Oscar

Outside the city, fertile fields stretched everywhere, but inside, the scenery was completely different. Tall buildings, shops, and renovated streets were spotless. Even the roadside greenery had been carefully maintained.

Before they had gone far, they saw a hotel shaped like an enormous rose. This must have been that couples' hotel. It truly bore witness to how well Zhu Zhuqing's "greenery" had grown. Poor girl. A prodigal who returned was worth more than gold, and Dai Mubai was that prodigal. Zhu Zhuqing could only be blamed for having bad luck.

It was a couples' hotel, so naturally it was not within Chen Huang's consideration. They did not get out of the carriage until they passed an ordinary inn.

The carriage driver drove the carriage toward their relay station in Suotuo City. No one knew whose business this was, but it was doing quite well. There were relay stations everywhere.

"Let's book a few rooms at this inn and stay here for a few days first," Chen Huang said.

No one objected.

Very quickly, they booked four rooms with the receptionist.

The four rooms were lined up in a row, all facing the windows and the street. There was not much difference between them.

"Come on, let's walk around and take a look. We'll go have lunch when it's time," Chen Huang said again.

Tang Hao waved his hand. "You go ahead. I'm going back to my room to rest for a while. You can eat by yourselves later. I'll find somewhere to grab a bite."

Xiao Shan found it strange. Her father was so strong—could he really be tired?

Chen Huang seemed to understand something, but he did not expose it. He merely said, "All right, then let's go."

Once outside the inn, Chen Huang secretly activated his Observation Haki. Through it, he saw Tang Hao watching them from the balcony of his room. Once they had gone far enough, Tang Hao lightly jumped down from the balcony and followed the three of them from a distance.

Chen Huang secretly smiled. He found his teacher rather interesting. Wouldn't it have been better to follow them openly?

Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena was a landmark of the city, and it was the group's first stop.

Fasnuo Province had Great Soul Arenas as well, with several across the province. But none of them could compare to the grandeur of the Great Soul Arena before them. It truly deserved to be called the gateway to the Heaven Dou Empire, the empire's strongest vassal state in terms of military power.

All three of them had watched soul fighting matches before, but they had never experienced them personally.

Inside the Great Soul Arena, the main venue was packed with noise. It was not completely full, but about half the seats were occupied. If they wanted to watch the real excitement, they would have to wait until nightfall, when it might be filled to capacity. Entertainment in Douluo World was pitifully scarce. People either made babies or watched soul fights.

They had not watched for long, but they still saw individual soul fights involving Soul Elders and Soul Ancestors. Soul Ancestor matches were truly rare, and the audience below erupted with excitement. There were quite a few Soul Ancestor-level Soul Masters, but they were difficult to see for some reason. You could still catch a few individual soul fights, but there was not even one such team in Suotuo City. Perhaps they had all joined the military.

Soul Masters earned money quickly, but they also spent lavishly, so it never lasted. Joining the military was a good path. Otherwise, by their level, their Soul Master subsidies would have long since been gone.

They did not get up to look for a restaurant until noon, when their stomachs were growling from hunger.

"True Bull Restaurant?" Chen Huang looked at the sign hanging above the restaurant they had found.

"How about we have beef?" Chen Huang suggested. He had always preferred beef. Many kinds of meat had a strong odor, and because cooking techniques were not particularly advanced, the smell was not removed very well. Besides, because he trained in Taijutsu, his body consumed a great deal of energy, and he ate a lot. He could eat quite a bit in one sitting.

What he disliked eating most was fish. Small fish had too many bones, while large fish had tough meat. That was an unavoidable problem. The kind of large fish with tender flesh was priceless, not something just any small restaurant could provide.

The real issue was that it was troublesome. Fish bones slowed down his eating speed.

The three chose an empty table and sat down. Soon, a waiter came over and handed them a menu.

"What would you three like to order?" he asked. His voice was soft and delicate, belonging to a rather effeminate man.

Hearing him, Chen Huang looked up. The waiter wore simple gray clothes and had a thin frame. His short hair was neat, his skin fair and delicate, but his eyes were particularly striking. They were peach blossom eyes. He was exceptionally handsome, no worse than any of Chen Huang's employees.

Chen Huang thought to himself, Peach blossom eyes are rare. He looks young, only in his teens. Could he be Oscar?

"Young man, you're quite handsome. Why are you working as a waiter here?" Chen Huang asked with a smile.

"Well, you know how it is. I'm just trying to earn a living," the young waiter said.

"Earning a living? You don't seem that old. When I was about your age, I was still studying at a Soul Master Academy," Hong Feng said.

"If you become a Soul Master, life will be much easier afterward. Leaving aside everything else, the subsidies for becoming a Soul Master are much higher than many people's wages."

At those words, a trace of gloom appeared on the young waiter's face. He sighed. "I won't hide it from you. I'm already in my teens, but my Martial Soul still hasn't awakened."

"It's not that I don't want to become a Soul Master. It's just that my village is far too remote, deep in the mountains. Ordinary people would have to walk through the mountains for a long time to get there, and without a villager leading the way, they would get lost. That's why no Martial Soul Hall Soul Masters ever came to awaken our Martial Souls."

"I didn't want to be a farmer for the rest of my life. I wanted to see the outside world, so when I was ten, I brought it up to my father. I told him that I wanted to become a Soul Master."

"My father supported me. He gave me quite a bit of money and told me to find a Spirit Hall to awaken my Martial Soul. That way, I could become a Soul Master."

"So I came to Suotuo City and went to Spirit Hall. But they simply refused to awaken my Martial Soul. They said I was too old and shouldn't waste their time. Besides, the little money I had was not enough for them to perform a separate Martial Soul awakening for me."

"But since I was already out here, I didn't want to go back. So I worked in Suotuo City to earn money, all the way until now. How many people are there like me? There probably aren't many fourteen-year-olds whose Martial Souls still haven't awakened."

After listening, Xiao Shan asked, "But don't the books say Spirit Hall was founded so people could awaken their Martial Souls? Aren't they dedicated to awakening Martial Souls for commoners free of charge? Our village is poor too, but every year someone comes to awaken the children's Martial Souls."

He shook his head and sighed. "It would be nice if it were really that good. Spirit Hall... many of them say one thing and do another. A lot of Spirit Hall Soul Masters are arrogant and conceited, looking down on everyone else."

Chen Huang smiled. "It's probably just as he said. Ah, by the way, what's your name, young man? Are you interested in changing jobs?"

The young man gave a bitter smile. "My name is Oscar, but let's forget about changing jobs. I'm doing pretty well here already."

P.S.: Please add this to your collection! Please vote! 1/3.

(ω)

Thanks to Qing Shen Ke Shi for the 500 Qidian Coin reward! Boss is generous!

Oscar was one of the top geniuses in Douluo Dalu.

The only Food System Innate Full Soul Power user. And his Martial Soul was even meat-based.

There were only a handful of people more talented than him: Qian Renxue, Tang San, and Bibi Dong. Personally, I think that as a support-type Innate Full Soul Power user, his talent was even higher than Feng Xiaotian's.

He was also someone whom the God of Food sought out directly after he became a Titled Douluo. Who else received that kind of treatment? Didn't everyone else have to painstakingly search for God Trial inheritances one by one? Perhaps Tang San even helped make the connections in the Divine Realm.

I changed the Golden Iron Triangle's storyline, so many things changed along with it.

But I did not want to waste Oscar's talent, so I arranged things this way. Although he started late, he would slowly catch up in the future.

Among the Seven Monsters, he and Ma Hongjun were the only two commoners. The others all had extraordinary backgrounds. I've also been thinking about whether to change Ma Hongjun's situation. Although I don't like him, I still feel that his final ending was unfair. Third Young Master couldn't keep things even.

Why could Sea King Dai Mubai turn back from his prodigal ways and be worth more than gold, while Ma Hongjun could not? Both were Second-level Gods. Dai Mubai could revive Huo Yuhao's mother, Huo Yun'er, and bring her to the Divine Realm, while Ma Hongjun had to watch Bai Chenxiang grow old and die.

What else could that be if not unequal treatment?

By the later stages, Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul quality was the highest among the Seven Monsters. Logically, his cultivation speed should have been the fastest, yet it felt as though he could not even compare to Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing. Zhu Zhuqing's talent was not high. Even after consuming immortal herbs, she was no better than the others. After all, everyone had eaten them.

It was casually brushed aside with a single line saying Ma Hongjun did not work hard. His little brother had ascended—would he really not work hard?