Chapter 10

The familiar aroma filled the air, bringing Bruce back to the days of his rivalry with Soul of Soup.

To win a woman's heart, the two held a culinary battle, inviting top taste masters as judges.

In the five-round battle, Soul of Soup lost every round. At the last moment, he managed to gather the ingredients for the Lingxi Five-Animal Soup and barely won one round.

Although it couldn't change the outcome of the defeat, that bowl of soup left a deep impression on Bruce.

"Hehe, we were so young and reckless back then."

"But apart from the Lingxi Five-Animal Soup, what else do you have to offer?"

"The me of today no longer regards this dish as anything special."

He took a sip.

Bruce stood there, stunned.

"This taste..."

The rich aroma danced on his tongue, and his taste cells began to stir.

His stomach growled, a sign of his craving for food.

"This is impossible!"

He glanced back at the sleeping Soul of Soup, unable to believe he could reach such a level.

"Or perhaps, it was just luck..."

"After spending over a decade with the West Wind, you must have made the Lingxi Five-Animal Soup countless times. You probably just stumbled upon the secret."

"So what if you found the secret? You're still just a defeated opponent from back then!"

Images of the grand event twenty years ago, when he defeated the son of a famous chef and officially embarked on the path of a culinary master, kept flashing through his mind.

His status in the Sky Thief Alliance also soared.

How glorious it was.

He put away the nostalgic letter and the Sky Thief Alliance emblem, replacing them with another letter.

It mentioned that an old friend was visiting and wanted to exchange culinary skills. However, due to some trivial matters, he found it inconvenient to prepare high-end ingredients, so they would use ordinary ones for the competition.

"Old friend, let me see what you've got!"

"Without the Lingxi Five-Animal Soup, what do you have left?"

...

...

Leaving Soul of Soup's bedroom, Bruce sneaked into the high-end kitchen that spanned thousands of square meters.

The kitchen had three levels—upper, middle, and lower—plus a storage room for ingredients, all with excellent insulation.

The soundproofing was also top-notch, ensuring that no one would discover him while cooking.

Cooking in a completely unfamiliar kitchen was a great test of a chef's adaptability, which was Bruce's strong suit.

Soul of Soup, on the other hand, excelled in following strict procedures to create dishes in their best state.

"Five-tailed fin shark... use fresh fish fins to make fin wine."

"Use a sharp knife to remove the sweat glands... then fry in oil..."

"Prepare the seasoning and seafood oil... the fried shark meat has been locked in moisture..."

"Place it on a low flame and brush with pre-prepared garlic sauce..."

"Phew... finally done!"

Bruce wiped the sweat from his forehead. It took him four hours, and such high-end cooking was extremely draining.

"I wonder if Soul of Soup has woken up. The letter was so obvious, he couldn't have missed it, right?"

"Or maybe he won't compete and will just notify the guards. Who knows?"

Bruce and Soul of Soup were old acquaintances, and he knew Soul of Soup's character well.

But... people change.

Just as he placed the dish in the warming cabinet, he heard a noise at the door and quickly hid.

As adults, they wouldn't risk their safety on the character of an old friend they didn't get along with twenty years ago.

From his hiding spot, Bruce saw a masked man in a tiger skin enter the room, place a steaming clay pot on the table, and leave.

"Is this Soul of Soup? Why is he masked? Never mind, I can't take the risk!"

He placed his dish in the warming cabinet, picked up the clay pot on the table, and disappeared.

Meanwhile, the real Soul of Soup was still asleep, not yet recovered from the effects of the anesthesia.

...

...

The next morning, Soul of Soup was in a great mood after receiving the letter.

This meant that the expert who had been secretly guiding him to make the Lingxi Five-Animal Soup was willing to teach him.

From this person, he might find the breakthrough he needed in his culinary skills.

As for the so-called competition... in Soul of Soup's eyes, it was just a polite gesture to save face.

Employees gradually entered the high-end kitchen.

After searching the kitchen, Soul of Soup finally found a completed dish in one of the storage cabinets.

It was the five-tailed fin shark roasted meat left by Bruce.

The cabinet's performance was excellent, and even after several hours, the wine in the cup was still steaming.

"Shark meat is rich in urea and doesn't taste good... usually, only the fins of the five-tailed fin shark are eaten."

"Using knife skills to remove the glands? What sharp technique!"

He cut a piece of the roasted meat and put it in his mouth. The crispy outer shell wrapped around warm, tender meat, and when he bit down, even some broth flowed out.

On the side were two types of seasonings—sauce and powder—each adding a unique flavor.

Soul of Soup savored it...

He took a sip of the warm wine, and the taste exploded in his mouth!

"This..."

The alcohol seemed to bring the shark back to life, complementing the roasted meat and creating a duet on his taste buds.

"The deliciousness of the roasted meat is just the first round; the main dish is just a prelude!"

"The true enjoyment comes after eating the roasted meat, with this mouth-cleansing wine!"

"Using a strange-tasting wine to complement the roasted meat, achieving a complex flavor..."

Soul of Soup thought for a moment and immediately understood the principle.

"Truly ingenious. This senior is a seasoned chef with solid skills."

"Right, the shark has been finned, and the roasted meat is from the spine... where are the fins that were supposed to be the main dish?"

In a corner, Soul of Soup found the dried fins and several opened bottles of wine...

"Using brute force to squeeze the juice out of the fins... this faint bloody smell, paired with a low-alcohol cocktail, is a great idea!"

He was thoroughly impressed by the senior's dish.

But he felt that compared to the Lingxi Five-Animal Soup, this dish lacked a bit of the wow factor.

But then he thought, the Lingxi Five-Animal Soup used such high-quality ingredients, while the five-tailed fin shark was only a level 10 catch. To achieve this taste was already a significant feat.

At that moment, Zhang Wei had just passed through the narrow passage between the inner and outer areas and arrived at the kitchen.

As soon as he entered, he noticed that the clay pot of beef offal soup he had placed was gone.

"Soul of Soup must have taken it. He's quite sharp."

"I wonder if he can figure out the secrets of the clay pot beef offal soup."

The clay pot beef offal soup had two key points. The choice of beef offal and the seasonings came from the Lingnan region of Guangzhou, combining salty, sweet, spicy, and fragrant flavors.

Not only was it extremely aromatic, but it also had the benefit of strengthening the internal organs.

The cooking method was a blend of the Nanchang clay pot soup, mainly using slow-cooking and sealing techniques.

A rack was placed inside the clay pot, and the beef offal soup was sealed on the rack, with salt water at the bottom of the large pot.

Using this salt water steaming method, the beef offal soup could be maintained at around 90 degrees Celsius throughout the cooking process, preserving its maximum flavor and nutrition through a non-boiling, oxygen-free method.

As Zhang Wei's first meal in this world, it naturally had a sense of ceremony. The process was so complex that it would take a lot of talent to figure it out on one's own!

Soul of Soup wiped his mouth and called out to Zhang Wei, "Kid, come here."

"Chef, you called me."

"Are you feeling better?"

"It's fine, I'm much better after two days of rest."

Soul of Soup nodded. Although he had given Zhang Wei a two-week leave, he had immediately returned to work.

His handling of the dish was also very skilled, showing him to be a diligent and promising talent.

Soul of Soup pointed to the roasted meat, "Try this and tell me what you think."

Zhang Wei was surprised. Had Soul of Soup noticed something?