Shao Xin watched Oscar skillfully charm the young girl and simply smiled without saying a word. When he heard Oscar invite Dugu Yan to try some barbecue, he quietly started slicing the meat on the side.
Leading Dugu Yan over to the campfire, Oscar handed her a portion of the freshly sliced meat from Shao Xin.
"Try it. Teacher Shao's cooking is top-notch. I guarantee it'll leave you wanting more."
"Thank you," Dugu Yan replied, taking the meat. The enticing aroma instantly made her mouth water.
They had already spent quite some time in the Sunset Forest, constantly hunting and tracking soul beasts. By now, Dugu Yan was indeed feeling a bit hungry.
She began nibbling at the meat delicately, and the moment it entered her mouth, she was completely convinced Oscar wasn't exaggerating at all.
Delighted by the taste, Dugu Yan couldn't help but compliment Shao Xin:
"Teacher's cooking is amazing. This is better than anything those so-called master chefs can make."
Hearing the praise, a pleased smile lit up Shao Xin's chubby face.
"Girl, if you like it, eat more. We've got plenty here."
As he spoke, Shao Xin handed over another cut this time from the breast portion. Dugu Yan accepted it with another soft thank you.
In fact, most soul masters regardless of gender tend to have large appetites, as their energy expenditure far exceeds that of ordinary people. However, since this was soul beast meat, rich in concentrated energy, only a small amount was needed to replenish their strength.
But Shao Xin's cooking was simply too good. Dugu Yan couldn't stop herself from eating multiple portions until her belly was visibly full.
While she was enjoying the food, Oscar casually sat about a meter away from her and struck up a conversation.
Faced with Oscar's friendly approach especially from someone this handsome Dugu Yan was more than happy to respond.
After all, he was the first person to fully accept her, toxins and all. And did she mention he was ridiculously good-looking?
"You could tell I was poisoned just from a few clues. Were you born into a family of herbalists or apothecaries?" Dugu Yan asked, clearly curious.
Oscar shook his head. "No. I just enjoy learning. Since I'm a food-type soul master, I've studied pharmacology on my own since I was six."
"You're self-taught? But judging by your age, you should be around my age, right? Fifteen or sixteen? How much time could you have had to study? But to be able to identify my condition at a glance, you must already be quite accomplished in pharmacology," she said, puzzled.
Oscar explained with a chuckle,
"Yeah, I suppose I was lucky. At first, I just read whatever books I could find. I wouldn't have gotten very far like that. But when I was eight, I happened to find a very old medical manuscript at an auction. It turned out to be written by a true master of pharmacology. It included his life's work. I learned most of what I know from that."
Hearing that, Dugu Yan finally understood how Oscar had such deep knowledge at such a young age.
Oscar wasn't lying. At age eight, he went with Flender to an auction in Soto City to see if they could pick up any hidden treasures. Among the auction items was an ancient manuscript. Pharmacology wasn't highly valued on the Douluo Continent only characters like Chrysanthemum Douluo (Yue Guan) and Yang Wudi's Breaking Clan practiced it seriously so Oscar was able to obtain it easily.
That manuscript contained countless formulas for medicine baths, pills, and rare herbs some even categorized as "immortal-grade."
With the conversation flowing, Oscar and Dugu Yan naturally hit it off. Oscar noticed that this version of Dugu Yan lacked the arrogance of her future self in the original story; she was a bit shy, but clearly still had self-confidence.
As they grew more comfortable chatting, Oscar learned that Dugu Yan was fifteen and had just reached level 30. She was in the Sunset Forest to obtain her third soul ring. Once she did, she'd be enrolling at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Her grandfather had insisted she attend, saying she couldn't go through life alone and needed to make more friends.
This information made Oscar instantly realize something:
In the original timeline, Dugu Yan only appears a few months after Tang San and the others join Shrek Academy three years from now. By then, she's already eighteen with a soul power level of around 38.
But now? Oscar had met her three years earlier before she even joined the academy. This was potentially a gift from fate.
Up until now, Dugu Yan had almost no contact with people outside of her grandfather, Dugu Bo. She had once attended a beginner-level soul master academy as a child, but due to her toxic martial soul, she was rejected by the other children. Friendless and shunned, she dropped out.
For the next decade, she grew up in near-isolation. Even when she did interact with others, it was mostly people trying to curry favor with her because of her grandfather's Titled Douluo status. Eventually, she stopped attending school altogether.
Now that she was fifteen, Dugu Bo understood he couldn't protect her forever and hoped the royal academy would help her build social connections and become more independent.
But now that Oscar knew all this and that she hadn't enrolled yet, he naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass. Especially when she was still innocent and easy to win over.
And it wasn't just manipulation Oscar genuinely felt sorry for her. He treated her as a normal person, not some dangerous outcast.
So why not become that one true friend she could trust? For Dugu Yan, it was the start of something beautiful. For Oscar, it was also a strategic opportunity to one day gain access to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well a win-win.
Toward the end of the conversation, Oscar directly invited Dugu Yan to visit his academy.
She was surprised and a little flustered by the invitation. But Oscar sweet-talked her further:
"Our academy only admits 'monsters' people who break all the rules. Right now, it's just the three of us. If we had a beautiful girl like you join us, you'd instantly become the team's favorite."
His words made Dugu Yan blush, but she could feel Oscar's sincerity, which moved her.
And when he said their academy only recruited geniuses, she began to wonder if maybe that was the right place for her.
Oscar was a support-type soul master with the strength of an assault-type. That was already monstrous. She herself was born with a poisonous martial soul any normal soul master would suffer just from touching her.
A monster for a monster academy. It just made sense.
And when she found out that Oscar was only eleven years old, her shock reached a whole new level. She was more stunned by his age than by the fact he was a food-type soul master.
Not because he seemed older than eleven, but because he was already a Soul Elder (level 30+) at such a young age.
When she was eleven, she had barely reached the low twenties in terms of soul power. But Oscar? Already Soul Elder.
Follow me on my patreon for 30 Advanced chapters and 3 chapter daily updates pat*eon.com/GodofTranslation889