Chapter 17

At the Qingxi Winehouse, in the kitchen on the second floor.

When Chen Xi and Bai Wanqing walked in, Old Man Ma, Qiao Nan, and Pei Wei were all there. Seeing Bai Wanqing, Qiao Nan's lips curled into a grin, and he whistled loudly, "Miss Bai, ten days apart feels like ten years. I've been missing you terribly. How have you been recently?"

Pei Wei, with her delicate and charming face, gazed at Chen Xi with adoration and murmured, "Hmm, Little Brother Chen Xi seems to have become even more handsome. He's so manly."

Old Man Ma pounded his iron spoon, his voice thunderous, and he stomped his feet, roaring, "As my junior disciples, how can you be so shameless? Damn it, shut up!"

Qiao Nan and Pei Wei both pouted, clearly unhappy.

Chen Xi had already seen such scenes before and was not surprised. However, he found it hard to handle Pei Wei, this beautiful and charming woman. He thought to himself, "Once Old Man Ma becomes my master, you will be my junior sister. Can't you be a bit more reserved and dignified when you speak?"

"Ten days have passed. I believe you have mastered the 'Myriad Ingredients Catalog' and the 'Spirit Fire Collection.' I will ask you a question. If you can answer it, I will take you as my disciple. If not, you should leave immediately to avoid wasting each other's time." Old Man Ma's expression turned serious as he began to test Chen Xi's knowledge from the past ten days.

Chen Xi nodded, his expression calm.

During these ten days, through the visualization of the Fuxi divine statue, his divine sense had become several times stronger than before. Because of this, he was able to memorize the vast knowledge in the 'Myriad Ingredients Catalog' and the 'Spirit Fire Collection' in a short time.

Chen Xi was confident that as long as the question came from these two books, he would not make any mistakes!

Old Man Ma's question was only four characters long—Lang Die Hong Qiao (Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge). This was the name of a dish that only a Fifth-Leaf Spirit Chef could cook, as the ingredients and spirit fire used had extremely picky requirements, making it highly difficult. This dish was specifically prepared for Two Instruments Golden Core Realm cultivators.

However, in the 'Myriad Ingredients Catalog,' the ranking of Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge among tens of thousands of dishes was not high. Compared to other dishes suitable for Two Instruments Golden Core Realm cultivators, Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge was undoubtedly the most troublesome to cook. It required over a hundred different ingredients, and the cooking process involved over a thousand steps. Even under duress, a Fifth-Leaf Spirit Chef would be reluctant to cook this dish. Naturally, the name Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge was rarely mentioned.

In Old Man Ma's view, if Chen Xi had truly mastered the 'Myriad Ingredients Catalog,' testing him with the Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge dish would be the most appropriate.

"Back in the day, among the three of us, only I could remember this dish. No matter how smart he is, he can't possibly be as good as me. He can barely match you and Junior Sister. Senior Brother, aren't you making things difficult for him?" Qiao Nan solemnly spoke up for Chen Xi, but his words were also a way to praise himself. Clearly, this guy was always full of himself.

"Right, Senior Brother, are you jealous that Little Brother Chen Xi is more handsome than you, so you're trying to drive him away? I won't allow it," Pei Wei rolled her eyes and began to speak up for Chen Xi in her own way.

Old Man Ma's forehead veins bulged, and he gritted his teeth, roaring, "Shut up! You two, one is a narcissist, the other a big flirt. What right do you have to challenge me? I am the Senior Brother, and I make the decisions!"

Qiao Nan and Pei Wei fell silent again, looking like they had submitted to his authority.

"Is there a problem?" Bai Wanqing, though unaware of the difficulty of Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge, could guess from Qiao Nan and Pei Wei's reactions that it was quite challenging. She looked at Chen Xi with concern, secretly wondering if the old man was really making things difficult for him.

Chen Xi nodded at Bai Wanqing, remaining calm and composed. Without hesitation, he answered, "Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge uses green snail root, black nan flower, purple vine nine-leaf fruit, dragon whisker poria branch..."

His voice was clear and steady, carrying a unique calmness, and it resonated clearly in everyone's ears.

"These over a hundred ingredients, with properties encompassing the five elements and yin-yang, must all be finely chopped into threads as fine as cotton. This completes the first step. The second step involves using a thousand-year-old stone milk spirit liquid as a pool to soak and nurture these ingredients until they are as smooth as water and as resilient as tendons. Then, use green wood spirit fire, kui water spirit fire, red fusion spirit fire..."

In no time, Chen Xi had listed nearly a hundred ingredients of various properties and began to explain the cooking process. Bai Wanqing didn't understand these details, but she clearly saw that as the names of the ingredients flowed from Chen Xi's mouth, the expressions of Old Man Ma and the others gradually became more serious, and a hint of surprise appeared in their eyes.

She couldn't help but feel relieved, a sense of pride rising in her heart, and she became even more eager to see Chen Xi's performance.

"Wow, this kid has a good memory, almost as good as I was back then," Qiao Nan said, his voice slightly unnatural.

"Are you serious? At this point, you're still being conceited? I remember that back then, although you remembered all the steps of Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge, you still made over a dozen mistakes. Little Brother Chen Xi hasn't made a single mistake so far," Pei Wei mercilessly pointed out.

Qiao Nan's embarrassed expression quickly disappeared, and he put on a deep and serious face, "Actually, I could have done it perfectly back then. I was just too kind and didn't want to make you and Senior Brother look bad, so I deliberately..."

"Shut up!" Old Man Ma suppressed his voice, interrupting, "I'm taking on a disciple, not listening to your self-praise!"

Qiao Nan sighed, stroking his chin with a look of being misunderstood, but inside, he was burning with anger, muttering, "Kid, make a mistake quickly, or my great and heroic image will be ruined, and I won't be able to chat up girls in the future..."

However, to Qiao Nan's despair, after a quarter of an hour, Chen Xi still hadn't made a single mistake. On the contrary, his thinking became clearer, and his speech faster, almost like a river of words, unceasing and smooth.

Qiao Nan was disheartened, "It's over, my record from back then has been broken..."

Pei Wei, entranced, murmured, "Confident men are the most handsome. Hmm, I'm falling for him, I'm trapped in a web of love and can't escape."

Bai Wanqing's face lit up, and she kept repeating, "Good, good..."

Old Man Ma's gaunt and tense face broke into a smile, like a chrysanthemum blooming in autumn.

...

"In short, as long as these different ingredients are processed according to the steps mentioned above, they can be baked under the Ling Yin Fire to form a unique appearance of waves surging and a rainbow bridge appearing."

After an incense stick's time, Chen Xi finally finished explaining all the steps of Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge. Looking around, he saw the surrounding people with blank, dazed expressions, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned, wondering if he had made a mistake.

He didn't know that his flawless explanation over an hour had shocked the others greatly, but he was clear that today was the most he had spoken in a long time, almost as much as he would in a year.

"Cough, um, to reach this level in ten days, your talent is decent," Old Man Ma coughed, breaking the silence after a while.

Chen Xi finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he passed the test, he didn't care about his talent.

"What do you mean by 'decent talent?'" Qiao Nan, as if stimulated, lost all composure, waving his arms wildly and shouting, "How can someone more talented than me be called 'decent'? What am I then? A dull and useless waste?"

Pei Wei couldn't tolerate Old Man Ma's evaluation either, and she spoke sharply, "Senior Brother, when you explained Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge to the master, your face turned red, and you stuttered for a long time, making many mistakes. You..."

Being exposed to his past mistakes, Old Man Ma was embarrassed and furious, and he roared, interrupting Pei Wei, "Is it so hard for you to shut up? I admit he's a genius, okay? Will you die if you can't be quiet for a moment?!"

He paused and weakly added, "Actually, I was just trying to prevent him from becoming arrogant."

Qiao Nan and Pei Wei both rolled their eyes.

Chen Xi, however, was completely puzzled, lacking the awareness of being a genius. He just muttered to himself, "These three guys are really strange..."

Bai Wanqing tugged at Chen Xi's sleeve and whispered, "Did you know Old Man Ma would test you on Rising Waves and Rainbow Bridge?"

Chen Xi was taken aback and shook his head, "Never."

Bai Wanqing was surprised, "So, you have completely mastered the 'Myriad Ingredients Catalog' and the 'Spirit Fire Collection'?"

Chen Xi was puzzled, "Is there a problem with that?" He was genuinely confused. To him, it was just memorizing some text. What was so surprising about it?

From Chen Xi's tone, Bai Wanqing finally confirmed that he had indeed memorized both books thoroughly, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of indescribable shock.

She had once flipped through the 'Myriad Ingredients Catalog,' which contained tens of thousands of ingredients. Memorizing the names, properties, appearances, growth environments, and effects of these tens of thousands of ingredients was not something that could be done in a short time. Chen Xi had memorized them all in ten days, which was truly astonishing.

But that wasn't the most important part. If someone with an extraordinary memory put in the effort, they could also achieve this. What was truly astonishing was that Chen Xi not only memorized the ingredients but also mastered the dishes that could be cooked with them and the detailed steps of the cooking process.

Of course, if Chen Xi were a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator who had condensed mental energy, he could have memorized everything in ten days. However, the fact was that Chen Xi only had the cultivation of the Third Stage of Innate, and this had already been seen through by Old Man Ma and the others. They couldn't possibly view him as a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator.

It was precisely because of these reasons that Old Man Ma and the others were incredibly shocked and considered Chen Xi a remarkably intelligent genius.

Bai Wanqing, now understanding everything, felt both shocked and proud and happy for Chen Xi.

She knew how much hardship and pain the young man in front of her had endured from childhood to adulthood. Now, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, he was beginning to emit his own light. How could this not be a cause for joy?

"Old Man Ma, since you've taken on a disciple, sign a contract with me."

At this moment, a clear and icy voice echoed from outside. The door opened, and a young woman with a stunning appearance walked in, her expression proud and cold.

(End of the page)