At this moment, the person Ling Luochen was looking for was leisurely browsing a soul tool tablet in a luxurious private booth on the top floor of the Starlight Auction House, casually picking out various materials.
The top floor of the Starlight Auction House was usually closed to the public, typically reserved for major factions during large-scale auctions. However, the status of a Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Engineer Academy student, coupled with a personal Titled Douluo escort, carried significant weight.
A maid stood by silently, glancing over to record as much external information about the group as possible before quietly withdrawing from the room.
"Big Boss, Big Boss! I've never seen this thing before!"
"Buy it."
"Big Boss, Big Boss! This soul tool looks so weird! It looks super interesting!"
"Buy it."
"Big Boss, Big Boss! This! This! I want this too!!!"
Xu Tianzhen's eyes were sparkling. She clung to Huo Yuhao's arm and refused to let go. Huo Yuhao simply smiled, and with a flick of his finger, it was "buy, buy, buy."
It was just pocket change.
The Sun Moon Empire had established systems for patents and intellectual property. All patents under Huo Yuhao's name were classified as top-secret and could not be shared externally; the empire paid the patent fees directly.
Furthermore, because the value he created was so immense, the Sun Moon Empire could only compensate him through a "credit quota" system. Simply put, whatever Huo Yuhao took a fancy to—as long as it was reasonable—he didn't have to spend a cent of his own money. The Empire footed the bill.
Talk about an Empire "sponsoring" a single individual!
At the moment, Huo Yuhao's shopping spree had only cost about twenty million gold coins. Most of it went toward rare materials and soul tools unique to the Star Net Empire, while a small portion consisted of gifts for the eccentric princess beside him.
"Wow! Big Boss! Thank you! But I can't pay you back... how about I pay by warming your bed—ow!"
Xu Tianzhen clutched her head, looking at Huo Yuhao in mock pain.
Huo Yuhao took the opportunity to slide his arm out from where she had been squeezing it and said calmly:
"Have some dignity. You are a princess, after all..."
"Hmm? Does Big Boss like the noble, ladylike type with poise and temperament? You should have said so! I'm great at that! I guarantee Big Boss will be sat—eep, I was wrong! Don't hit me!"
Seeing Huo Yuhao raise his hand, Xu Tianzhen immediately surrendered.
Huo Yuhao sighed, momentarily at a loss for words. Ever since he had used emotional power to guide Xu Tianzhen into speaking her true thoughts, it was as if a switch had been flipped. She had launched a full-scale offensive on him.
Her goal was exceptionally clear: find a way to offer herself to him and live that carefree, "wealthy socialite" lifestyle of "lying flat" that she had mentioned before.
Xu Tianzhen was smart—in every sense of the word. She was smart enough that even though she followed him around all day, Huo Yuhao never felt annoyed or burdened. After all, how could one harbor ill will toward a girl who revolved around you daily, provided constant emotional value, was quirky and eccentric but never failed at critical moments, and—though she was "flat"—would still occasionally "service" him out of gratitude?
"Alright. Is there anything else you want? Let's buy it all together."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Yay! Long live Big Boss!"
Xu Tianzhen cheered and tried to launch a physical "sneak attack" on him. Huo Yuhao blocked her with one hand, causing her plan to fail. She could only sheepishly go back to the soul tool tablet to pick out things she liked.
She doesn't look like a princess at all...
Huo Yuhao shook his head, finding it amusing. Withdrawing his gaze, he began to ponder his plan for this Soul Master Competition.
For this competition, Huo Yuhao and Xu Tianzhen had come as part of the reserve team. Xu Tianzhen's status as a princess was public knowledge and not hidden. On the surface, because she was a princess, she was assigned a Titled Douluo as a bodyguard.
In reality, however, this Titled Douluo was there to protect Huo Yuhao. Furthermore, the Starry Sky Douluo, Ye Yulin, was also hiding in the shadows specifically to handle Huo Yuhao's security. In a sense, Xu Tianzhen was the shield arranged for Huo Yuhao to draw attention away from him, allowing him to safely navigate the competition.
This was also why only Xu Tianzhen was by his side at the auction house, and not Miss Meng. Though Miss Meng was a reserve member, her status as a Soul King and her martial soul fusion skill with Xiao Hongchen meant she was almost 100% likely to take the field. She had to stay behind to listen to Teacher Ma's briefing on the match arrangements.
Because of this, Miss Meng had resentfully dragged Huo Yuhao into a dark corner and "attacked" his lips to get her fill before the briefing. She ended up losing that battle of wits to him and had to be supported back to the meeting room with wobbly legs...
Cough, back to the point.
In short, based on the Sun Moon Empire's actions, they truly cared about his mental well-being. From their perspective, Huo Yuhao spent more than two-thirds of the year cooped up in the lab. Combined with his youth, they were genuinely worried.
Sun Moon Empire: Dear ancestor! Please take a break! Stop researching! How about we let the princess play with you and send you on a vacation across the country to relax?!
Huo Yuhao: No. I want to research!!!
It was basically like that.
Huo Yuhao didn't really mind. Even if he hadn't come with the academy team, he would have had to come to this competition himself anyway. Whether it was for data collection or other plans, he needed to be present.
The only issue was...
Huo Yuhao recalled when the academy team was checking into the hotel and happened to run into the Shrek team.
Huo Yuhao was unique. His physique, spirit, and soul power had been modified by emotional power, giving his aura a certain indescribable change. This change made it easier for those close to him to recognize him... though it was often just a feeling of "familiarity."
For example, Ling Luochen, who had tried almost everything with Huo Yuhao except for the final step, clearly noticed something was off about him. People like Jiang Nannan, who hadn't reached that stage yet, would only feel a slight daze, as if they had seen him somewhere before.
But someone like Dong'er, who was extremely familiar with him, recognized him almost at first glance.
Forget it. Consider it an early confession. No rush; we'll talk about it later...
Huo Yuhao pulled his thoughts back as Xu Tianzhen finished picking her items and quietly leaned in again.
To avoid being sent off by her father for a political marriage, Xu Tianzhen was working very hard. Now that Miss Meng wasn't around, she had to seize the chance to "cook the rice," ideally getting pregnant so she could officially cling to the Big Boss.
After that, she could live a carefree life "lying flat." It would be super happy!