Jiang Jue naturally heard Meng Hongchen's whispered mutter, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly.
"I wonder if there's papaya on the Douluo Continent. I could get some for Meng to… supplement."
Seeing Jiang Jue's smile, Meng Hongchen immediately realized he had overheard her and shot him a glance filled with embarrassment and indignation.
Just then, Xu Jiujiu's voice came from the soul tool display screen.
"The first auction item today—The Overlord Tiger Soul Refining Blade, an eighth-level close-combat soul tool.
"Its crafting materials are extremely precious, including a right arm bone from a Ten-Thousand-Year Overlord Tiger soul beast, with the soul bone skill 'Overlord Slash' sealed within. It also increases the power of similar soul skills by fifty percent. With the guidance of a special magic formation, each use consumes only one-third of the original soul power.
"And this close-combat soul tool was produced by Mingde Hall. A Soul Sage with seven rings can use it. Viewing time is five minutes."
After finishing, Xu Jiujiu's figure disappeared from the screen, replaced by a close-up display of the Overlord Tiger Soul Refining Blade.
"This level of soul tool has actually flowed out to the former three empires? And it's a Mingde Hall product?"
"Looks like I'll have to report to the Hall Master when I get back—there's a rat in Mingde Hall."
Elder Ma looked at the weapon on the screen with a trace of anger in his voice.
The Sun Moon Empire strictly prohibited the sale of soul tools above level seven to the three former empires. Anyone found breaking this order would be severely punished.
This was part of the Sun Moon Empire's technological blockade strategy against the three former empires.
On the surface, Mingde Hall represented the most cutting-edge soul tool technology of the Sun Moon Empire. For such an eighth-level soul tool to leak from them, the cause was certainly internal.
"Elder Ma, don't be hasty.
"These things happen. We'll just identify the soul engineer responsible later. But right now, I'm far more curious about the upcoming items—if the first is already an eighth-level, what's next?"
Xiao Hongchen shifted to one side, away from Qingyuan, his flushed face gradually returning to normal as he spoke to Elder Ma.
Sitting nearby, Ma Rulong unconsciously touched the spatial ring on his right hand. Inside it was a secret weapon passed down from his grandfather—known as the "ninth among eighth-level soul tools," a masterpiece of Hall Master Hongchen himself, and one of his trump cards to win the competition.
"Viewing time over. Overlord Tiger Soul Refining Blade—starting bid, six hundred thousand gold soul coins, minimum raise of five thousand gold soul coins per bid.
"All our guests are experts, so I won't elaborate further. Bidding starts now—if no one raises within one minute, the item will be sold."
As Xu Jiujiu's words fell, Jiang Jue's room remained quiet—no one bid.
Jiang Jue had no need for this blade, and the others had already brought enough soul tools for the competition; besides, no one in the group was a Soul Sage, so it would be useless.
Moreover, most soul engineers preferred to use soul tools they had personally made, as they felt more natural in the hand and could unleash their full potential.
"Jiang Jue."
Meng Hongchen leaned close to him, producing a black, elegant card from her soul tool and handing it to him.
"Buy whatever you want. This card has over three hundred thousand gold soul coins—it's my private savings from years past. All yours to use."
Jiang Jue's eyes softened slightly. He ruffled her hair and said gently,
"No need. I have money."
"Just spend it! What's mine is yours!"
"I, General Meng Hongchen, order you, Corporal Jiang Jue, to accept it!"
Thinking he was just embarrassed to take it, Meng Hongchen stuffed the black card into his hand, her tone firm and brooking no refusal.
"…Alright, I'll listen to you."
Seeing he couldn't win against her insistence, Jiang Jue took the card, his inner resolve growing even stronger.
"That's my good corporal."
Meng Hongchen mimicked Jiang Jue's usual tone, patted his shoulder lightly with her delicate hand, and pretended to look serious.
"So, does this mean I'm being kept by you? Looks like I can skip forty years of struggle now."
Jiang Jue chuckled, teasing.
"You don't even have to work hard—I'll take care of you."
Meng Hongchen leaned against him, murmuring softly.
"Meng…"
Jiang Jue placed his right arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer, his gaze warm.
In the end, Dai Yaoheng won the Overlord Tiger Soul Refining Blade for 1.65 million gold soul coins.
But the following few items left the group uninterested—many were soul tools that, while considered rare in the former three empires, were nothing special to them.
This was largely due to the technology blockade and the fact that the Xi Shui Alliance smuggled only mid- to low-grade soul tools—utterly unscrupulous—so the three former empires had little exposure to truly advanced models.
In short, they'd never tasted the finest, so they treated merely good ones as treasures.
Jiang Jue, however, was still waiting for the treasure he wanted.
At this point, Princess Jiujiu appeared on the big screen for the eighth time, smiling as she spoke.
"The next two items will be the highlights of today's auction—I'm sure our honored guests will be interested.
"Make sure to seize the opportunity—some treasures are unique, and you may never find another like them on the continent. For example, our eighth item—please watch the screen."
Light flashed, and the display showed a greatly magnified soul bone.
It was entirely emerald green, with a shimmering light that seemed to ripple like liquid within.
From its shape, it was a left arm soul bone. Its green surface emitted a faint white mist, and tiny crystalline formations—like jewels—were embedded on it.
The moment Jiang Jue saw it, his eyes lit up—it was the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone he had been waiting for. This soul bone granted a soul skill of extraordinary power: Ice Explosion.
The Ice Emperor herself had once said that if she possessed this rare innate soul skill of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan, she could even contend with the Snow Emperor in the Extreme North.
Of course, the two would never truly fight, but the statement highlighted how terrifying this skill was—comparable to the "Corpse Explosion" technique of the so-called Ten-Thousand-Year Strongest Soul King.
That Death God Envoy had risen to fame with Corpse Explosion, securing the title without question.
Soon after Xu Jiujiu's introduction, Meng Hongchen's eyes sparkled as she said excitedly to Jiang Jue,
"Jiang Jue, this soul bone is perfect for you! Should we bid on it? But it's so expensive—the starting price is fifteen million gold soul coins."
Jiang Jue was briefly startled—this soul bone suited Meng just as much, yet the first person she thought of was him.
For any ice-attribute soul master, Ice Explosion was a deadly temptation, but she hadn't considered herself at all.
"Bid on it, of course! But it's for you."
Jiang Jue leaned close to her ear and whispered warmly.
As for gold soul coins—ever since being "abducted" into the Holy Spirit Cult, he had never suffered a day of hardship.
Money was just a number to him. Before coming here, Zhongli Wu had given him a gold card.
He could almost say, like someone from his previous life: I have no interest in money whatsoever.
Besides, in the Holy Spirit Cult, if they truly wanted something, they usually didn't bother paying…
(End of chapter)