Huo Yuhao's specialty grilled fish skill in the kitchen was more effective than any promotional loudspeaker.
Within a few days, news that 'the Axis Cult has a little master chef' spread through half of Thunder City as if it had been boosted by Wi-Fi. Many people had originally come just for the free cake and the Awakening ceremony, but now, many specifically timed their visits for mealtime just to taste Little Brother Huo's cooking—even if it was just the most ordinary grain pancakes or wild vegetable soup, once it passed through his hands, the flavor was so good it would make one's tongue drop off! It truly made people suspect he was the God of Cooking descended from ten thousand years ago.
The queue at the Axis Cult's entrance grew even longer, the line often twisting and turning in a winding fashion.
The believers' faces shone with pride, and they walked with straighter backs—see that? Our Pope is just that incredible! Even the cook she recruited is of a level unique in all the world! The Water God protects us; she truly does not deceive!
In the backyard kitchen, Huo Yuhao remained a man of few words, simply burying his head in his work. Several kitchen aunties now looked at him as if he were their own precious grandson, scrambling to assist him for fear of tiring the boy out.
He also entrusted the reliable Uncle Shi Meng to take his advanced wages and medicinal herbs back to his mother in the village. With his mind at ease, he worked even harder.
Furina was happy to be idle, wandering around every day, counting her points and pondering how to 'invest' in a potential stock like Huo Yuhao.
Neuvillette, on the other hand, was so busy his feet barely touched the ground, managing the increasingly large crowds and accounts, while also having to deal with the City Lord's Mansion's occasional petty schemes. His brow seemed to be furrowed even tighter than when he first arrived.
City Lord Thunder Leopard had indeed been very irritable lately. The people he sent to cause trouble returned in disgrace, either saying the Axis Cult believers protected it like an iron bucket, or being lectured by that white-haired envoy with account books and logic until they questioned their very existence.
Wanting to find a few people with terminal illnesses to crash the place? In this remote backwater, they were actually hard to find on short notice! This wasn't the information age; they weren't that easy to locate.
In the end, having no other choice, he could only settle for the next best thing. He gathered a few long-term disabled veterans and paupers, then sent the most hot-tempered, baldest, and most skeptical Spirit Master from his own guard to go along. He planned to cause a scene at the Axis Cult's entrance, claiming their medicine and cake were useless and couldn't even cure disabilities!
That morning, a long queue stood at the Axis Cult's entrance as usual. Several veterans leaning on canes with missing limbs and disabled people with faces bitter from life's torments were shoved to the front of the line. Following behind them was the fierce-looking Minister Wang, a bald Spirit Master whose head was so shiny it could be used as a mirror.
"Move aside, move aside! Everyone look!" Minister Wang shouted with a booming voice, intentionally clamoring, "Can't the Axis Cult cure any illness? Don't they have a sacred object? Look at these people! Can you cure them? If you can't, then stop acting like ghosts and gods to deceive people!"
The crowd was in an uproar. The believers showed indignant expressions, but seeing the miserable state of those disabled people, they didn't know what to say.
Furina was boredly hiding in the room, calculating whether to exchange a profound water pill or a soul ascension pill for Huo Yuhao, when she heard the noise outside and strolled out to watch the excitement.
Seeing this formation, she was instantly delighted—oh, is Thunder Leopard sending more experience packs and advertising material again?
She pushed through the crowd and walked to the front, looking at the people with numb gazes and missing limbs, then glanced at the arrogant bald man whose head reflection could blind one's eyes. A brilliant smile suddenly appeared on her face (as if she were looking at walking billboards and test subjects).
"Who says my Axis Cult cannot cure them?" Her voice was clear and bright, carrying a mysterious confidence. "Today, I shall let all fellow believers witness the true grace of the Water God!"
As soon as she finished speaking, four spirit rings suddenly rose from beneath her feet—purple, purple, black, black! The final deep ten-thousand-year spirit ring emitted heart-palpitating fluctuations.
"Fourth Spirit Ability: Gold Experie... er, no, golden doughnut vanilla cake!" (She almost slipped up).
With a flash of light, a cake emitting a warm golden glow, uniquely shaped like three stacked doughnuts and wafting an enticing vanilla scent, appeared in her hand. That shape... was indeed a bit eye-catching, as if making one see the characters 'Gogogogo'.
Under everyone's curious and doubtful gazes, Furina continuously created several identical cakes and handed them to the disabled people: "Eat them."
Those people were skeptical, but under the glare of the bald Spirit Master and the gaze of the surrounding people, they still slowly ate them.
The next moment, an astonishing scene occurred!
Soft golden light radiated from within their bodies, as if their life Origin had been awakened.
The veteran with the missing leg looked in shock as bone and flesh grew and reshaped like sprouts within his empty trouser leg, visible to the naked eye. Within a few breaths, a perfectly intact new leg had grown! Another woman who had lost an arm felt an unbearable tingling at her shoulder as a new arm slowly extended, her five fingers moving nimbly!
Not only that, the old hidden injuries and ailments on their bodies seemed to be washed away by a warm current, vanishing instantly. Even their complexions became ruddy and healthy!
"My leg... my leg is back!" The veteran stomped his feet in disbelief, tears streaming down his face. "My hand... my hand can move!" The woman waved her newborn arm excitedly, sobbing uncontrollably.
The entire field was silent. Everyone was so shocked by this miracle-like scene that they were speechless.
Minister Wang was even more dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit a goose egg. He subconsciously touched his smooth, chilly head and muttered, "...This... how is this possible..."
Furina's gaze swept over this 'human light bulb.' Feeling playful, she casually stuffed the last piece of cake into his mouth: "Here, a share for the witness! Don't say this Pope is stingy!"
Before Minister Wang could react, he felt a warm current surge from the crown of his head with a 'buzz,' making him so itchy he almost jumped.
He subconsciously touched his head again—what met his hand was no longer a scalp so smooth it could slip, but a layer of fuzzy, short, prickly stubble! Although it hadn't grown into long hair yet, it was definitely hair! It wasn't an illusion!
He suddenly froze, his eyes widening larger than copper bells, his whole body trembling. His baldness was natural; he had used countless folk remedies for hair growth and rubbed countless ginger and soap pods since childhood to no avail. It had always been his heartache and a laughingstock... and now... now actually...
A strong, indescribable ecstasy and impulse overwhelmed him! He suddenly raised his hands, touching his fuzzy crown, his voice cracking with excitement as he blurted out:
"It grew! It grew! I have hair! I have hair!!!"
Only after shouting did he realize he had lost his composure, but in his ecstasy, he couldn't care less! He gave Furina a deep look with eyes filled with a complex mix of shock, joy, and awe—a look as if he were seeing his own parent (mainly his hair-growing parent)!
Then, without a word, he turned and ran away stumbling yet with a strange sense of excitement, not even caring about the disabled people who were still in ecstasy—his mind was now filled with getting back to look in a mirror and how to keep this hard-won hair!
He rushed all the way back to the City Lord's Mansion, where Thunder Leopard was waiting for him to report the 'results.' Instead, he saw this former bald guard (now sporting a sexy fuzz) enter absentmindedly but with a weird flush on his face, then thud onto his knees.
"City Lord! This subordinate... this subordinate is incompetent! That Axis Cult... that Pope... she, she..."
He incoherently stammered out what he had seen with his own eyes, focusing especially on the miracle of limb regrowth and his own hair growth (describing this part with particular detail and excitement). Finally, he kowtowed heavily, "This subordinate... requests to resign from the guard! I... I want to go to the Axis Cult! I beg the Pope to take me in! I... I must go protect this head of hair!"
Thunder Leopard was impatient at first, but his face turned increasingly pale as he listened. He was already shocked by the limb regrowth, and hearing that his trusted aide actually wanted to defect because he grew hair, he was so furious he kicked over the table in front of him!
"Useless! Get out! All of you, get out!"
Minister Wang felt as if he had been granted a great pardon and scrambled away. It looked as though he truly intended to defect directly to the Axis Cult to defend his newborn hair to the death.
Thunder Leopard panted heavily in the hall, his face ashen. Limb regrowth? How was that possible?! Just what was that woman's background?!
At that moment, he suddenly thought of his only son, who had been depressed and decadent since an arm was torn off by a six-thousand-year-old Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear during a soul hunt three years ago. His son had locked himself in his room, seeing no one, as if all color had vanished from his life...
His anger was instantly replaced by a complex set of emotions—extreme shock, deep suspicion, and a sliver of... uncontrollable, faint, yet crazily growing hope.
If... if that woman could really do it... even if he, as a father, had to set aside his dignity, it seemed... not entirely out of the question?