The three Soul Bones at the entrance had attracted a lot of attention, including that of a few "old friends."
Ning Tian and Dai Huabin were both looking at them, and Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were interested as well.
Dai Huabin spotted the passing trio of Ji Siyuan and the others. Knowing they were there for an appraisal, he showed them the purple card in his hand.
Wang Dong'er burst out laughing. "Dai Huabin even showed us his purple card. I just couldn't hold it in."
Dai Huabin had been showing off his privileges, but in their eyes, he looked kind of adorable—stupidly so.
The young woman leading them paused and looked toward the card in Dai Huabin's hand, following Wang Dong'er's gaze. She apologized to the three of them. "I'm sorry, esteemed guests. This was a mistake on the part of the Treasure Pavilion. We'll add one thousand Gold Soul Coins to each of your accounts."
At the same time, as soon as Dai Huabin showed his purple card, a staff member walked over to him.
"What are you doing? This is my VIP status! How dare you take it? Bastards!" Dai Huabin's voice rang out loudly, immediately drawing a crowd. The staff member took back his purple card, and he lost the privileges that came with it.
The young woman bowed apologetically. "The Treasure Pavilion does not allow guests to share their privileges with others. The guest just now also provoked the three of you, so after reviewing the matter, the Treasure Pavilion will revoke or downgrade his privileges and bar him from entering for a period of time."
Huo Yuhao felt thoroughly satisfied. Dai Huabin just couldn't help acting like a fool!
If you told someone about it, the Treasure Pavilion might turn a blind eye. But provoking someone inside the Treasure Pavilion was another matter. That was when the Pavilion would exercise this part of its authority.
Ji Siyuan, meanwhile, had thought of another problem. "Damn, that little bastard won't blame us for this and get someone to take revenge on us, will he?"
"This is Shrek City, and it's not far from the academy. He wouldn't be that stupid, would he?" Wang Dong'er asked, but even she felt there was a problem with that. Dai Huabin's intelligence really couldn't be judged by normal standards. He might actually be that stupid.
"Should we get someone to protect us?" Huo Yuhao asked.
The young woman beside them said nothing. (The Treasure Pavilion would ensure its guests' safety inside its premises, but outside was beyond its reach.)
Tang San said, "There's not enough time for him to find anyone who can take you on. The three of you are two Soul Grandmasters and one Soul Ancestor. That's a decent fighting force."
After fighting so many battles against stronger opponents, even Tang San had instinctively counted him among the Soul Ancestors.
"Uncle, the script I saw is useless now, but in it, Dai Huabin found a Soul Emperor and several Soul Kings to help him."
"Good luck." Tang San reckoned Ji Siyuan wouldn't be able to escape using ordinary methods. In the end, he'd have to use his Second Martial Soul.
A fighting spirit suddenly flared in Ji Siyuan's eyes. "If it's only a few Soul Kings, maybe we could bring Bei Bei and the others along and kill them all."
Fighting above their level was a specialty of talented people like them. They didn't just have powerful Martial Souls; their Soul Ring Configurations were better than ordinary people's, too. And the three of them were even more gifted than most.
They had already given up hope of Dai Huabin making a sensible choice. All they could do was hope he couldn't find any powerful Soul Masters to help him.
Ji Siyuan said, "Once the appraisal's done, let's go find Bei Bei and the others. More people means more safety."
Wang Dong'er snorted. She was even more dissatisfied with Dai Huabin now. "My privileges have to be better than his!"
Huo Yuhao felt the same way, and he was even more eager than Wang Dong'er to use those privileges to prove he was better than Dai Huabin.
Ji Siyuan, on the other hand, looked unconcerned. How could the three of them be worse than Dai Huabin? If they didn't crush him, they'd be doing him a favor.
The young woman led the three of them to the appraisal station, where their evaluations began.
The appraisal itself was nothing more than filling in information such as their names, Martial Souls, and Soul Power Levels, then waiting for the Treasure Pavilion to assess them.
Wang Dong'er nudged Ji Siyuan. "How did you finish filling that out so quickly?"
"Because our information isn't exactly a secret to the Treasure Pavilion." Ji Siyuan knew that very well. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er didn't understand, and were still discussing whether they should list their Second Martial Souls.
In the end, for the sake of secrecy, they listed only one Martial Soul each.
Before long, the young woman returned with two cards.
The blood-red cards were edged with fine golden lines, and felt slightly warm in their hands. "Red Spirit Warm Jade? That's quite a generous gift." As a Soul Engineer, Huo Yuhao knew a fair bit about Red Spirit Warm Jade.
Ji Siyuan asked, "Are the privilege tiers assigned according to Soul Ring color?"
The young woman was taken aback, then immediately replied, "That's exactly right. The tiers are based on Soul Ring color, with white at the bottom and red as the highest tier until now."
As she spoke, she handed the two red cards to Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao.
"Mr. Huo Yuhao, Ms. Wang Dong'er, you are both top-tier VIPs of the Spirit Gathering Pavilion. With these top-tier VIP cards, you'll receive a forty percent discount on all purchases here. You can also claim one item of your choice at our annual Treasure Appraisal Fair, with no price limit."
"No price limit?" Huo Yuhao understood the weight of those words. The three Soul Bones at the entrance had probably been prepared for them.
Even with a huge discount, the price of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone was far beyond the million Gold Soul Coins they had between them.
"How many of these top-tier VIP cards does the Treasure Pavilion have?"
The young woman who had escorted them replied, "I'm terribly sorry, but that's a secret. I don't know, and I can't tell you. The privileges also differ from one VIP to another. I've never seen anyone else with the right to take any item they want, as you two do."
Huo Yuhao said, "Then what about Siyuan—" He realized something was wrong, pointed at Ji Siyuan, and asked, "What about him? Why doesn't he have a card?" No matter how you looked at it, Ji Siyuan had to have VIP status.
The young woman said, "This gentleman's card is still being made. It may take some time, so please wait a little."
With that, she stood quietly to one side.
Ji Siyuan and the others didn't want to make a fuss. Waiting a little longer was no big deal.
Before long, another young woman in a short gold skirt arrived with a tray. On it lay a blue-and-gold card. "Mr. Ji Siyuan, this is your VIP card."
She respectfully handed it to Ji Siyuan.
"Sea Blue Refined Gold!" Tang San suddenly exclaimed. He recognized the metal—or rather, the ore. "Some people call this Sea God Gold, but Sea God Gold is actually a different metal."
Just from the name, Ji Siyuan knew this thing was worth far more than Red Spirit Warm Jade. It was perfectly named, with both "Sea God" and "Gold" in it.
Just as he'd expected, the young woman in the short skirt explained, "Mr. Ji Siyuan, you are our most honored VIP, and the only person currently holding a gold VIP card. Each year, you may choose any three items from the Treasure Appraisal Fair, with absolute priority. Items sold at cost will be sold to you at cost, while special items will be discounted by forty percent and you'll have priority in purchasing them."
Wang Dong'er stared in astonishment. "There's a gold VIP card, too?"
She remembered the story they'd discussed in class, while Huo Yuhao thought of his First Soul Ring. Gold was above blood red, so this was clearly the new tier they'd just added for Ji Siyuan—one even higher than blood red.
"You're really important to them," Wang Dong'er said, eyeing the Sea Blue Refined Gold with envy.
Ji Siyuan waved a hand. "Too bad. I'm not giving it to you."
"You rascal!" Wang Dong'er had been looking for an excuse. She immediately pounced on Ji Siyuan and playfully tussled with him.
Huo Yuhao said, "It seems like all of this is based on our talent. Could this really be an academy business, just like Siyuan said?"
A voice rang in their ears. "It is an academy business. Don't get carried away just because of these privileges! Use these resources to cultivate better." The speaker was, of course, Lin Huiqun. She was going to guide the three of them toward obtaining those three Soul Bones.