Watching Oscar's painful expression, Lu Feng nodded secretly in his heart.
He was the first Auxiliary System Soul Master with innate full soul power, possessing the aptitude to become a god.
Although losing an arm, compared to the original work, Oscar's strength was at least more outstanding in terms of mentality.
In the original work, Oscar consumed an immortal herb, which greatly compensated for the defect of slow soul power cultivation of auxiliary Soul Masters in the early stage.
And now, Oscar also reached level sixty at this age, enough to show his hard work.
The original work recorded that the Cook God fancied Oscar's talent from the very beginning. Without the immortal herb, among the Shrek Seven Monsters, besides Tang San, perhaps only he had the chance to break through level one hundred.
Talent was only one aspect, but more of it was because Oscar was a sufficiently hardworking person.
Transmigrating to this other world and experiencing so many things, Lu Feng found that this world was somewhat different from the original novel.
He always maintained some doubts about Soul Master cultivation in his heart. Especially becoming a god at level one hundred, Lu Feng even maintained a sense of vigilance in his heart.
He felt that the divine position seemed to be a trap.
After pondering for a long time, a plan was born in Lu Feng's heart. He planned to find a few people to become gods first and scout the path to the Divine Realm.
Xiao Wu was one of them.
The Asura God position was split in two; Lu Feng obtained the divine sword, and Xiao Wu obtained the scabbard.
Lu Feng's intention was to let her become a god first. If there were no problems in the Divine Realm, Lu Feng could inherit the divine position with peace of mind. If there were any hidden traps in the Divine Realm, then Lu Feng could only mourn for her silently.
Looking at Oscar in front of him, Lu Feng calculated secretly whether to help him as well.
With the talent Oscar displayed now, Lu Feng felt he absolutely had the ability to achieve a divine position. Lu Feng didn't mind finding another guinea pig.
As time passed, more and more cold sweat appeared on Oscar's face, veins popping on his forehead, looking somewhat hideous.
"Something's wrong; there's a problem with this soul beast!"
Watching Oscar's pale face, Lu Feng's eyes darkened.
Normally, when a Soul Master absorbed a soul ring, even if their own meridians were damaged by energy, their inherent vitality was very exuberant.
After absorption, the damage suffered midway would be repaired, and soul power would also be in a completely abundant state.
But in Luo Wu Pao's perception, that peculiar energy transferred from the Mirror Image Beast to Oscar. Under the erosion of energy, Oscar's body seemed to have undergone some mutations.
His body strength was increasing, soul power becoming purer, but vitality was slowly draining away.
Hearing this, Hao Te asked doubtfully, "Senior, what's wrong?"
Hao Te also saw Oscar's painful expression. But Hao Te didn't pay much attention, just thinking Oscar's constitution was too weak; after all, he was only an auxiliary Soul Master.
Thinking back, when he absorbed his seventh soul ring, due to the energy being too massive and overflowing his body, he was bleeding all over.
Where was Oscar at compared to that?
"There is a very strange energy in his body consuming his vitality. This energy doesn't belong to the soul ring; it looks more like what was hidden in the Mirror Image Beast before," Lu Feng said in a deep voice.
Hearing this, Hao Te stood up excitedly. He didn't doubt Lu Feng's words; after all, a big shot suspected to be a Titled Douluo didn't need to make fun of him.
"Senior, what exactly is going on?" Hao Te said anxiously.
Lu Feng touched his chin, frowning slightly. "I came to the North just to investigate this matter. Along the way, I encountered quite a few soul beasts; they all have this kind of energy in their bodies, and these soul beasts are invariably mutated soul beasts."
Hao Te scratched his head. "Mutated soul beasts?"
Lu Feng nodded. "Ordinary Martial Souls or soul beasts rarely mutate. But under the influence of special environments, certain things might induce mutations."
"The cause of mutation could be extreme environments. Extreme heat, extreme cold, or possibly some special triggers. Inside these soul beasts, I detected a very strange death attribute."
"The direction of mutation caused by the death attribute can be good or bad. If it merges with their own attributes, it might allow the soul beast to evolve. Conversely, it might also lead to its demise."
Hearing this, a gleam flashed in Hao Te's eyes. "So that's how it is. I was wondering why dealing with this soul beast, clearly only over twenty thousand years old, was so strenuous. We even had two brothers injured."
Hao Te looked at Oscar, his face full of worry. "Does Senior have any solution? As long as my brother's life can be saved, I agree to any condition."
Lu Feng smiled faintly. "This mutated energy isn't necessarily a bad thing for your brother. In mutations triggered by energy, the strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker. I'm more curious where exactly this energy comes from."
In the intelligence provided by Qian Renxue, there were two places where death attribute soul beasts grew.
But unlike the Death Forest, the soul beasts in the Extreme North only mutated with the death attribute in the last few hundred years.
Normally, a soul beast's attribute was related to its species.
For example: Light White Tiger, Golden Saint Dragon, Death Spider Emperor...
But these soul beasts in the Extreme North seemed to have suddenly mutated collectively. Many soul beasts were attached with death attributes, as if polluted.
Spirit Hall had sent people to investigate here but didn't find the root of the problem.
Just as Lu Feng finished speaking, with a "pu" sound, Oscar spat out a mouthful of blood, his face pale as a sheet of paper.
The next moment, he actually fell directly to the ground.
Looking closely, his eye sockets were sunken, skin withered and yellow, looking as if he had aged ten or twenty years.
"Senior, forget about energy mutation for now. If life is gone, what's the use of mutating stronger?" Hao Te said anxiously.
Lu Feng nodded slightly. Soul power surged, and a faint golden energy emanated from his body. In a few breaths, the surrounding range of several thousand meters turned brilliant golden.
Golden Domain!
At the same time, Lu Feng also released his [Sacred] and [Light] attributes.
Normally, when a Soul Master absorbed a soul ring, they couldn't accept assistance from others.
However, Lu Feng used a higher level of energy. Strictly speaking, a domain didn't belong to soul skills but was a means close to 'rules'.
Oscar's body was enveloped by the Golden Domain, and his aura gradually became stable.
His face gradually regained rosiness, looking slightly fuller.
However, Lu Feng's brows furrowed. In his perception, the drain of Oscar's vitality didn't stop, only slowed down.
"Light attribute actually cannot expel this energy?" Lu Feng was slightly surprised.
Immediately, surging soul power poured out from his body, and eight soul rings spiraled out in sequence.
"Ten... hundred-thousand-year soul rings!" Hao Te's eyes widened bigger than copper bells.
He rubbed his face hard, seeming unable to believe his eyes.
Although this young Soul Master in front of him still had some gap from the Titled Douluo Hao Te guessed, those two blood-red soul rings violently impacted Hao Te's worldview.
Legend had it that only a Titled Douluo's ninth soul ring could be hundred-thousand-year.
But this Soul Master in front of him not only obtained a hundred-thousand-year one at the seventh soul ring but even had two.
At this time, Lu Feng's eighth soul ring lit up. A green light emerged, spreading outwards. In a few breaths, it covered the entire range of the Golden Domain.
In an instant, the energy in the air became active.
Moistened by this energy, Hao Te found that the injuries he received in battle just now actually completely recovered, leaving not even a scar.
"Is this a healing soul skill?" Hao Te muttered in surprise.
However, when he looked around, he was instantly too shocked to speak.
New buds actually grew on the branches of the surrounding trees. On the ground, some Blue Silver Grass emerged from the snow; the entire forest looked full of vitality.
Oscar was wrapped in a rich vitality, his hair and beard growing visibly to the naked eye. If observed carefully, one could find that the skin on his face had become as tender as a baby's.
"This..."
Hao Te didn't know how to express it in words. It took him quite a while to recover from the shock, then he bowed respectfully to Lu Feng.
"Many thanks to Senior for acting!"
Lu Feng nodded. "This is not a healing soul skill, but the purest life energy. Your brother should be out of danger."
"Many thanks, Senior!" Hao Te said respectfully.
Oscar's breathing had completely stabilized. The death attribute constantly eroded his meridians, but under Lu Feng's soul skill, his body recovered even faster.
His body was constantly destroyed and then reborn.
Round after round, repeatedly.
Gradually, his body's toughness increased constantly, like steel tempered a hundred times.
In Lu Feng's perception, Oscar's physical quality at this time had already exceeded that of the Soul Saint-level Hao Te.
Finally, after two hours, Oscar woke up slowly.
"Big Brother, I succeeded!" Oscar said excitedly.
Immediately, Oscar found his vision blocked by something. He reached out to brush in front of his eyes and exclaimed instantly, "Damn, why is my hair grown so long!"
Oscar stood up in panic, surprised to find even his beard had grown to his chest.
"Little Ao, you finally finished absorbing." Hao Te walked forward excitedly and patted Oscar's shoulder.
"Big Brother, what happened to me?" Oscar pointed at his beard and asked doubtfully.
Growing up, his hair growth had been relatively lush. But looking like this now, he was no different from a savage.
"Just now you encountered danger while absorbing the soul ring; it was Senior who saved you." Hao Te said with lingering fear.
"Is that so?" Hearing this, Oscar scratched his head.
He took a step forward, cupped his hands respectfully to Lu Feng, tone excited. "Many thanks to Senior for saving my life."
Oscar silently felt his own state; he felt his physical strength seemed to be more than double usual.
Especially his soul power; just absorbing one soul ring, without absorbing the soul bone yet, he broke through to level sixty-two.
Rising two levels consecutively!
If he absorbed that Mirror Image Beast soul bone again, Oscar felt he might break through directly to level sixty-three.
At this time, under close observation, Oscar suddenly found this Senior seemed somewhat familiar.
He looked carefully again, the doubt in his eyes deepening.
Suddenly, he said somewhat uncertainly, "Senior, I have a friend in Soto City who looks very much like you."
Lu Feng smiled slightly. "Oscar, I am Lu Feng. Long time no see."
"Lu Feng, it really is you!" Oscar shouted excitedly instantly.
In Soto City, Lu Feng's relationship with him wasn't close. But meeting an old friend in this desolate place, a feeling of excitement rose instantly in Oscar's heart.
"Oscar, why did you run to the North? And your arm?" Lu Feng asked doubtfully.
Zhu Zhuqing had told Lu Feng about Oscar, but Lu Feng didn't care much at the time. He only vaguely remembered it seemed he was injured during a soul fight.
"Ai. It's all in the past." Sadness flashed across Oscar's eyes, pretending not to care as he said.
The three chatted for a while, then returned together to the small town at the border.
Inside the tavern.
Oscar raised his glass. "Lu Feng, a toast to you."
Lu Feng nodded. "Oscar, what are your plans for the future? Continue being a bounty hunter?"
Changing the subject, he said, "Forgive my bluntness, with your talent, it seems somewhat wasteful. Moreover, you are an auxiliary Soul Master; hanging out outside all the time isn't very safe either."
Hearing this, Oscar sighed. "I actually have no plans. Having trained for so many years, I also want to rest for a while first. Perhaps in the future, I'll find an academy to be a teacher."
With that, Oscar sighed again.
He was once also a high-spirited youth, fantasizing about making a name for himself one day. But now, he just wanted to be an ordinary person.
Lu Feng raised his glass, took a sip, and smiled slightly. "I have a connection in the Star Luo Empire. The risk is a bit high, but the profit is very high. Are you interested?"
"Star Luo Empire?"
Oscar seemed to think of something and took out a token from his Soul Tool.
The token was dark gold overall, with a large character "Zhu" on the front.
"Back then Zhuqing also asked me to go to the Star Luo Empire. Oh, right, heard Boss Dai has become the Emperor now."
Seeming to think of something, Oscar hurriedly covered his mouth.
He looked at Lu Feng, a trace of embarrassment flashing in his eyes. "Lu Feng, sorry."
As far as Oscar knew, Zhu Zhuqing was the current Star Luo Empress. Then obviously, Lu Feng was 'dumped' by her.
"Ahem." Lu Feng coughed lightly. "Zhuqing and I are still together now. As for Dai Mubai? He doesn't mind at all."
"What?" Oscar exclaimed instantly.
A gleam flashed in Oscar's eyes, staring intently at Lu Feng.
Thinking back in Soto City, because Oscar was handsome, quite a few young girls liked him too. But compared to Lu Feng, Oscar instantly felt he was just a rookie.
"By the way, Lu Feng, why did you come to the North?" Oscar asked doubtfully.
Lu Feng's eyes darkened. "When you absorbed the soul ring, you should have noticed the abnormality. The purpose of my trip is to investigate these mutated soul beasts."