Chapter 64: Golden Soul Devouring Knife of Living Beings
When the bid of 10 million gold soul coins came out, the other auction areas fell silent in an instant.
There was a full minute of intense whispering.
Someone in another box followed unwillingly and said, "One million and one hundred thousand gold soul coins!"
The starting price of this soul bone is five million gold soul coins, and each bid cannot be lower than one hundred thousand.
There is really no difference between following and not following.
But Xu Tianzhen was still a little surprised. Is there anyone who can afford it?
This was originally the Three Kingdoms period, so there were quite a few rich people there.
Xu Tianran raised his hand and said impatiently, "Eleven million."
The waitress Honglian's face trembled and she quickly handed over the price.
As soon as this price was announced, no one dared to compete anymore.
Originally a wealthy family in the Three Kingdoms period, they could earn a surplus of 20 gold soul coins and 20,000 bronze soul coins a year.
Eleven million would require 550,000 middle-class gentry households to empty their entire year's savings, which is comparable to the entire year's tax revenue of a large city.
In the original Three Kingdoms period, there were no more than ten such large cities in each country.
Once the Sun and Moon Emperor makes a move, the price even a Titled Douluo cannot afford.
Behind the scenes, Xu Jiujiu watched all this with a smile on his face.
Dog tycoon!
squeeze!
Soul bones are of course precious and are one of the foundations of a soul master's strength.
But money is equally important, and this is foreign exchange. The Xingluo Empire is on the front line of the war, and it needs money for both development and stability.
Compared to the long-term benefits brought by a soul bone, getting a large sum of money at once is more precious.
Eleven million gold soul coins can allow Xingluo to raise an army of 100,000 from scratch!
Moreover, there are 100,000 elite soldiers, equipped with soul masters, soul guides, combat and defense soul guides, etc.
The red-dressed auctioneer on the auction table was smiling brightly, like a peach blossom. She quickly knocked the hammer three times and clapped her hands.
"Congratulations to the VIP in Box One for winning our first major auction item tonight!"
Inside the box, Ji Yun, the captain of Mingdu Academy, looked a little dazed. Facing the Emperor, he opened his mouth to speak, but the usually straightforward female navy officer of the Empire was speechless.
Eleven million gold soul coins...
That was the only word left in her mind.
Even if she were sold, it wouldn't be worth even a fraction of that. She actually wanted to get such a precious soul bone...
Ji Yunwang bit his lower lip and looked at His Majesty the Emperor with a mixture of emotions in his eyes.
She lowered her head silently and clenched her fists.
This was an unimaginable favor to her.
To Xu Tianran, it was just a sprinkle of water.
Investing in training a future top-level ninth-level soul instructor for the water navy is not a loss.
The Sun-Moon Empire is not short of money, but only of talent. The strategy of exchanging thousands of gold for horse bones is just to show the royal family's love for talent.
"Captain Ji, don't take it too seriously. You are a citizen of the empire whether you are alive or dead, right?" Xu Tianzhen knew how to seize the opportunity and immediately asked with a smile in response to his brother's behavior.
Ji Yun nodded, "I swear to serve Your Majesty and the Empire until death."
He glanced at the figure as steady as a mountain out of the corner of his eye, and in his heart there was only indescribable admiration.
Xu Tianran nodded calmly without saying much.
The auction continues at the auction table.
The first item was auctioned to create a lively atmosphere, but the second item was not so outstanding, it was just a nine thousand year old soul bone.
Although the Millennium Soul Bone is also very noble, if it is absorbed by a true genius or a strong person, it will inevitably be a waste of resources.
However, what the Sun-Moon Empire excels at is making soul guides.
If a soul guide is not used for absorption but is made based on soul bones, it will have another value and the material will be very precious.
Xu Tianran spent one million to buy the nine thousand year old wind soul bone and gave it to Chen Changqing, the vice-captain of Mingdu College, on the spot to commend him for his great efforts in defeating Shrek's regular vice-captain Dai Yuheng.
Xu Tianran also bought several soul bones that were over 6,000 years old and gave them to two other soul kings of Mingdu College to use in making soul guides.
This move made everyone in Mingdu College very happy, and they were willing to go through fire and water for His Majesty the Emperor.
The students of Mingdu College deserved a reward for their narrow defeat to Shrek. This was probably the best they could do in the entire competition, and now was a good opportunity.
The friendly atmosphere in the box continued until the last lot was put on auction.
Xu Tianran took a quick look and found that it seemed to be a carving knife.
The tools necessary for making the core array of soul guides are also essential tools for every soul guide.
A good carving knife can indeed bring long-term benefits, just like soul bones to traditional soul masters, but he has no interest in it.
However, everyone in the Sun-Moon Empire soon discovered that the knife that was about to be auctioned was actually one of the world's best engraving knives listed by the Sun-Moon Empire.
This discovery is quite surprising.
Because the role of carving knives is irreplaceable for soul masters, the Sun-Moon Empire has produced and collected a large number of carving knives and ranked them. The first 100 are called the ranked carving knives.
Of the one hundred engraving knives on the list, ninety are in the Sun-Moon Empire. They are regarded as peerless treasures by powerful soul masters who are at least level eight, and are never shown to others easily.
Now, there is a sword that is said to be able to enter the top ten and appear in this auction house?
This is just as absurd as a 100,000-year-old soul bone being auctioned. Really good things will not be made public and are usually sold in private.
Just like that 40,000-year-old water dragon bloodline soul bone, it would probably be impossible for the Xingluo Empire to take it out if it weren't for the fact that it was short of money.
The auctioneer's voice spread, "Dear guests, please forgive me for speaking frankly to prove the integrity of the Starlight Auction House. Although this is a rare and precious listing knife, it is a somewhat tricky item. It is a 'cursed' knife."
"It has had over thirty owners, and almost without exception, they were all affected by this carving knife, suffering from either mental confusion or contracting serious illness, ultimately meeting a tragic end. Rumor has it that a trace of the evil soul of its first owner, a brilliant ninth-level soul master and evil soul master, remained within the carving knife."
"So, although this carving knife has been entrusted to this auction house for auction today, we would like to advise bidders not to use it if they lack the necessary skills. The starting price is... 200,000 Gold Soul Coins. Each bid must not be less than 5,000 Gold Soul Coins. Please bid."
The red-dressed auctioneer showed a hint of helplessness on her face, but she still told the truth in the end.
The many senior soul guides and soul masters who had come to participate in the soul guide auction were silent for a while, as if they had been poured with a bucket of cold water.
Only in the first row, a young man and woman were whispering to each other, seeming to be very interested.
This group of people are Mingdu Academy's opponents today. They are the Shrek regulars and reserve players. They were brought here by Dai Yuheng, the eldest son of the White Tiger family, to relax and relieve his boredom.
Unexpectedly, it was an eye-opener. First, a rich man in an unknown box shocked the whole audience with his one move. Almost all the soul bones were taken up by the other party, and no one else could intervene.
At the end of the auction, such an indescribable and complicated treasure appeared.
Wang Yan looked at his only two soul masters, He Caitou and Huo Yuhao, and said, "Teacher has an unlimited credit certificate issued by the Wuhun Department. If you two think this carving knife is valuable, we will bid for it."
Huo Yuhao hesitated and said nothing.
There was a blazing light in He Caitou's eyes, "Teacher Wang, we must win!"
"The value of the ranking knife cannot be measured in money. It's a stroke of luck to come across one, even if it's incomplete. Why should we be afraid of the evil spirit master's curse? Our academy has so many super Douluo elders, how could we be afraid of a mere trace of the evil spirit master's soul?"
"There are one hundred ranking engraving knives in the world, and ninety-five of them are in the hands of the soul guides of the Sun-Moon Empire. Our soul guide academy is the most outstanding soul guide academy in the Three Kingdoms, and it only has two. If we had one more, Dean Xian Lin'er, Vice Dean Qian Duoduo, and my teacher, Vice Dean Fan Yu, could each have one. It would definitely benefit the development of the soul guide department!"
Wang Yan nodded slightly after hearing this, thinking it made sense.
Is Shrek still afraid of the evil soul master's curse?
He couldn't wait to turn to the auction table. The red-dressed auctioneer on the table waited for a while. Seeing that the discussion was heated but no one bid, disappointment flashed across his face and he was ready to withdraw the item if it failed to sell.
Wang Yan raised his arm, ready to make a single offer to silence the other hesitant ones, "I'll offer twenty..."
A voice like heavenly sound came from above, drowning out Wang Yan's bidding and reaching the ears of the red-dressed auctioneer.
"I'll give you 500,000 gold soul coins!!"
With a loud noise, all the auctioneers turned their heads.
He turned to the box above his head and looked at the blurry figure shouting the price.
Wild girl Xu Tianzhen stood up excitedly.