"So that's how it is. Yeah, we really should thank the boss. If this were the Dark Cooking Society, that guy Kaiyu definitely wouldn't be teaching us this kind of stuff."
Ensei nodded. He didn't actually resent his friend over it. Kaiyu was his friend, after all, and Ensei understood how things worked. Qi wasn't something Kaiyu was obligated to teach them. There was nothing to complain about.
But Kael was willing to teach them—and for that, they genuinely needed to be grateful.
The group soon arrived at Master Suikyou's residence. Several attendants lived there. They were called attendants, but in truth, each of them had decent talent, which was why they were allowed to follow Master Suikyou and study under him.
Unlike Master Yuxian, whose living environment felt almost ascetic, Master Suikyou lived like a wealthy young noble who enjoyed the finer things in life.
Kael didn't have much of an opinion about that. To him, it was simply a personal choice.
With the status of one of the Big Four in the Light Culinary World, Master Suikyou lacked nothing. Living comfortably was only natural. The Big Four all had their own ways of life—how they chose to live was their business.
Even the way Master Suikyou selected his apprentices was different. He chose beautiful women. Easy on the eyes, after all.
Because following him granted them luxurious lives and extremely high status, these attendants tended to show disdain when facing outsiders.
In the original story, Takashiro Sanji had encountered the same treatment. While Takashiro Sanji himself had made a fool of himself, honestly speaking, exposing someone's flaws to their face was either stupidity or malice.
When Kael arrived, the attendants didn't say anything outright, but their eyes said it all. There was a clear sense of superiority, as if they were looking down on ordinary people.
Even the way they looked at Kael felt off. Others might not notice it, but Kael's perception was terrifyingly sharp.
He understood their emotional shifts perfectly. Still, he didn't comment. As long as they kept their thoughts to themselves, it wasn't a problem.
Kael wasn't about to act just because of what someone was thinking. That said, an environment like Master Suikyou's did make it easy for people to lose themselves in power.
Compared to Arman, these attendants were lacking by far. Their cooking skills might not be worlds apart, but mentally, the gap was enormous.
At Mt. Qingzhao, Arman served as a guide. He led people, verified whether they were qualified to enter, and handled all related matters. Yet he never lost himself. He knew exactly who he was and never abused his authority.
Because he understood one thing clearly—his authority came from Master Yuxian. Without Master Yuxian, he wouldn't have had the right to decide who could enter Mt. Qingzhao.
These attendants were different. Their hearts had long been blinded by benefits and status. Master Suikyou, however, didn't seem to care much. After all, he himself enjoyed the privileges that came with his position.
Still, his mindset was on an entirely different level from theirs. He wouldn't lose himself just because of power.
"You lot—if you did take what I said earlier to heart, then you don't need to stay here anymore."
Master Suikyou wasn't foolish. He had sensed it too. He had already warned them that today's guests were different, that they shouldn't let their thoughts wander or gossip.
They hadn't gossiped, true—but those looks? Anyone with even slightly keen perception could tell what they were thinking.
In the past, he hadn't cared if these attendants spoke carelessly. Sometimes, even he looked down on certain visitors. But this time was different. The guest was Kael.
This was the man who had disrupted the natural order of the culinary world.
The entire culinary world was now in chaos because of Kael. Those capable of sensing changes in fate were completely at a loss.
And Kael had disrupted fate itself—yet remained completely unharmed. Someone like that wasn't someone even Master Suikyou could afford to offend.
So he spoke up without hesitation.
These attendants had been with him for a long time, and there was some attachment there. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to drive them away.
But if they caused trouble here, if they refused to behave, then he wouldn't keep them.
If Master Suikyou wanted attendants, all it would take was a single word—and the line would stretch from here all the way beyond West Lake.
"Yes—yes—we understand!"
The attendants' eyes widened in shock. Master Suikyou had never spoken to them like this before. If he was saying this now, it meant he was being completely serious.
Their hearts started pounding wildly. Each of them lowered their heads, not daring to look at either Kael or Master Suikyou, afraid that even the slightest hint of displeasure would get them thrown out.
Life here rarely involved contact with the outside world, but they loved it. Whatever they needed was delivered to them. They had no worries at all—just serve Master Suikyou properly.
And many major figures of the culinary world—people they would never have been qualified to meet before—now treated them politely.
The contrast was too great. How could they bear to leave such a paradise?
"I apologize, Mr. Kael. I've spoiled these attendants too much."
After scolding them, Master Suikyou turned and apologized to Kael.
Someone like Kael had to be treated carefully. Besides, Master Suikyou was extremely curious about auspicious energy and hoped to sense it through Kael.
When asking for help, one couldn't afford to stand too high—especially when the other party's status was no lower than one's own. To be blunt, if Kael wanted to, he could turn the Big Four into true legends rather than mere "living legends."
"It's fine. There's no need to apologize, Master Suikyou. I don't mind."
Kael genuinely didn't care. As long as they didn't say anything out loud, it wasn't an issue. If they did—that would be a different story.
Soon after, they moved to the living hall. Master Suikyou had other attendants entertain Arkan and the rest, while he personally hosted Kael. Even the ingredients used to entertain him were salvaged directly from West Lake.
"Master Suikyou, most of these should be variant ingredients, right? And they're all aquatic. Are they from West Lake itself?"
Kael examined the ingredients as he spoke. Most of them were variant ingredients. One or two would be normal—but so many appearing together, all from West Lake, suggested there might truly be something down below.
Perhaps it was similar to Mt. Qingzhao. Back then, Master Yuxian had discovered the source but dared not investigate further. This place was likely the same.
"Yes. These variant ingredients all come from West Lake. But capturing them isn't easy. I can only catch the less aggressive aquatic ones because my qi aligns particularly well with this place."
"I know what you're thinking. I already knew about Mt. Qingzhao before this. When Master Yuxian told me you found qilin remains there, I started wondering if West Lake also held the remains of some mythical creature."
"But although my qi is water-attributed, I can't directly descend into the depths to investigate. I don't know what exactly is causing the emergence of so many variant species beneath the lake."
Master Suikyou had already guessed Kael's thoughts. He'd been just as shocked when he learned the truth about Mt. Qingzhao.
Unfortunately, he couldn't confirm anything here. He didn't dare dive deep either. Even with water-attributed qi, the depths were filled with variant aquatic species.
They usually didn't come near the surface—but if one ventured too deep, it would be disastrous.
Like Master Yuxian, he was unable to investigate the true state of his surroundings.
That was why Master Suikyou had built his residence above West Lake. The water here was exceptionally pure, and cultivating water-attributed qi in this environment was far more efficient than elsewhere.
"Looks like there's something down there for sure. In that case, I'll go take a look myself."
Kael spoke calmly. He was curious too. Whatever lay beneath, he wasn't afraid.
With his current strength, he could easily handle variant species. Even underwater, he could survive for a long time.
More importantly, he had already mastered Erasing Presence.
With that technique, as long as he didn't deliberately reveal himself, those variants wouldn't be able to detect him at all.
Even creatures as perceptive as the puffer whale could be fooled by Erasing Presence—let alone the variants of this world.
No matter how special they were, they couldn't compare to the creatures of the Gourmet World.
As he spoke, Kael had already dispatched a GT Robot.
Even though it was unlikely that anything here could threaten him, caution never hurt. He'd let the GT Robot scout first. Once he confirmed there was no danger, he would head down personally.
As Kael ate, he discussed the nature of auspicious energy with Master Suikyou, even allowing him to personally sense it.
Deeply grateful, Master Suikyou opened his private library to Kael and agreed to share all the qi-related knowledge he possessed.
It was a mutually satisfying exchange.
Meanwhile, the GT Robot discovered what lay beneath the lake.
At the bottom was a massive hole. Passing through it led into a horizontal tunnel about one kilometer long. At the end of the tunnel, it sloped upward into an enormous cavern.
Inside that cavern lay a skeleton.
Just like Mt. Qingzhao.
The difference was that Mt. Qingzhao held the remains of a qilin—while here lay the bones of a thousand-kilo dragon.
Dragon bones.
Whether it was a true dragon was uncertain, but Kael clearly saw horns and claws. Only bone remained now, making it impossible to confirm if it had truly been a divine dragon.
Still, Kael felt speechless.
The Bailuo family had once used the Soul-Calming Secret Technique to pacify raging rivers, and their ultimate dish was the Four Gods Seafood Eight Treasure Bun.
The Four Gods represented the four divine beasts: Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger.
Now Kael had found a qilin—and now a dragon. Was this supposed to be the Azure Dragon?
Given the setting of the Cooking Master Boy world, this dragon was likely some lesser divine dragon. The world's scale simply wasn't high enough for anything greater.
With the GT Robot's investigation complete, Kael was ready to move.
After exchanging a few more words with Master Suikyou, Kael prepared to depart.
"Mr. Kael, I know you're strong, but please be careful down there. I've explored it before, but there are too many variants, and some are extremely aggressive. I was forced to retreat."
Master Suikyou offered a final reminder.
"Don't worry. I have my own methods."
As he spoke, Kael's aura began to fade.
He had activated Erasing Presence.
This technique could even suppress one's life force entirely.
Master Suikyou's eyes widened in shock. Just moments ago, Kael's presence had felt vast and overwhelming—but now, it was gone.
If Kael weren't standing right in front of him, Master Suikyou would have thought he had vanished completely.
Even with Kael in plain sight, his attention kept slipping away. The moment he looked aside and looked back, it became strangely difficult to focus on Kael at all.
"This… incredible. To conceal one's presence to this extent—it's as if you've disappeared from the world entirely."
Master Suikyou spoke with genuine admiration.
Just this single technique was something he couldn't replicate. If he had possessed it, he would have thoroughly explored the depths of West Lake long ago.
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