Food Immersion was practically a standard ability among top-tier powerhouses in the Toriko world.
Combat in that world ran on calories—energy stored within the cells. Even with Gourmet Cells, the amount of calories in the body was not infinite. Food Immersion was essentially a temporary buff that raised one's calorie capacity.
That was why even Ichiryu and Three-Tiger would always perform Food Immersion before a major battle. They needed enough calories stockpiled—otherwise, they would be at a massive disadvantage once a serious fight began.
Of course, this boost was only temporary and couldn't be retained long-term. That was precisely why powerhouses in the Toriko world always prepared Food Immersion ahead of major battles.
The prerequisite for Food Immersion was Food Honor at the proficient level. Only with that level of precise control could one accurately sense the limits of their cells, let alone force them open. Without such control, it was impossible even to perceive the cellular ceiling, much less break past it.
For Kael, mastering Food Immersion wasn't particularly difficult.
In fact, for anyone whose Food Honor had reached proficiency, this wasn't much of a challenge.
It took Kael only a few days to successfully unlock the limits of his cells. That said, this opening was still temporary, and since he had only just mastered Food Immersion, he couldn't store a large amount of extra calories yet.
After mastering it, Kael also realized something else—Food Immersion itself needed constant improvement. Otherwise, even though the calorie count in the cells could exceed their normal limits, the excess would still be very limited.
In other words, Food Immersion was a path that could be continuously developed.
And frankly, developing it further was going to be difficult.
For now, though, Kael's attention wasn't on that.
Because the fourth area of Gourmet Corp had opened.
Naturally, Kael was curious—what exactly would the fourth area bring?
The moment he entered the fourth area, he noticed that the surroundings had changed completely. At the same time, he received the reward for unlocking it.
"Food luck? It's actually food luck—they're even giving that as a reward?!"
After receiving it, Kael's eyes widened in disbelief.
Food luck was an incredibly important concept in the Toriko world.
Toriko and Komatsu were able to make it to the very end largely because of food luck. Otherwise, Komatsu would have died back in the beach cave at the very beginning. It was food luck that allowed him to encounter Master Jiro when he was on the brink of death.
The same was true for Toriko.
If not for food luck, he would have died the first time he entered the Gourmet World. That place was so hostile that Toriko running into Master Jiro there was purely a matter of luck. Anyone else would have been dead the moment they set foot inside.
The Gourmet World wasn't a place you could survive in with just level 100 strength. To barely stay alive, you needed several hundred levels. To live with even a little comfort, you needed strength on the level of the Rain King or higher.
Even in the final battle—dodging Acacia's attacks and landing counterattacks—food luck played a decisive role.
In the Toriko world, food luck was absurdly important.
With strong enough food luck, you practically didn't need to worry about danger. No matter what crisis you encountered, you'd always turn disaster into fortune—and come out with massive gains.
That was, of course, assuming you didn't actively burn through your food luck.
Once food luck was deliberately consumed, it was gone forever—unless you had an ability like Three-Tiger's, which allowed him to directly copy food luck.
The food luck Kael received now wasn't especially strong, but it would grow over time. It could also actively absorb ambient food luck from nature itself.
For Kael, that was incredibly valuable.
With enough food luck, he would effectively become a true protagonist.
And it seemed that food luck also had some connection to the Gourmet Gods.
After absorbing the food luck, Kael checked the fourth area of Gourmet Corp.
And the moment he did, he was genuinely startled.
Because standing within the fourth area… was Three-Tiger himself.
To clear the fourth area, Kael didn't need to defeat Three-Tiger—but he did need to earn his recognition.
Seeing that condition, Kael's eyelid twitched.
Three-Tiger's recognition?
What kind of person was Three-Tiger?
In the final battle, even though Toriko had gone full protagonist mode, the true main damage dealer was still Three-Tiger. Even the release of the Gourmet Spice to save the world had been accomplished by Three-Tiger using Joie's food luck.
Granted, Three-Tiger had his issues. Gourmet Corp was founded by him, and even though he personally handled things with his fists and rarely managed affairs, a portion of the atrocities committed by his subordinates still fell on his shoulders.
But all that aside—Three-Tiger wasn't truly evil.
His greatest flaw was his obsessive longing for maternal love.
Even so, earning the recognition of someone like him?
Kael honestly didn't think he could do it anytime soon.
His Food Honor had only just reached proficiency, and he had only just mastered Food Immersion. In the Human World, he'd be considered extremely strong—but in the eyes of someone like Three-Tiger, he was still a beginner.
"Since you're here, let's begin. My teaching method is simple—combat. Don't worry, I'll suppress my cell level to match yours."
Three-Tiger's figure had already appeared in the fourth area.
His teaching style was just as direct and brutal as expected: hands-on combat.
Kael felt helpless—but he still steeled himself and stepped forward.
If he wanted to grow stronger, he couldn't back down. And besides, dying here wouldn't mean real death anyway.
If he couldn't even endure this much hardship, what right did he have to talk about becoming strong?
So Kael engaged Three-Tiger head-on.
The result left him speechless.
In just a single exchange—before he even saw Three-Tiger move—his vision went black.
He was instantly killed.
Even with his cell level suppressed to Kael's level, Three-Tiger's experience and techniques were still intact. Getting one-shot was completely normal.
After all, Kael himself could fight opponents at level 60 with a cell level in the twenties. As long as the opponent's Food Honor wasn't higher than his, they were basically no match for him.
But Kael didn't give up.
He entered the fourth area again.
This time, Three-Tiger didn't instantly kill him.
After all, the purpose here was teaching.
Once Three-Tiger understood Kael's situation, he naturally held back, allowing Kael to at least follow his movements. While fighting, Three-Tiger continuously explained combat techniques and principles.
Even though Kael possessed Toriko's inheritance, Three-Tiger's guidance was still immensely valuable.
In the end, Toriko had only surpassed Three-Tiger in terms of cell level. In true combat skill, Toriko still lagged behind both Three-Tiger and Acacia.
Those two had accumulated centuries of experience.
Toriko's generation had taken the fast track—cell levels shot up, but their fighting style was still mostly brute force. That was precisely why Three-Tiger remained the main damage dealer in the final battle.
After an entire night of training, Kael had been utterly battered—but he had gained a great deal.
Three-Tiger's guidance significantly accelerated Kael's digestion of Toriko's inheritance. He also learned a few techniques directly from Three-Tiger.
Of course, many of Three-Tiger's moves were tied to his Gourmet Demon—techniques like Meteor Spice and Gourmet Spice.
And Three-Tiger's weapon was his tongue, while Kael fought with his hands and feet.
Those techniques couldn't be copied.
But Three-Tiger's methods of exerting force, his control, and his combat experience—those were things Kael could learn.
He didn't need to master everything Three-Tiger knew.
He only needed to earn his recognition.
That alone would clear the fourth area.
Still, Kael had come to realize something—his cell level had become a bottleneck.
He needed to find a way to raise it as soon as possible.
Otherwise, many techniques couldn't be learned or executed properly.
Because of that, Kael decided to head to a new world.
But before doing so, there was one thing he needed to do first.
Food Immersion.
Kael returned to the capital.
By now, the Taiji Cuisine Realm had moved its headquarters there as well.
Despite becoming emperor, Lan Fei Hong hadn't been raised in the imperial court, so he lacked the rigid, old-fashioned mindset of traditional royalty. Combined with the materials Kael had given them, his rule felt less like an empire and more like a modern leadership structure.
As a result, Lan Fei Hong had no objections to the Taiji Cuisine Realm making the capital its base.
When Kael arrived, Lan Fei Hong showed no arrogance whatsoever.
He knew very well that everything he had now existed because of Kael.
What Kael could give, he could also take away.
Kael's existence stood above imperial authority itself—there was no way Lan Fei Hong would dare to put on airs in front of him.
Kael had no issue with Lan Fei Hong being emperor. As long as things developed in the direction Kael had laid out, that was enough.
"Lord Kael, have you returned with new instructions?"
The people of the Taiji Cuisine Realm were deeply respectful toward Kael. In their eyes, his abilities had already reached a godlike, demonic level.
"Prepare these ingredients. I need a massive amount of food."
With a wave of his hand, Kael released huge quantities of stored ingredients.
He was preparing for Food Immersion.
Food Immersion had its limits, and his mastery of it was still shallow. And since these weren't ingredients from the Toriko world but from the Cooking Master Boy world, he would need a lot of them.
Kael also had no intention of eating bad-tasting food.
He could cook for himself—but why bother, when he had an entire group of elite chefs under his command?
Seeing Kael produce so many ingredients out of thin air, Lan Fei Hong's eyes went wide.
He had heard countless times that Kael was godlike—but witnessing it firsthand was something else entirely.
As for the Taiji Cuisine Realm, they were already used to such scenes and didn't react much.
They were curious why Kael needed so much food, but they didn't ask questions. Orders from Kael were to be followed—especially since they had gained immense benefits from him.
The Phoenix Eight Immortals immediately began cooking.
Lan Fei Hong stayed out of it.
On one hand, his cooking skills were far inferior to theirs. On the other, his current position made it awkward to join in.
Even if he didn't see himself as a traditional emperor, the title still existed.
As long as he could lead everyone toward a better life, the title itself didn't matter.
Before long, dish after dish was brought out.
The palace maids delivering the food struggled desperately not to drool. They had served dishes from the Imperial Kitchen before—but compared to the Phoenix Eight Immortals, the difference was night and day.
Kael even handed over the legendary kitchenware to them. He had two full sets, and legendary tools were no longer useful to him anyway—he now had his own exclusive kitchenware.
As the table filled with dishes, Kael began eating.
Lan Fei Hong watched from the side—and gradually, his eyes widened again.
He had assumed Kael was having the food prepared for storage.
But instead, Kael started eating directly.
And the speed was terrifying.
Ordinary people ate by picking up bites with chopsticks.
Kael didn't even need utensils.
He simply picked up plates, bowls, whatever was there—and dumped everything straight into his mouth.
Only someone with Gourmet Cells could eat like that.
Those with Gourmet Cells possessed absurd digestive abilities. The moment food entered their body, it was rapidly broken down into nutrients and stored within their cells.
Now that Kael had mastered Food Honor, his digestion was even faster, producing virtually no waste at all.
As a result, his eating looked utterly shocking.
Lan Fei Hong, the palace attendants, and the eunuchs all stared in stunned silence.
The Phoenix Eight Immortals soon learned from the maids why Kael wanted all this food—to eat it.
Though it felt unbelievable, they continued cooking nonstop.
Dish after dish was served… and vanished in a single bite.
Kael didn't even bother spitting out bones.
To his current teeth, bones were no different from tofu.
One crunch, swallowed—and instantly broken down, completely digested.