Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 415 - 414: Taming Yashan Liang (Part 1)

Chapter 415: Chapter 414: Taming Yashan Liang (Part 1)

Yashan Liang’s challenge was very interesting.

Speaking of which, this was his second challenge to Xia Yu. The first one had taken place during the residential study period in April, when Xia Yu used a springtime Crucian Carp soup to teach Yashan Liang what it meant to blend and control.

There was no doubt about Yashan Liang’s excellence.

According to the original plot, this guy had taken the crown in the "Autumn Selection" at the start of classes in September, surpassing Medicine King Xingping Chuangzhen and Hei Muzhang Liang. From then on, these three were jointly referred to as the "Three Giants."

Moreover, Yashan Liang quickly became one of the Elite Ten.

In Xia Yu’s eyes, Yashan Liang was also his student.

Therefore, during the "Autumn Selection" at the start of term, he maintained a neutral stance, not favoring anyone in particular.

However, the "Autumn Selection" couldn’t be dull, either. If Xia Yu wanted to add excitement to this competition, he necessarily had to start with the outstanding students, get a clear understanding of their abilities, and then find ways to "cheat" for them.

That’s right, to "cheat"!

The battle between cheaters was always more interesting.

*Ding.*

A system task popped up:

"[Tame the Divine Sense of Smell]."

"Promote: Begin with the ’Divine Sense of Smell,’ Yashan Liang’s most proud domain, and conquer it."

"Reward: Unlock a new seed ’Doctor Aloe’ (blue)."

It was just a small task.

Without culinary experience, it only offered an unlock reward for some kind of blue ingredient seed.

It was better than nothing, adding a bit of color to this private education session to keep Xia Yu’s spirits even higher.

However.

Xia Yu did not easily accept Yashan Liang’s challenge.

It was a bad habit.

Even though he was a Far Moon student, since he had come to challenge a higher rank, he should leave something behind.

"Conditions!"

Thus, Xia Yu met Yashan Liang’s aggressive gaze, let out a light laugh, and said, "I’m a special-grade chef, and I can completely refuse unreasonable challenges. Frankly speaking, you don’t have the qualifications to compete against me."

He made his point very clear.

"What do you want?"

Yashan Liang stared directly at him without dodging. To be honest, this kind of gaze was quite annoying. Xingping Chuangzhen was like that, Yashan Liang was like that, and if Hei Muzhang Liang also came knocking to challenge him, wouldn’t that be terribly bothersome?

Xia Yu just smiled, didn’t answer, but instead raised his hand, showing a withered leaf of the Moon Orange.

"I want the seeds of the ’Indira Moon Orange.’ I don’t need many. By the way, your lab should have detailed research material on these Fantasy Spices, right? I’d like to photocopy a set over..."

His hunter’s instinct was thrilled.

Fantasy Spices were rare ingredients to come by.

In the IGO special-grade ingredient store, there were only a handful of Fantasy Spices, all of which had been discovered by Gourmet Hunters many years ago and had been successfully cultivated on a large scale.

And clearly, ’Indira Moon Orange’ was a new type of Fantasy Spice. Xia Yu had stumbled upon it today in Xijian Run’s private lab; thus, that indescribable delight was known only to him—truly the restless soul of a chef...

Hiss.

Yashan Liang obviously took a sharp breath, "You want the seeds of the ’Indira Moon Orange’...?"

"Do you know how expensive these seeds of Fantasy Spices are? It’s also thanks to Run being an authority in the field of spices, and having an intimate relationship with Lady Indira, that he was able to exchange an equivalent value of spice academic data for a couple of potted Moon Oranges and several dozen seeds!"

"The two pots of Moon Oranges withered and died upon air freight to Japan, and we plan to start trying to cultivate the remaining seeds in a few days..."

He waved his hand to interrupt.

Xia Yu shrugged his shoulders and said, "Give me half of the seeds, um, since the seeds are so precious, once I’ve cultivated some Moon Oranges, I’ll gift you some fresh potted plants, guaranteed to survive that variety."

Yashan Liang looked at the young lecturer spouting nonsense with the eyes one uses to look at an idiot.

Did he know the difficulty of cultivating Fantasy Spice plants?

Xijian Run was an authority in the field of spices, a research expert, and even she dared not claim she could cultivate these latest Fantasy Spices; how could this guy just spout nonsense...

With veins throbbing faintly on his forehead, Yashan Liang barely managed to restrain the impulse to lash out.

"Impossible!" Yashan Liang flatly refused, "These seeds are involved in an important research project of Run’s. As you know, Instructor, the rarity of Fantasy Spices, if Run finds a way to cultivate Fantasy Moon Oranges on a large scale, she could become an instant billionaire with this research achievement alone. Her academic paper would easily make it into the professional journal of IGO headquarters, and chefs all over the world would know her name."

At that moment, another voice interjected.

"If it’s Instructor Xia, I’m willing to give him half of the Moon Orange seeds!"

Xijian Run stood by, smiling and looking at Xia Yu with twinkling eyes behind her glasses, which held a different kind of sparkle, "I suppose Instructor Xia also has the intention of becoming a researcher, right?"

A researcher?

Thinking of the food cells that had suddenly appeared in his body a few days ago—though they were a type of food cell that had not yet fully awakened—Xia Yu felt it was time to dip into the research field.

This field was the cutting-edge of the culinary world, only by standing on the front lines could he access many Fantasy Ingredients that had not been disclosed and were still secretly under research.

Moreover, food cells themselves needed to be studied.

A few days ago, he had secretly attempted to cook a special, taboo dish.

The ingredient used was Gem Meat, worth 100 g/10,000 Fame Points; the system only gave him 20 points, a 20% completion rate. At the time, Xia Yu got such a fright he pulled back, not daring to blindly invest too much effort and capital into this seemingly bottomless pit.

Taboo dishes might be tightly intertwined with molecular biology.

In other words, taboo dishes might, in some sense, be a higher tier of molecular gastronomy.

I digress.

"I’d be very happy to be a researcher," Xia Yu said with a smile.

"Run—"

Yashan Liang looked at the smiling Xijian Run and sighed, his eyes no longer showing the previous aggressiveness.

His foster mother was actually fulfilling his wish.

Snap!

Xia Yu snapped his fingers, "In that case, the condition is met, Yashan classmate. To show my gratitude for this gift, I will bring out all my strength—"

At these words, Yashan Liang startled, then pushed his silver-white bangs aside with a shovel and chuckled, "I couldn’t ask for more!"

"The theme is ’curry dishes’?" Xia Yu asked.

Yashan Liang nodded.

Seeing this, Xia Yu also summoned over Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen, "Yashan classmate has issued a challenge to me this time, and although the outcome is already determined, you should watch and learn well."

"Oh!"

Tanaka Hikari’s cheeks showed sweat, and she quickly glanced over at Yashan Liang, who was already at the door of the lab, thinking to herself, "Who is this person? Why are they confident enough to challenge Instructor Xia, especially in the field of spices..."

Yashan Liang was a loner, and even having been in the same class as him for a term, Tanaka Hikari had not spoken a single word to him.

"A duel of spices?"

"This could be the prelude to the ’curry dish’ battle in the autumn selection! I have to watch closely!"

Xingping Chuangzhen’s eyes gleamed with excitement.