"I don't think any of this is a problem," Pei said calmly. "Our Taiji Cuisine Realm definitely has things that would interest you. Immortality Cuisine, for example.The man beside me is called Song Wan. He's already several hundred years old. Sure, there was a mishap the last time he consumed Immortality Cuisine, but before that, it never caused him any serious issues."
Pei was still trying to persuade Kael, so he directly pushed Song Wan forward as an example. In truth, before Song Wan ate that Immortality Cuisine decades ago, he did have some aftereffects—but nowhere near this severe.
"It's because his life force is too strong, isn't it?" Kael said flatly. "The Immortality Cuisine created by your Phoenix Eight Immortals keeps amplifying the transfer of lifespan, causing massive amounts of life energy to accumulate in his body."
"Too much life energy turns into poison. His body simply can't withstand that kind of impact, which is why he's been trapped in constant pain."
"You should be looking for balance—letting the human body adapt to that life energy—instead of dreaming about instant transcendence. You're still flesh and blood, after all."
Kael shook his head. Song Wan's condition was obvious to him at a glance.
Song Wan's cells were continuously dividing and dying under the terrifying pressure of excess life energy. His body was stuck in an endless cycle of injury and regeneration. The sheer amount of life energy had even altered the color of his cells, turning them green.
In the original story, Zhou Yu once used cuisine to adjust Song Wan's body, briefly restoring his normal skin tone—but it didn't last long. After tasting that relief, Song Wan tried to forcibly keep Zhou Yu by his side to cook for him and ease his suffering.
Kael's qi was the power of the Tree of Life. If he wanted to, he could easily cure Song Wan. But why would he help him? He'd never liked this guy to begin with.
"You can actually see what's wrong with Song Wan?" Pei and Ramon stared at Kael in shock. Song Wan himself trembled, his whole body shaking with excitement.
For decades, he'd searched for a way to escape this pain. The only thing that helped was eating good food to dull it—never a real solution.
Yet Kael had pinpointed the problem instantly, even explaining that the core of Immortality Cuisine lay in adjustment, not reckless amplification of life energy.
Did that mean Kael might actually have a way to fix him?
"There's nothing hard about it," Kael said casually. "To me, his condition is practically screaming."
He made it sound effortless—at least for him. Everyone else fell into stunned silence. Not hard? Then why couldn't any of them see it?
"Then… do you have a way to fix me?" Song Wan asked urgently. He was willing to pay any price.
"I could," Kael replied. "But why should I help you?"
He wasn't even bothering to hide it. Song Wan posed no threat to him whatsoever.
The Taiji Cuisine Realm fell silent again. What could they possibly offer Kael in exchange?
"Name your price," Song Wan said quickly. "As long as it's within my power, I'll get it for you."
"Save it," Kael laughed. "You have zero credibility in my eyes."
How could he trust Song Wan—a man whose words were worth less than air? Someone who ran off with another man's wife and stole a pile of research results while he was at it. Kael would never trust someone like that.
No matter how much knowledge Song Wan had accumulated over centuries, no matter how skilled his cooking was, Kael valued character above all else when it came to taking people under his command.
People like Arkan? He could trust them. But someone like Shan or Kaiyu? Even with godlike abilities, Kael would never accept them. People like that were always thinking about when to stab you in the back.
Ramon and Pei exchanged looks. As Song Wan's long-time colleagues, they knew his nature all too well. He really was unreliable—and his past deeds were ugly enough that, in any decent organization, he would've been hunted down long ago.
The only reason he was still part of the Taiji Cuisine Realm was because the place itself wasn't exactly clean.
What confused them was how Kael knew all this. He'd never even met Song Wan before. For decades, Song Wan had stayed isolated at Tai Forest Temple, barely interacting with the outside world. Yet Kael seemed to know him inside out.
Song Wan himself was stunned. He knew exactly what kind of person he was. His original plan had been simple: get cured first, then find a chance to betray Kael.
As for Kael's terrifying strength? He'd just stall, wait it out, and outlive him.
He'd done it before—like when he waited out the previous generation's Heavenly King.
That level of scum behavior could rival certain "bosses" from other worlds.
But Kael clearly wasn't falling for it. His twisted expression returned.
Just as Song Wan was about to speak again, two bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky—one striking the ground before Song Wan, the other landing in front of Kael.
"T-That's Eight Extremes Lightning! The Eight Spirit Tower is angry!"
Both Churin Temple and Tai Forest Temple recognized it. Even without opening, the Eight Spirit Tower could unleash Eight Extremes Lightning.
Back in the original story, when Liu Maoxing and the others tried to force the tower open, someone struck the gate repeatedly—only to be killed instantly by a bolt of Eight Extremes Lightning.
Clearly, the Eight Spirit Tower was tired of them wasting time. It had summoned them here to open it, not to stand around arguing.
Inside the tower, the Bodhidharma stone statue was furious. None of these people were taking it seriously.
So the tower dropped two bolts as a warning: open the tower already, and stop squabbling.
"This thing's got quite the temper," Kael snorted. "If you want it opened, do it yourself. What's with all the theatrics?"
Kael, having read the original story, knew the truth: the tower opened only when it felt like it. Liu Maoxing couldn't open it alone; only when Sanzhao joined him did the doors budge.
The Eight Spirit Tower could change shape at will. Opening or not was entirely its own decision. Kael wasn't about to play along—especially since he noticed the inscription above the gate had changed.
It was supposed to say "Opens for Mao." Now it read: "Opens for Kai."
That was almost funny.
At Kael's words, the tower began to tremble violently.
"Mr. Kael, stop!" someone shouted. "You've completely enraged the Eight Spirit Tower!"
People hurriedly backed away, certain Kael was about to meet a terrible end.
"Enraged? So what?" Kael scoffed. "All bark, no bite. Don't just get mad—do something useful."
Even Zhou Meili nearly laughed at that, though she quickly covered her mouth. Everyone else watched in stunned terror, unsure what would happen next.
The tower shook even harder.
Then—countless bolts of Eight Extremes Lightning rained down like a web of thunder.
"Fork Shield!"
Kael's left hand condensed into a massive blue calorie fork, forming a shield over himself, Zhou Meili, and Zhou Yu.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Lightning slammed into the glowing fork and was instantly deflected, unable to harm them in the slightest.
"He blocked it… He actually blocked it!"
Eyes widened everywhere. The fork-shaped shield left everyone baffled. What kind of technique was that?
Ramon could block Eight Extremes Lightning too—but only with the Turning Dragon Pot. He didn't have it now.
Yet Kael had casually formed a giant blue fork out of nowhere and stopped everything.
"Is he even human?" Pei muttered. "How does he have so many absurd abilities?"
Kael, feeling the drain on his calories, smirked. Eight Extremes Lightning was only dangerous to ordinary people. Against him, it was nothing.
The Fork Shield could withstand dozens more strikes, but Kael had no intention of playing defense.
His right hand reshaped into a blade. Flying knives and flying forks weren't hard for him—he'd mastered them already, along with leg blades and leg forks.
Ahu had figured it out through trial and error. Kael had inheritance—he just needed to learn.
The only limitation was his calorie reserve.
"Flying Blade."
With a sharp swing, a massive blue blade shot forward, slashing straight at the Eight Spirit Tower.
The moment it struck, a white barrier flared around the tower—qi condensed into a defensive layer.
But against Kael's overwhelming calories, it barely lasted a heartbeat.
The barrier split apart.
The blade cleaved straight through the tower, carving a long trench into the ground and slicing through a distant wall before finally dissipating dozens of meters away.
That single strike consumed nearly one-fifth of Kael's calorie reserves.
The tower—and the earth beneath it—was split cleanly in two.
"C-Cut… It was cut open…"
No one could even find words. Kael's power was beyond terrifying.
The tower shook violently—then began to change.
Because it was made of countless modular blocks, the Eight Spirit Tower could reshape itself as long as it had enough qi. And over a thousand years, it had absorbed plenty.
Soon, it transformed into a lotus platform—the rarest of its forms.
Above the lotus, a massive pearl floated in midair. Inside it rested the Eight Extremes Sacred Scripture. Below it were eight slots—the places for the Legendary Kitchenware.
On one enormous lotus petal stood a shadowy figure—the will of Bodhidharma.
The instant it appeared, Kael felt a surge of malice directed straight at him.
The tower was furious.
Not only had Kael refused to give it face, he'd split it apart, forcing it to restructure and burn through an enormous amount of qi.
And that qi would take a very, very long time to recover.