The bus, carrying a load of "Abnormal Chefs," drifted through the fragrant streets of Apalis, heading to the outskirts and into a deep, lush forest.

Although recognized by the Federation as the capital of delicious food, all those dazzling delicacies belonged to the real world, to the human Species.

The Extraordinary World's food existed in a completely different dimension.

The venue for the "Third Extraordinary Chef Championship" hosted by the Extraordinary Chef Association was in this extremely beautiful and whimsical forest, aptly named "Tatalia Forest."

The bus stopped before the forest, and Tang Qi, along with the other Abnormal Chefs transformed by "Illusion," got off.

Before entering Tatalia Forest, they all saw a line of people walking out of the forest.

In pairs and threes, they looked like travelers, some with faces full of amazement, while the others had unhappy expressions as if they had encountered some extremely frustrating event.

A middle-aged white couple at the front, with their two children, all looked unhappy. Seeing Tang Qi and the others, they immediately started to warn:

"Are you also here for those inexplicable restaurants inside? I suggest you turn back now. The place is full of rude and shameless frauds, serving food that's both disgusting and expensive. From the waitstaff to the manager, everyone was very rude."

"Can you imagine? We'd barely sat down, took one bite, and it was so awful we spit it out. Not only did the waiter charge us, but they also drove us out, claiming we weren't fit to eat their food."

"Then we went to another restaurant called 'Centaur's Heart,' and we couldn't understand the language of the menu. We couldn't help but ask, and the restaurant's Master chef came out with a knife, roaring at us."

"I still remember his crude Roar: 'Eat it if you like, leave if you don't'... Is this something a chef should say?"

The middle-aged white man seemed to have a strong urge to vent, ranting rapidly to the old man with a white beard.

His family behind him nodded frequently, looking like they had a terrible dining experience in the forest.

However, just then, another elderly couple came forward, their faces full of surprise: "We just dined at Centaur's Heart, where the chef was an incredibly gentle, handsome gentleman. His cooking was also incredibly miraculous."

"My wife has cancer and has always had poor appetite, but in Centaur's Heart, she kept eating one dish after another, each one making her exclaim its wonder, as if she saw the Immortal Realm, even feeling like her body had healed."

Hot on the heels of the elderly couple, a young female backpacker with small dirty braids and dark skin chimed in: "The restaurant I went to, called 'Bugro Monster House,' had a magical self-serve barbecue. Every bite of meat felt like it was going to make my body fly."

"Ah, right, and the waitstaff were all male model-level."

Clearly, the second statement was the reason the backpacker picked that restaurant.

After that, the remaining travelers also shared their criticism or praise before going their separate ways.

Leaving Tang Qi and others standing there, smiling.

If they were other travelers, hearing these polarized reviews would probably leave them confused.

But these "Extraordinary Chefs" from the Mysterious Side knew all too well about the conditions within Tatalia Forest.

"Tatalia Forest is essentially the 'Food Forest' of the Extraordinary World, with a large number of wild Extraordinary Chefs gathered there. They have each opened their own restaurant in the forest, and there's no Barrier like in other Transcendent gathering places that prevents ordinary people from entering."

"That is to say, ordinary people from the real world have the chance to taste Extraordinary Food within Tatalia Forest."

"The fact is indeed so, but those wild Extraordinary Chefs are mostly not humans, but Demons or Order Abnormality. To humans, they all have extremely strange tempers, making this place a very weird Legendary Land for ordinary people."

"Some people have had the worst dining experience here, while others have encountered miracles and tasted incredible food, and occasionally some even receive Transcendent gifts."

"That scene earlier was the best illustration."

Before the old Granny left, Tang Qi gave her a mysterious Hint, suggesting that she go back to the hospital for another check-up – perhaps her cancer had really been cured.

"Then, follow me, fellow chefs."

"You are all already aware of the rules. Only those recognized by the Master chefs of twelve restaurants inside Tatalia Forest can enter the final 'Food House' to join other winners in the final round of selection."

"As for what the final round's rules are, those who can't even pass the preliminary selection have no right to know."

"Hint: You are the last group, and by tonight, the final rankings of this championship will be born."

The bus driver, while leading the Extraordinary Chefs into Tatalia Forest, explained the starkly simple rules in an ice-cold tone.

Of course, 'simple' is a relative term.

In reality, every contestant reaching Tatalia Forest had to first pass a preliminary selection.

This step had already eliminated a large number of Extraordinary Chefs from the Federation.

That preliminary requirement was that only chefs with a "Tatania Invitation" were eligible to compete.

According to these rules, Tang Qi was originally not qualified, and he didn't even consider himself a formal Extraordinary Chef... even though cooking was one of his hobbies, second only to casting, concocting Secret Medicine, or reading ancient books like "True Love Fable."

His invitation letter was obtained through Courtney and Savoy.

According to Savoy, he was the third-place winner of the first Extraordinary Chef Championship. Afterwards, he served as a judge for the second championship and fell in love with Miss Courtney, the champion of that tournament.

Originally, both were supposed to be judges for the third championship. However, since the two had decided to get married and were busy with preparation, they gave up this schedule.

Given their status in the Mysterious Side of the culinary world, obtaining an invitation letter was a breeze for them.

Soon, as the group entered the forest, they witnessed a scene that was nothing short of breathtaking.

As members of the Mysterious Side, they could naturally see the full view of Tatalia Forest. Some restaurants, reluctant to open to humans or temporarily hidden, now revealed themselves.

The scene Tang Qi saw was somewhat similar to that of the Moore Forest where Selma was located, and the dense woods around his family's Witch School, except that there were no Elf Houses here, no castles, only a variety of unique and mysterious restaurants.

Each restaurant's name carried a distinct non-human character.

Tang Qi cast a quick glance around and, in addition to the already mentioned "Centaur's Heart" and "Bugro Monster House," he saw "Meat-eating Mushroom Restaurant," "Fairy Tavern," "Tree Man Doesn't Eat Meat," "Dwarf Never Goes Home" and other such bizarre names.

The four-armed driver known as Satula headed straight for the center of the forest.

Surrounded by twelve Extraordinary Restaurants, the area contained long stone tables where various ingredients for Extraordinary Cooking were placed. Both common ingredients and some rarer materials piled up like small hills.

All the restaurants had their doors wide open, but not a single figure emerged—no waitstaff, no master chefs, no managers.

However, at the moment, the chefs did not care.

Their eyes sparkled as they looked at the ingredients on the stone tables.

Beside Tang Qi, an Extraordinary Chef from Sweet Water City, also a human, drooled as he prepared to announce the dishes he would prepare.

Then, the next second, Satula's voice rang out.

"You have 24 hours. You can choose to cook the same dish, or according to the tastes of different restaurant chefs, you can cook different dishes… Of course, you cannot go and ask them directly; you can only guess. You only get one chance to set foot in each of the twelve restaurants."

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's begin."

As soon as Satula finished speaking, the chefs exchanged glances and chose to approach those stone tables.

Each chef's face, in their eyes, took on a solemn demeanor, almost as if they were preparing for war.

Of course, there were outliers.

Like the human chef who carried a "tile jar," unlike the others, he strolled leisurely towards the stone table, not rushing to snatch ingredients or reflecting on recipes, but seeming to have prepared in advance.

He immediately began the cooking process, which was fluid and could be described as an art form.

With a casual toss of his hand, the tile jar came to a stop in front of him.

At the stone table where he stood, there was a "spring eye," gushing with sparkling clear water and exuding a cold chill.

"Snow Mountain Water!"

At the thought, the spring eye immediately shot out a jet of water that fell into the tile jar.

Snap!

With a flick of his fingers, flames colored with red radiance appeared beneath the jar, starting to burn.

He walked over to another table, the jar following him automatically.

"After Snow Mountain Water, add three Onion Dwarfs, the root bulb of strange fragrant grass…"

As he muttered, Tang Qi pointed casually, and within a large pile of ingredients on the stone table, three onion-shaped figures that resembled small people squeaked and willingly jumped into the tile jar, followed by a large root resembling a taro, which also flew up and then plopped in.

He then moved to the meat section. With a pat of his hand, a piece of fatty, plump leg meat flew up. A kitchen knife that had remained still in his "Kitchen Tools Bag" automatically flew out; with a flash of light, evenly cut pieces of meat entered the tile jar.

When the knife, named "delicious assistant number 999," returned to the Kitchen Tools Bag, Tang Qi had already picked up an animal not far away, round and snow-white as if covered with a layer of fat, and turned its belly towards the tile jar, then began to squeeze with both hands.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

Amid the strange noises, a rich, snow-white liquid entered the tile jar.

When Tang Qi finished adding the "Minotaur Monster's milk," the already bubbling and boiling fragrance from the tile jar became irresistible, an appetite-igniting aroma that immediately began to permeate the Tatalia Forest.

In a flash, Tang Qi once again became the center of attention.

All the Extraordinary Chefs looked at Tang Qi, simultaneously swallowing their saliva.

PS: Second update, requesting monthly tickets! It's the end of the month, everyone pay attention to your accounts, waste not… Occasionally trying to write something different, I hope to enrich this world, and I hope everyone doesn't think it's filler.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.