Chapter 808: Chapter 807: The Birth of the Demon King (Part 3)

“I guessed Wei An would be there at the scene…”

In the A venue, when two Dragon Venerables lead the guest panel, Yan Qi and his old buddy Xia Qing sit in a tea room on the giant Loulin Ship slowly cruising the Yangtze River, watching the TV screen on the wall cabinet.

Several TV programs, even multiple online streaming platforms, are locking their cameras on the A venue for this round of preliminary selection.

Wei An is Wei Qinglian’s foster father, a fair-skinned Dragon Chef from the White Jade Tower.

Yan Qi, however, is fixedly looking at another person on the screen, his eyes showing a strange color, “But what I didn’t anticipate was that Kong Chun would also be in Shanghai. Isn’t he in the Forbidden City, gathering a palace recipe compilation team, aiming to write a new contemporary national banquet recipe list?”

Kong Chun!

Upon hearing this name, the old man’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Below the leader of White Jade Tower, among three Dragon Venerables, Kong Chun ranks first.

That’s right, the surname Kong denotes that this Dragon Chef originates from Qilu and is a descendant of the ancient sage Kongzi. He is also the Sect Leader for the “Kong Mansion Cuisine” branch of Shandong cuisine.

What is “Kong Mansion Cuisine”?

Kong Meng were originally the founders of the “ritual system” in Chinese cuisine. The dietary saying “food should not be bland and minced should not be coarse” has been passed down to this day and has become the golden label for “Kong Mansion Cuisine.” In some sense, the ingredients and banquet specifications for Kong Mansion Cuisine do not fall behind compared to past royal palace feasts.

Thus, the Sect Leader of Kong Mansion Cuisine holds a transcendent status not only within the Shandong cuisine circle but also across the eight major cuisines and various regions’ Chefs Association, akin to the “Number One Family” worldwide.

Yan Qi observes a trace of emotion between the old man’s eyebrows and shudders inside, “I say, Brother Xia, challenging Kong Chun now is too early. He’s reportedly…”

Xia Qing waves his hand interruptingly, “I know!”

At this moment, cheers come from the TV, and the two look over; it turns out three judges are following closely.

On-screen, three female judges take their seats.

Xia Qing looks puzzled, “Who are these three?”

“You surely recognize Lanzi, right?”

“Lanzi?”

“That’s Yuan Lanzi from Jinling Yuan’s. Back then, your son ditched others and eloped with the Zhu family’s eldest daughter. Later, she found a good young man to marry into the family and had a daughter. It’s said that daughter is also participating in this culinary hunt.”

Yan Qi looks at Xia Qing with a hint of teasing.

“Uh!”

Xia Qing chokes up a bit, “Would she bear a long-standing grudge over the past and hence…”

“Haha!” Yan Qi laughs heartily seeing his old buddy indeed beginning to worry about his grandson, “As for judges’ impartiality, why worry? Do you remember any scandals caused by biased judging at the Chinese Realm’s Talent Hunt?”

Xia Qing shakes his head.

“That’s it!” Yan Qi claps his hands and laughs.

Clang!

At the scene, the three female judges take their seats as the emcee takes the stage and strikes a golden gong: “The first match of the second round of this Talent Hunt is about to begin!”

“Let’s follow the process and introduce the three judges first!”

The emcee signals Mu Xiaoyue at the third seat to introduce herself; this round-faced young female judge immediately smiles at the microphone: “Hello everyone, I’m Mu Xiaoyue!”

“Oh——” A wave of sound comes from the crowd below, “We’ve watched your food videos!”

“‘Witness: Classics’ is a very nice food channel in recent years, I’ve watched every episode, please keep up the good work!”

Some clueless bystanders listening to the recommendations finally understand.

She’s actually an internet celebrity widely recognized for her strong discerning ability.

“I’m Yuan Lanzi.”

The second-seat female judge greets softly. Her mature township style stands in stark contrast to the two young beauties beside her.

“Mrs. Yuan, I like you!”

“Does Jinling Yuan’s Cooking Private School still accept students? I want to listen to Mr. Yuan’s lectures!”

Crying and howling from the crowd below sound even more piercing than Mu Xiaoyue’s calls.

Yuan Lanzi’s daughter Yuan Yun, listening below, furiously thinks: “No matter where mom is more popular than me…”

The tomboyish judge in the center, Fan Jiaorou, waves to the audience but the mood in the venue is affected, with the applause sounding sparse.

“Mr. Yuan, your charm hasn’t faded over the years!”

Fan Jiaorou sits down to chat with Yuan Lanzi helplessly.

“Alright—”

Finally, the emcee, a very masculine middle-aged man, prevents the judges’ booth from being all women. He says in a magnetic voice, “Next, let’s welcome our young talents for the first match!”

“There are a hundred of them in total!”

“But starting from the second round of selection, a scoring and ranking system is implemented, with a total score of 300. Each judge can give up to 100 points! The top 10 are selected for the third round based on ranking, which means only ten can leave smiling in the end!”

Hundred to ten!

Backstage, one hundred young talents have been divided into two columns, ready to take the stage.

Unfortunately, Xia Yu was assigned as number 1, standing at the head of the odd-numbered right-hand line, like a national treasure panda attracting onlookers.

The talents present in the same match look at him, some in admiration, others excited and thrilled to see their idol up close.

“Chef Xia—”

From the back of the line comes a scream, a teenage girl fan fervently squeezes forward. A bronze number badge on her chest shines; it’s the contestant’s number, indicating she’s also a competitor in this culinary challenge.

The girl doesn’t get far before being stopped by two burly venue security guards, “Number 90 contestant, please calm down!”

“We apologize, please cooperate with us…”

“Boohoo, darn it, Chef Xia, I will definitely stand with you till the end and step off the stage, believe me!”

Xia Yu dared not turn on a light to look back at the girl.

Assigned as number 2, Zhao Qi occupies the leading position in the opposite line, seeing the girl fan’s fervent enthusiasm; his mood is both chaotic and complex, “Damn it, a fan of his got mixed in among the contestants? Wasn’t it said that his fan base is far less compared to the Five Talents…”

Zhao Qi continues to gloat maliciously.

Perhaps due to the girl’s impassioned display, many previously well-hidden hostile gazes start surfacing within the hundred-member lineup.

“Don’t be too complacent now!”

A voice from very close behind Xia Yu, from the 3rd contestant behind him, a young man around twenty years old gnashes his teeth and grunts, “This is the Chinese Realm… we will block you from breaking into the top twenty! Don’t dream of climbing higher!”

Seemingly responding to his words, more talents at the back of the line raise their heads, casting eyes full of combat readiness.

Xia Yu is very familiar with this kind of look.

Whenever Xingping Chuangzhen says he wants to challenge him, he behaves similarly.

However, this time it’s different, the talents behind him seem to form a strange alliance to keep him firmly out of the top ten on the leaderboard.

Ranking blockade!

“Is that so?”

In a single file without pig teammates, paying little mind, casually responding, Xia Yu follows the emcee’s command for contestants to take the stage, stepping out.

Whoa——

In the open-air venue, a hundred young talents emerge side by side.

Unlike the invisibility and low profile in the previous match, as soon as Xia Yu stands at the No. 1 cooking platform, cameras immediately surround him from all sides.

Including the judges’ table nearby, the male emcee and three female judges all widen their eyes instinctively wanting a clearer and broader view to scrutinize this young celebrated chef from the Sapporo event with extraordinary talent.