"The Treasure Appreciation Auction for the core disciples will commence tonight. Even though this Treasure Appreciation Auction of ours isn't as good as the inner courtyard's auction, I've heard that there are many good items there. For example, medicine pills, herbs and even custom-made soul rings! There are also soul tool-related items. In any case, all of the items there are all high quality goods. Are you going?"
Huo Yuhao let out a bitter laugh and said, "I'm not going. I barely have any money so what's the use in going? Since there are only going to be good items there, they're naturally going to be expensive. It would be okay if I didn't fancy anything, but just in case I do fancy something, wouldn't I just be bringing suffering upon myself?"
Wang Dong felt pleased as he replied, "I'm sure you don't know this, but didn't you mention a moment ago that not all of our seniors are rich? What meaning would this Treasure Appreciation Auction have then? The truth is that we can buy the items on credit. This is also the reason why the auction is not open to normal students."
His curiosity peaked, Huo Yuhao asked, "Buying on credit? Tell me more about this."
Wang Dong said, "Don't look down on our identity as core disciples. The probability of a core disciple from the outer courtyard graduating is above 95 percent. Moreover, each and every student capable of graduating from the outer courtyard is an outstanding talent in extreme demand, regardless of country or industry. That's because the main requirement in order to graduate from the outer courtyard is becoming a Soul Ancestor!"
"Therefore, what these businesses are doing is investing in us and our potential. They'll arrange a date for us to sign an agreement with them. We would then repay them in yearly installments. We can even defer repaying them till after we graduate, but in that case they'll collect a small amount of interest from us."
"I know you don't understand how they benefit from this, do you? First, since we are in their debt; if they have something to ask of you or if they encounter something problematic, how could you not help them? If they want to employ you, could you reject them? Taking a step back, there's no harm in forming a good relationship with a powerful Soul Ancestor is there? In any case, at the very least they can boost the chances of you shopping in their store. You may not have money now but that doesn't mean you'll always be poor in the future."
"These businesses are very shrewd and would never conduct transactions that would end in a loss for them. If we core disciples can enter the inner courtyard, the payment will increase further, and all the interest on the loan would be waived off. All we'd need to do is repay the capital within the deadline via one of the many repayment schemes."
After his thorough explanation, Huo Yuhao finally saw the light, "There are actually so many ways of doing things here. Then does that mean we can also buy things on credit?"
Wang Dong nodded and said, "But of course! We're core disciples, after all! Moreover, you're a core disciple of two departments. If they heard about this, I'm sure they'd give you an even greater discount."
Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, "There's no need for that. I'd have to return the favor if I accepted their discounts. We'd better not do that unless we had no other choice."
Wang Dong was excited, "Of course! Despite being in the academy for so long have you been to Shrek City?"
Huo Yuhao naturally hadn't been to Shrek City. From his point of view, the biggest hurdle was his first year in the academy. During that time, he knew that he could be expelled at any time. Other than giving it his all in cultivating, how could he have the time and energy to go window shopping?
"You've never been out there, right? We're going to start lessons very soon. It's such a rare occurrence that we've got free time, so let's take a stroll. Even if we don't buy anything, we can increase our knowledge. We can't always ignore what's going on in the world outside even if we want to."
Huo Yuhao saw how excited he looked and couldn't bring himself to say no to him. He felt slightly helpless as he replied, "It's tonight, right? Then before we finish eating, you have to accompany me in cultivation. You're not allowed to slack off."
Wang Dong smiled as he replied, "Deal!"
They then spent the remaining hours cultivating. Huo Yuhao had originally been under the assumption that his soul power was increasing rapidly and that he had already caught up to most of the other students. However, he started to panic when he heard Teacher Wang Yan and Dean Yan mention that the speed at which a person with an Ultimate marital soul could cultivate would decrease after Rank 30. Moreover, he was different from the other students. As per the academy's instructions, he had to momentarily maintain his position as a core disciple of two departments. He had to multitask and study in both departments at the same time. This wasn't an easy feat. Hence, he didn't dare to relax for a single moment despite having already established himself in the academy. On the contrary, he had to work even harder.
Huo Yuhao also had his own opinions on the situation. His plan of singlehandedly seeking revenge on the Duke's Residence was a pipe dream. Even if he had the ability to do so in the future, how many years would he have to wait? Twenty, thirty, or maybe even fifty years? At that time, things would remain the same, yet people would've changed. What would be the point of seeking revenge anymore? The target he gave himself to complete his revenge in was twenty years. This required him to be even stronger and even more powerful than he was currently. Shrek Academy was undoubtedly the best place for him to take flight. Thus, he had to do his best and learn as much as he could so while he was here so he could become stronger.
Time always passed very quickly when cultivating. The sky was already darkening by the time the two finished cultivating. After they finished eating a top-notch, scrumptious meal, they took the invitation letter and quietly left the school.
Naturally, they weren't the only two to receive the invitation letter. The core disciples in the outer courtyard were spread across all year groups. For example, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Zhou Enchen and Chao Jinxuan from their year had also received invitations. However they would all go at different times as they had been taking their exams for the past two days.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong set off considerably later than the others. As they walked out of the academy's gates, Huo Yuhao suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Wang Dong asked, puzzled.
Huo Yuhao answered, "Do you know how to get to the Treasure Assembly Pavilion? I've never been to Shrek City before. You've never been there either, right?"
Wang Dong raised his hand and knocked Huo Yuhao on his head. "Stupid, look at the back of your invitation letter."
As a core disciple, Huo Yuhao had naturally received his own invitation letter. He took it out and flipped it over. Sure enough, there was a detailed map stamped in gold which indicated the location of the Treasure Assembly Pavilion within Shrek City.
Although Shrek Academy was located within Shrek City, they weren't connected to one another. This also meant that there wasn't a back door connecting the academy to the city.
As a result of that, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had to walk out of the academy, head round to either the south or north gate of the city and then enter through that gate. The Treasure Appreciation Pavilion seemed to be closer to the north gate on the map, so they naturally headed to that gate.
Shrek City was very large so the duo started to run as soon as they left the academy. They only stepped through the north gate after running for close to an hour.
As one of the busiest cities and most integral cities on the Douluo Continent, Shrek City was the liveliest in the evening. Once they passed through the city gates, they were greeted by a noisy place that was bustling with activity. Huo Yuhao was shocked by what he saw since neither had he ever been to such a big city,nor had he seen so many people before in his life.
Everything as far as the eye could see was filled with a densely packed stream of people entering or leaving the city. On top of that, the sounds of vendors peddling their goods made everything even more chaotic.
"There are so many people here!" Huo Yuhao said, astonished.
Wang Dong said, "That's obvious. As one of the most flourishing economic centers on the continent, Shrek City is extremely bustling. The city boasts a population of nearly five million people, that's almost as much as some empires. Hey, don't tell me that you've never been in a city before?"
Huo Yuhao nodded, "Yeah! This is the largest city I've ever been in."
While looking around curiously, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong walked through the wide city gates. Shrek City's main roads were extremely wide and allowed eight carriages to ride through them at the same time. The vast atmosphere within the city made Huo Yuhao gasp in surprise as he felt his worldview widen.
"How about it? Our trip was not in vain was it?" Wang Dong smiled. He had a similar curious expression on his face; after all, this was also his first time entering Shrek City.
The descriptions of Shrek City on the map were extremely accurate and its roads were extremely orderly. As a result, it wasn't hard to navigate around the city. After walking for about fifteen minutes or so, they arrived at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The Treasure Gathering Pavilion was a large store that dealt with items relating to soul masters and soul engineers. If looked upon from afar, one could see that it was an enormous four-floored building that was over twenty meters tall. The building itself took up a large amount of space. It was a dazzling sight to behold from the outside, as it resembled a cornucopia.
A building this luxurious had already exceeded Huo Yuhao's range of understanding. And so, he couldn't help but widen his eyes when he saw the four cheongsam-wearing girls standing beside the door to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The girls who were in charge of receiving customers of the Treasure Gathering Hall were only seventeen or eighteen years old, they had sweet appearances and slender bodies. Their fair skins looked even more charming when contrasted with the dazzling Treasure Gathering Pavilion. Huo Yuhao was immediately flabbergasted.
"Ouch. Wang Dong, what're you pinching me before?" An acute sensation of pain brought Huo Yuhao back to his senses. He turned around and saw that Wang Dong was glaring at him fiercely.
"What're you looking at? Be careful of growing a sty if you look at something you're not supposed to." Wang Dong said angrily.
Huo Yuhao put an innocent expression on his face as he looked into Wang Dong's large beautiful eyes. "Being attracted to someone beautiful is only human. I'm just taking a look. These older sisters are really pretty."
"Hmph! Very pretty?" Wang Dong had a look of disdain on his face. He was somewhat hesitant to respond, but he managed to not say anything.
Huo Yuhao rubbed his aching waist and said helplessly, "Whatever, I won't look. You don't even like looking at pretty women, you're still such a child."
Wang Dong ignored him and strode towards the Treasure Gathering Pavilion as Huo Yuhao hurriedly chased after him.
Before they could reach the door leading to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, one of the eight girls who were standing by the door walked over to them with a faint smile on her face. "Are you two soul masters coming to participate in the Treasure Appreciation Auction?" she inquired respectfully,
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had both worn their Shrek Academy uniforms, which made them stand out in the crowd. As a result, they had received a large number of glances on their journey here.
The two of them took out their invitation letters and handed them over to her. The smile on the girl's face immediately became much more gentle when she saw their invitation letters, "Soul masters, please follow me." she said as she led the way
Even among the core disciples of Shrek Academy, there were very few students around Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's age who could attend the Treasure Appreciation Auction. Hence, they received curious looks as they walked past the group of girls beside the door.
Wang Dong was still fine, but Huo Yuhao's face was completely flushed.
After entering the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, a luxurious atmosphere immediately assaulted all of their senses. The golden hall was extremely extravagant and was illuminated by a crystal light that hung from the ceiling. The two sides of the hall were similarly lined with two rows of women.
When compared to the eight cheongsam-wearing girls who were on the outside, the young ladies within the hall who wore short golden skirts were even more eye-catching. These young ladies were slightly younger and the material used in their skirts was extremely thin, revealing their fair slender legs. All of their appearances were stunning and their bodies were extremely beautiful. A person would feel as if he had walked into heaven on earth after entering this golden hall.
"We welcome our distinguished guests." The young ladies in the hall bowed and greeted them, immediately startling Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. They couldn't help but feel bewildered as they looked at the girls who were all bowing towards them.
Huo Yuhao was still young and didn't know much of the differences in terms of status and wealth that different people had. However, he began to slowly understand that concept. Would an ordinary person be granted entry to such a luxurious place?
At that moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt his vision go dark; his eyes had been covered. Wang Dong's voice rang out, "You're not allowed to look. I wouldn't have brought you here if I'd known that it was gonna be like this. I won't let you be corrupted by bad things like this."
Huo Yuhao was filled with helplessness. "Why would I be corrupted by the sights here? Aren't you seeing them as well? Doesn't that mean that you'll be corrupted too?"
Wang Dong subconsciously justified his actions, "I'm different, I…" He suddenly stopped and continued in a fierce voice, "In any case, you should just close your eyes and not look at anything here." With that, he moved his hands off Huo Yuhao's eyes.
As the two spoke, they passed the corridor filled with beautiful women. The white-clothed young lady guided them up a golden flight of stairs to the second floor of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The second floor was much quieter than the first floor. It seemed extremely messy on the inside but everything was arranged in an extremely logical manner. Exhibition booths were all installed in the most eye-catching parts of the room and each booth was covered with an enormous piece of crystal-glass. Every booth had a wide variety of diverse and unique items.
The white-clothed lady stopped. "Greetings to the two distinguished guests who are attending the Treasure Appreciation Auction held within the Treasure Gathering Pavilion. Please head towards the western area to register yourselves. You can get a credit evaluation if you wish to buy things on credit. The results of this evaluation will determine the discounts available to you as well as your credit limits."