Lin Yun's expression, hidden by his mask, was somewhat helpless as he looked at Xue Qingci.
How could she be so naturally familiar?
Xue Qingci also realized that her behavior was a bit inappropriate, and her small face flushed crimson. However, from Lin Yun's perspective, her gaze just became a little evasive.
"I... I just rarely leave the roy... leave home, rarely meet other people..." Xue Qingci pursed her lips and said softly.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yun's expression grew even more helpless.
He had already guessed that this might be the runaway princess of the Dou Spirit Empire, but he didn't even need to probe; she just exposed herself.
With Lin Yun's hearing, he didn't think he had misheard.
Leave the roy...?
This little princess really was inexperienced!
However, the little princess was clearly unaware that her identity had been exposed. She continued to cling to Lin Yun, chattering away, constantly asking about life at Shrek Academy, like a lively skylark.
Since the auction hadn't started yet, Lin Yun was happy to chat more with this little princess.
Inexperienced girls were the best.
Uh... easy to trick, that is!
Even if Lin Yun had no intention of setting her up, teasing this naturally naive girl was quite interesting.
And while he was at it...
"Ah? So Shrek Academy isn't as good as the rumors say!" Xue Qingci gasped softly, feeling like her filter for Shrek Academy as a soul master's holy land had shattered into pieces.
If it were anyone else speaking ill of Shrek Academy, Xue Qingci would most likely not believe them. She was naturally naive, but not actually stupid; how could she be so easily convinced?
But Lin Yun was different!
He was already a member of Shrek Academy's competition team, and the most powerful main member at that. If even he evaluated Shrek this way, could it be false?
Lin Yun actually didn't say much. He just recounted the stories of Xuan Zi, Yan Shaozhe, and Zhou Yi as they were, without adding any personal embellishments.
But as the saying goes:
"Telling the truth is already a deadly attack" (You agree, right, Kunkun?).
Whether it was Zhou Yi's cerebellar atrophy-style teaching, Yan Shaozhe's forced binding method, or Xuan Zi's drunken gluttony, all were rumors that shattered this little princess's worldview.
Coupled with the fact that Xue Qingci had also read books like Dragon and Phoenix Resonation, this made her even more unable to look at Shrek directly.
"Oh my god, I even fantasized about attending Shrek Academy before!" Xue Qingci covered her mask, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, clearly greatly shocked by Lin Yun's words.
Lin Yun secretly chuckled, never imagining that this little princess's thoughts would be so simple.
Of course, it was also possible that he was the simple one, completely fooled by Xue Qingci's acting, but Lin Yun felt this possibility wasn't very high. It wasn't Lin Yun being overconfident; it was that the average IQ of people on the Douluo Continent was truly that low.
Smart women?
It wasn't Lin Yun being discriminatory, but looking through the entire history of Douluo, the intelligence of the female leads and supporting characters under a certain author truly wasn't great...
A mere passerby who didn't even get a single mention in the original novel, how high could her intelligence be? Even if Xue Qingci's acting was truly explosive and she fooled Lin Yun, he'd accept it.
It wouldn't matter much anyway; he was just telling the truth. Shrek wouldn't send him a lawyer's letter just for telling the truth, would they?
At that moment, the auction finally began.
Xue Qingci also stopped her intention of continuing the conversation and seriously watched the auction. For her, who rarely left home, every external activity was worth experiencing seriously.
"Good evening, distinguished guests. I am Qingya, the auctioneer for this session. It's my great pleasure to host this auction for you," Qingya, dressed in a purple robe, walked out gracefully, her voice amplified by a soul tool and echoing throughout the hall.
'It's settled.' Lin Yun smiled slightly, looking meaningfully at this Qingya auctioneer who almost made Wang Yan utterly confused in the original novel.
This was a formidable woman who almost took down Han Ruoruo.
And her appearance at this auction also meant that the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife was about to fall into Lin Yun's hands.
Due to the relatively low prestige of this auction, the highest-grade soul tool was merely a Level 3 milk bottle, with others being Level 1 to 3 soul tools, which left Lin Yun with no desire to bid.
On the contrary, Xue Qingci, who was beside him, seemed quite fond of these small soul tool 'toys,' and bought several pieces, including that Level 3 milk bottle.
And the auction finally came to an end.
After selling another item, Qingya's face was beaming. Today's performance was truly excellent; both the transaction rate and the selling prices made her extremely satisfied.
After this auction, she would receive a substantial commission.
If she could also sell the next item, it would be great, Qingya thought with a hint of regret. But as soon as she thought of that strange and evil engraving knife, her little heart couldn't help but fiercely twitch.
If that spooky thing could be sold, it wouldn't have been left unsold so many times.
But the process still had to be completed.
"Distinguished guests, the next item is the last one of this auction, and also the most precious item of this auction," Qingya said with a gentle smile, extending her right hand in an inviting gesture, then unveiled the red cloth on the cart that the auction staff had just pushed over.
A rectangular box-type soul tool lay quietly on the cart.
"As we all know, a powerful soul tool master must have a handy engraving knife. The quality of the engraving knife can even directly affect the success rate of a soul tool master's creations," Qingya didn't open the box directly. Instead, she first opened the topic by leveraging soul tool masters' pursuit of a high-quality engraving knife.
This woman understood how to market; she was truly worthy of being an auctioneer cultivated by the Starlight Auction House.
Many people present were indeed stirred by Qingya's words and vaguely guessed that this final auction item might be a high-quality engraving knife.
They began to look forward to it.
However, the Starlight Auction House was a big business and wouldn't ruin its reputation for a Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife that was acquired for only 100,000 gold soul coins. Since they were putting this engraving knife up for auction, they certainly couldn't conceal anything.
If they concealed the truth about the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife, leading to an uninformed person buying it at a high price at their auction, and then dying violently or falling into evil ways due to the evil soul master's curse, then their Starlight Auction House's reputation would truly be smashed and trampled upon.
It was completely not worth it.
"Due to the importance of engraving knives to soul tool masters, after countless efforts by Level 9 soul tool masters, the Sun Moon Empire eventually ranked one hundred powerful engraving knives, and these one hundred engraving knives are also known as the Listed Engraving Knives," Qingya smiled slightly, then gestured towards the box on the cart.
"Perhaps some distinguished guests have already guessed. Yes, this last item of ours is indeed an engraving knife, and it is even an engraving knife listed on the Engraving Knife Ranking."
Listed Engraving Knife!
These four words directly stunned many of the "discerning" people present, causing their breathing to quicken. They looked at the box containing the engraving knife with eyes full of greed.
This was a Listed Engraving Knife, a treasure coveted even by Level 9 soul tool masters. Yet, it actually appeared at an auction of this caliber.
What a steal!
If this Listed Engraving Knife appeared at a large auction, they might not be able to acquire it with their financial resources. But now it was just a small-scale auction, and their only enemies were the other people around, not the wealthy magnates from major powers!
Their greed for the Listed Engraving Knife made them completely fail to ponder why the Starlight Auction House hadn't placed a Listed Engraving Knife in a large auction to gain more profit, but instead put it in such a small-scale auction, preventing its value from being maximized.
Could it be that the Starlight Auction House was foolish?
Then Qingya's next words poured a basin of cold water over their heads.
"Distinguished guests might be a bit puzzled as to why a Listed Engraving Knife would appear at such a small-scale auction," Qingya's smile remained unchanged, but her tone carried a hint of regret.
"The truth is, this engraving knife has a flaw. Its creator was a Level 9 soul tool master and a formidable Titled Douluo evil soul master. Perhaps it's because its first owner was an evil soul master that anyone who obtained this engraving knife could not come to a good end. It has had thirty-seven owners, and besides the evil soul master who originally created it, all others who used this engraving knife either died violently or fell into evil ways."
"The notorious reputation of this engraving knife has caused it to fall from the top thirty of the Engraving Knife Ranking to its current ninety-ninth place."
"The engraving knife is named—Spirit Devourer."
Qingya extended her hand, her fingertips trembling slightly as she opened the box sealing the engraving knife, revealing the hideous, dark green, grayish-black engraving knife within.
Fierce Blade Spirit Devourer!
Visibly, black mist缠绕 around the engraving knife, and faintly, hideous ghost faces could be seen in the mist. Those with strong spiritual power could even hear their mental wails.
The moment they saw this engraving knife, everyone felt as if Lin Yun had poured ice water with extreme ice over their heads, instantly sobering them up. Their eyes, fixed on the Spirit Devourer, filled with horror.
Damn it, the Fierce Blade Spirit Devourer!
Thirty-seven owners, their fates either death or falling into evil ways.
You have to be alive to use an engraving knife after buying it!
Only Lin Yun's smile beneath his mask gradually widened, eventually becoming somewhat rampant.
Hehehehe, Gold of Life!
The thrill of an impending bargain was so intense that Lin Yun didn't even notice the abnormality in Xue Qingci beside him. Her silver-gray eyes seemed somewhat absent and hollow, and a dense aura of death lingered in the depths of her pupils.
Lin Yun didn't notice it, but someone else did!
The moment Qingya opened the soul tool sealing the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife, Electrolux, who was sleeping soundly in Lin Yun's spiritual sea, instantly woke up.
Both the familiar yet strange cursed aura and the powerful life force within the essence of the Gold of Life were the best bait to lure Electrolux, directly turning the old man into a big catch.
Just as Electrolux was about to tell Lin Yun to buy this Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife at all costs, he glanced over and saw Xue Qingci next to Lin Yun.
Good heavens, the old man's eyes immediately lit up.
"Holy cow, holy cow!!!" Electrolux's eyes widened, and the gray pearl instantly transformed into its true form, exclaiming uncontrollably.
"How is this possible? There's actually someone so suitable for my inheritance! She is simply the perfect candidate for my Undead Scourge inheritance!"
"Huh?" The commotion in his spiritual sea was naturally noticed by Lin Yun immediately.
"Old Yi, what are you talking about? Where is there anyone suitable to inherit your Undead Scourge?"
Electrolux took two deep breaths, calming the agitation in his heart: "Just look at the girl next to you, and you'll know. If she's not suitable to be my successor, who is?"
Huh???
Lin Yun was stunned again.
The girl next to me? Besides Xue... wait, Xue Qingci?
Lin Yun suddenly turned his head and immediately saw Xue Qingci's abnormality. At this moment, she had completely lost her previous vivacity, replaced by a sense of deathly stillness and coldness.
This aura was indeed extremely similar to Electrolux's.
How could a princess of the Dou Spirit Empire possibly have such a dense aura of death?
As if sensing Lin Yun's gaze, Xue Qingci quickly recovered from her previous state, turning her head to look at Lin Yun with an innocent expression, though a hint of unhidden panic still lingered deep in her eyes.
This flicker of panic also couldn't escape the notice of Lin Yun and Electrolux, who were constantly observing her.
It seems... she seems to understand her own unusualness...
Lin Yun didn't delve deeper; there would always be an opportunity to figure this out. Since Electrolux had expressed his desire to take Xue Qingci as a disciple, Lin Yun would naturally give Electrolux a small, insignificant helping hand.
This matter could be discussed later.
Right now, the more important thing was to buy the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife. Amidst some people's exclamations, everyone present understood the threat of this Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife. Even if its price was practically dirt cheap for a Listed Engraving Knife, no one bothered to bid.
It was still the same point: you had to be alive to use it after buying it. 100,000 gold soul coins might not be much to many people, but it wasn't something to throw away lightly.
Moreover, after losing those 100,000 gold soul coins, you would likely lose your life as well.
It was not worth the loss.
Under Qingya's helpless gaze, she was almost ready to announce that the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife had failed to sell. Just a second before she was about to declare it unsold, Lin Yun raised his bid.
"One hundred thousand gold soul coins!"
Qingya's eyes lit up. She eagerly looked in the direction of the bidder, then met Lin Yun's golden eyes.
However, Qingya had no romantic notions. Getting the money was what truly mattered; nothing was more important than her commission.
"Distinguished Guest number 114514 bids one hundred thousand gold soul coins. Does anyone want to increase the bid?"
Clearly... no one did.
Thus, amidst the mocking gazes of others, the Spirit Devouring Engraving Knife finally fell into Lin Yun's hands.
Price: One hundred thousand gold soul coins.
(End of Chapter)
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