SailorStar9: Well, I've uploaded Chapter 37, and here's Chapter 38. So, read and review. Come on guys and girls, is it so hard for you to leave a review other than put this on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: Me no own, you no sue.

Chapter 38: The Shocking Finale! Chef Pai's Palm!

"This has been a special banquet cooking tournament." Marin declared as the serving girls served up Shou An's dish. "This is the last of eight dishes that we'll be seeing. What's this? The judges are fighting over it! They're mesmerized by the dish!" she gushed, seeing the judges fight over the plate.

"Yes, this is proof that I've surpassed Pai." Shou An grinned. "The techniques necessary to make the Instrumental Trio Tofu is proof of this!"

"It's the noodles!" Mao realized, after Shilou sneaked of a sample for Shell to taste. "The noodles themselves are also tofu!"

"Correct." Shou an confirmed. "The noodles are made out of tofu. You dry it, crush it well, and mix with flour. Then you knead it into noodles. Tofu sauce toppings, faux tofu meat, and tofu noodles. Truly a tofu with three instruments that create a stereophonic effect! This is my Instrumental Trio Tofu!"

"Well then, honored judges." Shan prompted. "It's time to decide."

"We need some time to think about our decision." Master Zhang requested. "We need time to deliberate in private."

"The final decision of the tournament will be a carefully-considered one." Marin noted, as the judges went off. "The judges will deliberate their decision in another room."

"Everyone, thank you for waiting!" Marin chimed when the judges returned. "This is the finale of the Banquet Cooking Tournament! The time has finally come to announce a winner!"

"The winner is..." Master declared. "Super Chef Liu Mao Xing!"

"The winner of the final battle is Liu Mao Xing!" Marin confirmed the announcement. "Therefore, the Ryuchin Cooking Union team wins the Banquet Cooking Tournament!"

"Dad!" Sanche turned to see his father. "Dad, we won! We protected the Shanghai cooking world from them!"

"This can't be. Master Zhang!" Shan hissed. "How did you reach that decision?! You said the Instrumental Trio Tofu was the quintessential Szuchuanese dish! How can that kid's little joke be better than Shou An's dish?"

"Shut up, all of you!" Shou an silenced the crowd. "Why don't you explain so we can all understand your thinking, Master Zhang. So you held the key to the decision, Master Zhang." he noted, after hearing from the other judges that he and Mao had tied at two votes each.

"That's right." Master Zhang nodded. Both dishes pushed the limits of tofu cuisine. They were both great dishes, equal in quality by my reckoning. However, I was looking for a specific dish. An international city like Shanghai needs both originality and universality. Mao's dish is full of originality, starting from his performance. It's filled with a magical glorious display, and makes eating fun. The delicious dish is like the sun shining on the Earth. It's filled with universal appeal that brings instant happiness to everyone."

"Hold it right there!" Shou An objected. "After I left Szuchuan, I learned all the cooking styles of China. On top of which, I mastered the Underworld Techniques. My dish transcends Szuchuanese cuisine. Superior to even Pai's. I find it hard to accept my dish not having enough originality and universality!"

"No, Shou An." Master Zhang corrected. "Your dish isn't original! That dish of yours, I've eaten it before. About seven years ago, I plied the Yangtze River as a itinerant food hawker. Reaching far inside Szuchuan, I tasted a dish exactly like this. Meat that isn't meat. Noodles that aren't noodles. The smell of the Earth spreading in your mouth and melting softly. No matter how hard you try, you can't forget the sensation."

"Are you saying that the restaurant...!" Mao gaped.

"That's right." Master Zhang confirmed. "The restaurant where I tasted this dish was Kikkaro. It means that your Instrumental Trio Tofu was an original dish of your Master Pai!"

"Impossible!" Shou An was in denial. "This dish is my original creation! I swear it! I abandoned Pai and went over the mountains to see the ocean. I conceived of it on my own, and I made it work. It's my original! It's... it's... it's my..."

"It's ironic, Shou An." Master Zhang sighed. "You wanted to get away from Pai. But in the end, you ended up remaking a dish Pai created but didn't teach you. In the end, the human soul always returns back to its hometown. The long journey through the Yangtze River from Szuchuan to Shanghai may be your limit. Shanghai will eventually open up to the world. Tradition and formality will be useless. What we need for change is originality and universality. And I see both qualities in Mao's cooking. With these, the possibilities in Chinese cooking and Shanghai's future are limitless."

"All of us agreed on that." Master He added.

"Therefore, Liu Mao Xing is the winner." Master Zhang declared. "And by extension, the Ryuchin Cooking Union team!"

"Well then, give us the map and the code, just as we agreed." Mao held out his hand.

"Mao, do you know why we fought this battle on a ship?" Shou An reminded.

"What did you do, Shou An?!" Ya Xue glared, hearing explosions rock the ship when Shou An stepped on a tile on the floor.

"Since we've lost, we'll just turn everything into nothing." Shou An declared. "We are a hundred kilometers from shore. Everyone here will drown! Everything will disappear into the ocean."

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