The restaurant kitchen.
The waiter went to find the owner, a ruddy-faced old man with a large beard.
"Someone wants to see me? And he said I could name my price? What an arrogant tone. This is the first time I've met someone like this." The Bearded Man frowned.
After so many years in the imperial capital, no one had dared cause trouble in his restaurant for a long time.
Some nobles had once tried to hire him as their private chef, offering exorbitant prices. Others had tried to tempt him with treasures and beautiful women, but all had failed. Some had even attempted to force him, and their ends had been miserable.
Over time, everyone came to know that the owner of this restaurant was not someone to be trifled with.
"A young master whose strength I can't even gauge, and two women at the sixth rank. It's been a long time since I met such interesting people. I'll go see them."
The old man sensed Olivier and the Sophie sisters. Both women possessed sixth-rank strength. Even if the man was not unfathomably powerful, he must have some treasure that concealed his strength.
"Kid, I heard you want to buy my craft?"
The old man sat opposite Olivier, observed the three of them for a while, and spoke.
"Old man, I love beautiful women and delicious food. Look, I already have two beauties by my side." Olivier glanced at Sophie and Jessica before continuing, "I'm very interested in your cooking. So, name your price. I'll buy it."
"Hehe, beautiful women and delicious food are both good things. Beautiful women are hard to come by, though there are still some around—as long as you have money, you can have beautiful women. But my craft is one of a kind. It isn't something money can buy." The old man chuckled. "How much are you prepared to offer?"
"One Holy Domain magic core, of any element. How about it?"
Olivier smiled and made his offer.
This time, it was the old man's turn to be shocked. A Holy Domain magic core was equivalent to a Holy Domain magical beast. Any element at all? That meant Holy Domain magic cores were as easy for him to obtain as reaching into his pocket. Was this young man truly unfathomably powerful?
"Truly any element?"
The old man was astonished. Thinking he had misheard, he asked for confirmation.
Olivier nodded.
"Holy Domain magic cores are good things, but they're useless to me."
After recovering from his shock, the old man spoke.
He thought that no matter how strong Olivier was, he could at most be in the Holy Domain. There were only a few people in the Holy Domain who could make him afraid, and the old man did not care in the slightest.
This old man is a Holy Domain expert. For some reason, instead of cultivating, he's hiding here and cooking. It looks like it won't be easy for Sophie and Jessica to learn his culinary skills, Olivier thought.
"A divine artifact."
Olivier raised his offer again.
"What? A divine artifact?"
This time, the old man was genuinely shocked. Divine artifacts were extremely rare on the Yulan Continent. Ordinary Holy Domain experts generally did not possess one.
"You have a divine artifact?"
the old man asked.
Olivier nodded again. With a wave of his hand, a sword appeared. It had been nourished with his divine power, though it could only be considered a semi-finished product.
"Y-you're not afraid I'll steal it?"
The old man stammered.
"Haha, I'm waiting for you to try. Then I can rightfully steal your craft."
Olivier said wickedly.
He toyed with the divine artifact in his hand.
The old man was dumbfounded, staring blankly at Olivier.
"Old man, you're a mighty Holy Domain expert, yet you're hiding here as a chef. You really are an oddball."
Olivier spoke again.
On the Yulan Continent, the strong were revered. Even someone like Cesar was already a rare oddball, yet here he had encountered an even stranger Holy Domain expert.
There was no saying on the Yulan Continent about great recluses hiding in the countryside or even greater recluses hiding in the city. Holy Domain experts either cultivated bitterly in pursuit of a breakthrough to the divine level, or established a family and ruled over a region.
"What's wrong with being a chef? I get to enjoy the delicacies I make with my own hands. I like being a chef. Do you have a problem with that?" the old man said. "Who exactly are you?"
The old man had no choice but to pay attention to Olivier's identity. He was a powerful figure even among Holy Domain experts. Other than Holy Domain peak experts, who could do anything to him? Yet this man clearly knew his identity and still dared act like this.
In truth, Olivier did not know the old man's identity. He only knew that he was a Holy Domain expert, which was why the old man had misunderstood.
"Olivier."
Olivier revealed his identity.
"Oh, it's you—the O'Brien Empire's genius Sword Saint. I've heard of you."
Once the old man learned Olivier's identity, he relaxed instead. First, he did not believe Olivier was stronger than him. Second, even if Olivier was stronger, he could not act recklessly in the imperial capital.
"You really want to trade a divine artifact for my craft?"
The old man was very tempted by the divine artifact. After learning Olivier's identity, he set his sights on it.
"Of course. I keep my word."
This deal was considered settled.
The sword Olivier had produced was merely a divine artifact he had nurtured from an ordinary sword. It had not been nurtured for long, and though it was still semi-finished, it was far more powerful than an ordinary weapon. After all, his divine power was much stronger than the divine power of ordinary lower gods.
Olivier casually tossed the sword to the old man.
All that remained was for Sophie and Jessica to learn the old man's cooking.
"Teacher, Teacher!" Suddenly, a boy of around ten ran into the restaurant, shouting.
The boy ran toward the old man, grabbed him, and panted heavily.
"What is it? Why are you making such a fuss?" the old man asked.
The boy gasped for breath, took several deep breaths, and said, "Teacher, my little sister is alive! She's alive!"
The boy was overjoyed.
"Really? How is that possible? When I checked on her yesterday, she was already barely clinging to life."
Seeing how happy the boy was, the old man was greatly shocked. He knew the boy cared deeply for his sister. Half a month ago, his sister had suddenly fainted, and her soul had gradually weakened. By the time he checked on her yesterday, the flame of her soul had been like a candle in the wind, liable to go out at any moment.
But he knew the boy would not deceive him about something like this. Still, this matter exceeded his understanding.
Coming back from the dead—a miracle.
"Teacher, it's true. I can really feel my sister getting better. Please hurry and take a look."
The boy said anxiously.
The boy's sister had improved, but she had not yet awakened. Hoping his teacher would hurry over to examine her, the boy anxiously grabbed the old man and tried to pull him outside.
"Coming back from the dead? What's going on?"
Olivier asked.
"Hank's sister, Victoria, suddenly fainted half a month ago. After that, her soul began weakening. By yesterday, I could barely sense that her soul still existed. Now it seems a turning point has appeared. How strange."
The old man did not hide anything and directly told Olivier about the situation.
"A weakening soul, then a turning point... Could it be?"
Olivier thought of soul mutation.
When a soul mutation occurred, the soul was usually dealt a blow and initially grew weaker. Once it reached its lowest point, it began growing stronger, completing the entire soul mutation process.
Victoria's situation matched this exactly.
Although Olivier himself had also undergone a soul mutation, the person experiencing it could not feel the process.
"Something this strange? We should go take a look as well."
Olivier and the others followed the boy, Hank, to his home.
Before you continue