When Meili finally comes back with the ingredients, two people has already finished the noodles and qualified (3 left!). Feiyi makes 'dragon whisker' noodles which shocks the judges and also passes (2 left!). Meanwhile Mao is still making the dough for his noodles and crushing up the secret ingredient - a rock!. A mysterious green hair woman who makes a noodle with bats and scorpians also passes the test. (1 left!). Finally Mao finishes his noodles which do not need soup. He puts his hand up to say he is finished, but another chef beats him to it (because Mao is too short!).

Mao finishes his noodles and is time is up! The judges must now taste the food..... But the judge tells the five chefs to taste each others dishes! The green hair woman presents her dish first - black noodles. However she is disqualified for using opium in the noodles which makes it addictive and also for using acupuncture on Mao to stop him from making his noodles. Next is the man with the 'cat ears' noodles. For the whole contest he had been doing pushups with his thumb so he could make cat ear shape noodles from the dough by flicking with his thumbs! But his noodles are disqualified by the other chefs because the 'cat ears' noodles was not in the shape of noodles and so failed. Finally, Feiyi, Mao, and another guy 'Han' is left. They taste each others dishes and are then told to give each other a score out of 10. The judge announces the total scores: Mao 9, Feiyi 9 and Han 10.

Mao and Siro are found and untied by Meirii. Meanwhile the Official rejects Ang's dish because it does not taste like her father's although it looks the same. Mao appears and shows Ang how to really use the ball and chain instruments properly. Ang thanks Mao and his friends and they are off.

There is only one more place left to enter the next round and somebody beats Mao in making the noodles. Luckily for Mao, the man's noodles are rejected and so Mao's noodles are tasted. Becasue Mao did not use normal water in preparing the noodles or when kneading it, the noodles were able to absorb all the ingredients which Mao had put into the noodles. Also the rock he used was a special rock which makes the noodles have a fresher taste. Mao passes the test and thinks it is over - but the real test is in the Special Grade Cooking arena inside the castle. The judges are replaced by a new judge, one of the greatest chefs in China and also a friend of Mao's mother. The dish announced is again noodles! which is a shock for Mao and the new topic is 'Not noodles'! (Of course it has to tricky! its the final test!) In the arena, the freshest ingredients from all around China are present which makes it a headache for Mao to decide what to make. Again, while the other chefs have started Mao is still thinking of what to make. Time is ticking away...

Mao doesnt believe that Shell has chosen the same ingredients as him and stolen his idea! Mao sits on the floor, cursing himself and thinking about something else. There is less than one hour for the battle to last. Shel however thinks that Mao has given up and he is the winner. Siro, being clumsy and concerned about Mao's situation, knocks over a basket of eggs. Meirii scolds Siro for being careless and Mao suddenly has an idea. He kneads the dough like he did earlier on (see The Challenger! Mao was chosen to Fight!). He goes outside and uses centriferal force to spin the dough and calls Meirii and Siro to bring him the biggest steamer in the restaurant. Then, Siro orders everyone to go in while he, Meirii and Mao stay outside to complete the siu mai. Then, Choyu checks his hand watch and sees that time is up. He calls Mao out to present his siu mai. Mao then calls Meirii and Siro to bring the steamer in. Ruoh muses at seeing Mao taking the huge steamer ut of storage. Mao gives the O.K signal to Siro and Meirii and they lift up the cover. When the steam is cleared, they see a huge siu mai in it. Shel however knows that big siu mai wouldnt be cooked properly in the insides. Mao invites Ruoh to taste his siu mai. Ruoh takes out some siu mai shaped like a small siu mai and eats it. A wave of cooking taste engulfs him as he eats it. He goes to the other parts of the siu mai ad tastes them. A burst of universe engulfs him, making him think like a whole of something is in there. Therefore, Mao announces that his siu mai is Big Bang Siu Mai! Shel is bewildred to see such amazing act and sputters that how all of the meat is cooked through. Ruoh calls for his cattle bane sword and someone gets it for him. Ruoh then jumps and cuts the siu mai into quarters. Shel is shocked to see the insides all marblelized. Mao explains the process of cooking and everyone oohed and aahed at the method. Shel admits defeat after Choyu announces that Mao has won hands down. Choyu looks at the Big Bang Siu Mai and Shel's 50 orders of siu mai and orders Meirii to open the door to let everyone in to eat. Choyu however tells Siro that as punishment for cooking as an errand boy, Siro has to massage Ruoh's back. Shel leaves the restaurant, predicting that they would meet again soon.

Shilou was having a hard time picking the bowl, because he knew that all the lives depended on his judgment. Mao then tells Shilou not to try and pick his bowl, just pick the one that tastes better and that will be his. Shilou finally started tasting both dishes. The Masked Chef was already gloating in victory, because he believed he will win because the accumulated taste of his marine delicacies. Shilou finally decided: he said that he didn’t know which is Mao’s bowl, but he will pick the one he truly felt is delicious. It’s the black bowl! The Masked Chef is furious. He couldn’t believe that with all that lye, the dish tasted very good. Mao was about to take the antidote, when the Masked Chef accused Mao of giving Shilou a sign and asked for an explanation. Shilou explained that the other marine delicacies overwhelmed the taste of the lobster, but Mao’s dish has all the mountain ingredients flowing together to bring out the taste of the lobster. The Masked Chef still isn’t convinced, he asked about the lye. Mao then threw him the secret…a paper bowl. The paper bowl was made from the papers he ripped out from the cookbook. He showed the masked chef how he used it. Mao boiled the ingredients in the paper bowl, then the lye started appearing, but the paper bowl keeps on absorbing the lye, thus the dish is so clear. The Masked Chef admitted defeat and gave the antidote and Mao and Shilou started giving it to Chouyu, Mei Li and the others. Everyone woke up, as well as Chouyu and Mei Li. Then Chouyu gave the Masked Chef a punch. The Masked chef finally admitted that he can’t complete his revenge because of Mao, but he will never forget Chouyu for stealing Meika. Mao started accusing the Masked Chef of poisoning Chouyu, when Chouyu stopped Mao. He started explaining. Sixteen years ago, Meika and Chouyu have promised themselves to each other. The Masked Chef couldn’t believe it at first. He finally realized that Chouyu is telling the truth. But Meika’s father wanted to test Chouyu if he can take care of her, so the match was set, and the Masked Chef entered the contest. Meika wanted to be with Chouyu so much, that she was the one who put the sting needle in the Masked Chef’s lobsters to ensure Chouyu’s victory. The Masked Chef couldn’t believe it, Meika wouldn’t have done it to him. He also told Chouyu if that’s the truth, then why didn’t he tell him. Chouyu reasoned that the Masked Chef’s feelings for Meika were genuine and he didn’t want Meika to be ruined in his eyes. Chouyu felt that he should bear all his anger. Chouyu also told the Masked Chef that when Meika was dying, she made him promise that when they see each other, she was asking for forgiveness. The Masked Chef finally realized everything and said that he was only competing with himself. He revealed himself, and his face was full of scars. He told them about the underground cooking society, and how the society is cruel. He started falling down, because he took the poison. Chouyu went over to Lien (the masked chef) and asked why he drank the poison. Lien answered that it’s the destiny of someone who sold his soul to the underground. Then smoke filled the air, and fire burst from the stairs. Lien pushed Chouyu away and went inside the flames. He finally asked Chouyu one last question: Did Meika live a happy life. Chouyu answered yes. And this seems to be enough for Lien as he was engulfed by the flames. Mao was shouting Lien’s name. They were outside, it was raining and Chouyu vowed to Lien that he’ll make Mao the number one cook in China. Mao vowed that he will not be defeated by anyone from the underworld. Then, the old man who was serving the meals before decided to report what has happened to the underground. The next day, Mei Li, Mao and Shilou were visiting her mother’s grave and thought that she didn’t know that this kind of thing happened between her parents, that her father has a...

Leon breaks open the seal of the Northern Wolf knife, and it turns out to be a knife that has a blade made completely out of ice! A story is told of how the knife was made. Leon and Mao each take a half of the last porgy left to cook. Leon slices the meat so finely and neatly that the reflections of the judge's faces can be seen on the slices of meat. Naturally, the judges are amazed by the incredible knife skill that Leon possesses. On the other side, Mei Li, Shell and Shilou are getting extremely nervous, because Chouyu just mentioned that Mao would have a serious disadvantage. Just then, there is an explosion of some sort, and everyone turns to look at Mao. It seems that whenever he brings his knife dow n onto the meat, the meat explodes and little bits of it drop onto a plate. No one knows how Mao is managing to do it, not even Chouyu. It is then noticed that Leon is getting a severe frostbite on his hand, because of the bitter cold that the knife is producing. Leon finishes his dish just when the porgy meat is at its highest level of taste. However, the knife shatters. The dish turns out to be slices of porgy placed on a chunk of ice. The judges take a slice of porgy each and dip it in a sauce, and are instantly taken over by the wonderful taste. Late in the evening, Mao finishes his dish, the 'Resurrection Spring Rolls' . The judges are amazed that Mao managed to keep the taste of the porgy at its highest stage. Leon notices that Mao's hand has lots of burns and it is revealed that Mao had combined his two knives together to produce the exploding effect. He had placed the knife in a fire, and used the knife when it was still burning hot. The judges like both dishes tremendously, and dis cuss who should be the winner. The episode ends with Master Luo saying loudly: 'The Winner Is....'

The scores are announced, and Han believes that he had won. However the judge disqualifies him for using dirty tricks. Whereas Mao and Feiyi had judged each other fairly, Han only gave them each a '1' to lower their scores so to win. Finally the judge tells Feiyi and Mao to give a score for their own dishes. This is of course the toughest call a chef has to make. Mao gives himself a 10 because he thinks its the best dish no matter who you are. Feiyi also gives himself a 10. After the judge discusses with other officials, she announces that both Mao and Feiyi pass the test and become Special Grade cooks! Mao returns to Yang's Spring restraunt where he is greeted by General Lee who had heard of the great news. Mao tells Lee he will not return home to be the master chef at his Szechuan restraunt nor will he stay and learn more at Yang's Spring Restraunt. Instead Mao chooses to go around China learning new Chinese cuisines. Lee agrees and wishes him luck. Meili is so distressed about this that she runs away crying. Mao farewells his sister and the chefs at Yang's Spring. One of the chef's give Mao a handkerchief sewn by Meili since Meili couldn't see him off. On the ship, Mao is saddened to read Meili's goodbye letter. Luckily for him Meili sneaked on board as well to acompany him on his journeys!

Mao and his friends go to Wu Nam province to seek new Chinese cuisines. They enter a village where they are welcomed by a beautiful female chef, Ang. Ang finds out Mao is a special grade cook and seduces him to work out how to use a large ball and chain cooking instrument Ang's father had left to her. Mao almost instantly goes to work (to the jealousy of Meirii) at it with Siro. When they finally work out its uses, they tell Ang and she locks them up in a room. Ang then uses the ball and chain to create a dish* for the Official who has come. *The dish Ang makes is one of Wu Nam's specialties. It is called a 'bird's nest' and is made by frying taro powder in a shape of a bird's nest. Inside the nest is usually some stir fry vegetables and meat. The one Ang attempts to make is a sphere rather than a hemisphere like normal bird's nest.

Mao's party stay at 'Chicken Town' a village in south west china. This village is the largest provider of chickens in China. After Mao spends all their money on cooking books, the owner of the Black Wing restraunt, Tia, gives them food and shelter. In return and after hearing Tia's tragic story of how her brother's breeding of black chickens led to his death, Mao competes in the annual chicken cooking contest held in Chicken Town, using black chickens.

It was a beautiful morning in the Yosen Shuka, and it was broken by an arrow hitting a wall with a note tied around it. Mao gave flowers to Mei Li and she comments that they are beautiful and her mother will like it too. It turns out that it was Mei Li’s mother’s death anniversary. Their conversation was broken when Shilou arrived and told them what Chouyu was making. They were amazed when they saw a huge ice sculpture of a dragon going up to the sky and that it shows the complete mastery of Chouyu with his skills. Then, as Mao and Mei Li decide to go back, Shilou started teasing Mei Li which resulted in a chase. Shilou first saw the arrow and told Mao and Mei Li about it. They read the note and it is a dinner invitation for Chouyu and Mei Li to the Sea Bell Park, an abandoned mansion. They showed it to Chouyu who discovered a symbol of “compulsory obedience”. They decided to go, but Mei Li wanted Mao to go with her. Master Luo agrees, but he denies Shilou’s request to go with them. At the mansion, they were welcomed by a creepy fellow and inside they saw the representatives of the Guangzhou Cooking World. The creepy fellow said that the master chef has prepared a very special meal for them. They were given good food, until the main course arrived. The creepy man said it was pigeon. They started eating it, but Mao and Chouyu immediately realized that it’s not pigeon, but red frog’s meat. Mei Li and the other who have already swallowed the food have already fainted, and then the chef revealed himself, behind an armour and a mask. The chef immediately sees Mei Li’s mom in her. Chouyu asks who he is, and he taunts him in saying that he forgot already. Chouyu finally realized who the masked chef is and asks why he is doing this, the masked chef it was revenge. The masked chef gave an ultimatum: Chouyu has to win two out of three in a lobster contest, the same as before, in order to save the poisoned people with the antidote. Chouyu agrees, and both blindfolded themselves for the first battle, but as Chouyu was cutting, he was stung by a scorpion and fainted. Mao accused him of cheating and the masked chef revealed that Chouyu did the same thing years ago. When the masked chef claimed victory by default, Mao challenged him and revealed that he is worthy because he is a Super Chef…to be continued…

The Yosan Shuka group composed of Mao, Leon, Shell, Shilou, and Mei Li are off to their first destination in search of the legendary cooking tools - Shanghai. There they are reunited with Sanche, an old friend who is now the head of their family restaurant. However, the happiness ends soon when the team finds out that the Underworld has already reached Shanghai. They declare war on Mao and his team-mates and takes Sanche’s father and the other elders of the Shanghai Cooking Union as hostages. The Underworld asked for four chefs who will compete with them. The price for the challenge is the map indicating the location of the legendary cooking tools. The team then agreed to compete. They were blindfolded as they were transported to the “Lou Lin Vessel” - a large cooking arena built by the underworld.

Now they have gotten the Coiled Dragon Pot, Mao used the pot to cooked Pai’s famous Kikka sauce using the recipe in the package given to him by Shou An in his dying moments (which was actually the second portion of Pai’s cookbook). Normally, the sauce takes months to mature but the powers of the Coiled Dragon Pot shorted the process to seconds. Bidding their farewell to Sanche, they leave Shanghai to continue their journey. They stumbled upon a group of traveling acrobats. After a night of good food and wine, they fell asleep. When they awoke, the acrobats were gone and they found themselves cornered by the local minister’s men. Shell was arrested for robbery and sentenced to death on the same evening. When Leon went to look for the real culprits, Mao devised a cunning plan to delay the execution. As the minister was going the execution, Mao cooked noodles and fanned the aroma to attract the minister (Mao found out earlier from the kitchen that the minister loved noodles). Using 100 different spices to concoct flavoured noodles and soup and using them in different combinations and small portions, it made sure that the kept the minister’s appetite in high gear. Mao calls the dish: The Chamelen Bowl Tower. When the minister finally realized something wrong, he arrests Mao. As he was executing Shell, he was interrupted. It was Shell! The person who was about to be executed was the real culprit (mistaken for Shell as he disquised himself during the robbery to frame shell). Leon had succeeded in capturing the culprits after all. It turns out that the minister was in the mastermind and executed innocent people to cover his tracks. The minister was arrested and Shell was freed.

In the on-on-one cooking match Mao easily defeats Shouan. Shouan, shamed that he was beaten by a little boy, runs away from the restraunt. General Lee congratualtes Mao on his smart thinking in his cooking of 'Ma Por' tofu. Instead of using beef, Mao substituted it with beans. This gave the lovely taste General Lee remembered when he was just a soldier at war and there was no beef becasue all the cows had died. General Lee, seeing Mao's talent orders him to go to Guangzhou and build up his skills so he could enter the Special Grade Cooking test.

Mao, Sanche and Meili open up a store to attract customers away from Yang's Spring Restraunt. They make 'stir fry capsicum and pork strips', but want to add something else to create a unique flavour. As the night wears on, Meili gets frustrated and kicks a tree, making all the ripe 'chi' (a type of fruit) fall to the ground. Mao gets an idea to use the 'chi' as the special flavour they needed. The next day, Yang's Spring restraunt is empty thanks to the store Mao and the gang made. Mao chops the vegetables, Sanche stir frys the dish and Meili serves it to customers making them the ultimate team. Choyu and Ruoh find out about Mao's store and goes to have a little taste test. They are so amazed at the short amount of time they took to make this new delicious dish that they allow Sanche back into the restraunt. Sanche, happy Mao had helped him, got his confidence back in chopping vegetables and again leaves for Shanghai where his father's restraunt is. Mao tries to stop him after reading Sanche's leave note but is too late.

The Guangzhou Dumpling Festival has arrived! The winner is the team who has the most eaten plates of dumplings. An old man wants to try the wonderful Dumpling Brother's dumpling but is told to go away becasue he looked like a beggar. Mao gives the old man dumplings and finds out the man used to be the Emperor's master chef. After this news, everyone flocks to Mao's store to eat his dumplings. When time was up, the plates were counted! Mao and the Dumpling Brothers were equal first with 1242 plates. The judge, under the old man's advice, announces a rechallenge the next day - But different dumplings must be made!

Mao and Meili travel to Wunam province in China and along the way meet a boy who has fainted from starvation. Mao makes some food for him using igredients from the trees around him. When he is well, the boy tells him his name is Siro and he is a Special Grade Cook (which he isn't!). Since Mao is hiding his Special Grade cook emblem, Mao becomes Siro's disciple! The group go to Siro's village where a really fat Official is putting chefs into prison for making food he does not like. Siro, whose family owns a restraunt in the village also tries to satisfy the Official. With Mao's help they make a fried rice with a sour taste which the Official greedily ate. Mao reveals he is a Special Grade cook, to the suprise of Siro and everyone. Siro apologises for pretending to be a Special Grade cook and joins Mao's journeys.

Mao is split up from Meirii and Siro in a forest at night. When they regroup they find a large house where they are served a very nice meal by the chef there. The sickly owners however only want to have red congee. Mao and gang try to find the secrets of this addictive congee and find it is made from a poisonous red mushroom. Also they find out the chef wanted to use this addictive red congee to force the owner's to sign a contract to give all their money and their daughter to him. And so Mao creates a herbal 'five colour' congee which he gives to the owners. This cures their addictiveness for red congee and the chef is forced to leave.

Now that the judges have savoured every bit of Mao’s tofu, Shou An’s dish is Three Harmony Tofu. Secret Ingredients: Tofu, meat-flavoured tofu strips and tofu noodles cooked together with a special sauce. The judges also finished every bit of Shou An’s dish. It appears that it is now tilting to Shou An’s advantage. As the judges emerged from a closed session, they announced the winner: Mao. What tilted the judges toward Mao’s Magic Panda Tofu was universality and originality. While the judges were split over the taste and the cooking techniques of both dishes, one of them recalls eating Shou An’s dish at Kikkaro, Pai’s restaurant some years back. Hence, Shou An stumbled upon Pai’s secret dish without realizing it! No marks for originality there! Convinced now that he has truly lost, Shou An resorts to blowing up the ship, with everyone on it!!

Sanche, also a young chef in Yang's Spring Restraunt, becomes jealous of Mao's talent and tries to spoil Mao's cooking. However when Sanche is asked by Choyu to chop some vegetables, he is unable to chop them finely (due to a tragic childhood where he was taught to cook by his strict father) and so all the customers become unhappy about the restraunt's cooking. Choyu kicks Sanche out of the restraunt for his poor cooking ability. Sanche runs away and tries to get on a boat to return to Shanghai. Mao stops him and offers to help him in showing his skills to Choyu so he can be cook for the restraunt.

At night, the stronger Dumpling Brother tries to sabotage Mao's indgredients before the dumpling challenge but is luckily stopped by Choyu. Meanwhile, the other brother is quickly preparing his own ingredients for the challenge. The dumpling rematch has new rules: each taste tester gets two balls, a black one and a white one. After tasting each store's food (Mao and the Dumpling Brothers) they put either a white ball (for Mao) or a black ball (for the Dumpling Brothers) into large pots where they will be counted. The Dumpling Brothers make a beautiful prawn dumpling which looks like a dragon. Mao also makes a prawn dumpling which does not look as good but it has one special trick - It can lift its body up! - The 'Rising Dragon' dumpling' You'll have to watch the episode to understand.After the match is over, the large pots are smashed open and they are completely filled with white balls! Mao wins! General Lee arrives and tells Mao that he is now ready to take the Special Grade Cooking Test in Guangzhou.

Mao goes to the large castle which holds the Special Grade Cooking Tests. The tests are held every four years and only one person will pass the test (very strict!). In the first round, the first five people to have their dishes past will go on to the next round. The dish to be cooked is ramen (noodles) and the topic is 'Ramen without an equal' (something along those lines!). While the other cooks have already started, Mao is still thinking of what the topic phrase means. Feiyi - another young talented cook gives him a hint and straight away Mao knows what to cook! Unfortunately Mao forgot a vital ingredient and tells Meili to go back to the restraunt to get it. Mao waits as time goes by fast....

Mao, Meili and Shilou are eating in a restaurant, but when they were about to pay, they found out that Shilou lost all their money. They were thrown out by the head chef, Harry and his thugs, but a certain Igle, a third-grade chef stopped them. A fight ensued and it was stopped because the owner of the restaurant arrived with his daughter, Laia. Mao then asked the owner to let them work the debt off by working for the restaurant. It was also found out that Laia is engaged to Harry, and they were to be married the next day. Igle meanwhile carves a phoenix out of ice as a gift to Laia, then left the restaurant. While walking he found Harry (with two girls at his side!) planning to make the restaurant into a bar after he’s married to Laia. Igle was mad but Harry’s friends outnumbered him. Mao found Igle lying on the dirt, and decided to help him and thwart Harry. During the wedding, Mao used subtlety by making a galaxy soup, a completely black soup that kinda sparkles, (like the stars in the black sky) and tells everybody of Harry’s plans. Mao then showed Laia the pearl bangle that Igle promised her. Then they showed the ice carving Igle made. Laia ran off to find Igle on the bridge where they professed their love.

Mao just returned from his trip and he is given a key for Yosen Shuka because Master Luo & Chouyu went to attend the chef alliance’s meeting for two weeks. When they were already closing, a stranger forced his way inside and ordered a stir-fry. Since Mao is out doing some errand, Shilou made the stir-fry, but forgot to dip it in oil. This made ths stranger unhappy and demanded for the manager. Mao faced him and asked for another chance, anything the stranger wants and Mao will cook it. The stranger asked for an egg dish, but not an ordinary egg dish. Mao must use three different kind of eggs that has unity but at the same time the tastes of the three eggs must be distinct. Mao is to do this in only 15 minutes. In half the time, Mao produced the egg dish, a siumai dish. The stranger claims that he is quite strict with siu mai and even without tasting the dish, he already knew what two of the three eggs are. When he tasted the siu mai, he found out the third and he exclaimed that the dish is very delicious! He then announced himself as Shell, the youngest dim sum master chef. Because of the excitement of finding a person that is equal or might be better than him with regards to cooking siu mai, he challenges mao into a siu mai battle!!!

Mao was chosen to hold the restaurant key. Then, when he had to leave the restaurant for some pick-me-ups, he left the restaurant to Meirii and Siro's care. Now, when Meirii was about to close the restaurant, Shel (even though his name isnt mentioned yet), demanded to be let in and ordered for some stir-fry veggies. Siro, thinking that he would be some help, decided to fry the stir-fry instead. Shel was outraged to taste such a disgusting dish and demanded for the cook. Mao immediately took responsibility and thus, Shel saw the cloth wrapped over Mao's 'Super' badge. Shel then showed Mao the stars he earned when defeating other good chefs and Mao is surprised (naturally). Shel challenges Mao for a siu mai battle but Mao refuses as he has to take care of Yosen Shuuka. Shel, outraged, uses his stick to destroy the place. Ruoh and Choyu came back when Mao finally accepted the challenge and Meirii is doubtful about this. By that time, Shel had discovered that Mao is a 'Tokyu Jiushin' or Super chef.