Blood flowed... a foul stench emanated from the giant beast.
"What is this?"
Xing said calmly, "Just took a stroll and stumbled upon an Onion Chu-Chu Frog. Perfect for a dish. Dishes without onions are simply not practical."
Sponge excitedly chimed in, "You went out specifically to catch it, didn't you?"
"Hey, you're being quite verbose."
The Onion Chu-Chu Frog is a type of giant tree frog that has various plants growing parasitically on its back.
There are also subspecies like the Garlic Chu-Chu Frog and the Orange Chu-Chu Frog.
Their capture level is estimated to be between 5 and 10.
Since everyone seemed so interested, Zhang Wei decided to showcase his culinary arts and summoned more ingredients.
Ice Cliff Snow Lotus, Ghost Face Mushroom, Stone Crab, Galon Tiger...
Sponge, astonished, pounced on the ingredients, picking them up one by one to examine closely.
"This... this is a Ghost Face Mushroom! How can it be this large?"
"And the color is so full, the texture is so bouncy, there isn't a single blemish on the entire mushroom... it's like a sample cultivated in a laboratory."
"It's absolutely unlike anything that could exist in nature!"
Natural products, during their growth, are either malnourished and lack flavor, or are so nutritious that they attract predators, suffering from damage and pests.
There are also requirements for freshness, moisture, and so on.
Yet, the Ghost Face Mushroom before them, despite its seemingly low capture level, was almost perfect in appearance!
Zhang Wei feigned nonchalance, "These are indeed my finest ingredients."
At this moment, Uchiha Xing picked up bread, cucumber, and white sesame seeds from among the ingredients and said, "Sponge, the ingredients are conveniently gathered. Let's make that one!"
"Alright! Let's use our specialty."
The two began selecting ingredients from the pile.
Bread, beef, tomato, cucumber, salt and vinegar, white sesame seeds, onion, cheese slices...
If he wasn't mistaken, these two were planning to make burgers.
"Burgers... then I'll whip up some drinks. Orange juice or soda, perhaps."
"Oh, and some fried chicken would be quite fitting."
When it came to culinary skills, Zhang Wei never backed down.
White Feather Black Chicken.
Capture Level: 4.
Replication Time: One day.
One of the ingredients collected from the Great Glacier.
With a wave of his hand, Zhang Wei summoned over a hundred of them.
Bleeding... plucking feathers...
"Your method is too slow," Xing suddenly remarked from the side.
"Oh? I'm slow?"
Zhang Wei was taken aback; it was the first time anyone had described him with that word.
"Then you try. Let's see how fast you are."
Uchiha Xing picked up a black chicken, didn't slaughter it, and a flash of electricity flickered on his hand. The White Feather Black Chicken let out a piteous squawk as its white feathers flew everywhere.
The chicken was unharmed, but its feathers were gone!
And the feather removal was remarkably effective, cleaned thoroughly.
It was as if the feathers had spontaneously ejected from the pores.
"Impressive!"
"Amazing!"
"Electric feather removal, I never thought of that."
Limited by the thought processes of a Blue Star person, Zhang Wei's application of supernatural powers was mostly geared towards combat. Indeed... these supernatural powers could be applied to cooking.
This electric feather removal was also not simple. Normal electric shocks would char the food, but the chicken Xing plucked the feathers from was still chirping merrily after he let it go.
"Let me try too!"
Haimian sneered, "Forget it. This move isn't something you can just fiddle with. Don't waste these White Feather Black Chickens."
Before he could finish speaking, a White Feather Black Chicken billowed with smoke and immediately fainted.
Zhang Wei, undeterred, grabbed a second chicken and continued to try.
Lowering the voltage...
Gently...
Allowing the current to slowly creep over the skin without harming the interior.
The White Feather Black Chicken let out a comfortable cluck, as if receiving a full-body massage.
Slightly increasing the current.
"Cluck cluck~"
The black chicken flapped twice, and its feathers began to fall one by one.
Haimian's eyes widened!
"You actually did it... only the second chicken!"
"You can make the larger feathers detach... it took me half a month to reach this level."
"A genius?"
"No, it's voltage control, or rather, extremely acute perception of current!"
"To be able to perform micro-manipulations of current with precision, far beyond that of an ordinary person..."
"A special ability... or perhaps the 'food effect' of certain ingredients."
In just ten minutes, Zhang Wei had mastered this skill.
Although the speed was still a bit slow, the feathers were removed quite cleanly.
Uchiha Xing asked gravely, "What is your cell awakening level?"
"I measured it with the Blood Stone Method before. It should be above level fifty. I'm actually curious about my cell level too."
Uchiha Xing took out a spore from his embrace.
"This is a Blood-Thirsty Mushroom. It grows based on the energy in the blood, and its shape and color can be used to infer the specific cell awakening level."
"Oh?"
Zhang Wei was quite interested.
He bit down hard on his finger...
Damn it, the skin is too tough. It's hard to even get a little blood!
After much effort, Zhang Wei finally squeezed out a tiny bit from the capillaries in his gums.
However, the dosage was sufficient.
He mixed the blood thread with water and squeezed green powder from the spore sac. As soon as this powder touched the blood, clusters of mushrooms immediately sprouted.
These mushrooms were crystal clear, brilliantly red, like exquisite works of art.
"This is impossible!"
"What do you mean?"
"The texture is like crystal, the color is vermilion. The level should be 55."
Uchiha Xing looked at Zhang Wei with disbelief, "How can it be so low? Mine and Sponge's are also level 55!"
"And..."
"Judging by the number of mushroom clusters, although the cell level is low, it possesses a vast amount of attributes and extremely high energy density!"
Based on food intake alone, Zhang Wei's energy storage far exceeded theirs by more than 35 times. When other attributes were factored in, the numbers became even more astonishing.
A difference of one level typically accounted for a 30-45% variation.
If their strength was level 55, Zhang Wei's should have been between level 65 and 70.
Sponge said with a wry smile, "Although I don't want to admit it, we can't possibly be at the same level."
Xing frowned, clearly also puzzled.
"Could it be... the spores are faulty?"
"Highly unlikely."
"Could it be..."
Uchiha Xing pointed at Zhang Wei, "Unless the number of your barriers far exceeds others! That is to say, your aptitude is extremely poor, and you consume far more ingredients than we do at the same level!"
Zhang Wei asked confusedly, "What's the principle behind this theory?"
"Food Effect!"
"The food we eat contains various nutrients. Besides energy, it can also provide powerful 'food effects'."
"If a person's aptitude is extremely poor, then they will require far more delicious dishes than their peers to advance."
"For the same advancement to the next level, those with higher aptitude might need to consume a dozen or so high-quality dishes, gaining a dozen or so food effects."
"Whereas those with lower aptitude will obtain more!"
"This means, the lower the aptitude, the stronger one is at the same level!"