Early the next morning, both Phoenix Mapo and Mapo Palace remained closed.
The sight stunned everyone.
After all, these two restaurants usually did booming business, with customers lining up nonstop. Yet today, their doors were shut tight.
The confusion didn't last long.
Once people noticed the notice posted outside, everything became clear.
Both Mapo Palace and Phoenix Mapo had decided to close for good.
Kong, Yuli, and Meiling had returned to the original Family Mapo Tofu shop. They intended to reopen it from scratch.
"What's going on? Everything was going perfectly—how did things suddenly take such a turn? Weren't Kong and Yuli supposed to be sworn enemies by now?"
Members of the Dark Cooking Society stared at the notice on Mapo Palace's door, completely dumbfounded. This was nothing like the plan they had laid out.
But regardless of their confusion, the target hadn't changed.
Dark Cooking Society members quickly moved toward the Family Mapo shop.
By the time they arrived, the restaurant was already open.
The three siblings stood at the entrance, explaining the situation to the gathered crowd.
"That's basically what happened. My sister and I had some misunderstandings before, but those have been resolved now," Kong said.
"So we've decided to reopen Family Mapo together." "And there's one more thing," he continued.
"We invited a guest—someone who helped our siblings reconcile. So here, we would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Kael."
With that, the three siblings turned together and bowed deeply toward Kael.
This bow wasn't for show.
They were genuinely grateful.
Without Kael, their family would have fallen apart completely. And with the Dark Cooking Society lurking in the shadows, who knew what might have happened next?
They might not even have survived.
That was why their thanks came from the heart.
"That bastard ruined our plan. How did he even pull this off?"
Dark Cooking Society members turned their gaze toward Kael as well.
Once they realized he was the cause of everything, anger flared—but so did confusion.
Just yesterday, Kong had been arrogant and openly disdainful toward his sister.
How could there be such a complete one-hundred-eighty-degree turnaround overnight?
Even with outside interference, this kind of change shouldn't have been possible.
But before they could think further, Yuli's next words left them utterly stunned.
"To thank Mr. Kael, we are gifting him the legendary Kitchenware our father once protected—the Garuda Knife."
As she spoke, Yuli stepped forward, holding a box in both hands, and stopped in front of Kael.
Kael opened it without hesitation and lifted the cleaver inside.
At once, an auspicious phoenix pattern surfaced along the blade.
This display was clearly meant for the Dark Cooking Society to see.
With the phoenix mark revealed, there was no longer any doubt—this knife was unquestionably the Garuda Knife.
"It's real! The legendary Kitchenware—the phoenix mark has appeared!"
Someone shouted, and the once-quiet crowd instantly erupted.
"It really is the phoenix mark! And those three just handed the legendary Kitchenware to someone else?! Then what the hell were all our schemes for?"
Dark Cooking Society members were grinding their teeth in fury.
They had spent a long time cooperating with Kong, acting out an elaborate play just for the sake of the legendary Kitchenware.
That Mapo Tofu was nothing more than decently tasty, yet it had sold at absurd prices purely because of their backing.
Now, all of it amounted to nothing.
"Wait… the phoenix mark," someone suddenly exclaimed.
"If the phoenix mark appeared, doesn't that mean he's the kitchenware's heir?"
The realization hit like lightning.
The phoenix mark didn't just prove the knife was genuine—it also meant the Garuda Knife had acknowledged Kael as its rightful inheritor.
Earning the recognition of legendary Kitchenware was no easy feat.
Yet Kael had done it.
"…That's actually true."
The leader of the Dark Cooking Society group stared at the scene in shock.
After a brief pause, he left several people behind to keep watch on Kael, while the rest withdrew.
This was news that had to be reported to headquarters immediately.
The appearance of a legendary Kitchenware heir was a sign—one that appeared roughly once every few decades.
Every time legendary Kitchenware resurfaced, powerful inheritors emerged soon after.
And without exception, their endings were grim.
They always met violent deaths, and the Dark Cooking Society would fade away once more.
It was practically a cycle.
The upper echelons of the Light Cooking World had tried to stop it before, but failed every time.
No matter how strongly they warned talented chefs to stay away from legendary kitchenware, events would always push them toward using it.
And once they did, death followed.
Most of the time, the Taiji Cuisine Realm was behind the scenes pulling the strings—but not always.
Eventually, the Light Cooking World's leaders stopped interfering altogether.
After all, legendary Kitchenware could never truly be destroyed.
No matter how it was handled, it would always reappear, slipping through disasters and accidents unscathed.
After the Dark Cooking Society members withdrew, Kael naturally noticed—but he didn't bother reacting.
Their attention had shifted entirely onto him now.
His next steps were clear:
transfer all the lifespan stored within the legendary Kitchenware into his own set of tools, then search for the remaining ones.
At the same time, he would keep an eye out for rare ingredients.
The world of Cooking Master Boy possessed unique ingredients that didn't exist in the World of Food Wars, though they were exceedingly rare.
But Kael knew of one place where such ingredients weren't uncommon—Qingzhao Mountain, where Master Yuxian, one of the Big Four, resided.
Every year, countless chefs attempted to visit Master Yuxian and study under him.
Yet very few ever succeeded.
To reach Qingzhao Mountain's depths, one needed a guide—someone whose approval granted entry.
Without one, entering Qingzhao Mountain meant almost certain death.
The mountain was crawling with terrifying beasts.
The fatality rate was nearly one hundred percent.
Kael suspected those beasts spared guides because of qigong, as well as a single correct path likely created by Master Yuxian himself.
Without a guide, intruders would inevitably be attacked.
Flesh and blood alone couldn't stand against such monsters.
Even Arkan wouldn't survive—his Explosive Flame consumed enormous stamina, and the sheer number of beasts on Qingzhao Mountain made brute force useless.
Unless one could fly.
For example, the Taiji Cuisine Realm's airships could bypass the danger entirely.
But the Taiji Cuisine Realm had no reason to provoke one of the Big Four over nothing.
To others, Qingzhao Mountain was a death zone.
To Kael, it was a land of priceless opportunity.
So he decided to absorb the lifespan from the Kitchenware while heading for Qingzhao Mountain.
As for the remaining legendary tools, he wasn't worried.
He already knew the approximate locations of most of them.
Once Qingzhao Mountain stopped yielding value, he'd move on to the next.
After making up his mind, Kael parted ways with the siblings.
They understood that Kael lived in a completely different world from theirs and didn't try to hold him back.
The three of them focused on rebuilding Family Mapo, making several adjustments.
Business steadily improved, and customers grew more numerous by the day.
Meanwhile, after asking for directions, Kael set off openly for Qingzhao Mountain.
He didn't hide his movements.
In fact, he deliberately allowed Dark Cooking Society members to follow him—drawing them all away.
If he vanished too abruptly, they would lose his trail entirely.
As Kael departed, news about him spread rapidly throughout the culinary world.
Information didn't travel as fast as in later eras, but it still moved faster than people.
Within days, the entire culinary world knew.
The Dark Cooking Society received the news as well.
"The heir of the legendary Kitchenware has appeared again? And he took the Garuda Knife?"
"So it seems another round of Kitchenware warfare is about to begin."
Inside the Dark Cooking Society's assembly hall, all Five Tiger Stars were present.
The speaker was Ensei.
"Once a Kitchenware heir appears, conflict is inevitable," Kaiyu said calmly.
"Ensei, the Voracious Wolf Pot is your responsibility. Retrieve it."
"As for the Jade Dragon Pot, it should still be in the imperial palace, but its exact location is unknown. Our reach doesn't extend there yet—leave it for now."
"The Spirit Storehouse is in Guazhou, but we need a map to find it."
"The Ever-Soul Knife is at Daxian Temple. That's the Light Cooking World's stronghold—we can't force our way in."
"The other Kitchenware have rough locations, but finding them would be like searching for needles in the sea. We'll need to start with that old bastard Ruoh."
Kaiyu frowned slightly.
Not all legendary Kitchenware had guardians.
They targeted the Garuda Knife because it was the easiest to seize.
Now that it was gone, the clearest next target was the Voracious Wolf Pot.
As for the Ever-Soul Knife, even knowing its location didn't help—Daxian Temple was untouchable.
Just as Liangshanpo was the Dark Cooking Society's core territory—where even the court held no power—Daxian Temple was the Light Cooking World's equivalent.
That was why Ruoh had been entrusted with the map.
They couldn't seize the Ever-Soul Knife by force.
They couldn't take the map from Ruoh either.
"What about letting Rēn handle the Ever-Soul Knife?" Juchi suggested.
"He came from Yangquan Restaurant, after all."
"Fine. Let him go," Kaiyu replied.
"But that kid isn't very reliable. Keep someone watching him."
Kaiyu didn't fully trust Rēn.
The Dark Cooking Society couldn't act directly, but Rēn could.
If Rēn obtained the Ever-Soul Knife, they could then secure the map from Ruoh.
With the map in hand, locating the remaining Kitchenware would be far easier.
"Oh, right," Kaiyu added.
"That Kael fellow—interesting that he shares my surname."
"The Garuda Knife in his hands must be taken as well."
"Just seize it directly. He came out of nowhere, and since he's a Kitchenware heir, his skills won't be weak."
"Winning the knife through a cooking duel would be difficult."
In the original story, Kaiyu preferred formal cooking duels and only resorted to dirty tactics after failing.
But that depended on who he was facing.
Liu Maoxing had the Imperial Kitchen behind him—messing with that carried consequences.
Kael, however, had no reputation, no backing.
For someone like that, there was no need for shokugeki or rules.
Besides, even sending out a Five Tiger Star didn't guarantee victory against a Kitchenware heir.
Force was simply more efficient.
With Kaiyu's orders given, the Dark Cooking Society sprang into motion.
At the same time, the Light Cooking World began to react as well.
__________
*The Bonus Chapter*