Hoshino Sora's voice was soft but pleasant to hear. The girls around him felt energized upon hearing his voice and promptly led them to the "Blazing Fire" Tribe's cooking arena.
At this time, the clouds in the sky obscured the sun, so it wasn't hot, and the temperature was mild and suitable. With the arrival of the group, the previously quiet cooking arena suddenly became lively.
In the center of the cooking arena, two old-fashioned multi-functional cooking stations were placed. They looked very old and rustic, having existed there for who knows how many years, showcasing the profound heritage of a great tribe.
"This is our 'Blazing Fire' Tribe's cooking arena. It has existed for over a hundred years and is usually only opened for the year-end grand competition to assess the strength of the younger generation.
Of course, it is occasionally rented out to other tribes to resolve their daily disputes, while also serving as a judge to prevent dissatisfaction from either party."
At this point, the young girl gave Hoshino Sora a bright smile, then looked at the "Roasting" Tribe behind her. These two tribes had come here precisely for this reason.
"I see, it truly lives up to its reputation."
Although it was his first time hearing about it, it was still appropriate to be polite. As expected, upon hearing him say this, a proud expression immediately appeared on the girl's face. This was the confidence that only a great tribe possessed!
"Both parties arrived quite early. There's still half an hour until the agreed time, so please prepare yourselves.
Before the competition begins, let me state one thing: contestants must provide their own ingredients. The cooking methods will primarily be 'roasting' and 'deep-frying,' with no restrictions on the type of dishes.
The winning party will take one-third of the losing party's spice fields. Do you all agree to this wager?"
At the same time, an old man with a white beard arrived at the competition venue, flanked by two young men. Hoshino Sora looked closely and recognized these two young men from the tribal entrance earlier.
"Agreed!"
The people of the "Roasting" Tribe and the Deep Fried Skewer Tribe said in unison, then glared at each other, their words seemingly burning with animosity. Clearly, this competition was the result of long-standing grievances.
"I'll let you jump around for another half an hour!"
Li Qingyun said coldly, but this time Hoshino Sora completely ignored him, chatting happily with the girls from the "Blazing Fire" Tribe beside him. He was already very handsome, and his proactive approach instantly captivated the inexperienced girls, making them lose control of themselves.
Seeing this, Li Qingyun was furious and secretly vowed that once he won the competition, he would mercilessly mock Hoshino Sora, making him so ashamed that he would never be able to hold his head high again!
Time flowed like water, and half an hour passed in a flash. The previously empty cooking arena became bustling with people during this half hour, as many young people from the "Blazing Fire" Tribe came to the audience seats.
Evidently, they were very interested in Li Qingyun, the Heavenly Material Pavilion disciple, because this was one of the top forces in the surrounding areas, and two talents from their own tribe were studying there.
"It's about to begin."
"Just how strong is a disciple of the Heavenly Material Pavilion? We'll probably find out through this competition."
"I really want to be a judge, I really want to taste the dishes of a Heavenly Material Pavilion disciple. I wonder how big the gap is between me and a true genius?"
Looking at the tribal high-ranking officials serving as judges, many young people showed envious expressions, as they would be the first to taste the dishes of a Heavenly Material Pavilion genius.
"Then, let the competition begin!"
As soon as the time came, the gray-robed judge shouted.
The next moment, Hoshino Sora and Li Qingyun moved almost simultaneously. The disciple of the Heavenly Material Pavilion was indeed not just for show. He deftly carried a basin of shrimp to the cooking station and quickly processed them with agile movements.
On the other side, Hoshino Sora lifted and uncovered a black basket. It contained the carcass of a Raging Nightmoon Rabbit, with ice cubes laid beneath to preserve it, now perfectly intact on the cooking station.
"That is..."
"Am I seeing this right?! A Raging Nightmoon Rabbit! The 'Roasting' Tribe actually has ingredients of this level, it's incredible!"
"Such high-grade ingredients, actually being used by a mere chef in a competition like this, it's a complete waste!"
The spectators present were, after all, from major tribes, and many were knowledgeable. Upon seeing Hoshino Sora take out the Raging Nightmoon Rabbit, they immediately became agitated, some even pounding their chests and stamping their feet in anger.
This was a rare treasure! Even the "Blazing Fire" Tribe only managed to acquire a few heads a year, and even fewer people got to eat dishes made from its meat!
And now it was just casually thrown onto the cooking station. Such ingredients should be carefully protected, stored in a jade box so that the essence of the meat wouldn't be lost. What was that black basket?
However, with ingredients of this level appearing, the Heavenly Material Pavilion member was probably in danger. The most fundamental difference in ingredients could not be compensated for by cooking techniques!
"Wait, the ingredients used by that Heavenly Material Pavilion member also seem extraordinary. Could it be the Level 3 ingredient, Azure-striped Shrimp, which lives in extremely turbulent currents, has a hard shell, and extremely delicious meat!?"
"If it really is the Level 3 ingredient Azure-striped Shrimp, then the difference in quality between the two ingredients can indeed be compensated for by the chef's technique."
"Regardless, the young man from the Heavenly Material Pavilion is in danger! The 'Roasting' Tribe seems to have truly gone all out to severely exploit the Deep Fried Skewer Tribe."
The people in the audience were chattering, seemingly viewing Hoshino Sora as a mediocre chef who relied on the advantage of ingredients, someone Li Qingyun could surpass with just a slightly above-average performance.
But was that really the case?
Hoshino Sora listened to the surrounding discussions in silence, his Disassembly Knife lightly lifted, quickly removing the breast meat of the Raging Nightmoon Rabbit, then began a simple marinating and seasoning process.
Arranged on the cooking counter was a circle of spices, exceptionally rich in variety; these were the roasting secrets the Roasting Tribe had bestowed upon him in the past few days.
He learned very quickly, and now he was about to put them into practice.
Simply put, it was multi-layered roasting, treating a piece of meat with different spices: the first step was to give the meat a base flavor, and the second step was to slow roast at a low temperature while sprinkling light seasonings.
Repeating this, the key to this method was to sprinkle seasoning multiple times, but the overall flavor remained consistent, forming layers.
This sounded simple, but it was extremely difficult to execute.
Because the seasonings sprinkled were not constant; they changed each time, different spices were used, and there was a great emphasis on heat and timing.
Most people truly could not master this skill.
Of course, that was for most people.
For Hoshino Sora, it was incredibly easy.
In just one day, he mastered all the techniques of the Roasting Tribe and even made some improvements and innovations.
Simply put, he used the "Armed Cuisine" technique from before, carving fine incision patterns on the surface of the meat, which allowed the spices to penetrate better, making the flavor more full-bodied.
However, considering the layered changes in the dish's flavor, Hoshino Sora had done a lot of practice before this, finally creating this supreme multi-flavored roasted rabbit meat.
At the same time, Li Qingyun finished his dish first.
He was now looking at Hoshino Sora with an arrogant expression, proudly striding forward to place his dish in front of the judges.
When Hoshino Sora saw this dish, his expression was strange.
Although there were some differences, wasn't this really Tempura Shrimp from Neon?
It was just that the normally golden tempura batter was now a golden-red color.
"So that's how it is, it's a good innovation."
With a slight twitch of his nose, Hoshino Sora understood the secret of the Tempura Shrimp.
Li Qingyun had stir-fried the shrimp shells, ground them into powder, added them to the tempura batter, and finally deep-fried them.
Thus, a Tempura Shrimp dish, combining the essence of the entire green-striped shrimp, was completed.
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