Chapter 362: The Special Effect of Dinghu Shangsu
The two hours required to simmer the vegetarian supreme broth over a low flame were compressed to about five minutes thanks to Ru Yi's time manipulation. And in those five minutes, Qi Han didn't stay idle.
He carefully prepared the three mushrooms, six types of fungus, nine kinds of bamboo shoots, and the rare fiddlehead one by one, slicing them into blocks or strips as needed.
This step was one of the main reasons Qi Han had failed before.
If these were just ordinary ingredients from Blue Star, he could have cut them directly. With his Perfection level knife skills, it wouldn't pose much of a challenge.
But heavenly treasures were different. Although the ones used in the Dinghu Shangsu were mainly of the hundred-year grade—with only the fiddlehead being a thousand-year ingredient—their delicacy wasn't diminished by the lower age.
Take the golden ear fungus, for example. Its heavenly treasure equivalent was the fragile Ryukyu Golden Silk Fungus, which had an eerie trait: "melts upon contact with metal, dies upon contact with soil." It would instantly liquefy when touched by metal and perish the moment it came in contact with soil, only capable of growing on the dead wood formed by the death of tree-type heavenly treasures.
For that one, Qi Han couldn't even use his usual kitchen knife. He had to rely on a special porcelain blade provided by the system to handle it.
Other heavenly treasures, though not as extreme, had their own quirks. A single careless mistake could ruin everything.
Especially the bamboo fungus's heavenly counterpart: the Celestial Spirit Flower of the Nine Heavens. There was a saying about it—"Touched by the mortal world's breath, it falls into the mundane realm."
This meant that if Qi Han so much as breathed on it, its medicinal properties would be significantly diminished.
Fortunately, with his current cultivation level, he was still able to hold his breath while preparing a single ingredient—otherwise, even he would have been stumped by these absurdly finicky heavenly treasures.
After five minutes, Qi Han finally finished prepping all the ingredients. Wearing silk gloves, he cautiously blanched all nineteen heavenly treasures and then removed them, carefully arranging them in a small bowl according to a strict order.
The gloves were necessary because one of the heavenly treasures would lose its medicinal effect if touched by bare hands before cooking.
Once the arrangement was complete, the vegetarian supreme broth was also finished simmering.
As he opened the lid, a rich meaty aroma slowly wafted out of the pot. The fragrance of the vegetarian supreme broth was every bit as enticing as any of the rich broths Qi Han had made before. The tantalizing scent seeped into his nose, making him subconsciously swallow his saliva.
Because only vegetarian ingredients were used, the broth had no scum or impurities, nor was it overly cloudy. It simply needed a quick strain to remove the ingredients, and it was ready to use without further treatment.
Qi Han carefully poured a portion of the broth into the bowl filled with heavenly treasures. Then, he inverted a beautiful porcelain plate over the bowl and placed the whole setup into a steamer, steaming it for half an hour.
With time compression, this steaming process only took two minutes—just enough time for Qi Han to thicken the broth.
He returned the broth to the pot, brought it back to a boil, then added a spoonful of cornstarch slurry. Once mixed evenly, the broth took on a light, glossy thickness.
Next, he removed the steamed bowl, inverted it so the porcelain plate was now underneath, revealing the neatly layered Dinghu Shangsu. He then poured the thickened broth evenly over the dish, allowing a thin layer to soak across the surface of the porcelain plate—thus, the dish was complete.
He gently covered the dish with a lid to prevent a heavenly phenomenon from immediately forming and then brought it out to the others.
"Dinghu Shangsu, ready to serve."
Yet despite the dazzling 3 Star dish before them, the expressions on the others' faces were rather strange.
"What's wrong?" Qi Han asked, a little puzzled.
"Boss, if I eat this dish now, its special effect might go to waste," Fu Ya replied with a troubled look. "I just broke through my spirit power realm recently."
"Yeah… me too," Ying Shuang chimed in with a hint of frustration on her face.
So it was because of the special effect?
Qi Han was stunned for a moment before realization dawned on him.
Dinghu Shangsu, as a top-tier 3 Star dish priced at 2,000 Gold Coins, was already brushing the threshold of a 4 Star recipe. It used over twenty types of heavenly treasures, so naturally, the special effect wouldn't be mediocre.
Special Effect of Dinghu Shangsu:
When a cultivator below the seventh spirit ring level reaches a bottleneck, consuming this dish grants a 50% chance to directly break through. Has no effect for those above seven rings.
Although its effect was restricted to spirit master below the seventh ring and the breakthrough chance was only 50%, it was still incredibly powerful.
Because there were no usage limits—as long as you could afford it, you could attempt it every time you hit a bottleneck under the seventh ring.
"It's fine," Qi Han said gently, trying to reassure them. "The main point is just to let everyone taste it."
But it didn't seem to help much.
"Boss… how about we save this opportunity for later? When I hit my bottleneck, I'll let you know, and you can make it again then," Fu Ya suggested hesitantly after thinking it over. "It'd be such a waste to eat it now."
That… wasn't unreasonable.
Qi Han paused, then nodded.
Seeing that he agreed, Ying Shuang and Ji Yunruo also spoke up with similar requests—it was clear they hadn't hit their bottlenecks yet either.
Then, noticing Ping Xinyan's hopeful gaze, Qi Han couldn't help but smile. "Xinyan, have you reached your bottleneck?"
"Mhm!" Ping Xinyan's big eyes sparkled brightly.
She had been stuck at Level 48 for half a month and hadn't been able to break through. Normally, it would take over a month to reach Level 49, but if she could break through immediately, that would save a lot of time and effort.
"Alright, then. The Dinghu Shangsu for the three of you will be saved for later. This one will go to Xinyan," Qi Han said with a nod, placing the dish in front of her and gently lifting the lid.
Qi Han hadn't yet seen the phenomenon caused by Dinghu Shangsu himself—this was the perfect opportunity to witness it.
The others clearly realized something was about to happen as well, and all eyes turned upward, above the dish.
As the energy in the room shifted, massive waves of heaven and earth energy began converging above the Dinghu Shangsu.
…
Outside Han Shi, Tang Qianqiu and Qi Poxiao narrowed their eyes at the same time.
As Limit Douluos, the two of them instantly sensed something unusual from inside.
"Looks like… the new dish this time is another Purple Card Dish," Qi Poxiao murmured, an expectant look spreading across his face.
"Indeed. I wonder what kind of incredible effect it'll have this time," Tang Qianqiu said with a chuckle. "These Purple Card Dishes… they really remind me of the Tang Sect's pill-making techniques. But even our Tang Sect can't produce pills this miraculous."
Qi Poxiao nodded in full agreement.
Not far behind them in the crowd, Yu Lianxin lifted her head slightly, glancing at the sky above the restaurant with growing anticipation.
He's unveiling another Purple Card Dish…
I wonder what the special effect will be this time?
And tomorrow… there's hotpot!
Ever since returning with the team from Star Luo City, she hadn't had hotpot in almost two months. Now, she could finally satisfy that craving.
And there'd be breakfast… and late-night snacks too…
She didn't even know what they were yet, but she already wanted to eat them all.
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