Chapter 2732: Fish Feast and the Difficulty of Refining the Precious Mirror

Hearing Xia Duo say this, Niya nodded with relief, then happily accepted this gift. Afterward, the two chatted for a while, and the fish feast began to be served.

Because the fish catch had been so abundant over the past two days—not just in quantity, but also in a wide variety of species—the chef Kuke had prepared a fish feast for Xia Duo using as many as twelve types of fish.

The first dish served was a raw marinated fish skin. Kuke had specifically sent an Apprentice to introduce it to Xia Duo and his wife: "This dish is made from the mid-belly skin of a four-year-old White Scale Fish, processed through over a dozen steps and crafted with great care."

"This—"

Xia Duo's first reaction was one of hesitation. Strictly speaking, it was he who had told Kuke the method for raw marinated fish skin, but he had never liked eating raw food. Even for Warp Beast Meat, which was extremely delicious and perfectly safe to eat raw, he had almost never eaten it raw.

Moreover, even in his hometown, he had only heard that fish skin could be eaten raw, but he had never tasted it even once. He thought that by telling Kuke the method for this dish, it was more out of a desire to enrich the variety of Daxia cuisine, not because he actually wanted to try it himself.

However, while Xia Duo hesitated, Niya had no psychological burden at all. Kuke had never let her down in the past, and she believed today would be no exception, not to mention this was only the first dish.

If the first dish were to fail, it would simply ruin all the reputation Kuke had built up over the years.

So Niya picked up her chopsticks with confidence, while Xia Duo held his chopsticks and watched, mainly observing Niya's expression. When he saw Niya frown, Xia Duo's heart tightened.

Immediately after, seeing Niya's brow relax, Xia Shao also comforted himself internally; Kuke must have practiced this dish many times before, so it shouldn't be too far off the mark.

……

He realized that there must be people in this world who could never refine the Order of Light, and he hoped he was not one of those people!

This must be a newly developed method, because before today, Xia Shao had not eaten many Golden Scale Salmon; that fish was truly quite rare.

Fortunately, this was not in a restaurant but eating at his own home, so there was no need to finish one dish before serving the next. Instead, after the feast began, the cold dishes were served first, followed by the hot dishes one after another.

It was highly unlikely that he could just grab any Order Force and happen to get it right on the first try.

In essence, Xia Shao believed that refining was actually "forcibly" refining through his own understanding, rather than the normal refining process used by people in the Eastern World.

Previously, he could successfully refine the Identity Token after a few attempts; on one hand, the identity of a "wandering cultivator" was not rare, and for people in the Eastern World, such an Identity Token should have been effortless to refine.

On the other hand, the more critical factor was that the Order Cycle he possessed contained Identity Order Force, and this type of Order Force happened to be compatible with the Identity Token.

Taking out a lounge chair and placing it in the Laboratory area, Xia Shao lay back against the chair, holding the shimmering Order of Light in both hands, then imitated the process of refining the Jade Tablet from before.

While maintaining the thought of refining in his mind, he controlled the Order Force to approach the Order of Light.

But the texture was not very good; even for the younger fish skin, it was tough to chew. Thinking that this was raw fish, Xia Shao quickly emptied his mind and swallowed it in one gulp.

If he had to evaluate this dish, if he were truly starving, he could eat a bite, but as long as there was anything else to eat, he would not want to try it again.

Research on the Jade Tablet was currently focused on measurement and recording, so delaying it slightly would not have much of an impact, but the refining of the Order of Light could not be delayed for too long; it needed to be completed within three days.

And the Order of Light was clearly not like that; how could a rare treasure hidden deep in the palace be easily refined by anyone?

And today, Kuke had made him a braised dish; presumably, it was because the fish catch had been so abundant over the past two days that there was enough Golden Scale Salmon for Kuke to practice with.

The second day.

If it could not be completed, then one would have to start over from the beginning and go through the process again.

"It's sour and quite delicious, there's absolutely no fishy smell at all, you try it!"

Or rather, the Lord of Order could convert the Order Force he mastered into a universal version that others could also use.

Xia Shao arrived at the Laboratory early, but today, he was not rushing to study the Jade Tablet, but was preparing to use Order Force to refine the Order of Light.

After Niya finished speaking, she reached out with her chopsticks again. Seeing this, Xia Shao felt a bit more at ease. He knew that Niya did not like eating sour things very much, so if she could give an evaluation like "it's sour and quite delicious," then it must be pretty good.

Xia Shao liked the subsequent hot dishes more; they were all various ways of preparing fish, basically covering pan-frying, grilling, braising, and deep-frying. Among them, the one he liked most was the braised Golden Scale Salmon.

After dinner, Xia Shao told Kuke's Apprentice his and Niya's tasting opinions. Afterward, the two went to stroll around the Elemental Fountain, where the fish schools were already visibly dense, before returning to the Tower of Time to rest.

In the limited few times he had Golden Scale Salmon, Kuke had always made it grilled for him. The taste was indeed more outstanding than common fish, but it didn't reach a difference in quality; it was mainly a matter of scarcity.

But just from the preliminary attempt, he realized that although he was not necessarily someone who could never refine the Order of Light, he would most likely be unable to complete the refining within this refining cycle.

Moreover, as the Lord of Order of Daxia with him at its core, Xia Shao was very clear about the differences between Order Force and Order Force. He could drive the Order Force within his own Order Cycle.

Of course, it was mainly because he hadn't deliberately looked for it; for example, Seventon certainly wouldn't be lacking in it, and he could purchase it from Seventon.

But what kind of Order Force should he use to refine it?

Based on this, Xia Shao speculated that in the mature Order Force system of the Eastern World, there should exist a type of Order Force that served as a universal currency.

There were four cold dishes in total, two of which were fish, one was vegetables, and one was fruit. Xia Shao basically didn't touch the raw fish skin or raw fish meat, but Niya ate very happily.

He guessed that the Merit of the Eastern World was essentially Order Force, but it should be a relatively universal type of Order Force, or one specifically created to serve as a type of general circulating currency.

……

Of course, Niya trying on the Crystal Shoes after returning was not something to be told to outsiders.

"How is it?" Xia Shao asked.

Xia Shao felt that braised Golden Scale Salmon was better than grilled, but the best method should be steaming. However, considering there were only two days to prepare, Kuke choosing a safer cooking method was understandable.

But if it were Order Force not within his Order Cycle, then it would be completely uncontrollable, because that was part of someone else's Order Cycle. If he could control it, then what would the Order Cycle he mastered even be?

Although he had already obtained the refining method for the Order of Light, the Merit refining mentioned in the method was understood by him as Order Force refining; there shouldn't be any major problem with that.

Thus, Xia Shao no longer hesitated and picked up a piece to put in his mouth. The first sensation was indeed sour, but after the sourness, there were distinct layers of sweetness, freshness, and saltiness. The taste was actually quite good, and there was not a hint of fishy smell.