A few months later.
Beside a small stream not far from the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, a boy was leisurely grilling the fish in his hands.
He stood before the fire, holding a wooden stick threaded with a fish in each hand and slowly turning them over the flames. His face was shedding its childishness, giving way to a growing air of youthful gallantry.
The flames danced, and rising heat stirred his blue bangs, yet not a single bead of sweat dotted his forehead.
He wore simple clothes: a light short-sleeved shirt and long trousers. The outfit looked casual, but the design on his shirt was anything but simple.
Against the jet-black fabric, a white tiger with a blue-gray forehead and fierce, slanting eyes stretched from his back across his left shoulder, extending menacing claws and baring gleaming fangs.
The tiger draped across his shoulder looked ferocious, poised to descend the mountain and attack.
The boy's posture was relaxed, his movements practiced. His faintly shining, crystalline blue eyes brimmed with confidence; he already had everything worked out.
As he grilled the fish, he muttered to himself.
"Control the heat, cook them evenly."
"Low heat to draw out the fat, high heat to change the color."
"Finally, sprinkle on a handful of Brother Hao's secret seasoning, and one little tickle brings that aroma right out."
The fish, already turning golden brown, gave off an even more mouthwatering fragrance after he sprinkled on the mysterious powder.
Satisfied, the boy praised himself.
"Brother Hao, Brother Hao, the king of barbecue."
"As expected of the founder and CEO of the Star Luo No. 1 Barbecue Shop~"
This boy was none other than Huo Yuhao, who had left the Duke's Mansion. He was now preparing to enter the Star Dou Great Forest in search of his first soul ring and had stopped for a brief rest.
After leaving Star Luo City, he hadn't hurried on his journey. He traveled in fits and starts, slowly making his way toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
Money was something he didn't lack.
He thought little of the paltry gold coins the Duke's Mansion had given him. His main income came from his own Barbecue Restaurant.
That Barbecue Restaurant was special. Not only was its food delicious, but it also had some very powerful "backing."
Princess Xu Jiujiu of the Star Luo Imperial Family owned fifty percent of its shares. Naturally, the remaining fifty percent belonged to Huo Yuhao.
And its barbecue tasted exceptional, even better than the food served in many grand restaurants.
Affordable, delicious, and inexpensive... for all these reasons, customers thronged the Barbecue Restaurant, and money poured in by the bucketful every day.
As a result, Huo Yuhao had no shortage of money.
He was confident that nowhere on the entire continent could anyone make better-tasting food.
Why?
Whether barbecue turned out well came down to just two things: ingredients and heat.
For ingredients, Huo Yuhao naturally used the best, and he also had his exclusive secret recipe-Thirteen Spices.
A spice blend that had weathered the market's scrutiny in his previous life was a higher-dimensional strike against the Douluo Continent.
But that wasn't the main point. The locals' intelligence and dedication to research had somewhat exceeded Huo Yuhao's expectations. He knew that some grand restaurants were already getting close to figuring out the recipe for Thirteen Spices.
The secret to his barbecue lay in the heat.
Heat meant temperature. Controlling the temperature well allowed him to control how thoroughly the food cooked.
That made fire-attribute martial souls capable of controlling flames particularly suitable for cooking.
Huo Yuhao was different. He controlled temperature through ice and cold air.
Compared to manipulating the flames themselves, manipulating a power that suppressed them allowed for more precise temperature control.
Moreover, Huo Yuhao had another uniquely blessed advantage-his Demon Eyes, a rare mental-attribute martial soul.
After awakening his eyes as his body martial soul, his vision had become increasingly astonishing.
Huo Yuhao had never measured it precisely, but he estimated that his visual acuity was at least 20.0. More importantly, he could see many details that ordinary people failed to notice.
This also allowed him to adjust the heat more precisely while grilling fish.
The strength of an element-controlling martial soul lay not only in its power, but also in its precision. Though Huo Yuhao's soul power was weak, the finesse with which he controlled the ice element surpassed that of many powerful experts.
Only someone at his level could freely control the temperature of an open campfire. The Ice Attribute apprentices hired at his shop would fumble helplessly once they left the grill.
...Though aside from controlling the heat, it didn't seem to have much use.
Even if another soul master in this world possessed twin martial souls with both the Ice Attribute and mental attributes, they could never surpass Huo Yuhao in this regard, because one more terrifying detail lay hidden here-
Huo Yuhao could use his twin martial souls simultaneously!
Huo Yuhao hadn't known this at first, either. But when he learned that obscure fact, a flicker of concern accompanied his surprise, and he decided to conceal his second martial soul as much as possible.
Twin martial souls already offered more possibilities. Being able to use them simultaneously made the variations limitless.
Of course, when he released them faintly while barbecuing, almost no one would notice.
And the process of barbecuing was also a process of cultivation for him.
"Ah, that smells amazing!"
Huo Yuhao twitched his nose, thoroughly satisfied with his masterpiece.
His family circumstances had been far from perfect in both lives, but Huo Yuhao wasn't gloomy in the slightest. Quite the opposite: he was an extremely cheerful, lively person.
Family affection certainly felt warm and wonderful when one had it, but being alone could offer its own sense of ease and freedom.
After his mother-the only person Huo Yuhao regarded as family-passed away, there seemed to be no ties left that could bind him.
Still, seeing what his mother had left behind stirred his feelings.
Huo Yuhao raised the White Tiger Dagger and examined it for a while before slipping it into his belt.
It truly was a fine blade, light and sharp, and even came with an attack skill. It was much handier than his old kitchen knife.
"Whatever, time to chow down~"
Huo Yuhao stopped dwelling on it and licked his lips as he looked at the pile of grilled fish before him.
After all that work, he could finally start eating.
Cultivation consumed an enormous amount of energy. He needed at least ten of these large grilled fish to fill himself up.
"With pickled greens and simmered tofu to eat, even the mighty emperor can't compete with me~"
Huo Yuhao sang the Nine-Clan Happiness Song as he bit off a piece of fish.
The crisp exterior and tender flesh, the temperature, the juices, the flavor... every aspect was perfect, coming together to create this delicious mouthful.
"You never get tired of Brother Hao's cooking," Huo Yuhao muttered between bites. "I don't believe that fellow Xu Jiawei, acting all solemn every day, has never had a craving."
The Xu Jiawei he mentioned was none other than the reigning emperor of the Star Luo Empire. Probably only someone as fearless as Huo Yuhao would dare show him such disrespect.
"Wow, that smells so good!"
A girl's delighted exclamation rang out, clear and sweet.
"Who goes there?"
Huo Yuhao looked warily at the newcomer, hostility on his face. "Are you one of Xu Jiawei's people?"
"Huh?"
The girl was utterly bewildered, with no idea what Huo Yuhao was talking about.
"Oh, nothing. I mistook you for someone else."
Huo Yuhao waved his hands repeatedly, lowering his head with a quiet chuckle to hide his embarrassment.
It took courage to bad-mouth the emperor behind his back. Otherwise, if word reached the emperor's ears, all nine clans would be holding a reunion in the underworld.
He sized up the newcomers. There were two of them, a boy and a girl, both around thirteen or fourteen.
The girl was tall, with a long black ponytail. She radiated youth, lively and playful, and all her attention was fixed on the grilled fish.
The boy was tall and straight-backed, handsome and dashing, with a cultured, gentle air. Smiling, he held both hands behind his head in a lazy pose, yet his gaze stayed fixed on Huo Yuhao.
An expert!
One exchange of glances was enough for Huo Yuhao to label the boy.
Huo Yuhao's soul power was currently too weak for him to discern other people's soul power levels, but ever since awakening his mental-attribute Demon Eyes, he had trusted his sixth sense implicitly.
While he sized the other boy up, the other boy was sizing him up as well.
This boy is no ordinary person!
The same thought arose unbidden in both their minds.
The girl, however, had no such awareness. She hurried over, practically drooling as she asked, "Little brother, are you selling your grilled fish? They smell so good! How did you make them?"
At the girl's question, Huo Yuhao reflexively blurted out:
"Five copper coins a stick, buy three get one free, buy five get two free. Sign up for a membership card right now and enjoy discounts of up to fifteen percent. Add 100 and get 30 free, add 300 and get 100 free, plus all-you-can-drink offers. Opportunity knocks but once, and time waits for no one! For more deals and details, please ask... sorry, force of habit."
Only after rattling off that rap-like spiel did Huo Yuhao realize he wasn't in the shop.
He stuck out his tongue and tried again. "Just give me five copper coins per fish."
The girl: "..."
The boy: "..."