Chapter 56.2: The Treasure Appreciation Auction
Everything as far as the eye could see was filled with a densely packed stream of people entering or leaving the city. On top of that, the sounds of vendors peddling their goods made everything even more chaotic.
“There are so many people here!” Huo Yuhao said, astonished.
Wang Dong said, “That’s obvious. As one of the most flourishing economic centers on the continent, Shrek City is extremely bustling. The city boasts a population of nearly five million people, that’s almost as much as some empires. Hey, don’t tell me that you’ve never been in a city before?”
Huo Yuhao nodded, “Yeah! This is the largest city I’ve ever been in.”
While looking around curiously, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong walked through the wide city gates. Shrek City’s main roads were extremely wide and allowed eight carriages to ride through them at the same time. The vast atmosphere within the city made Huo Yuhao gasp in surprise as he felt his worldview widen.
“How about it? Our trip was not in vain was it?” Wang Dong smiled. He had a similar curious expression on his face; after all, this was also his first time entering Shrek City.
The descriptions of Shrek City on the map were extremely accurate and its roads were extremely orderly. As a result, it wasn’t hard to navigate around the city. After walking for about fifteen minutes or so, they arrived at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The Treasure Gathering Pavilion was a large store that dealt with items relating to soul masters and soul engineers. If looked upon from afar, one could see that it was an enormous four-floored building that was over twenty meters tall. The building itself took up a large amount of space. It was a dazzling sight to behold from the outside, as it resembled a cornucopia.
A building this luxurious had already exceeded Huo Yuhao’s range of understanding. And so, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes when he saw the four cheongsam-wearing girls standing beside the door to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The girls who were in charge of receiving customers of the Treasure Gathering Hall were only seventeen or eighteen years old, they had sweet appearances and slender bodies. Their fair skins looked even more charming when contrasted with the dazzling Treasure Gathering Pavilion. Huo Yuhao was immediately flabbergasted.
“Ouch. Wang Dong, what’re you pinching me before?” An acute sensation of pain brought Huo Yuhao back to his senses. He turned around and saw that Wang Dong was glaring at him fiercely.
“What’re you looking at? Be careful of growing a sty if you look at something you’re not supposed to.” Wang Dong said angrily.
Huo Yuhao put an innocent expression on his face as he looked into Wang Dong’s large beautiful eyes. “Being attracted to someone beautiful is only human. I’m just taking a look. These older sisters are really pretty.”
“Hmph! Very pretty?” Wang Dong had a look of disdain on his face. He was somewhat hesitant to respond, but he managed to not say anything.
Huo Yuhao rubbed his aching waist and said helplessly, “Whatever, I won’t look. You don’t even like looking at pretty women, you’re still such a child.”
Wang Dong ignored him and strode towards the Treasure Gathering Pavilion as Huo Yuhao hurriedly chased after him.
Before they could reach the door leading to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, one of the eight girls who were standing by the door walked over to them with a faint smile on her face. “Are you two soul masters coming to participate in the Treasure Appreciation Auction?” she inquired respectfully,
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had both worn their Shrek Academy uniforms, which made them stand out in the crowd. As a result, they had received a large number of glances on their journey here.
The two of them took out their invitation letters and handed them over to her. The smile on the girl’s face immediately became much more gentle when she saw their invitation letters, “Soul masters, please follow me.” she said as she led the way
Even among the core disciples of Shrek Academy, there were very few students around Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s age who could attend the Treasure Appreciation Auction. Hence, they received curious looks as they walked past the group of girls beside the door.
Wang Dong was still fine, but Huo Yuhao’s face was completely flushed.
After entering the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, a luxurious atmosphere immediately assaulted all of their senses. The golden hall was extremely extravagant and was illuminated by a crystal light that hung from the ceiling. The two sides of the hall were similarly lined with two rows of women.
When compared to the eight cheongsam-wearing girls who were on the outside, the young ladies within the hall who wore short golden skirts were even more eye-catching. These young ladies were slightly younger and the material used in their skirts was extremely thin, revealing their fair slender legs. All of their appearances were stunning and their bodies were extremely beautiful. A person would feel as if he had walked into heaven on earth after entering this golden hall.
“We welcome our distinguished guests.” The young ladies in the hall bowed and greeted them, immediately startling Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. They couldn’t help but feel bewildered as they looked at the girls who were all bowing towards them.
Huo Yuhao was still young and didn’t know much of the differences in terms of status and wealth that different people had. However, he began to slowly understand that concept. Would an ordinary person be granted entry to such a luxurious place?
At that moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt his vision go dark; his eyes had been covered. Wang Dong’s voice rang out, “You’re not allowed to look. I wouldn’t have brought you here if I’d known that it was gonna be like this. I won’t let you be corrupted by bad things like this.”
Huo Yuhao was filled with helplessness. “Why would I be corrupted by the sights here? Aren’t you seeing them as well? Doesn’t that mean that you’ll be corrupted too?”
Wang Dong subconsciously justified his actions, “I’m different, I…” He suddenly stopped and continued in a fierce voice, “In any case, you should just close your eyes and not look at anything here.” With that, he moved his hands off Huo Yuhao’s eyes.
As the two spoke, they passed the corridor filled with beautiful women. The white-clothed young lady guided them up a golden flight of stairs to the second floor of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The second floor was much quieter than the first floor. It seemed extremely messy on the inside but everything was arranged in an extremely logical manner. Exhibition booths were all installed in the most eye-catching parts of the room and each booth was covered with an enormous piece of crystal-glass. Every booth had a wide variety of diverse and unique items.
The white-clothed lady stopped. “Greetings to the two distinguished guests who are attending the Treasure Appreciation Auction held within the Treasure Gathering Pavilion. Please head towards the western area to register yourselves. You can get a credit evaluation if you wish to buy things on credit. The results of this evaluation will determine the discounts available to you as well as your credit limits.”