So he turned and walked into the mountains.

As she pondered this, Nan Xu opened the comments section.

The video had only been posted a short time before the comment section was already filled with thousands of comments.

The most numerous comments were about Zhuang Beiyou, Xiao Louxing, and himself, followed by comments about Dongfang Jinghong.

"Help! Zhuang Beiyou has such an aura! He's clearly one of those incredibly gifted geniuses with unparalleled comprehension!"

"Xiao Louxing's final, incredibly powerful statement... I heard from the official sources that there will be a protagonist among the NPCs, and I'm 100% sure he's the protagonist!"

"I think Nan Xu is the real protagonist of this world! He defeated someone of a higher level; his protagonist aura is unparalleled!"

"Am I the only one who thinks Dongfang Jinghong is cool? Even if he's not the main character, he should at least be the main character's nemesis."

Scrolling down further, Nanxu saw some people arguing about who among them was the strongest.

To his surprise, the number of his supporters was almost equal to that of Zhuang Beiyou and Xiao Louxing.

Should we thank the Chef Soul production team for giving him the spotlight? It was truly an unexpected delight.

With his current popularity, earning experience points from players will definitely be very easy for him.

However, he may have to apologize to his supporters.

He can't even beat Kong Shuli, who was the first to appear in the PV, let alone Zhuang Beiyou and Xiao Louxing.

As for who is stronger between Zhuang Beiyou and Xiao Louxing, Nan Xu naturally knows the answer.

In terms of raw talent, Zhuang Beiyou is undoubtedly the best among his peers at this stage.

This guy's comprehension is terrifying, and his unique traits allow him to perfectly bring out the advantages of the ingredients themselves.

To challenge her in a culinary battle is to confront the "Tao." In a direct confrontation, unless one's strength is overwhelmingly superior, there is absolutely no chance of victory.

However, she also has a weakness that is not really a weakness: she focuses too much on presenting the original flavor of the ingredients, which causes her to perform poorly in certain cooking competitions and makes her easy to be restrained.

For example, heavily seasoned or spicy dishes are her blind spot.

Unfortunately, this point relates to her culinary philosophy and is extremely difficult to correct. In her previous life, the few culinary battles she lost were all due to her opponents exploiting this weakness.

While Xiao Louxing is indeed inferior to Zhuang Beiyou in terms of raw strength, there is a reason why he was chosen as the main character.

Although his usual strength is not as outstanding as Zhuang Beiyou's, and he is not significantly different from Dongfang Jinghong, and occasionally loses to opponents who are a level below him, his potential is extremely high.

At crucial moments, he would suddenly gain enlightenment and his powers would surge. The more critical the situation, the more intense his power would be.

Throughout his previous life, Xiao Louxing maintained an almost 100% win rate in crucial matches, with the few losses he suffered being widely considered to be due to plot-driven defeats.

It can only be said that these two are worthy of the title of protagonists in the world. They are incredibly powerful and far beyond what he can compete with now.

Thinking of this, Nan Xu felt an even greater sense of urgency.

He scrolled down the comments and found that, apart from the comments discussing the PV characters, almost all the other comments were about looking forward to the upcoming closed beta test.

"Urgent! The thought of a whole month until the closed beta makes me wish I could invent a time machine and travel a month into the future!"

"Is there anyone who can knock me out, so I wake up exactly a month later?"

"Why are you in such a hurry, upstairs? You're not even going to win a spot."

"One month left..." Nan Xu muttered to himself, "Looks like I'd better hurry up."

A month later, a seven-day closed beta test will begin, which is his only chance to reach players before the open beta.

He had to become an eighth-rank chef before that.

The qualification assessment for an eighth-grade chef is only held once a month, and the next assessment is in more than half a month. He must pass it on the first try so as not to delay his plans.

"I still can't let my guard down," Nan Xu thought to himself.

He pushed the window open a crack and looked towards the kitchen.

Since that's the case, how about... we practice for a while longer?

……

The next day.

Early in the morning, Nan Xu found Luo Qinzhu.

"Sister Qinzhu, I need to ask for a few days off."

Upon hearing this, Luo Qinzhu was taken aback.

Then, she asked with some concern, "Ah Xu, what... happened to you?"

"If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to tell us. Everyone at Baiweilou will help you!"

"...No, you've misunderstood."

Nan Xu was somewhat amused and exasperated, and quickly offered a reason she had prepared beforehand:

"Nothing's happened to me, but I've had some recent insights and am currently brainstorming a dish that might be included in my 'life's feast.'"

"I've long heard that Huangshan is full of rare and exotic ingredients, so I thought I'd go into the mountains to look for some and see if I could find the right main ingredient for that dish."

"I see..." Luo Qinzhu breathed a sigh of relief, a bright smile returning to her face. "Congratulations, A-Xu! To have such insights into the 'feast of life' at your age is quite remarkable!"

She waved her hand generously: "Go ahead! I'll approve seven days of leave for you, and you'll still get paid."

"But remember to be careful on the road. Don't go to dangerous places, or you might get hurt by mountain spirits or monsters," she added worriedly.

"Thank you, Sister Qinzhu. I know what I'm doing." Nan Xu felt a warmth in her heart and nodded.

Then he stretched out his hand: "There's one more thing... I'd like to borrow a food storage bag to store ingredients."

"The rank doesn't need to be very high, ninth rank is enough."

The Food Treasure Bag is a storage tool developed by Food Treasure Pavilion. It not only has a large internal space, but also has a strong preservation function.

Even the lowest grade of the Nine-Grade Food Bag can preserve food far more effectively than a modern refrigerator. Higher-grade Food Bags can even store food for years, maintaining its freshness just as it was when it was first placed inside.

Food bags of grade six and above can also form their own small world inside, and have the additional effect of raising live ingredients, making them invaluable treasures for lower-level chefs.

He doesn't need such high-end things now; he'd be quite satisfied with just a ninth-grade food treasure bag to hold more ingredients.

"No problem." Luo Qinzhu nodded crisply and handed over a delicate little cloth bag. "This is my usual eighth-grade food treasure bag. You can take it."

Nan Xu hesitated for a moment, but still accepted it.

Although a level nine container is sufficient, a larger space means it can hold more ingredients.

He knew the spawn points of almost all the rare ingredients, so he didn't have to worry about not filling his bag. The higher the grade of the food bag, the greater the rewards from this mountain hunt.

After thanking Luo Qinzhu sincerely, Nan Xu turned and left the kitchen, heading towards the mountains.