Chapter 74: Xu Jiujiu, Treasures Appearing One After Another
The Starlight Auction House wasn't run by Shrek. Of course, they didn't dare to block Huo Yuhao and the others at the entrance. Shrek might not care about losing face, but the Sun Moon side had no interest in disgracing itself here.
"Yuhao, were we a little too arrogant just now? Do you think what we said might have hurt them too much?"
Huo Yuhao brushed away the hand resting on his shoulder. "Nah. That wasn't arrogance—that was called 'overflowing confidence.' Don't you know what it means to be full of spirit? Haha."
Who still reasons with fists at a time like this? You use your mouth, idiot.
"That's true. My greatest virtues are humility and confidence. I suppose I held back a little just now," Meng Hongchen said with a mischievous grin, hands behind her back.
The corner of Huo Yuhao's eye twitched. "That's unnecessary to say. Besides, those two virtues—I haven't seen them in you yet."
Meng Hongchen walked over with a playful smile. "Silly big brother, Yuhao. Should we mess with the Shrek fellows again later?"
"Oh? Go on," Huo Yuhao replied.
After Huo Yuhao and his group left, the Shrek team was still frozen in place. Entering wasn't right; not entering wasn't right either.
Shrek! They were Shrek! When had they ever endured such humiliation? Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy… just you wait. When the competition comes, we'll settle this!
Yeah, that was the sound of powerless fury.
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Inside one of the VIP booths, the Starlight Auction House was not much different from the Sun Moon Imperial Auction House. The only real difference was that the soul guidance projection screens here were all outdated castoffs from the Sun Moon Empire.
If the Sun Moon Empire was the manufacturing center of soul guidance devices, then the original Douluo Three Nations were nothing more than dumping grounds for outdated "products," always a generation or two behind.
Through this trade, the Sun Moon Empire had extracted countless resources from the three nations, while sending them nothing but discarded devices.
If there were tariffs, the Three Kingdoms would surely raise the import tariffs on Sun Moon's Soul Guidance Devices to 3521%.
As the lights across the venue dimmed, the auctioneer finally stepped onto the stage—none other than Princess Xu Jiujiu herself—performing a graceful royal salute.
Normally, she would only appear for the finale. Clearly, tonight they weren't even pretending.
"Welcome, distinguished guests, to the Starlight Auction House. Tonight, we will present nine rare treasures, displayed in ascending order of value."
"I am your auctioneer, Xu Jiujiu, and it is my honor to serve you."
The auction hall immediately burst into chatter. The princess of the Star Luo Empire presiding over the event—everyone knew then that tonight's items would be extraordinary.
"What do you think, Yuhao?"
"I smell a trap. What respectable house has a princess host an auction? Don't tell me Star Luo Empire's run out of people."
"Who asked you that? I meant Xu Jiujiu—how does she look?"
"Sorry, I've got face blindness. Can't tell who's beautiful and who's not."
"…Damn. Noted. I learned something new."
The first auction item was quickly unveiled.
"Honored guests, the first item comes from the Sun Moon Empire's Illustrious Virtue Hall—a Level Eight close-combat soul guidance device, the Tyrant Tiger Soul-refining Blade."
"This soul guidance device was forged with a ten-thousand-year soul bone as the core material. It carries the soul bone skill Tyrant Blade Slash and boosts the power of all similar attack-type skills by 50%. The starting bid—"
As she spoke, Xu Jiujiu deliberately glanced toward the Sun Moon Imperial Academy's booth.
Opening with a level 8 soul guidance device from Illustrious Virtue Hall—what must the Sun Moon representatives be thinking right now?
Her imperial brother's plan was simple: use this to sow discord within the Sun Moon Empire's leadership. Whether it would work was another matter.
But feelings?
Unbeknownst to her, people like Lin Jiayi and Elder Ma could only laugh at the sight.
The Sun Moon Empire already had mature technology to merge soul bones with soul guidance devices. Huo Yuhao himself could study it freely if he wished. Why would they let something like the Tiger Soul-refining Blade fall into the hands of the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms? Did they really think there was a traitor in the Sun Moon Empire?
Ridiculous.
This was deliberate!
Such a weapon consumed soul bones, yet the attached skill was mediocre. The Sun Moon Empire was already so short on soul bones that they had developed secret methods to create artificial ones. And here they were making soul guidance devices out of them? What a luxury!
A piece like this was tasteless to use but a pity to discard.
Perfect for tricking the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms. That it ended up on auction was almost funny.
"You want to trick me? Funny thing—I was thinking the same about you."
"Yuhao, you've been studying soul bone–soul guidance device integration lately. Should we bid on it?"
As Meng Hongchen spoke, Lin Jiayi and the others also looked toward him.
"Forget it. The academy already has detailed research data. I don't need that thing," Huo Yuhao replied.
Hearing this, Lin Jiayi and the others lost interest. Ma Rulong didn't even glance at it—he had the Judgment Sword, why would he care?
But then, the "idea guy," Xiao Hongchen, gave a sinister grin.
"I bet that little Phoenix soul master from Shrek will want this badly. I'll raise the price for them."
The naturally wicked brat of the Hongchen family.
Ma Rulong and the others instinctively edged further away. That crooked smile of his was just too unsettling.
In the end, the Level 8 soul guidance device was sold for three million gold soul coins—almost double its actual value.
Huo Yuhao wasn't impressed. In the original timeline, the ten-thousand-year Golden Light Left Arm Bone, thanks to its rare light attribute, had been valued at 9.5 million gold soul coins. The seventy-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone had been worth thirty million. Yet this so-called Level 8 soul guidance device, built from a ten-thousand-year soul bone, only fetched three million—even after inflated bidding.
He could only chalk it up to poor materials and lousy craftsmanship. Definitely not because Gong Changwei's monetary system was unsound.
Still, to Ma Xiaotao, this was basically daylight robbery. Xiao Hongchen's guess had been right—she had fallen in love with it at first sight.
If she could obtain it, even without fully drawing out its power, it would greatly boost her strength for the upcoming matches.
"Damn Sun Moon Imperial Academy!" Ma Xiaotao seethed.
They called it secrecy, but anyone with eyes could see someone was deliberately targeting Shrek. She had clearly seen the bids coming from the Sun Moon booth. A bunch of bastards—this was blatant malicious price-jacking—and yet she couldn't back out.
Elder Xuan had already forbidden her from going all-out in the upcoming battles, even if she recovered. That was exactly why she had to win this item.
Because with the soul guidance device, she could greatly compensate for her inability to fight to her heart's content.
The second item was a ten-thousand-year Ice Heart Fruit, a rare heavenly treasure that grows in extremely cold regions. It is crystal clear on the outside and contains ice heart cold qi within. Consuming it can greatly enhance a Soul Master's mental power and control over ice-attribute soul skills.
Ultimately, after a bidding war between Shrek's Ling Luochen and Meng Hongchen, Meng Hongchen won it for 2 million gold coins.
The third item was the Bloodline Resonance Secret Method, a rare secret method that can enhance a Soul Master's Martial Soul control and temporarily perfectly fuse the Martial Soul attribute with the bloodline. It came from a certain Sect that had declined a thousand years ago.
In addition, there were rare metals and other heavenly treasures, all of which were bought out by Sun Moon.
The main point was that they weren't short on money. What's the difference between a treasure bought with money and one given away for free?
The auction quickly progressed to the eighth highlight item.
"Distinguished guests, the rarity of the next item is comparable to a hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone."
"It is the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone, nearly seventy thousand years old, from the hegemon-level tribe of the Extreme North, known as a super Soul Beast."
Xu Jiujiu smiled, having long prepared her speech, subtly hiding all the flaws of this Soul Bone without mentioning a single word.
"As everyone knows, the Ice Jade Scorpion tribe is one of the rarest Soul Beast tribes on the continent."
"And the Left Arm Bone produced from a seventy-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Beast can greatly enhance a Soul Master's inherent strength and physical quality. Furthermore, thanks to the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Beast's uniqueness, once fused, it can provide a comprehensive amplification to the Soul Master's ice attribute!"
She even deliberately added, "I must state here that this Soul Bone has attribute restrictions and can only be absorbed by ice-attribute Soul Masters. Moreover, the Soul Bone Soul Skill is already solidified. If a Soul Master's strength is insufficient and they absorb it blindly, they will only bring about their own destruction."
First, suppress, then elevate. After the suppression comes the elevation.
"Of course, the Soul Skill of this Soul Bone will absolutely not disappoint you, because the Soul Skill provided by this Soul Bone is the ultimate top-tier technique that ice-attribute Soul Masters dream of—Ice Explosion Technique!!"
"The starting bid is ten million gold coins, with each bid not less than one million gold coins!"
"Bidding starts now!!"
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End of Chapter