Chapter 85: Starlight Auction House (Part 2)
"Indeed, it's quite interesting. To be on the safe side, we in Tianhun have already started to raise funds," Wei Na mentioned.
No matter what the final auction item was or how precious it might be, it was crucial to have the money ready beforehand. Otherwise, they could only watch as treasures slipped through their fingers. This was not Tianhun's style.
In the original story, the top auction item was the embryo of the Snow Emperor, which eventually was bought by Xiao Hongchen for 150 million gold soul coins. However, he never absorbed the Snow Emperor's embryo; despite spending the money, it ended up in the hands of Huo Yuhao.
The assaults of the Essence Sect on Mingde Hall cost many lives and caused significant damage, including the death of many soul engineers and the destruction of numerous soul guidance devices. Huo Yuhao even managed to steal a high-value experimental body amidst the chaos.
In this debacle involving the Essence Sect and Mingde Hall, both were losers, while only Huo Yuhao profited immensely.
However, in this world, Du Qianjue had already rescued the Snow Emperor, who even broke through the 800,000-year level. With the formidable original body of the Ice Spirit Snow Fairy, she could even match the Emperor Titan without using the Dragon God Claw.
With no Snow Emperor embryo to auction, what could the Star Luo Empire possibly have that would fetch a billion gold soul coins? Intriguing—how could this nation be so wealthy?
Du Qianjue felt a stir of interest, both for the mysterious top lot and the Star Luo Empire itself.
Well, if I'm poor and you're rich, then it's only right for me to rob the rich to help the poor—myself, right? I'm sure Xu Jiawei wouldn't mind.
Perhaps it was time to visit the Star Luo Empire's royal treasury with Du Qianjue and Snow Linglong. Who knows? There might be some unexpected gains.
"Junior?" Wei Na noticed Du Qianjue zoning out and waved his hand in front of him.
"Huh? What's up?" Du Qianjue snapped back to reality, tucking away his thoughts of wealth redistribution for the time being.
"Are you going to the Starlight Auction tomorrow?" Wei Na asked.
"Of course, I'm going. We don't have a match tomorrow, and it would be boring just to stay in the hotel. Even if I can't afford anything, it's good to broaden my horizons," shrugged Du Qianjue.
"How could you possibly not afford it?" Wei Na teased with a laugh.
Du Qianjue just smiled and said nothing. Could the young master of the Essence Sect lack money? Impossible.
It was only the secluded sects like Haotian that might lack liquid assets, but the Essence Sect was wealthy.
Otherwise, how could they afford to provide their disciples with medicinal herbs for body cultivation?
As for why the Essence Sect didn't simply buy the Snow Emperor embryo at the auction in the original story, it was partly because Long Ya didn't bring enough money, and partly because, compared to spending money, the Essence Sect preferred to get things for free.
After all, taking things for free was also a practice against the Moonlit Empire, and the Essence Sect felt no guilt about it.
It wasn't just that the Essence Sect was wealthy. Du Qianjue himself wasn't poor either. Although the sect hadn't given him much in the way of gold soul coins, he had encountered Ye Yukong, the generous soul guide master.
How rich can a ninth-grade soul guide master be? Only those who have personally killed a ninth-grade soul guide master and looted his wealth would know.
For instance, Ye Yukong, each of his ninth-grade soul guides was worth tens of millions of gold soul coins, and each of the ninth-grade fixed soul guide missiles could sell for a billion gold soul coins to the Star Luo Empire if he chose to sell them.
Ye Yukong also possessed a substantial amount of rare metals and a significant cache of gold soul coins. Adding it all up, Du Qianjue himself was worth over a billion.
But those treasures were not things Du Qianjue would consider selling, nor did he believe anyone present had more money than Xiao Hongchen, whose wealth seemed endless, and it was likely the final auction item would end up with the Moonlit Empire regardless.
Why bother with formalities?
With Du Qianjue, the ultimate Soul Douluo, stationed in Star Luo City, was there any chance the auction items could leave the city without his notice?
Du Qianjue could only smirk at the thought.
"Essence Sect free shopping, activate!"
After dinner, Du Qianjue went straight to find Du Qianjue and shared his plan for a cost-free acquisition, which Du Qianjue enthusiastically agreed to, seeing the potential for a lucrative haul.
With the plan set, Du Qianjue congratulated himself silently. With Star Luo wealthy and Moonlit even wealthier, the Essence Sect would not hesitate to take a robust approach to wealth redistribution!
The next day, Du Qianjue joined Wei Na and others at the arena for the matches. The morning session featured the Moonlit Royal Soul Guide Academy, and the afternoon would see the Star Luo Royal Academy in action.
Though their opponents weren't strong and neither team was likely to show their full capabilities, observing was always prudent—preparation is key.
Perhaps spurred by Du Qianjue performance, the Moonlit Royal Soul Guide Academy fought aggressively. Ma Rulong unleashed a barrage of soul guides that bombarded the arena, wiping out their opponents in a display of overwhelming firepower.
This scene, Du Qianjue mused, was truly a boon for those with a fear of insufficient firepower.
The afternoon's matches saw the Star Luo Royal Academy also stepping up their game. Not wanting to be overshadowed by Tianhun and Moonlit in their own city, they pulled out all the stops, attempting to replicate Du Qianjue and Ma Rulong's spectacular solo performances against seven opponents.
However, the differences between the three were stark.
Du Qianjue´s effortless dominance, Ma Rulong's solid performance, and the Star Luo contender's all-out effort showed just how varied their capabilities were. The Star Luo contender barely managed to eliminate his opponents, likely draining his soul power in the process.
It was clear to any discerning eye that the Star Luo Royal Academy was pushing its limits, and internally, they likely accepted that this year's top three would be Elekes, Tianhun, and Moonlit—the three major academies.
This left only the Dou Spirit Royal Academy, which seemed to be left out of the higher echelons of power, causing their competitors to feel frustrated at their early display of standard tactics.
After all, who could have anticipated that Tianhun, Star Luo, and Moonlit would suddenly start showing off? This left Dou Spirit in a difficult position.
Considering their strength, Dou Spirit's team, from the coaches to the reserve members, felt disheartened.
They couldn't hope to match the display of one against seven, not just in team battles but in any format. Dou Spirit's strength was indeed the weakest among the four empires.
No wonder the other three empires tacitly excluded Dou Spirit from their games.
Understanding this, Du Qianjue almost laughed out loud, and Wei Na and others couldn't help but smile. Tianhun and Dou Spirit were both offshoots of the former Dou Empire, and the royal family of Dou Spirit had been expelled by the Tianhun royal family.
The bad blood between the two empires made it somewhat satisfying for the members of the Diao Academy to see Dou Spirit struggle.
Misery loves company, after all.
(End of Chapter)