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The changes to their bodies were dramatic, especially for the older members. Age had taken its toll, leaving them with the will but not the strength to do many things.

While the Gourmet Cell fusion didn't rewind the clock completely, it did make their bodies immensely stronger. Now, only their appearance set them apart from the younger generation—physically, they were on equal footing.

"Now that you've all fused with Gourmet Cells, I have a new choice for you."

Yuuki's words immediately captured everyone's attention, pulling their focus from their newfound power and back to him.

"The ingredients I have can easily raise your power to a level of several thousand—strong enough to shatter this planet with ease."

The casual way he discussed planetary destruction sent shivers through the room, yet everyone listened intently.

"I can take you to that level right now, but your control over that power won't improve much. On the other hand, I have a technique called Food Honor."

Yuuki paused, letting the weight of the choice settle over them.

"Once you master Food Honor, your control over your power will increase tenfold. At a proficient level, it could even be a hundredfold improvement."

"Greater control over your power will be a massive help in improving your culinary skills. But if you choose to learn Food Honor, you can't get the immediate power boost."

His explanation carried a teacher's patience mixed with a strategist's precision.

"Once your power level gets too high," Yuuki explained, "the training tools I have will become completely useless to you."

The choice was clear: Learn control first, then gain power—or get the power now and struggle with control later.

"That's not much of a choice, is it? It has to be Food Honor!"

Senzaemon Nakiri, the seasoned veteran, made his decision almost instantly. With Yuuki around, the power boost could come at any time, but the opportunity to master Food Honor was a rare one.

Missing this chance now would make it infinitely harder later. He chose the long game.

"Exactly. It's a no-brainer. I choose Food Honor too!"

Sōe Nakiri and the others quickly followed suit. No one in the room was a fool, and as chefs, they understood the value of control over raw power.

Choosing Food Honor now only meant delaying their power-up. Choosing raw power meant making Food Honor a thousand times harder to learn later.

"It seems everyone is on the same page. In that case, let's begin your Food Honor training."

——————

Yuuki then brought out the necessary training equipment. He had no intention of rushing them to mastery—only prodigies like Toriko and Komatsu could achieve that in a short time.

The gratitude-based path of Food Honor wasn't for everyone. Toriko and Komatsu had mastered it quickly only because they already possessed an immense, innate gratitude for food; the training simply converted that feeling into a tangible skill.

Others weren't so lucky. The Vice Masters at the Food Honor Temple were the perfect example—some spent their entire lives there and never reached a proficient level.

So, Yuuki only needed them to reach a certain foundation before he would boost their power. A full course of training would normally take years.

Yuuki handed out the items he had brought, giving everyone enough to begin their training.

"This is a Torch Horsetail. You light it with your gratitude. This training requires you to maintain an incredibly strong sense of gratitude—which, to put it simply, is a way to heighten your focus."

He began to teach them how to use the tools, but when they tried it themselves, only Megumi's Torch Horsetail stayed lit for more than a few seconds. Everyone else's flickered out almost instantly.

This was perfectly normal. Unlike Toriko's world, where gratitude flowed more purely, this ordinary world produced more complex, diluted emotions.

Megumi's slight advantage came from her naturally gentle temperament and pure heart—qualities that aligned better with the exercise's requirements.

Once everyone understood the basic technique, they threw themselves into practice with determined intensity.

Unfortunately, after several hours of concentrated effort, not a single person could maintain their torch flame for even a full minute.

Most couldn't even reach thirty seconds.

Worse, practicing Food Meditation in a group created additional challenges. One person's wandering thoughts could disrupt everyone nearby, causing even successful attempts to fail through proximity alone.

——————

"When you can maintain the flame for thirty minutes continuously, you'll have achieved basic entry level."

Yuuki said, looking at their dejected faces.

"Half an hour?? We can't even do a minute right now!"

Hearing the thirty-minute requirement, their faces fell in unison. Only after trying it themselves did they realize just how difficult it was to light the Torch Horsetail. And that was just the entry requirement.

"Yuuki, has anyone really managed to do it for that long?"

Alice's face carried an expression of pure suffering. Her naturally vivacious personality made Food Meditation especially torturous—sitting still and maintaining singular focus went against every fiber of her being.

"Of course. Almost everyone at the Food Honor Temple can do it after a while. The Vice Masters can light one for several hours. As for the master of the temple—Chin Chinchin—he can light hundreds at once and keep them lit indefinitely."

"And even though my path is different from the gratitude-based one, I can still light these with ease."

As he spoke, Yuuki activated his own Food Honor. In the next second, every Torch Horsetail in front of them burst into flame, the fire leaping high into the air. The sight left everyone speechless.

"See? Once your Food Honor reaches a certain level, this becomes trivial. Right now it feels impossibly difficult because you haven't even crossed the threshold yet. This isn't something you'll master in a day or two—it requires patience and persistent practice."

Yuuki said with a smile.

Hearing this, everyone nodded with renewed understanding. Indeed, every journey began with a single step—the universal truth that beginnings were always the hardest part. Once they crossed that initial threshold, progress would accelerate.

Though they knew reaching Yuuki's level would be incredibly difficult, they weren't in a hurry. They knew they were essentially immortal now; they had to find something to do with all that time.

"Since you all understand, let me treat you to something special."

Yuuki said. Since everyone was gathered, he naturally had to bring out something good.

"Huh? Won't eating now affect our Food Honor training?"

Someone asked with confusion.

"It won't. The ingredient I'm bringing out has a low capture level, so at most, it will activate your Gourmet Cells once. That small boost won't affect your training."

"Did you think immortality was that simple? To achieve it, you have to eat a massive amount of food. And of those eight special ingredients, I've only collected seven. The last one hasn't matured yet."

Yuuki shook his head.

He hadn't even gotten his hands on GOD yet—so strictly speaking, they couldn't achieve true immortality. But even so, after eating six of the ingredients and their Gourmet Cells reaching a certain level, living for thousands—even tens of thousands—of years became child's play.

Understanding settled over the group as Yuuki produced the Rainbow Fruit he'd captured in the former Biotope 1.

The moment the Rainbow Fruit appeared, its dazzling light and incredibly enticing aroma captivated everyone.

"THAT SMELL IS AMAZING! I CAN'T STOP DROOLING!"

Besides Yuuki, no one else could control their salivating. It couldn't be helped—the Rainbow Fruit was just that potent. Even from dozens of kilometers away, you could smell its alluring fragrance.

"This is a Rainbow Fruit. Though its capture level isn't high, it's a very special ingredient. A single drop of its juice can turn an entire twenty-five-meter swimming pool into pure fruit juice."

Yuuki explained to the group.

"One drop can convert an entire pool?? How concentrated is that? Can our bodies actually handle consuming something so intense?"

The implications were staggering. The sheer density of sugars and energy packed into each drop defied comprehension.

"A normal person certainly couldn't handle it—fatally so. But you're no longer normal. With Gourmet Cells, aside from certain deadly poisons and ingredients with severe side effects, you can consume almost anything safely."

Yuuki hadn't forgotten about the truly poisonous ingredients, like a toxic Puffer Whale, or ingredients with strong side effects, like the Devil Serpent—if you used too much of that, you'd be bedridden for a year.

Then there were certain alcoholic beverages—drink beyond your body's tolerance, and you might remain intoxicated for months, even years.

The truest form of drinking yourself into oblivion...

Reassured by his explanation, everyone relaxed. In any other world, an ordinary person consuming even a drop of this juice would likely die from the sheer concentration of nutrients—literally killed by excessive nourishment.

Yuuki carefully portioned the Rainbow Fruit, placing individual servings before each person.

After Yuuki gave the word, everyone began to eat.

Only after Yuuki gave permission did anyone begin eating—basic respect for the one who'd provided such miraculous food.

As the Rainbow Fruit entered their mouths, everyone finally experienced what true, ultimate deliciousness was. The food they had eaten before, though very good, couldn't compare to what was in front of them.

The deliciousness of the Rainbow Fruit was on a completely different level. And its flavor was constantly changing in their mouths, producing all sorts of different tastes.

These flavors were intoxicating.

Just as everyone was immersed in the deliciousness, their Gourmet Cells began to activate.

The change in their bodies immediately snapped them back to reality.

The women's transformations were uniformly positive—their figures became more perfectly proportioned, their features more refined and beautiful. It was as if they'd undergone the world's most comprehensive beauty treatment, emerging renewed and radiant.

As for the men, the situation was completely different. Their muscles bulged one by one, and those wearing tighter-fitting clothes, like Sōe Nakiri, had their suits rip in several places.

Fortunately, this being their first Gourmet Cell activation, the muscle growth remained relatively modest. Additionally, they'd consumed Rainbow Fruit rather than Meteor Garlic.

Had they eaten Meteor Garlic instead, the consequences would have been catastrophic. That particular ingredient caused muscles to expand at minimum tenfold—with stronger reactions reaching dozens of times normal size. Everyone would have transformed into grotesque muscle monsters.

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