The Light Culinary World didn't just sit around doing nothing either. They wanted to contribute in whatever way they could, so they tried using cooking duels to defeat the Taiji Cuisine Realm. The outcome, however, was exactly what one would expect—miserable.
After all, the Phoenix Eight Immortals were beings who had already surpassed Supreme Dragon Chefs. On top of that, the Taiji Cuisine Realm still had plenty of Dragon Chefs and Supreme Dragon Chefs under its banner. Even against those alone, the Light Culinary World stood no chance.
The Imperial Kitchen, at full strength, only had two Supreme Dragon Chefs. Even if you counted a few recluses living in seclusion, the result wouldn't change much.
Even Lan Fei Hong and Liu Maoxing stepping in made no real difference. Neither of them currently had the blessing of destiny. While their growth was still astonishingly fast, they simply couldn't contend with existences like the Phoenix Eight Immortals.
In the end, all they managed to do was defeat a few members of the Taiji Cuisine Realm. When faced with the Phoenix Eight Immortals themselves, the gap was far too wide.
In terms of force, the Taiji Cuisine Realm had GT Robots—essentially invincible weapons. And in cooking, without the Big Four stepping in, the Light Culinary World had no way to match the Taiji Cuisine Realm either.
"Zhou Yu, from here on out, you shouldn't get involved anymore. And that includes you too, Mao. This is no longer something the Light Culinary World can handle."
"You should consider yourselves lucky. This time, the Taiji Cuisine Realm only defeated chefs instead of killing them. In the past, with their style of doing things, once you lost a challenge, death was the only outcome."
At Yangquan Restaurant, Master Ruoh looked at the two of them with a grave expression. He had already used every ounce of his true insight.
"But are we really supposed to just ignore it?" Liu Maoxing asked. "According to the rumors in the culinary world, the Taiji Cuisine Realm is even worse than the Dark Cooking Society!"
Liu Maoxing was kindhearted to a fault. Letting such a brutal organization take control of the world was something he couldn't accept.
"The Taiji Cuisine Realm of the past was indeed like that," Master Ruoh said calmly. "But the current Taiji Cuisine Realm has changed drastically."
"The cities they've taken over haven't seen soldiers daring to run wild. The moment someone steps out of line, the Taiji Cuisine Realm responds with ruthless suppression. We already know this."
"In the old days, the Taiji Cuisine Realm would never have done something like this. If nothing else, this change is almost certainly because of Kael. After all, the Taiji Cuisine Realm is now under his command."
"You're all aware of what's going on with the Big Four. They're not people who avoid trouble for no reason. If they chose seclusion, it means they must know something."
"So from start to finish, this whole situation feels strange. And right now, we don't even have the power to resist. If the Phoenix Eight Immortals don't act, you might still scrape by. But the moment they do, we have no options left."
"And you've seen the Taiji Cuisine Realm's public statements. Even though they're rebels now, there's nothing wrong with their rhetoric."
"The Light Culinary World has already rotted away. In that case, a major purge might not be such a bad thing."
"As for the court… I know saying this is treasonous, but throughout history, the downfall of dynasties has always followed the same pattern."
"The current court is no exception. Even if the Taiji Cuisine Realm didn't act, someone else eventually would. Mao, you've traveled around enough—surely you've seen what those local officials are really like."
Master Ruoh had a very clear grasp of the situation. At his words, Liu Maoxing fell silent.
Everywhere he went, even if not all officials were corrupt, at least seven or eight out of ten were. They trampled lives underfoot and squeezed the people dry—things that filled him with rage.
Liu Maoxing had always tried to change them using his Chef's Heart. But how long could such changes last? And there were simply too many of them. He couldn't possibly save them all.
On top of that, when the top is crooked, the bottom follows. If the court itself was hopelessly incompetent, how many truly upright officials could there be below? With that realization, Liu Maoxing had nothing left to say.
"It looks like the dynasty is about to change again," Zhou Yu said after a pause. "On the surface, it seems like the Taiji Cuisine Realm is making the first move, but the one truly standing behind it is Kael. He probably realized just how rotten the court had become and decided to wipe it out entirely."
"The changes within the Taiji Cuisine Realm must be related to him as well. Otherwise, they'd never treat ordinary civilians so gently."
Zhou Yu nodded. His thoughts matched Master Ruoh's. They had already stepped in and failed—at this point, no one could really blame them for backing off.
As for whether the court would start conscripting troops, it was probably already terrified out of its mind.
That horrifying, bizarre creature on the battlefield was nothing short of a merciless killing machine. No tactic could stop it. If it wanted to take a city, it simply charged through the rain of arrows, reached the gates, and smashed them open with a single punch.
If the Taiji Cuisine Realm didn't need time to consolidate control over each region, they probably would have already marched straight into the capital.
Now, whenever the army faced the Taiji Cuisine Realm, there was no will to resist at all. Most of the generals simply chose to flee.
After all, if the court was this corrupt and useless, why should they die for it?
As a result, the Taiji Cuisine Realm's advance was unstoppable. Everyone knew resistance was futile, so one city after another gave up without a fight.
From what the Taiji Cuisine Realm had shown so far, their rule looked far better than the current court's. Many common people even welcomed them.
While the Taiji Cuisine Realm was sweeping across the land, Kael himself was paying a visit to Master Yuxian on Mt. Qingzhao.
"What an incredible creature," Master Yuxian said in amazement. "And so powerful. I really have no idea where you found something like this."
The first time he saw Behemoth, even Master Yuxian had been stunned. A body dozens of meters long, with a ferocious and grotesque appearance—it radiated pure terror.
Kael's visit itself had been unexpected. Although Master Yuxian rarely interacted with the outside world, Arman still passed along information. Combined with his reading of destiny, he already knew that the Taiji Cuisine Realm had fallen under Kael's command.
Strictly speaking, the one rebelling now wasn't just the Taiji Cuisine Realm—it was Kael himself. Logically, Kael should have been leading them in rebellion. So why come here instead?
"Amazing, right?" Kael said with a smile. "I don't even know exactly what it is myself. This time, though, I came to Mt. Qingzhao for the beasts here."
"For the beasts?" Master Yuxian asked in surprise. "Haven't you already captured most of the mutated beasts here? Why the sudden interest?"
"This time, it's not just for eating," Kael replied. "I want to try taming them."
"Taming?" Master Yuxian chuckled. "Come to think of it, you tamed that big fellow too, didn't you? What, are you planning to become the king of all beasts?"
"Something like that," Kael said. "I plan to tame all the beasts that don't want to submit."
If anyone else had said that, Master Yuxian would have thought they were insane. But coming from Kael, it sounded… possible.
After chatting for a while, Kael set off. He had already prepared a large number of potions—about as many as could be made at this stage.
He had even modified them based on available ingredients. After all, many of the original materials came from entirely different worlds. He could only substitute them based on their effects, which meant a lot of testing was still needed.
These weren't perfumes like the ones Rin used. Clearly, the beast-taming methods of Gourmet Corp were completely different.
Before long, Kael found his first target—a fierce tiger. It wasn't a mutated beast, but among ordinary beasts, it was still extremely powerful.
Without hesitation, Kael tossed a bottle toward it. The bottle shattered on the ground, and the liquid inside rapidly evaporated into the air.
This was a potion that inflicted intense pain on beasts.
Unlike Rin's gentler methods, Gourmet Corp's approach was brutally straightforward: pain.
Submit, and the pain stops. Refuse, and death is the only outcome.
In the Cooking Master Boy world, Kael didn't need potions at all. A single burst of intimidation would make beasts submit instantly. But that wasn't true beast taming—things were simply easier there.
In the Toriko world, intimidation alone wasn't enough. That was why Kael still relied on potions.
Under their effect, the tiger collapsed, writhing and rolling on the ground, all traces of its kingly presence gone.
The tiger quickly realized that its suffering was caused by the man in front of it.
Kael then made a series of hand gestures—signals meaning submission. These gestures were part of Gourmet Corp's research. To tame beasts, communication was essential.
Not all beasts could understand human language, so Gourmet Corp developed a system of body language. Through specific gestures, beasts could understand intent, and humans could understand the beasts in return.
Seeing the gestures, the tiger understood. No matter how mighty it was, it couldn't endure this torment.
It immediately submitted.
Kael stopped the potion's effect and, just like that, turned the tiger into his mount.
The tiger, of course, dared not resist. It carried Kael onward, helping him find other beasts.
Using the same method, Kael tamed many more beasts. Soon, a whole pack followed behind him.
When it came to mutated beasts, however, potions alone weren't enough. Additional methods were required.
Through this process, Kael even learned basic knocking techniques. Combined with potions, their effectiveness improved dramatically—though these were only beginner-level skills.
They couldn't compare to Master Jiro's terrifying techniques—after all, Jiro could even stop the Earth's rotation.
Even so, Kael's knocking techniques were already far more domineering than anything found in martial arts worlds.
In this way, Kael tamed a massive number of beasts, including several mutated ones.
After several days, while he hadn't subdued every beast on Mt. Qingzhao, the vast majority were now under his control.
At this point, Kael could truly be called the king of beasts—no, the king of all beasts.
Such large-scale activity naturally caused a stir. With so many beasts moving together, it eventually drew Master Yuxian out.
He had believed taming these beasts wouldn't be difficult for Kael. But seeing Kael leading an enormous horde across Mt. Qingzhao left him stunned all over again.
The sheer scale—beasts of all kinds, packed together like a black tide. If this force were unleashed outside, it would be a terrifying army.
Against such beasts, imprisonment or resistance would be meaningless.
"You really are terrifying," Master Yuxian said as he descended from the sky. "If you took all of these beasts out with you, people out there would be scared to death."
Some of the beasts stirred restlessly when they saw Master Yuxian, but with Kael present, nothing happened.
"True. Taking them out would be horrifying," Kael agreed. "That's why I don't plan to. The Taiji Cuisine Realm doesn't need their help either. I only tamed them to test my methods."
He had no intention of taking the beasts away.
Leaving them here was just fine.