With Titan's intimidation, Setsuna's journey was smooth and unimpeded, and it only took him a little over ten days to reach the edge of the Fourth Continent.
"I really have Titan to thank for this," Setsuna sighed.
Along the way, he had seen too many powerful creatures. Without Titan's deterrence, he figures he would have been swallowed by another creature right after leaving the Snake King's central territory.
"Although the start of the journey was a bit winding, the future looks bright. The Gourmet World's system is very well-suited for me," Setsuna mused inwardly. Training 'Ki' requires continuous hard work, and that training consumes energy, which must be replenished by eating.
Therefore, the quantity and efficiency of his eating are especially critical.
Before this, the only ability he could think of for improving food conversion efficiency was the "Life Return" technique from the Pirate world (One Piece). But compared to the Gourmet Cells, "Life Return" can basically be tossed aside.
"Once I get back to the Human World, my top priority is to get Gourmet Cells implanted," Setsuna thought seriously. The power system of the Gourmet World is centered on food: the more you eat, and the more delicious the food is, the more power you can unlock.
But the prerequisite is that you must first be implanted with Gourmet Cells.
For most people in this world, Gourmet Cells are not something they are born with. Instead, they were discovered by the Gourmet God Acacia inside a deep-sea jellyfish—the Phantom Jellyfish.
By implanting Gourmet Cells into a human body, humans can evolve and surpass the limits of the human body after enjoying delicious food.
There are, of course, dangers associated with cell implantation. The worst-case scenario is death, and a lighter case is turning into a monster from the 'Gourmet Demon World.'
Fortunately, after several centuries of development, Gourmet Cell implantation technology is quite mature. As soon as Setsuna returns to the Human World, he will naturally be able to find a facility to perform the implantation.
Moreover, this will be a learning opportunity, as he can compare it with the implantation techniques he learned from Orochimaru.
Of course, a complete duplication of the technique is impossible; the cells being transplanted are different, and the difficulties in implantation are also unique. You can't compare them directly.
As Setsuna was thinking, he suddenly heard human voices ahead.
"Nail Punch!"
"'Nail Punch?' Isn't that the technique of Toriko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow. Has the plot already progressed to the Gourmet World? Or is this just Toriko's first exploration of the Gourmet World?
Setsuna hoped it was the latter. If it's the former, it means the era is about to run wild, much like the later stages of Naruto where all kinds of Sages and Gods were fighting. With his current strength, he would only struggle to survive and might even die from the residual shockwaves of a battle.
"15-hit Nail Punch!"
"Only 15 hits? Okay, never mind then," Setsuna breathed a sigh of relief and jogged toward the sound, simultaneously ordering Titan to stay put.
When Setsuna arrived at the destination, he indeed found a tall, muscular man fighting a huge, ferocious tiger with three heads.
"It's an Ashura Tiger," Setsuna recognized the ferocious beast that had been mentioned in the original story.
At this moment, Toriko was being brutally beaten by the Ashura Tiger, almost completely unable to fight back.
"If I remember correctly, Toriko's reckless exploration of the Gourmet World this time was ultimately saved by the Anesthetist Master Jirou," Setsuna's eyes lit up, his desire to find a master surging within him.
Jirou is one of the top powerhouses among humans. He is in no way inferior to the Snake King Setsuna met earlier; he might even be considered superior. He can stop the planet's rotation with a single blow and simultaneously apply pressure points (acupuncture) to every creature on the planet. He is truly the pinnacle of both strength and technique.
"In that case, I'll use pressure points to deal with this tiger," Seeing Toriko in imminent danger, Setsuna decisively took action. He easily leaped onto the Ashura Tiger's head, put his index and middle fingers together, and tapped the Ashura Tiger's forehead.
The colossal, tank-like Ashura Tiger immediately collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
Under Toriko's astonished gaze, Setsuna jumped down and greeted him, "Hey friend, are you alright?"
Toriko was very surprised to see his savior clearly.
He is one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Apart from a few veteran powerhouses, among the younger generation, only Zebra, who is also a Heavenly King, is definitively stronger than him. Yet Setsuna looked youthful and inexperienced on the surface, but his power was clearly far greater than his own.
However, the shock only lasted for a moment. Toriko is naturally enthusiastic and cheerful, and he quickly happily greeted him, "Thank you so much! My name is Toriko."
"Oh, so you're Toriko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. I'm Sen'na Setsuna," Setsuna replied with a smile, then suddenly looked into the distance and warned, "Watch out, more trouble is coming."
Just then, many giant, frog-like monsters burst out of a nearby waterfall. They had bird-beak-like mouths full of sharp teeth.
"They're a group of Mammu," Setsuna introduced.
"Mammu? Another type of monster with a Capture Level over 100, and they're appearing in a whole group!" Toriko couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
Any one of these frogs would be a boss-level creature in the Human World, requiring a large force of strong individuals to clear them out. And yet, this many monsters are appearing just on the edge of the Gourmet World.
"This place is too dangerous, we should..." Before Toriko could finish, Setsuna charged toward the army of frogs.
"Wolf Fang Exploding Eight Trigrams Palm!" Setsuna was like a nimble fighting wolf leaping through the frog herd, his figure quick and agile, continuously striking the bodies of the frogs.
It was as if these frogs had some kind of button on them. Setsuna only needed to gently tap one, and the frogs would crash to the ground as if they had been shut down.
"Do these frogs have pressure points too?" Toriko stared in shock. He wasn't unfamiliar with striking pressure points; for example, his friend Teppei had demonstrated extremely refined anesthetizing techniques by putting patients to sleep using acupuncture.
But compared to Setsuna, Teppei's anesthesia seemed less grand and lacked the fighting aesthetics.
"Of course they do. Everything has its pressure points, or you could also call them energy pathways." An old man holding a wine bottle staggered out of the woods.
"You're Jirou-senpai! You saved Komatsu last time!" Toriko was delighted.
"To be precise, it's Master Uncle Jirou," Jirou corrected, then smiled warmly as he secretly looked at Setsuna. "The wildness of a fighting wolf, and smooth, flowing acupuncture techniques—he's certainly a promising talent."
"What? Master Uncle?" Toriko was stunned.
"What's wrong? Did Ichiryu not tell you about the time we trained under Acacia?" Jirou asked with a smile.
"The Gourmet God Acacia? Wasn't that five hundred years ago?" Toriko was shocked again. He couldn't believe the 'Old Man' (referring to Jirou) had lived for over 500 years!
"Haha, it looks like Ichiryu really hasn't told you guys anything," Jirou's eyes showed a look of nostalgia. Seeing that Toriko wanted to press for more details, he smiled and said, "You can go ask Ichiryu yourself when you get back."