Book 11: The Continental Advanced Academy Soul Dueling Tournament
Chapter 69.2: Evil Soul Master
Dai Yueheng gave him a mysterious smile. "Don't be impatient, you'll know all about it in the afternoon. I believe that every single member of the preparatory team shares the same doubts as you. We're just an academy, but the amount of strength we have hidden is much greater than you can imagine. Regardless of whether we're talking about current students or ones who've already graduated, every single person related to the academy is a source of wealth. This includes manpower, and connections."
After a simple conversation, Huo Yuhao gradually got used to talking with Dai Yueheng. At the same time, he did his best to suppress his hatred to the depths of his heart. The two quickly became familiar with each other. Dai Yueheng wasn't as serious as he looked from the outside, and unlike his silent brother Dai Huabin, he was much more entertaining. During the journey, he shared a few interesting stories about his assignments as a Guardian, opening Huo Yuhao's eyes to the larger world. After all, travelling ten thousand miles was better than reading ten thousand books. Huo Yuhao began to recognise that he simply knew too little about the world. When compared to the entire Douluo Continent, he was still a piece of white paper which only had an outline of a drawing sketched on it.
The swift journey lasted all the way till midday before they stopped to rest. The students from the inner courtyard all had normal expressions, and their breathing was only slightly hurried at most. However, other than He Caitou, who'd flown the entire journey with the assistance of a soul tool, the other three Soul Ancestors from the outer courtyard were drenched with sweat.
Jiang Nannan was an agility-type soul master, and she had a nimble and agile body. As a result, she was left in a slightly better state. Though her sweat dripped from her body, her clothes weren't drenched. However, the assault-type Bei Bei and the defense-type Xu Sanshi were left in a miserable state. This was especially true for Xu Sanshi. He was the heaviest of the four, and he left a huge mark of water when he landed on the ground.
"Huo Yuhao, show off some of your abilities." Ma Xiaotao put Wang Dong down, then turned towards Huo Yuhao.
"Ah? Show what off?" Huo Yuhao asked, astonished.
Ma Xiaotao laughed. "What else? Food, of course! I don't think everyone here knows this, but at the very start, he sold roasted fish by the entrance to the academy every night to pay off his school fees."
"Right, right. I approve. Yuhao's the best at this." Xu Sanshi, who was panting violently on the ground, raised his hands and feet. His appearance looked somewhat comical.
Bei Bei laughed, "You really look like an overturned tortoise. It's no wonder you're the Xuanwu Turtle!"
"Psh…" Jiang Nannan couldn't help but laugh after hearing Bei Bei's words.
Xu Sanshi was about to explode, but he immediately changed his expression after hearing Jiang Nannan's laugh. He said angrily, "Seeing as you amused the goddess in my heart, I'll forgive you."
At this moment, the gazes of everyone present were gathered on Huo Yuhao. Even Elder Xuan wasn't an exception to this. When everyone had been travelling earlier, there were no traces of him to be seen. When everyone stopped to rest, however, his alcohol-drinking, chicken-eating figure immediately appeared.
Somewhat embarrassed, Huo Yuhao said, "But, I have no ingredients. Actually, I only know how to make a few simple dishes. I don't know how to make any complicated ones. I only brought a few seasonings."
"Simple." Elder Xuan suddenly appeared by Huo Yuhao's side, and the latter was startled the moment he opened his mouth.
"Xiaotao, you're in charge of lighting a fire. Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, I'll give you a task. Go catch some fish, the more the better. Ling Luochen, Xi Xi, go catch some wild game. Gong Yangmo, go follow them."
Yao Haoxuan hurriedly raised his chest to volunteer himself. "Elder Xuan, what about me?"
Elder Xuan glared at him unhappily, "You? Just stay there obediently. Do you think this old man will eat something that a bastard like you spits out?"
"Urp… actually, it's very clean." Yao Haoxuan said flatteringly.
"If you don't want to stay hungry, quickly get to work. Huo Yuhao, you're the chef today. Everyone else, go find some charcoal. Don't just laze around." As he spoke, Elder Xuan sauntered over to Huo Yuhao, then whispered, "Is the roasted fish you make really delicious?"
Huo Yuhao scratched his head. "It should be quite decent."
Elder Xuan nodded, "Then this old man will stay hungry for a bit to try your work. If I'm not satisfied, humph humph, I'll make you wear tiny shoes in the academy."
"This…" Huo Yuhao didn't know whether to laugh or to cry at seeing Elder Xuan's expression. The latter seemed as though the heavens and the earth didn't matter compared to food.
It had to be said that the elites of Shrek Academy were absolutely impressive at completing tasks. Within a mere fifteen minutes, a sufficient amount of firewood was placed in front of Huo Yuhao, who'd built a temporary stove by using the rocks around him.
After a few more moments, Gong Yangmo, Xi Xi, and Ling Luochen returned with two hares, two pheasants, and even a plump deer in tow.
"Start, start." Elder Xuan waved his bottle gourd at Huo Yuhao, signalling for the latter to start.
As Huo Yuhao watched astonishedly, Ling Luochen revealed a delicate use of soul power. Under the effects of her Ice element, the five wild animals floated up into the air. Then, she stripped them, tidied them up, and cleaned them as though she was skillfully carving an ox. Within the blink of an eye, five cleaned up pieces of first-rate game appeared in front of Huo Yuhao.
What a powerful control of Ice! Huo Yuhao sighed inwardly in praise. Although he had an Ultimate Ice martial soul, he was much, much weaker than Ling Luochen in terms of control.
After peeling away the outer layer of wood from the charcoal, Huo Yuhao started cooking. Sure enough, he'd brought a few seasonings along with him. Furthermore, there were quite a few types of them.
Perhaps it was due to his destitute childhood, but even though he had a fixed amount of savings already, he still brought a few of these things along with him whenever he went out.
The amount of oil that was present in these animals that had grown up in the wild was sufficient, and hence he didn't need to add too much oil. However, the most important thing was still his control of fire. Just like when he was roasting fish in the past, Huo Yuhao rubbed his own seasonings on the stomachs of the animals before starting to control the fire. His roasting technique was actually rather simple. After asking Ma Xiaotao to ignite the charcoal, he took a stick of dry wood and occasionally prodded the charcoal within the stove. At the same time, he flipped the animals on the stove. The facts had once again proven that Spiritual Detection was rather good when cooking…
After a while, the fragrant smell of meat started to diffuse outwards. The wild animals on the stove had turned an even, golden-yellow colour, and hissing sounds had begun to ring out from the stove as a result of the fat dripping into the fire. However, it was at this exact moment that the fragrance of the meat was at its strongest.
Currently, Elder Xuan looked like a gluttonous child. He wasn't even drinking his alcohol as he squatted beside Huo Yuhao, waiting anxiously. Furthermore, he would even glare viciously at the others who were swallowing their saliva, as if he were claiming the area around Huo Yuhao as his own.
At this moment, Dai Yueheng and Chen Zifeng returned. From a distance, the two of them were able to smell the fragrance that came from Huo Yuhao's stove. They were greatly astonished at Huo Yuhao, who was busily working his skill in a familiar manner. He's only a second year student, which means that he isn't even thirteen. Just how is he this good at cooking?
They'd brought back the fish, and Chen Zifeng had even fashioned his outer shirt into a pocket that contained a clump of mushrooms. The delicate mushrooms even contained a few traces of last night's dew, and their fresh and tender surface resembled the skin of a young girl.
The two of them walked up to Huo Yuhao, and Dai Yueheng said, "Yuhao, we've brought the fish back." The two of them had indeed brought back a large amount of fish. The two of them had brought back a total of seven to eight kilos worth of fish, and they'd threaded them through using a string. As a result, the string resembled a bridge that separated him and Chen Zifeng by a total of five meters.
Huo Yuhao looked up, then revealed a look of happiness as he looked at the mushrooms in Chen Zifeng's bosom, "Two seniors, I need a wooden wok. Sister Ling, I'll have to trouble you to help clean these fishes. You don't have to descale them, just cleaning their innards is fine."
"Okay." Ling Luochen nodded. Unexpectedly, she revealed a seldom smile as she looked at the serious Huo Yuhao. Her impression of her seemingly-omnipotent junior brother grew increasingly deeper, and she couldn't help but think of her own naughty little brother.
The problem of the wooden wok only needed two minutes to be resolved. Dai Yueheng used brute force to overturn a large three, then allowed Chen Zifeng's Soulchasing Sword to carve it up. Then, a perfectly round large wok appeared in front of Huo Yuhao. However, Ling Luochen quickly used her Ice element to clean it up as a result of the bloody smell coming from the Soulchasing Sword.
At this moment, the five wild animals were nearly cooked. The first of which to be finished were the two pieces of chicken.
The moment Huo Yuhao took them off the grill, he instantly felt his hands lighten. A figure had already run off into the distance with two chickens in tow, only leaving behind the words "I'll leave the rest to you guys."
Yao Haoxuan couldn't help but sigh at this scene. "A wild chicken's still a chicken! Elder Xuan should be called Elder Chicken."
"Are you trying to die?" An unclear voice suddenly exploded out like a bolt of thunder. Right after that, Yao Haoxuan was sent flying into the air, landing in the fork of a nearby tree as he let out a miserable wail.
Xu Sanshi let out a muffled laugh with his hand covering his mouth. "Senior Yao actually called Elder Xuan a gay dude. Isn't he just waiting for a calamity to befall him?"
Bei Bei nodded in agreement. "Right. The gay dude's clearly you."
"Bullshit, this brother of yours only likes girls. I like girls with big butts!" Xu Sanshi said indignantly. However, he didn't expect to see Jiang Nannan's murderous eyes again after he spoke. She humphed angrily, then left to the side.
"Fuck! Bei Bei, this old man wants to fight with you." Xu Sanshi ran towards Bei Bei, red in the face.
"Then you'd better not think of eating my junior brother's roasted meat." Bei Bei said calmly.
Xu Sanshi's hand was about to touch Bei Bei's body, but he instantly stopped. He angrily stayed his hand. "I'm gonna take care of you once I'm done eating. Bei Bei, do you know what I hate most about you?"
Bei Bei shook his head in a very serious manner, "How is a man supposed to know what a pig is thinking?"
"You…" Xu Sanshi had no choice but to stay indignant due to Bei Bei's threat, "This old man hates the fact that you keep spouting bullshit with an innocent look on your face. You're clearly an evil bastard. I really don't know why Xiao Ya likes you."