We both punched continuously into the bowl, like a chain of cannons, instantly turning the shrimp and fish meat into a paste. This was the filling for wontons—hand-beaten shrimp paste and fish cake.
But at this point, my disadvantage became clear. I was only at Qi Refining, while that Chuniang was at mid Foundation Establishment. Not only that, she had probably also spent some time in Infinite Qi Refining, making her aura extremely strong.
The most critical point was that physical cultivation was not my strong suit.
The Spirit Snake Shedding Skin and Bone Changing Art mainly trained the body’s flexibility, impact resistance, and regenerative abilities. Strength was not my forte; I could only deliver less than ten thousand jin of force.
On the other side, only the sound of “Boom! Boom! Boom!” rang out continuously. Chuniang could already deliver tens of thousands of jin of force.
She had specifically practiced strength-focused physical arts for her culinary skills, instantly shattering the fish meat’s fibers, releasing collagen, and then forcibly compacting it again under immense force.
This created a gap between the two sides—a gap in strength. Chuniang’s greater strength allowed the cod meat to bind more tightly, forming a dense network of protein that completely sealed in the moisture.
Although Mu Yanxi could also break down the shrimp and pound it into a ball, the effect was inferior to Chuniang’s. While pounding did increase elasticity, it also damaged the natural texture of the ingredients.
Then the Immortal Brain spoke: “Master, you can stop now. Excessive pounding will ruin the natural texture. The ingredients themselves are already very elastic, making them suitable for shrimp paste and squid paste. Over-pounding will destroy that natural feel.”
“From the very beginning, choosing squid and shrimp was because their meat itself has excellent elasticity.”
“Understood.”
Mu Yanxi added salt, egg white, tapioca starch, lemon water, and sesame oil to the shrimp paste in the bowl. After mixing and slapping it again, she poured it out and rolled it into small balls as filling. Then she used the same method to prepare the squid paste.
Chuniang was a step ahead and had already started wrapping wontons. She rolled the fish cake in cod roe, stuffed a generous amount into the wrapper, and deftly twisted it to seal one.
But at this point, speed no longer mattered. Mu Yanxi leisurely kneaded the flour into dough, rolled it into wonton wrappers, and then began wrapping her wontons at a slow, deliberate pace.
Since both wanted their broths to extract the best possible flavor, they both planned to cook the wontons at the very last moment.
The result was that Chuniang finished wrapping all her wontons and had nothing to do but stand there waiting, or watch Mu Yanxi slowly knead dough and wrap wontons.
It wasn’t until the final five minutes of the competition, when many teams had already finished their entries, that Chuniang finally moved. She skillfully dropped her wontons into the pot.
Almost simultaneously, Mu Yanxi also finished wrapping her wontons and put them directly into the pot with the broth.
Their movements were like mirror images as they added seaweed, dried shrimp skins, and scallions to the pots. After boiling for less than five minutes, with nine seconds left on the clock, both lifted their pots at the same time and raised their hands, signaling, “I’m done!”
The seven judges were responsible for reviewing and comparing the completed entries of all thirty-two teams.
Therefore, each judge released their incarnations and Dao bodies. Those without incarnations used Clone Talismans to create two clones, allowing them to review three teams simultaneously.
Even so, it would take some time to get to Mu Yanxi’s group. In the meantime, the dishes of each waiting group were preserved by the plaza’s formation using Freeze Seal, perfectly maintaining their freshly cooked state without losing any flavor.
When the seven judges’ clones arrived before the two, they were full of anticipation. After all, Mu Yanxi had just presented a perfect fried rice, and they were eager to see if her wontons would reach the same level.
When the lids were lifted, the seven judges were taken aback.
Chuniang’s pot contained perfectly normal-looking wontons, while Mu Yanxi’s pot was pitch black, looking like a pot of mud.
“What’s this?”
A judge asked Mu Yanxi, but he didn’t immediately judge the dish by its appearance. As experienced chefs and gourmets, they all knew that some dishes were unappealing or even bizarre in appearance.
Mu Yanxi didn’t answer directly but instead said:
“In the Grand Beginning, the universe had no form. Heaven and earth were like an egg, and all things were Chaos.”
This was the initial state of the world, known to everyone—a state where everything was mixed together, with all Qi undifferentiated and blurred, until a great natural explosion separated the Chaos, or a deity split it, giving birth to the world.
“So, this pot of blackness is meant to symbolize the state before Chaos was opened?” asked the head chef of the five-star hotel.
“Exactly.”
Mu Yanxi clasped her fists.
This was the Immortal Brain’s idea. Chuniang sensed a bad premonition. Her own theme interpretation had centered on the wontons, but she hadn’t expected her opponent to already beè¯ é‡Š the theme of “Chaos Unopened” from the moment she lifted the pot.
“Hmm, she used squid ink to dye it black, to hide the white wontons; she even deliberately laid a layer of seaweed on top. The idea is quite interesting, but it might affect the taste of the spirit dish.”
Mo Lao said with a smile.
“Since it’s a competition and I need to match the theme, I had to make some trade-offs,” Mu Yanxi said.
The judges said nothing. After all, the purpose of setting a theme for the competition was to limit the contestants’ performance, or even give lower-level contestants a chance to overtake.
Creativity was an important factor in culinary arts, so appropriately sacrificing color, aroma, and taste to match the theme was normal.
“And you? These wontons are so round, with no wrinkles on the surface. Are you making wontons or tangyuan?”
A judge asked Chuniang.
“I took the imagery of Heaven and Earth being like a chaotic egg before the Grand Beginning.”
Chuniang clasped her fists.
“This refers to the world initially being a round point like an egg, i.e., the singularity.”
“Even with such thin wonton wrappers, you managed to make them so round and uniform in size, without any breaks or wrinkles. Excellent technique.”
The Chief Immortal Chef of the Supreme Fresh Market said with a smile.
“You flatter me,” Chuniang replied with a smile. At least she had received praise from a judge.
But the participants were in the thick of it, while the spectators saw clearer.
An Immortal Chef watching from the sidelines frowned and said, “Isn’t it strange? While discussing theme interpretation, the judge praised her technique instead of evaluating her theme interpretation. Doesn’t that mean she’s inferior to her opponent in terms of matching the theme?”
“Not right, is it? Heaven and earth like an egg—isn’t that exactly the state before Chaos was divided? She didn’t deviate from the theme, did she?”
Another Immortal Chef asked in confusion.
“She didn’t deviate, but her approach is inferior. Look carefully at that Miss Mu’s wontons,” said another spectator.
When they focused on the wontons that the judge had scooped out of the black soup, they couldn’t help but say:
“Aren’t these just plain wontons? They’re not even uniform.”
“Since it’s the time before Chaos was divided, there are no rules or patterns. Naturally, they shouldn’t be perfectly formed.”
“The singularity is one, but she made multiple ‘singularities,’ which doesn’t fully match the theme. And there’s no explanation for the garnishes like dried shrimp and seaweed in the soup.”
A food critic evaluated.