SailorStar9: Well, I've uploaded Chapter 34, and here's Chapter 35. So, read and review. Come on boys and girls, is it so hard for you to leave a review other than putting this on your favorited lists and alerts?

Disclaimers: Me no own, you no sue.

Chapter 35: Destroy The Evil Sword, The Sacred Seven Star Knives

"That's right." Master He agreed. "It's awful and it makes me sick."

"Is this some funny joke, Leon?"Master Zhang snapped. "You want us to judge your garbage?!"

"What in the world is happening?" Marin wondered. "The judges are disgusted at the magnificent crab dish prepared by Seven-Star Knives Leon!"

"Then it's settled." Master Zhang wiped his mouth. "The third round of the Banquet Cooking Tournament, Battle Shanghai Hairy Crabs... is won by Shan, the Ten-Feet-of-Blue!"

"That judgment... do you guarantee to abide by it?" Shan asked. "No matter what happens?"

"Of course!" the judges chorused.

"So then, which side is telling the truth?" Marin questioned midst the arguments between Shilou and the judges. "And which one's a filthy liar?"

"Nobody's lying." Ya Xue voiced.

"That's the soup Shan used as a side dish." Mao noticed the small bowl of soup in the swordwoman's hand.

"The soup... it can't be!" Leon realized.

"That's right, Leon." Ya Xue confirmed, "This soup was the trick behind her magic. Ten-Feet-of-Blue Shan!" she glared, unsheathing her saber and pointed the blade at the female chef. "You're despicable! The crab omelet was just a camouflage. The trap the judges fell for was the soup: it's an extract from crushed crab shells, just much thicker than usual, with an incredibly strong taste of crab."

"Of course!" Mao realized. "It's like when you eat something that's incredibly spicy, and then something that isn't too spicy. If you do this, you'll think the second dish was less spicy than it actually is. That's what happened here. After drinking the soup, your tongue is desensitized to the taste of crab. Anything you eat afterwards won't taste like crab anymore."

"The only taste you noticed was oily stickiness." Leon concluded.

"Truthfully, Leon's dish is probably the best crab dish in China." Ya Xue admitted. "It would be highly praised anywhere in the world. But ironically, the more it tasted like a crab, the more tasteless it seemed! Shan must have chosen this trick after confirming Leon was making Crab Stuffed Shells! Creating food for the purpose of undermining others, rather than to enhance its taste..." she tossed the bowl into the air and sliced it into shards with her saber. "That's not what a normal chef would do! The Underworld Technique: Tongue Exhaustion Seal! Just for that alone, you've incurred the wrath of the Huo clan!"

"But the judgment remains." Shan smirked. "They gave me their word it won't change no matter what! You have skills and talent to spare, and yet you were too soft." she mocked Leon. "That's why you fell for a simple trick like this. You once committed murder to become the best of the best. But now, look at you. You're not a chef worthy to even touch the Seven-Star Knives! You're nothing but a loser, unfit even for the outside world. Those hands smeared with Lache's blood proves you're a loser! That's right, Leon." she chuckled. "This Seven-Star Knife was created by the hatred of the murdered Lache. It rejoices now after extracting its vengeance. Only one person in the world should own the Seven-Star Knives. Yours truly, Ten-Feet-of-Blue Shan!"

"Not so fast." Shell's stick stopped Shan from lying her hands on Leon's knives. "You certainly took your time with this show of yours. But I knew that's what you were after all along. I have you figured out, Ten-Feet-of-Blue Shan! I know why you have another set of Seven-Star Knives. Lache, the best swordsmith, forged the Seven-Star Knives. Even alongside his best weapons, they were his greatest masterpiece. So last year , right after its completion, a Leon overcame by greed killed Lache so that no blade that surpassed his Seven-Star Knives can exist. However, that doesn't make sense, now that another set of Seven-Star Knives has surfaced."

"Like I said, these Seven-Star Knives were created by the hatred of the Lache murdered by Leon." Shan snorted.

"That's not possible!" Shell snapped. "Unless... Lache lived. I've met Lache once during my journeys. At the time, Lache told me this: 'When a craftsman creates his magnum opus, he creates another set to offer it to the gods as thanksgiving. And he keeps the location of the second set secret to his grave'."

"In other words, what she's got is the set meant as an offering." Ya Xue concluded.

"I remember there being a clump of dead grass right below the cliff where Lache had his workshop." Shell added. "What if it acted as a cushion that kept Lache alive? And who else would show up right then, but Ten-Feet-of-Blue Shan?"

"I remember Father told me that Underworld Techniques extend even into medicine." Ya Xue came to the same realization. "That's what you used. Am I wrong, Shan? A truth serum!?"

"And that's why I dislike wandering men." Shan snorted. "How could I have known that you were acquainted with Lache?"

"So that's why she chose Leon and not Mao-sama as an opponent." Ya Xue gasped. "It was so that she would be the sole owner of the Seven-Star Knives. By taking advantage of Leon's pure, proud, and fragile personality, she set him up so that he would discard his own Seven-Star Knives."

"I'm not as soft as you are, Leon." Shan scoffed. "I sent him to the afterlife and made sure of it this time. All this time, you lived with the guilt of murder hanging on your shoulders. Die!" she raised her large knife to take Leon's life, Leon using his own knife to block her. "I'll send you to the place where Lache awaits! W-what's this?" she gasped when a blinding light shot from the clashing blades.

"Leon, after all this time, you're still using the Seven-Star Knives for something other than cooking." Lache's voice echoed from the image that was generated from the blades. "The Seven North Stars are the gods that rule over life and death. The duty that I installed into the Seven-Star Knives was to turn the life of ingredients into life for those who eat them. And to lead people to happiness with the sharpness of its edge. The path you traveled since acquiring the Seven-Star Knives that day was filled with regret. But it wasn't wrong. Live, with my Seven-Star Knives. And with it, create as much life as you can!"

Shan parried Leon off and was about to give him the finishing blow when her knife dulled into stone and shattered, along with the rest of her knives.

"I see." Mao realized. "So this is the answer of Lache's soul that continued to dwell in the two sets of knives, even after his death. The Seven-Star Knives are knives that continue to evolve. They will grow brighter, stronger, sharper, depending on the number of people made happy by the one who wields them! Leon continued to use the Knives for the sake of others, while bearing the burning pain of remorse by himself. He is the rightful owner of the only set of Seven-Star Knives left in the world!"

"You may have tricked the judges, but not the Seven-Star Knives or Lache." Shell snorted. "Shan! After seeing this, I don't even have to ask how you've been using your Seven-Star Knives! It looks like you're the one not worthy to even touch them!"

"The smell of blood is gone from my hands." Leon muttered. "Lache, you're willing to forgive me? Then I swear this to you: I'll follow in your path for the rest of my life, and fight for the joy of myriad others till the day I'm dust!"

"Now, both sides are tied with a win, loss, and a draw each!" Marin declared. "We now enter the fourth and final round of the Banquet Cooking Tournament!"

"That person is already waiting for you, Liu Mao Xing." Shan informed.

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.