With the drawbacks of God's Tongue completely resolved, the Nakiri family was naturally overjoyed. As for Kael, he continued to use all kinds of ingredients to steadily raise the level of his Gourmet Cells.
At his current level, Kael could consume several tons of food every day. Even so, the growth of his Gourmet Cells remained painfully slow. There was no helping it—this simply wasn't the world of Toriko.
On top of that, once he ate the same ingredient a few times, it practically stopped having any effect at all. All Kael could do was keep switching to different ingredients.
Time passed, and before long, it was Totsuki's graduation season. The Jewel Generation finally graduated as well.
With Kael's involvement, most of the graduates had reached the Six-Star level by the time they left school, and the truly outstanding ones among the Nakiri camp had even stepped into Seven-Star territory.
Erina Nakiri was a special case. Her growth period had simply been too short, and she'd been suppressed for far too long before. Otherwise, at her age, reaching Eight-Star level would've been a certainty.
After graduation, everyone went their separate ways. As for Kael, his preparations were finally complete. Ingredients from the World of Food Wars had become almost useless to him by now.
His Gourmet Cell level had reached Level 7. Kael had practically eaten his way through every ingredient in the World of Food Wars—often in massive quantities—yet all that effort had only raised his cell level by two stages.
At this point, Kael's relationships with several people were fully settled. Given his identity and status, no one dared say anything unnecessary.
Kael also chose not to reveal that he had already reached the Dragon Chef level. After all, he was currently the only Lin Chef in the culinary world—talking about Dragon Chef was still too early. As for Supreme Dragon Chef, that was even further off.
That said, his culinary skill was steadily approaching that level.
With everything ready, Kael temporarily parted ways with everyone. He told them he was heading somewhere to train for a while and needed to go alone.
No one questioned it. Kael had always had a habit of disappearing now and then during his time at school. Back then, he'd often vanish into remote mountains to prepare special dishes—or to lay the groundwork for what he was doing now.
Otherwise, if he suddenly disappeared for a full month without explanation, it might cause quite a stir.
Once all preparations were complete, Kael found a secluded spot and activated world traversal.
The very next second, the space around him began to twist and warp. Everything changed at a pace visible to the naked eye.
When the distortion finally settled, Kael found himself standing on a road. There was no one in sight. One end of the road vanished into the distance, while the other clearly led toward a city.
Without thinking too much, Kael headed toward the city. Judging by the architectural style, though, this clearly wasn't a modern world.
Before long, he spotted people—but the moment he did, his expression darkened.
It was their clothing. And more specifically, the braided queues hanging down their backs.
"Don't tell me I've been dumped straight into the Qing Dynasty," Kael muttered. "If that's really the case… maybe I should've taken this more seriously."
He narrowed his eyes. He had absolutely no fondness for the Qing Dynasty, and those queues alone were enough to sour his mood.
Still, Kael didn't enter the city right away. Instead, he found a quiet place and changed clothes. He was still wearing modern casual wear, after all. If he wanted to avoid unnecessary attention, a change was mandatory.
Since he never knew what world—or era—he might end up in, Kael had prepared clothing from various era periods ahead of time.
He also grabbed a bamboo hat and a cloak, disguising himself further. If this really was the Qing Dynasty, the queue issue alone would be troublesome.
Even so, his current appearance would still draw attention, but that couldn't be helped. First, he needed to figure out exactly what kind of world this was.
After finishing his disguise, Kael entered the city. There were no skyscrapers like in modern times. The locals spoke in regional dialects, but that posed no problem for him thanks to his special abilities.
Before long, Kael had a rough understanding of where he was.
This was Shu City.
From a waiter at a nearby restaurant, Kael also learned about the general situation of the area. Money wasn't an issue—he'd already prepared currency from ancient times. And even if he hadn't, he could've easily pawned a few modern handicrafts for a fortune in this era.
With money smoothing the way, Kael quickly gathered detailed information about the region—and, more importantly, about this world itself.
From the waiter, he heard names like Master Langwen and Admiral Li, along with several well-known Special-Grade Chefs and famous restaurants in Shu City.
While many of those Special-Grade Chefs were unfamiliar to Kael, the information still answered many of his questions.
There was no need to say much about Master Langwen and Admiral Li. Those two were extremely famous figures in the world of Cooking Master Boy. Former and current heads of the Imperial Kitchen, both holding the title of Special-Grade Chef.
Kael also heard the name Juxia Tower.
Although Juxia Tower wasn't located in Shu City, it wasn't far away either. Its reputation in the culinary world was enormous, so it was no surprise that even a simple waiter knew of it.
Putting all this information together, the conclusion was obvious.
Kael had arrived in the world of Cooking Master Boy.
Realizing this, Kael finally let out a breath of relief. The background of this world resembled the late Qing Dynasty, but its imperial court was marginally better.
Only marginally, though—and that was just compared to the Qing Dynasty. In the end, it was still a case of picking the tallest among short people. This world's court was rotten to the core as well.
Throughout Liu Maoxing's journey, corrupt officials were everywhere. Sure, many of them were eventually changed by his Cooking Heart, but that alone showed how decayed the system truly was.
The rampant existence of the Dark Cooking Society only reinforced that point.
Their actions were utterly ruthless. Entire villages around Liangshanpo had already been emptied—every single resident taken.
Those with potential were trained as chefs or disposable fighters. Those without value weren't even worth killing personally. They were simply worked until they collapsed and died.
The Dark Cooking Society's headquarters wasn't a secret. Anyone active in the Cooking World knew where it was—yet no one dared make a move against them.
Part of that was due to their sheer power. The other part was proof of just how rotten this world was.
For Kael, however, this meant something else entirely.
In this world, there were practically no existences that could threaten him.
Based on everything revealed so far, even the Phoenix Eight Immortals, the legendary Big Four, or the residual wills sealed within the Legendary Kitchenware—none of them posed any danger to him.
Kael's control over qi wasn't particularly strong. He couldn't project his spirit or soul outside his body.
But within him lived a Gourmet Demon.
He had fused with Toriko's Gourmet Cells.
That meant three demons resided inside him—mindless, puppet-like existences with no independent will.
The Blue Demon and White Demon were still sealed, but the Red Demon had already awakened.
Kael couldn't summon the Red Demon to fight for him, but anything that dared intrude into his consciousness wouldn't stand a chance against it.
In truth, the Red Demon was Kael's greatest trump card. Unfortunately, with his Gourmet Cell level only at 7, he couldn't even manifest a fragment of the Red Demon for a single instant.
Gourmet Demons could leave their host bodies to fight—but the cost was terrifying.
In the early days, Toriko's Gourmet Demons would occasionally appear, but only in moments of extreme danger, and only for an instant before retreating.
Their power was simply too overwhelming. To unleash their full strength, they had to consume their host's calories as fuel.
Even in the original story, when Toriko reached Level 100, he could only let the Red Demon appear for a moment. It wasn't until his level reached the thousands that both the Red and Blue Demons could fight together—and even then, Toriko himself would be left nearly incapable of combat.
Kael could control his Gourmet Demons, but he couldn't let them emerge. With his current physique, even a split second would drain him into a dried husk.
Even so, that was more than enough.
In terms of the soul and spirit, Kael might not possess any offensive techniques—but his defensive power was absolute.
As long as his spiritual defenses were intact, everything else was irrelevant.
Physically, no one in this world could stand against him. Even Ramon and others who wielded lightning were no exception.
That alone showed that while such attacks were lethal to ordinary people, they meant nothing to Kael.
With strength in every aspect and no real threats in sight, Kael could practically walk sideways through this world.
Of course, since the story hadn't fully unfolded yet, he couldn't be completely certain there wasn't some absurdly broken existence lurking in the shadows.
Still, no matter how one looked at it, this was excellent news for him.
And now, he no longer needed to maintain his disguise. In the real Qing Dynasty, lacking a queue could be dangerous—but in this world, not everyone with black hair was harassed over it.
After finishing a meal at the restaurant, Kael began thinking about his next move.
Earlier, he'd asked the waiter about recent major events in the culinary world. Based on that, he was certain the main story either hadn't begun yet—or had only just started.
Liu Maoxing and Lan Feihong's names hadn't spread far at all.
Liu Maoxing, of course, needed no introduction—the youngest Special-Grade Chef in history. As for Lan Feihong, while he didn't hold such a title, he joined the Imperial Kitchen after passing the Special-Grade exam.
Later, their reputations would soar, earning them the title:
"Lan Feihong of the Heavens, Liu Maoxing of the Earth — the Twin Dragons of the Culinary World."
None of those titles existed yet.
Even if they did, Kael wouldn't care. The plot of Cooking Master Boy itself wasn't particularly important to him.
At its core, it was simply Liu Maoxing growing stronger, clashing with the Dark Cooking Society, traveling the world in search of the Legendary Kitchenware, destroying the Dark Cooking Society, and then confronting the Taiji Cuisine Realm.
What Kael truly cared about were the Legendary Kitchenware sealed in Shu City.
One full set already existed—the set awarded after the Dark Cooking Society completed their trials. That set had never been used, meaning it contained no stored lifespan at all.
Kael had no intention of simply distributing his own kitchenware and letting them drain the lives of their wielders.
But since he was now in the world of Cooking Master Boy, perhaps he could make a move against the Legendary Kitchenware here.
These utensils contained vast amounts of stored lifespan.
Although the Taiji Cuisine Realm constantly researched immortality cuisine and did consume some of that lifespan, they only conducted such experiments infrequently. As a result, the eight pieces of kitchenware still held an enormous reserve.
Kael himself didn't worry about his lifespan. With Gourmet Cells, immortality wasn't out of reach. As long as his cells continued to strengthen, living for several hundred years would be easy.
If the Red Demon fully revived and fused with him, true immortality would be guaranteed.
What Kael cared about were Alice Nakiri, Megumi Tadokoro, and the others.
They were ordinary humans. No cheats. No Gourmet Cells.
They were still young now—but Kael didn't want to watch them grow old… or die.
That was one of the reasons he insisted on traveling to other worlds. Not just to reach higher realms, but for the sake of those around him.
"The kitchenware sealed in Shu City should be the Garuda Knife," Kael muttered. "At this point in time… I wonder if it's already been sealed beneath Phoenix Waterfall. I should probably find the location of the Chen Family's Mapo Tofu first."
The Legendary Kitchenware of Shu City was the Garuda Knife—a blade specialized for processing birds and beasts.
In the original story, it was obtained by Lan Feihong. Back then, he was too afraid to use it and temporarily threw it into the pool beneath the waterfall.
That would be Kael's starting point.