For Vago Rock Emperor!

Wearing masks here was, to the nobles, equivalent to removing the masks from their faces.

Along the way, they occasionally saw masked nobles pawing at the "female companions" beside them.

These female companions were almost all staff members of the auction house. They appeared to be coyly resisting, their smiles blooming like flowers, yet their eyes were filled with confusion and lifelessness.

Their bodies were still alive, but their hearts had already died.

Even if these nobles "redeemed" them, they would only become playthings.

There would always come a day when their beauty faded, and there would always come a day when their owners grew tired of them. When that happened, their fate might be far more miserable than it was in the auction house.

Paimon looked around, watching everything with some bewilderment. For her, this was more than a little difficult to get used to.

Everyone looked quite happy, but somehow, it all felt strange.

Zhongli would occasionally pause, but after letting out a sigh, he stopped paying attention.

These women were almost all children from impoverished families. Whether because of family circumstances or other reasons, they had been sold to the auction house.

Although the auction house treated them as commodities, it had genuinely raised them and given them a debt of gratitude. That gratitude was twisted, but it had allowed them to survive.

As the God of Contracts, Zhongli had, for a moment, wanted to tear up the "contracts" here. In the end, however, he gave up.

Without changing their way of thinking, he could save them for a while, but not for a lifetime.

These women were beyond saving. Apart from serving men and the strong, they had no other skills.

If he rescued them and simply left them to fend for themselves, they would be back here within a few days.

When "Xue Qinghe" saw Zhongli sigh, images of Jialing Pass suddenly flashed through her mind.

"Though I have no intention of contending for supremacy, I know the suffering of the common people..."

Could it... could it be because of these commoners at the bottom that Zhongli became that Vago Rock Emperor?

Qian Renxue knitted her brows and thought silently.

It was not unreasonable for her to think that way.

Not to mention the two great empires—even Spirit Hall had never cared about commoners who lacked the potential to become Soul Masters!

If they lacked the potential to become Soul Masters, Spirit Hall treated commoners only slightly better than the two great empires did.

At least, they gave the commoners some hope.

Qian Renxue asked herself: Had she ever regarded commoners without Soul Master potential as people?

She valued geniuses and talent.

Without those things, they could not even enter her sight.

Although she was kind, she likewise did not take commoners without Soul Power seriously.

"For Vago Rock Emperor!"

"Should I make some changes?"

Qian Renxue looked around the auction house. She had come here only a handful of times.

Seeing scene after scene like this, she felt vaguely upset.

The auction house was a major source of revenue for the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. One had to know that the starting price for a single staff member here was one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!

What kind of business could make this much money?

The Heaven Dou Empire needed money for its annual military expenses, official salaries, Imperial Family expenditures, and countless other things...

The auction house supported most of those expenses!

If these businesses were canceled, the empire's income would be affected to some extent.

Qian Renxue felt a headache coming on. These historical issues would have to wait until she took the throne before she could begin changing them.

For now, even if she argued until the sky fell, Xue Ye would never change anything because of this.

Vago Rock Emperor could appear, but he could not appear as he had in the dream. He would destroy everything!

"After some time, I must have a proper talk with the guest official about this issue—the issue of people's livelihoods!"

With that thought, Qian Renxue cast a sidelong glance at Zhongli's profile. Although he wore a mask, he was still just as charming!

Led by the hostess, Paimon, Zhongli, and "Xue Qinghe" wound their way to a private room.

Once they reached the private room, "Xue Qinghe" waved her hand, signaling for the hostess to leave.

The hostess was reluctant to go. This was an opportunity she had worked so hard to obtain, but she had no choice. His Highness the Crown Prince had told her to leave, so she had to leave.

"Qinghe, is there some significance to this black area?"

Paimon tilted her head and asked "Xue Qinghe."

She had noticed it when they arrived.

The place seemed to be divided into four areas.

There was only one private room in the red area, and she had no idea who it had been prepared for.

There were slightly more private rooms in the black area—about five or six.

The private room they had entered was Private Room Number One in the black area.

The purple area also had private rooms, but there were quite a few more than in the black area.

As for the yellow and white areas, they were distinguished by their seats. They had no private rooms of their own.

Hearing this, "Xue Qinghe" explained to Paimon that the different areas represented different identities, as well as different levels of wealth.

Of course, if someone had money but lacked strength and a noble title, the purple private rooms were their limit.

Even if they were assigned a black private room, they would not dare enter it. That was the hierarchy.

As the Crown Prince, her private room was naturally Black Room Number One.

If Xue Ye died, she would be able to go to the only red private room.

In the Soul Master world, Soul Ring colors were generally used to distinguish strength and status.

Even the God Trial used this method of distinguishing them.

White was the lowest, and gold was the highest.

White, yellow, purple, black, red, and gold.

"I see!"

Paimon nodded thoughtfully.

Suddenly, her eyes were drawn to the fruit platter on the table. She had been about to say something, but after seeing the fruit and snacks, she instantly forgot what it was.

"Qinghe, can we eat all of these?"

"Yes."

"Paimon can even pack them up and take them away."

Paimon's eyes lit up at once!

Zhongli's eye twitched. There was no need to guess—these fruit platters and other snacks would appear at Zhongli Manor that evening!

He dared guarantee with his own name that this would absolutely happen.

Paimon was small, but she ate quite a lot.

According to the "law of conservation of energy," this was highly abnormal!

Only Zhongli's sharp eyes had noticed that Paimon had grown a little!

When he had first met her, Paimon had been at most a dozen centimeters tall, and certainly less than twenty centimeters.

Now, however, she was a size larger.

It seemed that all the Mora she had eaten from the Traveler had not been wasted.

Without Paimon, he must have been very bored, right?

Sigh, what a sin, what a sin. Who could have known Paimon would travel through time with him?

"Guest Official, what do you think of this auction house?"

While Paimon continued eating, "Xue Qinghe" finally had some time and asked tentatively.

She really wanted to know Zhongli's attitude. As for everything else, it was not important.

"The things the Heaven Dou Empire officially forbids have appeared here."

"Of course, although the auction house's adoption of orphans was done with twisted intentions, it can still be considered a good deed."