It turns out Lin Yun was overthinking things.
With Lin Yun and Ma Xiaotao present, Wang Yan had no ideas at all. Especially after being directly challenged by Lin Yun during their meeting two days ago, Wang Yan became even more determined to just go with the flow.
Anyway, with two golden legs, this match was definitely stable, super stable. Why push himself when his monthly salary was so low?
Keep the music playing, keep dancing!
After a day of watching matches, Wang Yan cheerfully returned to his room and continued reading books on soul master theory.
As for the auction?
What auction? I don't know anything about it!
Ma Xiaotao, an inner court genius disciple, certainly wouldn't care for soul tools. And as for Lin Yun, besides storage soul tools, Wang Yan had never seen him use any offensive soul tools.
Well, well, both golden legs weren't interested in soul tools. If he were to propose going to some auction to buy soul tools to enhance their strength, wouldn't that just be giving these two another opportunity to criticize him?
And he'd be actively sticking his face out for them to hit.
Wang Yan wasn't that foolish.
Actually, Lin Yun wasn't truly looking down on soul tools. If there were suitable soul tools, like the Level 8 close-combat soul tool, the Sword of Judgment, that Ma Rulong secretly hid, Lin Yun would be very happy to play with it.
His soul power was sufficient for him to use that Sword of Judgment normally, and only soul tools of at least Level 7 or above could enhance his combat power.
Other soul tools were inferior to his own fists or soul skills, neither flavorful enough to keep nor regrettable enough to discard, making their use irrelevant.
Of course, Lin Yun still had invincible shields on him. Of the remaining eight invincible shields from Ning Tian, Lin Yun had taken four, giving two to himself and two to Xiao Xiao. There's no such thing as too many life-saving items.
One could only say that Wang Yan still didn't understand Lin Yun enough.
He wasn't some pedantic traditional soul master.
Since Wang Yan had decided to slack off, Lin Yun could only go to the auction alone. Fortunately, the Starlight Auction House had fixed auction sessions every day. There was only one auction tonight, which was the one for the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife, so Lin Yun didn't have to worry about finding the wrong session.
It wouldn't matter even if he couldn't find it. He could just directly buy it from the Starlight Auction House after the auction ended.
Because of the curse placed by that Titled Douluo evil soul master, anyone who used this item would either die violently or fall into evil ways, so even if it were put up for auction, it would surely fail to sell; no one would compete for it.
Besides Electrolux, who else could instantly discern the true nature of the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife?
After arriving at the Starlight Auction House and verifying his assets, Lin Yun, wearing the mask provided by the auction house for guests to hide their identities, walked directly into the auction hall.
The auction hadn't started yet, but there were already quite a few people seated inside. Lin Yun casually found a corner to sit down, resting his head on one hand, closing his eyes, and waiting.
However, beside Lin Yun, there was a young girl, also wearing a mask, curiously observing him.
She had arrived earlier than Lin Yun. After Lin Yun sat down beside her, she noticed him. The girl initially thought Lin Yun had somehow learned her identity and intentionally came to approach her, but after Lin Yun plopped down, he immediately closed his eyes to rest.
He didn't even glance at her.
This was what truly captured her attention.
The girl was confident in her appearance. Even with a mask obscuring her face, her exquisite figure beneath her dress and the faint noble aura she exuded were not something a small mask could hide.
If Lin Yun had stared at her incessantly, it would certainly have made her uncomfortable, but Lin Yun didn't even look at her, which instead aroused her rebellious curiosity.
However, the more the girl looked at Lin Yun, the more she felt something was off.
This person...
Why does he look so familiar?
The girl looked left and right, and the feeling of familiarity in her heart grew stronger, but for a moment, she couldn't recall where she had seen Lin Yun before.
"Have you seen enough?" The girl's undisguised gaze genuinely made Lin Yun a bit uncomfortable. He turned to face the girl and asked calmly.
"Ah!" Lin Yun's sudden voice startled the deeply engrossed girl.
A gasp from the girl suddenly echoed in the quiet auction hall, attracting the attention of many people around them. Noticing the surrounding gazes, the girl quickly covered her mouth and glared at Lin Yun in annoyance.
Seriously, if you're going to talk, just talk properly. Why suddenly scare someone?!
But it was this one glance that allowed the girl to recognize Lin Yun's identity.
"You are... that person from Shrek Academy, the one who defeated the Heavenly Spirit Team with a single move?" This time, the girl learned her lesson and didn't exclaim, merely asking in a low, excited whisper.
Lin Yun tilted his head, his eyes showing confusion.
Good heavens, I'm not wearing Shrek Academy's uniform, and I'm wearing a mask on my face. You can still recognize me?
What martial arts, young lady!
In truth, the reason the girl recognized Lin Yun was quite simple: firstly, his distinctive golden hair and golden eyes; secondly, the fear and submission she felt from her martial soul when she met Lin Yun's gaze.
Although her martial soul was inherited, it had mutated by her generation. She had never encountered a soul master who could suppress her martial soul from childhood until now, except for Lin Yun.
When Lin Yun made his move earlier, the girl experienced her martial soul being suppressed for the first time. This was why she could recognize Lin Yun.
The girl's heart began to beat faster. The fear and panic made it difficult for her to breathe.
However, this did not diminish her admiration for Lin Yun. As a support-type soul master, she most admired powerful battle soul masters, and among all her peers, Lin Yun's combat power was absolutely top-notch.
"Hello! I watched your previous match, you are very powerful, I admire you greatly!" The girl's silver-gray eyes sparkled brightly, shining like stars in the dim light of the auction house.
At this moment, Lin Yun also clearly saw her features. Besides her extremely rare silver-gray eyes, her long hair was also silver-gray, just like her eyes, though a slightly lighter shade.
Recalling the people he had encountered on the Douluo Continent, Lin Yun realized it was his first time seeing eyes and hair of this color. If he had truly met the girl before, with such rare eye and hair colors, it was impossible for him to have no impression at all.
"You are?" Lin Yun asked curiously.
"My name is Xue Qingci, and I'm also a participant in this competition~" Although Xue Qingci wore a mask, her bright eyes curved into crescents. Even without seeing her entire face, Lin Yun could imagine that the face beneath the mask was absolutely stunning.
Compared to her smile, even her sweet voice seemed less important.
Sweet voice, even sweeter smile.
Lin Yun was slightly startled, then nodded in response: "Lin Yun, Shrek Academy participant."
"Lin Yun, is that your name?" Xue Qingci chattered like a lively skylark.
"Yes," Lin Yun replied casually, but his mind began to ponder.
Xue...
This surname was truly rare on the Douluo Continent. The most representative ones were the Heaven Dou Imperial Family from ten thousand years ago and the current Dou Spirit Imperial Family.
The Dou Spirit Imperial Family was actually the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, but due to their immense weakness, they were overthrown by their own people, forced to split the Heaven Dou Empire into the Heaven Soul Empire and the Dou Spirit Empire, and confined themselves to the Dou Spirit Empire.
After all, Xue Beng... everyone understands.
He claimed to be a wastrel, but in reality, it was probably close to his true nature. It would be a miracle if such a pretentious fellow could manage an empire, especially compared to the Star Luo Empire next door, where succession struggles were a constant deadly affair. The Heaven Dou Empire was simply too weak.
If not for the Martial Soul Hall, the Heaven Dou Empire would probably have ceased to exist long ago.
Even up to the Dou Spirit Empire during the Unrivaled Tang Sect period, the imperial Xue family remained as useless as ever. In terms of combat power, they were at the bottom among the four great empires, but when it came to internal power struggles, they were true experts among experts.
They were literally the gods of internal strife in Douluo.
And besides this Xue family, Lin Yun had never heard of anyone else named Xue. What's more, this girl calling herself Xue Qingci clearly exuded an aura of nobility, definitely a young lady raised in wealth since childhood.
In terms of young lady demeanor, which family could compare to a princess of a nation?
Could this girl be the princess of the Dou Spirit Empire?
Thinking back to the original novel, the Star Luo Empire had Princess Xu Jiujiu, and the Heaven Soul Empire had Princess Weina. Only the Dou Spirit Empire never mentioned a princess from beginning to end. It seemed a bit unreasonable to say that Dou Spirit had no princess.
Although it was just a guess, Lin Yun felt that he was probably very close to the truth.
Was it just because Dou Spirit was so weak that the other three great empires didn't bother to interact with it, leading to this princess never appearing throughout the original story?
And now, this Dou Spirit princess, who was effectively invisible in the original novel, just happened to cross paths with him at such a small auction?
Lin Yun's expression beneath his mask gradually turned peculiar.
"Why aren't you talking to me?" Xue Qingci tugged at Lin Yun's sleeve, a little displeased. She had just chattered on and on, and Lin Yun had only given her perfunctory "mm-hmms."
Then she looked up and saw that Lin Yun's eyes weren't focused, as if he was lost in thought.
Xue Qingci immediately felt a little unhappy.
What, is talking to me, the princess, upsetting you?
Hmph!
Yes, Lin Yun was not wrong. The "Xue" surname was simply too iconic in Douluo, coupled with Xue Qingci's noble aura, Lin Yun could easily guess her identity.
And she was indeed the third princess of the Dou Spirit Empire, only to die not long after in the original novel. The reason for her death was simple: someone didn't want her alive.
But these were all future events.
(End of Chapter)
────────────────────────────────────
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [One Piece: General Blue]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Naruto: Starting with Tsunade-san]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Battle Through the Heavens: Heavenly comprehension]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Marvel: The Fantasy Crystal]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Marvel: Hades]."
"If you want early access to nearly 60+ chapters, join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"