Chapter 734: Section 522: Prosperous Fire (Additional updates 4/11)
"Smells so good, so good!"
People rushed into the area where Da Dou was, and as soon as they entered, they were struck by the rich aroma of fried rice.
Their steps quickened unconsciously, eager to reach the long table.
The fried rice Da Dou offered was served in a large bowl, heaped up to a point, providing a stark contrast to Ci Haishen’s delicately plated pickled fish sushi.
As mortals picked up a bowl and took their first bite, their eyes lit up; at the second bite, saliva dripped; by third, their scooping quickened.
"Wow, wow, wow, it’s really delicious."
"Although I’ve had Yangzhou Fried Rice many times before, I never imagined it could taste this good!"
"With every chew, you can fully appreciate the unique texture and delicate quality of Yangzhou Fried Rice. Even after swallowing, the lingering taste in the mouth is endlessly delightful."
Da Dou’s frying never stopped; he churned out one pot after another.
A steady stream of Yangzhou Fried Rice made its way to his long table; mortals lined up orderly, patted their bulging bellies after finishing a bowl, and, still not having enough, went back to the end of the line for a second serving.
"Master Da Dou is still making mortal-level fried rice."
"Ci Haishen has already made three Bronze-Level dishes."
"It seems that Master Da Dou’s tactic is to dominate ordinary dishes? He’s going to earn a massive amount of points from the mortals!"
"This is fantastic! As a mortal, I can finally eat to my heart’s content this time."
Cheers erupted in the dueling field.
Compared to the Transcendents, mortals were certainly the majority.
Now, in the hearts of these mortals, Da Dou was far more adorable than Ci Haishen!
Conversely, many Transcendents showed little interest in dishes meant for mortals. They felt abandoned by Da Dou’s strategic choices.
They discussed among themselves:
"Da Dou’s approach is not very wise."
"Yes, historically in eating competitions, few have won relying solely on mortals."
"Or is he trying to secure his basic audience and then aim for a higher level?"
"It’s difficult. Once you fall behind, you keep lagging. Ci Haishen has already started to build an advantage at a higher level."
"As most of the Bronze-Level appetite is being aggressively consumed by Ci Haishen’s dishes, even if Da Dou wants to change his tactics later, the points he could earn might be limited."
Just then, Da Dou pulled out Bronze-Level ingredients.
Copper Green Lobster, Flame Carrots, Jet Corn...
Da Dou flipped the pot with one hand while he managed these Bronze-Level ingredients with the other. Multi-tasking proficiently, his movements were smooth and natural, facing no hindrance.
He threw all these ingredients into the Black Iron Pot.
Such an action elicited gasps from many spectators.
This was rare.
In the Black Iron Pot, which was frying mortal Yangzhou Fried Rice, fresh ingredients were unexpectedly added.
What was going on?
In the Observation Room, the Sea Bird Bishop asked Mei Landu about this.
Mei Landu shook his head, indicating that it was rare to see such an occurrence, but it seemed not to be a mistake, rather something intentional by Da Dou. As to what exactly he wanted to do, it would be clear soon enough.
Sure enough, soon enough, the Bronze-Level aura began to emanate from the Black Iron Pot.
Every time the pot was tossed, golden rice grains were interspersed with sparse twinkling green lights.
Combat Skill—Prosperous Fire.
Da Dou used a rare Combat Skill in front of everyone, mingling its flames with those already fiercely burning, which unexpectedly reduced the intensity of the original flames a bit.
But soon, the green lights in the fried rice drastically multiplied!
From a sparse few grains to dozens, then to hundreds, and soon nearly a thousand!
The dense green specks nestled among the cascading golden rice, complementing each other superbly.
"How is this possible?!"
"What kind of Combat Skill is this?!"
"The amount of Bronze-Level ingredients he added was so limited. Why is the resultant Bronze-Level fried rice in such abundance?"
"Could it be that this Black Iron-colored pot has a vast internal space storing a load of Bronze-Level ingredients?"
"If that’s the case, isn’t what Da Dou is doing a bit boring..."
The audience gasped repeatedly, and many Transcendents found themselves standing to get a better view.
Such a scene was indeed astonishing and defied common sense.
Even Ci Haishen paused his own tasks, looking uncertainly towards Da Dou.
Regardless of the surrounding curiosity, Da Dou had no desire to explain. Sensing Ci Haishen’s gaze, he laughed heartily and shouted again, "Ci Haishen, I told you, you’re destined to lose this time!"
In the Observation Room, the Sea Bird Bishop exclaimed, "Even as a layperson, I know this is highly unusual. If one could turn ordinary materials into Bronze-Level materials, Da Dou wouldn’t need to continue as a Magic Chef. Just producing Transcendent materials alone could quickly make him the richest man in the world!"
Snowbird Port’s City Lord turned to Mei Landu standing behind him: "Can you discern any clues?"
Mei Landu’s eyes were wide open, sharp and penetrating. He shook his head slightly: "Up to now, all I can tell is that Master Da Dou is still making Yangzhou Fried Rice."
"But generally speaking, there’s definitely a difference between the mortal-level Yangzhou Fried Rice and the Bronze-Level. To make two different levels of Yangzhou Fried Rice, two pots are usually used to keep them separate. Making it all in one pot is a mistake often made by novices. But Master Da Dou did just that, intentionally creating the unbelievable phenomena we saw."
"I’m sorry, Lord City Lord, I can’t see through it, nor can I explain it."
Snowbird Port’s City Lord waved his hand: "No matter."
He became even more interested in this unique culinary competition.
However, Sanda was not focused on this; in the noisy crowd, he anxiously asked, "What are the current odds?"
As long as the duel was not over, many betting pools remained open.
Sanda quickly got his answer.
Just as he expected, because Da Dou had created that unbelievable scene, many had placed their bets on him.
"Who should I bet on then?" Sanda thought rapidly.
Ci Haishen took a deep breath and steadied his emotions.
"Though I don’t know what trick you’re playing, I’m going to win this duel!"
The preservation knife was vitally important to him; losing it would be like losing an arm.
Ci Haishen couldn’t afford to lose!
His Bronze Level dishes had already met the standard, and he immediately began preparing the first Black Iron Level dish.
"Even if you produce a lot of Bronze Level fried rice, in terms of level, you are still far behind me!" Ci Haishen kept a firm grasp of the situation.
What reassured him was that the previous scene did not reoccur in Da Dou’s pot thereafter.
Da Dou took out a large amount of Bronze Level ingredients, such as copper green lobsters, from his storage equipment and put them into the pot.
His pot’s capacity was astonishing, each time he poured out Yangzhou Fried Rice, it filled a large bucket.
Da Dou never emptied the fried rice from the pot in one go, but always poured out only a portion at a time and then immediately added new ingredients.
This scene continued many times until the Bronze Level Yangzhou Fried Rice Da Dou was making also met the standard.
He was now ready to enter the competition at the Black Iron Level.
By this time, Ci Haishen had already completed over half of the Black Iron standard and still held a clear level advantage.
Da Dou methodically took out Black Iron Level ingredients.
The quantity of ingredients was small, but he continuously stirred them in the pot.
Then, the amazing scene appeared again!
Although there were only a few Black Iron Level ingredients, as he cooked and stirred the fried rice, the amount of Black Iron Level fried rice kept increasing, far exceeding the initial quantity of ingredients put in.
"Here it comes again!"
"What in the world is going on?"
"What recipe is Da Dou using? Is it a mixed recipe specially modified based on the Yangzhou Fried Rice recipe?"
The crowd exclaimed repeatedly.
In the Observation Room, Mei Landu narrowed his eyes, "I see something."
"Lord Da Dou is intentionally cooking large amounts of low-level dishes. He is using low-level dishes to create a strong base tone, which increases the success rate of more advanced Extraordinary Dishes and shortens the cooking time."
"Did you two lords notice that he has already narrowed the gap with Lord Ci Haishen?"
Although Mei Landu still could not figure out why Da Dou’s Black Iron Level fried rice vastly exceeded the ingredients he used, he understood that Da Dou was gradually catching up to Ci Haishen.
The Black Iron Level Transcendents were in for a treat.
They came down one after another to the fields of the two Magic Chefs to continually taste the food.
The skills of the Golden Level Magic Chefs naturally satisfied these Black Iron Level experts. Immediately, there were waves of praise.
Ci Haishen’s mood was momentarily disturbed.
"What’s going on?"
"This can’t just be Da Dou bluffing; it’s not in his nature to do so."
Ci Haishen had a bad premonition.
"It’s all Yangzhou Fried Rice... His recipe must have been modified."
"He also used the previous Combat Skill, could the secret lie in that Combat Skill?"
While pondering, Ci Haishen took out Silver Level ingredients.
Having met the Black Iron standard, he immediately advanced to the Silver Level!
Even though Da Dou had caught up significantly, there was still a gap between them.
"This isn’t good!" Sanda, who had the same feeling as Ci Haishen, was becoming increasingly anxious.
He had placed a heavy bet on Ci Haishen, and now he couldn’t help but feel on edge.
He hoped for Da Dou to make a mistake, but Da Dou did not grant him that wish.
Da Dou roared, "Ci Haishen, your preservation knife belongs to me now, haha."
Saying this, he threw in a large amount of Silver Level ingredients.
After the ingredients were put in the pot, it took only a dozen seconds for them to become Silver Level Yangzhou Fried Rice.
A large amount of fried rice was served on the long table, astonishing many onlookers.
With the quantity of Silver Level dishes, Da Dou had overtaken Ci Haishen in one fell swoop!
The Silver Level Transcendents came down one after another, and after eating a bowl of Yangzhou Fried Rice, they were sated.
At this moment, the fried rice demonstrated its formidable energy!
"Ah, too much energy, I must immediately refine Fighting Energy for digestion."
"I tried to hold back, but still ended up eating a large bowl."
"It’s really delicious, I want to eat more... *burp*."
Ci Haishen noticeably sped up his actions but still couldn’t match the volume of Da Dou’s dishes. The latter kept serving pot after pot, quickly outpacing Ci Haishen.
"Am I... going to lose?" Ci Haishen’s forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"It’s over!" Sanda’s face turned pale.
He had bet on Ci Haishen, but now the situation on the field was very unfavorable.
Da Dou’s points had already greatly taken the lead with four cores.
Boom boom boom...
Suddenly, a series of explosion sounds came from outside the arena.
Then, people saw a cloud of smoke, billowing into the sky.
"That direction..."
"What happened?"
"The dock has been attacked!"
"Could it be..." Sanda’s expression changed. Just then, his Communication Device started ringing.
Sanda opened the device, and immediately heard the mercenaries crying on the other end, "We’ve been ambushed, the Vice Captain, the Vice Captain has been assassinated!"
Sanda’s expression drastically changed, and he stood up swiftly, leading several mercenaries as they rushed toward the dueling field’s main gate.
"My dock is under attack?!" In the Observation Room, the City Lord of Snowbird Port also received this information.
His face turned ashen.
But then, the information from the Mage Tower revealed that the enemy targeted only the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ ships and did not deploy any Golden Level fighters; the highest Energy Level was Silver.
The City Lord of Snowbird Port exhaled a breath of turbid air and relaxed.
These enemies seemed to know their limits, not touching his property and at most involving only Silver Level.
The absence of Golden Level involvement meant this was merely a minor disturbance, not a military event, but rather a public security incident.