Influenced by One's Company, Setting Sail

Oscar cradled the blue-covered sword manual and studied it until deep into the night. After reading through the manual once, his understanding of sword techniques and the Dao of the Sword had deepened considerably, and he also understood the difficulty involved.

Yet this only strengthened Oscar's resolve to cultivate the Dao of the Sword. After all, setting everything else aside, swordsmen were cool!

After putting down the sword manual, Oscar cultivated for another two hours. His energy had already returned to its peak, and at six in the morning, he left the Dormitory looking completely refreshed.

As usual, Oscar trained by himself for half an hour before going with Ma Hongjun to the Cafeteria for breakfast.

Ma Hongjun was now just as diligent as Oscar and did not slack off. After breakfast, Ma Hongjun went to Lu Qibin's theory class, while Oscar headed to Gai Yue's residence in the peach grove to the east.

By the time Oscar arrived at the small courtyard in the peach grove, Gai Yue was already practicing his swordsmanship in the yard. Oscar consciously sat to one side and watched silently, attempting to comprehend the intent within his teacher's sword techniques.

However, sword intent was something that could only be understood, not explained. For the moment, Oscar could not make much sense of it. He merely felt that every move Gai Yue made possessed a natural, seamless quality.

It was as though Gai Yue was not wielding a sword at all, but was himself a sword.

It perfectly confirmed what Gai Yue had told Oscar yesterday: use the body as the sword, and keep the sword hidden within the heart.

Both man and sword. This was the unity of man and sword.

Yet Gai Yue had said that he had only achieved modest success upon this path. To become a true swordsman, he still had far to go.

Gai Yue's current goal was Sword Dao Chen Xin.

Oscar's goal, however, was not so lofty yet. His goal was to first catch up to his teacher, and only then advance further.

After a long while, the sword practice ended.

Oscar poured Gai Yue a cup of tea from the stone table nearby. Gai Yue accepted it and took a sip, then handed the teacup to Oscar. "How did it feel?"

Oscar accepted the teacup and gave an objective assessment. "Not bad. I wonder how long it'll take me to reach that level."

Gai Yue smiled at that. "That will depend on your talent and perseverance."

Gai Yue straightened his robes, then said calmly, "Now, let us begin your first lesson."

Hearing this, Oscar quietly sat cross-legged in the middle of the courtyard and listened to Gai Yue's instruction.

At just nine years old, Oscar began his first true lesson in the Dao of the Sword.

From that day onward, Oscar still spent half an hour exercising after getting up each morning. After breakfast, he practiced swordsmanship, with the Frost Moon Sword Manual becoming the foremost subject of his studies.

Starting at two in the afternoon, Gai Yue personally guided Oscar in sword techniques, and master and disciple engaged in practical sparring.

After five, Oscar studied medicinal theory while using the herbs he had bought to prepare medicine himself.

After dinner at six, Gai Yue had Oscar summarize his gains in the Dao of the Sword from that day, then raised questions for Oscar to research on his own.

At night, Oscar still focused on cultivation. At the same time, he continued making Sausages with his First Spirit Ability and Second Spirit Ability every day until he had exhausted all his Soul Power.

This not only allowed Oscar to become more familiar with his Spirit Abilities, but also enabled him to acclimate to that level of intensity through the constant depletion of Soul Power, thereby improving his cultivation speed as well.

Once his arduous training began, Oscar maintained a regular daily routine. He would not be satisfied until he had completed a set number of tasks each day. In fact, in pursuit of perfection, Oscar even raised the standards for himself, leaving Gai Yue full of praise.

Gai Yue even praised Oscar to his face, saying that if he had possessed Oscar's perseverance back then, his current accomplishments would certainly have risen to another level.

In Gai Yue's eyes, taking Oscar as his disciple might have been the most correct decision he had made in his entire life.

Because he discovered that simply watching Oscar cultivate had affected him as well. He realized that the effort he had once considered sufficient still fell far short. Thus, without even noticing it, Gai Yue himself had become more hardworking and diligent than ever before.

In truth, it was not just Gai Yue. Flender, Zhao Wuji, and the others had long felt the same way. After all, in the mere three years since Oscar enrolled, Flender's Soul Power was already close to breaking through to Level 77, while Zhao Wuji was similarly nearing Level 75.

According to the original work, Tang San and the others would enter Shrek Academy when Oscar was Fourteen Years Old, which meant there were still five years left. Yet five years later in the original work, Flender had only been Level 78, while Zhao Wuji had merely reached Level 76.

But now, they were already close to those levels. Perhaps because of the tiny ripple caused by Oscar's diligence and hard work, the entire Shrek Academy would undergo enormous changes.

Perhaps this was what they meant by becoming red near vermilion and black near ink.

Just as Oscar began focusing on the Dao of the Sword, Flender, who had found nothing in his search for Whale Rubber, finally made a decision: he would take Shrek Academy's teachers out to sea.

Flender and the others had already seen the special uses of Whale Rubber through Oscar, and they were naturally extremely excited. After all, Oscar had said that even with their current strength, Whale Rubber would greatly benefit them so long as its grade was high enough.

Besides, the old men had not properly stretched their legs in quite some time. This was the perfect chance to go out and gain some experience.

Even Oscar had not expected Flender to make this decision. His little butterfly had merely flapped its wings once, yet it had brought about such enormous changes in Shrek Academy.

After all, nothing like this had happened in the original work.

Still, Oscar supported it. Only this way could he obtain sufficient resources to cultivate during this period and ensure substantial progress in his strength.

Moreover, only by laying a solid foundation could he possess limitless possibilities in the future.

And most importantly, Oscar knew that no one would be coming to enroll at Shrek Academy right now. Although it was not enrollment season, the people he meant were none other than the Shrek Seven Devils from the original work.

Aside from Oscar himself and Ma Hongjun, the earliest of the original Shrek Seven Devils to arrive was Dai Mubai, and he would not come for another two years. Therefore, even if they went out for several months, it would not matter.

Before leaving, however, Oscar still spoke with Flender. The itinerary did not need to be kept secret, but their purpose absolutely had to be concealed. No one knew how Whale Rubber was used yet, and if it were exposed, they would not only attract attention, but the item might later be monopolized by powerful factions, making it impossible for them to obtain.

As a top-grade profiteer, Flender already understood this even without Oscar saying it. Ever since learning of Whale Rubber's special properties, he had secretly investigated it from every angle.

He then discovered that it currently had only one use: as an aphrodisiac. Its other uses had not been developed at all.

That was precisely why Flender intended to gather as much as possible while no one knew its true uses and the resources were still plentiful, so that he could use it to strengthen himself.

However, although he was a Soul Saint, he had too few connections and was only familiar with Suotuo City. Worse still, he was on bad terms with the City Lord of Suotuo City, so he had no way of obtaining more information about Whale Rubber.

Moreover, Flender was no fool. Naturally, he could not make a grand spectacle of buying Whale Rubber. There was nothing wrong with him in that regard, and if a Soul Saint began purchasing it in large quantities, it would definitely draw the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Thus, Flender had always searched in secret. He had even fabricated a false identity that supposedly had problems in that regard, which was why he had gained nothing for so long.

So Flender decided to lead everyone from Shrek out to hunt for it themselves. With Shrek's current strength, they even had a chance to try their hand at Ten Thousand Year Level Whale Jelly.

After all, they now had Gai Yue, an eighty-second-level Soul Douluo, along with Flender and Zhao Wuji, two Soul Saints, and Shao Xin, Lu Qibin, and Li Yusong, three Soul Emperors. This lineup was unquestionably luxurious.

Moreover, Shao Xin was a Food System Soul Emperor whose cultivation was already nearing the Soul Saint rank. He could greatly enhance both their combat strength and endurance.

So, one month after Oscar's birthday, everyone from Shrek set out. Rather than making a grand spectacle of it, they disguised themselves as ordinary people, left the village, and headed for a coastal city.

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