Transmigrating into Huo Yuhao, my abilities are refreshed every month.

The middle-aged chef said, "You are indeed very skilled, but you called me here to point out shortcomings, not to praise me, right? Please point out any shortcomings, and if there are none, I will take my leave."

He didn't think Huo Yuhao could taste anything wrong with it. Even the Gluttonous Douluo praised the fried rice. Well, he praised every dish in the restaurant.

However, there is no doubt that this dish has been certified by a level 98 Super Douluo.

Huo Yuhao said, "Don't rush. Of course I will point out the shortcomings of this dish."

"The ingredients for this dish must have all been made fresh, right?" Huo Yuhao asked.

"Of course, we use only the freshest ingredients in our store."

"That's it. Don't you know that fried rice is best made with leftover rice? It's a pity that a perfectly good fried rice is ruined by this, making the rice too watery and the grains too soft, which affects the taste."

The middle-aged chef pondered for a moment before saying, "Our boss pointed out the problem of too much moisture. Later, we used low heat to stir-fry the rice to remove the excess moisture. Unfortunately, stir-frying rice for too long will also affect the taste. We can only stir-fry it for a little longer, but it still improved the taste a lot. I didn't expect you to be able to taste it."

"We will try your method of using leftover rice. If it is successful, we will give you appropriate compensation."

The middle-aged chef spoke earnestly.

Huo Yuhao could tell that although he didn't know much about the middle-aged chef's other aspects, he was very conscientious and serious about cooking. Huo Yuhao's suggestions were all noted down by the middle-aged chef.

Most importantly, he was even offered a reward for explaining the improvement method, which made Huo Yuhao too embarrassed to be arrogant anymore.

Huo Yuhao continued to comment on the next dish: "This 'Flavorful Fish with Brocade' is actually made by reassembling the head of a thousand-year-old yellow croaker, the back of a star grouper, the belly of a golden turtle perch, the body of a tuna, and the tail of a butterflyfish. It gathers the essence of various fish, and then steams and fries them at the same time, so that each type of fish can taste two different flavors. One dish can taste ten different flavors."

"However, a dish should be judged by its color, aroma, and taste. This pieced-together fish looks like it's been contaminated by nuclear radiation, making it look grotesque and unappetizing. As for the taste, although it claims to offer ten flavors, none of the fish are cooked properly. Even different parts of the same fish require different cooking methods due to their different textures. You cooked five fish together without combining their strengths. What were you thinking? Wouldn't it have been better to cook each fish separately?"

"Flashy!"

The middle-aged chef was sweating profusely. Although he didn't know what nuclear contamination was, it didn't stop him from taking notes carefully.

"This Qiankun Roast Goose is truly a treasure trove. It wraps a ricebird in a thousand-year-old white jade goose and goes through three processes: baking, roasting, and steaming. This allows the ricebird to fully absorb the aroma of the white jade goose while maintaining its tender meat. It is undeniably delicious."

"However, this dish wastes the fine white jade goose. After being baked, roasted, and steamed, the meat has already been ruined, resulting in a soft and mushy texture that is not tasty. Secondly, there is the issue of the ricebird in the white jade goose. In fact, not all parts of the ricebird are suitable for this kind of cooking. The meat from the wings, breast muscles, and legs is more suitable than other parts."

"Perhaps you could wrap the white jade goose in another layer of material to protect the texture of its meat, such as lotus leaves or bamboo leaves."

"This golden-threaded Buddhist robe..."

Huo Yuhao offered a detailed critique of all the dishes he ordered, along with suggestions for improvement. The middle-aged chef carefully noted them down.

"Alright, I'm done talking." Huo Yuhao's mouth was dry, and he let out a long sigh after criticizing everything.

"Thank you for pointing out these issues; we will make serious improvements." The middle-aged chef bowed slightly. "Could you please wait a while? As compensation, your meal today will be on the house."

"Free meal? It's free now?" Huo Yuhao asked doubtfully, as he had originally planned to cook again.

"Yes, your comments and suggestions are very insightful. We always treat guests who help us make better food with the utmost sincerity," the middle-aged chef said calmly. What he didn't say was that they wouldn't be polite to those who deliberately cause trouble.

Huo Yuhao suddenly found this ordinary-looking chef surprisingly approachable. He smiled and asked, "Is there something you need that made me wait a while?"

"I have had your suggestion passed on to the boss, and he may want to see you. So please wait a while."

Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow. Their boss wanted to see him, and coincidentally, he also wanted to see the owner of this store.

The group hadn't waited long when they saw a man in his thirties push open the door and enter.

The male chef was dressed neatly and cleanly, and carried a faint aroma of food.

The man greeted you with a warm, gentle smile and said, "Hello, I am the owner of this shop. My name is Zhiwei. Some of you may have heard of me."

"Zhiwei?" Tang Ya exclaimed in surprise, "So you're the owner of this restaurant!"

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong looked at Tang Ya; neither of them had ever heard of this name.

Jiang Nannan, who was standing nearby, explained considerately, "Teacher Zhiwei is a teacher in our academy's inner court, responsible for the nutrition and meals of the inner court students. Moreover, Teacher Zhiwei is also a Soul Master in the food department."

Zhiwei smiled and said, "What Jiang Nannan said is right. If you can get into the Inner Academy, you will be able to see me often. With Jiang's strength, there is a high probability that she can get into the Inner Academy."

Zhiwei then looked at Tang Ya and said, "Tang Ya, the sect leader of the Tang Clan, I have long admired your name." He had indeed long admired her, because it was this young girl in front of him who had stolen away the heart of Zhang Lexuan, the senior sister of the inner courtyard.

Years ago, after saving Zhang Lexuan, Mu En, the leader of the Sea God Pavilion, used this as leverage to make her Bei Bei's child bride. Mu En then sent Bei Bei to help Tang Ya, the leader of the Tang Clan, who had just suffered the pain of her clan's annihilation. Unexpectedly, Bei Bei fell in love with Tang Ya, and Zhang Lexuan, the senior disciple of the inner court, became an unwanted child bride. Most of the inner court disciples had heard about this.

Therefore, Tang Ya is quite well-known in the inner courtyard.

Zhiwei then looked at Wang Dong: "You must be Wang Dong, a freshman. You're very talented! I hope you can work hard to get into the inner academy."

Finally, Zhiwei turned his gaze to Huo Yuhao, looked him up and down for a while, and said, "You must be Huo Yuhao? I got your information from Director Du. Your martial soul is the Spirit Eye, and Director Du's evaluation of your first soul skill is also a divine support skill. I didn't expect you to know so much about cooking."

"You are very good."

Zhiwei nodded approvingly; this young man was the main reason he had come today.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 31 Food-Type Contra

"Thank you for the compliment, teacher. Cooking is one of my hobbies, and I really enjoy eating all kinds of delicious food," Huo Yuhao said.

Zhiwei suddenly said, "Then would you be interested in becoming my apprentice? I'd really like to take on a disciple who has a talent for cooking."

Become an apprentice? Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment; he didn't want to become an apprentice of a teacher from Shrek Academy.

Huo Yuhao politely declined, saying, "I'm sorry, Teacher Zhiwei, I need the sect's permission to become an apprentice, so I cannot agree to your request."

Since a person in the Douluo Continent can only have one master in their lifetime, the master-disciple relationship is often more important than the sect. Therefore, it is very common for disciples of a sect to need the sect's consent to become disciples.

"Are you a disciple of a sect?" Zhiwei raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, then sighed regretfully and said, "That's a pity. But if you have any questions about cooking, you can still come and ask me for advice."

"Judging from your suggestions for improving several dishes in the restaurant, you have a lot of ideas about the culinary profession. These suggestions are also very practical, so here is 100,000 gold soul coins as your reward."

Zhiwei took out a black card and handed it to Huo Yuhao. Actually, Huo Yuhao's suggestion wasn't worth 100,000 gold soul coins, but he had rarely met someone he liked. Although he couldn't take him as a disciple, giving him 100,000 gold soul coins as a small favor was nothing to him.

Huo Yuhao accepted the black card and sincerely thanked him: "Thank you, Teacher Zhiwei!"

He was just thinking about how to interact with this Contra teacher for thirty seconds to complete the mission, but now Huo Yuhao just felt that he deserved to die. How could he have tricked such a good teacher?

Taking advantage of the momentum, Huo Yuhao took out the prepared recipe and handed it to Zhiwei, saying, "Teacher, this is a recipe I developed myself. The ingredients used are all relatively common, but as long as you find high-end ingredients that can be substituted, it can definitely become a new dish in your restaurant. See if it can help you."

"Let me see." Zhiwei looked at the recipe with great interest. He never hesitated to try new dishes, which was both a hobby and related to his cultivation.

Huo Yuhao's recipes did not disappoint him. They contained many cooking methods and ingredient handling techniques that he had never seen before, and he was now eager to try them out.

"Teacher, here are some dishes I've prepared. Would you like to try them?" Huo Yuhao took out the food stored in his soul tool.

The advantage of a soul tool is that whatever you store inside will come out the same way, which is much better than the refrigerator in my previous life.

The dishes Huo Yuhao made the day before yesterday are still steaming hot when taken out now.

Zhiwei's eyes lit up, and she said, "Come on, let me try your cooking."

Zhiwei tasted all the dishes Huo Yuhao had brought out, sighed with satisfaction, and commented, "Although the ingredients you used are not as good as those in my restaurant, the taste is far superior. This is partly due to the novelty of the recipes, but more importantly, it's due to the meticulous handling of the ingredients. Yuhao, if I teach you for half a year, your mastery of ingredients will surpass mine. I really want to take you as my apprentice now!"

Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "Although you can't accept me as your disciple, I can come to ask you for advice from time to time. I'm sure Teacher Zhiwei won't refuse, right?"

"Haha, of course I won't refuse," Zhiwei laughed heartily.

“Xiao Yuhao, I’ll call you that from now on.” Zhiwei changed how she addressed Huo Yuhao. “I can give you 10,000 gold soul coins for each of your recipes. In addition, I can give you 20% of the net profit of each dish while you are studying at Shrek Academy. Of course, the premise is that you improve these recipes to meet our store’s standards.”

"In addition, I can have the shop provide you with enough ingredients from five thousand-year-old soul beasts every day, but you have to cook twenty dishes for me on average every month until you want to terminate this deal. How about it?"

Zhiwei stared intently at Huo Yuhao. He had already discovered Huo Yuhao's talent in culinary arts. Huo Yuhao was now making such delicious food with ordinary ingredients; if he used better ingredients, he would surely reach even greater heights. If he could continue to hone his culinary skills, he would definitely be able to create unparalleled delicacies in the future.

This was a stroke of good fortune for him.

His martial spirit is unique, requiring various delicacies. Meeting Huo Yuhao this time was an unexpected delight for him.

He sent ingredients to Huo Yuhao and cooked twenty dishes every month so that Huo Yuhao wouldn't neglect his culinary skills while cultivating. In this way, it was a win-win situation for both of them.

Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment. Twenty dishes a month would take him about ten hours to cook, not a huge waste of time. Moreover, he received ingredients from thousand-year-old soul beasts daily; the meat of these beasts was rich in energy, subtly enhancing his physique and accelerating his cultivation. Add to that the profits from the recipes, and it was safe to say he was making a fortune.

However, Huo Yuhao hesitated. There's no such thing as a free lunch. What was Teacher Zhiwei's purpose in being so kind to him?

Huo Yuhao said directly, "Teacher, the conditions you've offered are too generous. I would feel very uneasy if I accepted them. Can you tell me why you're doing this?"

Zhiwei glanced at Huo Yuhao with appreciation. At such a young age, he hadn't been blinded by the benefits; he realized that she couldn't possibly have any ill intentions towards him and asked directly, which was very good.

Zhiwei said directly, "Actually, many people know this, but I'll tell you. My martial soul is called the Qi of Food, which can be attached to food to give it auxiliary effects. The more delicious the food, the better the auxiliary effect. The best auxiliary effect I've achieved so far is amplifying all the attributes of a Title Douluo by 100%. Unfortunately, the academy has searched the entire continent and hasn't found another food like that. In addition, if my martial soul is attached to unpalatable food, others will suffer negative effects from eating it."

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. This martial soul was powerful, and more importantly, it was very interesting!

Zhiwei continued, “My martial soul is indeed very special, but it also has great limitations. I must eat all kinds of delicious food to cultivate. The more delicious the food, the faster my cultivation speed. In addition, if I eat the same delicious food many times, my cultivation speed will decrease until it loses its effect. In order to cultivate, I tasted almost all the delicacies on the continent a few years ago, and I also studied cooking skills on my own to create new delicacies. So many people know about my martial soul.”

"I've been stuck at the Contra Douluo level for almost ten years. Eating your cooking today has loosened my almost stagnant cultivation. So, I support you in the hope that you can spend more time on your cooking skills. Perhaps with your help, I can also hope to become a Title Douluo?"

Huo Yuhao nodded, finally understanding why Zhiwei supported him. He had also witnessed the wonder of martial souls; he hadn't expected there to be such a food-type martial soul. The amplification effect of food depended entirely on its taste, which was clearly an encouragement for him to delve into the art of gastronomy.

Furthermore, Huo Yuhao also wanted to know how the quality of the taste was judged. If it was judged by a person's subjective consciousness, could he modify other people's consciousness in the future to increase the auxiliary effect?

Huo Yuhao agreed to Zhiwei's conditions. This was a completely free benefit, so why wouldn't he take it?

Huo Yuhao patted his chest and said, "Teacher Zhiwei, don't worry, I will not give up studying cooking skills. After all, I also want to see what kind of effect such a magical martial soul will have at the Title Douluo level."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 32 Xu Sanshi

"I never expected Teacher Zhiwei's martial soul to be so special!" Tang Ya couldn't help but exclaim.

Huo Yuhao and his group of four had already left the restaurant and were heading back to the academy.

"It's very special, and its potential is also very high. If there's delicious food, Teacher Zhiwei's support abilities can even surpass those of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and Rainbow Dragon. Of course, compared to normal food-type soul masters, his weaknesses are also obvious." Huo Yuhao said subconsciously after hearing Tang Ya's sigh. At this moment, he was thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of soul—he wanted to lure Zhiwei away from Shrek Academy.

"What are the drawbacks?" Tang Ya asked.