Du Qing’s expression immediately turned furious, his sore spot having been poked.
A naked killing intent even flashed in his eyes.
“Hmm?”
Du Qing’s gaze was chilling as he sized Chen Shu up and down. “Who are you?”
Chen Shu readily admitted, “I go by no other name and have no other surname. I am Yu Yi from the Yu family in Beiyuan City!”
A sinister smile played on Du Qing’s lips. “Yu Yi? I’ve got you noted down!”
“Thank you!”
Chen Shu nodded, his expression utterly calm.
Many people’s gazes fell upon Chen Shu, surprised that someone dared to provoke the Crown Prince of Lanhai City.
“Please, the six participating contestants, report the ingredients you require!”
At that moment, a man in a suit on the stage spoke up.
Zhang Dali and the others stepped forward one by one.
Although it wasn’t the official competition today, quite a few people were still in attendance.
The New Star Cup held a certain level of prestige, with spiritual chefs from only five cities participating.
However, these were all from five first-tier cities, essentially representing the skill level of the young generation of spiritual chefs in the north.
“One tael of green bamboo leaves, half a qian of fine fragrant powder, three taels of spirit mushroom…”
Zhang Dali spoke calmly to the organizers, listing the ingredients he needed, all of which were commonplace for spiritual chefs.
“Preparing a soup dish?”
Du Qing turned his head, his eyes filled with thought.
Zhang Dali remained utterly composed as he finally stated his main ingredient.
“Please prepare a young Green Armored Turtle for me!”
As soon as he said this, everyone was taken aback.
Even though it was a young Green Armored Turtle, it was still Silver-grade.
This meant that Zhang Dali was going to attempt a Silver-grade dish!
The judge on stage frowned and asked, “You’re making a Silver-grade dish?!”
“How else would I win?”
A smile played on Zhang Dali’s lips. There were six contestants in total, all of them Black Iron-grade spiritual chefs.
Only by creating a Silver-grade dish could he surpass everyone.
“He’s improved so quickly?”
Du Qing frowned, no wonder Zhang Dali dared to participate; he had clearly felt confident of victory beforehand.
The competition staff recorded it truthfully, as all choices were up to the contestants.
While successfully creating a Silver-grade dish would earn bonus points, failure meant essentially saying goodbye to the championship.
Moreover, if the finished product was only barely acceptable, it would be better to make a perfect Black Iron-grade dish.
Zhang Dali’s choice was indeed extremely bold.
The other five contestants also reported their required ingredients, all of them Black Iron-grade.
“Good luck!”
Du Qing leaned closer, a strange smile on his lips.
“Hmph!”
Zhang Dali snorted and ignored him, walking off the stage.
“Yu Yi, what’s wrong?”
Chen Shu was seen in a daze, seemingly lost in thought.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Chen Shu shook his head, and a system prompt already appeared before his eyes.
“Du Qing will use his connections to sabotage Zhang Dali’s ingredients. What do you prepare to do now?”
[Option One: Give him a taste of his own medicine! Sabotage Du Qing’s ingredients at night! Completion Reward: Stealth Potion*1, Flight Potion*1]
[Option Two: Report him publicly and ruin Du Qing’s reputation! Completion Reward: A large amount of Beast Taming Power! Note: Low success rate!]
[Option Three: Persuade Zhang Dali to withdraw from the competition! Completion Reward: A Silver-grade recipe]
[Option Four: Directly blow up the warehouse where the competition ingredients are stored! Completion Reward: Explosive Potion*2]
Chen Shu studied the four options, immediately understanding Du Qing’s intentions.
Truly a sinister villain!
It was a pity he ran into him.
Option two and three were definite passes.
As for option four, while tempting, the reward was insufficient, and the risk too high.
“Let’s see you cause trouble…”
Chen Shu remembered the Bandit Brand Laxative in his combat backpack and couldn’t help but reveal a wicked smile.
“Hey! Can you stop smiling like a psycho?”
Xu Xingxing nudged him, feeling that Chen Shu’s smile was truly unsettling.
“Uh…”
Chen Shu shook his head, snapping back to reality.
He gave Du Qing a deep look and finally left the competition venue with Zhang Dali and the others.
Zhang Dali spoke, “Chen Pi, you’ve completely offended Du Qing today.”
“So what if I offended him? People from our Huaxia Academy aren’t afraid of anyone!”
Chen Shu shrugged, completely unbothered.
It was merely a spiritual chef family; compared to Huaxia Academy, they were in entirely different leagues.
Xie Sunan spoke up.
“I must say, you’re truly ruthless. As the saying goes, don’t bring up other’s shortcomings when you curse, and don’t hit someone in the face when you strike. You’ve managed to do both!”
Chen Shu’s remark about ‘Miss Du’ had indeed managed to break through Du Qing’s defenses on the spot.
“Tch, that’s for people with manners. I’m different; I have no manners!”
Chen Shu said with immense pride, completely unconcerned.
In his opinion, when facing an enemy, the principle was simple: be steady, accurate, and ruthless.
Chen Shu added, “If I don’t get aggressive, people might think I’m flirting with him!”
“…”
The three of them were speechless and said no more.
“By the way, Dali, can you prepare that ingredient yourself?”
Chen Shu asked, as he wasn’t entirely confident in sabotaging Du Qing’s ingredients.
“There isn’t enough time. A Silver-grade ingredient can’t be procured in half a day,” Zhang Dali replied.
“Moreover, Lanhai City is the Du family’s territory, so we’ll definitely face obstruction.”
“Alright.”
Chen Shu shook his head. His current worry was that neither Du Qing nor Zhang Dali would win, and the other four would take advantage of the situation.
That night, the group returned to the hotel and retired early.
“Time to make a move!”
Chen Shu’s eyes snapped open, and he put on his combat backpack.
“Chen Pi!”
At that moment, Xu Xingxing suddenly called out.
“Hm?”
Chen Shu blinked in surprise. “You’re not asleep!”
“I knew you’d be up to something tonight!”
Xu Xingxing said with a smile. “Are you planning to blow up the Du family? I’ll film it for you!”
Saying that, he took out a camera, his eyes filled with excitement.
“…”
Chen Shu’s mouth twitched. You’re unbelievable!
If he dared to blow anything up, he’d be arrested tonight and wouldn’t even be able to escape Lanhai City.
“Go back to sleep, I’m not taking you!”
Chen Shu left the room alone.
He had already found out the location of the competition’s ingredient storage. With the help of a stealth potion, he could do as he pleased.
Half an hour later,
Chen Shu arrived at a cold storage warehouse not far from Shengtian Plaza.
It was already midnight, and even the city center appeared deserted.
Besides vagrants, who else would be wandering around late at night?
“Is there no guard?”
Chen Shu was slightly taken aback, not expecting it to be so carelessly guarded.
“Hm?”
But as his gaze shifted, his expression changed slightly.
In front of the warehouse, there was a small blue bird, its eyes closed as if it were asleep.
“A reconnaissance-type contracted spirit? And its level is at least Silver-grade!”
Chen Shu understood. No wonder there were no guards; this bird alone was enough. Even a Gold-grade Beast Tamer might not be able to sneak in.
As for a King-grade Beast Tamer, unless they were bored out of their minds, why would they bother with sabotage?
Chen Shu took out the remaining stealth potion and swallowed it all.
Instantly, his body disappeared, along with his clothes and combat backpack. As long as it wasn’t a living thing, anything he touched would vanish with him.
“Brother has arrived!”
A wicked smile played on Chen Shu’s lips as he strode confidently towards the warehouse.
Indeed, the little blue bird detected nothing.
Chen Shu entered the warehouse. Inside were several freezers, each labeled with the name of a contestant.
“Zhang Dali, Wang Wuji…”
Chen Shu mumbled, finally spotting Du Qing’s name.
He quietly took out the main ingredient, a red rabbit placed in a container.
Chen Shu pulled out a large can of laxative and poured it all into the rabbit’s opened abdomen.
“Let’s give you a taste of your own medicine, brother!”
Chen Shu wore a ‘hehehe’ smile on his face.
Soon, the rabbit’s belly was filled with a large amount of black powder.
He carefully placed it back into its original container.
The container held aromatic liquid, emitting a rich fragrance, seemingly for marination.
“It should be well-infused!”
Chen Shu chuckled. The black powder quickly blended into the rabbit meat, leaving no trace.
The first scoring procedure of the competition would be an intelligent instrument inspecting the composition and nutritional value of the dish. He could only imagine how explosive the scene would be…
Chen Shu muttered, “With Young Master Du’s skill, he’ll likely be able to cook the laxative deliciously…”
The first epic dish, [Bandit’s Laxative], was about to make its debut!