Three middle-grade ingredients. Gu Zheng's face showed helplessness.
Were there so many good things in Kunlun? But in today's environment, even Kunlun Sect could not grow middle-grade ingredients. How did he get these ingredients?
Gu Zheng could still understand if it was just dry ingredients like before. Emei could store middle-grade ingredients, not to mention Kunlun. But according to the spirit, this time Song Xiu was going to use middle-grade ingredients as the main ingredient to make a dish. Where did he get the middle-grade ingredients?
He couldn't be using things that had been stored for thousands of years. That way, he wouldn't be able to make anything.
Gu Zheng found it hard to understand. But no matter how hard he tried, he still had to make preparations. The competition would start in the afternoon, leaving him very little time.
"Help me find the Supreme Elder!"
Gu Zheng contacted the disciples of Emei and pointed out that he wanted to find Sora Aoi. At this time, only Sora Aoi could help him.
"Supreme Elder, I want to ask if you have any good treasures in your hands that can be used to make gourmet food!"
In fact, Emei had middle-grade ingredients. It would be a waste to use those two ingredients to make a dish. Gu Zheng didn't plan to use them, so he asked Sora Aoi.
If Sora Aoi didn't have any, he wanted to go to Shushan as soon as possible. He believed that Shushan must have such things.
"I have a part of my collection. Do you need it?"
Sora Aoi was a little surprised, but he answered affirmatively. Gu Zheng was slightly relieved. It was good that Sora Aoi had it. He just didn't know if Sora Aoi's collection had reached middle-grade.
But he was an immortal cultivator who had existed in the Flourishing Era. It didn't seem to be a big deal to have middle-grade ingredients.
"That's great! Supreme Elder, can you bring some to me? Let me take a look!"
Gu Zheng said quickly. He only had the Ocean Flower, which was a middle-grade ingredient. The other party had three, and all of them were used to make a dish. In addition, the other party had immortal kitchen utensils and various auxiliary tools. The other party's cooking skills were not bad. Gu Zheng really didn't have much confidence in winning.
His only advantage now was Gokusen's culinary skills. Gokusen's culinary skills were indeed better than his, and this had been proven over the past few days.
However, Gokusen's cooking skills were not omnipotent. Even if the other party's ingredients were of a higher grade, even if he had Gokusen's cooking skills, he might not be able to win against the other party. It was just like making an omelet. If Gu Zheng used the most common egg to make it, he would definitely not be able to make it as good as Wang Dong's omelet.
This was the difference between the ingredients. The Artifact Spirit had limited the ingredients in many of its tests because of Gokusen's cooking skills. Only with good ingredients would he be able to cook.
If the ingredients were not good, the effect of Gokusen's culinary skills could not be brought out.
"Alright, wait for me!"
Sora Aoi did not hesitate and immediately agreed. Gu Zheng asked him to hurry up. The competition was in the afternoon, and there was not much time left.
This was also the reason why he looked for Sora Aoi. Only Sora Aoi could fly over in such a short time. In fact, Wu Chou and Gu An were now in the capital, secretly protecting him. It was just that he did not know this.
Even if he knew, it was useless. The two of them would not carry such things with them.
Sora Aoi arrived in the capital at noon. When he arrived, Gu Zheng had just finished cooking lunch. For lunch, he made shredded chicken noodle soup. Wang Dong and Changfeng were both there, clamoring to eat this.
When Sora Aoi arrived, he was given a bowl.
"This is my mustard seed pocket. Although it can't hold many things, it is much better than ordinary things!"
After lunch, Sora Aoi and Gu Zheng went into the room alone, took out a small cloth bag, and said softly. Sora Aoi actually had a spatial immortal tool, but it was the most ordinary and also the lowest grade.
His mustard seed pocket only had about 20 times the space inside. The pocket was not big to begin with, and 20 times the space was not much bigger. It was similar to a large cardboard box, and could not hold anything. Gu Zheng had taken out big things like pots, bowls, ladles, and basins. At a glance, they were all much better than Sora Aoi's.
If it was pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, Sora Aoi's bag would be full with two items.
"Immortal grass, ordinary grade. Not bad!"
Sora Aoi began to take out his treasures. The first thing he took out was a high-grade ingredient, but unfortunately, it was only ordinary grade.
High-grade ingredients could be used to make food ingredients and food cultivation. Ordinary ingredients could only be used to make food ingredients and not food cultivation. This was the difference between high-grade ingredients and ordinary ingredients.
Ingredients that could be used to make food cultivation could be used to refine pills, which were useful for cultivation.
The Bodhi Grass they found earlier was an ordinary ingredient. Other than being used to make incense in Buddhism, it had no other use. Therefore, even if it was of a very high grade, no one wanted it.
"Seven-colored flower, medium grade!"
When Sora Aoi took out the sixth item, Gu Zheng's eyes suddenly lit up. It was a dry flower with petals of seven colors. Moreover, this seven-colored flower had reached the medium grade.
"This seems to have been picked by me during the Flourishing Era. I felt that it looked good, so I kept it. I don't even know how to use it. Sect Master, do you need it?"
Sora Aoi looked at the seven-colored flower and recalled. In the end, he said in a daze. He had a lot of things stored. The main reason was that there were no more ingredients to collect in the Age of Chaos. He had kept the things he had picked in the past.
"Yes, yes!"
Gu Zheng nodded quickly. The medium grade seven-colored flower could be used to make food ingredients. The seven-colored flower had petals of seven colors, and each petal had a different function. This kind of ingredient was actually the best. It was right to let Sora Aoi come this time. Just this seven-colored flower alone was enough for Gu Zheng to gain a lot.
Sora Aoi was not stingy. He directly gave the seven-colored flower to Gu Zhen and continued to take out his things.
"Consider it as a loan. I will return it to you in the future!"
Gu Zheng said softly. He couldn't take Sora Aoi's things for free. Moreover, this was a medium grade ingredient. With this ingredient and his Ocean Flower, he had two medium grade ingredients.
"Wait, what is this!"
Sora Aoi was taking out something when Gu Zheng suddenly shouted. Sora Aoi took out a round, black bead from the things he took out.
"This seems to be a fruit. I can't remember what it is!"
Sora Aoi stared at the black bead, touched his head, and said awkwardly. It had been too long, and he really couldn't remember. He hadn't used this mustard seed pocket for hundreds of years.
There was nothing worth taking out, and there was nothing worth putting in. What did he usually use this pocket for?
"This is the Diamond Fruit, the fruit of the Diamond Bodhi Tree!"
Gu Zheng answered for Sora Aoi. The Diamond Bodhi Tree was a very rare and hard tree. Judging from its name, it seemed to have a lot to do with the Buddhist Sect. In fact, it wasn't. It was just that the name of this book was given by the Buddhist Sect.
The Diamond Bodhi Tree was a very high grade tree. Its fruit only matured once every 30 years, and there was only one fruit at a time.
The Diamond Bodhi Tree itself could reach the medium grade, and its fruit, which only matured once every 30 years, was a grade higher than itself.
In other words, the Diamond Bodhi Tree fruit could reach the good grade.
Sora Aoi's Diamond Bodhi Tree fruit had reached the good grade. This was also the second time Gu Zheng had seen something of the good grade.
"It seems like it. I really forgot. I only kept it because I thought it looked good!"
Sora Aoi was a little embarrassed. In fact, he didn't just collect these things. He still had some things stored in his cave abode. However, Gu Zheng was in a hurry, so he took this mustard seed pocket.
He had forgotten at least half of the things in the mustard seed pocket.
"This black fruit is very useful to me. Can I borrow it from you first? I can't return it to you here, but when I have the chance to go to the chaotic space in the future, I'll definitely find a way to return it to you!"
Gu Zheng said quickly. Although the good grade fruit wasn't a specific ingredient, it could still be used like a raw material.
The good grade could add a lot of points to the food he made. Even in the Prosperous Era, there weren't many good grade things on Earth. As for the high grade, there were even fewer.
Now that it was the end of the Dharma Age, it was completely lucky to encounter a good grade item.
That was why Gu Zheng said that he would return it to Sora Aoi in the chaotic space in the future. He really didn't have any confidence on Earth. In fact, he had a good grade snow lotus seed, but this snow lotus seed was reserved for Wuyou's advancement. It was impossible to use it on food.
"Look at what you said, Sect Leader. If you need it, you can take everything here!"
Sora Aoi grinned. These things were useless to him. Gu Zheng had a use for them, so they could be used to their value. As for Gu Zheng's talk about entering the chaotic space, Sora Aoi was very much looking forward to it.
He knew very well that with Gu Zheng's identity, once he entered the chaotic space, there would definitely be countless cultivation resources. At that time, he would also be able to benefit from it. This little thing was nothing.
"Thank you, Supreme Elder!"
Gu Zheng immediately put away the black fruit. This black fruit was good grade, which was higher than Gu Zheng's medium grade. With this black fruit, Gu Zheng was basically confident to defeat him.
"Sect Leader, take a look. If there's anything you need, you can leave it all. It's useless to leave it with me!"
Sora Aoi simply took out the things in the mustard seed pocket. This mustard seed pocket didn't look big, but it contained a lot of things. He took out more than 200 things for a while.
Most of these were ordinary grade, and there were more than ten medium grade items. As for the good grade items, he had never seen them again.
The good grade items were useful for cultivation. Sora Aoi had already used them in the past thousands of years. It was impossible to keep them until now.
"This, and this, I'll keep this. You can keep the rest first!"
Gu Zheng's eyes lit up. He took three more medium grade ingredients from Sora Aoi. The remaining few could be used for food cultivation and other purposes. Gu Zheng temporarily kept them and didn't bring them over.
These three ingredients, in addition to the previous one, were equivalent to four mid-grade ingredients and one good grade ingredient. Gu Zheng was now full of confidence for this year's Chinese Food Competition.
Even if Song Xiu had three medium grade ingredients, Gu Zheng didn't have any worries now. He had one more than Song Xiu. Most importantly, he also had one more good grade top ingredient.
The current Gu Zheng didn't know anything about the level of ingredients like he did in the beginning. He still remembered that the weapon spirit said that when his Gokusen Immortal Art reached the fifth realm, he could use the high grade ingredients in the chaotic space at will.
High grade, not good grade, not medium grade, and not ordinary grade. It was the highest existence among the eight grades of ingredients. The delicacies made from such ingredients made Gu Zheng drool just thinking about it.
No wonder the previous weapon spirit looked down on the things he made. With such ingredients, those ordinary grade ingredients really couldn't enter his eyes.
Perhaps the ordinary grade was already the best in his eyes, but in the eyes of the weapon spirit, it was just a roadside stall. After seeing it, he didn't even want to pick it up.
In the afternoon, a lot of media came to the gate of the Wang Mansion. Today was the final, so the media was allowed to enter.
However, only the invited media could enter. The Chinese Food Competition was not broadcast live, but there was a recording. It would be broadcast by the Central TV Food Channel in a few days. There was a live broadcast before, but there was a live broadcast accident and it was stopped.
"Gu Zheng, Gu Zheng!"
As soon as Gu Cheng's car arrived, two rows of people immediately walked over from the Wang Mansion. They were all dressed in the same uniform. They were divided into two rows and stood neatly on both sides of the car.
Whether it was the media or the people who came to watch the competition, they were all stunned when they saw this scene. A small number of people were incomparably envious. Gu Zheng's fans were really persistent. Among so many contestants, Gu Zheng's fans were the most numerous, and they were the most orderly.
These people came after lunch and had been waiting for Gu Zheng's arrival.
"Thank you, thank you everyone!"
Gu Zheng got out of the car and kept waving his hand. Seeing Gu Zheng come over, these people immediately became excited. There were more people today than yesterday. There were at least 900 people. Moreover, the local tycoon who sponsored the event had personally come today.
Not only did he come, but he also brought more things. Today, everyone had a small loudspeaker in their hands. They could use the loudspeaker to shout for Gu Zheng.
"Come, shout together!"
The rich man raised his hand and everyone immediately put the loudspeaker in front of their mouths and shouted together.
"Gu Zheng, you're the best!"
"Gu Zheng, you'll be first!"
"Gu Zheng, we'll always support you!"
With the loudspeaker's amplification, their voices were really loud. Many media outlets even took photos of them. Their appearance was also a good news topic.
"Thank you, I'll definitely work hard and get first place!"
Gu Zheng clenched his fist. Previously, he didn't say that he could get first place, but now it was different. He had a test, a test that he had to complete. Whether it was for these supporters or for the test, he had to get first place and become the champion of this competition.
"Yeah, that's great!"
"That's great, Gu Zheng said that he would get first place!"
"Gu Zheng said that he would get first place, so he definitely can. He has never let us down!"
Many people were shouting excitedly. These people supported Gu Zheng at the beginning purely because Gu Zheng was a person who came out from the grassroots. They watched him grow up. There were also some people who participated in the audition of the Hangzhou Food Competition. Supporting Gu Zheng was supporting them.
No matter the reason why they supported Gu Zheng, now they had become a family. They also gave their small organization a nice name, "Gu Fan."
Gu fans only had about two thousand members. Compared to those celebrity fan groups, they were a very, very small organization. However, they were very united, very united. Out of the two thousand members, more than nine hundred came to the scene to support, which was almost half of the total.
Even a celebrity fan group would find it difficult to achieve such a proportion.
Gu Zheng walked into the Wang Mansion. Today was the third day of the competition, and also the last day.
The ten finalists had a separate small room in the main hall of the Wang Mansion. In the next two hours, they would have the first competition. After the competition, the results of the fourth to tenth place would be announced. The three people whose names were not announced after that would continue to compete.
After the second competition, the Chinese Food Competition came to a successful end, and the final three results would be announced.
There were still 20 judges, unlike some movies and TV shows, where there were only three or four judges. The judges of the food competition could not be too few. If there were too few judges, the real results could not be compared. After all, everyone has their own preferences in food. If you like this a little more, and he likes that a little more, it may affect the final results.
"Gu Zheng!"
"Master Gu is here!"
After Gu Zheng came in, many people took the initiative to greet him. No matter how old Gu Zheng was, he was indeed in the top ten. He might even get the top three or even first place. At this time, other people's attitude towards him had also changed.
In the world of food, although seniority was very important, it was also the one who reached the top. People with real strength would be admired wherever they went.
Gu Zheng responded to them one by one. He did not ignore these people just because he got a good result. Whether they knew him or not, as long as they were polite to him, he would definitely return the favor.
This was also one of Gu Zheng's personalities in his life.
The twenty judges were already seated. Gu Zheng also walked to his own small cubicle. The only one who followed him was Wang Dong. As for Chang Feng, he was just here to join in the fun. He couldn't help at all.
Five minutes later, the competition began.
There was no live broadcast of the competition this time. It only relied on the people inside to constantly post text descriptions. Some of them were holding their mobile phones and posting the latest situation on the forum or other places.
Posting text was allowed, but posting videos was not allowed. If someone was found to be secretly filming, the camera equipment would be confiscated. In serious cases, they would be expelled from the competition venue. The finals of the Chinese Food Competition were not allowed to be filmed.
"The competition has already started. I don't know what Gu Zheng is doing!"
"The Chinese Food Competition cannot be repeated. The first time, Gu Zheng made chicken blood soup. Yesterday, he made steamed fish. Today, it might be shredded chicken noodle soup!"
"It might be something else, but no matter what Gu Zheng makes, it's the best!"
Outside the Wang Mansion, Gu Zheng's supporters were whispering. After the rich man came, everyone bought a small folding stool so that they did not have to stand and wait. They could just sit down.
There were security guards outside the Wang Mansion, but these people were very quiet. They did not cause any trouble. They just watched and did not ask.
"It's out, it's out. Gu Zheng took out vegetables?"
A person suddenly shouted. They were all very concerned about what Gu Zheng would do in the first round. The first round was the top three competition and the top ten ranking competition. It was very important. Moreover, everyone in the Food Competition basically made meat dishes. Meat dishes were easier to taste. It was not that there were no vegetarian dishes, but there were very few.
Generally speaking, those who made vegetarian dishes were the best dishes. It might be a specialty dish and there would be no more after it was done.
Gu Zheng had more than one specialty dish. Now that they heard someone say that he took out vegetables, many people were stunned. Gu Zheng had never made vegetables on any other occasion.
"Could it be just an auxiliary ingredient?"
Someone said. The person who spoke before stared at the phone attentively. After Gu Zheng's report came out, they were talking about other people and did not talk about Gu Zheng.
In the venue, Gu Zheng did take out vegetables, and it was not just an auxiliary ingredient like the supporters outside had speculated.
What he was going to make today was vegetables. However, this was not an ordinary vegetable, but an immortal vegetable grown in the chaotic space. Gu Zheng had harvested so many immortal vegetables, but he had never had a suitable matching cooking skill. After completing the fame test last time, the weapon spirit finally rewarded him with a cooking skill for immortal vegetables.
It was a delicacy made with immortal vegetables as the main ingredient, Jade Green.
Jade Green's main ingredient was immortal vegetables. Moreover, five immortal vegetables were needed at a time. Five immortal vegetables could be stir-fried into a plate. Gu Zheng originally wanted to try this dish in the first round. In the end, he found that Song Xiu made winter melon and pork ribs soup, so he changed it to chicken blood soup.
Now was the best time to make this dish. The main ingredient was immortal vegetables, and the other ingredients were all ordinary. Gu Zheng added the intermediate grade seven-colored flower.
For an immortal dish, adding a middle-grade ingredient was enough. Any more than that would suppress the original taste of the immortal dish. The seven-colored flower was just a supplementary ingredient. The seven-colored flower had seven flavors, and it was the most suitable ingredient to be used in the Green Jade Dish.
No matter what kind of vegetable, it was very fast to stir-fry. Immortal vegetables were no exception. Gu Zheng was the first person to make a delicacy.
The finished immortal vegetables were delicately placed. They were very beautiful. The immortal vegetables were especially green, and it was a kind of transparent green. It was like jade was placed on the plate. The seven-colored flower's seven petals had already bloomed, and it was embellished on the green leaves, adding a picturesque beauty to the green leaves.
Just like the fried egg, this dish had a very noble artistic feel.
"Try it!"
The judges were looking forward to Gu Zheng's delicacy. Although the judges changed every round, the previous judges had said that Gu Zheng and Song Xiu's dishes tasted the best. They felt that it was a whole level higher than the other contestants.
The judges would not say this publicly, but they were also people in the circle. There was still some interaction between the small circle.
Each of them picked up a piece of jade-like immortal vegetable. Before they put it in their mouths, a clear fragrance shook their minds. This fragrance was a little like mint, but it was much cooler and not as strong as mint.
After exhaling, they smelled the fragrance again. They discovered that the fragrance had changed. It was not as clear as before, but had become a delicate fragrance. Two different fragrances actually appeared on the same food at the same time.
All the judges were stunned. They looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.
Someone lowered his head and smelled the vegetables again. This time, the fragrance changed again. It became mellow. After exhaling, they smelled it again and it became fragrant.
Every time they smelled it, the fragrance was different. All the judges were incomparably shocked.
Delicacies had to be fought. They couldn't keep smelling it. A judge put the vegetables into his mouth and his eyes widened.
With a light bite, the vegetables immediately emitted a heart-penetrating coolness, making the whole body feel refreshed. With another bite, this coolness turned into a delicate fragrance. It was like the fragrance of flowers. The fragrance spread to every pore of the body. There was an indescribable lazy comfort all over the body.
The immortal vegetables were very crispy in the mouth. It didn't taste like vegetables.
It didn't taste like crispy bones, either. It was even more crispy than crispy bones. Every bite had a different taste, which made people unable to help chewing and swallowing.
Mid-grade ingredients and the Glutton Immortal's cooking skills had brought about an astonishing result. Every one of the twenty judges had the same thought. They had lived for decades in vain. They had never thought that a dish could be made with such a taste.
This was a delicacy that they had never eaten or imagined.
After cooking his immortal vegetables, Gu Zheng looked at Song Xiu. His first dish today was another popular dish, which was a very common family dish, Red Braised Pork.
Red Braised Pork was also a famous local dish. Some of the chefs participating in this competition were good at it. Unfortunately, he had participated in Song Bai's challenge before and was defeated by him. He suffered a great mental blow and couldn't even enter the top 30. He was eliminated early.
Song Xiu's Red Braised Pork used six kinds of ingredients: high-quality pork belly, cooking oil, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and a medium-level ingredient.
In addition to the additional medium-level ingredients, Song Xiu's Red Braised Pork also had a medium-level ingredient, which was sugar.
Gu Zheng didn't know where Song Xiu's medium-level sugar came from. It couldn't be a leftover from the Flourishing Era. But if it wasn't for that era, the modern society couldn't produce medium-level sugar at all, unless he had an ability similar to Gu Zheng's, which could improve the quality of ingredients to medium-level.
Two medium-level ingredients. Gu Zheng remembered that the Device Spirit said that he had three medium-level ingredients. He didn't expect that he would take out two in the first round.
It was good that he took it out. At least Gu Zheng knew what he had. In the next round, Gu Zheng would use all his strength and ingredients to complete the competition. Not only would he not have any regrets in this competition, but he would also be able to complete this test well and obtain the method to cleanse the marrow and purify the food.
With Marrow Cleansing and Food Cultivation, he could help Wang Dong embark on a completely different path as a chef.
Song Xiu's Red Braised Pork was the second to finish. In the three rounds, he and Gu Zheng didn't use more than an hour, unlike the other chefs, who felt that two hours was not enough.
The ten chefs finished the competition slowly.
After the competition, except for Gu Zheng and Song Xiu, the others looked a little nervous. This time, it was the top three out of ten, and it was also a ranking competition. No one knew what kind of result they could get.
Those who could make it to the top ten were definitely chefs with real talent and ability. It could be said that they were the best chefs in their respective cuisines. No one was willing to admit defeat, so they all wanted to get a good result.
Over the years, the top ten chefs were not far away from the top three. They all had the hope to get into the top three, and the key was to perform well on the spot.
Even if they couldn't get into the top ten, they hoped to have a good ranking. The top ten would be announced. The fourth place sounded better than the tenth place. It was a great victory to be able to improve one's ranking.
At the end of the competition, the scores given by the judges had been reported. The scores of this competition and the scores of the previous two competitions were added together. The top three with a total score would not be announced and would continue to compete. The fourth to tenth place would be announced on the spot.
"It's the critical and tense moment again!"
Outside, one of Gu Zheng's supporters said excitedly. When he was in Hangzhou last time, he was also one of the people waiting for Gu Zheng outside. Many of the rules of the Hangzhou Food Competition were learned from the Chinese Food Competition. The top three results were not announced.
At that time, they were praying that Gu Zheng's name would not be in the announced results.
This time was the same. More than 900 people were praying, hoping that they would not see Gu Zheng's name in a while. Those without a name were the ones who advanced.
The Chinese Food Competition was a little different from the Hangzhou Food Competition. It was not a live broadcast here, and there was no host, so the results were directly announced on the big screen and synchronized with the Internet.
In the Chinese Food Competition, no one announced the results of the top ten, only the top three.
"It's out, it's out!"
The results finally came out. There was an uproar outside and inside. Many people who had been waiting were refreshing the website.
The top ten, the names of the fourth to the tenth were lined up in a row. The top three were blank. Behind each name was the score of their three competitions and the total score. All the results were clear at a glance.
"No Gu Zheng, no Gu Zheng!"
Gu Zheng's supporters didn't care about their results. They just glanced at it and didn't see Gu Zheng's name. Then they all shouted excitedly. Just like in Hangzhou, Gu Zheng didn't let them down and advanced again.
This was the Chinese Food Competition. Advancing meant the top three. The worst would be the third place. Even if Gu Zheng's results stopped there, they were very satisfied, extremely satisfied.
How old was Gu Zheng? He was in his early twenties. He had such results at this age. When he reached his golden age, his results would be better and more prominent.
After the list came out, the top three contestants were also made public. The names that didn't appear in the top ten list were the top three of this competition.
In the top ten, three names didn't appear. They were Gu Zheng, Song Xiu, and Chu Yuan.
Chu Yuan was a famous chef in Beijing. He was 39 years old and usually didn't show off. No one expected that he would advance to the top three this time. Lu Yong, who was the favorite to win the championship and top three, was eliminated. He didn't even get the fourth place. He only got the fifth place.
The fifth place, for a disciple of an aristocratic family like Lu Yong, was actually a failure. No one knew if he was affected by his loss to Song Bai.
After the list was announced, many people were talking about it. The most talked about was not Gu Zheng or Song Xiu, but Chu Yuan.
It was Chu Yuan's first time participating in the Chinese Food Competition. He had been working in a famous traditional restaurant. He was the head chef there. His salary was average. He had a few specialty dishes that were sought after by many people.
However, there were too many such chefs in the country. No one expected that Chu Yuan would achieve such good results this time. It was his first time participating in the Chinese Food Competition and he made it to the top three.
At this point, someone mentioned that the top three this time were all newcomers.
Hearing this, many people were stunned. After taking a closer look, they found that it was true. Gu Zheng was participating in the Chinese Food Competition for the first time. No one knew about him before Song Xiu and Chu Yuan. This year's Chinese Food Competition was really strange. The top three were all newcomers participating for the first time.
In fact, even if Lu Yong entered the top three, this wouldn't change. Although Lu Yong was very famous, he was also a newcomer in the Chinese Food Competition.
Not only that, some people looked at the top ten list and were surprised to find that among the top ten, there were as many as five newcomers participating in the Chinese Food Competition for the first time. In other words, half of the top ten were newcomers participating for the first time. Such a ratio was definitely unprecedented in the past.
Someone also found that the top three people this time all had two-word names.
Gu Zheng, Song Xiu, Chu Yuan, none of them had three characters in their names. Furthermore, the other two rookies in the top ten only had two characters in their names. In the top ten, there were only three with three characters in their names.
This made some people joke that they should change their names to two-word names in the future. Maybe they could achieve better results.
Of course, this was just a joke. However, this year's Chinese Food Competition did have many records that were not available in previous years, which made many people sigh.
As soon as the results were announced, some people were happy while others sighed.
Lu Yong was one of the people who sighed. He knew that this year's Chinese Food Competition was actually more difficult than before, but he didn't expect that he would only get fifth place. Such a result would be embarrassing when he went home.
As long as his family members came to participate, they were basically in the top three.
He was clear about his own situation. He was indeed affected by his loss to Song Bai, especially when he lost to Song Bai the day before. He even said that Song Bai would win the championship, but the next day, Song Bai lost to the young man named Gu Zheng.
This made him feel very uncomfortable. First of all, this indirectly proved that he was not as good as Gu Zheng. Song Bai did cheat, but what he added was not a prohibited item. He could have used it to participate in this food competition, which was one of his strengths. Song Bai had cheated, but what he added was not a prohibited item.
The reason why he cheated was that he had previously promised that he would use whatever ingredients others used. In the end, he secretly added something, so it was not accepted by others.
Moreover, in his competition with Gu Zheng, he also added something, but he still lost in the end. Lu Yong couldn't accept such a result.
Affected by this, he didn't perform very well in the first game. But even if he didn't perform well, he could still advance. It was just that the score affected the overall result later, and in the end, he only got fifth place.
In the Chinese Food Competition, the result of each game was very important, because the final overall result would be stacked, so no game could be ignored, unless you only wanted to participate and didn't want to advance.
But if you did too poorly and your results were too poor, it would be very difficult to participate in the competition in the future.
After the game, the fourth to tenth contestants went to the rest area to rest and watch the final game. An hour later, the top three contestants would compete in the final game, which would determine who was first and who was third.
No one who could enter the top three wanted to be the last. They all wanted to be the first.
There was only a two-place difference between the first and third place, but the treatment and influence in the future were worlds apart. This could be seen by watching the Olympic Games. The treatment of the gold medal and the bronze medal were absolutely different.
Not only the Food Competition, but also the Olympic Games, all industries were the same.
We like to pay attention to all kinds of data, but we basically only look at the first place. We look at who is first in the movie box office, who is first in the ratings, and who is first in the game ranking.
The first place is the real winner. Otherwise, they are just accompanying people.
An hour passed quickly, and the three contestants re-entered the small cubicle, preparing to cook the last dish of the game.
What Gu Zheng wanted to cook was something he hadn't done before. The weapon spirit had tailor-made Fish Flavored Honey Chicken for him. Gu Zheng hadn't cooked Fish Flavored Honey Chicken before, but he had cooked Honey Chicken before. Moreover, Gokusen's cooking skills were all imprinted in his mind. As long as he remembered, step by step, and did it seriously, he would be fine.
"Gu Zheng, that guy didn't just have three middle-grade ingredients. In addition to three middle-grade ingredients, he also has a good-grade ingredient!"
The weapon spirit suddenly said to Gu Zheng. Gu Zheng was slightly stunned and turned back.
Song Xiu didn't just have three middle-grade ingredients, he also had a good-grade ingredient. In this case, Song Xiu was not inferior to him in terms of ingredients.
"Why is that? Didn't you say that he only had three middle-grade ingredients?"
Gu Zheng asked quickly. This unexpected information shocked Gu Zheng. He had long understood the importance of ingredients. He also knew that Song Xiu's previous performance was extraordinary. If he fell behind him in terms of ingredients, it was really unknown whether he could win this game.
"I only got a clue before, and I didn't say that he only had three middle-grade ingredients. But don't worry, he has one good-grade ingredient and three middle-grade ingredients. Aren't you the same? You are not inferior to him. You also have immortal energy and Gokusen's cooking skills. You can still win!"
After all, the weapon spirit didn't find out the information before, but the clue after giving Gu Zheng a test.
The clue was true, but it wasn't necessarily complete. It was missing a part. The real situation was that Song Xiu had one good-grade ingredient, three middle-grade ingredients, and a few ordinary ingredients.
"Okay, I got it. I will work hard!"
Gu Zheng said secretly in his heart. He became more energetic. Fortunately, he had swallowed an Immortal Essence Pill yesterday. Now, his immortal energy was enough for him to support himself. It seemed that he really had to go all out this time.
Gu Zheng took out all the things he wanted to cook. There were chicken, fish, and honey.
This time, Gu Zheng had used the most ingredients he had ever used. Moreover, the lowest grade was Common, while the highest grade was Excellent. Even Gu Zheng himself had never tasted a dish made from Excellent Grade ingredients.
At this time, he was very glad. He was glad that he had called * * * and that * * * had excellent ingredients.
If not, with his only middle-grade ingredient, the Ocean Flower, even with Gokusen's cooking skills, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to win against Song Xiu, who was much better than him in terms of ingredients. At that time, not only would he not be able to get first place, but he would also fail the test.
On Song Xiu's side, he also took out his ingredients.
Seeing the ingredients he took out, Gu Zheng's eyes narrowed slightly. He immediately shouted in his heart, "Device Spirit, didn't you say that the current environment on Earth can't grow ingredients above the middle-grade?"
This time, Song Xiu was finally different from before. This time, he didn't cook ordinary dishes. This time, he took out a few insects, and they were all live insects. However, they were not bean worms, nor were they edible insects like locusts. Instead, they were very strange insects, but they didn't look ugly.
This kind of insect was very big, and it was wriggling gently. Just by looking at this insect, Gu Zheng knew that it was definitely not an ordinary ingredient. It was at least a middle-grade ingredient.
"The environment on Earth is indeed like this. As for why he has live middle-grade ingredients, I don't know. Maybe he has his own way!"
The Device Spirit didn't understand what was going on, but the other party came from the Kunlun Sect, the number one sect. It was not an ordinary place. Things that didn't exist in other places might exist there. After all, this was a big sect that had existed since the Flourishing Era.
"Joy Insect, excellent taste, middle-grade ingredient!"
The Device Spirit gave Gu Zheng an appraisal. Gu Zheng rolled his eyes. It was indeed a middle-grade ingredient. Although some people didn't like to eat insects, this situation didn't exist among the judges. The judges were all gourmets. Not to mention insects, they had eaten even stranger things.
As long as it was not something that was clearly inedible or harmful to health, they would eat it.
The main ingredient was a middle-grade ingredient, and the Device Spirit gave an appraisal of excellent taste. Gu Zheng's sense of crisis kept rising in his heart. After three days of competition, he knew that Song Xiu's cooking skills were not bad. Although they were not as good as his Gokusen's cooking skills, if there were really top-grade ingredients, he might not be able to beat him.
"His insects, are they safe?"
In the rest area, Lu Yong suddenly asked. Generally speaking, the ingredients that could be used in the competition were safe. If they were found to be unsafe, it would not be as simple as canceling the results of the competition. No one would use this kind of thing to affect their future.
However, insects were special after all, and they were insects that no one had seen before. It was not wrong to raise such doubts.
"You can rest assured about this. We have done an appraisal in advance. They are completely qualified!"
Someone in the audience suddenly said. When they saw this person, many people were stunned. He was not from the gourmet world, but he was from the officialdom. Moreover, he was a leader of the food safety supervision department.
When he said so, no one dared to question him anymore.
Although this person was not from the upper department of the Food Association, he had a deep relationship with the gourmet world. Ordinary people would not dare to offend him easily.
Gu Zheng didn't care about this. First of all, there was absolutely no problem with the safety of a middle-grade ingredient. If there was a problem, it would not have reached the middle-grade grade.
Song Xiu's main ingredient was this living Joy Worm. The supplementary ingredient was the same as before. This candy was neither white nor red. It was orange in color. Furthermore, it was in cubes. He had no idea how Kunlun managed to make such a candy.
However, the candy was still okay. Gu Zheng was not surprised that Kunlun had a way to store it for thousands of years. Not to mention Kunlun, even Emei had a way to store such an ingredient. It was just that he could not understand this living insect. This was a living insect, and it was impossible for this insect to live for thousands of years.
At the side, Chu Yuan took out his ingredients. The last dish he was going to cook was his other specialty dish.
He had done what he was best at in the previous competition. Even he himself did not expect to be in the top three this time. Although he had prepared a second set of ingredients like the other chefs, he really did not expect that he would be able to use it.
In this way, he was congenitally deficient in preparation. He could not be compared to Gu Zheng and Song Xiu.
However, since he had entered the top three, he had to give it a try no matter what. Maybe his miracle could continue and he would really exceed everyone's expectations and get first place.
Of course, this was just his own thoughts. Gu Zheng and Song Xiu both understood that it was impossible for him. His ingredients were actually inferior. Just in terms of ingredients, the two of them had left him behind by a few streets.
Unless he was Gokusen, it was impossible for him to use such ingredients to cook better delicacies. Otherwise, he would definitely lose.
Gu Zheng and Song Xiu did not pay attention to him at all. Gu Zheng also took out his own ingredients. Fish, chicken, and honey were all ordinary grade. Song Xiu's eyes quickly fell on the black fruit and several other ingredients that Gu Zheng took out.
The black fruit made him instinctively feel that it was extraordinary.
He did not have the help of the weapon spirit and could not identify the ingredients, but he had his own intuition. Song Xiu was actually the best chef in Kunlun. Song Bai was just his younger brother, a talented young man who liked to cook very much. If Song Bai did not want to come out to experience and participate in the Chinese Food Competition this time, he would not have shown up at all.
Song Bai lost and went back to tell him and asked him to help him take revenge. Only then did he come out to participate in this competition.
Song Xiu's strength was not bad, and he was a core disciple of Kunlun. Although his cooking was delicious, the mainstream of Kunlun was still cultivation. His cooking skills were not valued in Kunlun. If it were not for several elders and grand elders who liked to eat his cooking, they probably would not practice cooking for him and would instead focus on cultivation.
It was not easy to bring out so many good ingredients this time, and it was also because they usually ate too much of his food. The grand elders could not refuse, but they also told him that it would not happen again.
These ingredients were all that he could take out.
It was not that Kunlun did not have any, but that some ingredients were not allowed to be brought out to participate in a small competition in the secular world.
Moreover, after coming out, he did not expect that the cultivator named Gu Zheng, who had won against his younger brother, was so good at cooking. He was different from Gu Zheng. He had checked their scores through his connections. Kunlun had great power in the secular world, so it was not difficult for him to do such a thing.
Gu Zheng's score in the first two rounds was the same as his.
He brought good ingredients, used immortal cooking utensils, and tried his best, but he still could not beat Gu Zheng.
There was one more thing. Although he did not have a weapon spirit, he had his own way of identifying ingredients. He had seen the ingredients used by Gu Zheng before. Although they were all good, he was sure that there was no particularly good ingredient that he could use as the finishing touch.
The intermediate ingredient was used as the finishing touch by him.
Even so, Gu Zheng's score was the same as his. This meant that Gu Zheng's cooking skills were really not bad. In fact, he had even surpassed him.
In fact, Kunlun could have influenced the judges to give him a higher score, but he did not do so. If he did so, it would have lost the meaning of coming to the competition.
After knowing the strength of the first two rounds, he decided to take out all the good ingredients he had brought this time and really cook once. That was why Gu Zheng saw these things.
On Gu Zheng's side, he took a deep breath after taking out the item.
"Gu Zheng, you can try to integrate the Dao of Yin and Yang into your cooking!"
The weapon spirit suddenly said. Although it had many treasures and countless high-grade ingredients, it could not directly take them out to help Gu Zheng. This was the restriction that Gokusen had given it.
Since it could not directly use ingredients to help, the weapon spirit was thinking of other ways. Although Song Xiu's Joy Worm was only an intermediate ingredient, it tasted very good. It was available in the Primitive Era, and many people liked to eat it. It was expensive.
In terms of cooking, the Joy Worm was actually not inferior to some excellent ingredients. Gu Zheng had excellent fruits, but they were not special ingredients. The difference between the two could only be said to be about the same.
In this way, Gu Zheng was actually at a disadvantage in terms of ingredients. Moreover, it was a big disadvantage.
The higher the level of ingredients, the greater the difference in taste. Excellent ingredients, even without any cooking, tasted better than ordinary ingredients. This was the difference between ingredients.
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