A Bite of Douluo Continent

If you're so focused, doesn't that count as putting in the effort?

Chapter 543 Heart and Dao (Two Chapters Combined)

Qi Han believed that the seemingly unintentional remark made by the seven-colored golden light and shadow must have been some kind of hint to him.

The problem is that he was certain he was focused enough while cooking that dish.

Or should we try again?

Having made up his mind, Qi Han began a new cooking process, this time only cooking peony fish fillets.

Having more time to master this dish and having prior experience cooking it in real life, I should have an advantage over Zilong's Disarming.

It now seems that the key to passing this level is not the difficulty of the dishes. In other words, you don't need to cook a five-star dish to pass the level. So it will be easier to focus on one dish and not change it randomly, and compare the differences before and after.

Qi Han vowed that this cooking session was the most focused he had ever been since he started learning to cook. He devoted almost all his energy to watching the cooking process, perfecting every detail. After finishing the peony fish fillets, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and his eyes were even slightly bloodshot from his intense concentration.

However, when he presented the dish to Guangying, he was still met with the same response: "Not satisfied, make it again."

Qi Han remained silent.

Doesn't that count as putting in effort?

Then let's continue!

He gritted his teeth and got busy again.

The third one, the fourth one...

Qi Han approaches each serving of peony fish slices with utmost focus, even going so far as to use his spiritual power to penetrate the ingredients and perceive every subtle change within them, controlling the cooking process to an unimaginable degree.

He wasn't a spirit master, so this cooking process was far too difficult for him. After finishing a plate of peony fish fillets, he was already incredibly pale and exhausted.

However, such focus and effort still could not change the fate of having to start over.

After slowly savoring the last bite, Guangying gave Qi Han a deep look and suddenly asked, "Tired?"

Are you tired?

Of course it's tiring.

The training space could restore his physical strength, but the mental fatigue was unparalleled. Even though Qi Han had long been accustomed to the monotonous practice in the training space for long periods of time, cooking still brought him great pressure.

At this moment, Qi Han's mind was on the verge of collapse. Give him a bed and he would fall asleep immediately and sleep for three days and three nights without waking up.

He couldn't help but nod, and even felt a little resentful towards the light and shadow before him.

Isn't this just deliberately torturing people?

Seemingly sensing Qi Han's thoughts, Guangying spoke with a hint of deeper meaning, "So, do you think cooking should be such a tiring thing?"

This…

Qi Han was slightly taken aback.

The words spoken by the light and shadow made him feel as if he had vaguely grasped something.

Is cooking... such a tiring thing?

Yes, with the cooking method he just used, it's impossible to last long. Let alone cooking for customers during business hours, just making this one dish has already pushed him to his limit.

Is this the future of cooking?

It's becoming increasingly difficult, demanding more and more focus, and requiring increasingly stringent standards for ingredients.

Is this still cooking?

No... that's not how it works.

Qi Han shook his head violently.

His understanding of cooking must have been flawed somewhere, which led to this result.

Did I take the wrong path?

So... what exactly does it mean to put your heart into something?

Isn't being attentive just the same as being focused?

Qi Han's brows furrowed slowly as he stood there, deep in thought.

This time, Guangying didn't offer any further guidance; he simply picked up the book again and began flipping through it with great interest.

Standing quietly in the training space, countless fragments of memories flashed through Qi Han's mind.

She has experiences from her past life as a food vlogger, traveling the world in search of delicious food, and in this life as a chef, she has worked her way up from making fried rice to her current level.

Qi Han's eyes slowly brightened.

In his previous life, he had tasted all kinds of delicacies and met all kinds of famous chefs. What were those famous chefs like when they were cooking?

None of them ever thought cooking was hard work, or rather, none of the chefs who thought cooking was hard work ever reached the level of a master chef.

A true master chef exudes confidence and effortless composure in every gesture during the cooking process.

It's definitely not like I am now, where cooking feels like torture.

Their cooking is joyful.

And what about yourself?

He never intended to become a chef. He only became a chef because he was bound to the Food System, and all his tasks were related to cooking skills. He had no other way to go.

At that time, he even harbored fantasies of becoming a Soul Master, hoping that he could become a powerful and respected Soul Master without relying on the system.

So... when did I begin to identify with my identity as a chef?

It was the satisfied smiles of the diners after tasting the food, and their words of praise, that gave me a sense of accomplishment and happiness I had never felt before.

Qi Han's eyes lit up completely.

He seems to have learned what it means to put your heart into something.

The highest level of musical performance is to allow the audience to feel the emotions conveyed by the music; the highest level of writing is to make the reader resonate with the joys and sorrows of the characters in the book; the highest level of painting is to allow the viewer to immerse themselves in the scene and experience the charm of the painting...

All the skills in this world will eventually lead to the same path and have the same purpose.

The heart is not the focus of the mind, but the immersion of emotions.

Music can express emotional changes through tempo and melody progression, and it can evoke empathy through detailed descriptions and indirect portrayals. Paintings can express the artist's feelings through variations in ink density and color. So, what is the expression of emotion in cooking?

It's about how much of each seasoning is used, how quickly each ingredient is added, every toss in the wok, every stir-fry, every cut, and every step of processing the ingredients.

It is the slightest error in each cooking process that makes a dish unique.

Qi Han's excessive focus led him down a path of excessively demanding precision. The more precise he became, the further he strayed from the true direction of culinary art.

Does it matter whether there's one-thousandth more salt or one-thousandth less?

Does it matter whether there's one or two drops more vinegar or one or two drops less?

Does it matter whether the ingredients are added a second faster or a second slower?

These extremely small errors, which are within a reasonable range, are precisely the means by which cooks pour their emotions into their dishes.

Qi Han almost completely abandoned it, turning it from a living person into a machine that could only cook the exact same dishes with unparalleled precision.

"Hoo..." Qi Han let out a heavy breath, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face. The smile grew wider and wider until it became incredibly bright.

With a crisp snap of his fingers, the light slowly enveloped Qi Han's body. His previously weary mind was surrounded by an incomparably warm feeling, and he recovered at an extremely fast speed. Both his mental and physical strength reached their peak at this moment.

"Go, let me see if you really understand." There was a hint of gentleness in Guangying's words.

"Okay!" Qi Han nodded emphatically and strode to the workbench.

He couldn't wait to try it out according to his earlier idea.

The cooking steps were exactly the same as before, but Qi Han's expression was completely different.

His brows were no longer furrowed, nor was his gaze fixed intently on the dishes. Instead, a faint smile played on his lips, and he hummed an unknown tune.

He began to truly enjoy the cooking process and stopped worrying about the amount of each seasoning.

Given his skill level in creating perfect dishes, would the taste of dishes cooked more casually necessarily be inferior?

Will not.

Just as one who has conquered the highest mountain in the world no longer cares about the undulations of the earth, Qi Han's familiarity with every dish he has trained for is so deep that it is commonplace for him to cook it with ease.

Now, let your emotions run wild!

He was enjoying this unprecedented cooking process and did not notice that golden light was quietly flashing on his body, and a trace of joy seemed to materialize and be easily perceived by others.

Soul power and spiritual power slowly merged at this moment, transforming into a new and unique force. It possesses both the mystery of spiritual power and the tangible quality of soul power. Every rhythm of it has a magical power that immerses people in it.

To others, such a state is intention, is divinity, but to Qi Han at this moment, it is the Dao.

It is the path and direction of culinary arts.

As if falling into a dream, Qi Han entered a mysterious state. His cooking steps were flawless, and he seemed to have entered a completely new realm. All his previous understanding of cooking skills were integrated at this moment and poured into the dishes as the power of his emotions.

Only after the cooking of the peony fish fillets was finished did Qi Han slowly emerge from that profound state of mind.

He was stunned for a moment, then placed the peony fish slices in his hand in front of Guangying, "Senior, please taste."

"You should try this one yourself." The light and shadow laughed and slowly disappeared. "After you finish eating, begin your third challenge!"

This…

Qi Han was stunned for a moment, then looked down at the peony fish slices in his hand, and picked up a pair of chopsticks without hesitation to taste them.

To be honest, he was really reluctant to let light and shadow experience it.

Although he hadn't tasted it yet, he could imagine that the peony fish fillets he cooked this time would be different.

As he took a bite and slowly savored the crisp and delicious flavor of the peony fish slices, a smile unconsciously appeared on Qi Han's face.

He felt it; it was the emotion he had poured into the dish, the joy that came from his recent enlightenment.

Now, as I savor this dish, the joy that had been slowly fading away surges back up.

I succeeded; I truly tasted emotions from the food.

It turns out my guess was right; this is what cooking should be like.