Mu Yanxi looked at the prize highlighted by her immortal brain on her star-imprint eye.
The items were displayed in order: the first was a clay pot that looked like a divine treasure; the second was a large piece of meat sealed in a water box; the third was a scroll.
“You want me to get the runner-up in the immortal chef competition? Are you joking? I know nothing about the Culinary Dao. I can’t even pass the preliminaries. How could I possibly get second place?” Mu Yanxi refused outright. It was clearly impossible.
“Master, it’s possible. Simulated learning allows you to instantly learn an opponent’s culinary skills, so you can make the same dishes they do.”
“Meanwhile, I can gather and analyze a series of methods for handling and improving various ingredients and techniques on the dao dao network, allowing you to defeat any immortal chef,” the immortal brain suggested.
“Isn’t that cheating? Learning an opponent’s skills, imitating their cooking, and then beating them with optimizations?” Mu Yanxi couldn’t help asking.
“It’s not cheating. No rule states that an immortal chef cannot learn from an opponent during a competition.”
“Besides, competitions often require participants to make a fixed dish. If you and your opponent make the same dish, how can that be considered cheating?” the immortal brain argued confidently.
Mu Yanxi was still hesitating when the immortal brain continued, “The energy contained in that prize is astonishing—perhaps it can replenish two or even three percent of energy.”
“Moreover, obtaining it will unlock new functions. Aren’t you planning to conduct an investigation undercover? The new functions might help you.”
At the mention that a new function might aid the investigation, Mu Yanxi sighed and said, “Then I’ll give it a try. But let me be clear: if I fail and get eliminated, it just wasn’t meant to be. Don’t force it.”
“Of course, Master. If you fail, it will be my fault, and forcing it won’t work either,” the immortal brain said.
Just then, Bai Jia, who had noticed Mu Yanxi spacing out, tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey? What are you staring at those prizes for? They do look valuable, I guess.”
“Indeed. Shrimp girl, where is the registration point? Can I still sign up in time?” Mu Yanxi asked.
“Wait! Yanxi, are you crazy? This is a professional immortal chef competition. Why would a senior sect disciple who hasn’t even graduated yet join the fray?”
“We can’t even compare to the disciples of the Chu Sect for the Culinary Dao!” Bai Jia was shocked again, as if Mu Yanxi always wanted to throw some twist her way.
“No problem. Every major competition has many folk experts who aren’t professional immortal chefs, and some have achieved good results. Even if it’s just for experience, it’s still a good choice.”
“You’re still in time to register. Just go over there,” the shrimp girl said with a laugh. The more participants, the better—after all, registration required a fee.
“I suddenly got interested and want to give it a try. Even if I get eliminated in the first round, it’s fine. I’ll just experience it,” Mu Yanxi said to Bai Jia.
“Alright, Young Miss Mu wants to experience life again. Go for it,” Bai Jia joked. Since she wasn’t the one competing, she only felt sorry for the registration fee.
So Mu Yanxi walked to the registration point and told the organizer’s staff she wanted to enter.
The staff member in charge of registration looked at Mu Yanxi and asked, “You’re still a student, aren’t you? You want to participate in the immortal chef competition? Those are all professional chefs. Let me warn you: the registration fee is non-refundable.”
“I know. I’m just participating for the experience,” Mu Yanxi said aloud, but in her mind she thought, ‘This is also called training, with the goal of winning second place.’
“Don’t say that,” another staff member stopped the first one from discouraging her.
“We welcome all kinds of talented experts to join the immortal chef competition. We look forward to your performance on the field. Please!”
The staff member who had initially sounded somewhat mocking suddenly showed respect after seeing Mu Yanxi’s details.
Mu Yanxi tapped the registration device with her Terminal Ring and paid fifty middle-grade spirit stones, receiving a jade token representing her as a contestant.
“Hmm? From the Spiritual Moon Sect? No wonder you’d join. I heard the Spiritual Moon Sect has excellent Culinary Arts, even a Dragon Chef. Could it be you?”
“No, no, of course not. I’m just an ordinary disciple. I only know a little about cooking—nowhere near a professional immortal chef. I’m just here for experience,” Mu Yanxi waved her hands repeatedly.
As for the so-called Dragon Chef, she had no idea who that referred to. But she did seem to remember that at Lin Haochen’s feast, the girl in charge of coordinating the back kitchen wore a dragon-shaped armband.
And while the Spiritual Moon Sect wasn’t a professional Culinary Dao sect, it did offer home economics classes teaching disciples how to cook, making them more knowledgeable than ordinary sects. Perhaps among the senior sisters, there really were professional immortal chefs.
Under the staff member’s puzzled gaze, Mu Yanxi picked up her contestant jade token and left.
Mu Yanxi looked at her token: number 1752. So over a thousand immortal chefs had actually registered. To stand out and take second place from so many people seemed impossible no matter how you looked at it.
After Mu Yanxi got the token and returned to Bai Jia, Bai Jia looked at her with admiration. “You actually dared to participate. I feel like just standing on the stage would make my legs go weak.”
“It’s fine. Just think: even if you lose, there’s no loss. It’s just a competition. Nothing to be nervous about,” Mu Yanxi said calmly.
As a former Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, she had seen big scenes before. Although she thought it was almost impossible for her to win the runner-up, she wouldn’t get nervous just from standing on the stage. It was just a cooking contest, not a life-or-death duel.
Soon, the time for the competition arrived.
The host took the stage and announced, “Welcome, everyone, to this edition of the Zhisheng Immortal Chef Championship. The rules are the same as before: only cooking utensils and ingredients provided by this venue and sponsors may be used; no personal tools or ingredients are allowed.”
“The entire cooking process must be completed by the immortal chef personally, with no assistants permitted…”
After reading the rules, the host continued, “This edition also features generous prizes sponsored by many benefactors.
“First, the champion’s prize—the top-tier cooking divine treasure, the Burn Heaven Pot. It comes with three types of Heavenly Fire and Strange Water for cooking, capable of processing any ingredient!
“Second, the runner-up prize—the legendary dream ingredient, nicknamed ‘Divine Leap,’ the Heaven Veil Kun tenderloin core.”
“Only this single piece of meat from a divine beast is available, a dream-level ingredient said to make even gods leap up from the aroma. It’s priceless and unavailable on the market!”
“Third, the third-place prize—the signature dish of the Giant Palace Chef Sect, which was destroyed years ago: the long-lost ‘Blood Bath Phoenix’ recipe. Learn it, and you can make it the signature dish of your restaurant, attracting endless customers until it’s impossible to get a seat!”
The top ten all had prizes, but the top three were certainly the most enticing. No wonder over a thousand immortal chefs had registered.