Three days passed quickly, and Setsuna underwent the Gourmet Cell transplant procedure arranged by the IGO.
The process went smoothly, like water flowing effortlessly into a channel.
Setsuna felt as if the Gourmet Cells had already formed a symbiotic relationship with his body.
After ten days, once it was confirmed there were no rejection reactions, Jiro took Setsuna to his own room for training.
Setsuna found it a bit strange, 'Shouldn't training be conducted outdoors? Why in Master Jiro's room? Surely he didn't want to show me something 'interesting', right?'
Setsuna shook his head, dismissing the distracting thoughts, and focused on listening to Jiro's explanation.
"The essence of Knocking is perceiving pressure points, understanding meridians, or in other words, listening to the voice of all things."
Setsuna's expression turned peculiar upon hearing this, 'Listening to the voice of all things? Wasn't that a skill from One Piece?'
Jiro continued, "The location of pressure points differs for every living creature. How do you normally perform Knocking?"
Setsuna replied seriously, "By visual judgment. The flow of blood and energy through pressure points has subtle differences."
Jiro asked further, "What if I blindfolded you?"
Setsuna answered without hesitation, "Then I would perceive the target's breathing and the surrounding air currents."
Jiro nodded with a smile. "Correct. That's how it's done for people, and it's the same for Knocking the world. As long as you can perceive the breath of all things, making the ripples in the air become the world's meridians, then performing Knocking on a planet is no different from performing it on a living being."
Hearing this, Setsuna couldn't help but wryly smile. He roughly understood Jiro's meaning. A more relatable explanation for him would be the butterfly effect.
The world is a complete system. When a single node changes, the resulting impact can spread throughout the entire world.
But this was incredibly difficult. With his current level, perceiving airflow changes within a hundred-meter radius was already good. Treating the entire world as a chessboard was a realm beyond his imagination.
Jiro added, "When I sparred with you last time, you couldn't touch me because I was controlling the world's meridians. Your attacks were tangible, while my counters were intangible. Every step I took could stir the world's breath, affecting you without you realizing it. Of course, your attacks were useless against me. If you cannot reach this realm, even if your power and speed increase ten or a hundredfold, it will still be useless."
Setsuna's mind was shaken. This was the first time he had so directly felt the power of such a high realm.
Setsuna quickly asked, "Master Jiro, how can I achieve this level?"
Jiro smiled and said, "There are essentially only two paths to becoming stronger. First, training and enjoying gourmet food to enhance your physique. Second, training the power of the mind, which is Food Honor. The essence of Food Honor is gratitude towards the world, gratitude for food, which is gratitude for life. Eating is not killing, it is merging oneself with all things in nature. Therefore, the first lesson I will teach you is to watch me enjoy food with a calm mind, not driven by desire, keeping your heart full of gratitude."
Setsuna nodded. He didn't think this was a particularly difficult test. Restraining desires? He was still confident in his willpower.
But when the trial began, Setsuna truly understood the agony involved.
The craving for gourmet food from the Gourmet Cells was simply terrifying. His entire body yearned for it, and his personal desire for delicious food seemed amplified a hundred thousand times.
At first, Setsuna even had to resort to self-harm to restrain his desires. This unconsciously reminded him of Vice Admiral Momonga from One Piece.
Setsuna couldn't help but smile bitterly, 'Well, it seemed he and Vice Admiral Momonga were in the same boat now.'
Fortunately, Setsuna quickly recalled the teachings of Master Shen from the Dragon Ball World. Although Master Shen's power might not have matched Master Roshi's, his training realm was genuine.
Setsuna used the method of training Ki to maintain inner peace. The restless desires in his heart soon calmed down, and his strong will finally overcame his body's instincts once again.
Seeing that Setsuna managed to hold onto his original heart during his first attempt at this training, Jiro was very satisfied.
After an hour passed like this, Jiro said, "You may begin eating now. The so-called Food Meditation involves maintaining a peaceful state of mind while eating. By listening to the sounds of the food in your mouth, feeling the texture of the ingredients and the changes in flavor, you expel distracting thoughts. With a mindset of gratitude for all things, you experience the life energy of the food, integrating the soul of the ingredients into your body."
Setsuna nodded and began to partake of the delicacies before him with great solemnity.
Wonderful flavors bloomed on his taste buds, but this time, Setsuna felt something more.
From the food, he sensed the peace of nature, the beauty of life. It seemed as if he could taste the entire life of the ingredient in his mouth.
Jiro praised, "As you gradually comprehend the essence of Food Honor and Food Meditation, you can attempt to practice Food Immersion. Food Immersion involves consuming food beyond your immediate needs, then using Food Meditation to convert the excess food into appetite energy stored within your body. When you need this power, you can then release it."
Setsuna rubbed his chin, 'Wasn't this just an advanced version of fat?'
'It could be actively broken down when needed, equivalent to a free Senzu Bean, but without the burden of actual fat… no weight gain or physical hindrance.'
…
This kind of training continued for a month.
After another session of Food Meditation concluded, Jiro asked, "Do you have any doubts about your current training? After all, you came to learn Knocking, yet I have been teaching you the essence of Food Honor all along."
Setsuna shook his head slightly. "In my homeland, there is an old saying: 'A craftsman must sharpen his tools if he is to do his work well'. Only by laying a solid foundation can subsequent training proceed smoothly."
Jiro nodded approvingly. "Skill approaches the 'Path'. But if one learns the 'Path' from the beginning, learning the 'techniques' later becomes much easier."
Setsuna nodded. For example, the 'mediocre teacher' Rayleigh from One Piece probably taught Luffy the 'Path', which was why Luffy could rapidly learn later under the 'guidance' of Kaido-sensei.
Jiro continued, "The current you can begin the next stage of training. This stage takes place in the Gourmet World."
Returning to the Gourmet World, Setsuna felt something different in his heart, as if he were seeing an excellent ingredient market.
Jiro said, "The essence of Food Honor is gratitude towards nature, to revere nature. But if it remains superficial, believing one must be vegetarian or cannot harm other life forms, that is putting the cart before the horse. Revering nature is not fearing nature. One must have the courage to become the king of all living beings. Otherwise, you are not the hunter, but the prey."
"What you need to do next is use the techniques I taught you to engage in constant battle within the Gourmet World. Use killing to enhance your own wildness until you can intimidate these ferocious beasts with your presence alone. Furthermore, you must not waste any of the beasts you hunt. Cook them yourself and consume them all, using Food Immersion to enhance your storage of appetite energy."