Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 427 - 426: The Reason for Intervening in the Selection Competition

Chapter 427: Chapter 426: The Reason for Intervening in the Selection Competition

"The Clash of Moons" competition entered the elimination stage.

Thus, the 60 first-year contestants, divided into groups A and B, hurriedly headed to the designated venue.

It was about ten o’clock in the morning now.

The competition would start promptly at eleven, so every contestant was running.

Thud, thud!

Someone knocked on the door.

Xia Yu shot a look at Tiqie Helinai, who, under the subconscious command of the "Divine Tongue," turned and opened the door.

Whish—

Outside stood a dozen students.

Yashan Liang, Xingping Chuangzhen, and Hei Muzhang Liang, the three giants from the original work, were present.

Shen Liangzi, Tanaka Hikari, Yoshino Yuuki, Sen Tian Makoto, and other members of the Polar Star Dormitory were also in attendance.

"Come on in—"

With a call, Xia Yu stood up from the sofa and pointed at a dozen neatly arranged glass bottles on the table, "One for each person, enough for everyone, line up to get yours, no need for more words. I wish you all outstanding performances in the competition!"

Inside each glass bottle was a small segment of vibrant green foliage.

The room was still filled with the fragrance of moon orange leaves, with Dojima Yin sitting on a sofa a little distance away, blankly staring at the tender leaf in his hand.

The dozen people queued up to receive their spice bottles, and quickly every single one was claimed.

They pulled the oak stoppers from the mouths of the bottles.

Yashan Liang suddenly cast aside his previous underestimation, his expression shook, and his "Divine Sense of Smell" proved useful. He merely sniffed lightly, and the aroma seemed to converge into a scorching current that burrowed throughout his body.

Without a doubt.

These were fantasy spices.

Moreover, they were the freshest, just plucked from the plant.

"They must have been harvested about 2 hours ago!"

Internally his emotions surged like a tumultuous storm, Yashan Liang tightly gripped the glass bottle, a look of disbelief flickering in his eyes, "Where did you get such fresh ’Indira Moon Orange,’ has Japan developed a research institute capable of cultivating these fantasy spices?"

These past ten or so days, Xijian Run’s research project on the "Indira Moon Orange" had little progress.

Not to mention cultivation.

What is going on?

Yashan Liang was full of suspicion. Since he was brought up under Xijian Run, he had a profound understanding of the difficulties in cultivating fantasy spices.

"Oh, right—"

Xia Yu watched with a smile as the dozen students accepted his small gift.

"Although it’s a preliminary contest, there are still scores and rankings; Far Moon only awards the top three of the ’Autumn Election’ in the last phase..."

Saying this, he shifted his tone.

"But, I’ve decided to dig into my own pocket and reward the first place in each stage!"

"The reward is the fantasy spices in your hands, but mind you, not just a small twig. Whoever takes first place in the ’Curry Dish’ preliminaries, I will give them a large pot of moon orange that can be easily sustained!"

Silence.

The dozen students looked up in astonishment.

Among them was Tiqie Ailisha, who had also received short message notifications from Xia Yu in the past dozen days.

The text messages only contained the framework of curry dishes and an encouraging word at the end.

Although her specialty lies in molecular gastronomy, as a chef, Ailisha’s basic skills in ingredient identification were still highly developed.

She knew this fantasy spice was no small matter.

"If it’s a large pot of fresh Indira Moon Orange leaves, it’s worth at least several million yen, right?" Tiqie Ailisha murmured in a low voice.

Several million yen?

Tanaka Hikari, Xingping Chuangzhen, and others, their hands trembled.

"Wow, that’s expensive!" Yoshino Yuuki covered her mouth in surprise, but then excitement followed, "Instructor Xia, then it’s settled, whoever wins first place in the first stage of the preliminaries, you’ll give us a pot of Fantasy Spices!"

Xia Yu nodded with a smile.

He thought about the plantation that had been designated as Far Moon’s off-limits area, and in the central glasshouse, there were probably a dozen pots of similar Fantasy Spices.

Golden Kela Fertilizer turned out to be unexpectedly effective; he just needed to apply it to the plant pots and water them, and a month later, he had a bountiful harvest.

Research? It didn’t seem necessary.

Cultivation wasn’t difficult at all.

He watched as a group of dazed students left.

Dojima Yin stared at him intently and said, "Instructor Xia, tell me the truth, where did you purchase these Fantasy Spices? Far Moon needs to partner with such powerful institutions..."

Xia Yu waved his hand.

"We can talk about that later. President Dojima, my interference in the ’Autumn Election,’ it’s not against the rules, right?" he asked.

Dojima didn’t answer but instead said, "Instructor Xia, you’ve been working at Far Moon for one semester now; this is your second semester. The General and I were saying that this ’Autumn Election’ will also be an opportunity to test the results of our teaching."

"The students have their own efforts to put in."

"At Far Moon, we’ve always promoted competition, allowing students to bring out their unique strengths and stand out," said Dojima Yin. "This process is actually a selection and elimination."

"Others are merely the backdrop that polishes the raw gem."

Dojima Yin’s words were implicit.

To be more precise, Far Moon’s education was like nurturing gu (a traditional Chinese practice of raising poisonous insects).

Even if, according to the original plot, Ghost Father Tiqie Ji returned, it would just make this elite selection even more extreme.

Tiqie Helinai took up the conversation, "You only guided them, gave them the formula for curry, not the recipe for a curry dish. With the curry formula, they can use their imagination to create an infinite number of dishes, it’s not against the rules. The Academy Council and the Ten Elite Council have discussed this."

Hearing what Eriina said, Xia Yu was relieved.

He had no choice but to get involved in the ’Autumn Election.’

He summoned the task panel.

"[Autumn Election of the Jade Generations.]"

"Note: You are a mentor, not a student. Your students will fight in the selection, and as a mentor, it is your duty to guide them, allowing them to cook outstanding dishes, making the competition more exciting."

"Completion Conditions:

1. ’Autumn Election’ attention level (10/100).

2. The appearance of ’quasi’ special-grade dishes in the selection (0/1)."

"Rewards:

1. [Four Divine Seafood Eight Treasure Soul Suppressing Dumplings] recipe fragment.

2. [Pan-Fried Precious Meat]*1 (Special Grade Forbidden Dish)."

Looking at the detailed task briefing, he knew this was no minor mission.

This time, the system laid out clear completion conditions.

The attention level of the ’Autumn Election.’

Quasi special-grade dishes.

Far Moon’s ’Autumn Election’ had always had substantial attention, being one of Neon’s top culinary institutions, but the attention for its selection competition, compared to the battle between special-grade chefs, was still at a gap.

To many high-ranking chefs, the student selection competition seemed trivial.

But a food battle was different, especially those above special grade – at least half of the Neon Food World would watch with attentive eyes.

Hence, the system’s requirement was clear: on top of the basic "10" for attention level, make this ’Autumn Election’ reach a full 100 in terms of attention level and impact.

To raise attention levels, one would either have to start with the students or the dishes.

In Xia Yu’s opinion, nothing was more newsworthy than using the latest Fantasy Ingredients for practical cooking.

And it was even a group of students who would be doing the cooking!

What explosive news!