Food-System Soul Douluo

"Thank you for the praise, Teacher. Cooking is one of my interests too. I really enjoy all kinds of delicious food," Huo Yuhao said.

Zhi Wei suddenly said, "Would you be interested in taking me as your master? I'd quite like to take in a disciple talented in the Culinary Dao."

Take a master? Huo Yuhao considered it for a moment. He did not want to take a Shrek Academy teacher as his master.

Huo Yuhao politely declined. "Sorry, Teacher Zhi Wei. I need my sect's approval to take a master, so I can't agree to it."

Since a person on the Douluo Continent could only have one master in their lifetime, one's lineage of masters was often even more important than one's sect. Therefore, it was perfectly normal for sect disciples to require their sect's approval before taking a master.

"Are you a disciple of a sect?" Zhi Wei raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, then sighed regretfully. "That's such a pity. But if you have any questions about cooking, you can still come ask me."

"Judging from the ways you improved several dishes in the restaurant, you have plenty of ideas about cooking. These suggestions are also practical, so these one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins will be your reward."

Zhi Wei took out a Black Card and handed it to Huo Yuhao. In truth, Huo Yuhao's suggestions were not worth one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, but it was rare for him to encounter someone he took a liking to. Even if he could not accept him as a disciple, giving him one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins as support was no big deal to him.

Huo Yuhao accepted the Black Card and sincerely thanked him. "Thank you, Teacher Zhi Wei!"

Just moments ago, he had been wondering how to spend thirty seconds with this Soul Douluo teacher and clear the mission, but now Huo Yuhao only felt that he was truly awful. How could he possibly take advantage of such a good teacher?

While the iron was hot, Huo Yuhao took out the recipe he had organized and handed it to Zhi Wei. "Teacher, this is a recipe I developed myself. The ingredients are fairly ordinary, but as long as suitable high-grade ingredients can be found to replace them, these can absolutely become new dishes for your restaurant. Please take a look and see whether they might be of any help."

"Let me see." Zhi Wei looked at the recipe with keen interest. He had never been stingy about trying every new type of dish. It was both his hobby and related to his cultivation.

Huo Yuhao's recipe did not disappoint him. There were many cooking techniques and methods of handling ingredients that he had never seen before, and he was now somewhat impatient to try them out.

"Teacher, I have some prepared dishes here. Would you like to taste them?" Huo Yuhao took out the food he had stored in his Soul Tool.

That was the good thing about Soul Tools: whatever state something was in when it went inside, it would be exactly the same when it came out. It was far better than the refrigerators from his previous life.

The dishes Huo Yuhao had made two days ago were still steaming hot when he took them out.

Zhi Wei's eyes lit up. "Come, let me taste your cooking."

Zhi Wei sampled every dish Huo Yuhao had brought out, then sighed in satisfaction and commented, "Although the ingredients you used are inferior to those in my restaurant, the flavor is even better. While the novelty of the recipe certainly plays a part, the greater reason is your meticulous handling of the ingredients. Student Yuhao, if I taught you for half a year, your grasp of ingredients would surpass mine. I truly want to take you as my disciple now!"

Huo Yuhao smiled. "Even if you can't take me as a disciple, I can still come seek your guidance often, Teacher. I trust Teacher Zhi Wei wouldn't refuse?"

"Haha, of course I wouldn't refuse," Zhi Wei said with a hearty laugh.

"Little Yuhao, that's what I'll call you from now on." Zhi Wei changed the way he addressed Huo Yuhao. "For each of your recipes, I can give you ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. At the same time, while you are studying at Shrek, I can give you twenty percent of the net profits from every dish. Of course, that is on the condition that you improve all these recipes until they meet our restaurant's standards."

"Additionally, I can have the restaurant provide you with enough thousand-year soul beast ingredients for five people every day. However, you will need to prepare an average of twenty dishes for me each month, until you wish to terminate this deal. What do you think?"

Zhi Wei looked intently at Huo Yuhao. He had already discovered Huo Yuhao's talent in cooking. Huo Yuhao could already make such delicious food with ordinary ingredients; with better ingredients, he would certainly reach an even higher level. If he continued to devote himself to the Culinary Dao, he would surely create exceptionally delicious food in the future.

To Zhi Wei, this was a heaven-sent opportunity.

His Martial Soul was special and required all kinds of delicious food. Meeting Huo Yuhao this time was an unexpected delight for him.

By providing Huo Yuhao with ingredients and having him prepare twenty dishes each month, he wanted to ensure that Huo Yuhao would not neglect his cooking while cultivating. In that way, it would be mutually beneficial for both of them.

Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment. Twenty dishes a month would probably take him around ten hours to cook, which would not waste much time. Moreover, he would have thousand-year soul beast ingredients every day. This soul beast meat was rich in energy and could subtly strengthen his physique and accelerate his cultivation. Together with the profits from the recipes, he would be making a huge profit.

But Huo Yuhao was still quite hesitant. There was no such thing as a free lunch. Why was Teacher Zhi Wei treating him so well? What was his purpose?

Huo Yuhao asked directly, "Teacher, the terms you're offering are too generous. I'd feel uneasy accepting them. Can you tell me why you're doing this?"

Zhi Wei gave Huo Yuhao an approving look. At such a young age, he had not let the benefits cloud his judgment. Having realized that Zhi Wei could not possibly harbor ill intentions toward him, he asked directly. Very good.

Zhi Wei said directly, "Actually, many people know about this, so I'll tell you. My Martial Soul is called Essence of Food. It can be attached to food, giving that food supportive effects. The more delicious the food, the better the supportive effect. The best supportive effect I've ever achieved was increasing a Titled Douluo's all attributes by one hundred percent. Unfortunately, the Academy searched the entire continent and could not find a second serving of that food. Furthermore, if my Martial Soul is attached to unpalatable food, those who eat it will suffer negative effects."

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. This Martial Soul was very powerful, and more importantly, it was very interesting!

Zhi Wei continued, "My Martial Soul may be special, but its restrictions are also immense. I must eat all kinds of delicious food to cultivate. The more delicious the food, the faster my cultivation progresses. Moreover, if I eat the same delicacy repeatedly, my cultivation speed will decrease until it no longer has any effect. For the sake of cultivation, I tasted almost every delicacy across the continent several years ago, then studied cooking myself and created new delicious dishes. That is why many people know about my Martial Soul."

"I've been stuck at the Soul Douluo level for nearly ten years. The dishes you made today caused my cultivation, which had almost completely stagnated, to loosen somewhat. So, I'm supporting you because I hope you can devote more time to cooking. In that case, perhaps with your help, I may have a chance of becoming a Titled Douluo as well?"

Huo Yuhao nodded, finally understanding why Zhi Wei was supporting him. He had also witnessed the wonder of Martial Souls. He had not expected such a food-system Martial Soul to exist, where the food's enhancement effect depended entirely on its flavor. This was practically encouraging him to study fine cuisine in depth.

Furthermore, Huo Yuhao wanted to know how good or bad flavor was judged. If it was determined by a person's subjective consciousness, could he alter someone else's consciousness in the future to increase the supportive effect?

Huo Yuhao agreed to Zhi Wei's terms. These were benefits falling into his lap for free, so why would he refuse?

Huo Yuhao patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Teacher Zhi Wei. I won't give up studying cooking. After all, I also want to see what effects such a miraculous Martial Soul will have once it reaches the Titled Douluo level."