At night, Oscar arranged a room next to his own for Dugu Yan. Although the two of them couldn't live together openly, since they were a couple—and Oscar had special privileges at Shrek Academy—it wasn't an issue for them to stay close.
Ma Hongjun's room was on Oscar's right, while Dugu Yan's was on his left, with Oscar's room sandwiched in the middle.
Dai Mubai's quarters were in another wooden house, not in the same row as theirs, though still within the same courtyard.
After tidying Dugu Yan's room, Oscar invited her to wash up together. Once everything was done, they exchanged a goodnight kiss before heading to their own rooms.
Throughout the whole process, Ma Hongjun kept a blank expression. Although he felt envious, he pretended not to see anything. But as soon as Dugu Yan shut her door, he quickly followed Oscar into his room.
Of course, it wasn't that Ma Hongjun wanted to sleep in the same room as Oscar—he knew even if he wanted to, Oscar would never allow it.
He simply hadn't spent time with his boss for a long while. He wanted to stay around longer, share stories from the past year, and dig for some juicy gossip about Oscar.
Earlier, with Sister-in-law Dugu Yan present, he couldn't ask certain questions. Now, finally, he had the chance.
Oscar could only smile helplessly, but he didn't kick Hongjun out. After all, it had indeed been a while since they last chatted about daily life and small matters. Besides, with Dugu Yan around before, there were some topics not suitable to bring up.
Meanwhile, Dai Mubai had been resting ever since Shao Xin's treatment. It wasn't that he couldn't wake, but rather that Shao Xin had deliberately put him to sleep, so that his body would fully recover by the next day.
One had to admit, now that Shao Xin had reached the Soul Saint realm, his healing techniques were extraordinary.
His soul skills were versatile—support, recovery, and healing all included. His methods were similar to Oscar's first soul skill, but each of Shao Xin's abilities specialized in one effect, making them far more powerful.
Ma Hongjun bombarded Oscar with all kinds of questions, including difficulties he had encountered in cultivation.
Oscar answered patiently. When he learned that Hongjun was continuing to refine his self-created "Flame Phoenix" techniques, Oscar felt gratified.
Originally, Ma Hongjun could only fight by channeling his Phoenix flames. Now, however, he had barely begun fusing soul power and martial soul abilities into them, finally giving birth to genuine self-created soul skills.
Much of this progress was thanks to Flender. Though Flender himself had never created a soul skill, the inspiration from his own abilities had given Hongjun crucial guidance.
In a sense, Flender had indeed been a competent teacher, offering Hongjun considerable help.
It wasn't until late into the night that Hongjun reluctantly left Oscar's room. If not for Oscar's firm insistence, the boy probably wouldn't have left at all.
Afterward, Oscar smiled wryly, then sat cross-legged on his bed to cultivate.
He had already reached rank 37, not far from rank 40. Oscar had already decided on his ideal fourth spirit ring—once he broke through, he could immediately set out to obtain it.
The next morning, as usual, Oscar woke early. Just as he stepped out of his room, by coincidence, both Ma Hongjun and Dugu Yan came out of their rooms at the same time.
Oscar gave them both a strange look, then turned to Dugu Yan and asked gently:
"How was it? Did you get used to living here on your first night?"
Dugu Yan, refreshed from a night of cultivation, smiled sweetly:
"Ever since I started following you, I've long forgotten the feeling of sleeping. Every night is spent cultivating, so it doesn't matter where I stay."
Hearing this, Oscar smiled helplessly:
"All for your sake, you know. But it's true, these days have been hard on you."
Dugu Yan returned his smile:
"I understand. If I were to fall too far behind you, I wouldn't even have the courage to stay by your side."
Ma Hongjun rubbed his eyes, grumbling:
"Boss, Sister-in-law, can you stop feeding me dog food this early in the morning? How about a spar instead?"
Oscar nodded:
"Alright. Let's take the chance to get you familiar with your sister-in-law's soul skills."
The three of them headed toward the training grounds. On the way, Oscar noticed Dai Mubai still hadn't woken up. He went to check on him and saw the guy still asleep, so he didn't disturb him.
Oscar couldn't help but sigh inwardly. His physical strength was monstrous—already comparable to a Soul Emperor at rank 37. Knocking Dai Mubai out for a full day with a single punch was actually quite normal.
This also reminded him of the original story, where Dai Mubai at rank 37 once sparred against Tang San, who was rank 29. Despite the eight-rank difference and both using only two spirit rings, Dai Mubai still lost.
And now? Just one punch from Oscar had Dai Mubai bedridden for a whole day. If Tang San were to take a punch from him now, would he die on the spot?
What really made Oscar pause was recalling that, when he first transmigrated, he had thought about "sticking with Tang San" to freeload his way to godhood.
But now? The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had already been taken by him in advance. He had also forged deep bonds with Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan.
With the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well gone, Tang San had lost his first—and greatest—cheat from the original story. How much would this change his future growth?
Oscar wasn't too worried about Tang San's fate, but he feared that his own "advantage of foresight" might vanish if the story diverged too far from the original.
Still, even if things changed, he had no reason to be anxious. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was in his possession now. He had already given Dugu Bo the ancient texts on immortal herbs and alchemy, ensuring no one else would ever get their hands on them.
As long as he held the Well, whether building his own faction or joining another's, this would remain his greatest trump card—the foundation of his future achievements.
While thinking this through, his mind drifted to Xiao Wu. Not because he had feelings for the rabbit girl, but because she was essentially a walking hundred-thousand-year spirit ring and spirit bone.
Oscar had no strong opinion of Xiao Wu—neither dislike nor affection. But if circumstances required it, he wouldn't mind seizing this treasure.
By now, he had enough strength and capital to consider it. Still, there were too many complications.
The biggest obstacle was naturally Tang San's father—the youngest Titled Douluo in history, Haotian Douluo Tang Hao.
From the original story, Tang Hao had always known Xiao Wu's identity. At first, he probably viewed her as Tang San's "future spirit ring."
But later, once Tang San and Xiao Wu fell in love—and given that Tang Hao's own wife had been a transformed soul beast—he had ultimately refrained from harming Xiao Wu, even accepting their relationship.
Currently, Tang San and Xiao Wu are still studying at Nuoding Academy. Tang Hao was likely protecting and observing them from the shadows.
Although he was often left in the original story, Oscar couldn't be sure if Tang Hao was watching at this very moment.
One thing Oscar knew for certain: when the Titan Giant Ape incident occurred, and during the start of the Continental Tournament, Tang Hao wasn't present. But at other times? Unclear.
Without a valid reason to travel to Nuoding, Oscar could only bury these thoughts deep inside.
Based on the timeline, he was now 12 years and 6 months old. In a year and a half, Tang San and Xiao Wu would come to Shrek Academy. That would be another chance.
In the original, Tang Hao had even escorted them secretly, beaten up Zhao Wuji, given him instructions, and then left again. Would it be the same this time?
But if Oscar's teacher, Ge Yue—who was approaching rank 88 now—advanced to rank 89 by then, wouldn't he immediately see through Xiao Wu's identity?
For a Titled Douluo, especially above Contra-level, seeing through a soul beast in disguise was simple. In that case, would Tang Hao still allow Xiao Wu to come to Shrek?
No—Tang Hao probably still wouldn't know about Shrek's hidden strength. He wouldn't expect such a small academy to harbor so many powerful masters.
Still, if Ge Yue tried to capture Xiao Wu and Tang Hao intervened, they'd have no chance of taking her spirit ring and bone.
Oscar didn't originally care about Xiao Wu. But Ge Yue's situation was different. He was about to break through to rank 90. Even though Xiao Wu's Soft Bone Rabbit spirit wasn't compatible with Ge Yue's martial soul, the sheer quality of a hundred-thousand-year ring would be enough to make up for the mismatch.
With such a ring, Ge Yue could surpass Chen Xin, even challenging the threshold of rank 99.
But… confronting Tang Hao also meant making an enemy of Tang San. That was not a decision to take lightly.
Oscar shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was useless to overthink. Unless the day truly came, speculation was meaningless.
Dugu Yan noticed his distracted expression.
"What's wrong? Something on your mind?"
Oscar shook his head:
"Just thinking about a few things. Nothing important."
She smiled softly:
"If you ever do have worries, you can tell me. Maybe I can help."
Oscar smiled in return:
"Mm."
Soon, the three of them arrived at the training grounds. Oscar helped Hongjun get familiar with Dugu Yan's soul skills, while also training the two in team coordination.
After all, Hongjun's Phoenix flames somewhat restrained Dugu Yan's poisons. If they weren't careful, poor teamwork could backfire during battle.
They trained for two hours until the sun was high. Then the three headed to the dining hall for breakfast.
By then, Dai Mubai had finally woken up. When he saw Oscar, Hongjun smirked:
"See, Mubai? Didn't I tell you? Our Boss's strength is beyond anything we can imagine."
Dai Mubai blushed. He had wanted to test Oscar's strength yesterday—only to be flattened by a single punch.
The gap in spirit power was eight ranks, and Oscar had one more ring than he did. But Oscar hadn't even used a soul skill. Just one plain punch had knocked him out.
And Oscar was supposed to be an auxiliary-type soul master. The humiliation was real.
Yet, precisely because of this, Dai Mubai now fully acknowledged Oscar's strength.
Against these two monsters, Oscar and Hongjun, he had no choice but to put away his royal pride. Otherwise, he risked being punched into the dirt again.
With a bitter smile, he admitted:
"It was my fault for being arrogant. From now on, I'll never argue with you, Brother Ao. If you tell me to go east, I'll never head west."
Oscar waved his hand casually:
"No need to be so serious. We're classmates, after all. Let's eat."
Taking the lead, he entered the dining hall with Dugu Yan, followed by Hongjun and Dai Mubai.
Just before sitting down, Oscar glanced back at Dai Mubai:
"Since you've recovered, join us for afternoon training."
Dai Mubai nodded:
"No problem. I'll follow your arrangements."
Although he had only known Oscar for less than a day, he had already heard countless "Oscar legends" from Hongjun. After yesterday's instant defeat, he was thoroughly convinced.
Just as he had said—if Brother Ao told him to go east, he'd never go west.
Oscar nodded in satisfaction, then pulled Dugu Yan to a table. He asked Shao Xin to bring four breakfasts.
After quickly finishing, Oscar took Dugu Yan with him to attend the theory class.
Both Hongjun and Dai Mubai were also there. While they worked hard in cultivation, they were clueless in theory. Unlike Oscar, who had essentially mastered everything within two years and even studied extra books on his own, they had no choice but to attend class.
As for Dugu Yan, she had never systematically learned theory, not because her family lacked resources, but because her poisonous constitution had kept her isolated.
Now, with Oscar by her side and her toxins resolved, she could freely interact with classmates. Learning theory together came without pressure—and she was eager to study.
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