561 What was Owner Bu doing?

White Demon Jiang Ling...

This was a name most of the audience were strangely familiar with; that was because this last name made its last appearance three years earlier.

Back then, White Demon Jiang Ling's level of refinement was already mindblowing, making her one of the top contestants of the Magical Hand Conference at the time. Unfortunately for her, though, that Magical Hand Conference had too many contestants with demonic talents, so the mighty Jiang Ling could only place fourth.

At that time, Mu Bai had yet to reveal his outstanding talent and was not coined the "Pill King". In the present, Mu Bai had a very deep impression of White Demon Jiang Ling. This was because he and White Demon Jiang Ling had crossed paths once before, in a match, which he… lost completely.

That was a match he would never forget. This humiliation was etched deep within his memories, and he could completely recall it at any time, despite how much he wanted to forget it. Unfortunately, after White Demon Jiang Ling lost to Mu Bai's senior, she vanished into thin air and didn't appear for three years.

And today, she had finally appeared to compete in the semi-final of the Magical Hand Conference.

There was an emotional expression on Mu Bai's handsome face.

Jiang Ling was still as wild as before. As Mu Bai watched White Demon Jiang Ling run her hands through her hair, the glint of fighting intent in his eyes glowed brighter.

Bu Fang was unconcerned, however, for he did not know who this arrogant lady was. The number of people who acted arrogantly in front of him was just too many, and this lady was just another one of them.

As soon as the woman spoke, the arena became noisy as the crowd conversed amongst themselves, in excitement. They could not wait for the match to begin.

The battleship hovering in the sky emitted a loud sound, and the five alchemy grandmasters emerged from within it.

The head judge gracefully ascended the stage and walked over to the middle of it. He wore a splendid attire today because it was the day of the final match—the most important match of the tournament. Everyone had already turned serious, focusing all their attention on the stage.

The three contestants took their places beside their respective platforms, and the head judge began to read out the rules of the match, with a serious demeanor.

The rules were not many, and the head judge did not take long to read them. Then, Grandmaster Xuan Ming gave a speech in which he encouraged the contestants, and after that, the final match officially kicked off.

As soon as the head judge signaled the start of the match, the atmosphere in the arena changed. The atmosphere was fierce, but the contestants were solemn.

Mu Bai's palm came to rest atop the heavy nine stars alchemy furnace, causing an audible hum to spread across the square. That heavy alchemy furnace gradually began to float, and dense true energy began to revolve around it.

Hu...

Mu Bai exhaled, and then he took control of the true energy orbiting the furnace and used it to smash the furnace repeatedly.

After each strike, the alchemy furnace would emit undulations, and in a short while, the pitch-black alchemy furnace had nine lines of light on it. The nine stars furnace was finally ready to display its full power.

Hong!

Mu Bai briefly glanced at White Demon Jiang Ling before raising his palm, and green flames began to surge out from within his body. Immediately after the flames appeared, the temperature atop the stage soared greatly. 

The eyes of the members of the audience lit up at this.

"It's a Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame! Lord Mu Bai's Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame!"

"Green Nightmare Devil Flames! It's the Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame, Green Nightmare Devil Flames!"

"Too cool! This Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame is cool for sure!"

…

As a talented alchemist from Heavenly Pill City, how could Mu Bai not possess a Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame? It was very important for alchemists, after all.

The Heavenly Pill City had already invested so much resources into Mu Bai, so how could they ever neglect to prepare a Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame for him?

When the Obsidian Flame appeared, a thousand flames creeped. The heat emanating from the green flames was unnaturally intense.

Bu Fang, on the other hand, waved his hand, and the Black Turtle Constellation Wok landed on his golden platform with a resounding smash.

The Golden Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife spun in his arm, making the onlookers anticipate his superb knife skills.

Seeing this, the audience was not surprised. They had long since gotten used to it, so it was nothing out of the ordinary for them.

However, when Bu Fang spat out a ball of golden flames, the audience raised an uproar.

Another Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame!

Weng…

When the Ten Thousand Bestial Flames made its appearance, its unique Obsidian Flame energy began to surge. However, Mu Bai's Green Nightmare Devil Flame did not allow itself to be outdone, so it glowed strongly.

It was as though the stage had been separated into heaven and earth; one for the Ten Thousand Bestial Flames, whereas the other belonged to the Green Nightmare Devil Flame.

This made Mu Bai glance at Bu Fang. The two Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flames confronted each other, and the audience felt overwhelmed.

Suddenly, Bu Fang and Mu Bai froze in their tracks and turned their heads.

From behind them, a unique energy wave surged outward; it was like the awakening of a beast that had been lying dormant for a long time. The White Demon Jiang Ling laughed loudly and raised her palms. A wave of dark-green flames burned fiercely. It was quiet, but the air around it was distorted.

Pi li pa la.

The two Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flames already burning on the stage were forcefully ripped out, and a dark-green brilliance joined both flames, all three jostling for dominance.

"Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame… I have it, too!" White Demon Jiang Ling's eyes glowed fiercely.

When her gaze shifted to Bu Fang, the corners of her lips curled upward. Suddenly, her dark-green flames began to burn even more fiercely, and its energy surged, suppressing the Ten Thousand Bestial Flame and the Green Nightmare Devil Flame.

Seeing this, the audience sucked in breaths of cold air. Now, this was interesting. Another contestant also possessed a Heaven and Earth Obsidian Flame. This match had now become very exciting.

Neither of the contestants had begun refinement, yet the atmosphere atop the stage had already become really tense. The energies of the three Heaven and Earth Obsidians Flames, which were battling on the stage, surged, and the hearts of everyone watching shuddered.

Mu Bai breathed deeply before taking the lead and placing his Green Nightmare Devil Flame into the alchemy furnace.

Immediately, the alchemy furnace lost its weight and color and began to glow blindingly bright.

Weng weng weng…

Undulations spread outward.

Mu Bai waved his hand, and countless medicinal ingredients filled with Heaven and Earth spirit energy flew out from his spatial tool and onto his golden platform.

These golden platforms were specially made by Heavenly Mist City. Whenever medicinal ingredients were placed atop it, they would get encased by a golden light, and the density of spirit energy they contained would become visible to the naked eye.

The dense spirit energy emanating from his medicinal ingredients surged upwards fiercely, as though painting the most beautiful picture. The made the audience collectively exclaim in surprise.

So many high-grade medicinal ingredients! What the Pill King Mu Bai planned to refine was definitely not ordinary. Was he actually going to refine a six-mark spirit pill?!

White Demon Jiang Ling's lips curled up, and light began to emanate from the tip of her finger. The light began to grow bigger, and almost instantly, it became a perfectly round three-legged alchemy furnace.

This alchemy furnace landed atop her golden platform with a loud 'dong'.

With a wave of her hand, another mountain of medicinal ingredients appeared, and their combined spirit energy also surged upward, also seemingly piercing the heavens. The platform's golden light instantly encased the medicinal ingredients; it was enchantingly beautiful.

It was obvious that the spirit pill she planned to refine was no weaker than what Mu Bai had in mind.

This was a fierce battle between giants!

However, what the audience was more interested in was the dish Bu Fang planned to cook in order to counter them both.

Hence, they all shifted their gazes to him.

After tossing the Ten Thousand Bestial Flames into the Black Turtle Constellation Wok, Bu Fang also began to retrieve the ingredients he had prepared earlier from the system's storage space.

This time, he had prepared a lot of ingredients. There were so many that the eyes of the onlookers became filled with confusion. Furthermore, all the ingredients were of a high grade. When these ingredients landed atop his golden platform, their combined energy tore into the sky and through the heavens, and the audience could not help exclaiming in surprise.

Among the ingredients was a huge bear...

When Xiong Shi, who was seated amidst the audience, saw the bear, his heart lurched. "My big bear..."

Bu Fang proceeded to take out a huge blue and white porcelain bowl and placed it on his golden platform. The bowl was filled with white flour.

Flour?

What was he trying to make?

The audience momentarily froze. The flour did not seem to fit in with the other ingredients they saw Bu Fang prepare.

What the chef was trying to do, they really could not guess; even Nangong Wuque, who was watching with the audience, was completely in the dark.

However, what they all agreed on was that Bu Fang's dish would not be a simple one.

Suddenly, everyone froze.

This was because Bu Fang had grabbed the shrimp on his shoulder and placed it atop his golden platform, with the rest of his ingredients, and the golden light emanating from his golden platform began to shine brighter than the light from the other two contestants.

Every one of the audience members sucked in breaths of cold air. What exactly was that shrimp? Why did it contain such an ample amount of spirit energy?!

Seeing this, Nangong Wuque and the others narrowed their eyes.

"Does Owner Bu intend to cook Shrimpy?" Nangong Wuque muttered, and his eyes lit up.

So, Owner Bu had finally decided to cook Shrimpy! Nangong Wuque had eyed the cute shrimp for so long... Who knew how tasty it would be?!

Mu Bai and Jiang Ling turned to glance at Bu Fang deeply. However, seconds later, White Demon Jiang Ling smiled at him meaningfully.

Weng…

In the next moment, both Mu Bai and Jiang Ling waved their arms, and the medicinal ingredients atop their gold platforms began to fly into their respective alchemy furnace in groups.

Mental force began to surge out their bodies.

Everyone felt their hearts tighten from the pressure because the cultivation levels of the two were very high.

Bu Fang glanced at them briefly before he began to wash his ingredients; not too slow and not too fast. The Golden Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife twirled in his hands and instantly grew in size. With a single swing of the massive golden knife, the ingredients atop his golden platform were dealt with, and after that, he cut off a slab of meat from the huge bear.

He pulled out the fur and deboned the meat, and after washing it, he placed it into a huge pot he had prepared earlier.

Everyone cared little for the refining processes of the other two contestants but focused completely on Bu Fang's cooking. They showed great interest in his swift knife skills, which flowed as nimbly as water.

After washing the ingredients, Bu Fang tipped them all into the wok.

"I got it! This time, Owner Bu's dish is… the Buddha Jumps over the Wall Soup?!" Nangong Wuque exclaimed excitedly, with a single loud clap and shiny eyes. The Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup... He ate it every day, so how could he not know that the placement of the bowl was exactly the same as the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup?

The only difference was that the ingredients Bu Fang usually used to make the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup were a little different from the ingredients he brought out earlier.

Was Shrimpy going to be an ingredient, too? A Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup with Shrimpy!

Oh my god!

He really wished to taste the final dish a little.

Nursing these thoughts, Nangong Wuque drooled, and his eyes glowed brightly, like stars.

Dong!

With a loud "dong", Bu Fang brought out a huge lid and covered the pot. On the lid, a face smiling gently was depicted; it belonged to a Buddha whose plump stomach was shining. 

It indeed seemed to be the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup. Once everyone saw the Buddha on the lid, realization dawned on them. If he was making the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup, then the outcome they previously considered a certainty was no longer set in stone. Maybe there was a chance for victory.

However, they were secretly disappointed. If all Bu Fang planned to cook was the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup, then it would be difficult for him to win; after all, the dish was widely known already.

Was Bu Fang just going to cook the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup?

At this point, however, some members of the audience froze in mid-thought. This was because Bu Fang grabbed the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup and placed it into the huge wok, then grabbed the confused Shrimpy, and began to process the white flour, which was radiating a dense amount of spirit energy.