"17.5 million!"
"17.75 million!"
"19 million!"
"19.05 million!"
"23 million!"
Wang Yan watched the price on the screen continuously tick upward. Every time it did, his heart felt like it was being hit by a sledgehammer. After gritting his teeth and bidding for two more rounds, he had to give up. Although Shrek City was wealthy, its annual tax revenue was only a few hundred million gold soul coins. A treasure worth tens of millions was practically a treasure of the entire city. At this level of price, Wang Yan didn't dare to make the decision lightly.
Huo Yuhao's face showed regret as he sighed. At this point, Huo Yuhao was still just a regular student. Although the academy valued him, he had not yet become a disciple of Mu En. And since Huo Yuhao had lost the Ice Empress, he naturally didn't interrupt the auction. As for the Skydream Iceworm, it was still sleeping in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea. Even if the Skydream Iceworm was awake, it wouldn't know the limitations of the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone. After all, it was able to grow into a million-year soul beast because of the heavenly treasure, the Myriad-Year Icy Marrow. Most of its time was spent sleeping, and its species, the Ice Silkworm, was originally a low-level soul beast in the far north. How could it possibly know the secrets of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan?
In her mind, Ling Luochen's icy eyes dimmed slightly. Although she came from a relatively powerful family, she couldn't afford this many gold soul coins either. Wang Yan's surrender meant that this Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone was out of their reach.
"This Myriad-Year Ice Jade Scorpion Left Soul Bone has a final transaction price of 23.5 million!"
After the third confirmation, the soul bone was successfully acquired by Jiang Jue. At 23.5 million gold soul coins, this was considered a normal price for the soul bone without the interference of the Star Luo Empire.
Qing Yuan's eyes burned with eagerness as she looked at Jiang Jue, licking her red lips. She received a commission every time a client she served successfully acquired an item. In a short while, the Myriad-Year Ice Jade Scorpion's left arm bone was delivered to Jiang Jue's room.
"May I ask if you will be paying with other items as a discount, or with a direct payment?"
"If you choose to pay with other items as a discount, I can make the decision to reduce your handling fee to 10%."
Qing Yuan bowed slightly to Jiang Jue, asking respectfully. She had not forgotten her mission. The people above had told her to try to persuade the members of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to pay with soul tools as a discount. The 10% reduction in the handling fee was also an arrangement from the higher-ups. Compared to the low-to-mid-end soul tools from the Duskwater Alliance, they were more interested in researching the high-tech soul tools from the Mingde Hall. The best way to acquire these was through the students of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
"No need, just use the card."
A golden light flashed in Jiang Jue's hand, revealing a golden card with four different majestic dragons on it. When Qing Yuan saw the card, her expression changed in shock, and the smile she had maintained disappeared. After bowing to Jiang Jue, she carefully took the gold card, said a word, and then went to settle the payment.
"Jiang Jue, is that a top-tier gold card from the Four Empires?"
Xiao Hongchen's pupils constricted slightly when he saw it. He said with some surprise, "During the peace treaty between the Sun Moon Empire and the original three great empires, to promote trade among the nations, the four empires jointly issued a very small number of gold cards."
"They had the symbols of each country on them and could be used in all four empires. Each gold card had a maximum limit of 50 million gold soul coins." Xiao Hongchen was able to recognize it because his grandfather, Jing Hongchen, had one of these cards. He just didn't expect Jiang Jue to have one as well. Not even royalty from the four great empires were guaranteed to have one of these gold cards because the card was not only based on the cardholder's financial strength but also on the power of the faction they belonged to.
The others were a bit confused by Xiao Hongchen's words, but Elder Ma's expression remained normal.
Jiang Jue nodded slightly. He knew that the card contained 50 million gold soul coins, and his master, Zhongli Wu, had also told him that if there was anything he couldn't buy with the money on the card, he should come back to him, and he would have a way...
It seems that the Holy Spirit Church that Jiang Jue belongs to is very powerful. But why haven't I ever heard of this faction? Xiao Hongchen wondered.
In a short while, Qing Yuan returned, respectfully handing over the gold card and the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone, which had been placed in a jade box. Jiang Jue took them, and with a flash of white light, both items disappeared, having been put into his Soul Refining Banner.
"Meng, come to my room tonight." Jiang Jue whispered to Meng Hongchen in a voice only they could hear.
Meng Hongchen's face instantly flushed as if it could drip blood. Her eyes darted away, and she softly hummed in agreement.
"Next, we have today's final and most valuable item."
The soul tool screen's display turned golden again. As the golden light gradually receded, Princess Jiujiu, who reappeared on the screen, had changed into a golden gown. The princess's exquisite beauty, accentuated by the luxurious gold dress, appeared graceful and elegant. The fitted cut perfectly outlined her captivating figure.
Jiang Jue straightened his body. He wanted to see what the Star Luo Empire would bring out to replace the Snow Empress embryo after he had taken it.
"Esteemed guests, you can probably tell from my attire how precious today's final item will be."
"Frankly, this is the only time in my life that I have ever seen this item. In my opinion, its preciousness is difficult to measure with money."
Xu Jiujiu's voice was more solemn and serious, and her tone was very sincere.
"Its value is even higher than the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone just now. It is something that cannot even be measured in gold! Esteemed guests, please take a look!"
As she spoke, Princess Jiujiu gestured with her right hand, and the soul tool screen changed. A white tray appeared on the screen, holding a blue gemstone. The gemstone was engraved with hundreds of core soul tool arrays, and the soul power within it was constantly flowing and slightly fluctuating, creating a magnificent, iridescent display. It was clearly a soul tool.
Inside this blue gemstone, a bluish-green water mass floated, continuously colliding with the barriers of the gemstone, trying to escape. However, it was unable to make a sound or cause any damage.
"Another soul beast embryo!" Jiang Jue frowned, placing his left hand on his right, his eyes thoughtful.
Soul beasts had two paths to choose from when they reached 100,000 years: continue cultivating or re-cultivate into a human. The latter meant giving up all their cultivation and starting from scratch. However, soul beasts rarely chose the second path. For a 100,000-year soul beast that was just starting to re-cultivate, to be discovered by a human soul master and sealed into a soul tool required incredibly good luck.
Is the will of the Douluo plane repairing itself? Or has a God King intervened? Or is it due to Huo Yuhao's luck?
(End of Chapter)