Heaven Dou City was the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire. Its splendor and grandeur far surpassed that of a border town like Nuoding.
Its walls towered dozens of zhang high, built from massive blue-gray stone blocks. The passage of time had left mottled marks across their surface, yet only made them seem all the more indestructible.
On the walls, banners fluttered in the wind. Soldiers clad in bright silver armor stood solemnly with long spears in hand. Their sharp eyes were like those of falcons, scrutinizing every person entering or leaving the city below. An air of solemnity and weight, tinged with the unique authority of the empire's center, pressed down on all who approached.
Following the broad main road through the city gates, the view suddenly opened up, as if they had stepped into another world in an instant.
The streets were lined with shops, one after another. Restaurants, teahouses, blacksmiths...all kinds of signs dazzled the eye, leaving visitors overwhelmed.
The vendors' piercing cries rose and fell in an endless stream.
"Freshly steamed meat buns! Smell so good!"
"Candied hawthorns!"
"Rat poison! Rat poison! Catch 'em big or small!"
"Come on, apprentice, put on a show! Damn, go, ignore it!"
"This Heaven Dou City's pretty lively!"
Wang Dong'er looked around curiously. Everything she saw was utterly novel. The medieval European-style buildings of Heaven Dou City were rare even in her previous life.
"Little brother, you're visiting from out of town, right? I've got a map of Heaven Dou City here. It'll help you see the whole city in the shortest time, and the price is a bargain."
An elderly man carrying a pack full of odds and ends looked eagerly at Wang Dong'er, a hand-drawn map in his hands.
Wang Dong'er took the map and opened it for a look. The drawing was good, and the locations of some buildings were marked in great detail, so she paid for it.
She had been wanting to try her luck at an auction house anyway.
Following the map's directions, Wang Dong'er headed north along Heaven Dou Avenue. The farther she went, the fewer people there were on the street, and the roadside vendors soon disappeared.
The buildings along the street were no longer ordinary shops, but lavishly decorated restaurants and inns, as well as stores selling the organs, hides, and flesh of high-year Soul Beasts.
Among them was a shop called Le Xuan.
Carriages formed a long line outside its entrance. They were extravagantly luxurious, every bit as grand as the carriage Qian Renxue had ridden when she left.
Wang Dong'er remembered a little about Le Xuan.
It was a place where members of the imperial nobility were taught etiquette, how to improve their bearing and appearance, and the arts of music.
The empire's princess, Xue Ke, studied here. After Tang San left Slaughter City, he had come here to cleanse himself of his past and cultivate his temperament.
Most importantly, the mistress of Le Xuan was named Tang Yuehua. By seniority, Wang Dong'er ought to call her...great-aunt? Auntie?
She wasn't sure. She knew next to nothing about kinship terms.
The Clear Sky Sect had been forced into seclusion by Spirit Hall. The enormous sect was supported by Tang Yuehua alone, a woman unable to cultivate Soul Power. She was certainly a clever person.
It was said that Tang Yuehua loved her older brother, Tang Hao. Wang Dong'er had no idea whether that was true...
At the end of the street stood a magnificent four-story building, so extravagant it was dazzling.
Five large characters, "Heaven Dou Auction House," were engraved on a plaque made of pure gold.
Dozens of beautiful women served the guests at the entrance.
They had excellent figures and wore revealing clothes. Their slender, sinuous waists were utterly alluring, enough to turn any man into a beast driven by desire in an instant.
When they spotted a regular, they would approach and greet him with intimate familiarity.
But when Wang Dong'er, a face they had never seen before, came forward, one of the women raised a hand to stop her.
"Esteemed guest, you'll need to prove your assets before entering the Heaven Dou Auction House."
Wang Dong'er took out her Gold Soul Coin card from her Storage Soul Tool.
Seeing the card, the woman accepted it with a smile.
Even a purple card holding a thousand Gold Soul Coins was nothing special to her. After all, the auction house dealt with noble lords every day.
After verifying Wang Dong'er's assets, a staff member led her into the auction house.
"May I ask when the next auction will begin? Do you have any Whale Rubber for sale?"
"You've come at an inopportune time, esteemed guest. The next auction won't be held for another month."
The staff member's voice carried a hint of apology.
"As for Whale Rubber..."
After a moment's thought, the staff member said, "A merchant caravan from Vast Sea City, a coastal city, passed through some time ago. We did buy some Whale Rubber of rather good quality."
"However, the auction house doesn't sell Whale Rubber to the public. We only give it to our esteemed guests."
At this stage of Douluo Continent, Whale Rubber wasn't considered useful. People knew only that it could improve certain functions, not that absorbing it after heating could strengthen the body.
"Then...could I receive some?"
Wang Dong'er asked.
The staff member smiled faintly. "Of course. If you spend a thousand Gold Soul Coins at the auction house, you'll receive a gift."
"Besides Whale Rubber, there are plenty of other nice things you can choose from..."
"Such as?"
"Such as...me." The staff member suddenly became alluring and pressed almost against Wang Dong'er, running a pair of jade hands over her chest as she flirted.
Wang Dong'er barely reacted. The staff member was utterly surprised.
After all, no man had ever remained unmoved by her advances.
Only when the staff member was about to touch somewhere she shouldn't did Wang Dong'er raise a hand and push her away.
The staff member didn't get angry. She put her professional smile back on and said,
"If you're not interested in me, esteemed guest, that's all right. Besides me, you can choose the catgirls, rabbit girls, fox girls, and others who are being auctioned off..."
Wang Dong'er had no interest in listening to the staff member go on about such things. She bought some tools for hunting Soul Beasts, medicines, and a few Soul Tools she had never seen before, such as an Image Recording Soul Device and a Sound Projection Soul Device. After spending a thousand Gold Soul Coins, the staff member led her to a room on the first floor of the auction hall.
The room was small, only about fifty square meters.
Inside a transparent insulated case lay more than a dozen sticky, pitch-black lumps.
When the staff member opened the case, a salty, fishy odor immediately spread through the room.
It smelled awful, like rotten salted fish. An ordinary person would probably gag at the stench.
This was the Whale Rubber that could strengthen the body.
Besides the Whale Rubber, another staff member brought in five girls bound together with iron chains.
They were all young, around twelve years old. Though they looked ordinary, each had some animal-like features.
These were the playthings the auction house gave to its esteemed guests: innocent girls whose Martial Soul Awakening had unexpectedly left them mutated...
Even though Wang Dong'er had clearly said she didn't want any, the staff member had brought them up anyway.
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