Although Oscar and Ma Hongjun were still very young, the owner of the horse stable already recognized them. After all, the two had ridden to Soto City several times before.
After leaving their horses in the stable, the two boys walked side by side toward the city gates.
The entrance of Soto City had guards stationed, much like the ancient customs of Oscar's previous life, checking those who entered and left.
If a traveler were a soul master, they could simply present their proof of identity, and the guards would not only let them pass without trouble but even respectfully address them as "honored soul master."
But because of Flender's arrangements, neither Oscar nor Ma Hongjun had registered their identities as soul masters. Their talents were simply too outstanding—Flender worried that once the Spirit Hall discovered these two treasures, they might be taken away.
So, when it was their turn, Oscar and Ma Hongjun passed through the checkpoint like ordinary civilians. The guards merely glanced at them and waved them through. After all, despite their strikingly handsome features, they were still just children. Nobody would make things difficult for them.
Once inside Soto City, the two made their way toward Flender's little shop.
Although Flender was a Soul Saint, he had absolutely no gift for business. His so-called shop barely saw a few customers in an entire month, and his signboard even brazenly proclaimed "Soul Master Supplies." Ordinary people naturally avoided it.
Oscar often suspected that Flender's true reason for opening the shop wasn't profit at all—perhaps it was just a place to scam naive young soul masters once in a while… or more likely, simply a spot to laze about.
After all, most of the time Oscar had to seek out Zhao Wuji in the academy for guidance, since Flender often vanished during the day, only returning at night.
Oscar's trip to Soto City was indeed to relax, since it had been some time since his last visit. But visiting Flender's shop had become something of a monthly ritual.
The real reason: in the original timeline, Tang San once stumbled upon "Goldthread Jadeleaf Grass" in Flender's shop. Knowing that, Oscar never missed a chance to comb through the place, hoping to strike gold himself.
Unfortunately, after over two years of searching, he had found nothing truly precious. The best he'd ever uncovered was a century-old medicinal herb, which he later used for body tempering.
Speaking of body tempering, Oscar had been seeking another rare treasure these past two years—Whale Glue, an extraordinary tonic that would later appear in Douluo Dalu 2.
The problem was that even in this earlier era, Whale Glue was exceedingly rare. It could only be found circulating in coastal cities. On the mainland, it was considered nothing more than a male tonic.
Oscar had searched constantly, but in all of Soto City, there hadn't been a trace of it. The only rumor he'd heard was that the City Lord himself possessed some, treating it as an aphrodisiac.
Unfortunately, Flender and the City Lord were on poor terms, so Oscar had no hope of acquiring it that way.
Thus, today's trip also had another purpose—Oscar wanted to try his luck at the Great Auction House of Soto City.
It was a matter of necessity. With no powerful background or influence, he could only rely on himself to find what he needed.
Oscar had once mentioned Whale Glue to Flender. At first, Flender thought the boy wanted it for… questionable reasons. Only after Oscar carefully explained its unique use for tempering the body, citing "books he'd read," did Flender drop the suspicion.
After all, as an auxiliary-type soul master, Oscar had to seek unorthodox methods to strengthen his physique. Normal training helped, but the improvements were limited. External resources were his best option.
Everyone in the academy knew Oscar spent much of his time buried in medical texts and herbal manuals. His explanation made perfect sense.
Even so, despite Flender and the others occasionally helping him search, without proper connections, they had found nothing of value.
Still, for some reason, Oscar felt unusually excited today. The more he thought about finding Whale Glue, the more certain he felt—as if fate itself was telling him today would be the day.
Of course, having weathered storms before, Oscar kept his excitement under control. After fruitlessly combing through Flender's shop once again, he led Ma Hongjun toward the auction house.
Ma Hongjun clearly wanted to run off and play in the city instead. But since Oscar didn't comment, he obediently followed along.
Noticing his little brother's restlessness, Oscar smiled and said, "Since you don't like auctions, I'll go alone. You can wander the city. Come wait for me outside the auction house in an hour."
The moment Ma Hongjun heard this, his eyes lit up like a freed wild colt. He nodded furiously.
"Don't worry, Big Brother Oscar! I promise I won't cause trouble!"
Oscar chuckled at the boy's earnest expression and didn't press further, heading alone to the auction house.
Ma Hongjun watched him go, then immediately dashed off to explore Soto City.
Thanks to Oscar's support, the boy now carried a bit of money with him. Having rarely seen the world, he enjoyed spending freely and basking in the sweet talk of merchants.
To him, anyone selling wares was a good person—their praise never stinted.
Oscar wasn't worried. Soto City was a well-managed medium-sized city with decent law and order. Moreover, Ma Hongjun was already a fourteenth-level soul master. On the Douluo Continent, where soul masters were rare and revered, even revealing a single hundred-year spirit ring was enough to deter most troublemakers.
After all, ordinary soul masters rarely reached that level for their first ring unless they had a powerful clan backing them. For a civilian child to do so was extraordinary, a sign of true genius.
These were things Oscar had never fully appreciated when reading the original story. Only by living in this world could he truly understand them.
When he arrived at the auction house, Oscar had already disguised himself. A silver-white mask covered his face, leaving only his eyes exposed, while a luxurious silver cloak concealed his figure completely.
He wasn't the only one—almost everyone who came to auctions dressed like this, to avoid being targeted after bidding on valuable items.
The exceptions were those with noble status and great power. Such people didn't bother to hide; they had no fear of being targeted.
This was not Oscar's first visit. He had registered an identity card worth ten thousand gold soul coins. That amount didn't put him among the elites of the Soto Auction House, but it was enough to avoid the lowest tiers and gain entry.
The identity card itself represented a bidder's financial qualification, preventing malicious bidding.
The auction house was divided into five tiers of seating. At the very back was the white section, requiring only one thousand gold coins to register.
Next was purple, requiring ten thousand; then black, for one hundred thousand; and finally the red VIP seats, reserved for those with wealth exceeding one million.
Soto City might be considered prosperous, but there were only a handful of red-card members. The majority were in the white and purple sections, with the black tier considered the true elite of the city.
Interestingly, Flender himself, through Shao Xin's candy bean sales, had managed to register a black-card identity—one worth a full hundred thousand gold coins.