The bond between the Chen siblings had finally been mended. Unfortunately, Kael didn't witness that moment. By then, he had already left the city, following the markings on the map toward Fengming Waterfall.
Even though it was night, darkness meant nothing to Kael. What would normally take an ordinary person several days to reach, Kael covered in no time at all.
His speed was simply too fast, and no terrain slowed him down—mountains and cliffs felt no different from flat ground beneath his feet.
"We're here. It should be inside a cave somewhere in the middle."
After checking the map again, Kael quickly spotted the cave entrance. It wasn't large, but it was big enough for a person to pass through.
"Hiss… hiss…"
Not long after entering the cave, a faint hissing sound reached his ears. There were snakes inside.
Kael wasn't worried. In fact, he had already heard movement from within the waterfall area earlier. These snakes had clearly been brought here deliberately by Chen Jian. They were all non-venomous—placed here to guard the cave in case someone wandered in by accident.
The odds of anyone stumbling upon this place were practically zero, but Chen Jian had still taken precautions. After all, non-venomous snakes wouldn't kill anyone even if they bit. Even if someone with the map somehow made it here, there was little real danger.
But Kael was no ordinary man.
He possessed Gourmet Cells, and within him resided a Gourmet Demon. He didn't even need to lift a finger. He simply released a fraction of his qi.
A terrifying pressure flooded the cave.
In an instant, every snake was slammed flat against the ground, unable to move. Faced with that overwhelming presence, they didn't even dare flee. The only thing they could do was stay perfectly still.
At this moment, Kael could truly be called the strongest predator. His aura alone was enough to dominate nearly everything in the world of Cooking Master Boy.
After suppressing the snakes, Kael quickly found what he was looking for.
A kitchen knife, carefully wrapped in cloth, rested against the rock wall of the cave.
The Garuda Knife.
Unlike the one Kael already possessed, this Garuda Knife had absorbed the lifespans of countless people.
The moment Kael grasped the handle, the cloth binding the knife burst apart on its own. Brilliant light flared from the blade, and a phantom image emerged upon its surface.
A phoenix pattern.
Legendary kitchenware bore two possible markings: the Tyrant Dragon Pattern and the Auspicious Phoenix Pattern.
Now that the Auspicious Phoenix Pattern had appeared, it meant the Garuda Knife had acknowledged Kael as its master. He had become its inheritor.
At the same time, Kael clearly sensed a colorful phoenix phantom separating from the blade and plunging into his body.
But the instant it entered him, something stirred.
The Gourmet Demon within Kael moved.
Although Kael's Gourmet Demon had no consciousness of its own and was normally under his control, it would instinctively act whenever an external threat invaded his body.
The colorful phoenix phantom that entered Kael's mental world was swallowed whole in a single bite by Red Demon.
"Red Demon only acts on instinct when it senses danger," Kael narrowed his eyes. "So that phantom really wasn't anything good."
As the phantom was devoured, the Garuda Knife in Kael's hand began to tremble violently. The Auspicious Phoenix Pattern on the blade grew clearer and sharper.
Normally, the clarity of the phoenix pattern varied depending on who held the knife. When an inheritor held it, the pattern appeared faint and illusory. But when a Destiny Star Chef touched it, the phoenix pattern would manifest as solid and vivid.
Kael was not a Destiny Star Chef. He could only fully control his own set of kitchenware.
So for the phoenix pattern to become this clear—something was definitely wrong.
Sure enough, the next moment, an even more distinct colorful phoenix phantom detached itself from the blade. Its eyes were vivid and alert, brimming with awareness.
At a glance, Kael knew it possessed its own consciousness.
The phantom plunged into Kael's body once again.
Kael didn't try to stop it.
Whether this Auspicious Phoenix Pattern was Xu Ling's will or not didn't matter. Kael knew one thing for certain—once it entered his body, it was finished.
His consciousness sank into his mental world, where he saw the colorful phoenix phantom trembling in fear.
"W-What is this thing?!" the phantom cried out in terror. "How can something this horrifying exist in this world?!"
Looking at the massive demon before it, Kael was momentarily startled himself.
"As expected. Xu Ling really did leave backups in every piece of kitchenware," Kael said with a faint, amused smile. "What a shame. Your backup plan doesn't work on me."
Xu Ling had never been a good person. After forging the legendary kitchenware, he deliberately scattered them across the world, letting them absorb vast amounts of lifespan before reclaiming them later. The consciousness he left behind in these tools was no different.
Kael had no interest in talking.
Without any restraint from Kael, Red Demon moved on pure instinct. It appeared before the fleeing phoenix phantom, grabbed it in one massive hand, and opened its mouth wide.
In the blink of an eye, the phantom was devoured.
Gone without a trace.
With Xu Ling's consciousness erased, the Auspicious Phoenix Pattern on the Garuda Knife gradually dimmed.
"…So how exactly do you transfer the lifespan stored inside this thing?" Kael muttered, studying the knife.
After a moment's thought, he pulled out his own Garuda Knife from storage.
He infused it with qi.
As his qi poured in, a colorful phoenix phantom emerged from his knife and flew straight into the other Garuda Knife.
Very quickly, Kael's qi was exhausted.
Although his qi grew rapidly thanks to his Gourmet Cells, it was still far weaker than monsters like the Phoenix Eight Immortals. He could only maintain the true form of legendary kitchenware for a very short time.
The phoenix phantom soon retreated back into the blade.
But Kael noticed something important.
His own Garuda Knife now carried an additional, twisted force within it.
Clearly, it had stolen something from the other knife.
"This must be the lifespan it seized," Kael thought.
The process required Kael to actively supply qi. His current reserves weren't enough to strip all the lifespan at once—it would take time.
Still, Kael was satisfied.
The ability for kitchenware to plunder lifespan was already an incredible advantage. As long as he accumulated enough of it, Kael was confident that, with his abilities, even the so-called problems of the culinary world wouldn't matter.
His qi needed time to recover, so Kael decided to wait and repeat the process until every last bit of lifespan was drained from the knife.
Once he had the Garuda Knife, Kael returned to Phoenix Mapo Tofu.
Next, he planned to publicly reveal that he possessed a piece of legendary kitchenware, drawing the Dark Cooking Society's attention away from the Chen siblings.
As long as the Dark Cooking Society knew the siblings no longer held any kitchenware, they would lose interest. The three were heirs of Chen-style Mapo Tofu—members of the Light Cooking World.
The Dark Cooking Society might act ruthlessly, but they always had a purpose. If there was no value to exploit, they wouldn't bother causing trouble.
When Kael returned to Phoenix Mapo Tofu, the light in Chen Yuli's room was still on. None of the siblings had gone to sleep yet; they were discussing improvements to their restaurant plans.
Then Kael climbed in through the window again.
"K-Kael?! Sir Kael?" Kong blurted out in shock. "Is there… something else you need?"
He had already learned from Meiling just how far Fengming Waterfall was. There was no way Kael could have made a round trip in such a short time.
Even earlier, when Kael carried him away at terrifying speed, it still shouldn't have been enough.
What Chen Kong didn't know was that Kael had deliberately slowed down back then so Chen Kong wouldn't be torn apart by the sheer velocity.
With no one else to worry about now, Kael's recovery speed was naturally much faster.
"I've already obtained the Garuda Knife," Kael said calmly. "I'll leave it with you for now. Tomorrow morning, hand it over to me in front of everyone."
As he spoke, he took out the Garuda Knife.
"It's the Phoenix Pattern—this really is the Garuda Knife!" Meiling stared wide-eyed. "But how is this possible? Fengming Waterfall is at least several days away!"
The appearance of the phoenix pattern didn't just confirm the knife's identity—it meant Kael had been acknowledged as its inheritor.
Their father had only been a guardian, not an inheritor. Chen Jian had tried to wield the Garuda Knife himself, but it had never reacted.
"A legendary kitchenware inheritor…" Kong murmured in awe. "I've only ever heard rumors about them. Sir Kael must be an incredibly powerful chef."
Because of Kael's overwhelming combat ability, they had all assumed he wasn't a chef at all. None of them expected this terrifyingly strong man to also be a chef.
"I wouldn't call myself that strong," Kael replied flatly. "Anyway, the kitchenware is in your hands now."
With that, he turned and left.
He wasn't being modest. He truly believed it.
He knew there were still many Supreme Dragon Chefs in this world. And whether beings like the Phoenix Eight Immortals or the Big Four stood even above Supreme Dragon Chefs was still unclear.
After all, even Liu Maoxing—after defeating Kaiyu—had been a Supreme Dragon Chef, yet he was still utterly outmatched by the Phoenix Eight Immortals.
"He just… handed us the kitchenware?" Kong stared blankly at the Garuda Knife on the table. "He's not worried we'll run off with it?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Yuli said, rolling her eyes. "A legendary knife is only truly valuable to its inheritor. To anyone else, it's just a sharper kitchen knife."
She wrapped her hand around the Garuda Knife, secretly wondering if she might be acknowledged—but as expected, nothing happened.
"And don't forget," she continued, "this thing puts our lives at risk. The Dark Cooking Society is still watching us."
To her, the Garuda Knife felt like a burning hot potato. Keeping it would only bring disaster.
"Besides," Meiling added quietly, "don't forget Sir Kael's strength. Think about how far Fengming Waterfall is—and how little time he was gone."
Only then did Kong and Yuli exchange looks, horror dawning in their eyes.
They had been so distracted by the legendary kitchenware that they'd forgotten the most terrifying detail.
"Is he… even human?" Kong whispered, mouth hanging open. "No human could make that round trip so fast. Can he fly or something?"
He couldn't comprehend how anyone could reach Fengming Waterfall, retrieve the knife, and return in such a short span of time.
And the idea that Kael had already obtained the knife beforehand never even crossed their minds.
If that were the case, why would he bother explaining anything? He could have just taken it and left.
"So… he really did just get it," Kong muttered.
"Sir Kael really is an incredible person," Yuli said softly. "Enough. Let's prepare to hand over the knife tomorrow morning."
She felt a fleeting sense of temptation—but she knew better.
Someone like Kael was far beyond her reach.
And with the Dark Cooking Society's attention about to shift toward Kael, she didn't dare get any closer. Kael might not fear the Dark Cooking Society, but she certainly did.
That single thought crushed the spark before it could grow.