The genius A Fei's unique skill, the New Man-Han Feast Imperial Cuisine Showdown stipulates that one hundred dishes must be prepared within three hours. A Fei quickly started to cook with the theme of the Man-Han Feast, but the young master is still thinking about what the emperor thinks is delicious. Seeing that the emperor suddenly got the answer, he started to do it immediately. Fortunately, the time caught up, but unexpectedly, the emperor chose to try A Fei's work first, and after eating a hundred dishes, he couldn't eat it anymore...

While Fei and his team are working away cooking, Mao is still thinking of what to cook, with his friends anxiously waiting. Finally, after observing the king for a little, he comes up with a 'theme' and they start cooking. After a lot of rushing and hurrying, they finally finish their 100 dishes just in time. Fei presents his neo Man Han Banquet, and the king takes one spoon out of each of the 100 dishes and says that he's full (implying that Mao's dishes are rejected). However, after some begging from Mao, the king decides that he will try one dish. After that, he became crazy, and started eating more and more until he finished all 100 dishes! So he askes Mao the secret behind his dishes, and Mao said that he had observed that the king had small wrists and oily skin and the theme of his food was to be healthy and fresh. Then the king declares that Mao has won, and Mao says that he doesn't want to take the job, instead travel to find the remaining cooking utensils. He then askes Fei to come along, and Fei tells them why he joined the UCS. So they set off to look for the remaining 5 cooking utensils.

After finding the third piece of kitchen utensils, the Magic Sacred Bronze Ware, the young masters continued their journey to find the fourth piece. On the way, he was framed by Xiang En, and Xiaodangjia and Dudu were trapped in a mysterious cave. Xiang En asked to exchange their lives with the legendary kitchen utensils. Just when Master Xie was hesitant about what to do, the young head accidentally discovered an air pot that could turn salt water into fresh water in the cave.

The imperial capital Beijing, the clutches of the dark culinary world xa0 Hearing Admiral Li say that the dark culinary world's clutches have reached Beijing, so the young masters hurried to Beijing, unexpectedly the dark culinary world has already cooperated with insiders and outsiders, the first thing is to put Admiral Li in prison, Next, they are planning to seize the position of the chef of the imperial dining room. The young masters accidentally broke into the new chef's inauguration ceremony. Unexpectedly, that person was A Fei. In order to stop him, the young masters proposed a showdown of imperial cooking...

Mao’s group has arrived at the Lou Lin Vessel, a large cooking arena inside a huge boat. The underworld announces that the competition will be a Banquet Cooking Battle with four categories. The team that won in most rounds will win. The price will be the map that shows the location of the legendary cooking tools. The first category is soup. It is Sanche’s turn and he is going to compete with Rouko - the underworld cook with a mechanical hand. Before the competition was started, Sanche was surprised when he finds out that the judges are the leaders of the different guilds in Shanghai. Rouko uses a whole chicken for his soup. He has a minor advantage because the broth that he will use was prepared even before Mao’s team arrived. When the judges tasted his soup they were very delighted and said that the soup is delicious. It is Sanche’s turn to present his soup. Everyone was surprised to see that Sanche is holding a glowing melon bowl.

Finally, Leon decides to come clean. Leon had killed the blacksmith that made those knives, after he said that he would make better set of knives than the Seven Stars Knives. Knowing that he cannot let that happen, he stabbed the blacksmith and pushed him off the cliff. When he finally come to his senses, he deeply regrets his actions. His mistake was to tell the elders in the Underworld about the incident. After encouragement from Mao, he starts in making his dish. Special skills: Removing meat from crabs with knives (picks even the leg clean). Special ingredients: Crab shell (when he picked the crabs, picked the small, inferior ones. The crab meat is stuffed into the shells, and when deep fried, the crispy shell can be eaten). While Leon was busy with his dish, Shan lazed around and even mingled with the judges. Her dish was a bowl of soup and crab omelet. Then it was tasting time. Shan went first. The judges were not thrilled with her entry. It was a normal fare. However, when the judges tasted Leon’s stuffed crispy crab shells, they spat out the crab while saying that it was the most disgusting thing they have tasted. How could it be? Everyone was surprised. Was it sabotage? But how?

Shou An triggered the self-destruct mechanism and the ship begins to sink, as explosions rip through the ship and destroys all life boats. Shan runs away with the Treasure Maps and escapes through a trap door under the ship with Leon in hot pursuit. Mao and the rest tried to find their way out, along with the rest of the ship’s passengers. They had to go further up the ship to escape the fire. Coming out at the top of the ship, they noticed Shan getting away on a small boat! But all was not lost! Leon has caught up! Leon grabs the Maps from Shan and ordered her and her minion to jump ship. Leon turns his attention to the sinking ship but realizes that his small boat will not be able to save all the passengers. Luckily, a passing large ship spotted the sinking vessel and came to the rescue. As everyone flees the sinking ship. Shou An shows up to challenge Mao to a duel. Mao stayed on board despite his friends pleas. Shou An gave Mao a beating before an explosion caused him to fall into the burning flames. Mao grabbed Shou An and told him that Pai never blamed him for his actions and her dying wish was that Shou An, Mao and Mao’s sister team up to make Kikkaro the best restaurant in China. Shou An realized then that he has been wrong all along and tossed Mao a package that he said will help Mao in the future. After that, Shou An falls to his death. As the ship sinks, Leon comes to Mao’s rescue. Now that they have the Maps, they proceed to find the next cooking tool: a fossilized pot. Dragon Pot. As Mao holds the tool, the fossilized shell breaks revealing the Coiled Dragon Pot.

Shilou found the other portion of the third map in the treasures stolen by the bandits. Putting the two maps together, they know the location of the third tool: Mount Jiuhua. Upon arriving there, they found the people to be wasting away, lying on the streets. They woke to the sound of the gong and everyone rushed to the temple of the Abalone Deity. They exchanged valuables for what appeared to be normal abalone soup. Curious, Mao gave all his money in exchange for the soup. The taste was fabulous and all of them were mesmerized by the taste! It was then that Mao realized that someone had used a legendary cooking tool to produce the soup: the Holy Copperware. Recognising the ‘Abalone Deity’ to be a swindler they met on the way to Mount Jiuhua, they tried to expose him. However, the Holy Copperware was indeed real despite the fect that only cooks of worthy skills can use the tool. Realising that any sort of rash action will incite the anger of the masses, they figured out another plan: to pose as Comet deities themselves.

Qing Dynasty, Imperial China, a small restraunt in Szechuan Province is messed up by a first grade cook, Shouan.To defend his deceased mother's restraunt, Liu Mao Tsing ('Mao') has a cooking match with Shouan, the judge being General Lee. The dish: fried rice. Shouan cooks a seafood fried rice using the most yummy seafood while Mao cooks 'golden friend rice' which is basically fried rice and egg yolk to make the rice a gold colour. Lee finds Mao's dish far superior to that of Shouan's. Shouan, upset he had lost to a kid declares a rematch. Lee agrees but only on the basis that if he loses, he'll lose his first grade level and never be allowed to cook again. Similarly if Mao loses he will lose the restraunt to Shouan. The two agree and Lee declares the dish to cook be 'Five Flavour Ma Por' tofu with an extra flavour they must decide to put in.

Mao arrives at Guangzhou and goes to the Yang Spring Restraunt. At first he is ignored by the master chef of the restraunt, Choyu. Mao shows him the letter of recommendation from General Lee to which Choyu becomes a bit suprised but just chucks the letter away and tells Mao to cook bakchoy (white chinese cabbage) for the chefs to eat for lunch. Mao cooks the bakchoy but the dish is turned down by all the other chefs. Later Choyu tells him that Guangzhou's water contains a lot of dirt so when Mao cooked the bakchoy all the dirt flavour went into it. Mao, being the talented cook he is immediately goes to work finding a way to get rid of the dirt taste. After just one day, Mao works out how to get rid of the dirt taste and begs Choyu to allow him to prove his skills. Mao cooks the bakchoy again, this time using an oil which prevents the cabbage from absorbing the dirt taste. Mao is congratualted by all the chefs for his smart thinking and is accepted Choyu promotes him to'fourth grade chef' for his achievement. Of course, this makes the other resident cooking master boy, Sanche, a little jealous.

The annual Guangzhou dumpling festival is nearing, and this year Yang's Spring Restraunt is hoping to win again. However a new challenger has arrived - the Chinese Dumpling Brothers! Choyu breaks his arm after one of the Dumpling Brothers knocks into him and it is up to Mao to win in the festival!

Mao decides to cook 'namazu noodles' (namazu is a type of fish, looks like a catfish). He quickly finishes and tells Meili to taste it. Meili rejects to the noodles finding them not fresh enough and having not enough bounce. Mao tries to find away to overcome his problem and finds it! - In octopus! Time is nearly up!

The masked chef rejected Mao’s challenge, but Mao insisted. The next scene, we see Shilou working in the restaurant cleaning the dishes when all the lights went out. He was very scared when he saw some shadows and then he realized it was Master Luo. Master Luo reminded Shilou of the ice sculpture, and that it would melt in the rain, so they decided to bring it inside. But just as they were about to do it, the lightning hit the sculpture, destroying it. Master Luo comments that it is a sign of bad luck. Back at the mansion, Mao insists on continuing the battle for Chouyu, believing that Chouyu couldn’t cheat in the match. The masked chef still rejects Mao. To make the masked chef accept the challenge, Mao finished the first battle, cooking and cutting lobster blindfolded. The masked chef was intrigued and impressed, he accepted the challenge. He tells Mao that the second round will be complete deep fry. The condition is whoever finishes the dish first, a complete deep fry, will be the winner. Shilou decided to go after Mao running in the rain, but after a while he gets lost for a while, finally he reaches the mansion. Meanwhile, back at the mansion, the second round continues and the masked chef thinks that Mao is better than he thought. While the masked chef is making the sauce, Mao announces that he is done. The masked chef’s dish is the Phoenix Tail Lobster, lobster covered with nuts, but since the sauce is not finished, Mao refused to taste it because the meal was incomplete. Mao then reveals his dish, and the masked chef tells him that it’s just a deep fry dish, and he claims that it’s also incomplete. Mao says it’s complete, if he’ll just take a bite. The masked chef did take a bite and he was surprised because the sauce that he’s been looking for in Mao’s dish is inside the lobster and that it’s very good. Mao explains why the sauce didn’t seep out when it fries, it’s the bean curd skin wrapped around the lobster. The masked chef realizes the technique and talent in Mao and that he really is a pupil of Chouyu. The masked man made another ultimatum, if he stops the battle, Mao will get spared but Chouyu and Mei Li will die. If Mao wins he’ll get the antidote, but if he loses, he’ll take the poison. Mao decides to fight for Chouyu and Mei Li.

Yosen Shuka was closed and the employees of the restaurant had a picnic and a fishing tournament. The prize who caught the biggest fish will be a ladle. Everyone is having a great time and Master Luo is teasing Chouyu that a great chef is a great angler. While Master Luo got another fish, Chouyu got another log. Then, when Chouyu was about to catch a large fish, Master Luo threw a rock at it and announced that he’s drunk again, to everyone’s chagrin. Mei Li thought it was unfair. Meanwhile, to win, Mao, Shilou and Mei Li went to another part of the lake to catch larger fish. But Shilou tripped and fell, Mao caught him, but they were also dragged down. Back at the side of the lake, everyone is already eating, when Chouyu was remembering what Lien (the masked chef) had said to him, that the Underground will be targeting him and Mao next. Mao, Shilou and Mei Li were moving their way towards the crops when they hear sounds. At first they thought it was a bear, but eventually it was Shell. He’s still on his journey and was thinking on going back to Yosen Shuka. Since everyone hasn’t eaten, Shell used his steel stick as a fishing rod. Mei Li noticed that there are more marks on his steel stick, but there is a black star. It was his defeat from Mao and he told Mao to be ready next time because he’s going to change it to a victory mark. While catching fish, Shell told Mao he heard the news about Mao having a match with the Underworld. Mao affirmed the news, and Shell warned Mao that this will not be the last. Meanwhile, Shilou and Mei Li are arguing, saying that he is very hungry and he wants to go back. Mei Li blamed Shilou about going too far than was ordered. Then, Shilou asked if they could cook the fish that Shell caught. Shell said that it can’t happen because the fish is carp and it will take them half a day just to clean the fish. Shilou said that he can’t wait that long and that he will die in hunger. Shell commented that even Mao can’t do anything about it. Then, little yellow leafs started floating about and Mao had an idea. He asked Shell for flour and ordered Mei Li to gather some rape blossoms (the little yellow leafs). Mao and Shell started cooking. Mei Li came back with the rape blossoms and Mao asked her to put the flowers inside the pot. It was used to erase the smell of carp. Then, Mei Li commented that the fire isn’t enough to boil the carp. But boiling longer will ruin the taste, so Mao put boiled stones inside the pot, and it instantly boiled. The finished product, was the outside cuisine of friendship, the water dumplings! Shilou, on the other hand, is making a dish of his own. He’s making smoked carps. But he needed more smoke to burn properly, he got something, like a rag, and put it inside the fire. Shell realized what it is. It was the bag where he put all his money inside. All his traveling money is gone! Back in the restaurant, Shell made Shilou help him in gaining his money back by selling siu mai. Shilou came home very tired, complaining. Mei Li then treated Mao and Shilou to a meal. Shell, now drunk, came home, bringing buns. He went to Yosen Shuka when someone appeared and recognized Shell. The man said that he doesn’t want to stay with him, he wants to see the chef that beat Lien, but he will take away Shell’s steel stick. A fight ensued, and eventually the man got Shell’s steel stick. The man commented that a chef’s cooking utensil is his life and soul, therefore Shell is useless. Shell recognized the tattoo on his hand as the man disappeared again. Mao, Mei Li and Shilou are already coming back from eating, when they noticed Shell lying outside, thinking he was drunk, until he revealed that he encountered someone from the Underworld that took his steel stick. Shell said that they had spread their way into Guangzhou.

Mao was preparing a dish, and the employees at the restaurant are all fascinated with his knife skills. Luo arrived and asked Mao to prepare a special dish for a special guest. They went outside, and they saw a big buffalo. Master Luo said that this is the special dish that they are going to prepare for the special guest. While they were cutting the buffalo, a stranger started cutting the buffalo in quick easy strokes. Then he put a red paper on the buffalo’s forehead. Suddenly, the buffalo was cut perfectly! Everyone was wondering who he is, and then Mei Li somehow recognized it. Mao recognized the cut and said that it was a move taught only in the underground. Shell went over to the stranger and raised his hand, there was a tattoo of the underground on it! Shell started accusing the stranger of taking his stick, when the stranger said that he’s never seen Shell in his life. The stranger recognized Mao, and said he’s the one who defeated Len from the underground. They were about to beat him up when Mei Li finally recognized him. It was Leon a genius cooking boy that’s as good as Mao and was training at Yosen Shuuka. Mei Li remembers that Leon is very kind-hearted, that sometimes he cries when he has to kill an animal in order to cook. He then went on a journey to be a better cook, and now he returned. Mei Li asked what happened to Leon, and Leon pushed Mei Li. They can’t believe this was the kind-hearted Leon they knew from the past. Then, Chouyu and Master Luo arrived and saw Leon sitting on the chair with his feet up in a table. It was revealed that Leon was the special guest. Leon reminded Luo of a promise, that Luo give Leon the legendary cooking tools. Shell explained the tools. There are cooking tools in China that has mysterious power. Shell was adamant, saying that Leon stole his stick and that someone from the underground shouldn’t receive the legendary cooking tools. Chouyu thought otherwise. His skill in cutting is proof. But Chouyu said that he must prove himself in receiving the tool. It was kept in a Daisen Temple in a closed room. Luo agreed with Chouyu. Luo wanted to see Leon’s real talent and recognized that Seven Star Knife that Leon carries. Leon asked who will battle him. It was going to be Mao. Leon was mad. He thinks it was a joke saying that Mao can beat a guy like Len but not him. Chouyu remembered Lien and what he said about Mao. Chouyu told Mao to show Leon his true power. Chouyu asked Luo for the contest and Luo said that the contest will be tomorrow at the Daisen Temple. The battle is on!

Finally, the winner is announced. It’s Liu Mao-Hsing! The tool now has a new owner. But there’s a tradition, the tool chooses it’s owner. Chouyu explained where the legendary cooking tools are made from. The legendary chef Shuri made them from a meteorite that hit the earth hundreds of years ago. Master Luo then starts the ceremony by telling Mao that he should hold the knife, and the knife can tell if the owner is good or evil. Mao held the knife in his hands and a dragon appeared and seems to be sucked by Mao’s body, then the dragon appeared in the knife, saying that Mao is its owner after 400 years. Mao starts using the same knife on some leftover porgy that has lost its best taste. When Mao tasted the fish, he exclaims that the fish has retained its good taste. That is the secret of the knife, it returns any food into its original condition, thus the best taste. Then, Mao tells everyone that the knife has another owner and runs over to Leon. Everyone starts pointing out to Mao that Leon is from the underground and that he might attack Mao. But Mao insists, and Leon holds the knife. The dragon appeared again and went straight in Leon’s body and it appeared on the knife! Leon is an owner too! Which means, Leon is a good person. Leon starts explaining how he came upon the underworld. Four years ago, he left Yosen Shuuka to gain the ultimate knowledge in cooking, that’s why he came upon the underworld. Although he gained hardships through it, he was happy because he was cooking. But soon after, he realized the real intent of the underworld, and he began feeling scared and wanted to get out. He escaped, and he vowed to crush the underworld by obtaining the legendary cooking tools. After everything is cleared, they were now having a great feast where Mao and Leon will use the legendary cooking tool in cooking. While Mao was cooking his spring rolls, Shell wonders who really stole his stick, because now he’s sure that it’s not Leon. It was then Leon’s turn to cook. Mao handed him the knife, but the dragon disappeared! Mao exclaimed that it’s an impostor, and the fake Leon starts his escape. Shell realized that he’s the real thief of his steel stick and starts a battle, where his mask is destroyed and revealed an ugly face. As the impostor is about to escape, Leon caught him and the impostor was trapped. Chouyu asks the impostor to hand over the knife, but the impostor instead killed himself with it, saying that if the knife is used for other purposes than food, it loses its power, also explaining that it’s the way of the underworld. After the event, Master Luo revealed the maps of the other seven legendary cooking tools scattered in China. Mao asked Master Luo if he could search for the tools before the underworld gets them. Then, Shell and Leon promised to join him and defeat the underworld. Mei Li and Shilou wanted to join too, but Chouyu did not permit them saying that Shilou has to help in the restaurant and it’s very dangerous for Mei Li. Mao, Leon and Shell are already leaving, when Shell realized that Mei Li and Shilou are not around to say goodbye. Then, all of a sudden, Mei Li and Shilou appears saying that Chouyu permitted them to go. Mei Li embraced Mao and Shilou teases them. Mao starts chasing Shilou. Back at the restaurant, Master Luo comments that Chouyu is getting softer. But Chouyu reveals that he has not given permission to the two. Luo says that they can’t do anything about it.

Rouko was angry when Sanche showed that a melon couldn’t be a soup. But Sanche replied that it is a soup, and it’s his special: the bouncing snapping turtle soup. Sanche served the soup and Mei Li helped him. But when she laid down the melon, the cover fell off, but the soup didn’t spill! Then, when one judge tried to get soup, and the spoon bounced off. They were saying that the soup is solid and wonders if the dish Sanche prepared is really a soup. Sanche explained that his soup is congealed food. Rouko then announced that his soup wouldn’t do, because a soup is a dish upon itself and not a part of the cuisine. He also told Sanche that the judges look unsatisfied. It is now time to vote. The judges should raise the white spoon for Rouko and the red spoon for Sanche. Each one of them raised the red spoon! Sanche was very happy, but Rouko demanded an explanation. Mao explained that it’s a banquet cooking battle, and although soup is supposed to be delicious, it is also a dish that continues to the next. Rouko’s dish is too heavy and you can’t continue to eat anymore. As comparison, Rouko’s soup has many leftovers as compared to Sanche’s, which are all empty. Then, two guys grabbed Rouko’s arms, and the woman says that it’s shameful to lose to an outside chef, and he is branded with the symbol of distaste. (The same process how they brand cattle). The second round is announced, and it is dim sum, and Shell decides to fight. It’s going to be the old man. Leon recognized the emblem on the old man’s stick, saying it’s the Hakura emblem, the family that once calmed a raging river by offering dim sum. Shell said that the lineage died, the last would be Lakon, the dim sum king. Shell then realized that the old man is Lakon himself! Dim sum has many varieties, and a spinning wheel is pulled out to choose the category. Shell was allowed to choose, with Lakon saying that he should choose the one’s he best with. Shell wanted to fight fair, and by spiting the stick he’s chewing on the spinning wheel, he chose “buns”, not siu mai, much to Shilou and Mei Li’s dismay. Leon said that Shell chose the one that he shouldn’t have chosen. Everyone asked why. Leon answers: the Hakura family invented the buns.

In this episode, King Lakon prepares the Spirit Calming Buns of the Hakura Family. The bun’s secret ingredient was a piece of 1600 year old ‘lao mien’, a piece of fermented dough passed on from his ancestors (apparently the older the better). The 8 types of buns altogether: all of them first rate seafood which includes shark’s fin, abalone, lobster and sea cucumber, served in a bamboo boat. Method of preparation: Clay pots. The judges give the dish a thumbs up. While Lakon cooked up his dish using the traditional methods passed on for generations, Steel Stick Shell used his own creativity to cook up: Fried Laughing Buns. Even King Lakon was shocked when it laughed in his hand. Secret ingredients: diced steak (not minced) and vermicelli (to retain the juices during frying). Secret method: To make the buns laugh, Shell made a slit on each bun. While frying, the oil will rush in and cook the insides. However, the slit will be sealed trapping the juices inside. Once taken out of the fryer, the pressure inside the bun will reopen the slit and the air coming out of it creates the laughing effect. The judges loved the buns, delicious and fun. Now comes the judgement: the judges were told to raise a red spoon for Shell and a white spoon for King Lakon. It ends with a cliffhanger: None of them lifted their red spoons when asked to do so!

Now that none of them lifted the red spoons for Shell, they were asked to lift the white spoons for King Lakon. Surprise, surprise! The result of the battle is: A DRAW. The judges could not decide which is better and agreed that both were evenly matched. After hearing the judgement, both Steel Stick Shell and King Lakon gets into a heated argument on whose dish is better. After trading blows, they dropped to the ground and exploded with laughter. Actually, they both admired each other’s cooking very much. King Lakon realized his mistake in joining the Underworld and wanted to leave to go on a learning expedition across China (just like Shell did). He told Shell to be prepared to face him again in 10 years time after his expedition and started to walk away. However, Mysterious Shan from the Underworld tried to assassinate King Lakon as he leaves but she was foiled by Shell’s Steel Stick. King Lakon then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Then it echoed in the room: Shell, we shall meet again in 10 years time.

Matchup no. 3 involves Leon and Shan from the Underworld. The chosen ingredient is crab. What follows is demonstration of each other’s abilities. Leon demonstrates his cutting skills by fishing out a giant squid and cutting it into giant squid sashimi on the judges table. Shan fished out a beluga whale, cut it up to remove the caviar and seal it up again. Soon, the beluga whale was swimming as if nothing happened. Only tool is capable of doing the feat: the Seven Star Knives. How could Shan have in her possession another set of Seven Star Knives? Shan then says to Leon: You will pay for your sins. Leon looks very disturbed. Shan knew something that Leon has done and regretted ever since.

The judges awarded the verdict in favor of Shan. However, Mao finally figures it out. It was Shan’s soup. Shan’s soup was rich in crab taste. Since the judges tasted the soup first, Leon’s fried crab shells tasted disgusting (all they could taste was oily batter). Although the truth was exposed, it was too late. The judges decision was final. Shan took the advantage to further weaken Leon’s spirit, saying that he was not the true owner of the Seven Star Knives. The vulnerable Leon crumbles to the ground dropping his knives. While Shan tried to reach for them, Shell interfered with the TRUTH! The only reason why Shan had her set of Seven Star Knives was that she found it out from the blacksmith. But didn’t Leon kill him? Apparently, he survived the wounds and the fall. Shan nursed him to obtain the location of the second set (all good blacksmiths keep another set of their best work as offerings to the gods). After she got them, she killed him in cold blood. Knowing the truth, Leon and Shan engaged in a fight to determine the rightful owner of the knives. In the heat of fighting, the soul of the blacksmith was released. Stating that his intention of making the knives was so that Leon can make people through his cooking, he told Leon to forget the past and that Leon was indeed the true owner of the knives. After leaving his message, Shan’s set of Seven Star Knives broke by itself, one by one. Now, there is only one set of Seven Star Knives. A victory behind a defeat indeed. The battle will now be decided in the next match.

Thanks to Shan’s trickery, now the banquet cooking competition is now tied. The results of the next dish will determine the winner. Mao finally meets his competitor: Shou An, his late mother Pai’s disciple. There is a history between the two. It was Shou An that caused Pai’s death. And Mao was the one that defeated Shou An in a Mabo Tofu competition, resulting in Shou An losing his license to cook forever. Mao was the reason that Shou An joined the Underworld! Shou An’s rise in the underworld was phenomenal, driven by his desire to defeat Mao. It was only fitting that the category for the final dish is tofu, which is Pai’s specialty, and the dish Mao defeated Shou An with. Since tofu needed time to be made, the final battle was postponed to the next morning to allow the competitors to prepare the ingredients. However, when Mao’s soy beans were being soaked, the Underworld resorted to dirty tactics. Shilou and Mei Li who were guarding the beans were knocked unconscious with needles laced with sleeping potion. In the morning, when Mao check on the beans, they were already spoilt! But Mao does not seemed concerned and said that he will make the tofu dish of the century!

Sabotaged by the Underworld, Mao had to wait for the tofu to harden. Shou An was cooking away as Mao sits besides his box, much to the disappointment of his friends. As Shou An presents his dish for the judges, Mao finally moves but takes the whole box with him, without cooking the tofu. When he emptied the contents on the table, it was layered tofu (black and white layers). Everyone was thinking how Mao could expect to win with uncooked tofu when the magic began. The tofu crumbles into small cubes that floated in the air, before settling down in a delicious sauce, just like magic. It is actually Mabo tofu. After enjoying the spectacle, the judges tasted it. The judges loved it! Secret ingredients: Black tofu (sweetened due to fermentation). The black tofu enhanced the hot taste of the sauce (even when the sauce was never heated up) and went well with the white tofu. But will it be enough to beat Shou An?

Well Mao and his group of friends (Meiri, Siro, Shel, and Leon) arrive in a village and the village is empty because everyone is at the temple where a little man is pretending to be a God and is cooking abalone in a magical pot. Abalone usually takes hours to cook but this magical pot only takes a couple seconds to cook it, and the villagers are mistaken that the little man is a God. The little man forces the villagers to give him gold, land or properties by saying if they don't they won't get any of the Abalone which is God's food. Mao and his friends find out that the little man is a con. Mao challenges the little man to a cook off. Mao wins by pretending to be a God and getting Shel and Leon to send rice into the sky and land onto the plate next to Mao. The rice is special as it has lots of vitamins and minerals and restores the villagers to their normal selves. Mao then explains to the villagers that the little man is a con and not a God. Mao then touches the magical pot and it turns out the pot is a legendary cooking utensil.

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.