Chapter 7: Food Fight Challenge

Upon looking at the young lady in front of him, Qin Lang's face exhibited a hint of surprise.

He had some recollection of these two young girls.

During his fight with Zhao Chen, these two were spectating at the edge of the battlefield. They disappeared without a trace after the battle ended.

"Yes, I've never participated in a Food Fight before, so I want to try," said Qin Lang, looking at the girl who had asked the question.

"In that case, I, Du Weiwei, challenge you to a Food Fight." Du Weiwei pulled out a special device, inserted her Spirit Chef Badge into a groove, and handed it to Qin Lang, "Do you accept?"

This device, known as the Duel Initiator, allowed for challenges to be made without having to be at the Spirit Chef Association.

Once the badges of both parties are inserted into the device and they have selected the type of duel, the information is uploaded to the Spirit Chef Association's database, allowing them to schedule the date and location of the duel online.

Whether it's a Food Fight or a Spirit Battle, you need to perform in the special arenas provided by the Spirit Chef Association to acquire Star Power.

Qin Lang knew how to use the Duel Initiator, but had been reluctant to buy one because it was rather expensive.

"I accept."

Without hesitation, he accepted the Duel Initiator from Du Weiwei, preparing to insert his own badge.

This could be considered an unforeseen gift; Qin Lang certainly would not refuse it.

"Stop!"

A soft yell caused Qin Lang to halt his actions.

He looked up at the other girl standing next to Du Weiwei. It didn't take long for him to remember his former classmate, "Qi Xiaoyu, what is it?"

"Just so you know, Weiwei has been a Spirit Chef for a year now, and she's even made it to the top four in the Dongxia City Youth Training Competition!" Qi Xiaoyu unabashedly rained on her best friend's parade, "Don't agree to her challenge so easily, she might cream you!"

"Such a small achievement really isn't worth mentioning," Du Weiwei pinched Qi Xiaoyu's soft waist, which caused the latter to scream in pain, "Moreover, the training competition was a Spirit Battle, it had nothing to do with Food Fight."

She has been a Spirit Chef for a year?

Qin Lang's eyes shifted to the Food Spirit floating next to Du Weiwei.

Unlike Dan Bao, there were two glorious stars revolving around this Food Spirit's body.

This was a Two-star Food Spirit.

He certainly wouldn't win this in a Spirit Battle.

But in a Food Fight, cooking skills of the Spirit Chef matter more than the aid from the Food Spirits.

Hence, the impact wasn't significant.

"Although I have unlocked my second Star Vein, I don't yet have a second Food Spirit," Du Weiwei said calmly. "In a Food Fight, all Food Spirits can use their Food Skills. We have the same number of Food Spirits, so it is fair."

Qin Lang nodded slightly; it was as he had learned from his recollections.

"Qi Xiaoyu, thanks for your warning." He inserted his badge into the Duel Initiator, "But I still choose to accept."

Upon seeing Qin Lang accept the challenge, a smile spread across Du Weiwei's face, "According to the rules, the challenged party selects the food fight event. Which one did you choose?"

Upon hearing Du Weiwei's words, Qin Lang started pondering.

A Food Fight is a contest of culinary excellence.

There are simply too many factors that go into judging the quality of a dish. If the food from both parties vary greatly, it would be difficult to ascertain the winner objectively.

Therefore, conventional food fights come with certain limitations.

There are five officially recognised Food Fight events by the Spirit Chef Association: restrict the total cost of ingredients used in cooking, restrict the theme of the cuisine, choose ingredients from the Food Fight warehouse provided by the Association, limit the use of a certain ingredient during the cooking process, and restrict the opponent from using a certain ingredient.

And Qin Lang's choice was...

"Restricted Ingredient Value."

"Huh?" Du Weiwei looked surprised, "Are you sure you want to choose that?"

No wonder she was taken aback; this was the least chosen of the five Food Fight events.

Since Spirit Chefs aren't typically lacking in funds, they prefer to use expensive ingredients to make more delicious food.

"I'm sure." Qin Lang nodded calmly.

He didn't know if other Spirit Chefs were rich or not, but he knew that he was very short on money.

And for a Food Fight, the ingredients have to be bought with their own money.

After confirming Qin Lang's choice, Du Weiwei shook her head helplessly, "Then let's start the draw."

The same food fight event can have several specific subsets.

For instance, the "Restricted Ingredient Value" chosen by Qin Lang, its subset is the different maximum price limits.

After having chosen the food fight event, the two are to determine the specifics of the Food Fight through drawing lots.

Upon setting, a roulette wheel appears on the screen of the Duel Initiator.

After the rapid spinning of the roulette wheel comes to a halt, the pointer lands on the number 1000.

This means that during this Food Fight, the total value of all ingredients used should not exceed one thousand.

Both parties confirmed, Du Weiwei used the Duel Initiator to schedule, "The Food Fight will be held at Spirit Chef Association at 3 p.m. the day after tomorrow, is that okay?"

A Food Fight can't begin immediately like a Spirit Battle. Normally, there would be at least 24 hours of preparation time from making the challenge to the actual start of the fight, and different Food Fight events require different amounts of preparation time.

"No problem." Qin Lang nodded without hesitation.

Soon after the completion of the Food Fight challenge, he bid them goodbye.

"We have one more thing to do next," walking down the road, Qin Lang twisted his head to look at Dan Bao, who was flying about beside him, brimming with energy, "which is to find a stable source of income."

Turning its yolky face about, Dan Bao inquired, puzzled, with a query mark depicted in midair.

"Hoot?"

"I'm not talking about Zhao Chen."

Qin Lang ruffled Dan Bao's large ears, "As a Spirit Chef, there are numerous ways to make money. But as I just became a Spirit Chef, I have yet to establish credibility, so many routes to earn money aren't feasible right now."

"The most suitable for us right now is to find a job at a restaurant, as a resident Spirit Chef."

In the Food Spirit World, restaurants are different from those on Earth.

What determines the fame of a restaurant isn't any three-star Michelin rating, it's the level and quantity of resident Spirit Chefs at the restaurant.

For resident Spirit Chefs, they're only required to leave a single dish at the restaurant they work.

The Spirit Chef only need to step in when a food guest orders this dish. At other times, it's rather leisurely.

Speaking of working in a restaurant, Qin Lang is an old hand at it.

...

"Sorry, we need a Spirit Chef with more experience to work here."

The person in charge of the restaurant spoke calmly, "Mr. Qin, you just registered today, which does not meet our requirements."

Qin Lang: "..."

This development was somewhat unexpected.

The other party merely glanced at his Spirit Chef information and decisively rejected it.

"Hoot Hoot!"

Qin Lang was rejected, which really angered Dan Bao.

My Spirit Chef's cooking skills are top-notch!

"It's alright." Qin Lang patted Dan Bao's head, addressing the person in charge, "In that case, I'll take my leave."

Upon saying that, he walked directly out of the restaurant.

"Hoot!"

Dan Bao followed, and was still somewhat unconvinced.

"It's okay, let's try another."

Qin Lang merely laughed it off, pacifying Dan Bao as he proceeded to search for another restaurant in need of a resident Spirit Chef on his phone.