Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"in case."

"It can't be that exaggerated," Chef Liu chuckled dryly. "So, what kind of dishes can Your Highness cook?"

“Quite a few,” Isaac said, “but only in theory, and very few have actually succeeded.”

“Well… since it’s Your Highness’s first time here, let me see your skills first.” Chef Liu said, pointing to the ingredients that had already been prepared. “Let’s make some fried rice first, that’s the simplest.”

"it is good."

Isaac picked up two eggs, peeled them, cracked them into a bowl, and stirred them with chopsticks.

Chef Liu watched Isaac work from the side. Although he seemed quite unfamiliar with the current steps, there were no major mistakes.

Why did we fail before?

Just then, Isaac turned on the stove to start a fire and poured cooking oil into the pot.

Chef Liu stared intently at him and noticed tiny sparks of electricity flashing on the bottle of oil in Isaac's hand.

A bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.

"Wait! Your Highness!!"

"what?"

Isaac stared blankly at Chef Liu, but the oil was already slowly dripping into the pan.

boom--------

The explosion resounded throughout the entire imperial kitchen, and even the emperor, who was still in the palace, heard the sound and looked towards the location of the explosion.

"what happened?"

"It exploded?"

"Guards! Protect the Emperor!!"

The civil and military officials below panicked, all thinking that terrorists had sneaked into the palace. They immediately began to think of ways to protect the emperor.

"Where did the explosion come from?" The emperor remained remarkably calm.

As the emperor of a great nation, encountering assassination attempts before ascending the throne was commonplace, and this level of incident was not enough to throw him off balance.

"Your Majesty, it came from the Imperial Kitchen."

"Oh, I see. You don't need to worry," the emperor said nonchalantly. "Feifan is there; he's probably the one who caused this."

Isaac had already told the emperor about his culinary studies before this.

"Are you really alright?"

"It's fine."

--------------

"Cough cough cough... Your Highness! Your Highness! Are you alright?"

Chef Liu's eyes were stung by the smoke from the explosion, but he was still anxiously searching for Isaac.

In the instant of the explosion, he raised his riot shield to block the damage, but was still thrown away by the blast wave. After crashing to the ground, he immediately got up and looked in Isaac's direction.

If this prince were to die in his own kitchen, he would be largely to blame.

“I’m fine,” Isaac said.

He dusted himself off and used alchemy to repair the damaged areas.

"Failed again...?"

"Your Highness." Chef Liu limped over, having been thrown around quite badly. "Your Highness, didn't you notice? When you were pouring the oil, it seemed like a refining reaction occurred."

He had also studied the alchemy of the new country and knew that the blue electric light was a photoelectric phenomenon produced after the material was refined.

"what?"

"It would be best to check the oil first."

Upon hearing Chef Liu's words, Isaac bent down to examine the remaining cooking oil that had fallen to the ground.

But this examination caused him to break out in a sweat.

"How is it, Your Highness?"

"Well..." Isaac scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, "It seems that I did accidentally refine these cooking oils."

"What have you mastered?"

Nitroglycerin.

"..."

"Well, they're all bad habits I picked up from my previous jobs."

Isaac used to travel to various battlefields and often ran out of ammunition and food. At those times, he would use materials found on the battlefield to make weapons, such as enemy corpses and fuel tanks from abandoned vehicles.

All usable hydrocarbons, like diesel, were refined by Isaac into nitroglycerin for making explosives. Over time, he didn't even realize he had developed this terrible habit. And this habit was unconscious. Holding the oil can in Isaac's hand was like holding a bomb he could throw at any moment.

In fact, Kimberly taught him this method of alchemy during the Ishvalan War.

"So it's all Kimberly's fault that I can't cook."

Isaac muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

Meanwhile, in Kimberley, far to the west:

"Ah!"

……

Chef Liu placed his hands on Isaac's shoulders and said earnestly, "Your Highness, nitroglycerin cannot be used for cooking."

"I know that even if you don't tell me."

"In short, pay attention to the following steps; the process of pouring oil is crucial."

“I understand,” Isaac replied.

"That's good." Chef Liu nodded, a relieved smile on his face.

“I really understand now, Chef Liu.”

"I know."

"Could you please not stand so far away? How can you instruct me on how to cook when you're dozens of meters away from me?!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After a chaotic scene, Isaac finally served a decent plate of fried rice.

Chef Liu took a bite with his chopsticks and then remained silent.

"How about it?"

"Well... it's just ordinary fried rice made by a complete novice." Chef Liu frowned. "The salt isn't evenly distributed, some rice grains are burnt, and there's a bit too much moisture..."

Just one bite revealed many problems.

"You should know that when I made fried rice with eggs back then, I could even coat every grain of rice with the egg mixture, salt, and pepper. That takes a lot of practice and training."

"It seems I still need to practice; otherwise, I won't be able to deliver," Isaac mused.

If he couldn't serve up a delicious meal, he wouldn't have the face to see his adjutant.

"Your Highness can stay in the new country for a while longer anyway. In the meantime, besides doing your own work, come to the royal kitchen. I will personally guide you."

“Okay, I’ll leave things to you for the time being,” Isaac said gratefully.

"Your Highness is too kind," Chef Liu said with a smile, placing a steaming plate of fried rice, which he had apparently prepared sometime earlier, in front of Isaac. "This is what I made, Your Highness, please try it."

Before even picking up his chopsticks, Isaac could already smell an enticing aroma wafting towards him.

Chapter 371: Sister-in-law, save me!

The moment Isaac took a spoonful of fried rice, his pupils dilated instantly; the delicious flavor resonated deep within his soul.

"good to eat."

That was all he could say at that moment. It was unbelievable that such a simple plate of fried rice could be made so delicious.

Is this the skill of the head chef of the imperial kitchen?

The entire imperial kitchen had over a hundred people, and the highest-ranking among them was the head cook, and Chef Liu was one of the head cooks.

“Right, that’s why you can only reach this level through constant practice,” Chef Liu said with a smile.

"I will definitely study hard!"

Isaac felt a deep respect for the person before him; only someone with this level of culinary skill could prepare a decent dish for Violet.

I can only stay in the new country for one month, because I must return in a month to represent Amestoris at an international conference.

For the next few days, aside from discussing the details of the cooperation with the emperor, he spent his time in the imperial kitchen of the palace.

Even when Isaac was away, the emperor still summoned Chef Liu for questioning.

"Master Liu, what do you think of Feifan's condition these past few days?" the emperor asked.

He didn't know why his son suddenly became so obsessed with learning cooking, but he didn't refuse and even introduced Chef Liu to him.

Seeing that Isaac would head straight to the royal kitchen every day after leaving his place, he still felt it necessary to ask about the situation.

“Great progress has been made,” Chef Liu said.

"Oh?"

"After the training over the past two days, the cooking oil in Your Highness's hands has finally stopped turning into nitroglycerin."

"I see, that's truly something to celebrate." The emperor was somewhat speechless.

"However, His Highness's progress has been remarkable in the last few days," Chef Liu exclaimed. "He truly lives up to his reputation as an alchemist; his research and application of spices are already showing signs of surpassing mine. Perhaps this is talent."

"Hahaha, as expected of my son." The emperor seemed very happy.

But this was only because the subject was Isaac. If any other prince had gone to learn cooking, he would have definitely scolded him for neglecting his duties.

--------------

Time flies, and two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye.