Chapter 61: The Additional Attributes of Minced Meat Pancakes

"The increase is quite decent!" Chen Ye smiled slightly.

Even without playing the erhu in a duet with the old man, merely practicing his culinary skills yielded an increase of over three hundred points.

Possessing the heart of a true chef meant constantly challenging new dishes and daring to try!

Realizing this...

A sensation of digestion welled up within Chen Ye once again.

It felt as though a new surge of chef-related knowledge had appeared in his mind. How various seasonings should be paired, how different ingredients should be handled and utilized—he seemed to automatically arrive at the correct answers without needing to experiment.

This feeling was truly marvelous, as if he had instantly become a genius in this field, able to find the answer with just a slight contemplation.

"Let's taste the flavor of this minced meat pancake."

In high spirits, Chen Ye wrapped the pancake in an oiled paper bag, let it cool slightly, and took a bite.

Instantly, the aroma of the crispy crust filled the tip of his tongue. After the pine nuts were pounded into minced meat, they carried a light, meaty fragrance, chewed together with fragments of the pancake and swallowed down...

Compared to the sugar-roasted chestnuts, the minced meat pancake had a much richer meaty flavor and used more ingredients.

It delivered a supreme sense of satisfaction!

Just at that moment, Chen Ye suddenly felt his entire body grow feverish.

It was as if a strange torrent of surge was welling up from his abdomen and rushing through his whole body, eager to burst forth like a raging flood!

With every breath, white mist billowed from his nostrils, and the endlessly encroaching heat waves even produced steaming vapor...

The next second.

Chen Ye could finally hold back no longer, and with a fierce punch, he smashed it toward a nearby collapsed wooden beam!

Bang!

A violent sound immediately echoed all around. That cylindrical wooden beam, which required two hands to clasp, was instantly shattered into two halves, with flying wood splinters scattering and spraying all over the ground.

"Is this... the power I possess?"

Witnessing the scene before him and looking at his own fist, Chen Ye was stunned for a long while.

Such a massive wooden beam, without even feeling like he exerted force, had been battered into such a pathetic state as if it were a block of tofu?

Even a solitary youth's right arm trained for thirty years might not be this fierce!

At first, Chen Ye suspected that his arm strength had increased simply from practicing flipping the wok.

However, after that surge of power erupted like a flood, it seemed to have vanished completely.

He threw a few punches into the air.

Although his strength was greater than that of an average adult, compared to that extreme sense of power just moments ago, it felt like cotton.

Just then, Chen Ye glanced at the oiled paper bag, which now contained only crumbs of the pancake, and suddenly realized where this power came from.

"That's right, it must be because I ate the minced meat pancake that I acquired the bonus attribute!"

"The old granny who sold chestnuts once said that as long as it falls within the category of gourmet food, one can gain different bonus attributes... Eating the minced meat pancake temporarily grants strength far exceeding the ordinary; that must be the attribute this delicacy bestows upon the consumer."

"I never expected to successfully create an A-grade delicacy on my first try. What a little genius I am!"

"This must be because I added a large amount of pine nuts into the minced meat pancake..."

Earlier, when adding the minced meat to the pancake, Chen Ye had felt that his little hand trembled and he had put in way too much.

It was roughly the amount used in a dozen or so sugar-roasted chestnuts.

To finish eating so much in just a few bites felt far too extravagant for his current stage.

Yet, unexpectedly, because he used a sufficient quantity of ingredients, he managed to create an A-grade delicacy on the very first try!

After all, to produce a qualified gourmet dish, aside from technique, the quality of the ingredients themselves was also crucial.

The highest-grade ingredients often only required the simplest cooking methods.

Using sufficiently good ingredients could compensate, to a certain extent, for flaws in technique.

Even as a first-time attempt...

Chen Ye had still successfully crafted food belonging to the category of "gourmet delicacy."

He immediately picked up his spatula and began preparing the next batch of minced meat pancakes, intending to test the explosive might the pancake could grant him once more.

However.

During this second cooking process, Chen Ye slightly reduced the amount of ingredients used.

His technique was even more proficient than before, and with his increased arm strength, he was able to crush the "pine nuts" even finer.

Although the quantity was reduced, it still allowed the fine minced meat to cover the entire pancake.

His control over the seasonings was more precise, and the heat management was spot-on. Even though the ingredients were fewer, the texture and taste were not diminished in the slightest.

Immersed in the creation of culinary art, Chen Ye continuously refined his cooking methods and produced several more pancakes.

By now, he had managed to control the usage of "pine nuts" in a single minced meat pancake to roughly the equivalent of five sugar-roasted chestnuts.

Of course...

If he wanted to compress it any further, the ingredients would become too scarce. No matter how exquisite his culinary skills were, it would be hard to taste that full meaty flavor, leaving a feeling of eating nothing at all.

If he were to use other seasoning methods to modify the taste of the minced meat pancake in order to keep it within the category of gourmet food, it would no longer be a "minced meat pancake," but an entirely different dish, and the attribute effects it brought would also change.

Next, Chen Ye grabbed one of the oiled paper bags containing a minced meat pancake and wolfed it down, shoving it into his mouth.

The next second...

A volcanic heat wave surged from his abdomen once more, flooding his entire body.

This time, Chen Ye did not choose a fragile wooden beam as his target for experimentation, but instead selected a half-meter-tall stone pier nearby.

He took a deep breath, suddenly leaped forward several steps, and utilizing the speed buffed by the [Boots of the Wanderer], he teleported almost instantly to the back of the stone pier.

With a single punch thrown out, the stone pier burst apart without a shred of suspense. Shrapnel-like stone fragments sprayed outward in all directions like bullets, dust filled the air, and utter chaos ensued.

Chen Ye looked down at his own fist, discovering that after delivering such a fierce blow to the stone, the skin on the back of his hand did not even have the slightest trace of abrasion; it was merely smudged with a bit of dust and felt somewhat rough to the touch.

He shook his hand, smiled slightly, and evaluated, "The explosive power of this minced meat pancake is still pretty decent. A single punch can smash the target into meat paste—wouldn't that allow for recycling?"

"Still, it's a pity that the minced meat pancake only provides a one-time burst of power. One punch makes you One-Punch Man, and the next punch leaves you limp."

"Moreover... you have to finish eating a whole pancake to possess this kind of explosive strength. If you're fighting against players, such an action is far too obvious."

"But at least, the lethality of the minced meat pancake is basically sufficient for dealing with ordinary enemies. It might even yield unexpected results!"

A surge of joy welled up in Chen Ye's heart. The minced meat pancake could be said to be his very first genuine means of taking down enemies!

Although it had many flaws, compared to his previous state of having zero combat capabilities, the power bestowed by the minced meat pancake was a quantum leap in progress.

He just wondered how effective its actual use would be when dealing with anomalies in actual combat...

"Right!"

"Since I've created a new dish, I can let Wang Jing taste-test it."

"I can also earn a rebate of eerie points."

"Besides, since the transaction is conducted via the crimson cell phone, it doesn't count as a routine appraisal. I don't need to pay the appraiser's fee for the [Gourmet], yet I can still receive the rebated eerie points. This practically counts as exploiting a minor bug!"

Chen Ye immediately pulled out his crimson cell phone and sent a trade invitation to 'Wang Jing'.

Soon...

The other party accepted the request.