Since this attack was pinned on the Dark Cooking Society, the elders had no real way to respond. All they could do was dispatch a large number of soldiers to stir things up around the city as a show of force.
After all, the head of the Chefs' Union had been crippled—if they did nothing, how would the outside world view them?
So even though they knew this action was basically pointless, they still went through with it.
As for Elder Guan, his position was immediately stripped. There was no helping it—he was now completely disabled, unable to move, unable even to speak.
They could have found someone who understood lip-reading, but to the other elders of the Chefs' Union, the fall of the person above them simply meant more room for promotion. No matter what, that seat came with enormous benefits, so no one truly cared whether Elder Guan lived or died.
That was what it meant when a wall collapsed and everyone pushed it down. If your character was decent, you might still have friends willing to stand by you. But Elder Guan's character was anything but decent. His relationships with others were built purely on benefit that no longer existed.
Now that he had lost all value, he was discarded without hesitation.
Lying in his room, Elder Guan was utterly despairing. He was a genuine cripple now. Even if he wanted to kill himself, he couldn't—he couldn't move.
As for biting off his tongue? To be honest, that wouldn't work either. Guan Qiulan had already taken action. Whenever she wasn't present, she arranged for someone to watch him constantly.
As long as help arrived in time, even if Elder Guan truly steeled himself and bit through his tongue, at most he would lose the tongue. His life would still be saved.
Elder Guan was drowning in despair, especially after the chilling words his granddaughter—whom he had always treated as a mere tool—said to him during their conversation that day.
Guan Qiulan even told him the truth behind her illness. Aside from some degree of appetite loss, it had also been driven by her own subconscious will.
And now, it was her turn to fight back.
Elder Guan knew very well how he had treated Guan Qiulan over the years. Materially, he hadn't deprived her of anything—but raising his own granddaughter like livestock was an undeniable fact. He had never once considered her feelings.
Since he was injured, medication was naturally required. But mixed into those medicines were certain extra ingredients—things Kael had prepared specifically for Guan Qiulan.
These drugs would make Elder Guan experience what it truly meant to be worse than death. And the cruelest part was that he couldn't resist. He couldn't even cry for help.
Most importantly, these medicines wouldn't actually damage his body. Even if a doctor examined him, they wouldn't find anything wrong.
That was what drove Elder Guan to absolute despair.
Originally, Kael had planned to leave Guan Qiulan some tonics as well—medicine meant to keep Elder Guan alive. After all, he was already old and now paralyzed. Under those conditions, he wouldn't live many more years.
In the end, however, Guan Qiulan refused.
By her reasoning, she intended to take revenge, but there was no need to artificially extend the duration of that revenge. However long Elder Guan lived, she would make him suffer for exactly that long.
Since this was her own decision, Kael didn't say anything further.
After settling matters with Elder Guan, Kael left Guangzhou. He still had other Legendary Kitchenware to find.
Meanwhile, news from Guangzhou reached the Dark Cooking Society.
Over the course of several days, as report after report came in, even Kael himself was stunned.
It started with Rēn's defeat—Kael obtaining the Ever-Soul Knife and the map to the Legendary Kitchenware. Then came Rēn's betrayal, which caused heavy losses for the Dark Cooking Society's forces in Guangzhou.
And finally, there was word that the Dark Cooking Society had crippled Elder Guan.
The Dark Cooking Society members in Guangzhou were utterly dumbfounded. Their bases had been destroyed one after another; they barely dared to show their faces anymore. And now the blame was being dumped squarely on them.
Usually, this kind of underhanded scheme was something only the Dark Cooking Society pulled off. Who would have thought someone would turn it against them? It was nothing short of a humiliating disgrace.
"Damn that Rēn," Kaiyu snarled. "I trusted you, and you betray the Dark Cooking Society."
At this point, Kaiyu already regarded Rēn as a dead man. Trying to oppose an entire organization alone—back in the day, even the Jade Qilin Malyu wouldn't have dared claim he could pull that off. Let alone Rēn.
Kaiyu dispatched numerous subordinates to hunt Rēn down. The goal was simple: Rēn had to die.
At the same time, he also assigned people to keep tabs on Kael—but he didn't order an attack.
Even though Kael now possessed two Legendary Kitchenware and the map—things of immense importance to the Dark Cooking Society—their losses had been too severe. Among the dead was even his right-hand man, Shan.
Under these circumstances, Kaiyu admitted he couldn't understand Kael at all, and he didn't dare act rashly.
For now, all he needed was Kael's whereabouts.
Still, being forced to take the blame made Kaiyu laugh in anger.
"Who would've thought that one day, the Dark Cooking Society would be made to take the fall for someone else—and we can't even prove our innocence?"
Beside him, Ensei was equally speechless. For the Dark Cooking Society, this was an absolute disgrace.
He had already retrieved the Voracious Wolf Pot. It took some time, but he succeeded. Even so, among the eight Legendary Kitchenware, the Voracious Wolf Pot was probably the most underwhelming.
Its function was to cut ingredients—but in actual use, it was far from ideal.
"Prove our innocence?" Kaiyu sneered. "Why would the Dark Cooking Society need to prove anything? Go find Elder Guan's enemies and put every last one of them on our retaliation list."
"And those Chefs' Union elders who keep shouting about coming after us? Have them dealt with. The Dark Cooking Society isn't something any random nobody can bully."
Kaiyu's anger was boiling over.
He knew this matter would be difficult to investigate thoroughly, but one thing was certain: if they wiped out all of Elder Guan's enemies, that would settle it.
If someone moved against Elder Guan, then that person must have been his enemy.
What Kaiyu never imagined was that the one who acted was Kael himself.
Elder Guan had indeed developed murderous intent toward Kael and even sought out outsiders like Bajel to eliminate him—but Kael struck first, catching him completely off guard.
As a result, the Dark Cooking Society was doomed to never uncover the truth.
As for Kaiyu's plan to retaliate against the Chefs' Union elders, he needed to give his own people an explanation as well. The reason he could keep his subordinates in line was simple: he was ruthless.
That ruthlessness terrified everyone. But if someone openly provoked him like this and he showed no response, his subordinates would probably rebel.
So whether for personal reasons or for the greater picture, those loud-mouthed Chefs' Union elders had to be eliminated.
Even though their territory lay at the core of the Light Culinary World, the Ever-Soul Knife had already been taken. The Light Culinary World wouldn't continue stationing massive forces there.
Dealing with those Chefs' Union elders wouldn't be particularly difficult.
Ensei didn't say much after hearing this. He knew Kaiyu's decision was the right one.
"What about the remaining Legendary Kitchenware?" Ensei asked. "We have the Voracious Wolf Pot now, but the others are either in unknown locations or already in Kael's hands."
Kaiyu frowned, rubbing his temples. "There's really nothing we can do right now. It's giving me a headache. How about this—why don't you few make a trip?"
"Since brute force won't work, use cooking duels. Find a way to take the map from him."
Kaiyu was clearly frustrated. Kael's bizarre methods left him at a loss, so for now, the only option was to play by the rules.
"But that guy won't be easy," Ensei said helplessly. "You saw the result of his match with Rēn. Manifested Light—that's the trademark of a Supreme Dragon Chef."
"A Supreme Dragon Chef with two Legendary Kitchenware… how are we supposed to compete with that? We only have one piece, and I don't even dare to use it!"
Ensei had earned the Voracious Wolf Pot's recognition, but inheritors weren't necessarily unique. Still, once someone obtained a Legendary Kitchenware, others usually stopped competing for it.
And Ensei didn't dare use it at all. He was afraid the kitchenware would kill him—stories like that weren't rare throughout history.
"Then force him to use his," Kaiyu said coldly. "The more he uses them, the faster he'll die."
Knowing victory wouldn't come easily, Kaiyu chose another approach. He also knew Kael had already used the Garuda Knife during his match with Rēn.
That left Kaiyu speechless.
In his eyes, Kael was a genuine Supreme Dragon Chef. A Supreme Dragon Chef facing a Lin Chef—even one on the verge of becoming a Dragon Chef—was like firing a cannon at a mosquito.
And yet Kael didn't just fire the cannon. He brought a whole crate of ammunition and refused to stop until it was empty.
Kaiyu truly couldn't understand him.
But from this, Kaiyu saw an opening.
If Kael liked using Legendary Kitchenware so much, then he would give him every chance to use them.
He planned to have Ensei and Arkan intercept Kael together, then tempt him with benefits and lure him into agreeing to a cooking duel.
Of course, the Voracious Wolf Pot itself was untouchable. That was his final trump card.
As long as the Voracious Wolf Pot remained in the Dark Cooking Society's headquarters, Kael would eventually have to come to them.
And when that happened, Kaiyu refused to believe the Dark Cooking Society, with all its manpower, couldn't kill a single person.
No matter how strong someone was, there were limits.
With that plan in mind, Kaiyu issued his orders. Ensei and Arkan set out shortly after.
Ensei was somewhat unwilling—traveling was a hassle, and competing in cooking against a Supreme Dragon Chef was a tall order.
Arkan, on the other hand, was calm, with a hint of curiosity.
His calmness came from indifference to Kaiyu's orders. Though they were both among the Five Tiger Stars and both Supreme Dragon Chefs, Arkan still followed Kaiyu's commands because Kaiyu was the leader.
He wasn't afraid of Kaiyu, but he had to admit that under Kaiyu's leadership, the Dark Cooking Society had flourished. If Arkan were in charge, it might have collapsed long ago.
As for his curiosity—he was genuinely intrigued.
The intelligence reports mentioned Kael's special ability: directly controlling flames to speed up cooking.
That felt very familiar to Arkan.
He could also accelerate cooking, though he couldn't generate flames directly, and his control over fire was crude. He relied on high-temperature steam instead.
They were different in appearance, but both were fire-based techniques.
Arkan was curious—whose would be stronger? His Explosive Flame, or Kael's flame control?
"Arkan, what are you thinking about?" Ensei asked, noticing his expression. "You've looked annoyed for a while now."
"Nothing," Arkan replied stiffly, glancing at Ensei.
He then ignored him entirely and went to find his attendant, Riko.
The two were almost inseparable, so naturally, Riko would accompany him on this mission to confront Kael.
Ensei and Arkan weren't exactly at odds, but they shared little common ground. Their personalities were fundamentally different.
Ensei was free-spirited, guided by impulse. Arkan, while not rigid, was a man of firm principles.
A wandering rogue and a serious disciplinarian—there was never going to be much to talk about between them.
Even so, they traveled together.
As for Kael, he was already on his way to Shanghai.
His current location was close, and he planned to retrieve the Turning Dragon Pot first.
This time, Kael wasn't sure whether the events of the original story would still occur. Too many things had changed.
For one, Shan was gone, so the Dark Cooking Society might not even attempt the kidnapping plan this time.
Secondly, while the Dark Cooking Society was rampant in Shanghai, it hadn't reached the extreme levels seen in the original timeline.
Capturing so many members of the Light Culinary World in one sweep wouldn't be easy.
After arriving in Shanghai, Kael found he had no acquaintances there. He simply followed the map straight to the Legendary Kitchenware.
By now, his Qi was no longer weak. Once he came within a certain distance, he could locate the Legendary Kitchenware even without the map.
After all, the Legendary Kitchenware themselves contained immense Qi.
Still, having the map made things far easier than blindly searching on his own.