomach as a smile of sheer contentment spread across his face.

Feeling a sticky sensation all over his body, he looked down and discovered that a black substance was secreting from the surface of his skin, carrying a fishy and foul stench.

"Cleansing the sinews and cutting the marrow?" Song Tianjing's voice trembled. He had consumed Cleansing Sinews and Marrow Pills before, but the grade of those elixirs was too low; they became useless after a few ingestions, and he could not afford higher-grade ones.

To think that finishing the second dish would actually allow him to cleanse his sinews and cut his marrow?!

Song Tianjing took a bath and felt his body grow a few degrees lighter, whereupon he impatiently set about preparing the third dish.

The third dish was named Past Affairs of the Red Dust.

Song Tianjing used low-grade substitutes as was his custom, and upon finishing it, he plunged once more into unconsciousness.

When he awoke, he discovered that his body had not undergone any changes like before.

"Strange, how long have I been asleep?"

Groggy, Song Tianjing stepped outside to make inquiries, only to discover to his shock that he had been unconscious for a full seven days. Today was the very day the Spirit Chef Examination was to be held!

He rushed in a frenzy to the Grand Spirit Chef Competition and registered for the Foundation Establishment division of the exam, where he chanced to make the acquaintance of the Holy Maiden of the Jade Rabbit Tribe, though this also earned him the deep resentment of the Holy Son of the Five Poisons Tribe.

The topic of the examination was "Fish," yet no fish could be visible in the finished product.

The Holy Son of the Five Poisons Tribe covertly slipped poison into Song Tianjing's fish. However, the Pearl Fish Soup that Song Tianjing was preparing originally required the five poisons; this instead elevated the quality of the dish.

Following that, Song Tianjing used the fish bones to craft the second dish, winning widespread acclaim from the judges.

Sitting below the stage, the beautiful eyes of the Jade Rabbit Tribe's Holy Maiden rippled with emotion as she secretly gave him her heart.

Song Tianjing then used the third dish to seize the top spot in the Grand Spirit Chef Competition, basking in boundless glory.

Yet the people of the Spirit Chef Alliance recognized that what Song Tianjing had prepared were dishes from the Compendium of Culinary Arts, which violated a taboo, and they secretly dispatched spirit chefs to hunt him down.

Song Tianjing continuously made breakthroughs while fleeing his pursuers, obtaining new recipes and successfully turning the tables to slay his foes.

Ultimately, Song Tianjing obtained the complete Compendium of Culinary Arts and engaged in a culinary duel against the Leader of the Spirit Chef Alliance within the Grand Xia Imperial Palace. Winning two out of three rounds, he shattered the prestige of the Alliance Leader.

And he became universally acknowledged by the world as the successor across generations to the Ancestor of Spirit Chefs.

Under the witness of the Xia Emperor, Song Tianjing held the hand of the Jade Rabbit Tribe's Holy Maiden, gazing at her with eyes full of tender affection: "Yu'er, I love you. Let us wed."

The two closed their eyes to share a kiss, but when Song Tianjing awoke once more, he found himself lying on the ground, his head aching fiercely as if it had sustained a blow.

With an effort, he clambered up and touched the bowl of Pearl Fish Soup upon the table. The soup was still warm, and his eyes were filled with bewilderment.

"What exactly is reality, and what is illusion..."

...

Lu Yang and Yun Mengmeng walked side by side through the bustling plaza, holding freshly baked meat pies that oozed savory grease with every bite.

The aromas of various foods drifted through the surroundings, making one's mouth water just from the scent.

"There really are quite a few delicious things in this place." Although Lu Yang was not particularly fastidious about food, after wandering and eating his way through a full circuit, he felt that accepting the invitation of the Spirit Chef Alliance had been the right choice.

"Right, right? I told you this was a wonderful place." Yun Mengmeng beamed with unbridled joy.

Both were cultivators, and their stomachs were akin to bottomless pits; as long as they wished to eat, they could feast indefinitely.

Furthermore, they had no need to worry that becoming too full would blunt their appetite.

"Where is that seventh-generation successor of the Yangyuan Tower? Why haven't we seen him?" Lu Yang wondered. This was already the second day. Hadn't that lad said he was going to rent a stall to earn some money? Yet after a whole round of wandering, there was no sign of him. The lad seemed quite honest; surely he hadn't absconded with the funds.

"Perhaps he is studying this Immortal's recipe. After all, this Immortal's recipe is not something that can be comprehended all at once." The Immortal Fairy possessed immense confidence in herself.

"What are they selling over there? Clods of earth?" Yun Mengmeng noticed a desolate snack stall with very little business, where two spirit chefs were using an iron wok to stir-fry clods of earth.

"Is this a specialty of some region?" Curiously, Yun Mengmeng pulled Lu Yang along toward it.

"Boss, give us two portions."

"Right away."

One of the spirit chefs scooped out two bowls of earth clods. Yun Mengmeng took a bite and let out a disdainful sound of aversion.

"Isn't this just ordinary earth?"

Lu Yang was also mystified. Everyone else was selling food; what did they mean by selling clods of earth?

Could it be that these earth clods contained some hidden mystery?

Lu Yang surged his spiritual energy, invoked the art of Devouring Heaven and Earth, and took a bite as well.

"It really cannot be considered ordinary earth; is there a bit of Living Soil mixed inside?"

Upon witnessing this, the expressions of the two spirit chefs shifted. They stepped forward and murmured covertly, "Fellow Daoist, you have arrived quite late; you might very well be the last to come. The meeting is about to commence. This way, please."

Lu Yang: "..."

What on earth were the two of them talking about?