Participating in the Auction
Three days later, Yuhao returned to Star Luo City, but this time there was a blond man walking beside him.
"My lord, this subordinate will withdraw for now and reappear again tonight."
"Alright. Be careful to conceal yourself. There are quite a few powerful experts gathered in Star Luo City at the moment."
Yuhao nodded and replied calmly.
"Please rest assured, Lord. As long as I do not actively release my aura, even a Level 99 Ultimate Douluo would find it impossible to detect my presence."
The blond man spoke in a steady and indifferent tone, yet the confidence hidden in his words was extremely overbearing.
Yuhao did not doubt him in the slightest, because the person standing before him was not human at all, but the helper he had brought from the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
One of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, the Beast God—Di Tian.
As for why Di Tian had come to Star Luo City, the reason was naturally related to the plan scheduled to take place five days later.
Moreover, Di Tian was not the only powerful helper Yuhao had prepared. A few days earlier, he had already asked Jin Peng to return to the Noumenon Sect to invite Sect Master Du Bu Shi himself.
After Di Tian completely restrained his aura and vanished from perception, Yuhao adjusted his robe and strode into Star Luo City.
"I wonder whether there are still matches for the Noumenon Academy today. At this hour, can I still make it in time?"
Yuhao lifted his head and glanced at the sun that was already nearing the horizon, murmuring softly to himself.
He and Elder Lang Ya had agreed that he would return on the first night of the round-robin stage, but there were still several hours left before nightfall.
However, the pace of the matches during the round-robin was extremely fast. It was very possible that today's matches had already concluded.
Even so, Yuhao was not worried in the slightest. Even without his participation, the overall strength of the Noumenon Academy was still sufficient to rank within the top three among all participating soul master academies.
The chances of winning the first match were extremely high.
Besides, even if they did lose, it would not be decisive. The round-robin stage operated on a points system.
As long as they did not suffer consecutive losses afterward, advancing would still not be a problem.
...
When Yuhao arrived at the competition square, he happened to catch up with the Noumenon Academy team just as they were preparing to enter the arena.
And it was a standard seven-person team battle.
Upon seeing Yuhao appear, Lang Ya, who was leading the team, was momentarily stunned, and then an expression of joy surfaced on his face.
"Young Master… Yuhao, you're back."
Before this, Jin Peng had repeatedly reminded him that Yuhao's true identity should not be casually exposed in front of outsiders.
This was a form of protection for Yuhao in the current situation.
Thus, in public, Lang Ya usually addressed him by name instead of his title.
"Elder Lang Ya, you've worked hard these past few days."
Yuhao gave a brief greeting, then turned his gaze toward Long Aotian and the other seven members of the team.
"What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and get on stage, or are you planning to wait for the referee to declare us absent and award a loss?"
Hearing his words, several people were startled and quickly turned around, rushing toward the competition platform.
There was only one person who did not move.
That person was Wei Na.
At this moment, Wei Na's mood was extremely complicated. She had finally obtained an opportunity to take the stage, yet she had not expected Yuhao to return at this exact moment.
However, Yuhao merely swept his gaze over the opposing academy and then said indifferently to Wei Na:
"What are you still waiting for? I have no interest in opponents of this level."
The strength of today's opponents was not much different from that of the Fighting Soul Academy. To Yuhao, whether he personally participated or not made no difference at all.
Moreover, he still had other important matters to attend to tonight.
Upon hearing Yuhao's words, Wei Na's eyes immediately lit up, and she almost could not believe her ears.
"Really? You're letting me go on stage?!"
"If you don't want to, you can step aside and let someone else take your place."
Yuhao glanced at the substitutes and calmly reminded her that she was not the only reserve member.
"No! I'm going right now!"
How could Wei Na possibly give up such a precious opportunity? She immediately rushed toward the arena without the slightest hesitation.
Meanwhile, Yuhao sat down in the spectator stands, quietly observing this seven-versus-seven team battle.
Lang Ya sat beside him, occasionally glancing over. He clearly wanted to ask what Yuhao had been doing during the past three days.
However, each time the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back.
He understood very well that whatever matter had taken Yuhao away at such a critical moment must have been of great importance. Otherwise, Deputy Sect Master Jin Peng would never have personally accompanied him.
On the competition platform, the Noumenon Academy displayed an absolutely crushing posture.
Under the leadership of Zhen Yue, the Sixth-Ring Soul Emperor, they defeated their opponents in fewer than ten rounds, without suffering a single injury.
Three days earlier, Yuhao's shocking debut had already etched the name of the Noumenon Academy deeply into everyone's memory.
Although today's battle lacked the overwhelming visual impact of that day, the lineup of one Soul Emperor and three Soul Kings was still enough to make countless spectators feel their hearts tremble.
No one had expected that this previously unknown academy not only possessed peerless geniuses with two ten-thousand-year soul rings, but also had so many other powerful members.
With such a lineup, they already possessed the qualifications to contend for the championship.
...
Night fell, and the Starlight Auction officially opened.
Escorted by the two powerful elders, Jin Peng and Lang Ya, Yuhao entered the auction venue at an unhurried pace.
The Starlight Auction was the largest auction house in the entire Star Luo Empire, and the power backing it was none other than the imperial royal family itself.
Under normal circumstances, ordinary people were not even qualified to step inside.
However, Yuhao's identity as the Young Master of the Noumenon Sect naturally granted him unrestricted access.
Under the guidance of a well-trained etiquette lady, Yuhao and the others were led directly into Auction Hall No. 12.
Along the way, the etiquette lady finished introducing the theme of tonight's auction.
This auction specialized in soul guidance tools, and all items being auctioned were soul guidance devices below the sixth rank.
After hearing this, both Jin Peng and Lang Ya could not help but exchange strange looks.
At Jin Peng's subtle signal, Lang Ya stepped closer to Yuhao and asked in a low voice:
"Young Master, why are we attending an auction focused on soul guidance tools?"
Although his question sounded casual, Yuhao could clearly sense the deep-rooted disdain Lang Ya held toward soul engineers and soul guidance devices.
This sentiment was not unique to him—it was shared by almost the entire Noumenon Sect.
It was precisely because of this blind arrogance that the Noumenon Sect had nearly been wiped out in the past.
Sect Master Du Bu Shi had only awakened to this harsh reality shortly before his death, but by then, it was already too late.
Now that Yuhao had become the Young Master of the Noumenon Sect, he would naturally never allow such a tragedy to repeat itself.
In fact, the soul masters most compatible with soul guidance tools were precisely those with original martial souls.
Because the martial soul itself was their body, original-type soul masters possessed far superior control over their physical form compared to ordinary soul masters.
Yuhao raised his head, glanced at Lang Ya, then at Jin Peng, and slowly asked:
"Elder Lang Ya, do you believe that soul masters must always be stronger than soul engineers?"
Lang Ya was taken aback for a moment before his expression turned solemn.
"Yes. Even when facing a Seven-Ring Soul Saint, soul masters still possess certain advantages. But that applies only to ordinary soul masters."
"As for our Noumenon Sect, whether before or after the seventh ring, at the same cultivation level, soul engineers are never our match."
When he said this, Lang Ya's tone was filled with absolute confidence in original martial souls.
And objectively speaking, this was not wrong.
Any original martial soul was at least of above-average quality, not to mention that such martial souls could undergo a second awakening.
Against ordinary soul masters, they truly could crush them from beginning to end.
However, Yuhao smiled faintly and said:
"At the same level, soul beasts can also crush soul masters. In fact, the gap at the level of peak combat power is even greater."
"The Beast God Di Tian can be regarded as the strongest existence on the entire continent."
As the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, the ruler of the ferocious beasts with nearly nine hundred thousand years of cultivation, and the possessor of the Dragon God Claws, even if multiple human Ultimate Douluo joined forces, they could only barely contend with him.
Then Yuhao's tone shifted.
"But even so, the true rulers of the continent are still humans. Even if humanity is divided into different factions, soul beasts still cannot touch that position."
"You must understand that ten thousand years ago, the overall strength of humanity was far inferior to that of soul beasts."
Hearing these words, Lang Ya fell silent, and even Jin Peng's expression turned contemplative.
"The reason humans were able to rise and become the masters of the continent is because humans continuously learn, adapt, and grow stronger."
"And soul beasts, who rely solely on innate strength, can only be gradually eliminated and ultimately forced into the shadows."