Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 566 - 565: Title - Stir-Fried Noodles!

Chapter 566: Chapter 565: Title - Stir-Fried Noodles!

A display cabinet made entirely of glass was placed on stage.

Lights converged upon it.

The sole exhibit inside was clearly captured on the high-definition camera.

The audience speculated:

"What is that?!"

"A pot!"

"Could it be, that’s the legendary piece of kitchenware?"

Not just the live audience whispered among themselves, but perhaps even those watching the broadcast and getting their first glimpse of the ’Jade Dragon Pot’ were taken aback by the deteriorated appearance of this legendary kitchen utensil.

This was a rusty pot.

To be more precise, the pot resembled an unearthed bronze relic, brimming with ancient style and very different from modern Chinese iron pots.

Unlike the general public, many celebrity chefs and Lin Giants, upon setting their eyes on the pot within the cabinet, showed looks of regret on their faces.

A Divine Artifact...

Contaminated!

"Indeed, the Jade Dragon Pot has been contaminated!" sighed Lin Giant Tangshan from Tang’s Team.

Tang Yuqiong, who had been recognized by another legendary piece of kitchenware, the ’Dragon Pot’, knew all too well that when legendary kitchenware was tainted, its restoration was difficult, and what’s worse, the contaminated items would lose their mystical aura and, like ordinary metal kitchenware, succumb to the ravages of time, becoming rusty and spotted.

"That looks like a ruined pot!" Tang Yuqiong covered her mouth, hardly able to believe that one of the ’Great Eight Legendary Chinese Kitchen Utensils’ had been thoroughly destroyed.

At the same time, the competing teams and judges on stage were also whispering among themselves.

"This pot seems to be destroyed!"

Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro said.

Both glanced at Zhu Qing, seeing the complex emotions in this female Lin Giant’s eyes, they exchanged surprised looks. There was no sign of regret or sorrow on Zhu Qing’s face.

The White Jade Tower Team advanced en masse, crowding around the display cabinet.

Everyone was drawn to the kitchenware inside the cabinet, the camera was not focused there, and no one noticed Xia Yu’s peculiar expression.

Thump!

Thump, thump!

His heart, as if after intense exercise, was beating too fast to control.

Sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Xia Yu grabbed at his chest, rubbing it, before his blood calmed down and lay quietly inside his body, returning to its usual tranquility.

But when he looked towards the display cabinet again, the serenity in Xia Yu’s eyes was gone.

"Does this pot... have a voice?"

The thought alone frightened Xia Yu.

Rumors had it that legendary kitchenware would react to their chosen successor in some way.

The ’Jade Dragon Pot’ in front of him was damaged and contaminated, so any reaction like the ’Phoenix Auspicious Pattern’ or the ’Tyranical Dragon Pattern’ was impossible. Yet, Xia Yu distinctly heard an obscure call.

Ding.

Suddenly, the system popped up a task reminder:

"[Purify the ’Jade Dragon Pot’]. "

"Tip: A piece of legendary kitchenware has reacted to you, try to purify it and officially own it!"

"Reward: [Evolution Crystal Stone] (Gold) *1, random gold recipe."

Uh!

Xia Yu was startled.

"I haven’t even touched the pot, how come the task came early?" he mumbled in dismay.

He rubbed his brow in vexation.

Whether his team would ultimately acquire the Jade Dragon Pot hinged on the second phase of the Lin Chef showdown. Even if they won the championship in the first stage and earned five points, early elimination in the ’Lin Chef Showdown’ would still mean an early exit for the team.

Suddenly, a nameless pressure bloomed in his heart.

"This is the legendary kitchenware—’Jade Dragon Pot’!" Chief Judge Kogawa Shinyiro declared deeply, offering only a brief introduction before he joined the two female hosts at a small table.

On the table was a sealed box containing 30 slips of paper.

"Before we draw the topics, to prove the fairness and integrity of this phase, let’s conduct three drawing exercises!" he said, nodding to the female host.

So the three of them, each drew a slip of paper from the box and spread it open to the camera.

"Pancakes!"

"Grilled Eel!"

"Baked Snails!"

When the topics were announced, the audience initially remained calm, but their expressions changed when the contestants went for the second random selection.

The second round’s topics turned out to be ’Pan-Fried·French Cuisine’, ’Grilled·Mexican Cuisine’, and ’Dessert·Turkish Cuisine’.

Clearly, the final round’s topics were tricky.

They not only specified the cooking method but also the culinary region.

What was key was that these topics all had one thing in common:

They were either about grilling or pan-frying.

Indeed, they all tightly revolved around the central concept of "heat control"!

The third time...

When the topic was revealed, Xia Yu felt like covering his face and fleeing.

"What the fuck—"

He finally remembered that a few days ago, he had used a "Card of Destiny" to make a wish, and now, was this the irreversible deviation from reality?

Xia Yu immediately realized where the problem lay.

His wish had been:

Let the final revolve around "Bursting Flame"!

Hey, hey!

I only wanted the first round of the finals to revolve around "Bursting Flame", not the whole finals!

After three rehearsals, Chiyoda Aichi, Dubian Yuuki, and Kogawa Shinyiro had stiff expressions.

"Cough cough!"

Kogawa Shinyiro could only step forward to smooth things over amidst the audience’s whispering.

"Well, how should I put this, while there seem to be many topics centered on ’heat control’ on the surface, the 30 topics have been meticulously screened by the competition committee, so there is no need to worry about imbalance!"

"So—"

He suddenly held his breath and increased his volume, "Now, let’s draw the topic for the first round of the finals!"

"The guest is ’Burning Purple Rose’, Miss Andrea!"

Pop.

The venue lights immediately scattered, focusing on Xia Yu, Li Han, and Andrea, who smiled and stepped forward to the topic box.

Without further ado, as time was tight, Andrea reached in, pulled out a slip of paper, spread it out, and a strange expression quickly crossed her pretty face—this reaction, captured on camera, made the audience speculate about the topic.

She showed the camera the topic she drew:

"Stir-Fried Noodles·Chinese!"

The bold Chinese characters appeared on the screen, with an English description below.

The Hokkaido Shrine Pavilion went deadly silent in an instant.

The audience gaped.

Is this yet another topic centered around "heat control"?!

The audience unanimously turned their gaze toward Kogawa Shinyiro.

With cold sweat on his forehead.

Kogawa Shinyiro barely suppressed the urge to curse out loud; it was absurd. There were 30 slips of paper in the box, and he had personally checked them before the contest to prevent any mishaps, yet during the actual drawing phase, they couldn’t get away from the term "heat control".

"Ensnared by ’heat control’!"

He could only face the sea of skeptical eyes and say as if on pins and needles, "Good! The topic for the first round has been determined!"

"Chef Xia Yu, Chef Li Han, will use the topic ’Stir-Fried Noodles’, full of Chinese style, to compete in their culinary skills—"

Kogawa Shinyiro said loudly.

Xia Yu and Li Han appeared in the camera, looking unperturbed, with no objections to the topic.

In fact, both had a slight, satisfied smile on their lips.

"Stir-Fried Noodles, huh!"

The Far Moon Team and the White Jade Building Team looked at each other.

One could only say fortune favored them, allowing two chefs of Chinese heritage to return to their most skilled domain.

"This is going to make for an exciting competition!"

Countless professional chefs had the same thought in their minds.

A showdown between experts.

This was sure to be a battle where the difference between victory and defeat lay in the smallest of margins!