Ho Yuhao sighed helplessly in his heart, "How am I 'going bad'? I'm the Holy Spirit Church's Sacred Son — I'm bad by nature, alright?"
Recently, Bibi Dong was acting strangely. Could it be that she was treating him like her own son? Ho Yuhao's inner thoughts naturally did not escape Bibi Dong's spiritual connection, and immediately he was thrown out of the spiritual sea.
"Get lost! You think you can be my son too?"
While they were talking, they had already passed through the corridor of beauties. The girl in the white dress led them up the golden stairs to the second floor of the Treasure Pavilion.
Compared to the first floor, the second floor was much quieter. It seemed scattered, but every display booth was arranged in the most reasonable and eye-catching positions. Each booth was covered by a huge crystal glass dome. On the display tables inside were various items.
The girl in the white dress stopped walking. "Welcome, honored guests, to the Treasure Pavilion's appraisal event. The appraisal event is held on the second floor. You may browse freely. If you find any items you like, please proceed to the west side for registration and purchase. If you wish to buy on credit, you may also apply for an evaluation there. The evaluation result will determine the discount you enjoy and the credit limit."
At this point, Ho Yuhao was still just a freshman, and unlike in the original story where he was a dual-core disciple the first time he came here, he risked being expelled if he offended any high-ranking officials. Naturally, he had no credit limit.
"I'll first take a look at the soul bones." Ho Yuhao had quite a bit of money himself, so there was no need to owe Shrek Academy any favors. Saying this, he began browsing the second floor. His primary goal was to find a soul bone with a spatial attribute.
Compared to thousands of years ago, the amount of soul bones produced on the continent had increased several times. Many large auction venues sold soul bones publicly — but this was not only from hunting soul beasts.
It was well known that even those who became ultimate Douluos had a lifespan limit of only a few hundred years. Most title Douluos, before dying, would choose to remove their soul bones to benefit future generations. There were also cases where stingy masters ended up being looted after death, as those with soul bones usually showed their soul bone powers when alive, making their remains targets for tomb robbers.
There was also the situation where enemies who killed each other's souls would collect the bones of the defeated.
Therefore, at the auctions in the wealthy Shrek City, there were already soul bone booths, displaying countless soul bones of various ranks.
However, most of these were hundred-year-old soul bones; thousand-year-old soul bones were rare. It was presumed that many high-grade soul bones had been given cheaply to Shrek Academy students.
Naturally, Ho Yuhao had no interest in these low-grade soul bones and quickly browsed through before shaking his head and walking away.
Seeing Ho Yuhao show no interest, the girl in the white dress hurriedly approached. "Honored Soul Master, if you cannot find a suitable soul bone here, perhaps you could try the Soul Bone Gambling Ground."
"Gambling Ground?" Ho Yuhao had never heard of such a place in the original story.
"Yes. After hunting soul beasts, some soul masters choose to send the beasts' carcasses to the auction to sell. The intact flesh of soul beasts is a precious supplement for some great families and sect disciples. Hidden within, there might be soul bones that the hunters missed, making it a gamble for competitors."
In other words, you spend a large sum buying a mostly useless soul beast carcass. If you're lucky, you might find a soul bone inside; if unlucky, you've just paid hundreds of times the price for a big feast.
"Let's go take a look." Ho Yuhao nodded. Besides, with his spiritual detection ability and two treasure appraisal masters in his spiritual sea, maybe he could find a treasure.
"Please follow me." The girl in the white dress led the way. Her slender waist swayed, her snow-white skin faintly visible, which made Ho Yuhao feel very pleased.
Soon, they passed through a corridor and arrived at a quiet side room. On tables of various sizes lay soul beast carcasses with grim appearances.
The girl whispered something to a staff member nearby, then allowed the staff to escort Ho Yuhao in, as she apparently didn't have permission to enter.
Ho Yuhao noticed a few soul masters wandering here, including some wearing the disgusting olive-green uniform of Shrek Academy.
One Shrek Academy student noticed Ho Yuhao because although he wore the Shrek badge, he hadn't put on that awful uniform.
"Hello, fellow student. Are you a freshman too?" The boy was overweight, with messy black short hair, at least 1.7 meters tall, significantly taller than Ho Yuhao, and more notably, his waist circumference was probably close to 1.7 meters as well...
Just standing there, he looked like a small meat mountain.
"Hello, my name is Ho Yuhao." Ho Yuhao immediately recognized who he was. Among the freshmen, there was only one like him.
"Xie Huanyue," the fat boy grinned, "You're here to gamble on bones too? How about we buy one together and give it a try?"
Ho Yuhao smiled wryly. This fatty was a kind of wise fool in the original story. His martial soul was a rare beast soul called Pi Pi Elephant. This soul was naturally extremely defensive. To break through his "ball-like" defense, normal attacks wouldn't work. Only two ways: extreme attribute attacks like intense fire or extreme cold, or extreme sharpness.
Although the original story gave little background on Xie Huanyue, he had reached level 30 soul power at age 12, even higher than Ning Tian, the heir of Jiubao Liuli Sect. So, he must either have substantial resources or exceptional talent behind him.
"Brother Xie, no need for formalities. Consider it friendship. You like whichever carcass; I'll gift it to you." Ho Yuhao, feeling wealthy and casual, patted Xie Huanyue's back, acting like "we're tight."
The most expensive soul beast carcass here cost only around 200,000 gold soul coins, which was nothing to Ho Yuhao, worth billions.
Hearing this, Xie Huanyue's little eyes widened in shock, then he laughed loudly and grabbed Ho Yuhao's hand. "Alright! We're friends now. If anyone bothers you as a freshman, just mention my name!"
"Then I'll be relying on Brother Xie a lot in the future." Ho Yuhao laughed outwardly but felt a chill inside. The fatty's grip felt like sinking into a pool of grease.
"We're on the same side, same side!" Xie Huanyue laughed, patting his big belly happily.
Without hesitation, he chose the biggest giant ape carcass, with a starting bid of 200,000 gold soul coins.
Seeing how his eyes shone when looking at that carcass, Ho Yuhao realized that this heavenly talented person didn't have as much background as Ning Tian.
Such a prodigy was a pity not to get on his team.
While Ho Yuhao was thinking, Bibi Dong's urgent voice echoed in his mind.
"Quick, Yuhao, choose that Purple Cloud Eagle!"
Following Bibi Dong's spiritual guidance, Ho Yuhao moved forward to a table displaying the carcass of a bird with a wingspan of 2.5 meters.
"This Purple Cloud Eagle carcass was discovered by a senior named Xiao Huohuo in the Starry Forest. A battle robe made from its feathers is not only lightweight but extremely defensive," a staff member kindly introduced.
"Add this one for me too." Ho Yuhao casually said, flaunting his wealth. Compared to Xie Huanyue's giant ape at 200,000 gold soul coins, this bird's starting price was less than 50,000.
The staff didn't ask further. Soul masters who dared to come to the gambling ground were mostly desperate sorts. Out of ten thousand soul beast carcasses, not even one had guaranteed hidden soul bones. Usually, soul bones were discovered immediately after the soul beast was killed. Even if hidden, the hunting teams were experienced soul masters who had thoroughly checked the carcasses.
"Hello, are you two paying together?" After packaging the carcasses, the staff asked.
"Together." Ho Yuhao stepped forward naturally. Being overly formal now wouldn't win Xie Huanyue's friendship.
Seeing Ho Yuhao buy the expensive carcass as promised, a subtle change appeared on Xie Huanyue's face.
"Let's go, Brother Xie." Ho Yuhao handed the big bag with the giant ape carcass to him, ready to leave.
"Ho Shao, calling me Brother Xie is too formal. If you don't mind, you can call me Fatty Xie," Xie Huanyue happily said while carrying the bag.
Ho Yuhao thought to himself that in the original story, because of his background, this fatty probably never got this carcass, which caused him to fall far behind the main protagonists.
Did this inadvertent action of his cause some change in the world line?
He had never heard that a giant ape's remains could improve the Pi Pi Elephant soul.
I have a new idea for Xie Huanyue's soul, which I believe will bring readers a fresh experience!
Saving up several chapters for a big explosion later!
(End of Chapter)
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