The Difference Between Sunlight and Moonlight

Huo Yuhao glanced at Lan Mei a few times in front of the grill. Seeing her favorable reaction, he smiled and threw himself wholeheartedly into grilling the Roasted Meat Skewers.

The skewered meat already had a base seasoning, and the quality of the meat was excellent. Adding too many seasonings would only ruin the taste, so Huo Yuhao simply brushed on some oil as usual and sprinkled a layer of sesame seeds over it at the end.

When it came to barbecue, the three most important things were the quality of the meat, the seasoning, and the heat. As long as those were handled properly, even an ordinary person could make delicious barbecue. There really was no secret to it.

"The barbecue's ready." Huo Yuhao grabbed the skewers with both hands and set them before Lan Mei, who was wolfing down her food.

Lan Mei caught the scent with the tip of her nose, and her gaze was immediately drawn over. She picked up the skewers with both hands and dug in.

Crisp on the outside and tender within, every collision between her teeth and the meat created a wonderful sensation that satisfied her mouth.

"Sister Lan Mei, is it good?" Huo Yuhao asked, lowering his head.

"Mmph." Lan Mei's mouth was stuffed full of meat, and her words came out so muffled that they were impossible to make out.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Was one meat skewer really that captivating?

Could it be because of the bonus from his status as a Son of Fortune?

Ahem, he was getting off track.

"Delicious." Once Lan Mei swallowed the meat in her mouth, she immediately praised it, not even bothering with the grease at the corners of her lips.

"That's good, then." Huo Yuhao sighed in relief.

"Come on, you eat too. After we finish, keep grilling. We won't be having lunch today—we'll just eat these." Lan Mei called Huo Yuhao over.

"Is that really okay?" Huo Yuhao hesitated. "If we eat our fill, we'll lose out on a lot of money."

"My family collects rent from three apartment buildings, and they're right next to Shrek Academy." Lan Mei picked up another Roasted Meat Skewer.

Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched.

Holy crap.

And they were school district properties, too.

"Eat, eat, eat. Once we're done, I'll keep grilling." Huo Yuhao no longer worried about saving Lan Mei money and began eating as well. She was a rich lady—what the hell was he worrying about?

The two of them ate, then grilled, then ate again.

They only stopped when they were utterly sick of it and could not swallow another bite.

"Burp." Lan Mei burped and repeatedly released her Second Soul Skill. As waves of Soul Power spread outward, two golden Sunlight Blueberries appeared.

"Take them. Go cultivate—I'll handle the cleanup." Lan Mei handed the Sunlight Blueberries to Huo Yuhao.

"Then I'll go cultivate first. I'll leave this place to you, Sister Lan Mei." Huo Yuhao glanced at the messy back kitchen, carefully took the Sunlight Blueberries, and returned to his room.

The sunlight outside the window was pleasantly comfortable at that moment. Because of the season, it was not too hot; instead, it felt warm and cozy.

Bright light passed through the mottled glass, casting a layer of shadows across the tabletop.

"I wonder what the difference is between eating Sunlight Blueberries during the day and at night." After closing the door, Huo Yuhao sat where the sunlight could reach him and examined the two fruits in his hand.

But to be safe, he did not eat both at once. Instead, he chose to eat one.

As the Sunlight Blueberry turned into a warm current and entered his body, Huo Yuhao prepared himself for the stabbing pain within.

He immediately activated his Heavenly Eye and waited quietly.

Sure enough, the same change as last night appeared. Brilliant sunlight clung to his body. From the outside, countless strands of light could be seen floating around Huo Yuhao, seeming almost within reach. Drawn by the Heavenly Eye, they flowed into his body.

Before long, Huo Yuhao's body turned slightly red, a sign of his blood and vital energy surging.

But...

"Ugh!"

A muffled groan suddenly escaped Huo Yuhao's mouth. At that moment, every muscle in his body seemed to cramp as they twitched without cease. His bones crackled, blood raced through his entire body, and his heartbeat skyrocketed, turning Huo Yuhao as red as a boiled crayfish.

Under the sunlight, wisps of steam could be seen drifting away from him.

The next moment, his pupils abruptly widened, his face full of shock.

"The sunlight didn't help expand my meridians—it helped strengthen my body?"

But before Huo Yuhao could think further, pain far beyond the stabbing agony in his meridians struck him.

His muscles twisted, tore apart, and then reformed. All of it changed in an instant, meaning that within a single second, Huo Yuhao had to endure several kinds of pain.

If Huo Yuhao had been able to look inward, he would have discovered a startling fact: the sunlight flowing into his body was the culprit behind all of this.

Yet at the same time, each time his muscles were tempered, the sunlight repaired them. The cycle repeated over and over.

Huo Yuhao, seated on the floor, wore a twisted expression as beastlike hissing escaped his mouth. His breathing was especially heavy. He collapsed onto the floor, enduring the intense pain as sweat soaked through his clothes and, in turn, dampened the floorboards.

Time passed second by second. For an entire hour, Huo Yuhao remained trapped in that agony.

When the pain finally faded, he had gone numb. His eyes were vacant as he lay on the floor in the sunlight, his entire body burning hot and flushed red.

His muscles even twitched from time to time.

Once everything had calmed down, Huo Yuhao leaned against the edge of the bed to rest and began to think.

After taking a Sunlight Blueberry last night, his meridians had been tempered by moonlight and strengthened by a tenth.

After taking one at noon today, his body had instead been tempered by sunlight, though the improvement was not nearly as obvious.

At two different times, two completely different effects had occurred.

Why was there such a difference?

Huo Yuhao could not figure it out.

"But... sunlight strengthens the body, while moonlight strengthens the meridians. That doesn't seem bad either. At least I can grow stronger in both areas." After a moment of silence, Huo Yuhao reached out and picked up the other Sunlight Blueberry he had yet to consume, examining it.

Sunlight Blueberries only lasted for three hours, so it definitely would not keep until nightfall. It seemed he needed to find a way to ask for one each during the day and at night.

"I hope that when I obtain my First Soul Ring, all the answers concerning the Heavenly Eye will reveal themselves."

Since Lan Mei had said that he could only eat two Sunlight Blueberries a day, Huo Yuhao chose to give up on the remaining one and devoted himself wholeheartedly to meditative cultivation.

Only when the sun set and the sky had turned to dusk did Huo Yuhao emerge from his cultivation state. Feeling that his body, energy, and spirit were incomparably full, a smile could not help appearing on his lips.

"Time to get to work."

Looking up at the dusky sky, Huo Yuhao quickly rose to head downstairs and prepare for the evening's reserved barbecue orders.

But the moment he opened the door, he saw Lan Mei, who had been about to knock.

Lan Mei looked somewhat surprised and smiled. "I was just about to knock and call you, but you opened the door yourself. The guests are already here, so get ready."

"Okay." Huo Yuhao nodded.

When the two went downstairs, Huo Yuhao discovered that all the ingredients for the evening had been neatly arranged.

"Here, this is what the first reservation customer requested." Lan Mei handed him a card.

Huo Yuhao took it and began reading.

Lan Mei said with a smile, "The first customer, like Xiaotao, is a student at Shrek Academy. They specifically requested several extra Grilled Fish. I've already prepared the fish—all that's left is for you to grill them."

At those words, Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered as he looked at the card. "Sister Lan Mei, is the first customer named Yao Haoxuan?"

"You know him?" Lan Mei asked in surprise.

Huo Yuhao smiled. "I do. Give me a moment—can I go outside and talk to him for a few words?"

Lan Mei nodded instinctively. "Sure, go ahead. It's still early anyway."

The moment Lan Mei agreed, Huo Yuhao put away the card and headed straight out of the Grilled Fish House.

Looks like I guessed right. Ning Tian in the animation really became a man—one who started out as a man.

My feelings are pretty complicated right now.

Though it's also possible that she's a woman disguised as a man.

After Chapter 42, this book will enter a continuous sequence of dramatic ups and downs, and the content I foreshadowed earlier will be revealed one by one.