No matter how pretty Bu Fang presented the dish, it would be impossible to whet anyone's appetite.
In front of the gazes of everyone, the judge picked up a piece of Stinky Tofu and stuffed it into his mouth. The delicious and sweet taste exploded in his mouth and all of the pores on his body opened up. He felt extremely comfortable all of a sudden.
The taste of this dish which was overwhelmingly stinky was unexpectedly delicious.
The moment his teeth sank into the piece of Stinky Tofu, a sweet taste and the rich spiritual energy inside the tofu burst out. He became unable to stop chewing on the piece of Stinky Tofu.
That judge widened his eyes and looked at Bu Fang. His gaze was filled with disbelief and shock. He was truly shocked… He was utterly dumbfounded. He was shocked that the dish actually had the effect of an elixir.
Moreover, the effects of this Stinky Tofu were exceptionally good. It seemed as though there was no mistake with the result shown by the array. The only thing was that the dish was quite unusual.
As for the doctors who had been eliminated, they stared at the judge who was motionless after he tasted the dish. It seemed as though they were unable to look at the judge any longer.
The taste of such a smelly dish should have been extremely horrifying.
They all started to sympathize with the judge. No matter what, all of them knew that the one responsible for everything was Bu Fang. That kid would definitely be kicked out of the conference. Since he had the guts to create such a scene in a serious and solemn conference, he had to be severely punished.
Many doctors in the arena looked at Bu Fang with a gaze filled with joy and delight as they took pleasure in his misfortune.
Since they were not able to pass this round, Bu Fang, who was the cause of their troubles, shouldn't dream of passing it as well.
Bu Fang became dumbfounded when he realized the intentions of everyone looking at him. "All of you don't know the truth…"
Even the spectators were no longer able to bear the sight of the judge who was stuck in place with his mouth wide open. They wanted him to give up.
However, in the next moment, a scene which shocked all of them occurred.
The judge who had stuffed a piece of Stinky Tofu in his mouth moved...
Everyone was assuming that the judge would throw up but his next action was completely outside of their expectations.
He didn't throw up. Instead, he moved his chopsticks and took another piece of Stinky Tofu. He brought the piece of tofu up to his mouth.
"Did he go crazy?"
"He actually likes it? Did he go crazy because of its stench?"
"He's done for... That judge became a retard. That dish is poisonous!"
...
Everyone exclaimed in surprise and looked at the judge in disbelief. He was continuously taking pieces of the Stinky Tofu and stuffing them in his mouth. His eager appearance was like a hungry ghost who had been starving for several months.
Squish! Squish!
The arena became extremely quiet and peaceful for a moment as everyone was dumbstruck. The only sound that could be heard was the noise coming from the judge's mouth as he chewed on the Stinky Tofu.
The noise caused the hair on their body to stand on end. All of them couldn't help but swallow their saliva as they watched the way the judge ate.
At this moment, that judge's face was filled with excitement. His eyes were glowing and he was rapidly taking pieces of Stinky Tofu and stuffing them into his mouth. He was making sure that the sauce on the tofu didn't drip as he placed everything into his mouth.
The sauce smeared the corners of his mouth and it made him look somewhat comical.
The judge stuck out his tongue and licked off all the sauce around his mouth.
Everyone look at the scene in shock as they saw how the judge ate a piece of Stinky Tofu after another. He only stopped when there was no more Stinky Tofu in front of Bu Fang.
"Burp!"
After he finished the last piece of Stinky Tofu, the judge licked the tray. His face was filled with happiness and he couldn't help but let out a satisfying burp. His burp had a somewhat fragrant and stinky odor.
The complexion of everyone sharply changed when they looked at the judge. Did this judge really become crazy?
"How's it? I should have passed the first round." Bu Fang calmly asked the judge.
Bu Fang seemed quite confident as he curled up the corners of his mouth. He stared at the judge who had just cleaned the tray with his tongue.
His confident look displeased the doctors in the arena. This lad was far too arrogant.
The judge smacked his lips and exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Bu Fang:
"I would never have expected..... that such a stinky dish would be so delicious!"
Delicious?
The judge's words stunned many people. Their faces were filled with shock as they looked at the judge. "Do you think our noses are fake and deficient? That thing you ate was obviously extremely stinky."
However, as they thought of the judge's appearance when he ate the dish, they felt as though he was someone who was eating a delicacy.
Was that Stinky Tofu really so delicious?
All of their thoughts started wavering as they hesitated at this moment.
"What is the name of this dish?" The judge's voice was full of curiosity as he asked Bu Fang.
"The Sweet Spicy Stinky Tofu." Bu Fang looked at the judge and replied. At the same time, he raised his board which was beside his bronze platform in front of the judge's confused gaze. He placed his board above his bronze platform for all to see.
"The Sweet Spicy Stinky Tofu is one of the dishes made by the Cloud Mist Restaurant. This dish is cooked by the Cloud Mist Restaurant's main chef, Bu Fang. It is extremely delicious and I welcome all of you to come over and try it."
Bu Fang pointed at the three big words inscribed in his board and expressionlessly made an advertisement.
Pff...
Everyone was stunned and bewildered.
What the hell was that? Was such a bland promotion going to work?
The judge was also taken aback for a moment before he heartily laughed. He revealed a playful smile and he said, "I'm suddenly curious about this restaurant. If I have some free time, I will surely come over to support it... The taste of the Stinky Tofu is truly exceptional."
After he spoke, he licked his lips.
"Did I pass through the preliminary competition?" Bu Fang asked the judge again.
"Of course. You passed through the first round of the preliminary competition. There will still be another two more elimination rounds. If you manage to pass through them, you will be considered to have passed. Good luck to you."
The judge stored his array and replied to Bu Fang with a smile.
Bu Fang was taken aback by his words. There were still two more rounds of elimination? As expected of a conference held by the Pill Palace. The structure of the competition was really complex.
However, Bu Fang could understand the meaning behind holding so many elimination rounds. There were many people who wanted to participate in the Magical Hand Conference. These elimination rounds were used to get rid of the people who were here to fish in troubled waters.
"The remaining two elimination rounds will be held tomorrow. I hope that you will come back to participate in them. However, you must not cook such a stinky dish once again as it will affect the other competitors," the judge said solemnly.
The cheeks of the doctors in the surrounding streamed with tears when they heard the words coming out from the judge's mouth. The stench didn't simply affect them… It thoroughly devastated them.
"Okay, I won't make the Stinky Tofu tomorrow." Bu Fang curled up the corners of his mouth and nodded.
He collected and stored the Black Turtle Constellation Wok, Dragon Bone Kitchen knife, and the rest of his equipment before taking his giant board, then walked off the stage.
All of the spectators around the arena subconsciously made a path for Bu Fang and looked at that youngster who gradually disappeared from their line of sight.
"Judge, how can you let him leave just like this?" There were some people who were still not convinced. They angrily shouted at the judge.
That judge was also headstrong and willful. He simply shot a cold glance at the doctor who was making a fuss and said, "What? Are you not convinced by my judgment? Are you the judge? Or am I the judge?"
All of those doctors were taken aback by his words for a moment. However, they didn't back down and continued to scold the judge.
"We will sue you and denounce you to the appraisers' master."
They didn't believe that a dish could have the effects of an elixir. They came to the conclusion that it was definitely the judge who was secretly helping that punk. The judge and the kid definitely had some kind of hidden connection which was not made known to the public.
When the judge heard their words, he was thoroughly angered.
"All of you are just a crowd of men with frail will. You are all looking for an excuse to justify being eliminated. Just go ahead and make your complaints. I will simply stand here and wait for you to go and report me. I'm still a One Cloud Alchemist of the Pill Tower. Would I be afraid of any of you?"
This judge didn't have a good temper and angrily glared at those doctors as he spoke.
A One Cloud Alchemist of the Pill Tower... His status shocked most of them and many of them became scared. They hesitated for a while before they flung their sleeves and left.
"Snort... What's this?"
As that judge looked at those people who were leaving, he coldly snorted and smacked his lips. He was enjoying the aftertaste of the Stinky Tofu.
After those doctors left, the alchemists in the arena finally managed to finish their refinement.
All of their faces were filled with sweat.
The judge took that jade talisman again and passed through each alchemist as he started examining their products.
"The product quality is too inferior, it's a failure."
"The effects are not at the level of a ninth grade elixir, it's a failure."
"Um? What the hell did you refine? It's a failure."
...
As he examined the products, the judge's calm and composed expression changed. His forehead was filled with sweat.
Out of so many alchemists, only some of them managed to refine an elixir whose effects reached the ninth grade. This was something unimaginable.
According to his judgment, at least half of the alchemists on this arena would manage to pass this round.
After he was done with the examination, the judge almost cried.
Out of more than fifty competitors, there were only three people who passed other than Bu Fang. That Stinky Tofu's impact was truly too horrifying. The faces of those three alchemists who passed through this round were filled with fright. They were close to failure and the only reason they succeeded was because their pill furnaces were amazing.
The spectators under the stage wore varied expressions at this moment.
The scene was truly hilarious… Only four people out of fifty managed to pass the first round. Wasn't this the most brutal and cruel elimination round in history?
That judge's expression was gloomy, however, he had no other way to deal with the results. He could only brace himself and report the results. After the eighth arena was tidied up, a new match was held.
There were many participants and there would be at the very least seven or eight matches held in each arena. Just the first round would probably take up a whole day.
In the following matches, the results in the eighth arena were becoming more normal. There were at least ten people who passed through the first round.
Just from this, everyone knew that everything which happened in the previous match was because of that extremely stinky dish.
Those competitors who competed along Bu Fang were so depressed that they almost vomited a mouthful of blood.
...
"Did all of you hear about it? In the first match of the eighth arena, out of fifty people, only four of them passed."
"Was the difficulty of the first stage too high? Could it be that all of those people were trash?"
"No, no, no... All of you are mistaken. I heard that it was all because of a chef..."
In just a short amount of time after the end of the first round, the matter started to spread. How could the occurrence of such an interesting matter in the preliminary competition not spread?
Bu Fang's reputation started rising up after his first match despite the fact that most people didn't know what his name was. Everyone simply referred to him as the youth who was carrying a board.
There would be many people who would be paying attention to him in his next match.
Nangong Wuque and Nangong Wan also managed to pass their first match. Both of them couldn't help but laugh when they heard about such a matter.
After all, he was Owner Bu!
They couldn't help but observe a moment of silence in tribute to those who participated in the conference beside Bu Fang. Who knew how many people would be out of luck tomorrow? However, it seemed as though the judge forbade him from cooking dishes which were extremely stinky in the competition.
This conference would probably be the most hilarious and funny Magical Hand Conference to be held ever.