Liu Wanshi and Qian Songbao both achieved perfect scores in their works, making them evenly matched, so the organizers decided to hold an additional round.
The other eight contestants could only depart in disappointment—their works weren’t even evaluated.
In truth, tasting them was meaningless, because in the eyes of these culinary geniuses, if you couldn’t take first place, second or third had absolutely no significance.
“Sigh.”
They shook their heads and descended from the platform.
Looking back at Liu Wanshi and Qian Songbao, their eyes held both despair and helplessness.
Their culinary skills weren’t necessarily inferior—they just happened to encounter two prodigies.
The organizers’ staff removed eight of the cooking stations.
Since they would be making large-scale dishes, the cooking stations were also modified, and two large woks were brought in and mounted on them.
At least a hundred thousand martial artists had come to spectate. Even if each person only took one bite, it would require a substantial amount, so after brief deliberation, Huang Jinduan and the other organizers decided to select five thousand people to taste the food.
Most of these people came from the Imperial City—either family elders or renowned independent cultivators.
More importantly.
They had no connection whatsoever to either contestant.
“Perfect.”
Jun Changxiao leaned back in his chair, a smile appearing on his face.
He’d spoken up proactively not to steal the spotlight, but for Liu Wanshi’s sake—to help her claim the championship!
In terms of culinary arts, Qian Songbao was by no means weak.
If they continued competing this way, it would certainly be meaningless, so Jun Changxiao wanted to use large-scale cooking to let the masses decide the championship.
The audience strongly supported this.
Why should delicious food be decided by ten people instead of everyone!
“What a scheme!” the System said.
Liu Wanshi had spent years making large-scale meals at the Eternal Ancient Sect—she was absolutely masterful in this area. Having the two compete this way was utterly shameless of the host!
Even more shameless.
He’d secretly transmitted a message to City Lord Han, forcing the organizers to adopt his suggestion.
To help his disciple win, he truly stopped at nothing!
“Sect Master.”
Liu Wanshi transmitted, “This doesn’t seem right.”
She could tell that the Sect Master intentionally wanted her to have the advantage to win the competition, but this felt somewhat hollow as a victory.
“Little one.”
Jun Changxiao said, “Food is heaven for the people. This ‘people’ represents the masses, not a small minority, so the true value of cuisine lies in sharing it with the people!”
Those last four words were spoken with such righteousness that even he himself was moved.
Liu Wanshi fell silent.
Jun Changxiao continued his persuasion: “A true culinary master’s dishes only succeed when recognized by the masses—a few people cannot represent everyone!”
The System said, “What utter nonsense!”
“Disciple understands!”
Liu Wanshi’s gaze became resolute.
Undeniably, Jun Changxiao had used a scheme to give his disciple maximum advantage, but what he’d just said wasn’t without merit—food is heaven for the people, whether dishes are delicious is for the people to decide!
“Large-scale cooking?”
Qian Songbao stroked his chin. “Sounds quite interesting.”
He’d learned all his skills from the Food God, but hadn’t actually cooked many times. Now having to make food for five thousand people was undoubtedly extremely challenging!
“The additional round’s rules are that contestants may perform freely.”
Huang Jinduan announced loudly, “Within two hours, create cuisine for five thousand people. After evaluation by the masses, whoever receives the highest total score will be this year’s champion!”
“The competition—”
Drawing out the words: “Now officially begins!”
“Swoosh!”
“Swoosh!”
Liu Wanshi took the lead, stepping up to the right cooking station, where many ingredients were arranged nearby—after all, making food for five thousand people required preparation.
Qian Songbao also stepped forward.
Seeing the massive amount of ingredients, he despaired: “So much…”
He swore this was the most ingredients he’d ever seen since learning culinary arts!
From another perspective, Qian Songbao essentially made small stir-fries. Suddenly having him tackle large-scale cooking was challenging but equally difficult.
Liu Wanshi said, “If you feel you can’t do it, we can compete in a different way.”
Though the Sect Master’s words were right—food is heaven for the people—she really didn’t want to use her advantage to bully her opponent.
However, Liu Wanshi overlooked one extremely important issue.
No man, even one only twelve or thirteen years old, could tolerate being questioned about their ability!
“I can do it!”
Qian Songbao said earnestly.
“Very well.”
Liu Wanshi said no more, then waved her hand to retrieve a bag of dozens of pounds of flour, dumping it all on the table and beginning to add water and mix.
“Noodles?”
Jun Changxiao was taken aback.
The little one’s greatest strength in large-scale cooking was undoubtedly fried rice—noodle dishes were extremely rare for her.
“Swoosh!”
“Swoosh!”
Liu Wanshi stood before the cutting board, her small hands swaying left and right, mixing evenly, the entire process flowing like clouds and water.
Qian Songbao glanced sideways, admiration rising in his heart.
Having him stir-fry was fine, but kneading dough like this was definitely beyond him.
Shortly.
The dough was kneaded. Liu Wanshi grasped both ends with her hands, suddenly lifted it and slammed it hard on the cutting board, then began repeatedly stretching and pulling it.
Jun Changxiao realized: “Pulled noodles!”
As one of Chinese cuisine’s delicacies, pulled noodles had extremely wide distribution.
Famous varieties included Lanzhou pulled noodles, Henan pulled noodles, and dragon whisker noodles. Even Japanese ramen originated from China.
Pulled noodles were economical, affordable, and had unique flavor.
Liu Wanshi choosing to make this was undoubtedly very suitable for mass evaluation!
“Slap!”
“Slap!”
Under repeated stretching and pulling, the dough gradually separated. Sometimes it was like silver snakes dancing wildly; when stretched thin and shaken, it resembled roiling waves.
Until Liu Wanshi completed the final fold, placing one end of the noodles on the table and pulling the other end overhead, her fingers constantly trembling, thread-like noodles immediately cascaded down like a waterfall.
This scene, transmitted through the projection array across the Starfall Continent, immediately brought intense visual impact to the audience!
“Amazing!”
Even Qian Songbao, who was closest, was stunned.
Liu Wanshi’s repeated stretching and pulling until finally presenting thread-like noodles was like a fairy dancing gracefully—truly magnificent and absolutely astonishing!
Lin Yao, who was extremely skilled in knife work, said respectfully, “I’m not her equal.”
He could instantly execute over a hundred cuts, reducing ingredients to fine threads, but that relied on spiritual energy. The girl on the platform relied entirely on her hands, entirely on exquisite finger technique—without thousands of temperings, this absolutely couldn’t be achieved!
In that moment.
The eliminated contestants were all convinced by Liu Wanshi’s skill.
Jun Changxiao said in surprise, “I didn’t expect Dudu was hiding such an exceptional skill.”
The Chinese cookbook had tutorials for pulled noodles, but without anyone personally demonstrating, she could comprehend it herself and achieve such perfection—her culinary attainment truly surpassed ancient and modern times!
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Jun Changxiao furrowed his brow.
After the girl finished pulling the noodles, she began wielding her knife to cut vegetables and placing quite a few supplementary ingredients, so he wondered: “Is this for making pulled noodles?”
“Swoosh!”
“Swoosh!”
Liu Wanshi placed several beef bones in the large wok, added various seasonings, then used the Kitchen God’s Fire to heat and simmer the broth.
Due to time constraints, after simmering for only half an hour, she cut the pulled noodles into segments and added them in batches. After briefly boiling them, she removed them and placed them in clear water to cool.
“This is…”
Jun Changxiao realized: “She’s making fried noodles!”
Indeed.
She cleaned the large wok and poured in oil.
When the wok was hot, she successively added the already-prepared supplementary ingredients and noodles, using a large ladle to skillfully stir-fry.
To make food for five thousand people, even if each person only had one bite, it required a large quantity, but Liu Wanshi worked while giving off a feeling of casual ease.
Tens of thousands of people in the sect ate three meals a day that she prepared—making large-scale dishes was naturally effortless for her.
Standing beside her, Qian Songbao was completely dumbfounded throughout.
Having him stir-fry noodles wasn’t impossible, but stir-frying this much at once was definitely beyond him. After all, without long-term tempering, it was difficult to reach Liu Wanshi’s level.
“No good.”
Qian Songbao said, “I must work harder!”
“Swoosh!”
He withdrew his gaze, adjusted his mental state, then retrieved over ten pounds of premium beef and began cutting it with his cleaver, preparing to make a large wok of flavored beef brisket!
However.
After preparing various ingredients and starting to heat the fire and stir-fry, because the wok was too large and there was too much material, he immediately became somewhat flustered.
“The Food God’s disciple is struggling a bit.”
“This is very normal. After all, given his status, this person is also quite privileged. Usually making small stir-fries is fine, but suddenly doing large-scale cooking—he definitely can’t grasp it precisely.”
“So such people are destined to be high-end chefs. Those who can afford his cooking are all wealthy and noble, whereas the Eternal Ancient Sect disciple is more suitable for people like us.”
Regardless of the food’s quality, the audience present favored Liu Wanshi more, because wealthy people were ultimately few in the world—most were ordinary people.
Making food fancy and flawless meant they were destined never to have the qualifications to taste it. Better to spend a few coins at a street stall eating a bowl of clear soup noodles—more practical.
“Swoosh!”
“Swoosh!”
Qian Songbao worked hard stir-frying, but because there was too much volume, it was difficult to manage everything completely. Beads of sweat gradually seeped from his forehead, forming a stark contrast with the casually relaxed Liu Wanshi beside him.
The ten judges whispered among themselves in discussion.
If judging solely from the stir-frying, they also favored Liu Wanshi, because managing such a large workload so easily was truly rare and precious.
However.
The final champion would still be determined by taste.
…
After a moment, Liu Wanshi’s first wok of fried noodles was completed. She then placed them in a basin, then added oil and ingredients to stir-fry again. Repeating this several times, several large basins of fried noodles were all completed and arranged on the dining table.
From start to finish, she consistently appeared casual and relaxed, because preparing three meals for her fellow disciples day after day had long become routine.
The girl had contributed greatly to the sect, so after Li Qingyang, she was designated by Jun Changxiao as the second of the Lingyan Pavilion’s Twenty-Four Meritorious Ministers, receiving the seal character for “Kitchen” and possessing the Kitchen God’s Fire.
The golden fried noodles arranged on the dining table appeared brilliant and eye-catching under the sun’s rays, and the audience’s appetites were greatly stimulated, wishing they could rush over and taste them immediately.
“Whew!”
After waiting a while longer, Qian Songbao finally completed his work, stir-frying a large basin of flavored beef brisket, but it also left him covered in sweat, his whole person seeming about to collapse from exhaustion at any moment.
“Please have the five thousand judges enter in order and provide scores after tasting!” Huang Jinduan shouted loudly.
“Swoosh!”
“Swoosh!”
The mass judges entered the platform area in an orderly fashion. They first began tasting Qian Songbao’s flavored beef brisket. After eating it, their expressions showed boundless rapture—all were utterly mesmerized, exclaiming in unison: “This is truly too delicious!”
“10 points!”
“10 points!”
Many high-status major family martial artists gave the highest score, which was recorded by the staff.
“8 points.”
Suddenly, a discordant voice came. The one giving 8 points was actually that immortal-looking elderly man. He shook his head: “This flavor is still a bit inferior compared to the earlier beef brisket.”
“Correct.”
The other nine judges nodded, and the scores they gave were all between 8 and 9 points—no one gave 10 points.
Qian Songbao smiled bitterly.
If only stir-frying a small portion of flavored beef brisket, he could maintain quality.
But making such a large wok—not failing was already very good. Naturally, he couldn’t grasp the flavor perfectly.
After final tallying, Qian Songbao’s large-wok flavored beef brisket received a total score of 50,084 points. Excluding the ten picky judges, all five thousand mass judges gave 10 points!
This also demonstrated that even making large-scale dishes for the first time, this Food God disciple had genuine skill!
“All five thousand mass judges gave perfect scores—this is truly incredible!”
Martial artists from various cities exclaimed in amazement.
After eating the flavored beef brisket, everyone gathered around the several large basins of golden fried noodles, then used plates to serve themselves.
Liu Wanshi’s work was large in quantity and filling, so many people instinctively served themselves more, unlike the brisket where they could only evaluate a small piece.
“Good heavens!”
“This is even more delicious!”
Many mass judges, after eating the fried noodles, immediately showed rich expressions on their faces, especially the noodles’ elastic and smooth texture—biting into them felt absolutely amazing!
After tasting them, the ten judges also all displayed satisfied expressions, then sampled the fried noodles from other basins. Finally, they praised effusively: “The dishes fried in batches can still taste the same—truly rare and precious!”
“Perfect score!”
“Perfect score!”
“…”
Both mass judges and professional judges gave their scores. After final tallying, the total score was—50,100 points!
Seeing the final tally, Jun Changxiao sat down, hung the cigar he’d previously stomped out back in his mouth, lit it and took a puff, exhaling smoke: “I said it before—absolutely crushing, no suspense whatsoever.”
The System despaired: “You already stepped on it—aren’t you disgusted picking up a cigar butt to smoke?”
“I’m happy, I’m pleased, I’m proud!”
—