The Dao Follows Nature

"Junior brother, you still don't understand. Sword cultivators are common, but fine swords are not."

Oscar leaned against a stone pillar beside the gate of Suotuo City, one finger pointing to the sky and the other to the ground.

"Look at this world. How many geniuses like you are there?"

"It seems... quite a lot?"

Oscar's mouth twitched. In the current situation, he couldn't afford those exceptionally expensive swords, and those were all collected by nobles. To continue practicing his swordsmanship, the only way was to buy and replace them frequently.

"Correct. That you can think of this proves that you have improved once again during this period. There are many geniuses in the world, and as such, fine swords are naturally not common.

Do you know what your mental cultivation method needs to train more right now?"

Ma Hongjun shook his head, looking somewhat bewildered.

"Listening to breath, severing thoughts, and doing good. Humans have desires. Once held hostage by desire, one becomes busy and bustling, unable to see the scenery in life, and loses oneself.

What we must do is sever desires and perform good deeds, spreading more warmth into the world.

This is the satisfaction of realizing one's self-worth; this kind of joy is far stronger than those vulgar desires."

Having said this, Oscar reached out his hand toward Ma Hongjun.

"So, junior brother, can you use your Soul Coins to sponsor your impoverished senior brother?"

Ma Hongjun listened, feeling completely confused, but at this moment, he felt that if he didn't sponsor his senior brother, it wouldn't seem right in any way, so he took out all the Soul Coins in his pockets.

"By the way, senior brother, do we still need to go and sponsor those beggars?"

Ma Hongjun scratched his head, asking Oscar with some confusion.

"It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. The Soul Coins previously given to them were enough for them to start some small businesses in Suotuo City. I have also taught them some skills, so there is no need to go anymore."

Oscar put away the Soul Coins and led Ma Hongjun toward a blacksmith shop not far away.

Helping these beggars was naturally not just for self-satisfaction; his deeper purpose was to cultivate these beggars into well-informed merchants.

It was to build a spiderweb-like information channel within Suotuo City!

To ensure this information network operated stably within Suotuo City, they naturally had to eliminate the unstable factors within the city.

This was the fundamental reason why Flender truly agreed to let Oscar take all the teachers and students out to hunt Evil Soul Masters!

Over the past two years, although many powerful organizations were entrenched in Suotuo City, Shrek Academy, which had taken an unconventional path to develop the civilian class, already possessed an intelligence organization stronger than anyone else—Sky Net.

Of course, the existence of Sky Net was currently known only to those few teachers at Shrek, as well as Oscar and Ma Hongjun.

"Old Qing, the usual, one Refined Iron Sword."

Oscar led Ma Hongjun to a stop in front of a blacksmith shop, where a sturdy man was forging iron.

He tossed the money bag onto the counter and was about to walk into the courtyard.

"No need for money. If you do this again, I won't forge swords for you anymore."

Seeing Oscar arrive, Old Qing's honest face was full of smiles. He wiped his hands carefully on his pants before grabbing the money bag and shoving it back into Oscar's hand.

He was a beggar whom Oscar had once sponsored, and through two years of hard work, he had finally saved up enough to own this blacksmith shop.

"Helping you is a matter of morality; paying is the rule. Besides, you don't owe me anything."

Oscar looked at Old Qing with deep meaning, pushed the money back, and then said to Ma Hongjun.

"Junior brother, you can go wander around the city or return to Shrek. I'll head back tonight."

Seeing that Oscar was about to enter the Sky Net headquarters, Ma Hongjun immediately lost interest.

He watched as Oscar passed through a small door and walked into the backyard, then turned around and returned to Shrek.

At this moment, the courtyard was already full of people. These were the core members Shrek Academy had unearthed from among the beggars.

Seeing Oscar enter, everyone stood up and cupped their hands.

"Greetings, Vice Commander!"

Oscar waved his robe and sat in the main seat.

After everyone was seated, Oscar cast his gaze toward the young woman sitting on the left.

Her name was Li Wenhua, and she was originally born into a noble family.

Unfortunately, her family was involved in a turmoil. After the incident, the family's Soul Masters were beheaded, the young and strong men were thrown into mines to dig, and the women were sent to brothels.

Three years ago, she luckily escaped that living hell and came to Suotuo City to beg for a living. After being saved by Oscar, she had been working hard for the planning of Sky Net.

With the backing of Sky Net, Li Wenhua relied on the worldly wisdom she had cultivated over the years to spread a terrifying network of relationships across the Star Luo Empire.

Even in the capital of the Star Luo Empire, there were quite a few of their people!

"The struggle for the crown in the Star Luo Empire has already begun. The eleven-year-old Third Prince is fleeing toward the Heaven Dou Empire.

When the message arrived, he had already left the city. According to the timeline, he has now entered the Star Dou Great Forest."

Oscar leaned back slightly. The people they had planted in various cities were merchants. Although these people were well-informed, their strength was very weak, which caused the speed of information transmission to be very slow.

As early as two years ago, when Oscar emerged from his Inner Scene, he knew roughly how many people stood on the side of Shrek Academy. One who left the deepest impression on him was Tang San, and the other was the Third Prince of the Star Luo Empire—Dai Mubai.

Now... he had finally come out.

"Tell them all to keep their identities hidden and go about their business as usual. Continue expanding the intelligence network; within two years, I want our agents in every city of the Star Luo Empire."

After Oscar gave his instructions to Li Wenhua, he turned to look at the middle-aged man sitting to his right.

This man, named Li Jianqiu, was a powerful Spirit Douluo who had once held a grudge against the Heaven Dou Empire royal family. Oscar hadn't inquired about the specific reasons, knowing only from his foster father Flender that this man had endured a tragic past.

"Most of the Evil Soul Masters in Suotuo City have been brought to justice, and the few who escaped haven't returned. The ones passing through occasionally are just small fry, nothing compared to the previous lot, and the leader has already gone to deal with them."

Oscar frowned slightly, waiting until he finished speaking before asking.

"Uncle Li, there must be more to it than that, right?"

Li Jianqiu nodded slightly, speaking with some hesitation.

"I have some suspicions, but they aren't confirmed yet. Based on our past investigations, the Evil Soul Masters in Suotuo City always operated independently with no contact between them. However, last month, I discovered some clues that felt wrong. I suspect a powerful Evil Soul Master has established an organization, is plotting something, and has set their sights on us."

Oscar tapped his fingers lightly on the back of his chair and spoke slowly.

"Uncle Li, our current strength is still too weak; it's not the time to go head-to-head with these Evil Soul Masters. Once the Evil Soul Masters around Suotuo City are cleared out, hurry and establish our underground base. As for this potentially tough nut to crack, let's leave that to those folks at the Martial Soul Hall."

"Next, let's talk business."