The lingering aroma wafted through the air. The residents of Jinning Town often ate cone mushrooms, and many even rendered their own Cone Mushroom Oil every season.
But they could swear on their lives that never before had any household managed to render Cone Mushroom Oil of this caliber.
It was an aroma that made them feel as if their entire bodies were breathing in the savory freshness of the cone mushrooms. For the first time, they experienced a strange sensation... that the sense of smell could have flavor. It was as if the scent filled their mouths, releasing the unique, savory taste of cone mushrooms!
This very fact made Chi Xuan’s eyes light up.
After all, merely reaching this level and being able to master it were two entirely different things.
’The five senses becoming the five flavors...’
’This is the very hallmark of entering the Realm of the Magic Skill Dao!’
’Tiansheng... just how old is he?!’
Chi Xuan had to admit that in terms of talent within the Sacrificial Lineage, even among the countless ancient heroes who had ascended to immortality, not a single one had displayed such breathtaking genius at Zhao Tiansheng’s age.
...
The astounding aroma was so overwhelming that the nearly-finished Venison Soup seemed to be on the verge of a crushing defeat.
However, this only spurred on the Traveling Merchant Priest, who rallied his fighting spirit. He began to watch the cooking of his Lotus Fragrance Venison Soup with even greater care, meticulously monitoring the heat and the timing for adding his other ingredients.
For even amidst such a powerful aroma, his own Venison Soup was not completely overshadowed.
Based on this alone, he knew his dish was not yet a complete failure!
’The aroma is overpowering, but that doesn’t mean it’s a guaranteed win!’
’My lotus fragrance is nothing to scoff at either!’
He was confident enough in the quality of his Venison Soup. Most importantly, the quality of his venison was undeniably superior to the ingredients Zhao Tiansheng was using.
Even if he fell slightly short on aroma... he was still confident he could win this round!
It was a known fact in Sacrificial Cultivation that in any Sacrificial Decree where ingredients were not the deciding factor, it almost always meant the opponent’s Sacrificial Master Realm far surpassed your own.
’But...’
Looking at Zhao Tiansheng’s youthful appearance, the idea that this boy from a remote mountain town could surpass him in the Sacrificial Master Realm was, for this Traveling Merchant Priest surnamed Li, utterly preposterous—an absolute impossibility!
Seeing their leader so composed, the rest of the Traveling Merchant Priest’s group, who had been getting restless, also settled down.
However, the way they looked at Zhao Tiansheng no longer held any of its previous arrogance or disrespect. Instead, their gazes were now filled with... gravity.
...
After being stir-fried in the Cone Mushroom Oil, the minced spring bamboo shoots and other ingredients had absorbed plenty of flavor. The tender greens and wild onions, which would yellow easily, would not be added just yet.
But now it was time for the final portion of the crucian carp broth, which he had previously divided in two.
Zhao Tiansheng poured the broth directly into the wok and cranked the stove’s flame to its highest setting. He waited until the liquid had reduced by about half, then scooped everything out.
By this point, the dish he was preparing was starting to take shape.
And when he brought out the rice that had been steamed last night and left to cool overnight, the nature of his dish was all but revealed.
It was... fried rice!
...
He wasn’t deliberately using a simple dish just to mess with his opponent.
It was just that for Zhao Tiansheng, given the time and the ingredients on hand, this type of dish was the most suitable choice.
In the name Spring Breeze Pot of Perfection, "Perfection" referred not only to the flavor of the ingredients, but also to the skill of the cook.
From this perspective, his opponent’s dish was missing something crucial. This touched upon a core, endless debate within Sacrificial Cultivation: whether one should add the human touch to the cooking process.
’The path of cooking is born of civilization. A people not nurtured by civilization will lack a refined palate, and without a refined palate, their culinary arts cannot be masterful.’
This passage from the ancients had already revealed the secrets of cooking. However, in practice, some people followed the path of subtraction, while others followed the path of addition.
Neither approach was inherently superior to the other. But in Zhao Tiansheng’s eyes, the clearer the desired flavor, the more one should add; the more complex and layered the flavors, the more one should subtract.
The former used a breadth of flavors to achieve simplicity.
The latter used the purity of a flavor to achieve depth.
At least, if he were the one making his opponent’s Venison Soup, he would have added one more flavor—an aroma that could ignite the complexity of the other ingredients, yet ultimately lead back to the main theme.
In any case, this was the exact principle he was following while making his Spring Breeze Pot of Perfection.
Though it looked like he had done a lot of prep work, he was actually just using ingredients to draw out the natural flavors of other ingredients. He hadn’t added much seasoning at all—at most, just salt, white pepper, and the rendered Cone Mushroom Oil.
There were no other superfluous additions.
His goal was to establish a single, ultimate flavor as the backbone of the dish. Only when one savored it carefully would the layers of the other ingredients vividly emerge.
...
After stir-frying for a short while, the ingredients had all but absorbed the aroma of the Cone Mushroom Oil, releasing a new, complex fragrance of their own.
He poured the other half of the crucian carp broth, which had been kept warm, directly into the hot wok. The liquid instantly went from warm to a rolling boil.