The Generous Grilled-Fish Customer

�Chapter: The Generous Grilled-Fish Customer

Shrek City was always bustling.

Doing business here was a wise choice. As long as what you offered was not too poor in quality, there would always be someone willing to pay for it.

However, these past few days, a newly opened grilled-fish shop seemed to be a little too lively.

A long line had already formed in front of the stall. Even so, newcomers continued to lengthen the queue. In front of the stall, a golden-haired girl repeatedly spoke in an emotionless voice:

"Five Copper Soul Coins per grilled fish. We don't haggle. Thank you for your patronage."

Meanwhile, a black-haired boy sat inside the stall, focused on controlling numerous grilled fish. Though in the customers' eyes, the slender boy seemed somewhat overwhelmed, in reality, he had precise control over the heat of every single fish.

Gut the fish, wash it, skewer it on a bamboo stick, put it over the fire, turn it, season it. Each movement flowed rapidly into the next, yet his hands never shook. Soon, a rich fragrance drifted from the fish, roasted to a golden brown.

"Your grilled fish." The boy selected one from the rack and handed it to the person before him. Once the customer took it, he immediately lowered his head to tend to the fish of the other customers. The entire process was practiced and smooth.

These two were none other than Huo Yuhao and Chi Qiu.

The Star Dou Great Forest and Shrek Academy had been neighbors for some time, so Chi Qiu naturally knew the general route to Shrek City. However, they had not expected that Shrek Academy would reject them because they lacked the city lord's recommendation letter and Huo Yuhao's Soul Power had not reached Level Fifteen.

Although Chi Qiu had displayed her Golden Dragon Martial Soul and her yellow-and-purple Soul Ring configuration to the admissions staff, Shrek still barred her from entering because she lacked the city lord's recommendation letter.

Huo Yuhao thought, It seems that this number-one academy under heaven truly isn't a place where a commoner genius can enter.

After the attribute awakening, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eye had undergone a qualitative transformation, and his Soul Power had directly risen by two levels, reaching Level Thirteen. However, he was still some distance from Shrek's requirements. With no other choice, the two decided to do business in the city by selling grilled fish, saving enough travel money before heading to another city.

After all, when Huo Yuhao had fled the Duke's Mansion, he had not had much money on him. If he did not earn some, he would starve to death.

Although Huo Yuhao pretended that it did not matter on the surface after failing to enter Shrek, he was still somewhat disappointed deep down. This was, after all, the Soul Master holy land—the number-one academy under heaven!

Furthermore, whenever he thought of Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin having the ability to study here while he had been rejected, a powerful sense of unwillingness surged from the depths of his heart. Even his movements as he turned the grilled fish became more forceful.

As the sun sank toward the West Mountain, it was time to close up for the day. Huo Yuhao had already begun putting out the fire and tidying the stall. At that moment, a youthful voice came from in front of the stall:

"Big brother, miss, how much are your grilled fish?"

He raised his head and looked at the newcomer. The boy before him had an eye-catching head of short pink-and-blue hair and a pair of equally striking pink-and-blue eyes. He wore a clean white jacket, with a golden-blue butterfly brooch pinned to the collar. With just one glance at his clothes, Huo Yuhao knew that this boy was probably no ordinary person.

"Five Copper Soul Coins each. No haggling," Chi Qiu said.

"Give me two." The pink-and-blue-haired boy nodded and casually took a Silver Soul Coin from his bag.

"Please wait."

Before long, two grilled fish were freshly done under Little Huo's hands. A few drops of juice trickled from the cuts in the fish bellies, and the fragrance immediately filled the air. These were also the last two fish of the day.

The final customer took the grilled fish and bit into it, then froze. A few seconds later, he suddenly bit off another piece of fish, chewed twice, and praised it loudly through a mouthful:

"This is definitely the best grilled fish I've eaten since I was born. Big brother, you're really something. Will you keep running a shop here in the future?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head. "I'm only here to earn enough travel money. I've already earned almost enough over these past few days. If I don't leave now, I'll miss the admissions for the other academies."

"Other academies?" The other boy said as he chewed the fish. "Why not study at Shrek? Go to school during the day and set up your stall at night. Wouldn't that be great? Then we could eat your grilled fish too."

"We don't have the city lord's recommendation letter, so we can't enroll."

The boy waved his hand. "Hey, you're overcomplicating things. It's all business! Quite a few people enroll at Shrek every year. Do you really think the city lord can personally recommend so many people one by one? They're signed in batches. Whoever needs one can pay to buy it, then write their own name on it."

As he spoke, he grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm and made him look toward several people shouting at the distant city gate. "Didn't you notice when you came in? They're selling secondhand recommendation letters. One can be inflated to twenty Gold Soul Coins."

Huo Yuhao looked in the direction he indicated and sure enough, saw several people hawking envelopes. Shocked, he hesitated before saying, "But I don't have forty Gold Soul Coins either."

"Your business is doing that well!"

"The cost of living in Shrek City is also very high."

After hearing this, the pink-haired boy seemed to think for a moment. Then he suddenly clapped his hands. "Done! I'll take care of the recommendation letters for you two. All you have to do is agree to keep selling grilled fish here and reserve one free VIP spot for me."

Faced with such a profitable deal, Huo Yuhao hesitated for a moment before adding, "Actually, my Soul Power Level... hasn't reached the requirement either."

He had thought that the boy before him would be helpless after hearing this, but to his surprise, the other boy only thought briefly before saying, "Actually, that isn't impossible to arrange either."

"The seven seniors who ascended to godhood ten thousand years ago, along with the sects related to them, all have examination-exempt admission slots at Shrek. However... for the sake of my sect's reputation, I'll have to see what you're capable of."

Divine Realm.

Amid the swirling clouds and mist, a blue-gold figure stood still. He had long, waterfall-like aqua-blue hair and a tall, imposing figure. His bearing was dignified and steady.

But at this moment, the expression on his face had nothing to do with those descriptions.

"What exactly is going on?!" His eyebrows were nearly knotted together on his forehead, and his voice carried undisguised fury.

Not long ago, he had just sensed a new star rising on the Douluo Continent. To seize this share of destiny, he had immediately begun arranging matters for the new child of destiny.

However, at a certain moment, the position he had been observing was suddenly concealed by an intense fluctuation of divine power, temporarily cutting off his observation of the lower realm.

In this overwritten world, the God of Emotions had done the final two things for another version of himself:

He had sent all the Power of Destiny to himself, while using the remaining power to obstruct God King Tang's interference with this world.

His strength would eventually run out, and the obstruction would not last forever. But at least it could help him get through the early stage, when he was most vulnerable to interference.

"Who exactly did this... Obstructing my plans? He has already earned a death sentence!" God King Tang's eyes bulged with fury.

A soft arm wound around God King Tang's waist. "Third Brother, what happened to make you so angry?"

The humanoid sword sheath of supple bones had silently come behind God King Tang.

"Xiao Wu." He immediately withdrew the furious display he had just shown and replaced it with a calm, gentle, and composed expression. "Don't worry. It's only a minor accident. But your Third Brother has already made two preparations."

After saying this, God King Tang himself calmed down somewhat. That's right. My preparations are flawless. Even if I can't observe it for the moment, there shouldn't be any major problem.

After all, he had split his daughter's soul long before Xiao Qi descended to the lower realm and had inserted his divine consciousness into it!

Once she encountered the Auspicious Beast, the split soul would be able to smoothly erode the Auspicious Beast's Sea of Consciousness. By then, the child of destiny, Star Dou's destiny accumulated over ten thousand years, and the Golden Dragon Spear would all be in the palm of the Tang family...

Thinking of such a future, he could not help but clap his hands and smile.

Xiao Wu was very puzzled. Why had Third Brother been furious just a moment ago, only to start smiling now?

"Third Brother, what are you smiling about?"

"Heh heh." Tang San waved his hand. "Nothing. I just thought of something happy."

He could not tell Xiao Wu about this yet. After all, he had split his daughter's soul behind Xiao Wu's back!