The auction was located mostly underground, and the building was only its entrance.
After walking into the auction house, they were met with a five meter wide staircase that was laid with a red carpet as it headed downwards. Yet, they didn't see any workers to guide them inside.
They continued heading downwards. After twenty meters or so, they finally reached the registration area. Wang Yan had already completed a few complicated procedures before coming here in addition to giving each and every person a number plate.
"Dear guests, please," A red cheongsam-clad girl took them inside.
After passing through a simple wooden door, the scenery suddenly changed. A patch of gold filled their vision, the decorations of the wide, dazzling corridor surpassing even the Grand Star Luo Hotel Huo Yuhao and the rest had stayed in, in terms of luxury.
The corridor was over ten meters wide, and the ground was laid with precious white jade. There was a pair of beautifully patterned pillars that were carved from the same material every ten meters, and the walls seemed to have been papered with gold leaf. The carvings on the wall were complicated and beautiful.
Luxurious crystal lamps hung from the top of the ceiling. The lamps gave off a gentle yellow light, and its contrast against the golden walls made it seem as if they were in a world of gold.
This was enough to leave anybody dazzled.
While everyone were slightly adazed, Wang Yan whispered. "Don't underestimate this place just because it's unremarkable on the outside. In reality, this is Star Luo City's largest auction house."
"It wasn't easy to obtain a pass to attend this auction. Not only do you need to prove your assets, you even have to go through a series of evaluations. If we followed the normal routes, it'd take at least half a month for us to get in here."
He smiled. "Luckily, I have my ways." What he actually meant was that he had a certain elder's help.
As Wang Yan spoke, they entered a large door, guided by the young lady. It wasn't the end of the corridor; there was still a door similar to the previous one in front of them with a flight of stairs that headed downwards at the end of the corridor.
Ma Xiaotao looked as if this wasn't her first time in such a establishment, as she turned towards the girl and asked. "I'll have to trouble you to give us a simple explanation of the rules of the auction house and currently available items for sale."
"Understandable dear guest," The girl said respectfully, "Today's auction specializes in the sale of soul tools, and will only sell soul tools ranked Class 6 or below."
"According to the way we classify auctions, this auction can only be considered a Grade 4 auction. Our Starlight Auction separates auctions from Grade 1 to Grade 5, with Grade 1 having the strictest rules. Only Grade 1 auctions will be held in the main auction hall. This is Hall 12, and it can accommodate a total of two hundred people."
"As for today's sales, I'm sorry dear guest, but due to the auction's rules, I can only give you a list that details a brief summary of the items being auctioned here."
"However, there might be some last minute items to be auctioned, so there would be no details about it. I apologize in advance." She then hands over a catalogue towards Ma Xiaotao.
"Thank you."
After entering Hall 12, just as they were suddenly given varying masks to hide their identity, the lighting suddenly dimmed.
At this moment, the auction hall was already filled with sixty to seventy percent of its attendees.
There were a total of two hundred large, comfy chairs which were covered by dark-blue swan cloth; Huo Yuhao and his group took their places in the middle row.
A waiter came over to ask what beverages they wanted, and Huo Yuhao asked for a glass of plain water.
'Huu. This is my first time attending an auction, it's pretty exciting, I won't lie.' He thought, taking a sip while subtly checking the place out with his Spiritual Detection.
Almost instantly, he could sense numerous powerful auras in the area, most of whom are probably at least seven rings strong. He even felt traces of a Titled Douluo at the front row, who sent a warning flare of his soul power in response to Huo Yuhao's prodding.
Huo Yuhao winced slightly and retracted his Spiritual Detection momentarily, choosing to take a step back and not mess around too much.
It wasn't good to make enemies everywhere.
The creed of a Shinobi was stealth and invisibility.... most of the time.
'This isn't even the main auction hall and there's already a Titled Douluo in the crowd. Let's see what times this auction holds.'
At this moment, the purple-clothed auctioneer was already behind the auction table with a smile on her face.
"Distinguished guests, good evening to you all. I am a purple-ranked auctioneer of the Starlight Auction, Qing Ya. Today, I will be hosting this auction."
With that, she walked out from the auction table and bowed with a smile on her face. This immediately won her a round of applause.
"Today's auction will specialise in the selling of soul tools. Our goods will all be soul tools which are ranked Class 6 and below. They are suitable for soul masters and engineers below the Soul King rank."
"In addition, we have prepared a secret, big item to make your trips worthwhile. Distinguished guests, don't miss it for all the world."
"Our auction will now start, so can a staff member please bring up the first item that will be auctioned off today."
The first soul tool brought out onto the auction stage was a Class 3 offensive soul tool called the Soul light Ray; it casts a paralysis effect on a target and affects those ranked Soul King and below, though it's dependent on the user's cultivation.
The reason why it was put out on stage was because it was made by a Class 6 Soul Engineer.
It was suitable for either Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao, the latter immediately yielded it over towards the former since she already has a much more powerful soul tool.
Huo Yuhao was the one who bought it for 2,500 golden soul coins, surprising his friends.
2,500 golden soul coins is a lot of money for most people after all. Though he doesn't show it, but he was a little loaded for his age because of the treasury of Tang Sect and the stuff he raided—took away from the IronBlood Sect.
He had put away around 95% of the cash and other goods to his shadow clones in the Akatsuki Headquarters for research and development, leaving him with a decent sum for situations like this.
"Thank you..." Wang Dong'er shyly whispered to Huo Yuhao as she took the Soul Light Ray. She inwardly promised to make it up to him later on.
For a moment, her mind flashed to a certain object in her family home and shook her mind. Her face slightly red, almost wanting to smack herself for thinking about it! It was supposed to be forher future spouse!
Although... she spared a glance at him before quickly looking down on the ground.
The girls that were glancing at her, clicked their tongue.
As the auction continued, there were really many good items for specializing in soul tools. The overwhelming majority of soul tools were from Class 3 to Class 5. Huo Yuhao and Wang Yan bid for the items, and purchased more than 13 soul tools, distributing them to everyone. Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen and Xi Xi would buy an item or themselves as well, they had earned a lot in their previous Shrek Guardian missions.
However, they weren't the only one with the cash to buy soul tools.
"Class 5, offense and defense soul tool, Volcanic Ash Daggers..."
"7,500 golden soul coins!"
"Class 4 flying-type soul tool, Cloud-"
"8,000 golden soul coins!"
"Class 6 soul tool schematic-"
"13,700 golden soul coins!"
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, and the rest looked at Ning Tian with wide eyes, completely shocked by her seemingly endless supply of golden soul coins. By this point, she had bought more than half of the items showcased on the auction stage.
"Yuhao, I believe that I haven't gifted you anything for what you've done for me. As a token of my appreciation, I'm giving this Class 6 blueprint." She snapped her fingers and glanced at Huo Yuhao cooly. "Of course, just this wouldn't be enough to repay the debt I owe you, but consider it a start."
Huo Yuhao was taken aback by Ning Tian's sudden generosity. He wasn't expecting such a grand gesture and felt a mix of gratitude and awkwardness. "Thank you, Ning Tian."
Ning Tian nodded, her expression softening slightly. "It's the least I can do. You've done so much for all of us."
It was at this moment, that they were all reminded Ning Tian's identity as the sole heir of one of the most oldest and influential sects in the world—the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Clan.
By her side, Wu Feng smugly looked at them before taking a sip of her lemon juice, looking all proud.
'Do you see, Yuhao? Milady is incredibly loaded! You can have whatever you want, as long as you pledge your loyalty to her, you can have whatever you want! E-Even me... These were the thoughts of Wu Feng, who turned a little red and began giggling.
Their attitudes had certainly pissed off a few people, specifically, some familiar girls.
The auction continued, and the atmosphere was filled with excitement and anticipation. The items being auctioned off grew more impressive, and the bids became more intense.
"The following is the second to last item for today. After this item is auctioned off, we'll come to our grand finale. I believe the audience will definitely be pleasantly surprised."
The young girl wheeled out the penultimate auction item for the day. From the shape of the cloak and how it was practically sticking to the trolley, one could see that this item wasn't big.
Qing Ya walked to the front of the cart with a sound amplification soul tool in her hand. She smiled and said, "I'm sure everyone seated in the audience who's done in-depth research into soul tools will definitely be very familiar with this item. It also often appears in soul tool auctions as well. It has an amusing name – Milk's Bottle."
'Milk's Bottle!' Huo Yuhao's eyes slightly widened.
How could he not recognize this item? It was an item that he had wanted to have and make mass production of. However, due to certain circumstances, his shadow clone didn't have any time to create and research on such a valuable soul tool.
Don't let its silly name fool you, a milk bottle, or Energy Restoration Soul Tool for its scientific term, is a valuable support soul tool that is used to replenish a soul master's soul power. Although it has a very, very limiting factor of needing to stay still for a while, the fact that it restores soul power made it highly sought after by many soul masters.
'Judging by its structure, it's a Class 4 Milk Bottle. Although I have a lot more soul power than others at my level, I'm still a Soul Ancestor. It's suitable for me.'
The main issue of the Milk Bottle of when using it, a lot of soul power will be released. In the process of receiving soul power from the Milk Bottle, the soul master's body will definitely be deadlocked. This would be extremely fatal for a soul master in battle.
Moreover, there are times when it's very difficult to control the Milk Bottle. It will normally absorb all of a soul master's soul power, or fill a person's soul power to the brim until their body over flowed with excess power, resulting in the potential for internal injury if not managed carefully.
However, this wouldn't be an issue with Huo Yuhao. With his high spiritual power and his almost perfect control over soul power, he could easily handle using the Milk Bottle effectively.
Even though the Milk Bottle has a severe weakness, the price of it has already gone up to 12,000 golden soul coins already in the few seconds he was appreciating the Milk Bottle.
A bead of sweat dripped from his face.
'T-That's a lot of money...' He only had around 100,000 golden soul coins with him. Although it sounded like it was a lot, when adding his previous purchases, he only had at least 70,000 golden soul coins.
This was a budget he was hoping to save up for at least a year!
'Ah, screw it. I'll just find a mission on getting rid of bandits later to get it back.'
Just as Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth to make a bid, Ning Tian whispered to him.
"Yuhao, do you want one? I have several of them in my storage ring, and yes, a few of them are Class 4 Milk Bottles."
"What do you want?" Huo Yuhao straightforwardly asked.
Ning Tian smiled and placed a finger on her soft lips, "Didn't I already tell you? I want to repay you for everything that you've done for me, and this is merely a small part of my gratitude."
Huo Yuhao stared at her in surprise and felt gratitude swell in his heart. Although she was only doing this to repay him, he just couldn't help but swore to himself that he would repay her back for this.
After all, to him, he was just helping out a friend.
"Thank you, Ning Tian."
NIng Tian smiled and raised her hand, exclaiming, "30,000 golden soul coins!"
At this moment, the entire hall quieted down again. Immediately, all of the other bidders quietly backed down.
"30,000 going once... 30,000 going twice... 30,000 going thrice. Sold!"
As some say, money makes the world go round.
After pushing the cart down the stage, Qing Ya walked to the very front of the auction stage.
Her charming face was now slightly flushed, and she said in a much quieter voice, "Distinguished guests, our mystery gift is about to take the stage. This is also the final item we are auctioning tonight."
"This wasn't supposed to appear here originally, but with the permission of our chief auctioneer, we have decided to reveal this item to thank our various distinguished guests for supporting our Starlight Auction."
"Although it is somewhat... strange, I trust that every single person here will be able to tell its true worth."
"Now, I would like our ceremonial lady to push our mystery gift onto the stage."
A push cart once again ascended the stage from the side. Unlike the previous items, this push cart wasn't just bigger; the cloth on it was actually changed to a conspicuous red one.
All matters conducted within the Starlight Auction were differentiated by color, with gold being the most honorable color. After that would be red, the color of a hundred thousand year soul ring.
From this, it could be seen that this mystery gift was extremely extraordinary.
It was quickly pushed to the center of the stage, beside Qing Ya.
Huo Yuhao squinted his eyes, quietly releasing his Spiritual Detection.
However, as Huo Yuhao quietly swept his spiritual power across the red cloth and the item within it, his body suddenly trembled violently. He quickly covered his eyes with his hands, his body trembling.
"Yuhao, what's wrong?!"
Huo Yuhao took a moment to regain his composure. He let out a breath and looked up, a look of shock in his eyes.
"What a sharp feeling."
When he had scanned the red cloth using his Spiritual Detection to find out what the item inside was, he had felt an indescribable sense of sharpness.
That sharpness had instantly torn through his Spiritual Detection, going so far as to pierce through even his spiritual origin. This had scared Huo Yuhao to the point where he had quickly cancelled his soul skill.
Although this was the case, his soul skills were still channeled through his Sharingan. As a result, his eyes were greatly irritated.
This was the first time he'd ever felt something like it in his whole life.
Huo Yuhao looked at the mysterious item with anticipation, just what was it?
....
AN: So, fun fact of the day, no wifi internet at my province for the fifth day on a row now. I had to go out, touch some grass, and use mobile internet(in another town cause my town don't have proper mobile signal).
Be honest here, do you guys like pineapple on a pizza?
❄️Shout out to the great Cultivators of my patreon, may you reach the peak of the heavens and conquer the earth! Pursue immortality and receive enlightenment!
•Julien
•Swift Arrow
•SpamSubi
•matatank
•B1G_DREAM
•Albert Jojo
❄️A bigger shout out to the ones who ascended to become a One Above All!! The GOATS! THE MAJESTIES!!
•Tyler Dann
•Banphot Chada
Wanna read 10 advanced chapters, other stories, photos of the characters and support me all at the same time so I can pump out more chapters, and possibly dish out extra chaps? Well then, head on over to my patreon and become enlightened cultivators!
P.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/FroztDouluo