Star Luo Auction House. Top floor.
The long, narrow corridor was lined with rooms on both sides, marked with serial numbers ranging from 01 to 20 and beyond.
Lu Cheng and his group were led by a beautiful, gentle woman wearing a purple long dress to Private Room 03.
"Everyone, I am the person in charge of you all this time; my name is Qingya. If you have any feedback, you can let me know—" The woman bowed slightly, performed a salute, and sat smiling beside Teacher Wang, introducing herself.
"Every year, the Star Luo Auction House holds a top-tier auction. The auction items are all superior goods, encompassing the latest soul tool technology from the Sun Moon Empire, extremely rare soul bones, and even various Heaven and Earth Treasures, as well as many elixirs helpful to soul masters."
"And I believe this top-tier auction's grand finale will definitely not disappoint you all," Qingya said with a smile.
Teacher Wang, sitting nearby, was restless, and his face flushed red.
A pure science and engineering man encountering a beauty. Being able to reach the rank of 'Purple Clothing' in the auction house, this Qingya was clearly no simple character. Even without deliberate seduction, her way of capturing a man's attention with her gaze and movements was effortless.
Zhang Lexuan sat beside Lu Cheng, her eyes fixed entirely on the young man. Her delicate hands were not idle; one moment she was peeling an orange, the next she was picking a grape to feed him.
Ma Xiaotao sat on the other side, her long, beautiful legs crossed. She lay lazily on the soft sofa, hugging Lu Cheng's arm and resting her head on his chest. In the pleasant, warm temperature of the room, she felt drowsy.
Gongyang Mo's mouth was agape, his face full of confusion.
Since when—the inner court senior sister was also—and Ma Xiaotao, didn't this person say it was just pure friendship? How come it doesn't feel like that?
Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, Wang Dong'er, and the others were eating fruit, whispering to each other, their eyes occasionally falling on Lu Cheng.
Everyone was quietly waiting for the auction to begin.
"The Star Luo Auction House encompasses everything?" Lu Cheng suddenly looked at Qingya.
The latter was stunned for a moment, then revealed a sweet smile: "Soul master, calling it 'encompassing everything' might be a bit of an exaggeration, but basically 99% of the items on the market can be found here."
"Miss Qingya, if I want to purchase an item directly, is that possible?"
Lu Cheng straightened his back and asked with interest.
Qingya's eyes flashed with surprise, and she quickly said, "You are a VIP of the Star Luo Auction House. Although we only have auctions as a form of transaction, if you ask, and the price is appropriate, it is possible."
"Of course, if the amount is large, I still have to ask the higher-ups for approval."
"I heard about the Spirit-Eating Engraving Knife, ranked 99th on the Engraving Knife Ranking, being acquired by your auction house. It has been auctioned in the venue but has never been sold. I am willing to purchase it for 100,000 gold coins. How about it?"
Lu Cheng said with a smile. It wasn't that he suddenly brought this up. He had just remembered that this spirit-eating engraving knife was not an item for the top-tier auction at all, but rather an item from a previous, inconspicuous soul tool specialty sale. Clearly, with its meager starting price of 100,000 gold coins, it was not worthy of appearing in the top-tier auction—
"The Spirit-Eating Engraving Knife?" Qingya's eyes were stunned. Clearly, as a veteran auctioneer, she was well aware of this engraving knife's fierce reputation.
"Is it possible?" Lu Cheng continued.
"Of course!!" Qingya said hurriedly. "I will go contact them right away—"
After saying this, she lifted her purple skirt, her high heels clicking softly on the white, mutton-fat jade-like floor, and left the room.
"Phew—" Star Luo Auction House. Backstage rest area.
Princess Xu Jiujiu was sitting on the sofa. Behind her, a maid was gently gathering the young girl's soft golden hair. Beside her, a professional makeup artist was holding a bright red staining paper, pressing it gently onto her red lips, making them look even more alluring.
Although she was already radiant enough, makeup was an old tradition for auctioneers.
Princess Xu Jiujiu's expression gradually relaxed. The Star Luo team had just completed the first round of the knockout tournament. Although she didn't compete, as the captain, she had to at least stay at the venue to watch until the end.
The outcome was unexpected: a straightforward, crushing victory.
"Princess Jiujiu—" Just as she was boredly looking in the mirror, examining the stunning beauty within, a hurried voice rang out. It was Qingya.
"Princess Jiujiu, a guest in VIP Room 3 said he wants to directly purchase an item from the Star Luo Auction House that hasn't been sold, the Spirit-Eating Engraving Knife. What do you think—" Qingya bowed slightly, not daring to look directly at the person in the mirror, and spoke softly.
"Room 3, that's Shrek Academy, right?" Princess Xu Jiujiu opened her red lips slightly and waved her hand. The two maids behind her bowed and retreated.
The beauty remained sitting quietly on the sofa, glancing at Qingya: "What does the guest you mentioned look like?"
"A young man around thirteen or fourteen, about 1.78 meters tall, normal build, wearing a ponytail. As for features—handsome, very handsome, even a bit pretty," Qingya said in a low voice.
"It's him." Princess Xu Jiujiu's pupils narrowed slightly. Her fair, slender fingers gently stroked.
"Your Highness recognizes him?" Qingya was stunned.
"Heh, I recognize him, how could I not—" In Princess Xu Jiujiu's mind, she recalled the young man standing in the arena, hands in his pockets, walking off the stage lazily, while behind him lay the seven people of the Tianling Empire in a tragic mess.
Today's match was deeply engraved in her mind. Unfathomable. That was her assessment.
That handsome face—indeed, even she felt a bit moved. She had always prided herself on not being superficial, even looking down on women who couldn't move when they saw a handsome man.
"The Spirit-Eating Engraving Knife... give it to him," Princess Xu Jiujiu pondered.
"Since he said this, it means he knows the Spirit-Eating Engraving Knife is in our hands. Offending him for no reason is not a wise move. Besides, the Spirit-Eating Engraving Knife hasn't been sold for quite a few years."
"But—" Qingya hesitated for a moment.
"Some things, some opportunities, cannot be forced. It is better to use this to build a favor. After all, that thing has been in the hands of our Star Luo for several years, and countless Soul Engineers have tried to subdue it, but the consequences—" Princess Xu Jiujiu said softly.
"Yes!" Qingya was also a veteran. Following Princess Xu Jiujiu, she knew some of the inside story, and her face turned pale instantly. She said no more, bowed slightly, and turned to leave.
Princess Xu Jiujiu sat on the sofa, examining the beauty in the mirror, her red lips sighing softly: "Lu Cheng, it's a pity you are not a person of our Star Luo—"
"The item is ready. When this auction ends, you can pay and take it away along with the items from this auction," Qingya said respectfully.
"Thank you," Lu Cheng said with a smile.
"It is my duty." Qingya hurriedly waved her hand.
As time passed second by second, the auction finally began.
On the wall made of peculiar metal in the room, a light suddenly shone. Like a projection, a young girl of about fifteen or sixteen appeared, wearing an elegant golden dress, with a stunningly beautiful face. Her expression was gentle: "Sorry everyone, Jiujiu is late—"
Star Luo Princess, Princess Xu Jiujiu.
The auction proceeded as scheduled.
The first item was naturally an Eighth-Grade Soul Engineer tool, the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade. However, this time, without Dai Yueheng, it was auctioned off by a mysterious person in Room 7. The price was about the same, around 650,000 gold coins.
It counted as a good start.
The second item was twelve fixed-load soul tool cannons with various attributes (wind, fire, thunder, lightning). This was what Lu Cheng had mentioned; these soul tools with added attributes were still rare goods on the continent, but in the Sun Moon Empire, they were mundane.
"The academy has provided us with a credit voucher. If there is anything you want to buy, don't be polite," Zhang Lexuan said leisurely, raising the gold card in her hand.
A credit voucher, as the name implies, is pay-later. After the items are purchased, the Star Luo Empire will go to Shrek Academy to settle the bill.
"700,000 gold coins."
Lu Cheng waved his hand, smiling as he pocketed these twelve fixed-load soul tool cannonballs.
Perhaps because this was the Douluo Continent, many soul master experts were not very interested in this kind of disposable bomb, let alone taking it apart to study. Therefore, almost no one competed.
Immediately after, several ten thousand years soul bones were all auctioned off by Lu Cheng at high prices.
"You are really bad," Zhang Lexuan leaned close to Lu Cheng's ear and whispered.
"Heh, let's give them a little lesson," Lu Cheng said with a smile.
Zhang Lexuan rolled her beautiful eyes, not saying much more. She and Shrek were mortal enemies. Especially the few people in charge. She certainly had no objection to scamming Shrek like this.
The subsequent soul tools gradually began to increase in quality, all being sixth to eighth grade. Moreover, for the same category, there were about ten starting, with large quantities.
Many rooms' bidding devices were pressed until they broke. One or two items were normal, but when more than ten appeared at the same time, it was almost like aiming to assemble a small Soul Engineer regiment.
Many big shots looked on with stunned expressions at these seventh and eighth grade soul tools flashing by. Did they steal the Sun Moon Empire's armory?
At this moment, Lu Cheng's room was quiet. The latter looked at the transaction amounts that were getting higher and higher with each auction, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
That's right, these were the soul tools he had made by working overtime during the period before leaving Shrek. In this continent, gold coins were still hard currency, and if you didn't have some in your pocket, you wouldn't feel confident.
"Twenty seventh-grade long-range soul tool rays—price 1,010,000 gold coins, sold!"
"Eleven Sixth-Grade Baby Bottles, price 890,000 gold coins, sold!"
"Five eighth-grade long-range soul tool cannons, priced at 2,700,000 gold coins—"
These sounds, in Lu Cheng's eyes, were all glittering gold coins.
After deducting the auction commission, he estimated he would get at least over 5 million gold coins. He was rich.
As for the Ninth-Grade Soul Engineer defensive soul tool, Proof of the Emerald, which he had swindled from that mysterious Ninth-Grade Soul Engineer in the Far North, he had originally intended to sell it, which could probably fetch a few million gold coins, but he thought better of it. Keep it for self-preservation. Not to mention, this thing was also quite good as a ninth-grade milk bottle.
Until another soul-bone appeared.
"Left arm bone, Ice Jade Scorpion—" Lu Cheng's eyes moved.
In his spiritual sea, the voice of the Snow Empress also appeared.
"Buy it!"
Author Notes:
Regarding soul bones, fusing them directly onto the soul bone the protagonist has already refined—the original work mentioned soul bone fusion but didn't delve into it. Let this serve as a supplement to the original setting.
(TL: Not from me. Just in case)