Seven days later, at six in the evening—
A black soul-guided vehicle departed from the Wang family estate, speeding toward the Sun Moon Auction Hall.
Inside the soul-guided vehicle sat a young man with sword-like brows and starry eyes, his features perfectly sculpted.
Wang Chen sat quietly inside, his gaze passing through the window as he admired the dazzling nightscape of Mingdu. As for driving, he didn't need to bother—his guards handled that.
Nighttime Mingdu was even more magnificent than in the day. It was the largest city on the entire Douluo Continent.
Even if the capitals of the Star Luo, Heaven Dou, and Dou Ling Empires were combined, they couldn't compare to Mingdu.
Unlike other cities, Mingdu had no walls. As far as the eye could see, endless buildings stretched to the horizon. The countless lights of ten thousand households illuminated the city like a sea of stars, rivaling the heavens above.
With its advanced soul tool technology, Mingdu was in no way inferior to the modern world of Wang Chen's previous life. The brilliant urban glow gave him a strong sense of familiarity.
Compared to Mingdu, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire—Sky Dou City, surrounded by its walls—felt utterly outdated, a relic of a feudal age.
Wang Chen quietly admired the city's radiance and technological splendor.
Over the past seven days of cultivation, his strength had increased yet again.
During this time, Wang Chen had eaten well, drunk well, and used even higher-grade restorative and energy-nourishing pills than before. He had even taken medicated baths.
By his estimate, after another month or so of cultivation, his soul power could break through to Rank 30, the level of a Soul Elder. The speed of his progress was astonishing.
Even for a genius with innate full soul power, the bottleneck between Grand Soul Master and Soul Elder would normally take several months to break through—but Wang Chen needed only half that time.
This made him even more satisfied with his new cultivation method, the Meridian-Opening Technique. Its efficiency was like replacing a musket with artillery—it was pure acceleration.
Aside from his cultivation progress, Wang Chen had also grown another centimeter taller, edging closer to 1.7 meters in height.
These days, his meals were composed of highly nutritious dishes that greatly benefited his internal organs and meridians.
With such nutrition and given that he was in his adolescent growth period, it was perfectly natural that he was growing taller so quickly.
In addition, over these seven days, Wang Chen had also fully perfected several abilities through the Black Book's crystal mark, each of which consumed tremendous mental energy to deduce and refine.
For example, his trump card secret technique—Ring Tempering (Cui Huan)—had now been completely perfected by the crystal mark.
He could now choose to activate one or multiple soul rings at will.
For instance, when fighting an opponent only slightly stronger than himself, he could unleash the energy of just one ring to defeat them.
Previously, when he had to fully activate all his rings at once, it had been an immense waste of power.
Now, thanks to the crystal mark's optimization, the Ring Tempering technique's side effects had been reduced once more.
Originally, after using it once, there was a three-day cooldown. Now, the cooldown had been reduced to one day.
Even more impressive, the perfected technique had gained a far more powerful and extreme form—
That was to detonate the soul ring, completely releasing all of its stored energy.
Yes—this was none other than the Haotian Sect's supreme art, Ring Explosion (Zha Huan).
But Wang Chen's version, enhanced through the Black Book's crystal mark, had smaller side effects than the original.
The Haotian Sect's Ring Explosion caused the user's rings to vanish temporarily, rendering them unable to use soul skills and leaving them severely weakened. The rings would only begin to recover after three days and could not be exploded again until thirty-six days had passed.
In contrast, Wang Chen's version reduced the backlash to one-third of that.
The detonated ring would begin to recover within a day and could be used for Ring Explosion again after twelve days.
Not only were the side effects smaller, but the power and controllability of Wang Chen's version far surpassed that of the Haotian Sect's.
That was the terrifying might of the Black Book—with a single round of deduction, it had surpassed ten thousand years of Haotian Sect heritage.
If the Haotian Sect ever learned that someone had not only mastered their secret art but also improved it—with less backlash and greater power—they'd probably cough up blood in rage.
Of course, Wang Chen's Ring Explosion still carried serious risks. It wasn't suited for regular use—only for life-or-death battles.
As Wang Chen admired Mingdu's lights, time flew by quickly. Ten minutes later—
His black soul-guided car stopped in front of a gold-and-jade twelve-story building.
Above its grand entrance hung a massive plaque inscribed with five characters: "Sun Moon Auction Hall."
"Young master, we've arrived," the two guards driving respectfully informed Wang Chen.
Upon arrival, Wang Chen and his guards donned black cloaks and masks to conceal their identities before exiting the car. They then stored the vehicle into a soul tool.
Both guards were quite strong, each possessing five rings—Soul King-level strength—and were also Level 5 Soul Engineers.
Mingdu, being the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, was a very safe place; two Soul Kings were more than enough to deter petty criminals.
Of course, if Wang Chen were to go hunting for a soul ring, he would need Soul Sage-level elders as escorts—outside the city was far too dangerous for Soul King guards.
Gazing up at the glittering auction hall, Wang Chen's eyes gleamed with determination.
To ensure he could obtain the Soul-Eating Carving Knife without fail, Wang Chen had even written a letter from the Treasure Pavilion's VIP Room 607, asking Meng Hongchen, his wealthy "little sweetheart," for a loan of 100,000 gold soul coins.
When Meng Hongchen read the letter and saw that Brother Wang Chen needed money, she immediately worried it wouldn't be enough. Without hesitation, she waved her delicate hand and sent him a gold card worth one million gold soul coins.
She even wrote in her letter:
"Brother Wang Chen, if that's still not enough, I'll take money from my brother's private stash too."
Xiao Hongchen: (｀)Ψ "Meng Hongchen, that's enough! I'm your real brother! Why do you always side with outsiders instead of your own family?!"
When Wang Chen read her letter, his heart softened. Such devotion… I wonder if giving her my whole self would be enough repayment.
Well, setting that aside for now—
Thanks to Meng Hongchen's generous support, Wang Chen's funds now totaled an astounding 1.1 million gold soul coins.
In the original story, the Soul-Eating Carving Knife had gone unsold in the Sun Moon Empire and later appeared in the Star Luo Empire, where Huo Yuhao bought it at an auction for just 100,000 gold soul coins.
Wang Chen was confident that this time, no one could possibly outbid him.
Still, Wang Chen always acted with absolute caution. He never relied on luck.
The thing he hated most was failure due to carelessness—regretting afterward that he hadn't prepared better.
With firm resolve, Wang Chen entered the Sun Moon Auction Hall, accompanied by his two guards.
The auction house, backed by the royal family, represented imperial credibility and prestige.
Its security was exceptionally tight, and it guaranteed the privacy of its clients, strictly preventing post-auction killings or robberies.
It would never resort to underhanded tactics like shady auction houses outside the city.
One could rest assured when buying here—the Sun Moon Auction Hall would never tarnish the royal family's name for a few petty profits.
The hall held small auctions monthly and a grand auction once a year.
The grand auction featured priceless treasures—sometimes even fifty-thousand-year soul bones—drawing countless Level 9 Soul Engineers to compete.
By contrast, the monthly minor auctions were much simpler, selling items like medicinal herbs, pills, blueprints, soul tools, and rare metals.
Even when soul bones appeared, they were rarely of high quality—most were only thousand-year bones, with ten-thousand-year ones being rare.
Thus, the monthly auctions attracted fewer high-level soul engineers.
Upon entering, Wang Chen paid a 1,000 gold soul coin service fee, received an anonymous room card, and entered a private box.
He sat comfortably on a luxurious sofa, watching the soul-screen before him while holding the bidding device, quietly waiting for the auction to start.
Once it began, the auction's main stage would be broadcast live via soul tool projection.
If guests wished to bid, they simply entered their offer into the device and pressed "confirm."
As he glanced at his two guards, Wang Chen decided he didn't want them knowing he was buying the Soul-Eating Carving Knife.
The knife had a fearsome reputation in Mingdu—it had killed many well-known soul engineers.
If his guards learned he bought it, they might report it to the family elders and patriarch.
The elders, fearing for Wang Chen's safety, might confiscate the weapon—wasting all his effort.
No, Wang Chen thought. I must get rid of them temporarily.
Quickly thinking of a plan, he took out 5,000 gold soul coins from his storage soul tool and instructed his guards to go to Treasure Pavilion and Hundred Herbs Hall to purchase certain items. The leftover money would be their tip.
Once they returned, they could regroup and head back home after the auction.
Seeing such a generous offer, the two guards' eyes lit up.
Exchanging a glance, they nodded in agreement.
Young Master Wang Chen truly is wealthy, they thought. Just running a few errands, and we get this much! Refusing would be refusing free money.
Since the auction hall was under royal protection—guarded by Soul Douluo-level, Level 8 Soul Engineers—there was no real danger anyway.
Who would dare cause trouble here? Only a fool with a death wish.
So, the two guards happily departed to run Wang Chen's errands.
Once they were gone, Wang Chen stretched lazily and smiled faintly.
He picked up a glass of juice from the table and drank slowly, waiting for the auction to begin.
Before long, the event commenced. On the soul-screen appeared a beautiful woman in a cheongsam, holding a small auction hammer and wearing a professional smile.
Her clear, melodious voice rang out:
"Honored guests, welcome to the Sun Moon Auction Hall. Today's minor auction is about to begin. We hope everyone can obtain the treasures they desire."
The auction proceeded smoothly as item after item was displayed and sold.
Wang Chen watched silently, never lifting his bidder once—he was waiting for the Soul-Eating Carving Knife.
He wasn't interested in herbs, metals, pills, or blueprints. If he needed them, the Wang Family would provide.
Finally, halfway through the auction, the item appeared.
On the stage lay a delicate, dark carving knife, about half a foot long and no thicker than a finger. Its shape tapered from base to tip, ending in a sharp, gleaming point.
The blade was about half an inch wide, simple and ancient in design, its black surface faintly inscribed with runes that exuded a mysterious, oppressive aura.
The woman in the cheongsam introduced it:
"Next, we have an item many of you may have heard of—the infamous Soul-Eating Carving Knife.
This blade is extremely dangerous… its past owners have all met tragic ends. Please bid with caution.
Of course, danger comes with power—its might is tremendous, ranking among the top thirty on the list of renowned carving knives. It is a rare treasure indeed.
The starting bid is 100,000 gold soul coins, with minimum increments of 1,000 coins. Please place your bids."
As the knife appeared, the entire auction hall fell eerily silent.
No one spoke. The soul engineers of the Sun Moon Empire clearly feared the knife's cursed reputation—none dared to risk becoming its next doomed owner.
Seeing the knife on the verge of going unsold, the auctioneer grew nervous.
Oh no… if this item fails to sell, my commission will tank! she fretted inwardly.
Seconds ticked by, her attempts to promote it proving useless.
Then, in the final five seconds before it would be withdrawn—
Wang Chen pressed his bidder.
"100,000 gold soul coins!"
The auctioneer's eyes lit up. She struck the hammer excitedly and announced,
"100,000 gold soul coins—sold!"