Sewn Together! Every Last Piece!

With the "Seventy-two Faces of Soaring Dragon" dish preceding it, the subsequent dishes completely lost their luster. After the judges took a few formulaic bites, the competition, which was already a foregone conclusion, finally reached the awards ceremony.

Sitting in the center of the judges' panel, Li Huang didn't reach for the microphone. Instead, he channeled his Internal Force, and his powerful voice immediately resonated throughout the entire plaza.

"It is an honor to be a judge for this year's Dragon Gate Noodle Competition. This is not just a polite remark, but our heartfelt opinion, because today we have witnessed a work that can be called the pinnacle of pastry making."

"We have every reason to believe that this competition, and the names of us judges, will be recorded in the history of the Culinary World because of this pastry. The champion of this pastry competition is undisputed: the Dragon Soaring Seventy-two Faces by contestant Sun Wukong!"

The hall was immediately filled with applause. Even without tasting it, the aroma of the Dragon Blood Thick Soup alone was enough to give the audience an ultimate olfactory experience.

As Feng Xue stood on the podium, Guang Qing local judge from Longmen, presented him with a double-headed, gold-plated Pastry Stick to congratulate Feng Xue on his victory. Li Huang, standing nearby, remarked with emotion:

"It's a pity this is just a top-level pastry competition, so we can't give you a higher title than the competition's ranking. Otherwise, with the quality of your Soaring Dragon Crisp, it would be enough to be awarded the title of 'Saint'. But it doesn't matter, there are still two months until the Peach Banquet. You can polish it up a bit more, and I'll apply for a spot for you this year!"

Feng Xue was initially just politely responding to the judges' compliments, but when he heard the words "Peach Banquet," his ears immediately perked up. However, he didn't ask any questions right away. Instead, he went through the award ceremony in a proper manner, delivered a "thankful" acceptance speech, and then, after signing the television broadcasting agreement, headed home. Just as he was leaving, he saw an armored escort vehicle slowly driving away, which made him reflect on the world's emphasis on culinary skills.

Carrying her Sea Calming Needle and riding her Somersault Cloud, Feng Xue flew all the way back to the Water Curtain Cave Residential Area. Only then did she turn on her phone and search for information about the "Peach Banquet".

When the Seventy-two Faces were completed, the progress of the [Sun Wukong] Weird Tale had already jumped to seventy percent, and the Sea Calming Needle had given it an additional ten percent boost. It seemed that only a little bit remained before it was completely condensed.

Ultimately, people's understanding of the image of "Sun Wukong" is only a small part of the subsequent journey to the West.

More importantly, after Sun Wukong left the Five Elements Mountain, the only added elements were the "tightening headband" and the title "Victorious Fighting Buddha." The general public's perception of these two things is mostly negative, and people prefer to call him the Great Sage rather than the Buddha.

Therefore, the period from when Sun Wukong became an apprentice to when he Havoc in Heaven is when he truly established his image.

So what are the Tag that define this image?

Flower-Fruit Mountain Water Curtain Cave;

Learned skills at Square Inch Mountain;

Somersault Cloud;

Seventy-two transformations;

The Ruyi Jingu Bang retrieve treasures from the Dragon Palace.

Although the method used was somewhat unconventional, it's at least a success. So, what's left to do after that?

Bimawen?

The Great Sage, Equal to Heaven?

Guarding the Peach Garden?

Stealing peaches and elixir?

Battle against 100,000 heavenly soldiers?

Refining Golden Eyes in the Eight Trigrams Furnace?

Feng Xue's original plan was to use her identity as the "Heavenly Emperor" to buy a peach orchard, then appoint herself as the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven to Heaven to oversee the orchard. After that, she would steal a few peaches, slap herself, and that would be about it.

But now, a ready-made Peach Banquet has appeared right before our eyes.

Moreover, it seems that there is also the title of "holy"?

As Feng Xue pondered, relevant search terms appeared on his phone. He clicked on the encyclopedia entry, and lengthy texts followed.

The Peach Banquet, a once-a-decade World Famous Chef Exchange Conference, is attended by dozens of Top Gourmet Critic with titles such as "Emperor," "Pure," "Imperial," "Chen," and "Radiant." It is considered the world's most prestigious culinary event and one of the few culinary competitions qualified to award "Saint" level titles.

Chefs from various countries will compete in teams representing their respective nations. The winning team will not only have the opportunity to receive the "Saint" title, but will also be able to obtain the top-grade spice blend "Nine-Turn Golden Elixir," personally prepared by the renowned culinary master Li Boyang, who is considered a national treasure of humankind.

The theme of the competition was the "Peach Banquet".

It may sound like a broad term, but it's actually a name for a type of Chinese banquet.

Contrary to popular belief, Chinese Cuisine does not disregard the order of serving dishes or the pairing of ingredients. In fact, if you look through classic banquet menus, you'll find that their complexity far exceeds that of linear Western menus (as mentioned in previous books, I won't go into detail here).

In a typical Chinese banquet, after the appetizers, side dishes, and soup, a main dish is served. This dish is called the "setting dish," which, simply put, is the main course that sets the tone for the entire banquet.

This dish would then become the name of the banquet. For example, if the first dish was braised Sea Cucumber, then it would be Sea Cucumber banquet; if it was braised shark Shark Fin, then it would be a shark Shark Fin banquet. And the requirement for Peach Banquet " is naturally that "Peach" be served as the main dish.

Of course, there are no such magical plants in this world that only bloom once every few thousand years. The so-called "flat peach" is just a title; any work that fits the definition of "flat peach" is acceptable.

"Good heavens, it's sewn up, it's all sewn up!"

Feng Xue stared at the rule in disbelief, her expression a mixture of confusion and amusement. For a moment, she was at a loss for words, and could only let the bag of salt flash back and forth between her left and right hands.

"If I were to participate in the competition, I would probably become a pastry chef, which means I would be in charge of the folding and Dim Sum. Hmm, if the Ao Lai Country Culinary World didn't value seniority so much, I might even be able to make a 'Longevity Turtle and Immortal Peach' as a main dish?"

Feng Xue pondered in her heart, and at the same time began to think about whether she could fill up the "Golden Elixir" Trait by relying solely on it if she officially participated in the Peach Banquet, and what kind of recipe she should use to fight against the masters from various countries.

But things always take unexpected turns. Perhaps it was the inertia of fate, or perhaps it was the damned (unpleasant) label on the Phantom Object Sea Calming Needle of the seating beacon. In any case, just as Feng Xue was waiting at home for the invitation to the Peach Banquet, a news item suddenly went viral—

"Shocking! Dragon King Li Huang challenged an unknown nobody Yuan Shoucheng to Dou Wei Arena, only to be stripped of his Dragon King title and utterly disgraced!"

"..."

Feng Xue stared blankly at the pop-up news, hesitated for a long time, and then slowly uttered a single word—

"Grass!"