As the phenomenon vanished, Qi Han snapped back to reality and grabbed a pair of chopsticks. Without delay, he picked up a piece of fish meat from the belly.
The fish meat from the belly, having been deboned, was easily picked up with the chopsticks, bringing along the lamb filling inside. As the belly's opening revealed a glimpse of the more concentrated aroma within, that robust fragrance surged into Qi Han's nose and mouth. The rough and hearty aroma made Qi Han greedily sniff, and then he finally sent a bite of the Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb into his mouth.
The surface of the fish meat was slightly golden-brown, a color formed as a result of the melted pig net fat being thoroughly absorbed and heated. Upon tasting the dish, the first sensation was the delicious aroma of the fish meat.
The 1.000 years old Dragon Scale Fish was incredibly tender, its texture so delicate that it felt as though water might drip out. This texture, combined perfectly with the absorbed hedgehog pig net fat, created the pinnacle of culinary experience.
Following this was the lamb meat wrapped within the fish.
The unique gamy flavor wasn't overpowering; instead, it blended subtly with the distinct flavor of lamb meat. This unique deliciousness of the lamb, along with the mushroomy fragrance of Changling Mushroom and the refreshing taste of dragon bamboo shoot tips, exploded into pure, layered flavors. Qi Han couldn't help but close his eyes.
Fish and lamb's freshness—this was the true essence of fish and lamb's freshness.
Even though it had been such a long time since the departure of Yi Ya's lingering spirit, this bite of Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb brought back the memory of that soul-shaking deliciousness.
A three-star recipe was truly terrifying.
After a long time, Qi Han finally put down the now empty plate, still savoring the unique flavor of Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb on his palate.
Although the shop hadn't officially opened yet, Qi Han could already foresee the sensation this dish would create in the shop.
However, he didn't know that the commotion caused by Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb was about to be much greater than he imagined.
As usual, Fu Ya arrived at the entrance of the shop. At this moment, there was already a long queue forming at the entrance.
Among the queue were both new faces and repeat customers who had visited a few times before. Fu Ya smiled and greeted the regular customers before walking to the front of the queue, where she noticed something amiss.
Standing quietly at the very front were seven individuals. These seven had a completely different demeanor from the other customers. Upon closer inspection, Fu Ya recognized five of them.
The four branch hall masters of the Tang Sect and...
"Dean Cao, why are you here?"
Upon seeing the last figure, Fu Ya couldn't help but exclaim in a hushed voice.
A slightly portly middle-aged man turned around upon hearing Fu Ya's call. His gaze immediately fixed on the green-colored Shrek Academy outer court uniform that Fu Ya was wearing. He looked at Fu Ya for a moment, then a gentle smile appeared on his face. "If I remember correctly, you should be Fu Ya from the fourth grade, right?"
"Yes!" Standing obediently in front of the Dean of Shrek Academy's Outer Court, Fu Ya acted like a well-behaved student.
Cao Rang, the Dean of Shrek Academy's Outer Court, was a well-known and slightly intimidating figure. Even Fu Ya, who had only met him a few times, felt a hint of nervousness.
"Don't be nervous. Are you here to eat as well?" Cao Rang's smile deepened a bit, and there seemed to be a magical charm in his voice that made people instinctively let go of their guard.
"Uh, yes, that's right!" Fu Ya hesitated for a moment and then regained her composure. "I'm a waitress at the little shop."
"A waitress?" Cao Rang's expression showed a hint of disapproval. "I remember you're a work-study student. Taking on a part-time waitress job would likely disrupt your cultivation, wouldn't it? Shrek provides good subsidies for our work-study students. How does being a waitress in an outside restaurant contribute to your training? Don't lose sight of the bigger picture."
While Cao Rang's smile was warm, as the Dean of the Outer Court, his scolding was also quite stern.
However, upon hearing Cao Rang's disdain for the little shop, Fu Ya mustered her courage and retorted, "Dean Cao, it's not like that. I volunteered to work here. The owner treats us well, and they even provide staff meals. The meals at the little shop are even better than the advanced nutrition meals at the academy!"
"Oh?" Cao Rang was slightly surprised to hear this.
At Shrek Academy's cafeteria, meals were divided into regular, nutritious, and advanced nutritious categories for both teachers and students. Teachers occasionally had additional benefits.
For students, advanced nutritious meals were the best, often using precious ingredients just below spirit treasures and prepared by the best chefs on the continent. The price was high, and only a few students could afford them within the academy.
However, advanced nutritious meals provided a substantial boost to a Spirit master's progress, accelerating Spirit power growth and even enhancing spiritual power. Despite their cost, they were considered well worth it.
But now, Fu Ya was saying that the staff meals at the little shop were better than the academy's advanced nutritious meals? If that were true, Cao Rang could understand why Fu Ya would work as a waitress here.
Nonetheless, he still had doubts about the quality of the little shop's food.
It wasn't his first time hearing about the little shop. Even though the shop's reputation hadn't spread to the Inner Court yet, many students from the Outer Court had visited. As the Dean of the Outer Court, he naturally heard some rumors.
However, he still didn't take the little shop seriously. After all, Outer Court students often went to the Gourmet Street to try various foods, so now they were just changing locations.
What truly caught his attention was the peculiar situation this morning, where a large area suddenly had its ambient spiritual power withdrawn.
Such a situation was extremely rare, and the area affected was even about a tenth the size of Shrek City.
Although it was only one-tenth, Shrek City itself was quite large, making this withdrawal of spiritual power already quite remarkable.
What was even more eerie was that despite his formidable level of 96th rank, he couldn't penetrate his spiritual power into the little shop to investigate.
This was simply inconceivable.
That's why Cao Rang set out early and arrived at the entrance of the little shop, wanting to find out more.
If it weren't for the four Tang Sect branch hall masters standing guard, he would have barged in already.
Seeing Cao Rang's expression easing, Fu Ya secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Dean Cao is so intimidating!
"Can I go in now?" Fu Ya cautiously asked. Seeing Cao Rang nod, she walked up and knocked on the door.
"Old Cao, why are you so harsh on the kids? Fu Ya seems pretty good to me," Tai Lei said, scratching his head with his large hand, looking a bit dismissive.
"Do you understand anything?" Cao Rang rolled his eyes.
He couldn't be bothered to talk to this guy.
The Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament was about to begin across the entire continent, and Fu Ya was one of the seeded players from the Outer Court. She might be sent as a reserve team member for the main event. As the Outer Court's dean, Cao Rang had to keep a close eye on this and make sure nothing went wrong during this critical period.
If it were any other student, he wouldn't care!
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