Arriving at Heaven Dou City, Purchasing Whale Glue

Heaven Dou City, the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, was far more prosperous and magnificent than a border town like Nuoding.

The city walls stood dozens of zhang high, constructed from massive grey-blue rocks. The weathering of time had left mottled marks upon the surface, yet these only served to make the structure appear all the more indestructible.

Atop the walls, banners fluttered in the wind. Soldiers clad in gleaming silver armor stood with long halberds in hand, solemn and imposing. Their sharp gazes, like those of hawks, scrutinized every pedestrian entering or exiting below. A sense of solemnity, weight, and the unique pressure inherent to the empire's hub rushed toward anyone who approached.

Following the wide main thoroughfare through the city gate, the view before her suddenly opened up, as if she had instantly traveled to another world.

On both sides of the street, shops stood in rows like the scales of a fish. Restaurants, teahouses, blacksmiths... a dazzling array of signs left one overwhelmed.

The piercing cries of peddlers rose and fell in succession.

"Freshly steamed meat buns, piping hot and fragrant!"

"Candied haws!"

"Rat poison! Kills rats, big or small, catches them all!"

"Come on, apprentice, show them a trick! Damn it, move, ignore that!"

This Heaven Dou City is quite rowdy!

Wang Dong'er looked around with curiosity. Everything she saw was incredibly novel; the medieval European-style architecture of Heaven Dou City was something difficult to see even in her previous life.

"Little brother, you're here as a tourist from out of town, aren't you? I have a map of Heaven Dou City here that will let you see the entire city in the shortest amount of time. The price is very reasonable."

An old man carrying a bag of miscellaneous goods looked at Wang Dong'er eagerly, holding a hand-drawn map in his hand.

Wang Dong'er took the map and opened it to take a look. Seeing that it was well-drawn and detailed the locations of various buildings quite thoroughly, she paid the money and bought it.

It was perfect; she had been thinking about trying her luck at an auction house.

Guided by the map, Wang Dong'er headed north along Heaven Dou Avenue. As she walked, the crowds on the street grew thinner, and the street vendors disappeared.

The shops on either side of the street were no longer ordinary storefronts, but luxurious restaurants, hotels, and shops selling the organs and hides of high-level spirit beasts.

Among them was a shop named—Le Xuan.

Carriages were lined up in a long row at the entrance. They were incredibly opulent, their scale in no way inferior to the carriage Qian Renxue had used when she departed.

Wang Dong'er still had some impression of "Le Xuan."

It was a place that taught members of the imperial nobility etiquette, refined their image and temperament, and provided knowledge of music theory.

The empire's Princess Xue Ke studied here, and after Tang San left the Slaughter City, he came here to wash away his past and cultivate his temperament.

Most importantly, the owner of Le Xuan was named Tang Yuehua. According to their family tree, Wang Dong'er should call her... Great-Aunt? Old Aunt?

She wasn't quite sure; she was completely clueless about kinship titles.

The Clear Sky Sect had been forced into seclusion by the Spirit Hall. With such a massive sect relying on Tang Yuehua, a woman unable to cultivate spirit power, to sustain it, she was undoubtedly a clever person.

It was said that Tang Yuehua was fond of her brother, Tang Hao, though it was hard to tell if that was true or not...

At the end of the street stood a magnificent four-story building, incredibly luxurious.

The plaque above the entrance, crafted from pure gold, was engraved with the five characters: "Heaven Dou Auction House."

The service staff at the entrance consisted of dozens of beautiful women.

They had excellent figures and wore revealing clothing. Their slender, snake-like waists were incredibly alluring, enough to turn any man into a beast driven by desire in an instant.

When they encountered regular customers, they would take the initiative to step forward and greet them with intimate gestures.

When Wang Dong'er, a stranger they had never seen before, approached, she was stopped by a woman raising her hand.

"This guest, to enter the Heaven Dou Auction House, you must verify your assets."

Wang Dong'er took out a gold spirit coin card from her storage spirit tool.

Seeing the gold spirit coin card, the woman took it with a smile.

Even a purple card containing a thousand gold spirit coins didn't impress her much; after all, the auction house usually hosted noble lords.

After verifying her assets, Wang Dong'er was led into the auction house by the staff.

"May I ask when the next auction begins? Do you have any Whale Glue for sale?"

"The honored guest has come at an unfortunate time; the next auction is a month away."

The staff member's tone carried a hint of apology.

"As for the Whale Glue..."

The staff member pondered for a moment before saying, "Some time ago, a caravan from the coastal city of Hanhai passed through, and our house did indeed purchase some Whale Glue of decent quality."

"However, the auction house does not sell Whale Glue to the public; it is only gifted to our honored guests."

At this stage on the Douluo Continent, Whale Glue was not considered a particularly good item. The world only knew that it could enhance certain functions, unaware that heating and absorbing it could increase one's physical strength.

"Then... can I receive it as a gift?"

Wang Dong'er asked.

The staff member smiled slightly. "Of course, as long as you spend one thousand gold spirit coins within the auction house, you can receive the gift."

"Besides Whale Glue, there are many more good things you can choose from..."

"For example?"

"For instance... me." The attendant suddenly turned flirtatious, pressing her entire body against Wang Dong'er and letting her jade-like hands wander restlessly across her chest in a provocative display.

Wang Dong'er showed no reaction, which caught the attendant completely off guard.

After all, no man had ever remained indifferent to her advances before.

It was only when the attendant was about to touch somewhere she shouldn't that Wang Dong'er finally raised her hand and pushed her away.

The attendant didn't get angry; instead, she put her professional, fake smile back on and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't fancy me, honored guest. Besides me, you can also choose from those cat-girls, rabbit-girls, or fox-girls being held as auction items..."

Wang Dong'er had no interest in listening to the attendant ramble on. She purchased some tools for hunting soul beasts, various medicines, and a few soul devices she had never seen before, such as an Image Recording Soul Device and a Sound Projection Soul Device. After spending over a thousand gold soul coins, the attendant led her to a room on the first floor of the auction house.

The room was small, measuring only about fifty square meters.

Inside a transparent thermal container sat a dozen or so pitch-black, viscous, lumpy objects.

As the attendant opened the container, a pungent, briny stench immediately filled the air.

The smell was foul, like rotting salted fish; an ordinary person would likely feel nauseated just by catching a whiff.

This was none other than Whale Glue, a substance capable of enhancing physical strength.

In addition to the Whale Glue, five young girls bound together by iron chains were brought in by another attendant.

The five girls were all very young, around twelve years old. Although they possessed the appearances of ordinary humans, each of them bore certain animalistic traits.

These were the playthings gifted to honored guests by the auction house—innocent girls whose bodies had mutated unexpectedly after their martial souls awakened...

Even though Wang Dong'er had explicitly stated that she did not require them, the service staff had brought them up anyway.