Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Mao’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He knew what kind of Peerless Under Heaven Noodles he wanted to make!

With his idea finally taking shape, Mao immediately turned around, took out the black penghui stone, smashed off a portion, and began boiling it to make alkaline water.

Haruto had been keeping half an eye on Mao the entire time. When he saw the boy finally get moving, he could not help smiling.

Then he withdrew his attention and devoted himself completely to his own dish.

Haruto took a large mixing bowl, poured in high-gluten flour, added an appropriate amount of egg white, then mixed in some of the alkaline water he had prepared earlier.

He pressed his palms into the dough and began kneading and folding it repeatedly.

His movements were not particularly fast, but every push carried considerable strength, thoroughly incorporating the flour, egg white, and alkaline water.

He continued kneading for a full hour.

Under his hands, the rough mass gradually transformed into a smooth, dense dough with a soft sheen across its surface. Even when pressed down firmly, it sprang back almost immediately, displaying tremendous elasticity.

Haruto set it aside to rest, giving the gluten enough time to fully relax.

He did not remain idle while waiting.

First, he filled a pot with water and set it over the stove to heat. From this point on, all he needed to do was make sure the flame stayed alive.

Then he began preparing the topping.

He minced pork and set it aside.

Next, Haruto placed two pans over the fire and rendered chicken fat in one and pork fat in the other.

Once both were ready, he combined them in a carefully measured ratio, added the minced pork, and began stir-frying. Salt, doubanjiang, and several other seasonings followed.

By the time the meat topping was finished, the dough had rested long enough.

Haruto moved on to making the noodles.

He placed the dough on the cutting board and divided it into five portions.

Picking up the first piece, he began rolling it between his hands, gradually working it longer, thinner, and more uniform.

Before long, what had started as a compact piece of dough had become a single long strand of noodle, perfectly even in thickness from one end to the other without a single break.

Haruto repeated the process with the remaining four portions.

By then, the water in the iron pot was at a rolling boil.

He slowly lowered the finished noodles into the water, using chopsticks to support them gently so they would neither knot together nor snap.

The water returned to a boil once.

Haruto added a splash of cool water.

It boiled a second time.

Another splash of cool water.

At the third boil, the noodles were cooked through perfectly, their natural wheat fragrance fully awakened.

Haruto immediately lifted them out with a strainer, briefly cooled them in cold water, then transferred them into bowls.

Finally, he mixed in the prepared minced-pork topping.

The dish was complete.

Inside each bowl, the noodle coiled into a neat circle.

From beginning to end, it was one single unbroken strand.

The aroma of wheat and savory pork gradually spread through the air. Neither was aggressive, yet together they were enough to make anyone’s appetite stir.

Haruto looked at his finished dish and nodded with satisfaction.

Then he raised his voice toward the judges’ area.

"Judges, my Peerless Under Heaven Noodles are complete!"

Almost at the exact same moment, a shout came from a nearby station.

"I’m finished too! Judges!"

It was Xiao Han.

The enormous kitchen fell silent.

Every head turned toward Haruto and Xiao Han.

The chief judge approached with four other examiners, glanced first at Haruto and then at Xiao Han, and spoke in a firm voice.

"Haruto completed his dish first. According to the rules, we will judge his entry before Xiao Han’s."

Xiao Han remained calm.

He had no objection.

Five contestants could pass this round, so whether he was judged first or second made little difference in his eyes.

He had absolute confidence in his own dish.

The five judges stopped in front of Haruto’s station and looked down at the bowls arranged before them.

"We will begin tasting."

At the chief judge’s signal, all five picked up a bowl and reached in with their chopsticks.

Only when they lifted the noodles did they realize something unusual.

There was only one noodle in each bowl.

From the bottom of the bowl all the way to the chopsticks, it continued without interruption.

Not a single break.

The judges brought the noodle to their mouths.

The instant their teeth closed around it, all five pupils contracted slightly.

The first sensation was extraordinary resilience.

The noodle sprang lightly between their teeth, firm without being hard and supple without becoming sticky. Every chew carried the satisfying rebound of perfectly developed gluten.

Then the layers of aroma began to unfold.

The first flavor was pure wheat, simple and clean enough to awaken the palate immediately.

With the next few chews, the savoriness of pork emerged unexpectedly.

There was no greasiness and no unpleasant meatiness, only a deep, lingering richness that intertwined with the fragrance of the wheat.

Then came the mellow warmth of the fats, smooth and full-bodied as they slid down the throat, spreading a comforting heat through the body.

Finally, what remained on the tongue was the natural sweetness of the wheat itself.

The more they chewed, the sweeter it seemed, clean and gentle, lingering long after the bite was gone.

It took only moments for all five judges to finish their bowls.

They set them down and exchanged glances.

The admiration in their eyes was impossible to conceal.

There was no question about the flavor.

Haruto’s dish was more than good enough.

The chief judge leaned forward slightly.

"Haruto, explain something to us."

"How does this bowl of noodles embody the words ’Peerless Under Heaven’?"

That question was the heart of the first stage.

No matter how delicious a dish might be, if it failed to answer the theme, it could not pass.

Many of the surrounding chefs turned toward Haruto, curious to hear his explanation.

Haruto calmly met the judges’ gazes.

"My entire bowl contains only one noodle, from beginning to end."

"One means there is no second. To be peerless is to be singular."

"A true national talent is someone unique in all the world, someone no one else can replace."

"Just like this bowl. From start to finish, there is only one noodle."

"One person beneath heaven."

"One unparalleled talent within a nation."

"One noodle within a bowl."

"That is my interpretation of Peerless Under Heaven."

The five judges spoke quietly among themselves for a short while.

Then the chief judge straightened and announced solemnly,

"One bowl, one noodle. One man, one nation."

"This dish does indeed embody the meaning of Peerless Under Heaven."

"Without question—pass!"

A smile appeared on Haruto’s face when he heard the verdict.

He had been confident in his interpretation of the theme, but confidence meant nothing until the judges accepted it.

Now that the result was settled, he had safely cleared the first stage.

Haruto tidied his station and stepped aside.

After declaring his success, the five judges immediately moved over to Xiao Han’s cooking station.

The moment they saw what was on his table, the chief judge frowned.

There was nothing on the cutting board except a perfectly kneaded lump of dough.

The iron pot beside it was filled with vigorously boiling water, but not a single noodle could be seen.

The chief judge looked at Xiao Han.

"Xiao Han, your noodles don’t appear to be finished."

Xiao Han showed no trace of panic.

Instead, he smiled with complete confidence.

"Don’t worry, judges. The moment they enter the bowls, my noodles will be finished."

Before anyone could respond, Xiao Han hurled the entire lump of dough high into the air.

At the instant it reached its peak, he kicked off the ground and launched himself upward until he was level with it.

Then he raised his paired kitchen blades and began swinging them at tremendous speed.

Blade shadows flashed through the air.

Within that dense storm of cuts, the airborne dough was sliced into countless thin noodles.

They fell from above in a perfect shower, landing directly in the pot of boiling water below without missing by so much as an inch.

From tossing the dough, leaping into the air, slicing it midflight, and letting the noodles fall into the pot, the entire sequence took only seconds.

By the time Xiao Han landed, the noodles were already churning in the boiling water.

He immediately grabbed a strainer, scooped them out with a turn of his wrist, and divided them among five bowls prepared in advance.

Each bowl already contained thick, steaming bone broth.

Xiao Han gestured confidently toward the judges.

"Please, have a taste."

The five judges said nothing further.

They simply picked up their bowls.

The powerful aroma of concentrated bone broth immediately rushed into their noses, impossible to ignore.

When they lifted the noodles with their chopsticks, every strand glistened with a translucent sheen of oil, plump and visibly resilient.

The moment they bit down, an intense chewiness filled their mouths.

The noodles were springy and firm, wrapped in rich bone broth that exploded across the tongue.

Then the judges took a sip of the soup.

Their expressions changed again.

The broth was thick and velvety, with every bit of collagen extracted into the liquid. It hardly felt like drinking soup at all. It was closer to eating meat that had been stewed until it practically dissolved.

As it slid down their throats, warmth spread outward from their stomachs, making their entire bodies feel energized.

The chief judge lowered his bowl and asked the same essential question.

"Xiao Han, how does this bowl of noodles embody ’Peerless Under Heaven’?"

Xiao Han puffed out his chest and answered forcefully,

"This broth was made by boiling bones until all their nutrients were extracted and concentrated into the soup!"

"And these noodles have been beaten and worked over and over until they became incredibly strong!"

"So anyone who eats this bowl—even someone weak enough to have trouble lifting a chicken—will become a mighty hero without equal!"

"Now hurry up and score it!"

The five judges conferred quietly for a moment.

At last, the chief judge nodded.

"Xiao Han of Dongjiang Restaurant—pass!"

The second qualifying spot had been claimed.

The atmosphere in the kitchen immediately grew even more tense.

Two of the five places were already gone.

Only three remained.

The chefs who were still cooking unconsciously began moving faster, sweat pouring down their faces without any of them having time to wipe it away.

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