Exchange

Hearing Gai Yue's introduction, Shao Xin also bowed to Dugu Bo. "This junior is Shao Xin. Greetings, Your Excellency."

Dugu Bo waved a hand. "No need for that. Yan Yan received your care before; I should be thanking you."

As he spoke, Dugu Bo glanced at the campfire burning beside them. "I heard from Yan Yan that your grilled meat is quite good. Since I'll be traveling with you this time, I wonder if I might have the chance to taste it."

Under normal circumstances, Dugu Bo would never have been so polite and amiable. But because Dugu Yan was with him, and because she wanted to be friends with Oscar, Dugu Bo naturally had to maintain a more approachable image.

Though his reputation in the Spirit Master World had not been particularly good over the years, as long as he acted kindly now, he should be able to leave everyone with a decent impression.

He might not care, but Dugu Yan did.

"It would be this junior's honor," Shao Xin replied.

"Hahaha, I won't disturb you any longer. Absorb the spirit ring first. This old man will stand guard for you," Dugu Bo said with a laugh.

"Then I'll trouble Your Excellency. I'll grill meat for you later," Shao Xin replied without false modesty. He directly pulled a dagger from his Soul Tool and dispatched the Spirit Tree Cave.

Watching the Black Spirit Ring slowly form above the Spirit Tree Cave, Shao Xin sat cross-legged and began regulating his breathing.

Meanwhile, Dugu Yan pulled Dugu Bo aside to whisper to him. Gai Yue was a man of few words; seeing Dugu Bo off to coax his granddaughter, he simply leaped onto a giant tree and kept watch over their surroundings.

Although Dugu Bo had said he would guard Shao Xin, Gai Yue understood one principle: relying on others was inferior to relying on oneself.

Seeing Dugu Yan pull Dugu Bo aside to whisper, Oscar found it inconvenient to interrupt, so he went to gather some dry branches and added them to the fire.

Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan whispered for around ten minutes before Dugu Yan waved at Oscar. "Oscar, come over for a moment. Grandpa has a few questions he wants to ask you."

Hearing her call, Oscar walked over directly. Seeing how restrained he looked, Dugu Bo pointed at a stone in front of him. "Sit down and talk. We're just chatting, so there's no need to be nervous."

Oscar nodded at that. After sitting down, he replied, "If you have questions, Senior, this junior will answer all that he knows."

Dugu Bo smiled. "You're quite straightforward. Yan Yan has a good impression of you, and since you Two People happened to meet this time, you can be considered friends. Yan Yan doesn't have many friends, so don't you dare bully our Yan Yan, boy."

Oscar could not help rolling his eyes inwardly. With you, a complete doting-granddaughter fanatic, who would dare bully her?

Naturally, Oscar did not dare say that aloud. He merely smiled faintly. "You overestimate me, Senior. Though Dugu Yan and I do feel as though we hit it off at first sight, I could never do something like bullying a girl."

Dugu Bo smiled in satisfaction before getting to the point. "Yan Yan told me you're only eleven this year?"

Oscar nodded, and Dugu Bo continued, "You're a Food System Soul Master, yet you broke through Rank 30 at eleven. Even Innate Full Soul Power shouldn't allow such progress, should it? Your talent is truly exceptionally rare, boy."

Faced with the praise, Oscar only maintained his smile. "This junior has merely worked a little harder. Besides, I usually like to study medicinal principles. By chance, I obtained a fairly good herb and made some pills that could increase cultivation speed. That was how I achieved my current progress."

Naturally, Oscar had made that up. Though he had indeed prepared some Medicinal Baths, claiming he had concocted pills or refined elixirs that could increase cultivation speed was entirely to conceal the existence of Whale Rubber.

After all, they had only just met. Though he had determined that Dugu Bo bore no ill intent, Oscar naturally could not reveal such a thing now.

Nor was Oscar worried that Shao Xin or Gai Yue would expose it, since they understood this point even better than he did.

Of course, if Oscar could enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well now and make use of the Immortal Herbs within, producing such things would not be impossible.

Dugu Bo became interested upon hearing this, and this was precisely what he had wanted to ask about.

"Oh? You have such ability?" Dugu Bo asked, somewhat pleasantly surprised.

"It was merely good luck. Without sufficient medicinal ingredients, this junior only had the good fortune to get one opportunity," Oscar explained.

Dugu Bo was still somewhat astonished upon hearing that. Good luck? Then why did no one else have such good luck?

But earlier, while secretly listening, he had clearly heard Oscar say that all his knowledge of medicinal principles came from an Ancient Tome he had happened to obtain at the age of eight. Yet how could an eight-year-old child possibly learn so much from a single Ancient Tome? Dugu Yan had been like a little fool at eight, not even wanting to cultivate. What eight-year-old could be so intelligent?

He even felt that Oscar's knowledge might not be inferior to his own. Yet he had accumulated his knowledge bit by bit over several decades of life.

Thus, Dugu Bo guessed that Oscar might not have been telling the truth. Everyone had a few secrets of their own, after all. Even if Oscar and his granddaughter had hit it off at first sight, they had only known each other for a little over an hour.

They were not close enough to speak about everything without reservation. It was only natural for the other party to conceal some things deliberately.

Still, eleven-year-old Oscar possessed such knowledge. Not only could he identify his granddaughter's problem at a glance, but he could even refine pills himself. That was clearly not something an ordinary Spirit Master could accomplish.

Therefore, Dugu Bo guessed that either Oscar had a faction or family behind him that specialized in such matters, or that Ancient Tome was truly a treasure.

Whichever it was, Dugu Bo wanted to get to the bottom of it. He himself possessed a treasured place, yet even with the learning and knowledge he had accumulated over decades, he recognized less than ten percent of the medicinal herbs within it.

So he wanted to sound Oscar out and understand the full story. That way, he might have a chance to use Oscar to see whether he could identify the things within that treasured place.

After all, despite recognizing less than ten percent of what was there, he had relied on that treasured place to break through to the level of a Titled Douluo. If he could truly understand that place, Dugu Bo did not even need to imagine its value.

With that thought in mind, Dugu Bo continued asking in a casual, conversational manner. "I heard from Yan Yan that your knowledge comes from your extensive reading of all kinds of books on medicinal principles, as well as what you learned from an Ancient Tome?"

"To be honest, this old man is also an expert in medicinal principles and enjoys collecting all kinds of ancient books. So I was thinking that, if the opportunity arises, we could exchange ideas."

Hearing that, if Oscar had not understood why Dugu Bo wanted to chat with him before, he now completely understood Dugu Bo's intentions.

Wasn't this, openly and indirectly, asking to see his so-called Ancient Tome? He did have such a book, but he naturally could not hand it over to Dugu Bo. After all, Oscar had already roughly guessed Dugu Bo's intentions.

Oscar's smile remained unchanged. "You flatter this junior, Senior. How could this little bit of knowledge possibly compare with yours?"

Please save this and vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets!