The moment Oscar and Dugu Yan appeared, the originally tense atmosphere instantly vanished. The nine soul rings on Dugu Bo's body slowly receded, and the terrifying pressure befitting a Title Douluo level expert disappeared along with them.
Gai Yue glanced at Dugu Yan beside Oscar and saw that this young girl did indeed resemble the old man. Satisfied, he retracted his own Martial Soul.
Oscar and Dugu Yan landed beneath the giant tree where Dugu Bo was. Dugu Yan called out, "Grandpa!"
Seeing Dugu Yan, a few more kind and gentle smiles appeared on Dugu Bo's face. In a flash, he appeared beside his granddaughter.
But Dugu Bo noticed that Oscar was actually holding his precious granddaughter's hand?
Dugu Yan also noticed this at that moment and quickly pulled her hand back from Oscar, throwing herself into Dugu Bo's arms.
"Grandpa, what are you doing?" Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo exchanged a knowing look.
The meaning was clear: you knew who his teacher was, yet you still deliberately scared him.
It had to be said that in the world of Soul Masters, a Title Douluo was firmly at the very pinnacle, a select few that an ordinary Soul Master might never meet in their entire life.
If it were an ordinary person facing the situation just now, they might have knelt and begged for mercy the moment they saw the nine soul rings on Dugu Bo.
Fortunately, Gai Yue was no ordinary person. Although he knew he might not be Dugu Bo's match, if the other party had any ill intentions, he would absolutely not back down.
At this time, Oscar bowed towards Dugu Bo. "This junior, Oscar, has the honor of meeting the Poison Douluo, Your Excellency."
Dugu Bo, who had been focused entirely on his granddaughter, heard Oscar directly state his identity. His gaze instantly sharpened. "You know of me? You deliberately approached Yan Yan?"
Facing Dugu Bo's questioning, Oscar replied with a smile. "Your Excellency has been renowned in the Soul Master world for over a decade. I did not originally know of your relationship with Dugu Yan, but when I saw the soul rings you displayed just now, and combined that with your relationship with her, it wasn't difficult to deduce."
"Your Excellency is the only one in the entire Soul Master world who uses poison so terrifyingly and has reached the Title Douluo realm."
Hearing Oscar's explanation, Dugu Bo nodded. What Oscar said was indeed true; anyone with a bit of knowledge could have guessed it, let alone a young man like Oscar who seemed quite well-informed.
As the two were talking, Gai Yue had also walked over and cupped his hands towards Dugu Bo. "Poison Douluo, Your Excellency, I was rude a moment ago. Please forgive me."
After Oscar's explanation, and seeing that Oscar had been holding Dugu Yan's hand, Gai Yue now understood it had all been a misunderstanding.
Of course, Gai Yue had to show respect to a Title Douluo.
Dugu Bo waved his hand and said, "It's fine. To not shrink back in the slightest when facing me, you are a good teacher."
Hearing Dugu Bo's praise, Gai Yue was a bit surprised. He never thought that the inscrutable Dugu Bo would actually praise someone?
"Your Excellency is too kind. Xiao Ao is my student, so of course I must be concerned for him," Gai Yue replied.
After Gai Yue spoke, Dugu Yan said with a smile beside him, "Grandpa, someone whom Oscar respects so highly could possibly be bad?"
Hearing Dugu Yan say this, Dugu Bo could only helplessly laugh. "Yes, yes, yes. Is this your new friend?"
At this moment, Dugu Bo simply pretended not to know, as if the person who had been eavesdropping in secret wasn't him.
Dugu Yan was very pleased with Dugu Bo's acting and replied with a smile, "Yes! I was tracking a Purple Viper Snake earlier and almost let it get away. It dashed straight into Oscar's camp and he killed it with a single sword."
"I originally wanted to confront him about it, but I couldn't win the argument. I was going to ask you to back me up, but he later invited me to eat roasted meat and promised to help me find you, so we became friends after a while."
Hearing Dugu Yan's detailed explanation, Oscar was actually holding back a laugh inside, because he could now be certain that Dugu Bo had been hiding here the whole time.
However, he and Shao Xin's spiritual senses had been completely unable to detect Dugu Bo. Fortunately, Gai Yue was an eighty-fifth-level Soul Douluo; when he returned, he noticed something was wrong, or else Oscar thought Dugu Bo could have hidden for a while longer!
But with Dugu Yan explaining it this way, Oscar also chimed in, "I was indeed wrong about what happened earlier, so I promised Dugu Yan I would help her find a suitable third soul ring."
As he spoke, Oscar looked at Dugu Bo again. "However, now that you, Your Excellency, are here, what I said before might have been a bit of a joke. After all, with a Title Douluo like you present, a lowly Soul Elder like me is hardly worthy of your notice."
"But now that my teacher has returned, if Your Excellency doesn't mind, we could travel together. My previous promise still stands; I will help Dugu Yan find a suitable soul ring."
Gai Yue also said beside him, "Since Xiao Ao has promised, I will naturally do my utmost."
Dugu Bo waved his hand. "It's useless to say that to me. It's up to Yan Yan."
To be honest, just as Oscar said, as a Title Douluo, what kind of soul ring couldn't Dugu Yan get? But seeing Dugu Yan's expression, it was clear she didn't want to separate from Oscar so quickly.
Moreover, Dugu Bo himself had some questions he wanted to ask Oscar, so he simply left the decision to Dugu Yan.
Naturally, Dugu Yan was reluctant to separate so soon, not for any other reason, but simply because it was so rare to find someone who could potentially become a good friend.
"Grandpa, then let's go with them. It'll be more lively with more people," Dugu Yan said, looking pleadingly at Dugu Bo.
"As you wish." Dugu Bo gently flicked Dugu Yan's small nose, doting on her.
Then, Dugu Bo said to Gai Yue, "Then my granddaughter and I will be imposing on you."
Gai Yue waved his hand. "It is an honor to travel with Your Excellency."
Gai Yue was proud and not very eloquent, but he was not a fool. He knew what attitude to adopt with whom, after all, flattery didn't cost anything.
Afterward, Dugu Yan led Dugu Bo and the Oscar-Shao Xin duo back to the camp. At this time, Shao Xin in the camp was looking warily in the direction Oscar and Dugu Yan had gone.
When he saw them return, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and waved to the group.
After walking over, Gai Yue tossed the severely injured soul beast he had defeated at Shao Xin's feet. "A forty-three-thousand-year-old Spirit Tree Cave should be a perfect fit for your seventh soul ring."
Looking at the Spirit Tree Cave, which was on the verge of death, Shao Xin was also a bit excited. After all, once he absorbed this soul ring, he would officially become a Soul Saint.
"Thank you."
Gai Yue waved his hand and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Dugu Yan's grandfather, the Poison Douluo, Your Excellency Dugu Bo."