Oscar agreed so quickly that Wu Ling briefly wondered whether he had somehow become even more handsome, handsome enough that merely sitting there made others bow in submission.
In truth, Oscar's quick agreement came after careful thought.
As an orphan, unless one was truly brainless, one at least learned to read people's faces.
This was especially true for orphans who hoped to be adopted. When nobles or elderly couples without children came looking for someone to take in, those children used every possible trick to display themselves and win favor.
Oscar himself had no desire to be adopted, but after seeing enough of it, he still understood some things, especially when Spirit Hall did not bother hiding much.
Yesterday, after a Spirit Master led him into that room, people had taken care of his daily needs, but they firmly refused to let him leave. From that moment, Oscar understood that whether he wanted to agree or not, he probably had to.
Compared with joining Spirit Hall, he preferred a free, quiet, ordinary life. But the situation was stronger than the person. If Spirit Hall decided to buy and sell by force, he had no power to resist.
Today, he met Wu Ling. Oscar did not know him, but judging from the respect everyone around him showed, he understood that this boy had to be the descendant or disciple of someone important.
From Wu Ling's tone, Oscar felt a strong and unwavering will. But from Wu Ling's face, he also saw a faint look of indifference.
If there had only been the former, Spirit Hall might have invited him by any means necessary. If there had only been the latter, perhaps he could refuse and leave unharmed.
But both existed together. That meant the message could be read like this: whether Oscar joins Spirit Hall does not matter, but he absolutely cannot be allowed to join any other faction.
So Oscar understood one thing. His current choices were join or die. After Wu Ling asked, he answered without hesitation.
At the same time, he comforted himself inwardly: This person in front of me is a major figure. If I follow him, at least my daily life should be fine.
Wu Ling knew none of Oscar's thoughts. He also did not want to know. As long as the result was good, that was enough.
"Good. Do you have anything to bring? Daily necessities are unnecessary. New ones will be prepared for you. But do you have anything that carries memories or the like?"
Hearing Wu Ling's slightly gentler tone, Oscar relaxed a little. At least the person he would follow in the future was not completely unreasonable.
"No, my lord."
"Then prepare to leave. Also, my name is Wu Ling. I am not that much older than you, and I do not care much about forms of address. You can just call me Big Brother."
If Oscar had refused, Wu Ling would absolutely have been the first to kill him. But now that Oscar had joined, treating him a little better did no harm. The stick and the sweet date had always been a convenient and effective method between superior and subordinate.
Just as Wu Ling was about to leave, the Spirit Hall main-temple master stopped him.
"Young Lord, since you have rarely come to our place, why not eat lunch before leaving? Our mushroom stewed tofu is excellent."
Wu Ling thought briefly, then agreed. "Fine. Go prepare it quickly. Also prepare a carriage. We leave after lunch."
It was not that Ghost could not carry two people, but making Ghost carry him everywhere every day made even Wu Ling feel a bit embarrassed. This time, he would take a carriage back.
As Wu Ling was about to reach the door, he turned and glanced at Oscar, who was still standing where he was.
"Oscar, come with us."
After lunch, Wu Ling took Oscar into the carriage. Before getting on, he said to the temple master, "Do not worry. Your reward will be given. Because this matter happened suddenly, the higher-ups have not finalized the details yet."
"You and the Spirit Master responsible for the awakening should both think about what you want, then report it upward. Cultivation resources, gold soul coins, or something else. As long as it is within reason, it will all be granted."
"Of course, it must be within reason."
Wu Ling had already discussed the reward with Bibi Dong, so after saying this, the rest no longer required his concern.
With a faint jolt, the carriage set off for Spirit City. As for Rose and the others in the capital of Polaris Empire, once Wu Ling came within a certain range along the way, he could recall them directly into his body.
Feeling the abundant Spirit Power within himself, Wu Ling rolled his neck to ease the stiffness of sitting for so long.
Across from him, Oscar was cultivating under his guidance using the basic cultivation method.
Watching Oscar sink into cultivation, Wu Ling began chatting with Rose, whom he had summoned back into his shadow.
"Oscar's Spirit Skills in the original story are all pretty good. Aside from his sixth Spirit Skill, the mirror image one, the rest will need you to help screen for him, Rose. Similar to the original should be fine. When we pass by the outer edge of Star Soul Forest this time, we will directly get him his first Spirit Skill."
"No problem. Leave it to me. By the way, Original, I remember Ash Flynn Hawke is also an orphan, right? And this world does not have the lower three sects from the manga. What do you plan to do about him?"
"No need to bother with him. I am too lazy to go to that much trouble looking for him. His Martial Soul is top-tier, and his talent is decent, but with the influence of the evil fire, it can only count as an upper-grade Martial Soul at most."
"As for that rabbit, who knows when, or from where, she went to Notting City. Sending people to wait there like hunters at a stump might alert Tang San, so we do not need to bother with her either."
"Once you create an offensive soul tool, we can use that to connect with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile side, so there is no rush there."
"And the little cat... to be honest, I rather like her. But right now, we have no way to connect with Star Stripe. We will take it step by step. If there is truly no other option, destroying a flower with cruel hands is not beyond me."
After that, Wu Ling and Rose chatted about other matters. When the conversation grew lively, Rose came straight out of the shadow and sat on Wu Ling's lap to talk with him.
Oscar, who had finished cultivating, was startled by the sudden appearance of another person. During the rest of the journey, Wu Ling also introduced Azure and Ember to him.
It was worth mentioning that Oscar acquired his first Spirit Skill with help from the three of them. Thanks to Rose's analysis, his first ability was also the same as in the original story: Recovery Sausage.
By the time Wu Ling's group arrived outside Spirit City, a month had passed. During that month, Oscar and Wu Ling had become fairly familiar with each other, and Oscar's form of address shifted from "Big Brother" to "Brother Wu".
Wu Ling had already grown used to Spirit City. For Oscar, though, this was the first time he had ever seen such a magnificent city. Even after entering, he still had not fully recovered from the shock.