Chapter 11 - The Treasure Gathering Pavilion

"You want to enter the Outer Department?"

I stood facing the Dean of the Battle Spirit Department.

"That's right. I wish to partake in Teacher Zhou Yi's classroom."

"..." 

Yan Shaozhe was speechless. He had heard about the famous examinee who had defeated an instructor alone with relative ease. He had even rejected the Captain of the Seven Shrek Monsters' offer to be his master.

He had thought that this youngster was too arrogant, but now. It wasn't that simple. He was given an offer to become an Inner Student, but he still rejected it, saying he wanted to stay in teacher Zhou Yi's classroom for the Outer Disciples' screening.

What insanity was this?

Yan Shaozhe couldn't fathom Huo Yuhao's eccentricism. He couldn't even persuade him to join the Inner Academy.

Plus, this teenager wasn't ordinary. His first impression was impressive with his appearance, and every movement felt so elegant and natural. It was as if he was handling a distinguished member of a royal family.

Yan Shaozhe shook his head. He had no choice but to agree since Huo Yuhao was too stubborn, and he didn't want to mess with Huo Yuhao. His identity was probably not normal. His senses were tingling.

"Alright, I'll let you enter the Outer Classroom. But, again, are you sure about this? Zhou Yi is a strict teacher. She won't hesitate to kick you out, but if it does come to that. I'll stop her."

"Hm. Then, I'll rely on you for that, Dean Yan Shaozhe."

I waved my hand and left the room, I had already left the Demon Realm after talking with Tian Meng for a bit about who will become my 2nd Spirit Ring. Nonetheless, I already knew who it was.

'Ice Empress.'

The 7th Ranked Placer of the Continent's 10th Great Beasts, and also the Second Strongest Arctic Spirit Beast.

She was a force to be reckoned with if I could make her my second spirit ring. I would gain my second spirit essence, which was the absolute cold.

As of now, I have updated my status from the Book of Knowledge.

[ System Status ]

Name: Huo Yuhao

Title: Demon King of Destruction

Spirit Rank: 20th -> Spirit Energy (3rd Cycle)

Spirit Essence/s: [ Mental ] - [ Ice ]

Twin Martial Soul: [ Almighty ] - [ Godhand ]

Body Technique/s: [ Divine Body ] -> Physical (3rd Cycle) 

Mental Technique/s: [ Ice Heart ]

[ Godhand ] (SER = Spirit Energy Recovery) 

Sin of Gluttony: (E) - 67% (17%+ Spirit Energy Acquisition)

Sin of Pride: (E) - 1% (50% SER)

Sin of Envy (E) - 90% (15% Spirit Energy)

[Locked (5)]

Special Ability - [ False Transcendental State: 444% SER, 444% SE ]

It didn't take long for the Sin of Envy to significantly increase in progress, which was due to my fame of defeating the instructor and even rejecting the Titled Douluo.

This caused the False Transcendental State Ability to increase by 111%, which was ridiculously high.

But, I know very well, that this special ability has a terrible side effect.

The knowledge from the Demon King's Bloodline Book mentioned that the Transcendental State was an ability known to forcefully tap into the true powers of the Godhand.

If an untrained Demon King were to use this ability, they would suffer heavy repercussions. At worst, they could lose their life, and if they are lucky they might only lose their emotions.

It was what happened to me when I forcefully used the Transcendental State to kill the Sun Master of the previous world, and even Heroes that have reached the realm of Transcendence.

But, the Sun Master was stronger than that. Their powers were comparable to deities. Perhaps, enough to utterly destroy demon kings. They were beings known to cultivate from the Sun's energy. 

It was similar to how plants used Photosynthesis to grow. It was also a way for the Sun Master to increase their strength while lending them an infinite source of energy.

So, they were the counter for Demon Kings. But, luckily, they were born only once a millennium.

In the end, hate was the only thing left for me.

I ended up destroying almost all of the world even though I wanted to make a peaceful treaty, but the nations didn't want that, so I had no choice but to fight in wars.

The world that I was sent to conquer was the strongest planet so far known as the Gaia Planet that the Library of Knowledge has ever recorded. So, I died hundreds of times.

Well, be that as it may, I didn't recall much of what happened during those cycles of regression. Somehow, the Sun Master locked me into that world after dying.

Especially, my memories of the Goddess. It was still too cloudy.

I went to the Merchant Association, I wondered if they would buy the gold and jewelry. Since it wasn't mentioned whether gold or jewelry was valuable in the Douluo Dalu Continent.

"May I help you?"

At the reception table, there was a white-clothed girl, who exuded a polite and professional look.

"I want to sell this, tell your manager to check the contents."

I placed the ring on the reception table, and the receptionist brought the spatial ring after bowing.

"Please wait for a while in the accommodation quarters."

I sat at the seat and closed my eyes while waiting.

I waited for several minutes, and then, suddenly, the panicked voices from inside the reception room resounded like muffled noises.

A man with a bulging belly went in my direction with a sweaty look.

"Distinguished customer, please follow me. I will help you to sell the products." He rubbed both of his hands with a smile.

'Good. It seemed that it is worth quite a lot.'

I nodded and followed the merchant, the room was luxurious with numerous spirit tools. 

I sat on the couch with crossed legs with an arrogant look.

 "Get to the point, how much would I get if I were to sell the contents? I hope you won't try to scam me out with this, I am warning you since I am affiliated with the Dean."

I unleashed my spirit energy, causing the merchant to sweat a little, but he swiftly shook his head.

"Oh! Of course not! We the merchant association won't scam our customers!"

The merchant then introduced himself.

"I am a merchant associated with the Shrek Academy, we are a branch known as the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, and we are partners of the Shrek Academy whenever countries come here to buy spirit bones or spirit tools. We are the ones to facilitate the sales of the treasure appreciating auction for inner, and core disciples of Shrek Academy."

'I didn't expect this.'

"I see..."

I nodded, and I calmed down my frowning look while retracting my Spirit Energy.

"I heard a lot about you, are you Huo Yuhao? The famed examinee that defeated the instructor, and even rejected Xuan Lao's offer?"

"Ha... enough with that. I just want to know how much I can sell the contents of the ring."

The merchant smiled and then said with a vigilant look and careful tone.

"Mr. Huo, what you are selling here is worth billions of gold soul coins..." 

Huh..?

How is this worth billions of gold soul coins? I only expected about several thousands of gold soul coins.

Although I was shocked. My poker face and posture didn't wane whatsoever as if it were natural. The merchant even felt that he was handling a stoic ruler.

The merchant continued with his words despite my internal shock at the ridiculous amount, that would be enough to supply an entire country's financial status.

"These materials possess profound energy, I can't fathom it, but each of the gold bars contains light spiritual energy. It's useful for light element spirit masters. It can also be used to be converted into spiritual energy from other elemental spirit masters.-"

"And... these jewelry are great catalysts for spirit tools. I don't know, but whoever made these jewelry, must've been master blacksmiths! The intricate designs and the possibilities are astonishing! I am curious to ask whether you obtained this from an ancient kingdom. But, I won't ask you for the details since that would go against our rules."

The merchant then glanced at the ring while grabbing his pocket.

"I can't estimate the true value of this. We can only use the approximate value, we need a week to process all of this. Is this fine with you, Mr. Huo?"

"Hm..." I didn't need money for now.

"That's fine."

I nodded and the merchant looked relieved at me.

"Please take this." 

From the merchant's pocket, he took out a shiny card and handed it to me.

It was a red card. It had the words 'Treasure Gathering Pavilion' engraved on it, but it was otherwise unadorned.

"Mr Huo, this VIP card allows you a 40% discount within our Pavilion, which is the highest discount we can give to anyone. Furthermore, you can also redeem any item you wish from our Treasure Appreciation Auction once a year with it."

"Although, this is only reserved for core disciples. But, we are giving it to you as an investment for your talent."

"If you wish to avail any items, you can use this card at an amount limited to a billion gold soul coins. The true value isn't yet estimated, but this is the most we can give to our valuable important customer."

The merchant smiled, and I left the Merchant Association with an indifferent look. It seemed that today was a great success. It surpassed my expectations, which was a good thing.

'Maybe I should've used the Almighty?' I shook my head thinking that it didn't matter.