Chapter 8. Seasoning a Wok: Even being a chef is hard.

Night time_Li Clan.

In a cultivation room within Li Chen's quarters, Li Chen was intently focused on the wok heated over the fire before him, his concentration unbroken as he meticulously managed the flame underneath.

As he judged the wok to be sufficiently heated, he reached for a nearby plate holding Phoenix feather oil. With no hesitation, he grasped the feathered brush and began to coat the wok evenly with the oil.

The aroma of the oil permeated the room as the wok started to sizzle. Li Chen, unyielding in his concentration, continued to apply the oil until the wok was fully coated with the Phoenix feather oil.

With the wok now oiled, Li Chen redirected his focus to the flame, intent on heating the wok once more. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, yet he did not allow his focus to waver, aware that any lapse could ruin the entire process.

The sound of sizzling oil filled the room with the distinctive scent of the Phoenix feather oil, as Li Chen kept his entire focus on flame control.

After some time, the wok appeared to have reached the desired heat and had absorbed some of the oil. Now it was time to add the celestial salt crystals. Li Chen reached toward the table for them, but suddenly, the wok began to shake uncontrollably.

"Shit!" Li Chen cursed, retreating as quickly as he could.

Boom!

The wok exploded, scattering fragments everywhere. The force flung Li Chen against the wall.

"Ahhh!" Li Chen cried out in pain from the impact.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Attempt to season the wok has failed.

_Reason: excessive heat.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

"Oh damn it, so now it's excessive heat!" Li Chen exclaimed in frustration, glaring at the system notification before him.

Bracing himself with his hand, Li Chen managed to sit up and took out a vial, drinking it down quickly. As he did so, warmth enveloped his body, and the pain vanished.

Now pain-free, Li Chen stood and began to assess the damage caused by the explosion. Aside from knocking a few items askew, the room had withstood the blast well. The walls were reinforced to withstand significant damage – it was a training room for disciples to practice and test their skills, designed to be durable and soundproof. This was precisely why Li Chen had chosen it; an explosion was not anticipated, but he had selected the room for its safety features. The soundproofing ensured that no noise from the explosion would be heard outside.

Li Chen surveyed the shattered remnants of the wok and sighed, "Since when did seasoning a wok become so explosive?" He muttered in frustration as he began to clear away the debris.

This was the second time a wok had exploded on him; the first was due to insufficient heat, which, while not as violent, caused more harm as Li Chen had been unprepared for the blast and was hit by flying shards.

Grateful that he had prepared a healing potion in case of mishaps, Li Chen finished clearing the debris and started to set out more items on the table, ready to attempt the process once again.

After preparing everything, Li Chen retrieved another wok from his spatial ring and first cleansed it with sacred water. Once cleansed, he set it aside to dry and then conjured a ball of fire in his hand—dragon's breath.

Li Chen may not have been an expert in flames, but he understood that dragon flames were among the highest tier, and he considered himself fortunate to possess one, even if it was currently of a low tier.

The fireball did not appear extraordinary at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one could see dragon apparitions swimming within the flames, and it was noticeably hotter than ordinary flames.

With all preparations complete, Li Chen proceeded to heat the wok once again.

* *

Boom!

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Attempt to season the wok has failed.

_Reason: excessive heat.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Boom!

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Attempt to season the wok has failed.

_Reason: excessive heat.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Boom!

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Attempt to season the wok has failed.

_Reason: insufficient heat.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

BOOM!

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Attempt to season the wok has failed.

_Reason: excessive heat.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Countless explosions occurred in the cultivation room as Li Chen endeavored to season the wok. Each explosion inflicted injuries on him, yet he showed no signs of wanting to give up. The last explosion was particularly intense, slamming him against the wall and causing the room to tremble from the force.

However, instead of feeling discouraged, Li Chen was grinning widely as he looked at the pieces of the destroyed wok on the ground. "Oh, I've got it, I've finally understood," he said with a joyful smile.

He took out another potion, drank it, and sat down to wait for his injuries to heal. This time, the injuries were more severe, so Li Chen had to wait longer before trying again.

After a while, Li Chen stood up, cleared the broken materials, and set new items on the table, preparing for another attempt.

He cleansed the wok with sacred water as before, then began to heat it slowly. Starting at a low temperature, he gradually increased the heat bit by bit. By the time he was ready to coat the wok with Phoenix feather oil, the flame had reached its peak temperature.

The now-familiar sizzling sound and aroma filled the room as he coated the wok with the oil. Li Chen persevered, continuing to heat the wok at a very high temperature. His body was drenched in sweat, his clothes clinging to him, but he remained undeterred.

As the wok became increasingly hot, the sound of the sizzling oil grew more intense. Then, Li Chen reached out, grabbed the celestial salt crystal, and without hesitation, tossed it into the wok.

The moment the celestial salt crystal hit the wok, the wok reacted violently, shaking as if it were about to explode again. However, this time Li Chen did not retreat. Instead, he reduced the flames in his hand that were heating the wok.

The wok continued to shake violently but with less intensity than before. Gradually, the shaking subsided until the wok became still.

Seeing this, a smile spread across Li Chen's face, but he remained vigilant. The seasoning of the wok was not yet complete.

Li Chen didn't hesitate to start stirring the celestial salt crystals in the pan.

As he did so, one could notice a faint runic symbol beginning to inscribe itself upon the wok. Li Chen persisted, continuously stirring without pause.

After some time, the dragon's breath reignited in Li Chen's hand as he resumed heating the wok, but now at a much lower temperature. He never once stopped his steady stirring motion throughout the process.

As Li Chen maintained this method, additional runes began to etch onto the wok, causing it to emit a soft golden glow.

Observing this change, Li Chen ceased to heat the wok and gazed at it with a peculiar expression. "Did I succeed?" he murmured to himself, contemplating the wok's appearance.

With the cessation of heat, the wok reverted to its original state, the subtle golden sheen vanishing as it once again resembled an ordinary wok.

Li Chen surmised that he had completed the challenging portion of the task, and what remained should be straightforward.

He placed the wok aside and sat down, allowing it time to cool before he applied the moonlight vinegar.

After preparing the wok, he brought it outside, setting it under the moon's light to absorb its essence.

Having finished this activity, Li Chen made his way to his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed, exhausted. The day's events, particularly seasoning the wok, had drained all of his energy reserves.

As soon as Li Chen's head touched the pillow, he was swiftly carried away into the realm of dreams.