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Existences like Setsuno and the Medicinal Cuisine King Yuda were, first and foremost, long-lived. Especially Setsuno, who was already over five hundred years old.
Secondly, their Food Honor had long since reached mastery.
Yuuki's advantages were completely non-existent in front of them...
So, when facing these Chefs, Yuuki couldn't just leapfrog ranks. However, thinking about Setsuno and the others' ages...
Yuuki suddenly realized he seemed to have another bargaining chip—his Ki had grown to such an extent that he could now directly plunder others' lifespan and transfer it to other people—
In the world of Toriko, don't be fooled by how Setsuno and the others had lived for over five hundred years.
Ichiryu, Jiro, and Midora were fine, but Setsuno was different.
Her Gourmet Cell potential couldn't compare to these three. So, after several hundred years, her lifespan was already running low.
Besides that, there was also her aged appearance.
Knocking Master Jiro and the others could preserve their youth. It was just that Jiro, because of Setsuno, had taken on the form of a little old man.
Using acupressure techniques could allow one to temporarily return to their peak period. Granny Ayame from the former 1st Biotope was like this. But once subjected to a severe impact, it would become ineffective.
So, Setsuno hadn't used this method to return to a youthful state because she knew it was false.
But if she could truly return to a youthful state, then for Setsuno, it would undoubtedly be good news.
What woman doesn't love beauty? Setsuno was the same.
Yuuki hadn't thought of this before. Now he found his bargaining chips had increased again. If these two chips were thrown out, although he couldn't guarantee he could max out Setsuno's favorability, it would be enough for both Setsuno and Knocking Master Jiro to owe him a very large favor.
Thinking of this, Yuuki walked towards the city.
....
The core area of Gourmet Town required swiping a Gourmet ID and buying a ticket to enter, but the peripheral areas didn't. Yuuki didn't plan to go to the core area; after all, Setsuno wasn't there.
Afterwards, Yuuki asked a few passersby about the location of Setsuno Dining Hall. Setsuno's fame was super high—everyone naturally knew where her dining hall was.
It was just that normally no one went to Setsuno Dining Hall. The reason was simple: Setsuno didn't open the restaurant for profit; entertaining guests was all based on the mood of the ingredients.
If the ingredients felt it was okay, then she would entertain guests once. So, the opening times of Setsuno Dining Hall were always random.
Sometimes it might be open for several consecutive days, but sometimes it might only open once every few months.
Besides that, Yuuki inquired about matters concerning the Century Soup. In the original story, Komatsu creating the Century Soup caused a huge stir, known by everyone.
So, such a thing could be found out just by asking around. The final result he got was that Komatsu hadn't made the Century Soup yet, so Yuuki's "door-opener" could still be used.
....
"This is certainly… abrupt!"
After finding Setsuno Dining Hall, Yuuki looked at the building before him and found it somewhat amusing.
Setsuno Dining Hall could be said to embody "old, dilapidated, and small."
To its left was a huge castle; to its right was also a tall skyscraper. Sandwiched in the middle, Setsuno Dining Hall was just an ordinary small, flat-roofed building.
Yuuki estimated this Dining Hall had probably existed for several hundred years. Perhaps it was out of nostalgia for the past, so this dining hall had never been renovated.
Setsuno wasn't the type to be indifferent to fame and fortune. The Chef organization under Setsuno was the largest Chef organization in the entire Human World.
During the Four-Beast incident, others could barely scrape together a few thousand or ten thousand Chefs, but Setsuno alone brought out over a million Chefs.
This number was REALLY horrifying.
And wanting to join Setsuno's banner—not just any Chef could. The million or so Chefs Setsuno temporarily gathered were all elites among Chefs.
....
No longer focusing on the appearance of Setsuno Dining Hall, Yuuki directly knocked on the door. Although Setsuno was very famous, no one had the audacity to just come and knock on her door.
After all, Setsuno was one of the Gourmet National Treasures. With this resounding reputation, no one would want to come and challenge her.
What's more, Setsuno was good friends with IGO's chairman, Ichiryu.
And her partner was the Knocking Knocking Master Jiro. So, whoever troubled Setsuno, the final outcome wouldn't be good—
....
After Yuuki knocked on the door, after a while, the door opened. However, the person standing inside wasn't Setsuno, but another short young girl.
Yuuki knew this girl. She was Nono, Setsuno's apprentice.
Her Culinary skills were very strong, and her ability was ice-based. In the original story, after Midora destroyed the ecosystem of the Human World, Nono used her ice to preserve a large amount of food in advance.
"Hello, may I help you...?" Nono wasn't arrogant at all due to her high status.
On the contrary, Nono was a very polite person, and she was like this to everyone.
"Hello, my name is Yuuki. I have something concerning the Century Soup that I'd like to discuss with Setsuno." Yuuki directly stated his purpose.
As soon as these words were out, Nono's expression changed.
She knew the importance of the Century Soup to her master. Since she started following Setsuno, she knew Setsuno had been researching the Century Soup all along.
But now, almost a hundred years had passed, and Setsuno's research still hadn't succeeded.
As for how Yuuki knew Setsuno was researching the Century Soup—actually, many guests had tasted the incomplete Century Soup.
"Mr. Yuuki, please come in. I'll go find my master now!"
Saying this, Nono directly let Yuuki in. Though she didn't know what information Yuuki had about the Century Soup, she knew very well now that she needed to let her master make the decision.
After pouring Yuuki a cup of tea, Nono directly entered the underground kitchen.
Yuuki wasn't in a hurry either, slowly drinking his tea and waiting. It had to be said, the various ingredients in the world of Toriko were truly excellent. The tea in the cup before him was very good.
This was the best tea he had ever drunk among all the teas he had tasted.
Soon, Nono and an old lady with pink hair walked out from the underground kitchen.
"A pleasure to meet you, Granny Setsuno. I'm Yuuki!"
An old Chef several hundred years old with super strong skills—Yuuki was very respectful. He stood up and greeted Setsuno upon seeing her. While he knew he was about to make a deal with her, the necessary courtesy couldn't be absent.
"So young, yet you've already trained Food Honor to high level. Impressive!"
Setsuno was somewhat surprised the moment she saw Yuuki.
....
"Alright, let's talk about your purpose for coming to see me. Since you came here—then you must have grasped some good information, right!" Setsuno knew very well that since Yuuki came to her—the information he has must be quite important.
"Then I'll get straight to the point. Regarding the Century Soup, I don't know how many types of ingredients are needed to make it, nor what ingredients are needed. But I know the indispensable key to completing the Century Soup."
"This key lies within the Century Soup itself." Yuuki said.
As soon as these words were out, Setsuno was taken aback for a moment. She seemed to have grasped something, but it was still somewhat vague.
But she knew that what Yuuki said must be useful; this might really be the key to completing the Century Soup.
"Continue..." Setsuno felt that today, the Century Soup might just reappear.
"The Century Soup is a miraculous dish completed only after a hundred years of sedimentation in the Ice Hell. The essence extracted from the Gourmet Showcase needs to settle for a hundred years before it can form the Century Soup."
"The birth of the Century Soup cannot do without the precipitation of time. This is something humans cannot replace. So, the key to completing the Century Soup lies in the Century Soup itself."
"Wanting to bypass the long period of sedimentation in a special environment—perhaps the soup itself is needed as a catalyst." Yuuki said.
Having said this much, a super Chef like Setsuno couldn't not understand.
This was like making Stinky Tofu. It needed time to ferment.
Although in this era, some people had mastered special bacterial strains and could perhaps complete it in a short time—
—But the qualitative change of the Century Soup, which occurred only after a hundred years of sedimentation, was not a process that could be easily skipped.
Setsuno's Century Soup had actually already reached its limit. Perhaps it just needed to settle for a long time in a specific environment to be completed.
Komatsu, on the other hand, had taken a shortcut. Because the Wall Penguin Clan lived in the Ice Hell year-round and could drink the Century Soup.
So, from the birth of the Century Soup, their Clan had been drinking it. Over time, the Century Soup was passed down through their genes.
There was another similar example: The Monkey King Clan. Back then, a certain generation of the Monkey King, due to greed, directly drank the source of PAIR. Ultimately, this led to PAIR parasitizing it and being continuously passed down with its descendants.
The Wall Penguins drinking the Century Soup was like this.
In Yuuki's view, it wasn't necessarily that one needed to use the Wall Penguin's saliva. Perhaps the Wall Penguin's blood, tears, including the Wall Penguin itself, were all catalysts for the Century Soup.
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