Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Mao was practically glowing with excitement.

The main reason was simple: he had assumed that passing meant he was already a Super Chef.

Unfortunately, Lan Feihong soon informed him that what they had just completed was only the preliminary round of the Super Chef Examination.

Mao deflated immediately.

Fortunately, the disappointment did not last long, and his fighting spirit quickly returned.

Meanwhile, with only one qualifying spot left, the remaining chefs in the examination kitchen had grown even more anxious. The pressure became so intense that several contestants simply gave up on the spot.

Others, however, were determined to seize that final place no matter what.

Haruto glanced toward Xiao Dan and Zhilin.

Both of them had clearly sped up their movements, but Xiao Dan of Banlin Restaurant was noticeably ahead.

The instant he finished transferring his noodles into the bowls, he raised his voice.

"I’m finished!"

Everyone turned toward him.

When they realized it was Xiao Dan, disappointed sighs immediately spread throughout the kitchen.

Several chefs who had still been stubbornly working stopped altogether.

Xiao Dan was already famous throughout Guangzhou’s culinary world. Some even claimed that his cooking was on par with Master Zhou Yu of Yangquan Restaurant.

As far as many of the contestants were concerned, the final qualifying spot was as good as taken.

There was no longer any point in continuing.

Haruto, however, merely shook his head to himself.

Under normal circumstances, Xiao Dan certainly would have passed.

Unfortunately, before his dish was completed, Zhilin had quietly approached his cooking station and tampered with it.

There was virtually no chance that a sabotaged dish would earn a passing mark.

Haruto had seen what happened, but he had no intention of warning Xiao Dan.

For one thing, allowing Xiao Dan to claim the final spot would ultimately be a waste.

As for Zhilin, if she never got the opportunity to continue, there would be no chance to expose what she was really like.

The five judges approached Xiao Dan’s station and looked over the seafood noodles in his bowls.

The ingredients were generous.

The broth was clear.

The seafood was fresh.

At first glance, everything appeared excellent.

The chief judge picked up his chopsticks, lifted a portion of noodles, and tasted them together with the other four judges.

The next instant, all five expressions changed violently.

Every one of them spat the noodles straight back out.

The chief judge glared at Xiao Dan, his face dark with anger.

"What is this?! Why are these noodles so bitter?! They’re practically inedible!"

The smile on Xiao Dan’s face froze.

"Bitter? Impossible!"

"How could my seafood noodles possibly be bitter?!"

Unable to believe it, Xiao Dan lunged toward his station, snatched up one of the bowls, grabbed a large mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks, and shoved them into his mouth.

His face immediately twisted.

He doubled over and spat everything out.

The bowl slipped from his hands and shattered against the floor, scattering broth and noodles everywhere.

"No... impossible..."

"I removed the fish gallbladder. I know I did..."

Not far away, Zhilin leaned casually against her station and watched Xiao Dan collapse into despair.

A faint sneer curved across her lips.

All she had done was drip a few drops of fish bile into his simmering broth.

Fish bile was intensely bitter.

Even a tiny amount was enough to ruin an entire bowl of noodles.

The chief judge drew a deep breath and forced down the lingering bitterness in his mouth.

From the look in his eyes, it was obvious that he suspected something had gone wrong beyond simple cooking failure.

Even so, he eventually hardened his expression and announced the verdict.

"Xiao Dan of Banlin Restaurant—fail!"

Whatever the reason, Xiao Dan’s finished dish had failed.

The chefs who had been ready to surrender suddenly regained hope.

There was still a chance.

The final qualifying place was still available!

Then Zhilin’s voice rang out.

"Judges, my dish is finished."

The five judges immediately moved to her station.

Her entry was a bowl of Wild Game Noodles.

The dark-brown broth was thick and rich, while the noodles were topped with meat from snakes, frogs, bats, scorpions, and other wild creatures.

The judges picked up their bowls and began tasting.

Despite the unusual ingredients, the broth was rich and deeply savory without the slightest unpleasant gamey odor.

The noodles were wonderfully springy and had absorbed the concentrated wild-game broth. Every bite released another burst of juice between the teeth, allowing the robust flavor of the meats to spread fully across the tongue.

The chief judge lowered his bowl and looked at Zhilin.

"Zhilin, how does your dish interpret Peerless Under Heaven?"

A seductive smile appeared on her face.

"A person without equal in the entire nation surely wouldn’t be satisfied with ordinary food."

"Wouldn’t the ultimate wild delicacies be the most fitting meal for a hero who stands peerless under heaven?"

The five judges exchanged glances and quietly discussed the answer.

After a short while, the chief judge looked up.

"Zhilin, the Witch of Guangzhou—pass!"

The instant those words were spoken, the enormous kitchen fell silent.

The list of chefs who had passed the preliminary round was now complete.

Haruto.

Xiao Han.

Lan Feihong.

Liu Maoxing.

Zhilin.

Those five had claimed the only five places available in the main Super Chef Examination.

Among the crowd, Wang Hu looked utterly dejected.

He had carefully prepared his Dongpo Noodles, only to lose his chance before the judges could even taste them.

Silently, he packed away his kitchen tools, slung his belongings over his shoulder, and joined the other eliminated contestants heading toward the exit.

Many of them looked back repeatedly as they left the examination hall that had carried all their hopes—and now all their disappointment.

Gradually, the kitchen emptied.

In the end, aside from the officials overseeing the Super Chef Examination, only the five qualifiers remained.

The chief judge stood before the main gate of the Culinary Arena.

"The preliminary round of the Super Chef Examination is officially concluded."

"The formal examination will begin immediately."

He paused and looked at each of the five chefs in turn.

"You five expressed the theme of Peerless Under Heaven exceptionally well through your noodle dishes."

His gaze first settled on Haruto, who stood at the far left.

"Traveling Chef Haruto, your dish expressed the idea that beneath heaven there is only one such person, within a nation only one such talent, and within a bowl only one such noodle."

"For that interpretation, you passed."

The chief judge then turned toward Xiao Han.

"Xiao Han of Dongjiang Restaurant, you spared no expense in boiling down the bones of cattle, pigs, and chickens until all their essence was concentrated into a single bowl of broth."

"The resulting flavor possessed overwhelming strength and presence."

"You passed."

The huge Xiao Han could not suppress a confident grin.

"Next, the young genius of Datong Restaurant—Lan Feihong."

The chief judge turned toward Fei.

"Using the legendary, impossibly fine Dragon Beard Noodles, you expressed Peerless Beauty, the traditional counterpart to Peerless Under Heaven."

"Your interpretation was elegant and exceptional."

Lan Feihong remained perfectly composed in the face of the praise.

The chief judge paid no mind to his cool demeanor and continued.

"Liu Maoxing of Yangquan Restaurant, the youngest contestant in this year’s examination."

His expression softened slightly as he looked at Mao.

"Using mysterious alkaline water, you pushed the noodle itself to its purest and most delicious form."

"You passed."

Mao glanced toward Meili.

The two exchanged delighted smiles.

Finally, the chief judge looked at Zhilin.

"Zhilin, known throughout Guangzhou’s culinary world as the Witch."

"Your Wild Game Noodles embodied the kind of bold, untamed flavor suited to a hero worthy of being called Peerless Under Heaven."

"For that, you passed."

After reviewing all five dishes, the chief judge continued.

"You five will now prepare to enter the formal Super Chef Examination."

"Proceed to the main gate and assemble there."

At his signal, attendants opened the gate leading deeper into the Culinary Arena.

The passage beyond was fairly long.

Mao walked among the group with anticipation written all over his face.

Behind them, however, a cold gleam flashed through Zhilin’s eyes.

Her pace slowed almost imperceptibly.

Within moments, she had fallen behind the others.

Then she quietly began closing the distance to Mao, who remained completely unaware of her approach.

Zhilin’s gaze settled on the area just behind his ear.

There lay a nerve connected to the sense of taste.

Her hand shifted slightly beside her body, and a silver needle finer than a strand of hair slipped between her fingers.

One precise thrust would be enough to temporarily disable Mao’s sense of taste.

For a chef, that would be devastating.

It was not that Zhilin had no desire to sabotage the others.

But Lan Feihong was too observant and constantly on guard.

Xiao Han was huge, making it difficult to approach the necessary point unnoticed.

Haruto gave her an extremely unpleasant feeling. She could not read him at all.

That left Mao.

He was the youngest, the most straightforward, and the least suspicious of others.

By far the easiest target.

His threat level might have been the lowest among the five, but removing even one rival would increase her own chances of earning the Super Chef title.

The needle was just about to descend—

When Haruto, walking beside Mao, suddenly turned his head without warning.

Zhilin froze.

The silver needle nearly slipped from her fingers.

"If you want to become a Super Chef, then earn it with your actual cooking."

Haruto’s voice was quiet.

Yet the pressure behind those words left no room for argument.

He stared deeply at Zhilin for a moment, then casually turned forward again as though nothing had happened.

Haruto had no intention of exposing her attempt just yet.

If he called her out in front of everyone now, the most likely punishment would simply be disqualification from this examination and expulsion from the arena.

For someone like Zhilin, who was willing to use such vicious methods purely to obtain the title of Super Chef, that was far too lenient.

She might not even be punished at all.

After all, Haruto had stopped her before the needle actually touched Mao.

Zhilin could easily deny what she had intended to do.

In Haruto’s view, someone like her deserved a much more fitting consequence.

She should lose the right to ever become a Super Chef again.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!