Emotion

"Soul Lock? What's that?" Ke Ke asked in confusion.

Huo Yuhao had to keep the Soul Lock Soul Bone secret. Soul Bones were different from soul rings—they could be stolen. Soul Lock was far too valuable to Soul Engineers.

If Mingde Hall had learned about this Soul Bone that morning, his hand would probably have been chopped off by noon, and by afternoon they might have already turned the Soul Bone into a Soul Tool.

One must always be wary of others!

"It's a soul skill that helps me make Soul Tools."

Yet Soul Lock and the Ancient Soul Tool had to be revealed if he wanted more resources and training. So from now on, even if the heavens themselves came knocking, his first soul skill would be Soul Lock.

Huo Yuhao had already discussed this with Wang Qiu'er and Wang Dong'er before coming, so there was no chance of it being exposed. As for Imprint, he could conceal it some other way.

"It really is a soul skill suited for becoming a Soul Engineer..."

Just then, a rich fragrance drifted over and seized Ke Ke's attention.

"Wow, that smells amazing!"

Ke Ke hurried over to Ju Zi, practically pressing her face against the cooking utensils.

Ju Zi's cooking really was excellent. The roast chicken was fragrant, tender, and juicy; the flatbread was crisp on the outside and soft within; and the meat soup was sour and spicy, whetting the appetite. Even from Huo Yuhao's perspective as a transmigrator, this was a fine meal.

"Well? Feeling inferior now?" Ke Ke said smugly.

"Mm-hm." Huo Yuhao carefully sampled the meat soup Ju Zi had made, hoping to figure out what dish the original Huo Yuhao had used to win Ju Zi over.

After eating, the three immediately set out. Ju Zi voluntarily offered to fly with Huo Yuhao, and as they gradually approached the Jingyang Mountain Range, she introduced him to the area while flying.

The Jingyang Mountain Range was rich in mineral deposits, but it was also a gathering place for soul beasts. The Sun Moon Empire protected its soul beast resources, so these veins had not been extensively mined. Based on the descriptions in the original work, Huo Yuhao strongly suspected that a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast lived within its main peak.

Of course, their target this time was merely to test Soul Tools in one of the subsidiary mountain ranges. They would not venture deep inside. According to Ju Zi, they would be testing a Fixed Soul Tool, and part of its design supposedly came from a princess.

"Her Highness the Princess?" Huo Yuhao asked in surprise. The original work had never mentioned a princess at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Could it be...

...there was another transmigrator?

"Yes, but apparently she didn't inherit the royal family's martial soul and had little combat ability. Later, she became a Soul Engineer, and she was quite talented," Ju Zi said with a nod.

That was good, that was good. She was probably just some passerby who had never appeared in the original work...

Huo Yuhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He could hardly be blamed for being so nervous. His time at Shrek had frightened him badly—neither Xu Tianyao nor Ye Chaoyuan had been easy to deal with.

The three finally reached the Jingyang Mountain Range before evening. Though both the Jingyang Mountain Range and the Star Dou Great Forest were soul beast gathering grounds, the Star Dou Great Forest was filled everywhere with dense life energy. The Jingyang Mountain Range was different. Perhaps because metal-attributed soul beasts made up the majority, and geng metal governed slaughter, the entire mountain range appeared ferocious and savage.

Huo Yuhao guessed that if there really was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast here, it had to be a savage tiger with a metal attribute. Only such viciousness could rule this place.

"Me, me! I'll do it this time."

Ju Zi and Ke Ke could not help laughing when they saw Huo Yuhao's eager expression. He really was just a child.

Huo Yuhao took out food and cooking utensils he had stored in his Storage Soul Tool. This was the Storage Soul Tool that had belonged to the senior who had left behind the Soul Lock Soul Bone. It could preserve food, and Huo Yuhao liked it immensely. After all, he was raising two foodies, Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er.

"A Soul Tool? Your pot is actually a Soul Tool?" Ju Zi asked in surprise.

Huo Yuhao nodded. This was something he had made for practice when he first obtained the Soul Lock Soul Bone. Since it was merely practice, he had not used particularly good materials, but it was more than enough for making a pot.

"W-what extravagance." Ke Ke swallowed. "Ju Zi, maybe he really can become the dream lover with the cooking skills of that world's greatest chef you've been talking about."

"Don't talk nonsense." Ju Zi gave a light spit, her pretty face reddening slightly. "I never expected you to be some young master, throwing around rare metals as if they were free."

"No, these are all ordinary materials. I'm just an orphan. How could I possibly have that much money?" Huo Yuhao replied as he cooked.

When Ke Ke and Ju Zi heard the word orphan, pity filled both their eyes. Huo Yuhao looked so young, yet he had already learned to cook. He must have suffered greatly.

Ju Zi was an orphan too, and she knew that pity would only make Huo Yuhao more uncomfortable. Ke Ke, meanwhile, felt too embarrassed to show her concern openly. The two simply went aside and set up the tents.

The meat soup Ju Zi had made for their previous meal had the flavor of Sichuan-style sour soup beef, so Huo Yuhao planned to make several Sichuan dishes: a bowl of mapo tofu, a serving of kung pao chicken, and a plate of choy sum. These were all classics of Sichuan cuisine.

"It smells so good!" Ke Ke rushed over as soon as she caught the scent, her eyes sparkling.

"Eat up. It tastes best while it's hot," Huo Yuhao said.

"Mmm, it's so good." Ke Ke blew on her food as she ate. Mapo tofu tasted best when it was a little hot; the way she eagerly wolfed it down was the true essence of the dish.

Being able to eat such a hot meal in the wilderness was a pleasure. Huo Yuhao turned to look at the setting sun. He estimated that tomorrow he would advance to the second ring. Naturally, he was delighted at the thought of his strength improving further.

"That flavor... it really is that flavor. I thought I'd never find this flavor again in my life."

Hm?

The moment Huo Yuhao heard that, a sense of foreboding rose within him, and he swallowed his fruit juice.

Ke Ke, who had been burying her head in her food, noticed Ju Zi's state of mind. Though there were still grains of rice at the corner of her mouth, she moved to Ju Zi's side and took her hand. "Sister Ju Zi, are you okay?"

Ju Zi gently set down her bowl and shook her head. Looking at Huo Yuhao, she spoke softly, her voice tinged with a sob. "Thank you, Yuhao. You let me taste my father again."

Pfft!

Huo Yuhao was fortunate that he had just swallowed his fruit juice. Otherwise, he definitely would not have been able to hold it in and would have sprayed it everywhere.

This still worked? Was your father a transmigrator from Sichuan?

When Huo Yuhao had read the original work, he had thought this plot point was far too tasteless. This was incredibly awkward. He had already done his best to avoid it, but he had still stepped right into it.

Suddenly, Huo Yuhao felt as though he had grasped something.

What exactly was the flavor Ju Zi spoke of?

Was it really some specific flavor?

There had been such a scene in the original work. After Huo Yuhao failed to fuse Soul Power with Tang Wutong, Tang Wutong found that the grilled fish tasted different because he believed Tang Wutong was not Dong'er, so he had not poured emotion into it.

Could it be... Huo Yuhao's grilled fish had tasted good from the very beginning because it was infused with emotion?