Though Tang Feng's clothes were simple, they could not conceal his heroic bearing or the composure between his brows that belied his age.
Seeing that Tang Feng spoke sincerely and was not putting on an act, Dugu Yan immediately returned to her usual liveliness and said with a smile, "All right, then don't stand on ceremony either. Call me Sister Yan."
"All right. Thank you, Sister Yan."
Dugu Bo watched from the side with delight, stroking his beard as he called out, "Enough, enough! Stop standing around in the doorway. Yanyan, tell the kitchen to prepare a feast. We're going to celebrate properly today!"
Dinner was a lavish affair, with dishes covering every inch of the table. Everyone got along merrily; none of them were the quietly repressed sort. After a little fruit wine, the atmosphere grew exceptionally lively, and Tang Feng and Dugu Yan gradually became more familiar with each other.
Early the next morning, before the thin mist had fully dispersed, dull sounds of something cutting through the air were already echoing across the training ground in Dugu Manor's rear courtyard.
The Clear Sky Hammer in Tang Feng's hands whipped up a fierce wind. With every strike, a ring of fine cracks spread across the ground, making the exotic flowers and herbs in the neighboring medicinal garden tremble.
"Stop, stop, stop... Little Monster, you'd better stop practicing your hammer techniques in my manor. You're going to shake the house down!" Unable to stand the shaking any longer, Dugu Bo hurried out and teased him, "Cultivation requires a balance of tension and relaxation. How about this? I'll take you around Heaven Dou City today and let you experience the bustle of everyday life, instead of doing nothing but cultivating all day."
Tang Feng paused at his words. Ever since his rebirth, he had either been memorizing texts and practicing with his hammer in the Clear Sky Sect or swinging his hammer and tempering his body at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. As for what ordinary life in Douluo truly looked like, he had only glimpsed fragments of it on the pages of books.
"Give me half an incense stick!" Tang Feng's eyes lit up, and he darted back to the guest room in a flash.
When Tang Feng reappeared, he wore a silver-and-black mask that exposed only his sharply defined jaw and a pair of eyes with their keen edge held in check. It concealed his true appearance without obstructing his vision in the slightest.
Seeing Tang Feng's getup, Dugu Bo's mouth twitched, and he scolded him with a laugh. "A country bumpkin heading into town-are you afraid a human trafficker will abduct you?"
Before he had finished speaking, a figure in green bounded out from around a corner of the corridor.
Dugu Yan wore a fitted martial outfit, with a seven-section flexible whip coiled around her waist, outlining its slender, serpentine curve. She playfully looked Tang Feng up and down, then burst out laughing. "The mask is pretty cool. Too bad it still can't hide that rustic air of someone who's never seen the world."
"Shoo, shoo." Tang Feng waved her off, unbothered, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly beneath his mask.
After leaving the manor, the three headed straight toward the center of Heaven Dou City.
The moment they stepped onto Vermilion Bird Avenue, the most bustling street of all, Tang Feng felt he did not have enough eyes to take everything in.
Tall towers stood packed together like scales on a fish or teeth in a comb, the enormous crystals set into their tops refracting seven-colored halos in the sunlight. The shop signs on either side of the street were outlined with miniature Soul Guidance Lamp tubes, dazzling in a riot of shimmering colors.
"So... the city is this flashy," Tang Feng murmured to himself, his nose filled with all kinds of smells: the cumin fragrance from grilled-meat stalls, the cloying sweetness of cosmetics shops, the saltpeter smell from smithies, and a faint scent of blood drifting over from afar.
Seeing Tang Feng's expression, Dugu Yan laughed until she shook like a flowering branch. She waved a hand before his eyes. "Little bumpkin, your eyes are about to fall out! Don't drool-you'll embarrass this young lady."
The three arrived before a magnificent building with a white-and-gold dome, and Dugu Bo said, "This is the Heaven Dou Auction House. It's one of the liveliest places in Heaven Dou City."
The Heaven Dou Auction House occupied a thousand mu, its dome cast from a single piece of crystal. As sunlight passed through it, it split into a thousand rainbows that spilled across the white-jade plaza before its doors, creating a splendor that bordered on extravagance.
Spotting the emerald badge of an imperial retainer at Dugu Bo's waist from afar, an attendant immediately jogged over, bowed, and led the three to a private VIP box on the second floor.
Inside the box, the velvet sofas were as soft as clouds, and the glass coffee table was laden with rare and exotic fruits.
Dugu Yan picked up a bunch of amethyst grapes with practiced familiarity, eating as she commented on the guests below. Tang Feng, however, braced both hands on the railing and looked down over the sea of people filling the auction hall beyond the box.
A circular display platform stood in the center of the hall, while more than three hundred spotlights overhead illuminated the entire venue as brightly as day. Its several thousand seats were already filled.
"What... lavish spending," Tang Feng praised softly.
Before long, a graceful figure stepped onto the platform. The woman wore a fiery-red gown with a slit reaching her thigh, swaying alluringly with every step.
Holding an amplification staff, the woman parted her red lips, her voice seductive to the bone. "Good morning, honored guests. I am Hong Lian, the chief auctioneer. I now declare the Heaven Dou Auction House's third high-tier auction of the season officially open!"
As her words fell, the lights throughout the venue abruptly dimmed, leaving only a pillar of light rising over the display platform.
With a wave of Hong Lian's slender hand, the crystal cover slowly rose, revealing the curious object within, grayish-white as jade.
"Our first lot is also one of today's highlights-a supreme-grade thousand-year snow silkworm!"
From the VIP room, Tang Feng could see it clearly. The snow silkworm was as thick as an infant's arm, with deeply etched rings, while its body was a translucent golden yellow, so plump it seemed about to drip honey.
The auctioneer Hong Lian continued, "The sovereign among cordyceps, capable of neutralizing ninety percent of the world's exotic poisons. The opening bid is one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, with each increase no less than ten thousand!"
"One hundred and fifty thousand!" In a corner of the hall, a black-robed man as tall and thin as a bamboo pole raised his bidding paddle. His voice was sonorous, as though he was determined to win.
"Two hundred thousand!" A fat-headed, big-eared merchant in the front row refused to be outdone.
The two traded bids back and forth, the price rocketing upward without leaving anyone else a chance to interject.
Tang Feng leaned against the railing, his gaze indifferent. Though this thousand-year snow silkworm was a treasure, compared with the specimens lying in his Hundred Treasure Purse, something so ordinary had long since ceased to catch his eye.
It finally sold for the astronomical price of three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. The merchant wiped the sweat from his forehead, while the black-robed man gave a cold snort.
None of the next few lots aroused the slightest interest in Tang Feng.
Tang Feng was idly turning his teacup in utter boredom when he suddenly saw four burly men pushing a jade box onto the display platform. Though tightly shut, the box still let out faint traces of a fishy smell.
Hong Lian's beautiful eyes swept over the crowd, and her voice grew even more enticing. "Our next lot is a supreme nourishing tonic, a blessing for all you gentlemen-ten-thousand-year-quality whale rubber!"
She tapped with a delicate finger and opened the jade box, revealing a gelatinous mass as large as a millstone, black with a golden sheen. Its fishy fragrance instantly filled the venue.
"As for its effects..." Hong Lian deliberately drew out the last syllable, her gaze silken and seductive. "You all understand. The opening bid is just two thousand Gold Soul Coins~"
Whistles and teasing laughter immediately erupted throughout the venue. Quite a few noblewomen covered their faces as they laughed, yet secretly held out their bidding paddles.
Tang Feng's pupils narrowed slightly, and his nose twitched. The rusty scent mixed into that fishy fragrance stirred something in his mind.
After a moment's consideration, Tang Feng turned to Dugu Bo and analyzed in a low voice, "Old Monster, there's a web of golden markings on the surface of this whale rubber. That should be the condensed bloodline essence of a whale-type Soul Beast. Its fishy smell carries a rusty tang, which indicates that it's rich in deep-sea marrow iron and active metallic elements."
"The aphrodisiac effect the auctioneer mentioned is merely the outward appearance of surging blood and Qi. If it's balanced with cold-attribute medicinal herbs, or suppressed with the cold from ice, the concentrated deep-sea marrow oil within can reshape the sinews and bones, making them as tough as a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone!"
At his words, a brilliant gleam flashed through Dugu Bo's eyes. Knowing full well that Tang Feng's mastery of pharmacology had reached the realm of perfection, he pressed the golden bidding button in the box without the slightest hesitation.
Hong Lian's beautiful eyes lit up, and she announced sweetly, "The honored guest in Box Two bids five thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
The amplifier carried her voice throughout the venue, and the clamor instantly died away. Who would dare compete with an imperial retainer? Besides, it was only a piece of "virility-boosting" whale rubber. Everyone merely assumed that the Old Monster was still vigorous in his old age and laughed inwardly, but no one dared raise the bid again.
Soon, the hammer fell. Sold!
Dugu Bo casually tossed the piece of whale rubber, fully half the size of a head, to Tang Feng.
Tang Feng, however, cradled it in both hands as though he had obtained a priceless treasure. Soul Power surged at his fingertips as he carefully sensed its internal structure, beginning to work out how to consume it and already becoming completely immersed in his own world.
Tang Feng paid no attention to the remaining treasures at the auction. Only when the closing bell rang did he return to his senses, still wanting more.
By the time the three left the auction house, the sun was already slanting low. Dugu Yan suggested trying a newly opened Soul Beast meat barbecue restaurant, so the three took the opportunity to enjoy another hearty meal. Of course, Tang Feng was penniless, so Dugu Yan paid for everything.
As they left the barbecue restaurant, Tang Feng's gaze fell on an old-fashioned smithy on the street corner. His thoughts shifted, and he said softly, "Old Monster, I want to have a weapon forged that suits my hand. As you know, it isn't convenient for me to reveal my Martial Soul. With a suitable weapon, I could fight without using it."
Dugu Bo nodded at his words. "That makes sense. Though a weapon won't let you bring out your full strength, protecting yourself shouldn't be a problem."