"Are all the highlight items for this year's auction ready?"
Xu Jiujiu, dressed in a magnificent gold auction gown, turned slightly in front of a full-length mirror inlaid with various gemstones, checking her posture and etiquette to ensure they were appropriate.
Beside her, a maid in a white dress held a wooden tray laden with various cosmetics and ornaments, her posture dignified and elegant.
She was Xu Jiujiu's personal maid, from a family that had served the royal family for three generations; she was her confidante and knew many royal secrets.
"Your Highness, everything is ready."
"The two final auction items, the ten-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion's left arm bone and a level nine soul tool, are already stored in the auction house's vault." "
Several Soul Douluo level experts are protecting them at all times; the protection is virtually flawless, and there won't be any problems."
Xu Jiujiu said softly, combing her hair.
"This year's auction items, apart from the Ice Jade Scorpion's left arm bone, are rather mediocre."
"In previous years, a level nine soul tool would have been enough to shake the Three Kingdoms."
"Unfortunately, since the soul tool revolution began in the Heavenly Dou Plain, while soul tools of this level are still few and far between, they are no longer unattainable."
"Low-end soul tools have become dirt cheap thanks to the new soul tool factories; even commoners can afford them."
"Soul tools below level seven are no longer allowed in the auction house."
The maid remained motionless, her voice soft as a veil.
"But doesn't this just show that our Douluo Three Kingdoms are thriving?"
"Once our Star Luo Empire can also replicate high-precision soul-guided machine tools, we'll have a voice in the field of soul-guided devices." "
High-precision soul-guided machine tools aren't so easy to replicate." "
We only have a superficial understanding of low-precision soul-guided machine tools.
Even the royal soul-guided masters haven't cracked the encrypted core array of Xilu City; they can only slowly analyze it through Xilu City's publicly available theories."
Xu Jiujiu lowered his eyes slightly and sighed.
The higher one's position, the more terrifying Xilu City becomes; their soul-guided technology is in no way inferior to the Sun Moon Empire.
Fortunately, they belong to the Douluo Three Kingdoms, and their strong individuals are limited, so they don't pose a significant threat.
Because the allure of soul-guided machine tools is so great, the three empires tirelessly send spies to try and steal Xilu City's technology, but so far, they've gained nothing.
Just as she was about to put the rouge in her mouth, she caught a glimpse of a shadow out of the corner of her eye, and a familiar spiritual force emanated from her. She immediately said to the maid,
"Qingping, you can go out now."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The maid in the white dress didn't ask any further questions.
A maid's duty was to obey orders. She gave a slight bow and then left the room.
"Should I address you as Lord Gojo Satoru or His Majesty Huo Qiqiang?"
Xu Jiujiu turned slightly, revealing a smile.
Huo Yuhao didn't hide his presence; if he wanted to, he could easily pull off some risqué manga-style moves.
"Then should I call you Xu Jiu'er or Xu Jiujiu?"
"We're even."
Xu Jiujiu pouted and said, "Hey, at least I only changed one character."
"You not only completely changed your name, but you even changed your appearance!"
"If it weren't for the obvious features of the White Giant God, I wouldn't have recognized you."
Huo Yuhao revealed a dangerous expression, looking at the blonde girl in front of him and said,
"Oh? You know about the White Giant God?"
"Isn't that a nice name?"
"Then what the hell was 'Mountain Super Powerhouse' back then?"
"How did you come up with that name?"
"I really need to control you!"
Xu Jiujiu suddenly felt the air around her solidify, her body feeling like it was sinking into mud, every step extremely difficult.
"You, you're a senior in the Soul Master world! It's a bit unethical to treat a junior like this!"
These words were made in a way that, strictly speaking, Huo Yuhao, in terms of seniority, had only been in the Soul Master world for two and a half years, far lower than Xu Jiujiu's.
"Go ahead and yell, your Uncle Huo is definitely going to teach you a lesson today."
His terrifying mental power shielded the entire room from perception, causing everyone who passed by to subconsciously ignore the place, even Xu Jiujiu's personal maid, Qingping.
The room was filled with the crisp sounds of flesh colliding and the agonizing cries of teeth breaking, the sounds intertwined, creating a strange rhythm.
Enough to make anyone unaware of the truth blush.
If it weren't for Huo Yuhao's mental shielding, strange rumors might have appeared on the Magic Network the next day.
About half an hour later, Huo Yuhao sat comfortably in a chair, while Xu Jiujiu, her face flushed, dared not speak out.
She saw Huo Yuhao swaggering into a chair, and sat down directly opposite him. The redness and swelling on her buttocks made her jump up involuntarily.
Torn between anger and humiliation, she ultimately chose humiliation.
"So what are you doing here?"
"If it's just to beat me up, watch out!"
Huo Yuhao's dark eyes gleamed with interest as he asked,
"Watch out for what?"
"Tell your brother?"
Xu Jiujiu gritted her teeth.
"You!"
"You just wait!" "
When we fight Shrek Academy, tell your daughter to be careful!"
"Watch out, I'll take it out on her!"
Huo Yuhao chuckled. Even double Xu Jiujiu's strength wouldn't be enough to defeat Xia Die, after all, the Star Crown Martial Soul focused more on functional support.
"My dear princess, you'd better save your breath."
"Your team of seven, and your two most crucial offensive attackers were completely crippled by Butterfly."
"Your luck is really bad. It's a coincidence that both of your offensive attackers are related to the dark attribute, and one of them, the Nether Lion, even has necromancy."
"Even without Butterfly, Bai E's Ultimate Light would be enough to give you a hard time."
Xu Jiujiu looked like a wilted eggplant, his face drooping.
Huo Yuhao was right; they had discussed it internally.
This year, their lineup was a natural counter to Shrek Academy.
Xia Die needs no introduction; her combat power is undeniable.
That purple dragon left a deep impression on everyone, especially those with low mental strength.
Even without using destructive power, Captain Bai E's Ultimate Light alone could crush the backbone of Star Luo National Academy.
Light and dark attributes are evenly matched, mutually restraining each other, but Ultimate Light perfectly counters both ordinary light and dark attributes.
Only ultimate darkness can counter it.
Even her Star Crown would be suppressed in the face of Ultimate Light.
Everyone at Xingluo National Academy was praying they wouldn't face Shrek Academy in the knockout stage, because that would be a truly humiliating defeat.
Ideally, they'd face each other in the quarterfinals or semifinals, making their record look better.
Seeing Xu Jiujiu's dejected expression, Huo Yuhao stopped teasing her and said seriously,
"Alright, I do have something important to discuss with you."
"One matter concerns the Starlight Auction, and the other concerns the safety of your Xingluo Empire."
"You're the only person I know who can speak effectively within the Xingluo royal family."
Xu Jiujiu immediately straightened up; she sensed Huo Yuhao's seriousness, especially since he mentioned the safety of the Xingluo Empire.
"Please speak."
...
The following afternoon,
in the conference room on the top floor of the Xinghuang Grand Hotel.
Wang Yan and Aglaia summoned all members of the main and reserve teams to announce something.
Bai E and the others arrived at the conference room and took their seats.
Thanks to Elder Zhuang's treatment, they had all recovered to their peak condition.
Seeing this, Wang Yan coughed lightly and said,
"Students,"
"Tonight is the start of the Starlight Auction, the largest auction in the Star Luo Empire."
"This level of auction gathers top-tier rare treasures from across the continent; many items can only be seen here."
"To compensate for your losses, the academy has specially arranged for Director Aglaia to bring sufficient funds so that you can freely choose your desired items."
"The first and most crucial round, the Starlight Auction, will typically feature nine items, as per previous years."
"However, the format has suddenly changed this year.
The invitations sent this morning stated that there will be sixteen items for auction!"
"Even if you don't find your favorite items, don't worry. There will be various smaller auctions later on, and you'll eventually find something suitable."
After Wang Yan finished speaking, Xia pointed her finger at Bai Er and Maidemus and fired two small green bullets, directly hitting their heads.
"Ouch!"
Bai Er and Maidemus immediately released their tightly clasped hands.
Don't misunderstand, they weren't experiencing Chengdu's charm; they were simply comparing their grip strength.
"Yellow-purple chimera and golden-red chimera."
"You two, stop being all lovey-dovey! Did you hear what Teacher Wang Yan said?"
"Why don't you stand up and repeat it?"
Bai'e hurriedly waved his hand and said,
"I heard you, I heard you!"
"I know I was wrong!"
But this guy didn't admit his mistake. He had just regained his composure for a moment when he secretly approached Maidemus while Na Kexia wasn't paying attention and said,
"Hey, Maidemus, does it hurt?"
"I train my hand and arm strength every day."
"Are you admitting defeat?"
Maidemus glanced at his slightly trembling and somewhat red palm and said in a low voice,
"Stop pretending."
"If it hurts, just say so. It's not shameful."
Bai'e secretly glanced at Na Kexia and said,
"The word 'pain' doesn't exist in my dictionary."
"You didn't perform well just now. Do you dare to try again?"
"Try again what?"
A cold voice entered the ears of the two of them.
Na Kexia, who had been standing opposite them just now, had appeared behind them at some point.
Looking at the two with eyes gleaming red, she said,
"Quite energetic."
"After the auction, remember to write up the 'Analysis Report on Gehrman's Martial Soul' for me."
"If the report has too many errors, make me copy the textbook on Martial Soul Research and Analysis ten times."
"Understood?"
Bai E nodded rapidly, like a chicken pecking at rice.
Just then, Aglaia's heavenly voice rang out.
"Alright, we should set off. There's still an hour before the auction starts."
"We can grab a bite to eat on the way."
Na Ke Xia glanced at the two, waved her hand to signal everyone to prepare to depart, and Bai E and Maidemus breathed a sigh of relief, then followed Feng Jin and the others.
(End of Chapter)
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