[Yuhao, this is a great thing! But you must remember, don't hold back anything regarding Dong'er.]
Although he couldn't see where Huo Yuhao's soul was, and their eye contact was merely a coincidence, Chen Junting still directly transmitted the message he wanted to convey upward into the sky using his spiritual power in a radiating manner.
Receiving the message, Huo Yuhao was slightly taken aback.
Before he could even react, a gentle voice sounded right beside his ear.
"Little guy, don't worry. Just as your partner said, this is a great thing for you."
Immediately after, Huo Yuhao felt everything he perceived plunge into a dizzying spin. In the unseen void, an invisible, awe-inspiring force made itself known. In an instant, his surroundings burst into color. Gradually, the colors faded, leaving only black and white.
Along with the constant alternation of black and white, Huo Yuhao continuously transformed within this shifting space. Yet, no matter what happened to the outside world, his soul remained stable and entirely unharmed.
Realizing this, Huo Yuhao quickly focused his mind, withdrawing his senses and consolidating his soul power.
After a brief moment of shock and awe, he had now calmed down. Moreover, through Brother Junting's reminder, Huo Yuhao gradually realized that the one who made his soul leave his body was likely the deity Brother Junting had mentioned earlier!
In other words, it had worked!
At this thought, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel excited.
This process felt like it lasted an instant, yet also seemed to have taken a long time. Suddenly, everything around him became clear. Huo Yuhao was surprised to find that he had regained control over his soul.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that he was in a seemingly inconspicuous valley. Inside the valley, hundreds of flowers bloomed, and various herbs grew in an orderly fashion. Towering trees blocked the sunlight, and occasionally, a few clouds drifted over the valley, surprisingly displaying a gorgeous seven-colored hue, exceptionally beautiful.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao had returned to his human form. However, he was currently a mental body, or rather, a soul body, and his only sensation of the outside world was pure comfort.
Faced with this scene, a thought suddenly arose in his mind—was this the God Realm? If so, if he could just breathe in the air of this valley, wouldn't that mean...
With that in mind, he immediately opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath!
As he inhaled and exhaled, he immediately felt his soul being nourished, his entire being feeling as if he were floating like an immortal.
Then, he instinctively stopped what he was doing.
Once Huo Yuhao regained his clarity, he looked around in slight embarrassment. Clearly, he was a bit thin-skinned.
Subsequently, he subconsciously looked deeper into the valley.
Suddenly, a cobblestone path appeared beneath his feet, extending all the way into the valley. And right on both sides of the path, various plants were growing. With Huo Yuhao's discerning eye, he quickly recognized that these plants were all heavenly treasures. Even the ones he didn't recognize contained immense spiritual energy. These plants, which were incredibly rare in the lower realm and only grew around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, were now growing on both sides like common weeds, truly giving one an incredible feeling.
[Truly worthy of being the God Realm.]
Thinking to himself, Huo Yuhao stepped onto the path.
The path was winding and tortuous, leading straight into the valley. After Huo Yuhao walked for about ten minutes, the scenery before him suddenly changed, and a pavilion appeared in his line of sight.
Not far away, there was also a small courtyard.
The buildings in this small courtyard were entirely made of wood, and a few children were currently playing in the yard. An old man was enjoying time with his grandchildren, a beautiful woman in a long red dress with a slender figure was managing a few other children, and a beautiful woman in a blue dress was sitting not far away eating. Without exception, their faces were all filled with the color of happiness.
Such a scene was completely different from his imagination of gods; it was clearly just a family living in seclusion in a paradise.
For some unknown reason, seeing this scene, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt a bit of envy in his heart. When Dong'er's crisis was completely resolved in the future, he would be able to hold a grand wedding with Dong'er in the sect, form a family, and then have a few more children, living a long and happy life.
"It seems the child has arrived."
At this time, the old man looked up and saw Huo Yuhao. Revealing a kind smile, he patted the bottom of the child beside him and said with a smile, "Go find your mother first."
At this, the two women also looked up one after another.
However, compared to the blue-haired woman's silence and apparent indifference, the red-haired woman was much more enthusiastic.
"Child, come here. My husband is already waiting for you."
Huo Yuhao felt a little embarrassed. After he walked over, the red-haired beauty pointed to a room in the courtyard.
"Go on in. He's waiting for you inside."
When Huo Yuhao entered that room, he found that it was actually a kitchen. From the outside, the room didn't seem large, but after stepping inside, Huo Yuhao was surprised to find that it was a completely different world, with an area of at least a hundred square meters. Various ingredients were neatly arranged in one section, and another section was obviously used for cooking.
And in front of the kitchen counter, a golden-haired youth wearing an apron was busy working on the cutting board. Such a scene didn't seem out of place at first glance, but when compared to this golden-haired youth's identity...
Good heavens!
A god was actually cooking?
In an instant, the filter in Huo Yuhao's mind that "gods are majestic and dignified" was ruthlessly shattered.
But apart from his astonishment, Huo Yuhao was gradually attracted by Rong Nianbing's movements. At the very moment Huo Yuhao's attention was drawn in, he suddenly felt that this deity had changed. His aura became as heavy as a mountain, and an oppressive feeling that made it hard to breathe caused Huo Yuhao's soul body to suddenly ripple.
He saw Rong Nianbing's right hand twitch slightly, his index and middle fingers naturally reaching into a cloth pouch in front of the counter. When his fingers left the pouch, they brought out a cold gleam.
It was a small knife, no more than five inches long. The blade tip was very compact, and the length of the blade and the handle behind it were equal, each taking up two and a half inches. The front half of the blade emitted a faint blue light, and a ferocious pattern was carved on the side of the blade.
Immediately after, Rong Nianbing beckoned with his left hand in the void, and a large empty plate landed in front of him. At the same time, nine cucumbers of roughly the same size also flew over.
He was about to cut vegetables, right?
But why use such a small knife?
It looked like this knife wasn't even as big as his carving knife.
Just as Huo Yuhao was feeling puzzled, Rong Nianbing suddenly chanted softly: "Ghost hands fall, causing earth-shattering changes, carving waves that swirl a hundred times. Divine craftsmanship exists to this day, the blade rises as a crescent moon reflects in a cold spring."
In an instant, blue light continuously spun within the plate.
Huo Yuhao clearly saw that every time this deity uttered a word, the top of each of the nine cucumbers would gain an extra mark, accompanied by green shavings drifting down gracefully.
By the time the sound of the final word "spring" faded, a full two hundred and sixty-one cuts had been completed in this short chanting time.
A ring of green shavings fell neatly into the exact center of the plate, forming a circular dark green pattern. The lines were very clear, and the circular pattern had absolutely no deviation; even the size of all the shavings was completely identical. However, what shocked Huo Yuhao the most was what was carved above those shavings.
Nine jade-like objects stood in a row with their heads raised. They had deer antlers and shrimp eyes, whiskers at the top of their heads and corners of their mouths, and held a pearl beneath their foreheads.
These were clearly nine jade-like dragon heads! Lifelike, all raising their heads as if they were swallowing clouds and blowing mist.
Such knife skills...
Huo Yuhao instantly widened his eyes. It was his first time seeing such exquisite knife skills. This wasn't just carving; it could even be called creation. It was truly an uncanny workmanship and divine craftsmanship.
As a Rank 9 soul engineer, Huo Yuhao's effort in carving was self-evident. But comparing him to these knife skills was like a frog in a well looking at the moon, or a mayfly gazing at the vast sky.
Rong Nianbing glanced at him from the corner of his eye, a faint smile on his face. His left hand made a guiding motion upward, and instantly, the large plate floated in midair. Beneath the plate, there was actually a thick layer of mist supporting it. This mist exuded a faint chill, not intense, but it made everything around seem as if wreathed in clouds and mist.
Following that, his left hand swung horizontally in the air.
Immediately, the plate began to spin at an extremely high speed.
Whenever the tail of each cucumber rotated in front of him, the blue light would instantly flash. After three rotations, it was unknown how many cuts he had made, yet his hand seemed to have only trembled a few times. As for the dark green shavings, they spread flat on the bottom, forming the shape of nine clouds. Set against them, nine lifelike emerald dragon tails appeared.
The moment the dragon tails appeared, the nine cucumbers in the plate seemed to come alive, coiling in the mist like nine azure dragons. The plate was still spinning slowly, and the nine azure dragons shuttled through the mist. They seemed to be playing, and also seemed to be greeting each other; the momentum of the nine dragons gathering their heads was incredibly realistic.
After doing all this, Rong Nianbing tapped the void with his left hand, and a small ice ball appeared on his fingertip. With a flick of his finger, the ice ball quietly drifted down into the center of the nine dragon heads.
At this moment, the nine azure dragons carved from cucumbers actually moved. The nine dragons leaped up and down at different heights. When their bodies stretched out, Huo Yuhao truly saw that their bodies were connected by pieces of cucumber as thin as paper. Although they were only connected by a tiny bit, they didn't break.
Nine dragons snatching a pearl, leaping vertically and horizontally, as if they had truly come alive.
Set against the icy mist, they looked exactly like nine real dragons, and the plate was like a world of its own. Nine dragons soaring through the clouds, ever-changing.
With a wave of Rong Nianbing's left hand, the plate bearing the nine dragons flew to the side. When he completely turned his head and body, he smiled at the already dumbfounded Huo Yuhao.
"How much did you understand? How much did you comprehend?"
Faced with the question, Huo Yuhao could only shake his head repeatedly.
Rong Nianbing gave a faint smile, pointed at the delicacy on the plate, and asked, "Would you like to taste it?"
"May I?"
Huo Yuhao looked at his own body.
He was currently in a soul mental body state.
He shouldn't be able to touch physical objects, right?
"If it's just the taste, then of course you can."
Just the taste?
Huo Yuhao was stunned by these words, and then saw Rong Nianbing point in the air, a strand of divine power sinking into the plate of delicacy. In the next second, a wisp of mist slowly drifted from it toward Huo Yuhao's mouth.
And then...
"Mmm~"
Unconsciously, Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes.
He even let out an instinctive moan of pleasure.
Delicious!
An unprecedented deliciousness!
"Is it good?"
Rong Nianbing smiled and then asked a question.
"It's delicious! I've never eaten anything this good before!"
To be honest, other than these inarticulate words, Huo Yuhao was no longer able to use language to describe the shock in his heart.
Rong Nianbing's expression remained unchanged. "Do you want to learn? Besides my culinary arts, what's more important is my Dragon's Play Knife Technique. Through years of comprehension, it has reached a realm where all methods are interconnected."
The word "Yes" immediately blurted out from Huo Yuhao's mouth, but after hesitating for a moment, he took the initiative to state his true purpose. "Actually, compared to culinary arts and knife skills, I want to gain your favor and inherit your god position even more."
"Oh?"
Rong Nianbing seemed surprised, yet also seemed not surprised.
"It seems you've guessed my identity."
Naturally, Huo Yuhao didn't hold anything back, telling Rong Nianbing his purpose and the situation that Chen Junting had informed him of.
After all, when facing a deity, especially when asking for their help, one naturally had to remain sincere.
Sincerity was the true ultimate skill.
"I see. The Brother Junting you speak of is the successor to the Rakshasa God's god position who was with you just now, right?"
Rong Nianbing looked at Huo Yuhao with indescribable satisfaction.
But honestly, when Huo Yuhao caught his attention, he had also indirectly noticed Chen Junting. And with that indirect observation, he almost changed his mind.
After all, Chen Junting's talent was too outstanding!
If Huo Yuhao wasn't more compatible with him, and if Chen Junting didn't have the auras of no less than ten deities on him—including eight 1st-Class gods, and even the Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction—he would have wanted to fight for the Rakshasa God's throne, whoever grabbed it got it.
But now...
This child Huo Yuhao was really quite good.
"Actually, even without you asking, I would still pass my god position to you. In other words, that is also the reason I brought your soul up here. I want you to inherit my God of Emotions God Position."
Regarding his true purpose, Rong Nianbing didn't hide anything at all. Nor did he have any intention of playing with Huo Yuhao now that his goal had been achieved ahead of time, only to call it a "test" to sound good.
And his words also caused Huo Yuhao to freeze for a moment.
Was it just like that?
Filled with doubts, Huo Yuhao looked into Rong Nianbing's sincere eyes and knew the answer. It seemed it really was just like that.
However, he still had a trace of doubt.
That was why this deity wanted to pass on his god position. From the looks of it, he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.
After he voiced this question, the response he got was...
"Why?"
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