Although Oscar and Ma Hongjun were still young, the owner of the horse stable already recognized them after all, they had ridden into Soto City multiple times before.
After properly stabling their horses, the two of them walked side by side toward Soto City.
The city gate had its own checkpoint, quite similar to what Oscar remembered from ancient times in his past life there were guards performing inspections.
If one was a Soul Master, they could simply present their Soul Master identification, and the gate guards would respectfully let them through with a courteous "Please, go ahead."
However, due to Flender's instructions, neither Oscar nor Ma Hongjun had registered as official Soul Masters. Their innate talents were too exceptional, and Flender feared that the Spirit Hall might take notice and whisk them away.
When it came time for Oscar and Ma Hongjun to pass through the gate, they were treated as ordinary civilians and let through after a casual glance no one would trouble two handsome, well mannered kids.
Once inside Soto City, they headed straight for Flender's little shop.
Despite Flender's status as a Soul Saint, he clearly lacked business sense. His shop hardly received any customers throughout the month, and the sign outside boldly declared it a "Soul Master Supply Store," deterring any ordinary person from entering.
Oscar even suspected that the shop existed more as a place for Flender to slack off or scam inexperienced Soul Masters than any serious business venture.
Oscar mostly spent his time in the academy under Zhao Wuji's supervision, rarely seeing Flender during the day only catching glimpses of him at night.
This trip to Soto City was meant as a break for Oscar. It had been a while since his last visit.
As for visiting Flender's shop, it had become a monthly ritual. Oscar had read in the original timeline that Tang San had once found a treasure called Hair Gold in Flender's store, so Oscar made a habit of scavenging it monthly.
Unfortunately, over the past two years, he hadn't found anything worthwhile. The best item he'd discovered was a century old medicinal herb, which he used for body tempering.
Speaking of which, Oscar had been searching for a rare body refining treasure Whale Glue, which only appeared in Douluo Dalu II.
Even in the current era, Whale Glue was extraordinarily rare found only in coastal cities.
Within the central continent, it was known only for its use as an aphrodisiac.
Despite two years of searching, Oscar had found no trace of it in Soto City.
The only clue was from the City Lord's Mansion, where an old man reportedly used it for virility.
Unfortunately, Flender had a longstanding grudge with that City Lord, rendering that path a dead end.
Oscar came to today's auction house with a sliver of hope perhaps this time, luck would be on his side.
This also highlighted a limitation Oscar faced: although he was at Shrek Academy, he lacked any real backing or power. So if he wanted something, he had to work for it himself.
Oscar had already told Flender about his desire to find Whale Glue. At first, Flender assumed Oscar had that kind of intention.
Oscar had to explain the unique properties of Whale Glue, citing it from old books as a body tempering material for auxiliary type Soul Masters like himself who had to find alternative ways to strengthen their physique.
Ordinary training methods offered limited improvements for someone like him.
To Flender's credit, he accepted this explanation. Everyone at the academy already knew Oscar was obsessed with pharmacology and medicinal texts, so it wasn't a stretch.
Though Flender and others helped with the search, their lack of connections and resources meant nothing had come of it so far.
But for some reason, Oscar had a strong feeling about today. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became as though destiny itself whispered that he would succeed today.
Despite his excitement, Oscar kept calm. After visiting Flender's store and finding nothing worthwhile, he headed off toward the grand auction house with Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun, naturally, wanted to go explore the city instead. But seeing Oscar heading to the auction in silence, he didn't protest and followed along.
Oscar noticed his eagerness and said:
"If you don't like auctions, I'll go alone. You can explore the city. Just come wait for me outside the auction house in one hour."
Hearing this, Ma Hongjun lit up like a wild horse let loose. He eagerly nodded.
"Don't worry, Oscar bro! I won't cause any trouble!"
Oscar smiled at his enthusiastic response and walked off toward the auction hall.
Ma Hongjun watched him leave, then gleefully roamed the city streets.
With Oscar as his big brother, Ma Hongjun had some pocket money now. Having rarely seen the world, he enjoyed spending freely and chatting with vendors.
To him, all those sellers were friendly people flattering him with sweet words and compliments…
Oscar wasn't particularly worried about Ma Hongjun. After all, Soto City was a midsized city with decent law and order.
Moreover, Ma Hongjun was already a level 14 Soul Master. In the Spirit Master scarce and prestige driven world of Douluo Dalu, even if he encountered trouble, flashing a century level spirit ring would resolve most problems.
A Soul Master with a first ring of century level was a status symbol, usually associated with nobility.
Ordinary civilians simply didn't have the resources to hunt such beasts.
These were details Oscar had overlooked when reading the original novel. Only after living in this world did he gain a deeper appreciation of these nuances.
Upon reaching the auction house, Oscar donned a silver mask that covered his entire face except for his eyes. He also wore a luxurious silver cloak that concealed his skin and figure.
He took these precautions to avoid attracting attention in case he obtained any valuable items.
This disguise didn't stand out at all 90% of auction attendees wore similar outfits.
The remaining 10% consisted of high status individuals who had no fear of being targeted due to their power and influence.
This wasn't Oscar's first time here. He had registered an identity card tied to 10,000 gold soul coins not the lowest tier in the Soto City auction house, but still fairly modest.
The card served as a wealth certificate to prevent malicious bidding.
The auction hall was divided into five tiers:
1. White Zone – entry with 1,000 gold soul coins.
2. Purple Zone – entry with 10,000.
3. Black Zone – 100,000.
4. Red Zone – 1,000,000 (VIPs).
5. Top Tier – Reserved for ultra elite members, though Soto City lacked this level due to being a midsized city.
Very few individuals in Soto had a red tier card.
Most visitors belonged to the white and purple zones, with black being the upper echelon locally.
It's worth noting: Flender himself had a black tier identity card thanks to selling Spirit Beans via Shao Xin.
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