Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 578 - 10 Cooking the Nation
Li Yan watched the white car drive away, his eyebrows knitted together, not feeling the slightest excitement of having defeated his opponent.
He had noticed the lapel flower on the chest of the voluptuous woman, but a more intense sense of danger came from the man on the driver’s seat, whose chest was bare.
Li Yan turned his head back and looked at the dimly lit Tiger Tooth Tower behind him.
Flames, flames, flames.
In the golden domain of 2,500 square meters, there were black flames everywhere.
Compared to the time when he fought with Li Yan, Cha Xiaodao had cranked up the Illusion Realm: Millennia Chronicle to its maximum size. Last time, he chose to compress the Illusion Realm around himself to prevent Li Yan from benefiting from the Flying Sky Governor’s boost. This time, in his fight with Ding Ru, there were no such concerns.
How strong was Cha Xiaodao in the end?
There is no need to mention the variety of food supplements.
The legendary accessory Uḍḍiyāna Bandhuka, third-tier Hell’s Vanguard potions, the life-saving skill Divine Bone, and the trump card Illusion Realm: Millennia Chronicle.
Moreover, Cha Xiaodao’s Taotie heritage had been secretively enhanced over thirty times. Most of these enhancements were from the Taiping Document, with the rest from Cha Xiaodao’s encounters during the Yan Fu events.
Without a doubt, before the Yan Fu trials, he was also among the very top as an Eight Extremes Peak Walker.
Even among all the Eight Extremes Walkers at the time, Cha Xiaodao at full firepower could rank in the top ten.
And after passing the challenge of Taotie at level A, the strength of Cha Xiaodao, who had just entered the Seven Palaces, could even rank in the upper middle among Proxies.
But now, Cha Xiaodao was being forced into an almost dead-end situation.
He looked up; at the end of the Millennia Chronicle was the bottom of a blue porcelain sea bowl.
"I’ve been complacent..."
Mo once said, there’s an invisible chasm between the Proxy Travelers and Eight Extremes Walkers, and this was not without reason.
The biggest difference lies in the sublimation of the essence of life. If ordinary walkers merely make use of some of the Yan Fu Heritage’s abilities, in most cases, their physical bodies still remain purely within the physical realm.
As for the Proxy Travelers, they’re almost a reincarnation of those legendary exotic beasts and extraordinary characters from ancient texts. Reborn from flames, they transform from blood into human form. Even those last-ranked Yan Fu Heritage Proxies would experience an exaggerated growth in their pure physical qualities, nearly rivaling the Quanlang Sea Ghosts in the vast ocean.
Having shed the constraints of weak mortals, the bizarre and exaggerated abilities of the Yan Fu Heritage can be fully manifested and aren’t limited to just a clash of muscles.
Ding Ru’s temples were covered in sweat. He was holding tightly onto a huge sea bowl, and the steam billowing from it was loud with hissing sounds, almost as if the black flames boiling inside were about to burst through the lid.
Culinary Nation: If one is alone with the opponent in a confined space for over five minutes, and the utensils successfully touch the opponent, the opponent can be sealed in a specific utensil and subjected to the power of Nine Boilings and Nine Transformations.
The trump card of Proxy Yi Yi, exceptionally exacting in its conditions, but once successful, the opponent would find it difficult to turn the tables. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
Regrettably for Ding Ru, this time his Culinary Nation was only partially successful. Before he could execute the Nine Boilings and Nine Transformations, the water in the pot had been completely evaporated by the Taotie’s black fire, which put him in a dilemma.
Ding Ru still couldn’t figure it out; he knew Cha Xiaodao well, and he didn’t understand how Cha Xiaodao could grow so much in just a year’s time.
By all common sense, he almost wouldn’t have been able to survive in Yan Fu normally.
Those recognized to enter Yan Fu are mostly skilled in one way or another, but having culinary talent as the main specialization is quite a rare occurrence.
One reason is the difficulty in translating it into actual combat ability. Secondly, Yan Fu Heritages with Culinary Skill as their main specialization are truly scarce, with Yi Yi undoubtedly being the most potent.
Even in the first Yan Fu event, Hou Tu tries to match newcomers with a suitable Yan Fu Heritage, but for Cha Xiaodao to effortlessly obtain a top-tier Human Immortal class heritage like Yi Yi on his first attempt, one that also was the most compatible with him, was still an incredible feat.
Later his heritage was snatched away by Ding Ru, and for other walkers, this would have been an insurmountable obstacle because it would be extremely hard to find another Yan Fu Heritage that matched well with culinary specialization.
The same heritage, in the hands of someone like Li Yan who specialized in Ancient Martial Arts, could unleash twice its potential power, but in the hands of a chef, it could only be thirty percent effective.
But yet again, luck worked in Cha Xiaodao’s favor, and his Yan Fu Story Jar produced a very rare Exotic Beast, which was sold at a high price. This allowed him to survive in Yan Fu using the powerful but not entirely compatible Gluttonous Heart.
Ding Ru held the sea bowl on the table, looking out at the thick fog beyond the door, feeling unavoidably anxious.
"Why aren’t they here yet."
The direct combat power of the Five Immortals Class Proxy Traveler, of course, couldn’t match that of the Five-Insect Class, a point that even the Ten Masters couldn’t change.
But if the strong Eight Extremes Walkers that Ding Ru had agreed with joined the fight, the situation would be vastly different. Ding Ru could throw these helpers into the fight, providing them with tremendous help on his own turf.
"Should we go out and take a look."
Ding Ru walked outside. In the thick fog, he vaguely saw a strange black figure approach the steps of Tiger Tooth Tower, then sat down with its back to the door. As for those who should have already rushed into Tiger Tooth Tower to join the siege on Cha Xiaodao, they were nowhere to be seen.
Ding Ru silently stepped back two paces, pondering other escape routes, and for the moment, he didn’t notice the cracked lines that had appeared on the sea bowl on the table.
————————————————
"Not a Proxy Traveler? Then what is it?"
Bai Xiao didn’t understand very well.
The man in the black hoodie had, in Bai Xiao’s eyes, already exceeded the limit strength that an Eight Extremes Peak Yan Fu walker could achieve.
"I don’t know, there are occasionally monsters that appear who can defeat Proxy Travelers across levels. I heard that Mr. Jiao, before he joined the Yan Zhao Club, defeated the Proxy Traveler of Xiang Liu face to face."
"Oh, I’ve never heard Mr. Jiao mentioned that, how did he do it?"
"At that time, Mr. Jiao’s heritage had been strengthened by over two hundred types of Yan Fu secret treasures, and he had one specialization that reached 100%. Anyway, I didn’t have the capability at that time."
Yang Zheng laughed, then continued, "Besides, Su Ling’s fifth-order medicines, Zhan Yuejin’s artifact refinement, are one of the few methods that don’t clash with Yan Fu heritage and can progress without being clipped by Yan Fu. Maybe he’s someone Su Ling or Zhan Yuejin has hidden away."
"Or maybe the Divine Court?"
Yang Zheng quickly dismissed the thought that flickered through his mind and turned to Bai Xiao with a smile, "I remember Mr. Jiao saying before, Zhu Jiuyin wants to use the method of free plundering to get rid of a bunch of Proxy Travelers who are just warming their seats. I scoffed at the time, because ordinary walkers really have a hard time getting any advantage from Proxy Travelers. Honestly, conquering more Yan Fu trials is the right way. Now it seems I was wrong."
Four days ago, when the Yan Zhao Club issued an obituary, most Proxy Travelers received the same white lapel flower. It appeared directly on people’s chests.
[Lapel Flower]: A lapel flower that cannot be concealed, anyone can pluck it except for the person wearing it.
Note: In mourning for Mr. Qin An.
The funeral of Qin An was fully managed by Scales Lord·Zhu Jiuyin, and naturally, the lapel flower also came from his hand.
Although Zhu Jiuyin didn’t disclose to others that the lapel flower had a direct relation to the qualification for attending Qin An’s funeral, the implications of the text were clear.
Such behavior, for those ambitious non-Proxy Travelers as well as those accustomed to privilege Proxy Travelers, was hard to accept.
The former must find a way to snatch the qualification for the funeral from the hands of the Proxy Travelers whose abilities far surpassed their own on paper.
The latter had to endure the covert scrutiny and coveting.
In Luoyang these days, various bizarre accidents happened frequently: roads collapsed without cause, gas explosions, major traffic accidents, all with the shadow of Yan Fu walkers fighting behind them.
However, this obviously contravened the policy of Zhao Jianzhong, who had long maintained stability above all else.
Yet, at the same time, it was rumored in the streets that letting Zhu Jiuyin take full charge of Qin An’s funeral was proposed by Zhao Jianzhong at the Ten Masters’ internal meeting.
Clearly, Lou Master Qin An’s sudden death had led to some new consensus within the Ten Masters.
Transforming a funeral into a cutthroat contest of wits and strength was hardly a respectful act towards the deceased.
But from another perspective, this also seemed to indicate certain aspects of Scales Lord Zhu Jiuyin’s temperament.
"Strict hierarchy, advocating the law of the jungle," said Yang Zheng to Bai Xiao.
"If, because of the pressure from Sifan, the Ten Masters intend to carry out a solemn reform within the Yan Zhao Club, then the contest for qualification to Mr. Qin An’s funeral is probably just an insignificant step in the process."
