Hard to Eat

In the small courtyard.

An iron pot sat over the stove, the water inside boiling furiously.

Ju Zi stood beside it, placing a dark yellow gelatinous solid into a bowl before heating it over water.

Before long.

The originally hard Whale Rubber gradually softened, its color becoming translucent until it looked like melted amber.

If one ignored the smell, it actually looked rather decent.

Huo Yuhao sat at the table and craned his neck for a look.

The next second.

A strong, fishy stench drilled into his nostrils.

"Ugh..."

Huo Yuhao clapped a hand over his mouth, nearly vomiting up the breakfast he had just eaten.

He had lived through two lifetimes and smelled all kinds of strange odors.

Yet the thing before him still effortlessly reshaped his understanding.

It stank.

It was both foul and fishy.

This did not look like something edible at all. It was more like ancient garbage pulled from the belly of some sea soul beast and left under the sun for three months.

"This is Whale Rubber?"

Huo Yuhao's face went pale as he quietly scooted back a little.

Ju Zi nodded.

"Whale Rubber produced by millennium-old whale soul beasts can strengthen the body and also increase the age of the soul rings you can absorb in the future."

Ten thousand years ago, Whale Rubber had merely been some rather improper special medicine.

Later, a soul master accidentally discovered that consuming Whale Rubber could enhance the body's endurance, and its value began soaring ever higher.

By now.

A piece of high-age Whale Rubber was enough to make many soul masters fight until their heads bled.

Unfortunately, many people could not distinguish the age of Whale Rubber. Combined with its terrible appearance before heating, plenty of good pieces were still treated as ordinary junk.

The Whale Rubber Ju Zi had brought back had been purchased cheaply from border caravans.

There were eight pieces in total.

Even the worst one was close to a thousand years old.

"Eat."

Ju Zi pushed the softened Whale Rubber toward Huo Yuhao and looked at him gently.

Huo Yuhao lowered his head toward the bowl.

The translucent gelatinous liquid swayed slightly, and an even stronger reek of fishiness and decay hit him in the face.

"Do I really have to eat it directly?"

"Mhm."

"Can't we add some sugar?"

"It would affect absorption."

"What about some salt?"

"That won't work either."

Huo Yuhao fell silent.

So living off a woman came at a price, too.

He drew a deep breath, scooped up a small piece with a spoon, squeezed his eyes shut, and shoved it into his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth.

Huo Yuhao's expression instantly froze.

It felt like taking a month-old unwashed stinky sock, mixing it with the dead skin from a vagrant's feet, pouring it into a cup of hippopotamus bathwater, stirring it evenly, and swallowing it in one gulp.

It was foul.

It was fishy.

And it was incredibly sticky, clinging between his tongue and palate so thoroughly that even vomiting could not get it all out.

Huo Yuhao braced both hands against the table, his face turning from white to green.

"Ugh..."

He rushed to a corner of the courtyard and bent over, dry-heaving for a long while.

But that piece of Whale Rubber seemed to have latched onto him, sticking stubbornly in his throat until he ultimately swallowed it anyway.

Huo Yuhao's eyes were watering.

This was not food.

It was a biochemical weapon.

"Yuhao, are you all right?"

Ye Guyi walked to his side and gently patted his back.

Her expression did not look too good either.

However, the bowl in front of her was already empty.

Ye Guyi had endured plenty of hardship over the years. Sometimes, while hunting evil soul masters, she could only eat dry rations and wild vegetables for days on end.

Whale Rubber might taste awful, but it could improve her strength.

That was enough.

Just now, she had not even frowned much before finishing her own piece of Whale Rubber in a few bites.

Only after recovering for quite some time did Huo Yuhao raise his head.

"Thank you, Sister. I'm fine."

After saying that, he glanced at Ye Guyi's empty bowl, admiration appearing on his face.

As expected of a Holy Angel soul master.

When she was ruthless, she did not even spare herself.

"Finish the rest too."

Ju Zi came over carrying the bowl.

Huo Yuhao's body stiffened.

He looked at the more than half a piece of Whale Rubber left in the bowl, and his stomach churned again.

He really could not eat any more.

Two more bites, and he would probably die here today.

"Sister Ju Zi."

"Mhm?"

"Could you let me handle the rest of the Whale Rubber myself?"

Ju Zi did not agree immediately.

She looked at Huo Yuhao, then at the remaining pieces of Whale Rubber on the table.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I can't say for now."

Huo Yuhao wiped the corner of his mouth, his expression turning serious.

The existence of the Heavenly Creation Cauldron was his greatest secret at present.

Even though Ju Zi treated him well, he was not prepared to reveal it so soon.

This was not a matter of trust.

Rather, the fewer people who knew of certain trump cards, the more valuable they were.

Ju Zi watched him quietly.

Huo Yuhao did not avoid her gaze either.

A moment later.

Ju Zi placed the bowl in her hands back on the table.

"Fine."

Huo Yuhao was slightly stunned.

That easily?

He had originally prepared a whole pile of reasons, yet did not need a single one.

"Aren't you afraid I'll waste it?"

"This was yours to begin with."

Ju Zi's tone was calm, as though these valuable millennium-old pieces of Whale Rubber were merely bits of candy found everywhere.

She did not know what Huo Yuhao intended to do.

However, after spending the past few days with him, she had already noticed that the current Huo Yuhao was somewhat different from the rumors of his previous life.

He was calmer and hid quite a few secrets.

Ju Zi did not mind.

Everyone had their own trump cards.

She only needed to know that Huo Yuhao would not hurt her. That was enough.

"They're all yours."

Ju Zi reached out and pushed the wooden box over.

Huo Yuhao hugged the wooden box, a smile immediately appearing on his face.

"Sister Ju Zi, you're so good to me."

The corners of Ju Zi's lips lifted slightly.

"Then how do you plan to thank me?"

The smile on Huo Yuhao's face stiffened.

As expected, this free ride was not truly free.

A day of training soon came to an end.

After dinner, Huo Yuhao carried the wooden box back to his room and casually shut the door tight behind him.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, his consciousness slowly sinking into his Sea of Spirit.

Deep within the empty Sea of Spirit, the Heavenly Creation Cauldron floated quietly.

Nine strange Dao patterns flickered in and out of sight around the cauldron.

Huo Yuhao approached the cauldron and extended his consciousness toward the hazy Creation Mist.

Very soon.

He sensed his first soul ring.

The originally pale yellow Centennial Soul Ring now floated inside the great cauldron, wrapped in strands of Creation Origin.

The color of the soul ring had not changed much.

However, the power contained within it was transforming at an extremely slow pace.

According to the information sent by the Heavenly Creation Cauldron, this nurturing process would take around a month.

Once the transformation was complete, his first soul skill would undergo a qualitative improvement.

Huo Yuhao did not know exactly how much it would improve.

But with a supreme treasure of the Great Dao personally taking action, it surely would not merely increase his eyesight a little.

After confirming that the soul ring was stable, Huo Yuhao withdrew from his Sea of Spirit.

He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the wooden box beside him.

Millennium-old Whale Rubber truly was good stuff.

It was just that eating it directly tasted far too inhuman.

Since that was the case, he would eat it another way.

Huo Yuhao pressed a hand onto the wooden box, his thoughts stirring slightly.

The next second.

The Whale Rubber vanished at once, stored within the internal space of the Heavenly Creation Cauldron.

Then he brought over a cloth bundle from the corner of the room.

It contained several medicinal herbs Ju Zi had prepared for him during the day, all ordinary ingredients used to replenish blood and qi, strengthen the foundation, and cultivate vitality.

Used separately, their medicinal effects could only be considered average.

But the most unreasonable thing about the Heavenly Creation Cauldron was that it did not care in the slightest whether its ingredients were precious.

As long as their medicinal properties were suitable, it could automatically deduce a pill formula.

Moreover, its success rate in refining was one hundred percent.

There would be no furnace explosions.

No failed pills.

Nor did Huo Yuhao need to learn any fire-control techniques himself.

The only thing it consumed was Soul Power.

Huo Yuhao placed the medicinal herbs into the cauldron one by one.

When the final herb fell into the cauldron, the Heavenly Creation Cauldron trembled slightly.

All he needed to do next was wait, and perfect pills would appear on their own.