Chapter 391 - 88

Chapter 88: Schemes Against the Dukes MansionThe night was as dark as ink. Deep within the Dukes Mansion, after Luo Li was coaxed to sleep, only Youheng remained in the room. The candlelight flickered, reflecting his calm yet unfathomable eyes."Ling Ya," he said faintly to the air.Before his voice faded, a blurry figure, as if merging with the shadows, silently appeared. He knelt on one knee, his posture extremely respectful. It was the Titled Douluo, Ling Ya."Young Lord!" His voice was extremely low, yet clearly audible. With his cultivation as a Titled Douluo, he moved freely within the Dukes Mansion. Even the strongest Dai Hao was currently only a Spirit Douluo, completely unable to detect his presence."That woman, the Duchess," Youheng said in a flat tone, as if discussing a trivial matter, "Her two sons are crippled; she will never let it go. She will definitely vent her anger on Luo Li and me. For now, Dai Hao is still in the mansion, so she wouldn't dare to do anything openly. But Dai Hao holds a military post, and guarding the Mingdou Mountain Range is his primary duty. He will leave sooner or later. Once he leaves, that's when the viper will bare its fangs."A cold glint flashed in Ling Ya's eyes. "Young Lord, do you need your subordinate to eliminate this hidden danger beforehand?"For him, assassinating a pampered Duchess was as easy as turning his hand.Although the Duchess also possessed the powerful strength of a Spirit Douluo, she was gravely ill and did not have much time left."Not yet," Youheng waved his hand. "Just wait for her to make the first move. Once she acts, I want you to appear at the opportune moment, save Luo Li and Mother, and create the illusion that they have already been killed, making everyone believe they are dead. Arrange for them to temporarily leave the Dukes Mansion and hide in a safe place for a while."A cold arc curved at the corner of his mouth. "This way, I will have no worries, and I can also use this Opportunity to openly raise the banner of avenging my mother and brother, and challenge the Zhu family of Star Luo!""Yes, your subordinate understands! I will handle it flawlessly!" Ling Ya's heart tightened, feeling even more awe for his Young Lord's ruthlessness and cunning."There's another matter." Youheng changed the subject, taking out three glowing Spirit Bones from his storage spirit tool: the thirty-thousand-year left arm bone obtained from that unlucky Ninth-Rank Soul Engineer, the thousand-year left arm bone won from Dai Huabin, and the ten-thousand-year head Spirit Bone. "I originally asked you to secretly bid on the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade. But now the plan has changed. Since I have already appeared as a Shrek main team member, I can bid for this blade myself. Your mission has changed."He pushed the three Spirit Bones towards Ling Ya. "Tomorrow night's top-tier auction is said to have many good items, and the competition will certainly be fierce. Prices might soar to over ten million gold coins. Our current funds may not be enough. You will hand these three Spirit Bones to the auction house to be auctioned off, first to acquire a large amount of cash for unforeseen needs."Then, he took out the deification platform, which he had obtained from the Ninth-Rank Soul Engineer and had an extremely complex structure. "And this. It can be auctioned together. You should have already memorized the core formation structure and principles within it, right?"In the original work, the deification platform sealed the Snow Empress embryo and sold for 150 million gold coins.This price was primarily due to the embryo inside, but let's not forget that the deification platform itself was a Ninth-Rank sealing-type spirit tool, definitely something of value.For example, Shrek currently has no Ninth-Rank spirit tools, nor any Ninth-Rank Soul Engineers. They would certainly hope to obtain a Ninth-Rank spirit tool to study thoroughly."Replying to Young Lord, your subordinate has memorized every detail without error. The Grandmaster's notes also contain detailed information on the making of the deification platform. Although your subordinate's current spirit tool level is not yet sufficient to replicate it, with time, I will certainly overcome it!" Ling Ya replied confidently and respectfully."Very good." Youheng nodded in satisfaction. "Since it has no practical value, let's also convert this deification platform into funds. A complete Ninth-Rank spirit tool, especially a sealing-type spirit tool with special functions, will surely interest many people, for example, those forces eager to possess and study Ninth-Rank spirit tools but lacking the means."He hinted at Shrek Academy."Yes, your subordinate will go and do it now!" Ling Ya solemnly put away the Spirit Bones and the deification platform."Go. After tomorrow's competition, it will be the auction. You can directly contact the Starlight Auction House. You can reveal your identity as a Titled Douluo to gain attention and convenience, but temporarily do not expose your relationship with me," Youheng instructed."As you command!" Ling Ya's figure flickered, blending into the shadows like a ghost, disappearing without a trace.Silence returned to the room. Youheng sat cross-legged on the bed. He did not go to sleep but instead circulated the Golden Adamant Evil Warding Body Cultivation Technique, entering deep meditation. His Cultivation Technique allowed him to replace sleep with meditation. For him, meditation was the best rest, and it also allowed him to seize every moment to improve his strength. No matter what earth-shattering plans he had for the future, his own powerful strength would always be the Foundation of everything.The next morning, at dawn, a faint light appeared.Youheng ended his meditation, feeling refreshed.He did not go to bid farewell to Dai Hao or his legitimate mother. He only went to Bai Wanning's residence, simply informing her that he needed to continue participating in the competition. Amidst Bai Wanning's concerned and reluctant admonitions, he left this cold and calculating Dukes Mansion.In fact, he knew that whether he went to today's competition or not, the outcome was already decided.Their opponent, Changning Academy, was the universally acknowledged weak team of this competition. They could dance, but not fight. It was sheer luck that they made it into the round-robin stage. The highest cultivation of their entire team was only Spirit Ancestor, without even a single Spirit King.As expected, the competition draw results showed a team battle mode. Zhou Yi even only sent two people: the main team member Ling Luochen, a Level 55 control system Spirit King who had just recovered from injuries and returned to the team, and the Level 28 Huo Yuhao.With Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice assistance, Ling Luochen's Ice Radiance Ring instantly annihilated the entire Changning Academy team.The entire audience was in an uproar!Initially, everyone thought Shrek was at the end of its rope after losing most of its main team members. But yesterday, Youheng completely crushed the Level 58 Ye Wuqing, and today, Ling Luochen instantly wiped out an entire team with one move. Indeed, Shrek was still Shrek, not to be trifled with.The Shrek team won easily and was about to leave the competition venue when a beautiful and capable woman in an auction house uniform, a female auctioneer named Qing Ya, approached with a smile."Hello, teachers and students of Shrek Academy. I am Qing Ya, an auctioneer from the Starlight Auction House." The woman curtsied gracefully, her smile appropriate. "By command of Her Highness Princess Jiujiu of our Empire, I have specially come to present you with invitations to tonight's top-tier auction."She respectfully offered several exquisitely made, gold-embossed invitations adorned with tiny gems.Zhou Yi took the invitations, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes: "Thank you, Auctioneer Qing Ya. Does tonight's auction actually require Her Highness Princess Jiujiu to personally preside? Is there some extraordinary treasure?"Qing Ya maintained her professional smile and gently shook her head, "Her Highness Princess only commanded this servant to deliver the invitations and to inform everyone not to miss the Opportunity to become stronger. As for the specific auction items, this servant's status is low, and I truly have no way of knowing. This servant still needs to deliver invitations to other academies, so I shall take my leave first."After speaking, she bowed again and turned to leave gracefully. As expected, she then walked towards the resting areas of other top academies, such as the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, the Dou Ling Empire Academy, and the Heaven Soul Empire Academy.Clearly, tonight's auction, personally hosted by the Princess of the Star Luo Empire, was of an extremely high standard, intended to gather the continent's most elite forces and Geniuses. The scale of this auction was much larger than previous ones.