"Please, please have mercy."
Tears welled in the old man's eyes, his dry lips cracked.
Yuan Xunlu wasn't afraid of being swindled by the old man. He helped the old man up and handed him a bottle of water from his soul tool.
"Let me make this clear, I won't give you any money."
Although Yuan Xunlu wouldn't let the old man kneel like that forever, he wasn't exactly a saint either.
Trying to cheat
him? Forget it!
"Please, please take this child to the Soul Beast Forest to hunt for a soul ring." The old man said tremulously, "He...he has a very good talent."
"A good talent? What kind of martial soul? What level of innate soul power?"
Yuan Xunlu asked.
These common old people, seeing their child possess soul power, naturally think their child has great talent.
It's like an old farmer who toils in the fields, seeing his grandson get into university, and thinking his grandson is a reincarnation of the God of Literature.
Even if the grandson attends a second-tier university,
even if a university degree has lost its value,
in his eyes,
he's still a reincarnation of the God of Literature.
The boy was young but mature. Seeing Yuan Xunlu's disbelief, he whispered,
"My name is Oscar, my martial soul is sausage, and I have innate full soul power at level ten."
"..." Yuan Xunlu thought.
So this is one of the future Shrek Seven Devils. Should he kill him? That way, Tang San wouldn't be able to revive.
"..." Yuan Ling'er thought.
So this is one of the future Shrek Seven Devils. Should he kill him? That way, Tang San wouldn't have a powerful assistant.
For a moment, the father and daughter thought the same thing.
However,
Yuan Xunlu wasn't that ruthless.
Seeing Oscar, who was no more than eight years old, Yuan Xunlu still felt he could be nurtured.
In the original story, Oscar was one of the few decent characters.
First,
despite spending several years with Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, he hadn't slept with any prostitutes; he was just a flirt, but still relatively innocent.
Second,
he ventured out to be with Ning Rongrong, which was truly admirable.
Yuan Xunlu felt these two points were enough; he was worth nurturing.
If nurtured well, a future Food-type Title Douluo could stand by their side.
But what if Oscar is truly an ingrate at heart?
Anyway, even if Oscar becomes a Title Douluo, he's still just a Food-type Title Douluo,
easily killed.
Yuan Xunlu nodded: "Okay. I'll take you in."
"Dad!" Yuan Ling'er was unwilling a thousand times over.
"It's alright, we have to give the young man a chance." Yuan Xunlu patted the old man's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll take Xiao Ao to hunt souls."
Yuan Xunlu patted the head of the reluctant Yuan Ling'er. "Let's go."
The four of them entered the Soul Beast Forest together.
There were Imperial guards at the entrance. Yuan Xunlu casually showed them a Spirit Hall warrant, and then the four of them went inside.
"Thank you, Uncle. Can I consider joining your faction?"
Oscar suddenly said to Yuan Xunlu halfway through the journey.
"Think about it? You can get lost now. You want the benefits but don't want to pay the price, so why did you come in here?" Yuan Ling'er immediately started cursing; she had long disliked Oscar.
Yuan Xunlu was both amused and exasperated: "You should have said that after you got the spirit ring."
Oscar, however, remained calm and said unhurriedly, "Although I have strong cultivation talent, I'm too lazy to cultivate. I feel that cultivating is meaningless."
"Even titled Douluo aren't attractive? According to you, you might as well just die. Anyway, in a hundred years, we'll all just be a handful of dust." Yuan Ling'er continued to mock.
"What I mean is, my cultivation attitude isn't worth your time. You'll be wasting your time training me. If possible, I can pay you to help me hunt for this spirit ring."
Yuan Ling'er understood: "The subtext is that we should keep things separate. Not wanting to join our faction is just like you hiring my dad to hunt for your spirit ring."
Oscar nodded: "Right. After I get my first spirit ring and become a spirit master, I can receive the Spirit Hall's subsidy, and then I'll pay you back."
"Trying to get something for nothing," Yuan Ling'er sneered.
Even the usually inconspicuous A-Jie suddenly chimed in: "You can't afford to pay me back."
"I can afford to pay you back," Oscar said, unconvinced.
After walking for a while, Yuan Xunlu suddenly asked: "Can you tell me why you only got your first spirit ring at eight years old?"
Yuan Xunlu already knew Oscar's bone age.
Oscar didn't try to hide anything, saying, "At first, the Spirit Hall discovered my innate full spirit power and wanted me to join them, but I refused.
Later, when I came to the city to study, the school wanted me to join a local family, but I refused again.
So, no one was willing to let me hunt for a spirit.
Originally, I just wanted to absorb a ten-year spirit ring,
but my grandfather absolutely refused to let me.
He said my talent shouldn't be wasted."
Yuan Ling'er was about to mock him again, but Oscar continued,
"I know that others are nice to me because they covet my talent,
but my
grandfather isn't. He just genuinely cares about me.
So I don't want to be someone else's lackey;
I just want to live quietly with my grandfather."
Yuan Ling'er was unusually silent.
Before her rebirth, her father hadn't coveted her talent, nor had he used her as a pawn against Tang San;
he simply hoped she would grow up safely.
"Then don't you have any aspirations for your future?"
Yuan Xunlu asked.
Oscar's idea was simple: he scratched his head and said, "I'll just go back to the village, collect the Spirit Hall's subsidies peacefully, and stay with Grandpa."
"But everyone gets old eventually," Yuan Xunlu said. "I hope your grandpa can live a good life too."
"But I'm already receiving the Spirit Hall's subsidies!" Oscar scratched the back of his head.
Yuan Xunlu greatly admired Oscar's idea of just coasting along after becoming a government employee, but he couldn't say it outright.
"The Spirit Hall's subsidies aren't enough. One gold spirit coin is just enough for our monthly expenses," Yuan Xunlu pointed to the road ahead. "If you come with me, I guarantee your grandpa can enjoy a long and comfortable life."
Oscar was speechless.
"Hahaha. Forget it, I won't force you."
Yuan Xunlu didn't pressure him, making it seem like he was begging.
"What kind of life do you live?" Oscar asked.
He had seen those rich and handsome guys in schools,
all very arrogant, and
girls all liked them.
They could brag every day about how much money their fathers earned, what noble titles their fathers held, and what high-class food they ate.
Oscar could imagine those things, but he had never seen them before and couldn't even begin to picture them.
Yuan Xunlu thought for a moment, then introduced each item one by one:
"I can afford to eat meat every day,
so you should be able to afford to make sure your grandfather can too. You can give him
an egg and a glass of milk every day. Old people need nutritious food,
but he probably won't like such refined dishes . So, you can give him some porridge, white rice porridge, with a little sugar. Oh, does your grandfather like sweet or savory?" "Savory." Oscar looked at Yuan Xunlu, seemingly confirming if Yuan Xunlu was lying. He lowered his head, thought for a moment, and finally looked at Yuan Xunlu and said : "I think I can try. I also want my grandfather to live this kind of life." "Didn't you say you wouldn't join a sect?" Yuan Ling'er chuckled: "Changed your mind?" Oscar shook his head: "You've been really good to me. In all these days, you're the first to help my grandfather up and then take me on a soul hunt." Yuan Ling'er, as if struck by lightning, retorted, "So what?" "I can still tell the difference between a person's genuine kindness and feigned kindness." Oscar stretched out his calloused hands and said: "People have promised me wealth and glory before, but I think their words were all too unrealistic. We farmers only believe in land that can actually grow crops." (End of Chapter )