Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 305

The number of martial arts experts who attacked the Anti-Heaven Alliance was around twenty.

Unlike the Kunlun Sect, where many members lacked combat ability, these attackers were brimming with fighting spirit.

“Lady Daji desires the Kunlun Sect’s destruction!”

“Oh, Daji! You’re as beautiful as a goddess descended upon this world. Please, be with me…”

“Hahaha! If I capture the Kunlun Sect’s leader, she’ll surely notice me!”

“You tiger-striped, bald-headed fool! Where did you learn to spout such nonsense? Lady Daji is having breakfast with me tomorrow! Go sleep somewhere else!”

“What did you say?!”

Immense inner energy erupted from the love-struck men.

Their language was vulgar, like that of common thugs, but most were supreme martial artists.

The reason White Tiger could defend the main gate against such powerful figures, even briefly, was due to his unique, self-developed martial art.

He had pre-implanted deadly poison extracted from the Human-Faced Spider into his body and expelled it like a cannonball.

The destructive power was so great that even masters with refined inner energy couldn’t recklessly charge forward.

“If you come any closer, you’ll all die with your flesh burned black! White Tiger’s poison is lethal to any martial arts master unless they’re immune to all poisons… Oops, it was neutralized just now. Anyway, even martial arts masters will suffer fatal wounds!”

It seemed Cainchel’s immunity to the poison had shocked him.

White Tiger spewed poisonous mist not only from his right arm, which had transformed into a cannon, but also from every pore of his body.

His momentum was terrifying, but only temporary.

“Cough…!”

In the end, White Tiger collapsed, vomiting dark red blood.

The deadly poison he had expelled beyond his limits ultimately led to his self-destruction. He wasn’t immune to all poisons, either.

“The poisonous mist has disappeared! Get inside quickly!”

“As the leader, I’ll go first!”

“How dare you cut in line?! I’m going in!”

The masters, enthralled by the Nine-Tailed Fox, flooded into the Kunlun Sect like a tidal wave.

White Tiger lowered his head in resentment.

“Damn it…! Is my power only enough to hold them off for a few minutes…”

The attack by powerhouses, each representing the pinnacle of the martial arts world, was about to devastate the Kunlun Sect, the base of the Anti-Heaven Alliance.

As White Tiger was about to fall, he saw the figure of a red-haired beauty fluttering in a black robe.

“Hup…”

Even though he had only seen her from afar, her beauty rivaled Daji, who had captivated countless martial artists.

The lips of the red-haired beauty, Maia, seemed to move.

A voice so beautiful that it reached the ears of everyone present.

【Stray】

At the same time, a huge maze materialized around Maia.

The walls, seemingly paper-thin, stretched into infinite lengths, with new paths constantly branching out.

It defied human comprehension.

Wang Jeoksam, arriving late, muttered as he watched the scene.

“…To distort space on such a scale. Hmph, my Space Shrinkage [a technique to compress distances] is just child’s play.”

Maia landed on the floor, panting roughly. Some of the hair that reached her waist turned into magma and fell to the ground.

The more Dragon Words magic she used, the more the dragon essence assimilated with the world.

It was a return to the volcano, the Red Dragon’s origin.

Maia touched her considerably shortened hair and clicked her tongue.

“Tch, to think using just that much would make this much of my body disappear. It seems I only have two hundred years of life left at best.”

Cainchel, who followed, said with an impressed expression.

“I never expected you to use Dragon Words magic… But are you alright?”

“Hmph, how dare a human worry about this dragon? This much is nothing. Anyway, I created that maze with reference to Daedalus’s Labyrinth [a complex, inescapable maze from Greek mythology]. I’ll explain the structure by connecting to the neural network. Oh, and I’m hungry again. So, give me the chorizo potato stew I ate earlier. I’ll eat that while I’m at it.”

“Understood.”

Cainchel took out the stew he had preserved with the Sous-vide skill from his two-dimensional pocket.

‘There’s really not much left now. If I had known this would happen, I should have made a lot more.’

The amount was barely enough to feed the martial arts masters trapped in Daedalus’s Labyrinth.

‘I’ll have to make a different dish for those lovesick patients.’

Who would have known so many people would need stew?

Cainchel entered Daedalus’s Labyrinth, marveling.

It was as if he had kneaded flour to make bread, using the Kunlun Sect as an ingredient to create a labyrinth with a diameter of tens of kilometers.

‘This is Dragon Words, the magic of the beginning.’

The penalty of Dragon Words was so severe that even dragons couldn’t easily bear it.

However, the power was simply awe-inspiring.

Even Cainchel would have been unable to fight against nearly thirty Sword Masters at once.

But thanks to Maia, they were scattered throughout the labyrinth. This made it possible to defeat them individually.

The first person Cainchel met was a sharp-looking man with an eyepatch over one eye.

“Hmm, I was definitely at the entrance of the Kunlun Sect just a moment ago, but now I’m trapped in a maze of enormous proportions. Who on earth cast such an absurd sorcery? Ah, I can ask that person.”

The man, who had discovered Cainchel, drew the sword he was wearing at his waist.

Unlike the other subordinates of the Nine-Tailed Fox, who seemed half-mad, his face was strangely calm.

He must be a possessor of extremely powerful inner energy.

“I am Dugu Cheon, the next leader of the great Demonic Cult, the Dark Demon Emperor. I apologize, but could you tell me how to get out of here?”

His tone was polite, but it was clear he would cut him down if he didn’t comply. The martial arts world was a place that moved according to the law of the jungle.

Cainchel shrugged and replied.

“You’re just enthralled by the Nine-Tailed Fox. I can return you to normal, but what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you perhaps referring to my partner, Lady Daji, as the Nine-Tailed Fox? Insulting her is the same as insulting me. Apologize, or I won’t forgive you, even if it’s our first meeting.”

‘Hmm, he’s deeply enthralled. But Dark Demon Emperor… That’s a pretty gruesome title?’

Cainchel, who had only been in the Central Plains for two days, had no idea how the martial arts world worked.

The only thing he knew was what Wang Jeoksam had briefly explained to him about the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families.

However, he could instinctively tell that the person in front of him was incredibly strong.

“Would you tell me what you know if I cut off an arm or a leg? Then, I’ll be rude first.”

As expected, Dugu Cheon, the Dark Demon Emperor, was the first to attack.

The inner energy emanating from his body, befitting a powerhouse among the top three in the Demonic Cult, was immense.

As Dugu Cheon’s martial robe fluttered once, his body, which had been quite far away, moved to right in front of Cainchel’s nose.

It was an incredible speed that seemed like teleportation.

However, Cainchel had fought against an opponent even faster than that.

“Ultra-Fine Noodles…!”

As he activated the skill, thousands of strands of pasta materialized around Cainchel. Both the speed and number had more than doubled since he first obtained it.

“Then, I’ll end it with this strike. Dark Demonic Great Extinction (暗黑大滅劫)――!”

At the same time, Dugu Cheon’s body floated into the sky, and black-stained inner energy erupted.

The attack method of leaping into the air and pouring out powerful inner energy was similar to Loengreen’s Wings of Light.

If hit directly, not only would he suffer fatal injuries, but a space of about 10 yards would be annihilated.

However, the activation speed was slow.

Cainchel pulled on the Jjolmyeon [Korean spicy chewy noodles] that he had connected to one side of Daedalus’s Labyrinth.

Using that elasticity, he could move at an incredible speed.

Kugugung-!

A huge crater was created on the earth that had been struck by the Dark Demonic Great Extinction. Dugu Cheon, who had been looking at the scene with a satisfied expression, twitched his eyebrows.

“Hmph, you know how to play some tricks. But my Dark Demonic Art is not just a tyrannical martial art. Let’s go again. Dark Demonic Phoenix Wing Palm (暗黑鳳翼掌)……!”

Then, a phoenix wing-like energy erupted from Dugu Cheon’s fist.

It was a technique that amplified the power and speed of the fist by dozens of times.

With the power to crush even mithril armor if it even grazed it.

Cainchel reflexively created a wall of Aglio e Olio [garlic and oil pasta].

However, the Dark Demonic Phoenix Wing Palm tore it apart in an instant and struck Cainchel’s solar plexus.

Jjeoeong-!

A loud noise, like a heavy metal striking metal, echoed, not like a human body being hit.

The only reason he wasn’t killed instantly was because he was wearing leather armor reinforced with Sous-vide [a cooking technique where food is vacuum-sealed and cooked in a water bath].

‘What is this ridiculous power?!’

Supreme masters use various forms of martial arts depending on their techniques. Moreover, the power of each one was enormous.

It was as if they had countless aura blades.

However, Dugu Cheon was also flustered.

To think that he would only end up with some internal injuries despite having unleashed a killing move.

He stroked his throbbing fist and took a few steps back.

The fist that had struck Cainchel’s abdomen had turned black as if it had struck a stone.

“To block two of my attacks after mastering the Dark Demonic Divine Art to the tenth level. You’re a foreigner with tremendous inner energy.”

Cainchel’s eyes cooled down. To think that he would have to fight such a strong opponent from the start.

If the remaining masters were all at the same level as Dugu Cheon, he would definitely lose.

― That’s not true, Guardian. I never thought you’d be up against such a strong opponent from the start. The young master of the Demonic Cult is at least in the top five in the vast martial arts world. He grew up eating countless spiritual herbs and elixirs before he was even weaned, and he mastered the best martial arts. It’s amazing that you’re even fighting this much.

‘…But what are spiritual elixirs?’

― Ah, that’s… it’s like a specialty of the Central Plains that allows you to gain tremendous inner energy by eating it. There are various types, from naturally occurring ones like ten-thousand-year-old snow ginseng, ten-thousand-year-old He Shou Wu [Polygonum multiflorum, a Chinese medicinal herb], and Gongqing petroleum [a type of mineral oil], to things that humans have created over generations, like the Shaolin Great Return Pill [a legendary healing pill].

‘Wait a minute. You’re saying you can raise your inner energy by eating it? Are you talking about Aura?’

― The concepts are a bit different, but similar. But if you just pick up and eat those things because they’re good, you’ll get a stomachache. They have such powerful energy that you can fall into cultivation deviation if you eat them wrong.

Then, a strange light appeared in Cainchel’s eyes.

Spiritual elixirs that allow you to gain the same inner energy as you would from decades of training simply by consuming them.

What would happen if he made a dish with that and ate it?

‘My stats went up just by eating dishes made with ordinary ingredients. Maybe…’

Cainchel’s level was stagnant at 99, which could be said to be the limit of humans.

He may have found an opportunity to break through that wall.

― …Well, with the Guardian’s ‘Gourmet Skill,’ you’ll definitely be able to digest all the energy of the spiritual elixirs. But how are you going to find those precious things? They’re not treasures for nothing.

‘If Dugu Cheon grew up eating countless spiritual elixirs, then surely the Demonic Cult has some left, right?’

― Well, they’d have some left to raise the next leader. But do you think they’ll just give it to you if you ask?

‘I have a good idea for that. Humans have a very good trading method called bartering.’

― …Huh? Could it be that the Guardian is rich enough to buy spiritual elixirs? Does that cola or whatever make that much money?

Cainchel grinned.

If the secret to the powerful inner energy of supreme masters was the consumption of spiritual elixirs.

Then the people in Daedalus’s Labyrinth would also know the source of at least one spiritual elixir.

‘And I have a ‘spiritual elixir’ that can cure them of being enthralled by the Nine-Tailed Fox.’

Only then did Maia read Cainchel’s thoughts and start laughing like crazy.

― Pfft, pffft, puahaha! I guess something ridiculous is going to happen in the labyrinth from now on.

Originally, he was going to completely subdue Dugu Cheon and then feed him the stew to bring him back to his senses.

But he changed his plan.

As the connection with Maia, who had been connected to the neural network, was severed, time began to flow again.

Cainchel stared at Dugu Cheon in front of him and muttered.

“Actually, I’ve been giving things away for free for too long, haven’t I? My cooking isn’t that cheap.”

How exactly should he sell chorizo potato stew to that ridiculously strong man?

Moreover, he had to receive the spiritual elixir he possessed, not gold coins.

At that moment, something flashed through Cainchel’s mind like lightning.

‘That’s right, there was that method.’