Chapter 299: Bu Fang’s Special Dish… Flower Iguana
Translator: E.3.3. Editor: Vermillion
From an aged black tower in the vast Border City spread an angry roar, one that was not loud but enough to flutter open the eyelids of the three figures sitting cross-legged nearby.
"Why is the High Priest so enraged? Who has offended him?"
A figure wrapped in a black gown opened his mouth with confused eyes. Beside him were two other men dressed in black.
"Who cares. Those who provoke the High Priest will come to no good end. Us three major Blood Guards need only tend to our assigned tasks."
"As of now, the Venerable Master has begun to collect spiritual essences all over the empire. The day the Departed Soul Orb is awakened will be the day our Shura Sect will rejuvenate… By then, we'll show the barbarians of the southern region who's the boss!"
Light laughter was mixed with cold sneers. After the noise died down, all three figures resumed their closed-eye posture.
...
"Senior Bu… why are you digging out two shallow pits?"
Tang Yin's face was pale as a ghost. The earlier battle injured him badly, leaving him deficient of adequate vital energy.
"I am obviously digging pits to cook. Why else would I do this? To give a proper burial for these savage beasts? Sorry, but I am not kind-hearted enough to bury the creatures who just tried to devour me," Bu Fang retorted coolly.
Before him were two large but shallow pits in the ground. The dirt and soils shoveled up to create the pits were tossed aside, piling into a tiny hill.
"Cook? You can cook using these pits in the ground?"
Not only was Tang Yin puzzled, everyone else also widened their eyes in bewilderment.
Bu Fang couldn't be bothered by their perplexities. He was rather enlivened at the moment. See, he had been deprived of good quality ingredients ever since joining the army and so has had no chance to prove himself. With this Gigantic Iguana, he could perhaps finally make another dish deemed satisfactory by the system.
"Se… Senior, here are the spirit leaves you asked for."
From afar, Wei Dafu and Long Cai jogged in carrying a heap of spirit leaves. These green leaves were covered with lines of patterns, through which emanated faint waves of spirit energy. Needless to say, these were not ordinary leaves.
Bu Fang nodded lightly and instructed Wei Dafu and Long Cai to lay these leaves down in the pits.
As Long Cai and Wei Dafu busied themselves with this task, Bu Fang approached the iguana's dead body. He had already cut open this Gigantic Iguana, leaving its flesh scattered on the floor.
However, Bu Fang had only performed a very simple dissection, one without great attention or precision. Now was the time to carefully process the flesh of this iguana.
The Gigantic Iguana was intricately tied with the dragon species, which meant that the blood of the latter also ran through the veins of the former.
Its black scales were very hard, but with the help of the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife, they were easily stripped.
Having thoroughly cleaned the iguana's flesh, Bu Fang extracted a rock-sized piece of flesh, on which were bright red lines of patterns. This piece was akin to top quality, juicy fish meat.
He twirled the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife in his hands and made a couple of slashes on the iguana flesh.
Bu Fang found some spirit herbs from the army provisions. Though these weren't top quality spirit herbs, they sufficed as condiments to tweak the flavor. Bu Fang chopped up these spirit herbs and placed them on the piece of iguana flesh.
Then, he diced up the piece of flesh in an orderly fashion. Each small chunk was distinctive yet still thinly connected with the other.
"Senior Bu, all ready for you." Wei Dafu stood up and informed Bu Fang with deference. He didn't dare to show any disrespect, as the young man before his eyes was no longer the lad who had just joined the Cooks' Army Unit.
He was now incredibly afraid of Bu Fang suddenly seeking to settle accounts with him. In this military campsite, he had nowhere to hide.
"Give me the leftover leaves." Bu Fang stored the kitchen knife and directed his glance at Wei Dafu.
Wei Dafu's heart trembled. He immediately stuffed the remaining spirit leaves into Bu Fang's hands.
Bu Fang took them and, after some light processing, wrapped the huge slab of iguana flesh with the spirit leaves. Then, he placed it in the shallow pit and buried it with dirt.
"Um…" A trace of bafflement flashed across Wei Dafu's eyes. He had been cooking all these years but have never witnessed a cooking method as bizarre as this. Digging out a pit? How could the iguana meat ever be thoroughly cooked?
But Bu Fang's next instruction clarified everything, as he had ordered a huge mound of firewood to be placed in the half-filled pit. Then, he summoned waves of true energy to start a blazing fire.
Scorching flames shot to the sky as circles of smoke twirled around.
Bu Fang observed the glowing flames in satisfaction with hands behind his back.
Behind him was a crowd of folks staring at each other, completely speechless. Tang Yin, Zhu Yue, and Wei Dafu were at loss and unable to understand the dish. This cooking method was hitherto unknown to them.
"Without close scrutiny of the dish's conditions… how could one make gourmet delicacies using this cooking method?" Wei Dafu muttered with twitched lips. Though Bu Fang had proved him wrong time after time, he was still very much skeptical that such a method could generate any delicious food.
After all, this kind of cooking method was simply unheard of.
There was a total of two pits. Bu Fang repeated his earlier actions—wrapping the iguana flesh with spirit leaves, placing it into a pit, filling it halfway with dirt, and then lighting a fire on top with firewood.
This was the cooking method of a dish known to Bu Fang in his previous lifetime. He borrowed it and added a few amendments to better suit the cooking of this iguana meat.
Bu Fang stood by the burning flames and rubbed his chin. Then, the corners of his mouth curled.
"How about naming it Flower Iguana Meat? But that sounds kind of weird…"
Bu Fang mumbled to himself, his face displaying an odd expression. He circled the two burning pits slowly.
Once in a while, he would shoot a wave of true energy into the shallow pits. Once his true energy hit the fire, the flames would blaze even more violently.
"Senior Bu's cooking method is indeed delightfully unusual…" Tang Yin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At first, they really thought Bu Fang was only joking around.
After a while, everyone left and went about their own affairs.
This fire burned for at least three hours. Dazzling flames filled the air and lit up the entire campsite.
The scorching sun had already dipped under the horizon, leaving behind a dark night filled with two intersecting crescent moons.
Bu Fang stood before the two crackling bonfires. He squinted his eyes and took in a deep breath. Then, he raised his hands and smacked downwards.
Rich waves of true energy burst out of his body and landed on the fire. In that instant, the flames went out.
Rings of thick smoke rose up, as if two intertwining black dragons shooting for the sky.
Tang Yin and the others became intrigued and gathered together by the tent. The scene drew quite a crowd, as many soldiers also converged near Bu Fang.
They all shot curious looks at Bu Fang.
"So is it done?" Tang Yin's eyes instantly sparkled. Groups of people appeared next to Bu Fang. They all wore inquisitive expressions on their faces. They were dying to know whether such a peculiar cooking method would produce uniquely flavored dishes?.
A couple of soldiers came up and swept away the ashes, revealing beneath it burnt soil.
"You can dig up the dirt now." Bu Fang gazed at the soldiers as he instructed, "Be careful, don't ruin the dishes inside."
Could he really make a dish here?
Since the soil has been burnt to ashes, all the moisture inside was dried out. This made the digging process all the more difficult since the dirt had become rather hard.
After quite a while, the soldiers finally scooped up all the soil, unearthing the spirit leaves inside.
They dug out the pile of spirit leaves. These spirit leaves, once verdant and fresh green, were now shriveled and brown. It looked like all of the spirit energy had been lost.
With shrunken pupils, those in the crowd wore strange looks on their faces.
Judging by the looks of the spirit leaves, they now had a hunch how the iguana meat inside would end up…
"It seemed like Owner Bu had messed up this time? The dish has failed?" Tang Yin thought to himself secretly.
However, Bu Fang retained his calm composure. He walked to the shallow pits and peeled open the crispy brown spirit leaves. He snatched up a large piece of a meat wrapped in spirit leaves.
The spirit leaves on the exterior of the meat chunks were also burnt brown. Not a trace of spirit energy could be detected.
"Coming!"
Everyone perked up as they glued their eyes to the spirit leaves. Beneath these leaves were Bu Fang's dish, the flesh of a seventh grade Gigantic Iguana.
Even though they haven't smelled its aroma yet, even thinking about the meat of this iguana watered their mouths. At the end of the day, this was the flesh of a seventh grade spirit beast. How could they not look forward to it?
It wasn't every day that one could taste the meat of a seventh grade spirit beast.
A wisp of smoke twirled around Bu Fang's hands and the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife appeared. Afterward, Bu Fang lightly tapped the burnt spirit leaves with the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife.
The moment his kitchen knife tapped down, the crispy spirit leaves immediately burst open from both sides.
From the ripped crack emitted a blaring beam of light!
The Flower Iguana Meat, completed!