A Picnic

The group turned at the sound and saw two people standing behind them.

The young man in front had a gentle, scholarly air and cut a dashing figure. The girl he held close looked lively and adorable, brimming with youthful energy.

They were Tang Ya and Bei Bei, whom Huo Yuhao had met in the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Big Sister Tang Ya! Big Brother Bei Bei! What are you doing here?"

Tang Ya was excited to see Huo Yuhao again. She had never expected to run into him so soon after returning to Shrek Academy. But just as she started forward, Bei Bei pulled her back.

"Little brother Yuhao, we just got back from obtaining a Spirit Ring. And who are these two?"

At Bei Bei's question, Huo Yuhao introduced Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao.

"Big Brother Bei Bei, these are my classmates, Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao."

"Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, these are Bei Bei and Tang Ya. I met them before I came to enroll."

"Hello, seniors!"

After everyone exchanged greetings, Tang Ya came over, curious.

"Little brother Yuhao, where are you all going?"

"Oh! We're going to the park up ahead for a picnic."

Tang Ya's eyes lit up. She grabbed Huo Yuhao's hand and asked:

"Little brother Yuhao, can I come with you?"

Ever since she had tasted the grilled meat and fish Huo Yuhao made in the Star Dou Great Forest, she had been unable to forget them.

Faced with Tang Ya's pleading look, Huo Yuhao hesitated.

"Um, Big Sister Tang Ya, Wang Dong'er prepared the ingredients this time. You'd have to ask her if you want to join us."

Tang Ya turned her gaze to Wang Dong'er.

She wrapped both hands around one of Wang Dong'er's arms and shook it, pleading pitifully, "Dong'er, can I come to your picnic? If I don't get to eat Yuhao's grilled fish, I'll die."

"Please don't do that. You can come."

Wang Dong'er couldn't understand it. Was Huo Yuhao's cooking really that good? Tang Ya looked as though she was hooked on something.

With Wang Dong'er's permission, Tang Ya happily stepped forward and hugged her.

"Please, it's only one meal."

Even Bei Bei couldn't watch anymore. He came forward and pulled Tang Ya away.

In the end, Huo Yuhao's group swelled to five people.

"Hey, little brother Yuhao, why isn't your sister with you?"

On the way to the Small Park, Tang Ya looked around curiously. The cold-looking older sister she had seen before was nowhere near Huo Yuhao.

"You mean Sister Xue'er? She's left Shrek City for a while again."

Two days earlier, the Snow Empress had told him she was returning to the Extreme North to retrieve the Hundred-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus she had found before.

After spending the past few years at Huo Yuhao's side, the Origin damaged by her last Heavenly Tribulation had almost fully recovered.

She had a feeling that if she stayed by Huo Yuhao's side and consumed that Hundred-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus, she would have an eighty percent chance of surviving her Seventh Heavenly Tribulation.

Tang Ya and Bei Bei both breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the Snow Empress was not with Huo Yuhao. Having that senior around put them under tremendous pressure.

The park was not far away. They arrived after a walk of little more than ten minutes.

The scenery was beautiful. A river even ran through the park, the same one that flowed by the academy.

"You really can cook. You weren't boasting after all."

Inside a pavilion, Wang Dong'er watched Huo Yuhao deftly use a small Engraving Knife to scrape the scales off a grass carp and gut it. He then seasoned the other cuts of meat.

"Yuhao, don't tell me that's an Engraving Knife for making Soul Tools?"

Tang Ya crouched nearby to watch him prepare the food, but the longer she looked at the Engraving Knife in his hand, the more familiar it seemed.

As the first Tang Sect master ever to study Soul Tools alongside her other arts, she was only a Level 2 Soul Engineer. Even so, she could tell that Huo Yuhao was holding a high-quality Engraving Knife.

Judging by its material, it might not rival a Ranked Engraving Knife, but it was still top-grade.

"That's right. Is something wrong, Big Sister Tang Ya?"

Cheng Shitao had given him that Engraving Knife. Apart from the Ranked Engraving Knives, Soul Engineers on the Douluo Continent had another list recording most of the Engraving Knives used in their field.

The one Cheng Shitao had given him ranked forty-first on that list. It had only two special qualities: sharpness and hardness.

It had been Huo Yuhao's main Engraving Knife for years. But as he advanced as a Soul Engineer, a knife that was merely hard no longer suited his needs.

Electrolux's awakening had also made him think about replacing it. After helping Xu Jiujiu handle matters at the Starlight Auction House for so many years, he knew it held a Ranked Engraving Knife known as the "Ominous Blade."

So the Engraving Knife Cheng Shitao had given him had been reduced to a kitchen knife for preparing meat and other ingredients.

At Huo Yuhao's confirmation, Tang Ya's eyes sparkled.

"Then, Yuhao, are you a Soul Engineer? What level are you?"

"Level 4."

Silence fell. Even Bei Bei, who had been helping light the fire, turned to stare at Huo Yuhao in shock.

Tang Ya looked at him with envy, longing, and unwillingness mingled in her eyes. She had begun studying Soul Tools in her first year, yet three years later, she was still only a Level 2 Soul Engineer.

She envied Huo Yuhao's talent and wanted even more to bring him into the Tang Sect. That would give her a better chance of restoring it to glory. Unfortunately, he already belonged to a sect.

"Bei Bei, what's wrong with you two?"

Wang Dong'er, who knew nothing about Soul Tools, could not understand Bei Bei and Tang Ya's reactions.

As far as she was concerned, weren't Soul Engineers just cowards who relied on external tools to fight? So what if his level was a little high?

Xiao Xiao, beside her, wore the same expression as Tang Ya and Bei Bei.

Her family came from the Heaven Dou Empire, which served as a talent pool for the Sun Moon Empire, so Xiao Xiao knew a fair amount about Soul Tools. Besides, the Xiao Ding Family, whose Martial Souls were purely supportive, had no objection to them.

She knew just how outrageous it was for an eleven-year-old to be a Level 4 Soul Engineer.

When Wang Dong'er voiced her confusion, Xiao Xiao pulled her aside and explained in a low voice.

The look Wang Dong'er gave Huo Yuhao shifted from confusion to surprise, then finally to numbness.

She was numb. To her, Huo Yuhao was a monster. His Soul Power was high, and he had Twin Martial Souls. On top of that, he studied Soul Tools—and he was an excellent cook.

"He's practically Superman!"

Wang Dong'er had put into words what everyone else was thinking.