The cloche was lifted. A rich aroma that had almost taken physical form drifted out from under it, lingering near the tip of her nose. Ah Zi was stunned. Her eyes were attracted to the plate, where light bloomed and swirled beautifully.‘This is a… dish?! A dish that… glows?’

For the first time, she found that food could be so beautiful.

Not only her, but the people around her were also attracted by the plate of Red-braised True Dragon Meat.

The light faded and disappeared. The next moment, everyone saw what was on the plate. The food was set on a blue-and-white porcelain plate drawn with the patterns of pretty flowers, but that was not the focus… The focus was the meat at the center.

Nine pieces of meat were placed on the plate in a three by three pattern. The skin of each piece was slightly convex and translucent, glinting and springy like jelly. A look at them was enough to provoke one’s appetite. The fragrance lingered over them like a little dragon.

This was a cooking style totally different from Ah Zhuang’s dragon steak. ‘Can that greasy dragon skin be made into something delicious? When Ah Zhuang cooks, he always throws them away,’ Ah Zi thought to herself.

Ah Zhuang was the best chef she had ever seen, so she automatically compared his dishes with this dish. After comparing, she was horrified to find that this dish seemed to be tastier! Although she had not tried it, it crushed Ah Zhuang’s dragon steak in terms of visual and smell, and it was more beautifully decorated, looking like a blooming flower that attracted the eye.

Lord Dog, Yellow Spring Great Sage, Tian Cang, Er Ha, Nethery, Flowery, and the others stood around the table. There were nine pieces of Red-braised True Dragon Meat. Adding Ah Zi and Ying Long, there were nine people in the restaurant. They could each get a piece of meat.

Bu Fang gave every person a blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

Ah Zi took a bowl, bowed to Bu Fang, and thanked him.

Bu Fang nodded.

When they got their bowls, they impatiently reached out their chopsticks to pick up the meat. As the chopsticks closed around the meat, they sank deep into the springy texture, and when the meat was lifted, sticky strings of sauce hung from it. Almost all of them took deep breaths at the same time.

Ah Zi put a piece of meat in her bowl and gave it a sniff. It had an aroma of sauce and a faint scent of wine. The purpose of the wine was to remove the gamey smell from dragon meat and make it more palatable. Of course, some people liked the gamey taste, such as Alpha. He always asked Ah Zhuang to keep the smell when cooking. This kind of person had a strong preference for bold flavors. In any case, Ah Zhuang could still make the dragon steak very delicious.

Ah Zi looked at the square piece of meat in her bowl. The expression on her face was somewhat excited. When it came to food, she always had a hard time containing her emotions. It was because she had been trapped in Alpha’s warship for too long, and she had not tasted delicious food for a long time.

She picked up the meat and held it before her face. Under the light, the translucent skin glittered like a crystal. It looked so lovely that she could not bear to eat it. But she could not stand it eventually. She opened her mouth, shoved the meat inside, closed her lips, and bit.

The tender texture did not make people feel tired. When her lips touched the glittering skin, a soft, warm feeling exuded from it. It was as if a tiny hand was massaging her whole body, making her relax all over.

She chewed. The lean meat and the fat mixed together, elevating the aroma of the meat to the maximum. Ah Zi could not help but close her eyes as she savored the rare delicacy. She understood now. It was not that the meat Bu Fang cooked did not smell nice, but that he had trapped the aroma within the meat. The aroma did not leak until the meat was inside the mouth.

It was a very special trick, which could let people feel the chef’s sincerity. It was a great feeling. This was a dish cooked with heart.

Ah Zi had an impulse to cry. The meat made her think of many things. She thought of her miserable fate and the dark days in Alpha’s warship. Those days were the hardest time for her. A piece of meat had touched her emotions, causing both her body and heart to tremble.

Not only her, but the others were also silent after eating the meat.

The taste of True Dragon meat was excellent. After all, it was a Demigod food ingredient, so its deliciousness was undisputed. However, it required a chef’s skills and abilities to perfectly bring out the meat’s deliciousness.

The dish kept the dragon’s skin and fat. It was known to all that skin and fat were greasy, but this dish was not greasy at all, and it did not make them sick.

Nethery ate fast. With just a few bites and swallows, she finished the whole piece of meat. Foxy, lying in her arms, was upset in an instant.

Flowery and the others also shoved the meat into their mouths, eating not too fast nor too slow. However, the way they ate seemed to be more savage when compared with Ah Zi.

In contrast, Bu Fang ate the meat gracefully because he was not in a hurry. Enjoying food was a process, and the process itself was an enjoyment as well.

“It’s… delicious…” Ah Zi was convinced. She never thought that the chefs in this place were so strong. No wonder Alpha was killed here. The people and things here were quite interesting!

Lord Dog ate nonstop from a porcelain bowl. He did not use his paws. He buried his muzzle into the food and ate happily. However, when he had finished, he raised his head, licked his lips, and said, “Bu Fang boy, to be honest, the Sweet ‘n’ Sour Ribs tastes better. Cook that tomorrow…”

Lord Dog was famous for his love of Sweet ‘n’ Sour Ribs.

Bu Fang did not say anything. In fact, this Red-braised True Dragon Meat was no less delicious than the Sweet ‘n’ Sour Dragon Ribs, and its cooking was a lot more complicated.

Er Ha and the others kept praising it. Bu Fang’s dishes had never disappointed them. Sure enough, it was the right thing to give all the food ingredients to him. There was no point for them to keep those because they did not know how to cook.

When everyone had finished eating, Bu Fang cleared the table and turned into the kitchen.

Whitey still stood at the kitchen door in hibernation mode. It had devoured the God’s Heart, and Bu Fang did not know when it would wake up. But he was not worried. No one would dare to provoke Yellow Spring Little Restaurant today. With Tian Cang and Flowery, the restaurant’s defense was impregnable. Moreover, the little girl Flowery had inherited Whitey’s cloth-stripping skills, and she never showed mercy to troublemakers.

After they learned enough information from Ah Zi, Tian Cang brought her and the little dragon to rent a room in a nearby inn. Ah Zi was new to the place and naturally did not have any Nether crystals, so Tian Cang paid for her room. That made Er Ha sneer because Tian Cang paid with his money.

…

In Di Ting’s homeland, black smoke was spreading. Nether Puppeteer Patriarch stood beneath it. Suddenly, a black fog rolled over, and then Di Ting slowly descended from it, holding a flashing crystal in one hand.

“This is the Warship’s Heart I found in Alpha’s warship. It’s one grade inferior to the God’s Heart, but your old God’s Heart is just a fragment. After you fuse with this source stone, it should be about the same as before. At least, your strength will recover.”

Di Ting’s warm voice rang out, and he lightly waved a paw. A blue source stone immediately flew toward Nether Puppeteer Patriarch. Her long eyelashes quivered, then she opened her eyes and took the stone. Her eyes flashed, but she said nothing as she shoved the source stone into her chest.

Soon, tens of thousands of light beams burst out of the homeland. It was as if a mighty being was about to wake up.

Standing on his short legs at the entrance to the homeland and looking at the boundless Nether Prison, Di Ting breathed a long sigh.

“Alpha is dead. The border emissary sent here by the Divine Dynasty should have learned about this… Even so, he probably would not do anything. After all, today’s Great Netherworld is considered recognized by the Laws of the Universe.

“That Alpha deserves to be damned. His death is all good, for he had provided many resources to my Great Netherworld…”

Di Ting stood at the entrance. Black smoke kept spreading around him, and there was a deep look in his eyes.

“It had taken me a great effort to form the Great Netherworld… And yet, when the Divine Dynasty’s border emissary is here, he will take it over… I really hate to give him everything…”

Di Ting sighed.

…

The night had grown old, but Yellow Spring City was still brightly lit. Ah Zi was walking in the city with the little dragon. Tian Cang volunteered to be her guide, and he was telling her what food was delicious and what was not. The moon was high up in the sky, but the city was still bustling with activities.

In Yellow Spring Little Restaurant, everyone went to sleep. There was still light in the kitchen, though.

Bu Fang stood in the kitchen, lost in thought. He seemed to be waiting for something. His divine will was already very strong, and he could now have a premonition of things.

Standing in the kitchen, he seemed to sense that something was about to happen. After eliminating many things, he eventually decided that he should be close to breaking through. The feeling was growing stronger and stronger.

After nine years, his turnover was almost up to the point of a breakthrough.

Bu Fang waited quietly. He held the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife in one hand and spun it. Suddenly, the knife stopped. He focused his eyes as the System’s serious voice rang out in his mind.

‘Congratulations on completing the targeted sales quota, Host. You are now qualified to take the promotion test of cooking a new dish from the God of Cooking’s Menu…

Are you willing to accept the test?’

The words in his mind made Bu Fang’s pupils constrict. The Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared instantly, while he focused his eyes and furrowed his brows.

‘A promotion test?’

Although he had completed the sales quota mission, he had not taken the promotion test yet. He was surprised that the test this time was another dish from the God of Cooking’s Menu. Without question, this was not a simple test.

The System had once said that all dishes in the God of Cooking’s Menu were extremely difficult for him, and any mistake would kill him.

He never thought that there would be a test blocking between him and the long-awaited promotion. It was not good news to him. However, once he passed the test, the promotion would certainly be huge.

He was a Nine-revolution Little Saint now. Without a doubt, this promotion test would promote him from the Little Saint Realm to the Great Saint Realm. And once he became a Great Saint and obtained the reward of the sales quota mission, his cultivation base might skyrocket once again.

Besides, he would get a fragment of the God of Cooking Set. Sales quota missions would always have a fragment as the reward. If the reward of the promotion test also had a fragment, he might be able to collect all the fragments at once and exchange the last God of Cooking Set, which he had been looking forward to for a long time.

Therefore, he could not turn away from the test.

Bu Fang’s face grew extremely serious in an instant, and he answered solemnly in his mind, ‘System… I accept the test.’