Silves Province, Nuoding City, Spiritjade Escort Agency.
Every escort disciple wore identical azure-blue uniforms, with a jade token pinned to their chest. Carved upon the token was a lifelike image of a jade sword, the emblem of their agency.
Not long after Tang San and Xiao Wu arrived at the Soto City Spiritjade Restaurant, a disguised squad quietly departed from Nuoding's Spiritjade Escort Agency, heading toward Holy Spirit Village.
This was, of course, Oscar's doing.
The entire construct of the Spiritjade Sword Sect, the Jade Scaled Clan, the Spiritjade Sword Lord—all of it had been fabricated by Oscar over the past year, through his Clone Sausage and Copy Sausage techniques.
He had carefully plotted for a long time, made countless preparations, and now his grand fabrication was beginning to resemble a genuine great power.
At this moment, Oscar's true body was cultivating back in Shrek Academy. The masked youth managing the Soto restaurant was one of his clones. The squad is moving from Nuoding toward Holy Spirit Village? More clones.
Oscar himself had lost track of how many clones existed. His spiritual power only allowed him to maintain true mental linkage with ten at most.
The rest operated autonomously, guided by subconscious commands implanted at creation—like hypnotic suggestions. They would pursue preset goals without needing constant direction, while Oscar only occasionally checked their status.
But there were exceptions.
The seven-member Spirit Master squad dispatched from Nuoding toward Holy Spirit Village was directly and fully controlled by Oscar himself. For this mission, no risks could be tolerated.
Oscar dared to launch this operation only because he had already built an information network across Nuoding.
The escort agencies and restaurants, while indeed a source of steady wealth, served a greater purpose: information gathering.
In this world without networks, information was the true weapon, the key to predicting enemies and orchestrating victory.
If one's strength was overwhelming, then such schemes were unnecessary. But Oscar did not yet possess that kind of strength—thus, he relied on guile.
The fabricated Spiritjade Sword Sect and Jade Scaled Clan were paths Oscar had paved for himself. A full truth might not be believed, and a blatant lie too easily exposed—but when seven parts true and three parts false were interwoven, no one could pierce the veil.
The Escort Agency and Restaurants thrived because Oscar managed public perception masterfully—and because Dugu Bo, a genuine Titled Douluo, stood behind them. In the mixture of truth and falsehood, no one could see the whole picture.
After all, true powerhouses didn't concern themselves with worldly affairs. The Spirit Hall's Worship Hall, for instance, housed many Super Douluo above rank 95, all long retired from public sight.
And even if Dugu Bo couldn't defeat a Super Douluo, neither could they easily corner him. Especially since, thanks to Oscar's tricks, finding Dugu Bo's real body was next to impossible.
After all, men who followed Oscar's lead learned his slyness well.
Dugu Bo himself had also consumed Oscar's Clone Sausage, creating several avatars. When Prince Xue Xing invited him to the imperial palace for flower viewing, it had actually been a clone that attended. The supposed Jade Scaled Clan that helped Spiritjade Sword Sect eliminate rivals? Those were also his clones.
The alias Dugu Ao had simply been created by combining Dugu Bo's surname with Oscar's.
Many of Oscar's visible clones had been given names following the same pattern—Fran Ao, Orlande, Ao Wuji, Ao Qibin, Gai Ao, Ao Yue, Ao Mubai, Ao Zhuqing, Ao Hongjun… each derived from the blood used to forge them.
Oscar himself was now at the Spirit Ancestor (rank 40+) level, still five spirit rings behind Dugu Bo. Thus, Dugu Bo's clones possessed only 50% of his original strength.
But 50% of a Titled Douluo's power was still enough to crush nearly all opponents below that rank.
And much had changed over the past three years.
After consuming the Earth Dragon Golden Melon Pill, Dugu Bo's spirit had advanced dramatically. His Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor evolved into the Jade Scaled Dragon Emperor.
His serpent spirit had reached the apex—ancestor of all serpents. One step further, and it became a dragon.
Following this evolution, Dugu Bo began attempting to condense a Spirit Core. After Oscar returned to Shrek Academy, he immediately dispatched a clone to assist Dugu Bo in the research.
Alongside them was Gai Yue, who at that time had reached rank 88. It was also time for him to begin forging a Spirit Core.
If Gai Yue succeeded at rank 90, his future potential could even reach rank 99.
Now, after a long effort, Dugu Bo had finally succeeded.
He condensed the first Spirit Core in the history of the Douluo Continent—a Poison Spirit Core, centered in his dantian, formed from his own Jade Scaled Serpent Emperor Poison Pill.
With this, his spirit power soared to the peak of rank 93, only a step away from breaking into rank 94.
With the Spirit Core, his combat strength transformed. Even without poison, his raw power was now enough to contend with a rank 95 Super Douluo.
And if he wielded poison in tandem with his Poison Spirit Core, even a rank 95 Super Douluo had to exercise extreme caution—or risk dying disgracefully.
Even his clones, strengthened by the Spirit Core's resonance, though still only at 50% power, could battle ordinary Titled Douluo—far beyond their old limits.
Meanwhile, Gai Yue had advanced to rank 89 after a year at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and under Dugu Bo's guidance, his first Spirit Core was beginning to take form.
His chosen attribute was Ice, aligned with his martial spirit's natural affinity. This gave him much higher chances of success.
They called it the first Spirit Core because Oscar's plan was for both Dugu Bo and Gai Yue to eventually condense two Spirit Cores in resonance.
Thanks to the immortal herbs they had consumed, their talent had been reshaped; their potential was immense.
Though Dugu Bo's foundation was weaker than Gai Yue's, his first Spirit Core required little effort—merely harnessing his Poison Pill. A second Spirit Core, placed in the chest to resonate with the first, was still within reach.
If both Dugu Bo and Gai Yue succeeded in forging twin Spirit Cores, they would stand at the very peak of the continent's powerhouses. At that point, Oscar would have two genuine pillars of support.
Of course, Oscar never forgot: in this era of the Douluo Continent, unless one attained godhood, everything was fleeting.
And he bore this truth firmly in mind.