Hearing Gai Yue's introduction, Shao Xin also bowed toward Dugu Bo and said, "This junior, Shao Xin, has the honor of meeting Your Excellency."
Dugu Bo waved his hand. "There's no need for that. Yan Yan received your care before, so I should be the one thanking you."
As he spoke, Dugu Bo glanced at the campfire nearby. "I heard from Yan Yan that your roasted meat is quite good. Since I'll be traveling with you this time, I was wondering if I'd have the chance to have a taste."
Under normal circumstances, Dugu Bo would absolutely not be so polite and amiable, but because he was with Dugu Yan, and Dugu Yan wanted to be friends with Oscar, Dugu Bo naturally had to put on a more affable persona.
Although his reputation in the Soul Master world hadn't been great over the years, if he could act amiable now, he figured he could leave a good impression on everyone.
Even if he didn't care, Dugu Yan did.
"It would be this junior's honor," Shao Xin replied.
"Hahaha, I won't disturb you then. Go absorb your Soul Ring first. This old man will keep watch for you," Dugu Bo said with a hearty laugh.
"Then I'll have to trouble Your Excellency. I'll roast some meat for you later," Shao Xin said, not bothering with false modesty. He directly took out a dagger from his Soul Device and dealt with the Life Tree Fruit.
Watching the black Soul Ring slowly condensing above the Life Tree Fruit, Shao Xin sat down cross-legged and began to circulate his energy.
Meanwhile, Dugu Bo was pulled aside by Dugu Yan to chat in whispers. Gai Yue was a man of few words. Seeing that Dugu Bo was entertaining his granddaughter, he leaped directly onto a giant tree to keep watch over the surroundings.
Although Dugu Bo had said he would keep watch for Shao Xin, Gai Yue understood one principle clearly: it's better to rely on yourself than on others.
Seeing Dugu Yan pulling Dugu Bo aside to chat, Oscar didn't feel he could interrupt, so he went to gather some dry firewood and add it to the flames.
Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan whispered for about ten minutes, and then Dugu Yan waved to Oscar. "Oscar, come over here. My grandfather has some questions for you."
Hearing the call, Oscar walked over directly. Seeing Oscar's somewhat reserved appearance, Dugu Bo pointed to a rock in front of him and said, "Have a seat. We're just chatting, no need to be so formal."
Hearing this, Oscar nodded. After sitting down, he replied, "If you have any questions, senior, I will answer to the best of my knowledge."
Dugu Bo smiled upon hearing this. "You're quite straightforward. However, Yan Yan has a good impression of you. Your chance meeting has made you friends, and Yan Yan doesn't have many friends. You'd better not bully my granddaughter."
Hearing this, Oscar couldn't help but roll his eyes internally. With you, a doting grandfather like this, who would dare to bully her?
Of course, Oscar didn't dare to say this out loud. He just smiled slightly. "You flatter me, senior. Although I feel an instant connection with Dugu Yan, I could never bring myself to bully a girl."
Dugu Bo smiled with satisfaction and then got to the point. "I heard from Yan Yan that you're only eleven years old?"
Oscar nodded in response, and Dugu Bo continued, "You're a Food-Type Soul Master, and you've already broken through to Level 30 at eleven. Even with a congenital full Soul Power, that shouldn't be possible. Your talent is truly one in a million."
Hearing the compliment, Oscar just maintained his smile. "It's just that this junior has worked a bit harder. Besides, I've always enjoyed experimenting with pharmacology. I happened to come across a fine medicinal herb and crafted some pills that can accelerate my training speed, which is how I've made my current progress."
Naturally, this was a complete fabrication by Oscar. While he had indeed made some medicinal baths, claiming to have crafted pills or refined pellets to speed up his cultivation was purely a cover to hide the existence of the whale glue.
After all, they had only just met. Although they had confirmed Dugu Bo meant no harm, Oscar certainly wasn't going to expose his secrets now.
Besides, Oscar wasn't worried about Shao Xin or Gai Yue exposing him, as they understood the situation far better than he did.
Of course, if Oscar could enter the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye and use the immortal-grade medicinal herbs inside, it wouldn't be impossible to create something like that.
Dugu Bo, on the other hand, was intrigued by this and had been wanting to ask about it.
"Oh? You have that kind of skill?" Dugu Bo said, somewhat surprised.
"It was just a matter of luck, senior. The problem is I don't have enough medicinal herbs; I was just fortunate enough to get one chance," Oscar explained.
Hearing this, Dugu Bo was still a bit astonished. Just luck? Why didn't anyone else have that luck?
However, he had clearly overheard Oscar's words earlier. Oscar's knowledge of pharmacology came from an ancient book he happened to acquire when he was eight. But how could an eight-year-old child learn so much from a single ancient book?
After all, his own granddaughter, Dugu Yan, was like a little fool at eight and didn't even want to cultivate. How could an eight-year-old child be so intelligent?
He even felt that Oscar's knowledge might not be inferior to his own, and he had accumulated his over decades.
So, Dugu Bo guessed that Oscar was simply not telling the truth. After all, everyone has their secrets, and even though Oscar and his granddaughter had hit it off, they had only known each other for a little over an hour.
They weren't familiar enough to talk about everything, so it was only natural that the other party would want to keep some things hidden.
But an eleven-year-old Oscar possessed such knowledge, able to spot his granddaughter's problem at a glance and even refine pills himself. This was clearly something an ordinary Soul Master couldn't do.
Therefore, Dugu Bo surmised that either Oscar had a force or family specializing in this field backing him, or that ancient book was a genuine treasure.
Whichever it was, Dugu Bo wanted to get to the bottom of it, because he had a treasure land of his own. However, even with his decades of knowledge and experience, he only recognized less than ten percent of the medicinal herbs within it.
So, he wanted to probe Oscar for information, understand the story behind it, and then he might have a chance to use Oscar's knowledge to see if he could identify the things in his own treasure land.
After all, he had broken through to Title Douluo level by recognizing less than ten percent of the contents. If he could understand this treasure land, Dugu Bo didn't even need to imagine its value.
With this thought in mind, Dugu Bo continued his questioning in a seemingly casual manner. "I heard from Yan Yan that your knowledge comes from your extensive reading of pharmacology books, and that you also learned from an ancient text?"
"If I'm being honest, this old man is also a master of pharmacology and has a hobby of collecting various ancient texts. I was hoping for a chance to discuss the subject with you."
Hearing this, if Oscar hadn't understood Dugu Bo's intentions before, he certainly did now.
Wasn't this a veiled attempt to see so-called ancient book? He did have an ancient book, but of course, he wasn't about to hand it over to Dugu Bo, as Oscar had already guessed his intentions.
Hearing this, Oscar's smile remained unchanged. "You flatter me, senior. How could this junior's meager knowledge dare to compare with yours?"