Magic Chef Of Ice And Fire

MCIF Chapter 2

Chapter 2.1 - The Demon Chef, Zha Ji

Zha Ji bitterly laughed, "How could an old man like me with a pair ruined hand tendons possibly do to you?"

Nian Bing looked at Zha Ji, the panic in his eyes calmed a bit, and probingly asked, "Grandpa, why, why your hands like that?"

Zha Ji pulled on Nian Bing, motioning him to sit and sadly sighed, "Let Grandpa tell you a story, a story about what happened to my own body. After you finish listening, you will understand why I was so excited when I saw you use magic." After saying this, he looked into the darkness outside beyond the door, his eyes growing hazy. "

"In our Yang Guang Continent, we had experienced a period of war lasting three hundred years. Approximately seventy years ago, the entire continent entered a time of peace, and five great empires began to form, dividing the continent's territories. Apart from a few special regions out of reach, all of the land have become territory of the five Great Empires. After a baptism in three hundred years of war,, the people needed to recover. These past decades, industry and agriculture had continuously developed. Although there have been disputes between the five great empires, they are considered to be at peace."

Nian Bing nodded his head, saying, "The five great empires you mentioned were the Profound Orchid Empire in the east, the Strange Lu Empire in the southeast, the Harmonic Flower Empire in the southwest, the Bright Tree Empire in the northwest, and the Ice Moon empire in the north.

Zha Ji nodded and continued, "Correct, those are the five great empires. I was born in the Strange Lu Empire in the southeast. During my childhood, my household was very poor, and food was scarce; we often missed meals. I remember I had once asked my mother if there would ever be a time we would have enough cornbread to eat until we were full. She held me and cried. Even now I clearly remember. At the time, my greatest ambition was to be able to eat delicious delicacies every day and to be able to make the greatest dishes and let my mother eat it. Later, I had strived with great effort to diligently pursued this goal. Unfortunately, my parents had passed away from plague before I had the ability to care for them. Perhaps it were the Gods taking pity on me. When I was thirteen years old, I had met my master. At the time, because my home was poor and I was also very young, I had become an apprentice at a restaurant. It was also what I was most wanting to do. My master was the head chef at that restaurant. In order have the opportunity to learn the culinary arts that I yearned for, I had been extremely hardworking, impressing everyone in the restaurant. Our restaurant was named Qi Xiang (Wonderful Fragrance). It was the most famous restaurant in the Strange Lu Empire. My master had seen my diligence and had begun to teach me a few simple culinary arts. I could not be considered smart but I was awfully diligent. Like they say, hard work can overcome lack of talent. After three years, I had finally been promoted from an apprentice to the chef in charge of side dishes. One day, master called me out to a secluded place. He said to me, "If you want to learn the culinary arts well, then only being hard working is not enough. Comprehension is also required. Carefully observe the dishes you cook. Cooking isn't such a simple task but rather that of profound knowledge. He taught me eight teachings for me to complete. Then I practiced cooking for ten years, ten years comprehending cooking. Those eight teachings, even today I still remember. I went through an unceasing effort to understand them. When I was twenty three years old, my culinary arts had reached the end of its journey, but my master had passed away from illness that year. From beginning to end, I continuously kept master's eight teachings in mind. That is why I renounced the opportunity to inherit master's position at the Qi Xiang restaurant and resigned from my duties. With my kitchen knife in hand and my meager savings on my belt, I set foot on my own path. I wanted to travel all over the Yang Guang Continent and learn every region's various culinary arts."