Douro Continent

Chapter 261 A Sudden Understanding (Part 2)

Tyrone felt as if his punch had hit nothing at all; the power in his fist vanished instantly. Then, a great force struck his chest, causing him to stumble and fly through the air.

Bang! Tyrone's massive body flew several meters, crashing onto a patch of Blue Silver Grass in a forest.

"Are you convinced?" Tang San stood with his hands behind his back. Although he was not old, he had a majestic presence as he stood there.

"I refuse to accept this!" Tailong roared, sprang up from the ground, and slammed into Tang San like a boulder.

Tang San frowned. "Then I'll beat you until you submit."

Ten minutes later, Xiao Wu emerged from the woods first, sighing as she walked, "Talon is a bit annoying, but he's really resilient. He's been knocked down over a hundred times and can still get back up."

"He's also very stubborn." Tang San followed Xiao Wu out of the woods. "If I hadn't dislocated his joints, I don't know how long he would have kept pestering me."

Tailong had absolutely no chance against Tang San's Ghost Shadow Perplexity and Crane Control Dragon Capture. While his physical strength was indeed superior to Tang San's, he had no opportunity to utilize it. He was completely suppressed by Tang San.

In the end, in order to stop him from continuing to harass him, Tang San had no choice but to use his grappling techniques to dislocate the joints of his limbs, thus ending the contest.

Xiao Wu took Tang San's hand. "Let's go eat."

Tang San nodded, his gaze falling on Xiao Wu, slightly lost in thought.

"What's wrong? Don't you recognize me?" Xiao Wu asked with a smile.

Tang San quickly shook his head to hide his embarrassment. "Let's go. I'll go with you wherever you want this afternoon."

The academy's location in the city was indeed convenient; just outside the gates were wide streets. Tian Dou City truly lived up to its reputation as the capital of the Tian Dou Empire; its streets were wide and clean, lined with shops. The streets were bustling with a constant stream of people.

Because of Tailong's delay, Tang San and Xiao Wu went into several restaurants, only to find them all full. Before they knew it, they had arrived in the city center.

"Brother, what's that place over there?" Xiao Wu asked, pointing to a domed building not far ahead.

The building looked peculiar; it was perfectly round, like half a sphere placed upside down on the ground. There was no sign with its name on it, only a hammer symbol.

Tang San's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately remembered the master's words. That hammer wasn't a blacksmith's forging hammer. "That looks like an auction house. The mark on it should be an auction hammer used by auction houses."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. "An auction house? Shall we go take a look? I remember the master said that only in the capitals of the two great empires are there the highest-level auction houses, where even soul bones are sold."

Tang San knew about the auction house, naturally because of the soul bone. It was a treasure every soul master dreamed of. In a sense, as long as one's soul power reached a certain level, almost any soul master could obtain a soul ring, only the quality would differ. But a soul bone was different.

The scarcity of soul bones makes them the exclusive domain of a select few soul masters. Anyone possessing a soul bone will go to great lengths to conceal it, lest others discover it. Countless bloodshed incidents have occurred because of soul bones. Even the most ordinary soul bone can fetch an astronomical price.

Although the Spirit Hall explicitly forbids Spirit Masters from hunting Spirit Beasts on a large scale to obtain Spirit Bones, many Spirit Masters who are confident in their strength still take the risk. Of course, not many are willing to sell their Spirit Bones; most are exchanged.

They can exchange their soul bones for more suitable ones or some precious items.

Tang San was also very interested in the auction house. "Xiao Wu, let's go eat first. We can go take a look after we eat."

When the topic of food came up, Xiao Wu couldn't help but complain angrily, "It's all that Tyrone's fault for wasting time! All the good restaurants near the academy gate are full. These restaurants are so popular! There's not even a seat available."

Tang San shrugged helplessly and said, "We can't just go to the auction house hungry. There must be a place to eat in such a big city like Heaven Dou."

Xiao Wu suddenly laughed and said, "Look over there, there's a fast food place. Let's just grab something to eat."

Tang San looked in the direction Xiao Wu was pointing and saw an old man pushing a cart and hawking his wares. Several large pots were on the cart. Next to it was a bamboo basket covered with a warm cotton quilt.

"Boss, how much is this meal?" Xiao Wu asked, skipping over.

The old man, seeing that Xiao Wu was a cute little girl, immediately smiled and said, "Little girl, my lunchboxes are absolutely delicious. Business is good today, and there's not much left. I'll give you a discount. Two copper soul coins per serving, all you can eat. How about it?"

"Thank you." Xiao Wu quickly took out four copper soul coins from her pocket and handed them over. "I'll take two servings. Brother, come and eat."

The old man lifted several pot lids; two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes were a good combination. Inside the bamboo baskets were large, snow-white steamed buns. Although they weren't very hot anymore, they were still lukewarm.

Xiao Wu first gave Tang San a steamed bun, then picked one up for herself, took the dishes the old man had served, and ate them heartily. Although it was just a cheap boxed meal, she still ate it very happily.

Tang San stood beside Xiao Wu, eating his boxed lunch with her. He was momentarily captivated by Xiao Wu's satisfied and beautiful face.

Xiao Wu would occasionally pick the meat from the dishes and put it into Tang San's bowl, while she herself only ate some vegetables and meat scraps.

"Xiao Wu, you eat too."

Xiao Wu laughed and said, "I don't eat much to begin with. Besides, you're at the age where you're growing. The master said that you men need to eat more meat, otherwise you won't have any strength."

A simple sentence struck Tang San deeply, striking the softest spot in his heart. In an instant, the confusion and bewilderment of the past few days seemed to break free of their restraints. Tang San stood there, stunned, looking at Xiao Wu with a strange light in his eyes.

"Brother, what's wrong? Why have you been so absent-minded these past few days? Are you feeling unwell?" Xiao Wu raised her hand and touched Tang San's forehead.

Tang San put down the steamed bun in his hand and grabbed Xiao Wu's hand. In that split second, he suddenly understood. Looking at Xiao Wu's concerned face, Tang San felt his blood boiling. "Xiao Wu, no matter what happens in the future, I will always protect you as I do now. You will always be my most beloved Xiao Wu."

Xiao Wu was taken aback for a moment. Although she didn't understand why Tang San would say such a thing at this time, her heart was still warmed. She smiled sweetly and said, "Brother, I know you're the best to me. Eat quickly, or it will get cold."

Tang San picked up the steamed bun again. Perhaps because his inner knot had been untied, his appetite became very strong. He ate the steamed bun and dishes in big bites, and his face once again showed his usual smile.

The old man, seeing that Tang San and Xiao Wu were just children, assumed they wouldn't eat much, hence his promise of unlimited food. But seeing Tang San eat more and more, he couldn't help but frown. A buffet vendor encountering a glutton—what a tragedy!

Tang San ate until he was stuffed before finishing his lunch.

"Thank you, boss. Your boxed lunch is delicious." Tang San nodded politely to the boss, and with a flick of his wrist, a silver soul coin was placed on the stall.

"Young man, what are you doing?" The boss was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly called out to Tang San and Xiao Wu, who had already walked away.

Tang San turned around and smiled, saying, "This is what you deserve." With that, he grabbed Xiao Wu and strode away. For him, this was far more than just a lunch.

Xiao Wu felt that Tang San's hand was gripping hers tightly, and the smile on his face seemed to have returned to normal. Always clever, she didn't press the matter further and walked towards the auction house with great interest.

Only when you get close can you truly appreciate the scale of that circular building.

According to Tang San's estimation, the semicircle on the ground was at least 500 meters in diameter and over 80 meters at its highest point. Although it was slightly inferior to the Great Soul Arena he had seen before, it should be noted that this was just an auction house and did not require an audience.

Moreover, Tiandou City is the capital of the Tiandou Empire, and land here is incredibly valuable. This shows just how important the auction house is in Tiandou City, and its background is unfathomable.

The auction house's main entrance was also semi-circular, and like the rest of the building, it was milky white. Four tall girls stood in front of the entrance.

These girls were clearly carefully selected; not only were they all around 1.75 meters tall, but they also had extremely well-proportioned figures. Although they couldn't be described as stunning beauties, their pretty faces were still very attractive, and they looked to be no more than twenty years old.

(End of this chapter)