At this point, Kael's Divine Senses were finally complete. Not just in the World of Food Wars—even in the world of Cooking Master Boy, someone like him was truly one of a kind.
There had never been anyone in the culinary world who possessed all five Divine senses at once.
At the same time, Kael's cooking skill finally broke through to the Dragon Chef tier. And with all those special abilities stacked on top of each other, the moment he stepped into that realm, he stood at its very peak. Ordinary Dragon Chefs simply couldn't compare to him.
Reaching Dragon Chef also meant Kael successfully unlocked the fifth area of the Dark Cooking Society.
Before this, he had spent a long time wondering what exactly the fifth area would contain. But when it finally opened, even Kael froze in place.
Because the fifth area was completely different from the previous four.
The first four areas were all centered around teaching and inheritance. But the fifth area had none of that at all. Instead, it was the assembly hall of the Dark Cooking Society.
Inside stood eight stone pedestals.
And atop each pedestal rested an object.
Kael only needed a single glance to recognize them.
They were the Legendary Kitchenware.
The Ever-Soul Knife, the Garuda Knife, the Turning Dragon Pot, the White Tiger Pot, the Voracious Wolf Pot, the Yuanhe Steamer, and two Pressed Dragon Cauldrons.
Eight legendary utensils, laid out plainly before him.
At the same time, information about the fifth area flowed into Kael's mind. This was everything the fifth area had to offer—this included the rewards as well.
All eight pieces of Legendary Kitchenware were now available for Kael to use freely. There was no need to worry about having his lifespan drained. His level of control over them was even higher than Xu Ling's had been.
The only issue was that to truly activate them—to restore them to their original, complete state—qi was required.
And Kael hadn't mastered true qi yet.
He had reached the Dragon Chef tier, which was the basic prerequisite for learning true qi, but that was all. If he wanted these eight legendary tools to reveal their true forms, it would still take time.
As Kael looked over the eight utensils, his gaze lingered the longest on the White Tiger Pot.
In the first part of Cooking Master Boy, this artifact had been called the Demonic Sacred Copper Vessel. But by the second part, all eight kitchenware had gained their own destined hosts. As their masters, those chefs naturally learned their true names.
The second part also introduced new lore.
The first—and most infamous—was lifespan absorption.
After the Legendary Kitchenware were forged, many chefs gained their recognition and were able to use them. But the price was brutal: their lifespans were drained away.
Back then, after Xu Ling created the kitchenware, he sold them off. Kaiyu used the money to find a quiet place and live freely. But not long after, news reached him—those who had used the kitchenware were dying.
The most terrifying part was how extreme the drain was. Just a few uses were enough to completely exhaust a person's lifespan.
In the original story, Tang Sanjie only used one during the Eight Spirits Tower competition. Even then, he immediately felt something wrong with his heart—his lifespan had already been heavily drained.
After learning the truth, Xu Ling bought all the kitchenware back.
Kael suspected it had been deliberate.
From the second part's plot, it was clear that Xu Ling had left part of his will inside the kitchenware. That fragment later transferred from the White Tiger Pot into Ong Shengyu.
Judging by Xu Ling's character, he was far from noble or virtuous.
So scattering the kitchenware back then had likely been intentional. As for why—lifespan.
The world of Cooking Master Boy contained Immortality Cuisine. While it couldn't grant true immortality, Song Wan did live for several hundred years, as long as he periodically consumed it.
Even though Immortality Cuisine had side effects, for someone like Song Wan, living centuries was already worth it. His miserable end was entirely Kaiyu's doing.
Lifespan doesn't come from nowhere.
The Legendary Kitchenware weren't truly sold—they were released to select suitable successors while harvesting their lifespans.
Immortality Cuisine simply exploited that same principle, transferring lifespan to oneself.
The other kitchenware also had their own true forms or spiritual entities.
Unfortunately, unlocking those forms required qi—and not just a little.
That was why, even though the kitchenware now acknowledged Kael as their master and would no longer drain his lifespan, he still couldn't support their true forms yet.
For now, he could only use them for cooking.
Strangely enough, the Legendary Kitchenware were picky. They only drained the lifespans of geniuses or exceptionally capable individuals. Ordinary people could hold them—and the kitchenware wouldn't even bother responding.
"Legendary Kitchenware… I didn't expect to get these," Kael muttered. "Too bad there's no stored lifespan left inside them. And in the World of Food Wars, I doubt I'll ever find conditions strong enough for them to fully manifest anyway."
Still, even in their sealed state, these tools were absurdly powerful.
That led Kael to another thought.
If the kitchenware were already this outrageous, then just how terrifying had Xu Ling been?
He shook his head and dropped the thought.
This wasn't the world of Cooking Master Boy. Thinking about that now was pointless.
What mattered was the present.
The Faction Inheritance was complete. Now all that remained was the Character Inheritance.
Kael wanted to learn how to truly use qi. If he succeeded, Kaiyu's inheritance would also be fully completed.
At that point, drawing a new inheritance from both paths would become possible. And if that process took too long, he could always draw from the faction side first and see what he got.
With that decision made, Kael didn't hesitate. He entered the fourth area, Kaiyu's teaching zone.
Aside from qi instruction, Kael had already extracted nearly everything of value from this area.
So now, there was only one thing left to learn.
Qi.
"Congratulations," Kaiyu said, his phantom form smiling faintly. "You've become a Dragon Chef. Looks like you're eager to master qi. Since you already learned a weakened version before, grasping the true form shouldn't be too difficult."
As Kaiyu spoke, he began personally teaching Kael how to control qi.
With the inherited knowledge and a teacher guiding him step by step, the process was far smoother than expected.
Qi had many functions. Its attributes had to be discovered and refined over time.
It was an incredibly malleable power. What it ultimately became depended entirely on its user.
In the world of Cooking Master Boy, the two who pushed qi the furthest were Xu Ling and Daruma. Daruma's leftover qi alone had been enough to construct the Eight Spirits Tower.
Thanks to his foundation, Kael's progress was rapid. On his third attempt, he felt a clear change.
True qi was Five-Element Qi.
He could distinctly sense five different energies, each with its own nature.
The qi he had previously used was merely a weakened form of water-attribute qi. Water was gentle, making it easier—though still challenging—to grasp. Using that as a stepping stone, Kael successfully accessed all five elements.
True qi was leagues beyond what he had used before.
As soon as it formed, his old qi was converted—but due to the quality difference, only a small amount remained.
Kael could only sigh. Still, mastering true qi was worth it.
Now, he possessed the ability to directly alter ingredients.
Though still crude, he could already remove toxins or restore freshness.
He had expected this process to take far longer. The smoothness surprised even him.
"Your progress is fast because of two things," Kaiyu explained. "Your talent—and the foundation you already had. The former comes from the inheritance itself."
Kael finally understood just how much the faction inheritance had helped him.
The moment he mastered true qi, the progress bar for Character Inheritance finally filled completely.
Unlike faction inheritance, character inheritance offered no staged rewards. Everything—talent, knowledge, abilities—was given from the start, with mastery as the requirement.
Now that Kael could even reproduce Pomo Bajin—albeit a weakened version—the inheritance was complete.
He had no intention of making such a dish. It existed to harm people, and that wasn't something he would do.
Still, curiosity got the better of him.
Kael took out some rice he had stored away.
In the original story, Kaiyu had transformed poisoned rice into something that looked perfectly edible—though the toxins inside were actually intensified.
That was true poison cuisine.
Kael was different. Even when he made poison dishes, they usually had positive effects.
The intent was completely different.
As Kael attempted to manipulate the rice with qi, his body temperature rose and his skin flushed red.
This wasn't Explosive Flame—it was simply the strain of using qi.
Veteran users didn't suffer like this, but they had far more experience than Kael. Even Kaiyu had struggled in his early days.
Kael adjusted the five elements within the rice. As the balance collapsed, the grains visibly changed—mold spreading rapidly, toxins increasing.
Qi could restore freshness or remove poison.
Naturally, it could do the opposite.
"Damn…" Kael muttered. "No wonder Kaiyu rarely used qi. The consumption is insane. Just rotting this rice burned through more than half of what I had."
With too little qi left to reverse the process, the rice had to be discarded.
After tossing it away, Kael turned to the system panel.
Both inheritances were now complete.
Which meant it was time.
A new inheritance draw awaited him.
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