Trembling with fear, Little Bai's face was covered in tears. Stuck with a host who blindly alters recipes whenever the mood strikes him, one could never truly understand the sheer panic in Little Bai's heart.
Fortunately, the basic seafood soup base for the dish was complete; now, all that remained was...
"Holy crap! Old Bai, what the hell are you trying to do now!?!" Mo Bai retrieved a special apparatus for steaming the Hell Ice Bass from the ingredient box—a palm-sized grid suspended in the center by several steel wires.
This wasn't part of the simulation!
Little Bai felt his entire blade going numb.
"Steam with water from below, pour hot soup from above." In his "Little Gold Man" state, Mo Bai was the picture of calm. His dark, bright pupils faintly emitted an inexplicable glow of confidence that seemed to say, [I reckon this will work].
"No, that's not what I'm asking." Little Bai's voice trembled with a sob before turning into a scream. "I beg you, please act like a human being!"
"You're in charge of slicing away the excess ice generated during the steaming and scalding process." Mo Bai paid absolutely no mind to Little Bai's wailing.
"Okay." After the wailing, Little Bai resigned himself to his fate.
After all, who asked him to be just a weak, pitiful, and helpless kitchen knife?
Holding a soup ladle in his left hand and the kitchen knife in his right, Mo Bai's eyes, bright as stars, fixed upon the piece of fish belly meat amidst the hazy steam.
As the boiling seafood soup was poured down, the liquid touching the fish meat froze into long icicles before it could even drip into the water, encasing the fish belly in an ice shell that grew thicker with every pour.
At that precise moment, a cold glint pierced the air. The sharp blade sliced into the thickening ice shell, forcibly cleaving away the ice layers surrounding the fish belly from all sides.
"Excellent!" the First Emperor clapped in praise.
With his visual prowess, he naturally saw that although Mo Bai used the most brutal method to cleave the ice shell, the fish belly meat within remained completely unharmed.
The ice shards fell into the pot, instantly quelling the steam by half.
Mo Bai ceased his movements and simultaneously hoisted the steaming apparatus out, waiting for the water to boil once again.
"You're trying to keep the cooking level consistent between the top and bottom?" Mo Bai's operation brought a sudden realization to Little Bai.
"Correct. If I submerged it to boil, the freezing cold energy would make it impossible to control the doneness and might even ruin the entire pot of soup. This is the only way." Mo Bai gazed at the calm surface of the water.
"...You really are a clever little devil," Little Bai praised Mo Bai sincerely.
However, after the praise, Little Bai couldn't help but recall a problem.
Wasn't Mo Bai's current method of keeping the fish belly meat intact different from the planned method of carving it while scalding?
"You... you... you aren't planning to change the plating too, are you!?" In the grasslands of Little Bai's mind, an endless herd of alpacas galloped past, shouting their iconic slogan.
"Yes. Everything changes."
"..."
The sudden silence was terrifying.
"Get lost!!!" Little Bai flipped the metaphorical tea table in his heart!
Screw your cleverness!
Screw this idiot host!
Do you know what this limit-testing, death-seeking behavior is called?
This is naked sabotage...
"The water is about to boil." Little Bai, whose body was honest despite his mind saying no, spoke up.
"Mhm." Large bubbles began to roll on the water's surface. Mo Bai placed the apparatus back over the pot, scooped up another ladle of seafood soup, and prepared to cut again.
After dozens of repetitions of this labor, the fish belly meat finally shed its inherent cold energy and reached the brink of being fully cooked.
It was just one step away from perfection, but Mo Bai removed the steaming apparatus and turned off the heat.
"Not going to finish it in one go?"
"Carve the ice first." Intuition told Mo Bai it was best not to rush. So, he took out the familiar Kona deep-sea water from the cooking cart, poured it into a mold, and placed it in the freezer.
"What pattern are you carving?"
"The Sleeping Dragon!"
Perhaps because the Snow Woman clan preferred cold food, the shrine's freezer was exceptionally powerful. In less than ten minutes, a solid ice brick made its fresh debut.
Next up was—Little Bai's solo show!
===
Mo Bai carried the serving tray and ascended the third-level platform of the Pure Room for the third time.
The first time he ascended the platform, he was filled with the excitement of creating a Special-Grade glowing dish. The second time, he felt the relief and joy of a burden lifted. But this third time, Mo Bai felt calm.
So calm that his heart was like still water; success or failure seemed to no longer matter.
This was, indeed, the best dish he had ever created—utilizing his utmost preparation, his peak condition, and the finest ingredients.
"Old Bai, are you sure this will really work?" Little Bai's voice trembled.
"If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't." Mo Bai had reached a state of Zen.
"Dish Name—???!"
The moment Mo Bai bent down to place the tray, his state of "heart like still water" collapsed.
Two clean porcelain plates reflected the candlelight. To the right of the First Emperor, in front of his chopsticks, lay a pile of Platinum King Crab leg shells.
The main body of the Platinum Jade Qilin Ship, which Mo Bai had carved from uncooked white radish, had vanished without a trace...
"Ummm..." Mo Bai looked up slightly, his gaze meeting the First Emperor's golden pupils.
Those intimidating golden pupils, which usually commanded fear, actually looked away this time.
"We were somewhat famished," the First Emperor said after a moment of silence.
"Sure, you're the boss, you can do whatever you want." Mo Bai set down the tray and lifted the cover.
The phenomenon of "energy rushing to the stars" or "rainbows piercing the sun" did not manifest.
The ice sculpture on the plate was blurry, appearing completely different from the dishes Mo Bai had presented before.
Just as the First Emperor knitted his sword-like brows, Mo Bai took the porcelain bowl from the tray and poured the boiling seafood soup from the head of the ice sculpture down its spine.
The blurry ice sculpture instantly became crystal clear. Amidst a sudden burst of rosy light rushing to the heavens, a white dragon was seen flying out from the plate, soaring straight into the clouds.
It was not a phantom, nor was it mere specks of light.
The head of a camel, horns of a deer, eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a clam, scales of a carp, claws of an eagle, and paws of a tiger—every detail was revealed with absolute clarity.
The White Dragon's peaceful and elegant form floated in mid-air, raising its head to let out a high-pitched roar announcing its arrival.
The Black Dragon in the dark clouds was drawn in and immediately raised its head to let out a long roar in response.
Two low-pitched dragon roars, sounding like the bellowing of bulls, swept across the mountains. In an instant, the noisy forest of the early morning fell into total silence.
"Dish Name—Dragon Soaring Over the Nine Provinces."
"You... truly have given Us a surprise." On the dragon-shaped ice sculpture, slices of snow-white fish meat curled slightly.
"Phenomena manifesting into reality... a Qilin-level dish."
"And the mountains beneath this 'Sleeping Dragon'..." The First Emperor looked at the five mountains beneath the ice sculpture, each with a different shape and charm, seemingly moved. "The majesty of the Eastern Peak, the peril of the Western Peak, the steepness of the Central Peak, the seclusion of the Northern Peak, and the grace of the Southern Peak!"
"What a magnificent scene of a dragon lying in repose, embracing the mountains!"
"If We do not move Our chopsticks now, it would be unjustifiable."
"No, you already moved your chopsticks, don't lie to me." Mo Bai snickered internally. He originally thought this guy was a king, but it turned out he was just a glutton.
Where was the majestic critique from before?
Even in his "Little Gold Man" mode, Mo Bai couldn't suppress the urge to roast him in his heart.
"In terms of presentation, it is barely passable; in terms of aroma, it is plain and unremarkable; and as for ingredients, they are common everywhere."
"This kind of cuisine, found everywhere in the Hua nation, fails to arouse Our interest."
Mo Bai: 凸(艹皿艹 )
If you're so tough, don't eat it! If you eat it, don't talk! Fa Q!
Of course, these were all just internal thoughts. As for saying them out loud... Mo Bai still wanted to live.
________________________________________
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