The story begins in Food Wars, when Alice took him home.

"You should all try it. Help yourselves to get the meat. There's plenty of seasoning in it, so don't worry about not having enough."

Quickly ladle the soup out of the pot, then put one or two pieces of turtle meat into each person's bowl, and then have them line up to receive it.

The girls, who had long been unable to contain themselves, quickly formed a long queue. Seeing the soup bowl that Bai Yuan handed them, they picked it up without the slightest hesitation and put it directly to their lips to drink.

The shimmering golden liquid entered their mouths as if they were savoring nectar, and everyone present wore expressions of bliss.

The aroma is not strong; the various medicinal herbs give it a gentle quality, making one feel warm all over and unconsciously bringing a comfortable expression to one's face.

"The addition of red dates, longan, lotus seeds, goji berries, and pigeon eggs gives the soup an incredibly rich sweetness and umami flavor."

With her eyes closed, a deeper flavor was released in her mouth. Erina Nakiri gently exhaled a breath of hot air and then expressed her feelings.

The sweetness of red dates and the slight tartness of goji berries intertwine, longan brings a unique fruity aroma, lotus seeds provide a refreshing taste, and the delicate flavor and nutrition of pigeon eggs further enhance this soup.

The sweetness of these ingredients blends perfectly with the umami of the turtle, making the soup richer and more flavorful, so delicious that you can't help but murmur aloud!

"one more bowl!"

Erina Nakiri held out her bowl to Shirayuki, who was standing in front of the soup pot, her big eyes sparkling. Shirayuki smiled helplessly at her, but still scooped a bowl for her and handed it to her himself.

As he handed her the soup, his hand unconsciously rested on her body, and then he felt a surge of powerful energy.

At this moment, the girl suppressed and restrained this energy, but she was completely unaware of it, as her attention was completely drawn to the turtle soup.

In such a situation, if this energy were to suddenly erupt, probably no one on the scene would be spared. An explosion that has been suppressed to the extreme would be absolutely violent!

Fortunately, Bai Yuan resolved the situation in time.

"This soup contains medicinal herbs such as ginseng, angelica, and astragalus. The aroma and medicinal effects permeate the soup, making your body feel warm and comfortable. It feels so good!"

Her pink tongue lightly licked her lips, and Hisako Shinto's voice rang out from the side, naming the medicinal herbs added to the soup.

Adding medicinal herbs to the soup provides energy to the body, which is the source of its warmth.

"Dried clams, scallops, and dried oysters are the finishing touches, making the soup more flavorful and complementing the taste of the turtle itself."

"Not only the soup, but the meat tastes amazing too!"

"The quail eggs were cooked through, absorbing all the flavor of the turtle soup!"

Zhou Yuyu said with a happy expression, "These quail eggs are so juicy and flavorful, they taste even better than meat!"

"I lost this game."

As Zhou Tai spoke, he stepped forward, picked up the Food Wars recipe that Bai Yuan had placed on the table, glanced at the names recorded on it, then turned to the page where no one had written, and signed his name in a flowing, elegant hand.

"Grandpa!"

"grandfather!"

Seeing Zhou Tai's actions, Zhou Quan and Zhou Yuyu couldn't help but exclaim. His soup hadn't even been cooked yet, how could he have already picked up his pen and admitted defeat?

"No need to say anything more. Although my soup is not yet ready, the outcome of this battle is already obvious. I know the taste of my soup better than anyone else."

A dish that has lost its Food Soul is destined to only reach the level of Flowing Light. Compared to the Five-Round Turtle Soup, which has a Food Soul and far surpasses it, there is really no comparison.

It's much more dignified to admit defeat now than to have everyone vote for Baek Yeon's soup later.

"But…"

Zhou Quan glanced at the soup still simmering on the stove, opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately chose to give up.

Since Zhou Tai has already conceded defeat, there's no point in him saying anything more. He might as well stand silently and be a peaceful bystander.

"You are amazing. To be able to make such a high-quality dish at such a young age, even in ancient times, you would deserve to be called a peerless genius."

If at the beginning I had some doubts about your desire to become Chef Dragon, now I think you're the perfect person for it.

After returning the food battle recipe to Bai Yuan, Zhou Tai looked at his face and said these words, revealing high expectations in his words.

Young, highly skilled, and proficient in various culinary fields.

If someone like him can't become a Dragon Chef, then who can? And who can surpass him?

Zhou Tai never imagined that there would be someone more outstanding than Bai Yuan in the world, who had reached the eighth level of the Special Grade at the age of twenty. This was a level that an ordinary chef could never reach, even if he spent his whole life in the kitchen.

"You don't need to doubt it, I will become the Dragon Chef."

Hearing Zhou Tai's heartfelt praise, Bai Yuan looked at him in return. In an instant, their eyes met, and Bai Yuan expressed his determination word by word.

If we're going to do it, let's become the strongest in the world!

"Come with me for a moment. I have something I want to tell you. I should say that with your current strength, it's time for you to get involved in these kinds of things."

Seeing Bai Yuan's serious expression, Zhou Tai's expression became unusually serious. He then said something to him and turned to walk out of the villa.

"When it comes to matters of my strength..."

Bai Yuan was somewhat confused by the incomprehensible words, but Zhou Tai was a top-level eight-star chef and a chef for state banquets, so he shouldn't have lost him without reason.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Yuan quickly followed, and soon the two arrived at the lawn outside the villa. It was quiet and deserted, and Zhou Tai stopped and turned around.

"What guidance do you have for me, Senior Zhou?"

Looking at Zhou Tai who had turned around, Bai Yuan was filled with questions.

Although the other party lost the game, Zhou Tai is older than him and has been learning to cook for a longer time, so the other party is fully deserving of the title of senior.

"Before we get to that, I'd like to ask you a question. Have you ever heard of the legendary fantasy ingredients?"

"Fantasy-grade ingredients?"

Looking at Zhou Tai, who was asking him this matter so seriously, Bai Yuan's eyes flashed with a hint of confusion, because this was indeed the first time he had ever heard of it.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it, because this ingredient is extremely rare. Even decades ago, it was only available to chefs of five-star rank or higher."

In modern times, due to the extinction of such fantastical ingredients, younger generations of chefs have basically never heard of them, and older generations of chefs don't particularly mention them.

Looking at Bai Yuan's expression, Zhou Tai already had the answer in his mind. However, he brought it up first just to liven up the atmosphere and create suspense. He didn't really expect Bai Yuan to know.

"Fantasy-grade ingredients, rare and uncommon, only found among top-tier five-star chefs."

Moreover, it has become virtually extinct in modern times, so very few novice chefs know about it…

I ventured a guess: the so-called "fantasy-level ingredients" are those that don't exist in this world and taste better than ordinary ingredients.

Having read many novels in his past life, and being particularly sensitive to the term "fantasy-grade," he immediately grasped the crux of the matter: what constitutes a fantasy-grade ingredient.

"You guessed right, fantasy-level ingredients have flavors that ordinary ingredients don't have, and if used well, they can easily take your cooking to the next level."

However, because cooking with these ingredients demands a high level of skill from the chef, even assigning them to a lower-level chef would be a waste of ingredients. Therefore, they typically only circulate among chefs of five stars or higher, as only they can bring out the true deliciousness of these fantastic-level ingredients!

Hearing Bai Yuan's guess, Zhou Tai was somewhat surprised and thought to himself that the new brain was really useful. It had taken him several days to accept these ideas back then.

"So, by suddenly bringing up an extinct ingredient, what are you trying to express?"

Looking at Zhou Tai's face, Bai Yuan voiced his doubts. The other party suddenly brought this up, so it couldn't be just a casual remark.

For some reason, Bai Yuan had a feeling that the other party was about to say something shocking.

"Of course it will reappear soon!"

To everyone's astonishment, Zhou Tai revealed what Bai Yuan was thinking. But then again, only in this way would the other party cautiously call him out.

Otherwise, it would be better to just tell everyone about it as an urban legend.

"Could you explain in detail what exactly happened?"

Bai Yuan humbly sought advice, as he was genuinely curious about this and also looking forward to using fantasy-level ingredients, which would surely lead to innovative cooking methods!

“This matter is of great importance. You must promise not to tell anyone else, at least not now.”

"Don't worry, I can tell what's important."

As Zhou Tai spoke, he walked out of the courtyard, his face becoming more serious. Upon seeing this, Bai Yuan quickly assured him that he was simply too curious.

"This all started with the Food World, which opens once every hundred years..."

…………

…………

A hot spring resort in Tokyo.

"call…"

Warm water poured over her head, Liu Yu let out a long breath, then shook her hair, put it up, and walked to the edge of the hot spring pool.

"It's so slow, I'm almost dizzy from soaking."

The surrounding water rippled slightly, alerting Wang Jing that someone had entered the water. She opened her eyes and then saw Liu Yu entering the water, and couldn't help but mutter a complaint under her breath.

"Shouldn't we take a good shower first? It's been days since we've had a bath. Besides, isn't it a bit inappropriate for just the two of us to sneak out like this..."

They leaned comfortably against the rock. Because it was a weekday, the surroundings were very quiet, and the entire hot spring was empty except for the two of them.

"When did you become so concerned about others? Besides, we're here for special training. Xiaomei is your opponent this time. Are you going to bring her along?"

Relationships always have varying degrees of closeness or distance. For Wang Jing, Liu Yu is her best friend, and Huang Mei is a friend. Naturally, she is closer to Liu Yu than Huang Mei.

"That's true. How about you? Your opponent this time wasn't the leader's student, so their strength shouldn't be too great. Congratulations on advancing to the semi-finals."

Turning her head to look at Wang Jing, Liu Yu's face became unusually serious as she thought about her opponent this time.

Although Huang Mei is only a second-class chef, she possesses an extraordinary talent for super touch and is constantly getting stronger, giving her the ability to challenge opponents of higher levels.

In comparison, Wang Jing's opponent was much easier to deal with. Although not weak, he didn't have any special talents and his strength barely reached that of a first-class chef.

Given such an opponent, Wang Jing's chances of losing are extremely low, according to common sense.

"We still can't underestimate them. After all, they came in at the same time as us and are quite close to the leader. They must have received a lot of guidance from him in the past, so their strength should not be underestimated either."

"What you say makes sense. That person is the leader, after all. Even if it's just a casual remark, it can be incredibly beneficial!"

Thinking of Bai Yuan's power, Liu Yu and Wang Jing's faces simultaneously revealed a fanatical expression; he was someone they vowed to follow for life.

Attracted by his personal charm and his cooking, they willingly submit and become his followers.

“I remember your competition theme was rice, which is a rather interesting topic, especially since you were competing in the first round.”

Thinking of the themes given by Xia Zhi Selection Agency, Liu Yu looked up at the sky. Her theme was fish, while Wang Jing's theme was rice.

"Simply put, it's a dish based on rice. It's quite easy to make, but I don't know what to make."

Logically speaking, making fried rice would be the most appropriate solution, but I'm not very good at controlling the heat, so I have to choose something else to play to my strengths and avoid my weaknesses…”

Looking up at the sky as well, Wang Jing sighed softly. Her cooking skills were really not that great; she had lost to the outsider back then precisely because of her cooking skills.