What the hell? Is this the legendary 'getting rich on the quiet'? Another tycoon?
Glacier ice? Those are blatant banknotes staring me in the face!
A class-based hatred made Mo Bai's eyes turn red, and he couldn't control himself.
Do banknotes taste good?!
Too bad Wang Yao couldn't hear Mo Bai's resentful inner voice, or he would have certainly shot back with delight, "Mmm, smells great! But you can't do it."
"Elder Han, the knives."
As if by magic, the old man produced a set of knives wrapped in a black cloth roll.
"This one will do." Wang Yao pulled out a square-headed cleaver and brought it down in a single chop, slicing the solid block of ice in two.
Immediately after, with the ice in one hand and the cleaver in the other, he pushed, pulled, sliced, and carved, sending shards of ice flying.
"Xiao Bai, it's your turn." How could Mo Bai let someone steal his thunder? My cleaver is thirsty for action.
"You got it!"
A yellowtail, silver and white all over with a bright yellow line running from head to tail, lay quietly on the cutting board.
Scaling, gutting, slicing the back, deboning.
In just a few moments, the whole fish had become two fillets with silver skin still attached.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The kitchen knife rose and fell, and the pleasant sound of blade meeting board spread through the air.
"Hmph, can you keep up with my speed?" Mo Bai looked up, intending to shoot a provocative glance, but the sight that met his eyes startled him.
Somehow, Wang Yao had also started slicing the fish, and he was even using a flashy flying-cut technique. Each translucent slice of fish was flicked into the air, dancing for a moment before landing on an egg-shaped object in a white porcelain soup plate.
From the looks of it, he was actually on the verge of overtaking him.
"Son of a kitty! Second Battalion Commander... wait, no! Xiao Bai! Full speed ahead!"
Mo Bai's right hand became a blur of motion as Xiao Bai went into overload.
With the fish slices done, Mo Bai immediately prepared the plates, laying down a base of shiso leaves, arranging the fish slices in a circle, and piling a small mound of shredded scallions in the center, with a lemon slice resting beside it.
"I'm done!" Mo Bai announced, having portioned the seafood broth into individual pots.
"I'm done too!" Wang Yao declared at the same time, wiping his cleaver. "It's been a while since I've done ice sculpting, my hands are a bit rusty."
"Tch." Mo Bai was extremely annoyed by Wang Yao's textbook-level flexing.
The crowd of foodies waiting to eat finally had a chance to breathe. They never imagined a friendly competition could be so spectacular, especially the final clash of knife skills. The flashing cold steel, flying up and down, made everyone's eyes widen as they held their breath.
The image of both chefs' knives moving like lightning was nothing short of a duel.
"Don't just stand there, let's eat."
The foodies quickly returned to their seats at the adjacent round table, waiting to be served.
"This dish of mine doesn't have a special name. If I have to give it one, just call it Yellowtail Seafood Shabu-shabu."
"As expected, no flashing light?" Mo Bai found himself at a loss for naming an experimental dish that didn't glow. Xiao Bai was, after all, a semi-repurposed closed-beta plugin. The recipes it synthesized had to be completed once to test the results. By the time it was verified, Mo Bai would have mostly figured out how to make it anyway, which was why Xiao Bai didn't sell recipes.
Everyone was staring at the small, bubbling pots in front of them. Mo Bai's words no longer mattered; the savory aroma wafting from the pots made their mouths water.
Finally, the old gourmand Colson couldn't resist the temptation and was the first to pick up a slice of fish.
Watching with his own eyes as the snow-white fish slice slowly curled in the clear, milky broth, Colson didn't care that the meat was boiling hot and stuffed it directly into his mouth.
"So hot, so hot!" Colson's face twisted into a comical expression from the heat, yet he couldn't bear to give up the deliciousness in his mouth. He tilted his head back and exhaled for a long time before finally chewing and swallowing the scorching fish slice.
"The fish skin is springy, the meat is tender and soft, and this seafood broth... its umami is beyond words."
"A masterpiece!"
The Nekomata, held in Chiba Eda's arms, looked at the steaming fish slices with utter despair, only able to watch as the miko and the others ate chopstick after chopstick, their foreheads beading with sweat.
In less than ten minutes, everyone's three plates of fish slices were completely devoured.
The illusion began to manifest. A warm, shallow sea, bathed in sunlight. Everyone swam freely in the beautiful underwater world, unable to return to their senses for a long time.
Gokou Ruri, who had helped prepare the dish, was even more deeply immersed.
"I never knew cooking could be so captivating," she murmured, her eyes closed, lost in the vision.
"Truly unbelievable," Colson sighed softly.
"If I hadn't known the ingredients beforehand, I could only have identified three sources for the umami: shellfish, fish, and shrimp. What's astonishing is that with so many ingredients boiled together, the broth and flavor aren't muddled at all, but instead are unexpectedly harmonious."
"This kind of experimental dish... I truly hope I can taste it many more times," Colson said with heartfelt emotion.
The group of foodie girls nodded frantically, their eyes shining.
"My turn next." In a wide-mouthed, small-bottomed soup plate deeper than a normal dish stood half of a giant, frost-covered egg. "I'll borrow some of your seafood broth."
"Be my guest." Mo Bai was curious to see what kind of trick Wang Yao had up his sleeve.
The clear, milky broth was poured down, and instantly, the fish slices on the giant egg peeled off like lotus petals, sticking to the surrounding walls of the plate. The giant egg's true form was revealed.
Under a transparent ice dome stood an ice-sculpted city of towers?!
Soaked by the boiling broth, the perfectly round ice dome was no longer smooth. Because of this, the irregularly refracted blue light began to shine again, making the city within the dome seem dreamlike and illusory.
The thick base began to project light and shadows onto the walls of the plate, refracted through the blue light in the dome. Ethereal Small Seal Script characters leaped into view at the bottom of the plate.
"Huh? Are these... Chinese characters? They look a little different." Harano Katsuya's confidence in his Level 4 Chinese was once again shattered.
"Yes, these are Chinese characters."
"In heaven is the White Jade Capital, with twelve towers and five cities."
"An immortal strokes my head, I bind my hair and receive eternal life."
Actually, without even looking at the characters, just by seeing the number of exquisite ice sculptures within the dome, Mo Bai already knew what was written.
"That's right."
"The name of the dish is—" Wang Yao took a deep breath, channeled energy from his core, and his voice boomed with power. "Qionghua Heavenly Light White Jade Pavilion—"
"Bankrupt Edition." The forceful, low voice instantly went limp.
The dish, full of impressive flair, was immediately ruined.
Mo Bai, who had been gazing at the stunning ice sculpture, nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. Everyone else also looked like they'd just choked.
"You can't blame me for this." Sensing the unfriendly glares, Wang Yao shrugged. "A dish named 'Qionghua Heavenly Light White Jade Pavilion' is obviously a grand course. How could it be such a small portion? Calling it the 'Bankrupt Edition' is already an overstatement."
"If you must have a name, just call it White Jade Pavilion." Wang Yao finally relented under Elder Han's sharp gaze. "But in this situation, maybe 'Fly Me to the Moon' would be more appropriate."
"Please, enjoy."
The girls hesitated, not picking up their chopsticks, but the men weren't so sentimental when faced with something beautiful.
The presentation was nearly flawless, but what about the taste?
Mo Bai was the first to act, picking up a slice of fish that had been cooked by the seafood broth and tossing it into his mouth. A familiar, savory aroma flooded his senses, but the instant his teeth bit into the fish, a wave of cold broke through its seal!
This coldness is—!!
Mo Bai's eyes flew wide open, and his feet lifted off the ground.
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