Huo Yuhao was the one who had placed the opening bid.
Everyone from Shrek Academy was shocked to hear Huo Yuhao bid for the item. People like Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi who didn't really know about soul tools could get a sense of this carving knife's problem from Auctioneer Qing Ya's explanation and the silence from the audience. Yet, Huo Yuhao had placed a bid without even consulting them about it. He…!
"Junior brother, you…" Bei Bei frowned. His junior brother wasn't an impulsive person from his understanding of the boy!
Huo Yuhao glanced at his senior brother with a slightly apologetic look in his eyes. He then leaned towards Wang Yan and said in a low voice, "Teacher Wang, I used my Spiritual Detection a moment ago, and determined the source of this Ominous Soul-Devouring carving knife's problem. I've got a way to control the drawback from using it. Let's bid for this first. If I'm not mistaken, this carving knife ought to have been forged from an extremely precious and mysterious metal called the Gold of Life. It just so happens that I can undo the remnants of the curse contained within the carving knife with my spiritual power and Ultimate Ice. There definitely won't be a problem."
Wang Yan frowned and said, "Yuhao, don't be hasty. Your life and future is at stake! I can't let anything happen to you."
Huo Yuhao muttered irresolutely to himself for a bit before continuing, "Teacher Wang, why don't you look at it this way: let's bid for it first. If I can't use the carving knife, I'll get the Dean of the Soul Tool Department and Teacher Fan Yu to supervise me in undoing the curse on this soul-devouring carving knife when we get back to the academy. I will only use it on the condition that the curse has definitely been lifted. If not, I will give up and leave it to collect dust in the academy. I'll definitely repay this sum of money to the academy in the future. Do we have a deal?"
Wang Yan felt a little reassured after hearing what Huo Yuhao said. The ranked carving knife was only going for a hundred thousand golden coins. If Huo Yuhao could really use the carving knife regardless of how problematic it was, then this was a huge steal!
A ranked carving knife appearing in a first-rate auction was a rarity because soul tool engineers who owned a ranked carving knife would treat them as treasures. These ranked carving knives would be passed on from one generation to another; only wastrels would put it up for auction.The highest bid in history for a ranked carving knife had amounted to tens of millions of golden soul coins! That had been for a carving knife ranked in the top twenty.
It wouldn't be a bad thing to spend a hundred thousand golden soul coins if it meant the academy would have three ranked carving knives.
When he thought to this point, Wang Yan nodded at Huo Yuhao. He had another reason for agreeing to this bid. How could anyone compare to Shrek Academy in terms of people with reputable backgrounds? They had a few especially powerful light-attribute soul masters. If Shrek Academy couldn't control this murderous carving knife, then there was really no one in this world who could do so at present.
Even though the creator of this carving knife was an evil soul master, he too was a Class 9 soul tool engineer. However, no existence wasn't unparalleled in the face of Shrek Academy. Moreover, Wang Yan faintly had the impression that the Shrek Guardians seemed to have gone on a very important mission three thousand years ago. After paying a heavy price, they had managed to kill a powerful soul master.
In any case, he had to follow through with it since Huo Yuhao had already bid for it!
Qing Ya repeatedly questioned the audience, yet there was no response from them. No one was willing to bid for this murderous carving knife because they knew that once they bid for it, a deal would really be formed.
"A hundred thousand golden soul coins, going once!" Qing Ya had no choice but to start the final call to close the auction.
"A hundred thousand golden soul coins, going twice!"
"A hundred thousand golden soul coins, going thrice! Sold!"
The mallet fell with a bang, announcing that this exceptionally murderous carving knife now belonged to Shrek Academy. At the very least, it didn't belong to Huo Yuhao yet.
Seeing as he had won the bid for this soul-devouring carving knife, Huo Yuhao's face was beaming with happiness as he heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Yuhao, what's the Gold of Life?" He Caitou asked in a low voice.
Huo Yuhao hastily replied, "I read about it in an ancient text in the library. The Gold of Life is a special kind of metal that's extremely rare. This metal appears to have a life, but doesn't possess intelligence. It can seemingly break down all metals and ores known to man. It's very rare. From what was written in the ancient text, the Gold of Life seems to hold tremendous power, but no one has completely grasp the means of using the Gold of Life to date."
He Caitou scratched his head and said, "It looks like I need to read more books. I didn't even know that a treasure like this existed."
Huo Yuhao sighed to himself. It was only natural that he hadn't read about it from some ancient text. Something like the Gold of Life might not even belong to this world! This was because the description of this metal came from Calamity Necromancer Electrolux – the entity from another space that had helped him kill an evil soul master.
When the soul-devouring carving knife countered Huo Yuhao's spiritual power, the almighty beings in his mind sensed that his spiritual sea was in danger and woke up at the same time.
The Skydream Iceworm was the most sensitive to changes in spiritual power, so he too was the first to awaken. He only looked at the soul-devouring carving knife and told Huo Yuhao he shouldn't carelessly play around with it because a huge threat resided in that toy. The Ice Empress had other thoughts about this matter. In a slightly more disdainful manner, she commented that though this carving knife was cursed, Huo Yuhao had an Ultimate Ice armor. Added onto the fact that he had the Skydream Iceworm's tremendous spiritual power, and the curse shouldn't have too much of an effect on him. However, it only made sense if he couldn't use this carving knife.
As they were both arguing with each other, a sound of bewilderment came from Calamity Necromancer Electrolux. He hadn't been surprised for who-knows-how long, but he was really astonished when he saw this carving knife.
The words "the Gold of Life" then spilled from his lips.
Huo Yuhao explained everything that Electrolux had told him to He Caitou.. The reason why Huo Yuhao had impulsively placed a bid without soliciting Wang Yan's opinion on the matter was because Electrolux told him he definitely had to get this carving knife at all costs.
However, Electrolux fell silent once the carving knife was in his hands. Huo Yuhao only sensed that the mysterious old man was actually pleasantly surprised, an emotion that was rare to him.
The Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress both held somewhat of a restraining fear towards Electrolux. As such, they hadn't opposed him yet. After all, Electrolux had previously proven his good intentions with actions. If it weren't for him, Huo Yuhao might have died in the face of the Envoy of the Death God. The soul beasts believed in the creed that the strongest was deemed king. Electrolux had used his strength to show them how powerful he was, so they had no choice but to accept his existence.
"Yuhao, this carving knife made from the Gold of Life isn't simple at all. Once you get it, I'll be able to resolve its issues, whereupon you'll be able to easily solve some of the problems you'll have to face in the future with it. I won't have to worry about my strand of divine sense being extinguished either."
Electrolux sank back into silence after uttering these words. However, only Huo Yuhao was able to listen to him speak; even the Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress were screened out by his mysterious powers.
Shrek Academy had obtained a plentiful harvest from tonight's auction, but they had spent a lot of money to acquire it. Wang Yan decided to settle the issue of payment and the collection of the items by himself, allowing the others to go back and rest. As for the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife that Huo Yuhao had bought, Wang Yan would be able to retrieve it with Huo Yuhao's participant sign.
Wang Yan's ranking within the Starlight Auction had increased from the initial white to purple with this exchange. Subsequently, he now had the qualifications to participate in auctions that were of a higher class. However, only black-ranked and above customers were allowed to participate in the Starlight Auction's top-ranked auctions.
The Soul-Devouring Carving Knife had left a very deep impression on Huo Yuhao. This was especially so after Electrolux's words, which made him overjoyed. His senses as a spiritual-type soul master were extremely acute. Although his spiritual power was far, far weaker than pinnacle experts like Electrolux, the Skydream Iceworm, and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, he had a very strong ability to differentiate between good and evil. He could sense pure goodwill from Electrolux's divine sense, but the Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress still had some reservations towards him. However, these reservations began to gradually decrease as they followed his improvements in cultivation. After all, they no longer had any path of retreat.
Huo Yuhao didn't head straight back to his room after returning to the Imperial Grand Star Hotel. Instead, he went to Wang Dong's room and knocked on his door.
"Who is it?" Wang Dong's voice rang out from within.
"It's me, I'm back."
The door opened, revealing a somewhat stupefied Wang Dong.
Huo Yuhao wasn't polite at all as he entered Wang Dong's room before closing the room's door. He asked, concerned, "Wang Dong, what's with you?"
Wang Dong shook his head and furrowed his brows slightly, "You might not believe me, and even I don't understand what's going on. When I heard everyone talking about using soul tools, I felt an indescribable sense of vexation in my heart. There seems to be another consciousness in my mind that's rejecting the use of soul tools. This feeling's kinda strange, but it's not comfortable at all. However, I don't seem to be able to reject it. I chose to come back because of that. Actually, I understand what Teacher Wang Yan's saying, and I believe that what he's saying is correct. However, it seems like I can't use soul tools at all."
Huo Yuhao was stunned. "Just what is this? Is there a problem with your spiritual sea?" He immediately thought back to his own situation. Did Wang Dong have other souls living within his spiritual sea? He still remembered what the Skydream Iceworm had told him–Wang Dong also had three martial souls, like him. His three martial souls were already settled now. His Spirit Eyes were his main martial soul without a doubt, while his second martial soul was the powerful Ice Jade Empress Scorpion. His third martial soul was very likely to be one that he couldn't add any soul rings to–the Divine Law of Necromancy, the Calamity Necromancer Electrolux who seemingly possessed the powers of a evil soul master despite being much more pure-hearted than many other people.
However, what about Wang Dong? What were his three martial souls? Huo Yuhao believed that the Skydream Iceworm's judgement couldn't have been incorrect.
"Wang Dong, do you trust me?" Huo Yuhao asked seriously, his hands on Wang Dong's shoulders.
Wang Dong was stunned for a moment. He immediately nodded subconsciously, "Naturally. Why wouldn't I trust you?"
Huo Yuhao said in a low voice, "You know that I'm a spiritual-type soul master. The biggest difference we spiritual-type soul masters have from ordinary soul masters lies in how well we can control our spiritual power. I have much more spiritual power than ordinary soul masters, and my spiritual power is stored in an area called my spiritual sea. I feel like I know something similar to what you've just told me, so I'd like to check your spiritual sea for a bit. Is that okay? There will be no problems as long as you have complete trust in me. At the very least, we'll be able to figure out whether there's a problem with your spiritual sea."
Wang Dong looked deeply into Huo Yuhao's eyes, "I trust you. But, what do we do if there really is a problem with my spiritual sea?"
"Then we'll solve that problem." Huo Yuhao replied unhesitatingly. He had no confidence in other areas, but he was certain of his abilities with regards to spiritual power. After all, he had the support of an existence like the Skydream Iceworm! There was an extremely miniscule chance of a problem arising with the assistance of his Brother Skydream, who had a million years' worth of experience in controlling spiritual power. Moreover, he even had a power like the Ice Empress supervising him.
Seeing Huo Yuhao's confidence, Wang Dong nodded. "Okay. What do I have to do?"
Huo Yuhao said, "You have to close your eyes and stop moving. No matter what happens, no matter what you feel, don't be astonished. Do your best to calm your mind. I'm going to carefully peer into your spiritual sea with my spiritual power."
"Okay." Wang Dong nodded, "Do we start now?"
Huo Yuhao nodded back, "We'll start now. Prepare yourself."
Wang Dong slowly shut his eyes and relaxed his body. He and Huo Yuhao were close partners who were able to fuse their martial souls. As a result, they had already established an unbreakable level of trust.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and calmed himself as much as possible. At this moment, the Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress were both awake. They were monitoring Huo Yuhao's control of his spiritual power at his request, and they would make a move if any problems were to arise.
Huo Yuhao moved his hands from Wang Dong's shoulders to the back of his head, then lowered his head slowly. After that, he placed his forehead against Wang Dong's forehead. The two of them could even hear each other's breathing.
Wang Dong's body shivered slightly. His long eyelashes shook, brushing against Huo Yuhao's eyes.
"Don't move, relax. I'm about to start." Huo Yuhao urged quietly.
Wang Dong regained his composure, but his face was somewhat red.
A gentle wave of spiritual power carefully flowed out from Huo Yuhao's forehead and into Wang Dong's body from the point at which their foreheads were touching.
Soul masters considered the area between the eyes, the brows, the forehead, and the nose the spiritual root of Heaven and Earth. It was the place which contained the spirit, the ancestral cavity, and the ancestral Qi. At the same time, it was where the spiritual sea resided. Placing their spiritual seas next to each other was naturally the easiest way in which Huo Yuhao was able to easily transfer his spiritual power to Wang Dong.
Their soul power was already harmonious due to their martial soul fusion. Moreover, Wang Dong trusted him fully. Huo Yuhao's spiritual power was able to quietly enter Wang Dong's spiritual sea without any trouble.