Chapter 137: The Three Great Prodigies

That day, at the invitation of Su Jinbao, Du Long and his companions skipped their classes to head toward the capital. They arrived at an auction house adjacent to the main store of the Treasure Pavilion, an establishment that belonged to the pavilion itself.

The Treasure Pavilion collects countless priceless artifacts from various nations across the continent. Every year, these items are auctioned off in a rotation at the Treasure Pavilion branches located in the capitals of every kingdom. Today happened to be the day for the annual auction in the capital of the Haotian Empire.

Although Du Long often visited the Treasure Pavilion’s main store for business, this was his first time attending the annual auction. It was difficult for ordinary people to even secure an invitation, and he had no idea how his classmate Su Jinbao had managed to obtain one.

When the group of young people reached the entrance of the auction house, Su Jinbao produced a golden invitation card. The attendants, who had previously shown little interest in the group, underwent a complete transformation in attitude. They welcomed the youths with immense respect and escorted them to an elegant private room on the second floor.

The room was about sixty to seventy square meters, featuring refined tables and chairs placed near the window. The tabletop was already filled with wine, refreshments, and snacks, provided free of charge to the distinguished guests.

"Yo! Su 'Treasure' Jinbao, not bad at all! To think you could secure a second-floor private room; I’ve only ever had this privilege when I came here with my Imperial Father!" Huo Feng said with excitement, pulling Du Long along to sit in the seat with the best view.

"The Treasure Pavilion's annual auction! That is recognized across the entire continent as the most prestigious event of its kind! Many nobles and aristocrats cannot even obtain the best private rooms on the second floor. When I attended this auction once with my father, my father—a second-rank official—was forced to squeeze into the ordinary seats in the main hall on the first floor!" Zeng Wan'er remarked with a sigh.

"Hehe! Wan'er, as long as you're willing, I’d be happy to get a VIP invitation for your father too!" Su Jinbao immediately began fawning over the young lady he had been pursuing for an entire year.

"Pfft! You just got lucky this time with one VIP pass. Are you implying that you can snap one up whenever you want?!" Zeng Wan'er rolled her eyes at him, clearly skeptical, before pulling Xu Luyin and the other girls away to find their own seats.

Su Jinbao opened his mouth as if to argue, but ultimately shook his head with a helpless sigh and sat down as close to Zeng Wan'er as he could.

Princess Huo Feng watched the slightly dejected Su Jinbao, blinking her beautiful eyes as she teased, "Jinbao! Don't be discouraged, keep trying!"

"Hahaha..."

Everyone burst into laughter, causing Zeng Wan'er to blush deeply. She hurriedly picked up her teacup to hide her embarrassment, but in her flustered state, she accidentally burned herself with the scalding tea and cried out.

"Ouch! So hot..." Her adorable reaction, complete with her sticking out her tongue, left Su Jinbao completely stunned. Seeing his goofy expression, Zeng Wan'er quickly pulled her tongue back, rolled her eyes, and retorted, "Dope!"

Their awkward and flustered interaction sparked another round of boisterous laughter. Just as the group of young people were joking around, the door to the room was pushed open. A plump, middle-aged man in rich silk robes walked in with a beaming smile, followed respectfully by a stern-faced old man.

"Haha! Jinbao, are these your good friends from the academy?" The moment the plump man entered, he greeted Su Jinbao, who was sitting with his back to the door.

Hearing his voice, all the young people stood up, looking curiously at the two uninvited guests.

"Du Long! That old man is a master at the Spirit Tier. While the fatty hasn't reached the Spirit Tier yet, he isn't far off!" The voice of the Spirit Ring beauty echoed in Du Long's mind. She always warned him whenever a high-level expert approached.

Du Long calmly turned his gaze toward the two visitors. He could clearly sense that while the middle-aged man wore a friendly smile, he possessed the natural, imposing authority of someone accustomed to holding high office. The fact that he was accompanied by a Spirit Tier expert made his status in reality quite obvious.

"Father! Why are you here?" Su Jinbao exclaimed, both surprised and delighted. This exclamation immediately confirmed his relationship with the distinguished-looking man.

"Haha! Why can't I be here? I'm here to attend the Treasure Pavilion's annual auction, and why not take the chance to visit my precious son whom I haven't seen in over a year?" The plump man replied with a chuckle. "Well, aren't you going to introduce your friends to your father?"

"Hehe! Father, this is Zeng Wan'er, the daughter of the Minister of Personnel of the Haotian Empire!" Su Jinbao didn't hesitate, immediately pulling Zeng Wan'er over to introduce her first. "Wan'er, this is my father, Su Dabao!"

Hearing the introduction, everyone present struggled to hold back their laughter. The names of the father and son were truly amusing—they were certainly cut from the same cloth!

Although Zeng Wan'er was unhappy with the brazen behavior of Su Jinbao, as a daughter of a prominent family, she suppressed her embarrassment and anger, offering the respect due to an elder. "Wan'er greets Uncle Su," she said with a polite bow.

"Good, very good! Truly a daughter of a noble family, unlike my reckless and impolite Jinbao!" Su Dabao’s eyes lit up as he stared at the gentle and virtuous young lady in front of his son, praising her profusely.

"You are too kind, Uncle Su!" Zeng Wan'er replied, feeling both startled and shy.

"Father, this is Liu Zixin, the daughter of the Third-Rank Secretariat..." Su Jinbao continued to introduce his friends, and Su Dabao nodded and greeted each one with a beaming smile.

For reasons unknown, Su Jinbao intentionally left Du Long for last. "Father, you must have heard the name of this last one. He is the recently famous Brother Du Long! He and Yuan Yu are my roommates at the Royal Academy, and my dear brothers!"

Su Dabao looked Du Long over with a smile and nodded. "Impressive! The younger generation is truly formidable. The entire Star Continent is currently filled with stories about you and the other two young prodigies!"

"You are too kind, Uncle Su!" Du Long replied modestly, then asked with confusion, "But may I ask, what are these 'other two young prodigies' you speak of?"

"No way?! Du Long, you don't even know about this?" Su Jinbao exclaimed in surprise. "You guy, you're never around! You're either running off to your territory or hiding in the Spirit Gathering Cave to cultivate. You really only care about your own business and ignore the rest of the world!"

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Seeing that almost everyone in the room was looking at him with disbelief, Du Long asked, feeling completely bewildered.

"My goodness! You really don't know?! No wonder you managed to get first place in all three subjects—Military, Academic, and Martial Arts! So your head is filled with nothing but those things? You don't even know about the three young prodigies who have shocked the entire continent!" Du Caini couldn't help but exclaim.

"The three young prodigies?" Du Long asked.

"That's right! The three young prodigies!" Su Jinbao laughed. "The so-called three young prodigies of the Star Continent—the first one goes without saying, it's you! Not only did you take first place in every subject in your first year at the Haotian Royal Academy, but you also defeated countless senior opponents in both military sand-table simulations and martial arts combat assessments, ultimately winning the championship!

"The second is the Second Prince of the Blue Moon Empire, Jin Shencheng. At only twenty years old, he has reached the Qi Sea Tier. He also has astonishing talent in military studies. Before graduating, he defeated numerous experts from the Blue Moon Royal Academy's military department and even established a three-thousand-strong Flame Horse Cavalry in his own territory!

"The third is the Ninth Princess of the Red Water Kingdom, Ouyang Qingwen. At just fifteen, she has incredible military talent and has defeated countless experts; even the veteran generals of the Red Water Kingdom are no match for her!

"When Princess Qingwen was thirteen, she was visiting a town near the border of the demon beasts when a beast tide broke out. She led her few hundred guards and, relying on the town's simple walls, managed to hold off the attack of thousands of demon beasts!

"As for her martial arts, she has already reached the fifth stage of the Qi Cyclone, and remember, she is only fifteen!"

"Hehe! And just because of that, the entire continent has labeled the three of us as young prodigies?" Du Long replied, seemingly unimpressed.

"Just because of that?! My goodness! You brat, do you have any idea how much of a monster you are?! Let's not even talk about your martial arts! If you're going to be reckless and consume second-grade spirit liquid, that's your own loss! But in other areas, the rest of us work our tails off, studying from dawn till dusk, yet our grades are still not as good as yours—the King of Skipping Classes!" Du Caini whispered, sounding almost hysterical.

"He's a monster in martial arts too! He was only at the sixth stage of the Qi Cyclone, yet he dared to sign up for the live combat assessment—and actually won the championship?! Sigh, I am left completely speechless," Yang Yunfeng added, crossing his arms and chiming in right after his sweetheart, Du Caini.

"Exactly! I hadn't even thought of the key point until now! Brat, start talking—how did you manage to defeat opponents of higher levels?!" Du Caini grabbed Du Long by the collar, looking as if she would throttle him if he didn't confess.

"Well... oh! I just realized, the weather today is quite nice, it seems perfect for an outing... cough... cough... Oh! Big Sister, if you use any more force, you're really going to kill me!"

"Hahaha..."