Chapter 580: First Qualification Round 1

"Ayuan, Let’s go to the monster Market. I want to buy ingredients." Shen Xu suggested.

He and Zhen Yuan had collected countless plant-based ingredients, but didn’t have many animal-based materials.

Considering this, Shen Xu wanted to go to the monster monster to buy more materials for the qi replenishing soup.

"Do you already have an idea of what you want to make?" Zhen Yuan asked.

"Mmmh." The double nodded with a distracted expression.

If possible, he wanted to make a fish soup or chicken soup.

However, he couldn’t decide until he saw the variety of materials in the monster market.

Hefei City was a tier two city but it was relatively far from the sea hence the monster Market didn’t have many sea beasts.

That said, the city was close to a monster mountain and hunters often brought their prey to the monster Market.

"Eight-colour treasure chicken." Shen Xu said and walked towards a chicken stall.

Eight-colour treasure chicken was a rare kind of chicken that was great for body and qi cultivation.

Unfortunately, the chicken in the stall was level ten and only suitable for level ten food.

[The first qualification round is in ten days. We don’t have enough time to cultivate the eight-colour treasure chicken into a level twelve monster.] Zhen Yuan said and Shen Xu nodded.

[We can cultivate it for our future consumption.] He said and directly bought the chicken.

After putting the chicken in a beast bag, the two left the stall and continued exploring the market.

Unfortunately, maybe because of the qualification rounds, the two didn’t see many level twelve monsters.

Most importantly, what was left in the market were common monsters that could be found anywhere.

"I will have to be creative if I want to pass this round." Shen Xu muttered.

"What about wine soup?" Zhen Yuan suggested and the double’s eyes immediately brightened.

"I should have thought of that." He said.

After all, there were more than one hundred types of wine in his qiankun wine gourd.

Using the wine as a base, Shen Xu was sure that he could cook a qi replenishing soup that would last one month without going bad or losing its effectiveness.

"Ayuan, Let’s rent a courtyard." Shen Xu said and Zhen Yuan agreed.

Since they needed to stay in Hefei city until the qualification rounds were over, the two felt that renting a courtyard was more practical than staying at an inn.

With that, the two bought several monsters and sea beasts before leaving the market.

Hefei city was the territory of the Feixian sect.

Because of this, all the properties in Hefei city were under the city lord’s management.

Thankfully, renting went smoothly and the two were soon led to a small courtyard at a remote area of the city.

"It’s been awhile since we settled at a place for more than a few days." Shen Xu said and Zhen Yuan rubbed the double’s hair.

"We will have our own home in the future." He said and Shen Xu nodded.

"I know." He said.

However, he knew that that day wouldn’t come for millions of years.

First, they would need millions of years to become peak-stage level nine gods and even then, they had all but confirmed that there were realms above the god stage.

Thinking this, Shen Xu shook his head but he didn’t feel any reluctance.

After all, home was not a place but a person and a state of mind.

As long as he and Zhen Yuan were together, they would be at home no matter where they were.

After arranging several formations around the small place, the two entered the courtyard and began looking around.

The house had one main room, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen.

"It’s just right." Shen Xu said.

However, neither planned to stay in the courtyard.

Instead, after exploring the house, they entered the space and began preparing for the Food Festival.

Nine real days, equivalent to two hundred and seventy space days, passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Shen Xu tried many recipes and finally prepared a satisfactory wine soup.

The wine used was white wine brewed from different peaches, but Shen Xu didn’t settle on just one meat. In the end, he used chicken, pork, and many vegetables to cook a soup that was rich but not greasy.

Most importantly, he used ingredients that were not only delicious but also good for preserving fresheness and aura.

"I am satisfied." Shen Xu said and Zhen Yuan chuckled.

"The food you cook is always delicious." He said.

Soon after, the two exited the space and reappeared in the courtyard.

After confirming that everything was normal, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan left the courtyard and headed to the city lord’s residence.

The city lord’s residence was at the centre of the city.

When they arrived, the two saw a long queue and after confirming, they joined the queue and began eavesdropping on the surrounding gossip.

"It turns out that chef Fang and others will check the soup before we are allowed to take it to the hall." Someone said.

"Is that fair?" Another said and quickly continued.

"Chef Fang is also participating in the festival. What if he eliminates strong competitions?" He asked.

"Chef Fang is the grand elder of the Food association in our Hefei City. Most importantly, he has a guaranteed quota and doesn’t need to compete at this level."

"I heard that the food association grand elders in all cities have a guaranteed quota. They won’t compete until the competition in Suzhou city."

"When will the second qualification round start?" A female chef asked.

"It will start one year after the end of the first round." Someone answered.

"There are thousands of chefs in Hefei city. I can’t believe that only one hundred will qualify for the second round."

"I participated in the previous festival and the second round was a cooking competition in front of the judges. It would be too much if thousands of people were allowed to qualify for the second round."

[One year is enough time to collect more ingredients.] Shen Xu said and Zhen Yuan nodded.

Although Shen Xu was satisfied with the soup he made, he was still a little unwilling about the ingredients.

[We can use the teleportation array to go to other places to collect ingredients.] Zhen Yuan suggested.

On one hand, they would collect ingredients and on the other, they would explore other places.

Unfortunately, Shen Xu could only compete in Hefei city because that’s where he registered.

Otherwise, they would permanently leave Hefei city after the first qualification round and continue the competition in other places.

"Mmh." The double agreed.

[We have been to most of the Eastern region, but haven’t explored other places.] He said and Zhen Yuan nodded before speaking.

[We have accumulated many immortal stones in the past two hundred and fifty years. It won’t be a problem to teleport to a few major cities to buy ingredients.] He said.

[You are right.] Shen Xu said and quickly continued.

[We can prioritise sea cities and those near monster mountains.] He said.

The queue moved quickly and before they knew it, it was Shen Xu’s turn.

"Registration token." A young man said and the double handed over his registration token.

The token was a light green jade square with a plate etched on one surface, and a cup on the other.

"What soup did you make?" The young man asked.

"Wine soup with chicken, pork, and a variety of vegetables." Shen Xu answered and the young man recorded the information in the jade Square.

"Go to the third room to have your soup checked." The young man said and returned the jade square.

Soon after, Zhen Yuan accompanied Shen Xu to the third room but couldn’t enter because he wasn’t a participant.

After entering, Shen Xu saw an old man, a middle-aged man, and a middle-aged woman.

"Present your soup." The middle-aged woman instructed and Shen Xu didn’t hesitate.

The soup was served in an ordinary jade bowl and at a glance, it looked like a bowl of milk rather than a bowl of soup.

"The colour is very clean." The old man observed and nodded in appreciation.

"Registration token." The female cultivator instructed and Shen Xu took out the jade square.

"The preliminary investigation involves level, taste, and effectiveness." She said.

Soon after, the middle-aged man poured a small portion of the soup into another bowl.

"Level twelve soup, nine points." The man said and the female cultivator recorded in the jade Square.

When that was done, the old man placed a white jade stick in the white bowl, and less than half a breath later, the stick changed colour.

"Perfect green." The old man muttered and looked at Shen Xu in surprise.

"Young man, your soup can completely replenish the qi of a heaven immortal realm cultivator." He said and Shen Xu smiled.

’Ofcourse it can! I changed the recipe countless times before achieving this result.’ He thought but didn’t say that.

"Thank you, senior." He said instead.

"Ten points for effectiveness." The old man said and the female recorded.

As for taste, Shen Xu was confident and the judges didn’t disappoint.

"Ten points for taste." The old man said and looked at Shen Xu with curious eyes.

"Twenty-nine points is the highest score so far. Young man, who is your master?" He asked.