Chapter 17 — The Tiandou Auction House
In Tiandou City, a young man and a young woman stepped out of a blacksmith shop.
The girl still looked a little youthful, though her figure was already tall and graceful. The man was tall, handsome, and walking along the street he couldn't help attracting the glances of passersby.
What drew the most attention was his long dark‑green hair — even on Douluo Continent, that hair color was extremely rare.
Those two were none other than Dugu Bo and his granddaughter Dugu Yan, just leaving the Nine Heart Begonia clan's territory.
Because Dugu Bo's appearance had returned to youth, from the outside they simply looked like a pair of siblings. That's what most of the people on the street assumed — until Dugu Yan spoke.
"Grandpa, why did you buy all these pieces of metal?"
The word "Grandpa" nearly choked a few of the bystanders who were staring intensely at the pair.
Dugu Bo ignored them and gave his granddaughter a mysterious smile. "In a few days, you'll know."
After that, they went from one blacksmith shop to another around Tiandou City. Since Dugu Bo couldn't forge tools himself, he separated the parts of the hidden weapons he wanted and had each smith create individual pieces.
He did this to prevent the weapon designs from leaking out.
Most hidden weapons weren't much of a threat to top‑tier spirit masters, but for middle‑ and low‑level spirit masters they could be deadly. If used in war, the results would be terrifying.
That was how things were in the original story — so Tang San had ordered all hidden weapons destroyed after the war.
Dugu Bo wasn't exactly a saint, but he didn't want to do something that would unbalance the world either.
"Grandpa, where are we going next?" Dugu Yan asked, curious about her grandfather's actions, though she didn't press too hard — at her age, she was more concerned about food, fun, and games.
Dugu Bo glanced at his granddaughter and smiled, ruffling her nose. "We've been walking all morning. Hungry?"
"Let's go, Grandpa will take you to eat something delicious."
They entered a restaurant that looked nice without any of the snobby service attitudes common in high‑end places. In fact, when the staff saw Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan, they politely came over to take their order.
Dugu Bo ordered several dishes that Dugu Yan liked, then closed his eyes to rest, thinking about his next plan.
He had already visited the Nine Heart Begonia clan. Since even they couldn't cure the poison in his body, he could only rely on one of two methods.
The first — storing the poison in spirit bones — was temporary at best. Even if he filled his entire body with spirit bones, the poison would eventually erupt and kill him.
The second was spirit herbs. This method was reliable, but he had only just reached the Title Douluo level. To lose that advancement now felt unwilling to him.
And even if he wanted to take spirit herbs, he'd need allies. That way, if he lost his power, there would still be people who could help protect Dugu Yan while he pursued a cure.
Just as Dugu Bo was deep in thought, the conversation at the next table interrupted him.
"Hey! Did you hear? Tiandou Auction House is auctioning off a spirit bone!"
"I heard, but stuff like that is out of our reach. Don't get your hopes up."
"Well that's true, but it'd still be fun to see. I'm going — you coming?"
"Of course! When does it start?"
"Tonight…"
"Alright then. Let's eat first and talk about it later."
"Fine…"
Their discussion faded as they dove into the food.
Dugu Bo knew about the Tiandou Auction House — it was controlled by the Tiandou royal family and was the largest auction house in the entire Tiandou Empire. It wasn't unusual for spirit bones to be auctioned there from time to time.
Soon, the dishes Dugu Bo ordered arrived. Dugu Yan took a few bites and realized her grandpa was still lost in thought. She poked him. "Grandpa, if you don't start eating soon, your food's going to get cold!"
"Oh, right — right, Grandpa was daydreaming."
Dugu Bo smiled at his granddaughter, then picked up his chopsticks and finally began eating.
After the meal, they went shopping in Tiandou City. There was no denying that shopping seemed to be a woman's innate talent — whether adult women or little girls, they all seemed to have endless energy.
Time passed quickly. By the time Dugu Bo's storage spirit ring was filled with bags and packages and they stepped out of a clothing shop, evening had already fallen.
Dugu Yan looked at her grandfather with lingering excitement. "Grandpa, where are we going next? Heading back now?"
Dugu Bo gently stroked his granddaughter's short hair and smiled. "We'll go back tomorrow. Grandpa still needs to pick up the things I left at the blacksmiths."
"Come on — Grandpa is taking you somewhere."
With that, he pulled Dugu Yan's hand and walked toward the center of the city.
They continued until a massive building, shaped like an upside‑down bowl, appeared before them. Dugu Bo finally stopped.
When Dugu Yan saw the building, her face lit up in recognition. "Oh! It's the Tiandou Auction House! Grandpa, are you going to buy something?"
She attended school not far from Tiandou City — Tiandou Imperial Academy — so she was familiar with the city and naturally knew that this building was the empire's largest auction house.
Up close, the building's grandeur was even more imposing.
The structure was a giant half‑sphere, its diameter easily over 500 meters, with the tallest point soaring past a hundred meters. In a city where land was precious, only the Tiandou royal family could build something so monumental.
The auction house entrance was also semi‑circular, the same creamy‑white color as the building itself. A group of tall, elegant young women stood at the front as greeters.
Each had been carefully selected — about 1.75 meters tall, well‑proportioned, not world‑class beauties but undeniably attractive.
Dugu Bo didn't pay them much attention. He simply walked forward, showed a gold‑red card to one of the greeters, and they politely led him and Dugu Yan inside.
Walking through the grand, gilded corridor, they entered the main hall. Before them stretched five auction zones.
One was white, one yellow, one purple, one black, and one red.
The five zones corresponded to the colors of spirit rings. The red zone consisted of individual private boxes.
From white up to red, it went from lowest to highest — and also represented the rank of the bidders.
The attendant led Dugu Bo toward the red zone up on the high platform. Because it was elevated, the view from up there was quite expansive.
By now, many people had already arrived. When they saw Dugu Bo heading toward the red zone, whispers broke out.
"Where does that person come from? I've never seen him before."
"He looks so young, but he actually has the highest VIP card…"
Clearly, no one here recognized Dugu Bo — and even if they did, they wouldn't recognize the younger version of him.
Comments like these buzzed all around, but Dugu Bo paid them no mind. He simply continued walking toward the red zone boxes.
Young Dugu Yan couldn't help the corner of her mouth lifting slightly — evidently, she was enjoying the attention.