"Eastsea City is too small a stage for you. You'll move on sooner or later but there are certain people worth knowing before you do."
Hua Yichen kept his voice low. "Take this man, for instance. Eight-Star Saint Craftsman Mu Chen. He is the junior martial brother of the current Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua. Making his acquaintance now would serve you well in the future."
The two of them were still sharing the Spiritual Detection feed, so Huo Yuhao had naturally already noticed the middle-aged man.
Soul tools were his area of strength, not forging. And even if he happened to have a talent for smithing, he could not afford to pour significant time into it he simply did not have that kind of energy to spare. Which meant a high-level master craftsman was an obstacle he would be unable to avoid when it came time to create Battle Armor and Mecha.
On the other side, while Huo Yuhao and Hua Yichen had been observing Mu Chen, Mu Chen and his daughter had also noticed the two of them stepping out of their vehicle.
"Tower Master Hua you're attending the auction as well?"
Mu Chen was visibly surprised, and the surprise only deepened when his eyes fell on Huo Yuhao at Hua Yichen's side. "And this child is…?"
As far as he knew, Hua Yichen's close juniors were not based in Eastsea City. For him to personally accompany a child, that child was clearly not ordinary.
"His name is Huo Yuhao. He only recently awakened his Martial Soul, and needs some heavenly materials to lay a proper foundation. Since the Tianhai Auction House happens to have suitable items, there was no need to requisition anything from headquarters."
Hua Yichen offered a pleasantly neutral smile.
"Yuhao — greet President Mu."
"President Mu, a pleasure to meet you."
Huo Yuhao gave a respectful bow, then turned and offered the girl beside Mu Chen a small nod.
"Miss Mu."
One does not raise a hand against someone offering a smile. Huo Yuhao's greeting had been proper and composed, and despite Mu Chen's preference not to draw too close to the Spirit Transmission Tower, he had little choice but to return a courteous nod and a quiet look that signaled his daughter to do the same.
Mu Xi caught her father's cue and exchanged greetings with both Hua Yichen and Huo Yuhao in turn. Then, barely a breath later, her eyes swung eagerly toward the museum entrance.
"This girl has been fascinated by smithing since she was small she kept at it for two years straight from the age of five, and eventually wore me down into agreeing to teach her." Mu Chen smiled with the particular expression of a father who had given up arguing. "Girls do have natural limitations when it comes to raw physical strength, though, so I brought her today to find some suitable heavenly materials to reinforce her body and to keep her from turning into a little strongwoman in the process. She's a bit worked up, as you can see. My apologies."
"Dad!!"
Mu Xi went scarlet, spinning around to glare at Mu Chen.
He could have just said they were here for materials why did he have to explain why? And she was absolutely not going to turn into a strongwoman just because of smithing!
She flicked a glance at Hua Yichen and Huo Yuhao, confirmed that neither of them had reacted with anything unusual, and exhaled quietly before striding ahead toward the museum without waiting for Mu Chen.
Mu Chen watched her go with a helpless smile.
"My apologies for the spectacle, Tower Master Hua."
"Children are supposed to be spirited it's a good thing." Hua Yichen shook his head with an easy laugh. "The auction will be starting soon. Shall we go in together?"
"By all means."
Mu Chen agreed readily, though his gaze drifted back to Huo Yuhao for a moment as he did.
Innate full spirit power, and the personal attention of Hua Yichen himself. Quite the talent.
...
The admission threshold for the auction was steep ordinary attendees were required to deposit one million Federation coins but Hua Yichen and Mu Chen were naturally exempt.
The four of them received their number paddles and masks at the entrance. Not particularly inclined to separate, they simply found seats together in the middle of the auction hall and settled in, the two pairs not far apart.
Roughly half an hour later, the hall lights dimmed gradually, and the noise of the crowd quieted along with them.
An auctioneer in a flowing red dress walked onto the stage from the side of the hall, the remaining light converging on her.
"Welcome, honored guests, to the Tianhai Auction House. Our annual auction is about to begin. The lots have been on display for the past several months, so I trust you're all familiar with what's on offer I won't waste your time with pleasantries. We begin at once."
True to her word, she moved directly behind the gilded wooden podium, a composed smile on her face.
A cart was wheeled onto the stage, and the large white screen behind the main platform lit up.
"First, Lot One — a Thousand-Year Ice Spirit Fruit…"
Since the Eastsea Auction House made a practice of previewing its lots at the museum in advance, everyone in attendance already knew what was being offered. The moment the auctioneer finished speaking, those who had use for the Ice Spirit Fruit launched their bids, and the atmosphere steadily warmed.
The lots that followed grew increasingly rare. Among them, the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Gelatin one of the final items, sourced from a ten-thousand-year Demonic Whale, its color a rich deep amber, its quality outstanding was secured by Hua Yichen for thirty million Federation coins.
During the earlier bidding, Mu Chen had also claimed several spirit fruits for his daughter to help strengthen her constitution.
But if these had been the only items on offer, they would not have drawn so many prominent figures to the room.
When the final lot arrived, nothing was wheeled onto the stage. Instead, after a brief preparation, the screen behind the platform came to life with the image of the item itself.
What appeared on screen was a creature that existed somewhere between the tangible and the ethereal vast, unblinking eyes at its center, surrounded by a mass of countless writhing tendrils. Simply looking at it sent a chill crawling across Mu Xi's skin.
Huo Yuhao looked at the familiar creature and felt his eyes narrow. He glanced at Hua Yichen whose expression had remained perfectly calm throughout and understood in an instant.
So that was it. This auction had been arranged with the two of them in mind.
"Honored guests — this is our final lot of the evening."
The auctioneer's voice carried the full weight of the moment.
"An Inherited Spirit Soul — a Thirty-Thousand-Year Evil Eye Tyrant!"
"Since the mysterious disappearance of the Evil Emperor ranked second on the Savage Beast Rankings the Evil Eye clan has been hunted nearly to extinction by Spirit Masters across the continent. Only a small number of Evil Eyes chose to become Spirit Souls and continue existing in that form. This is one of them."
"As all of you will know, within the Evil Eye lineage, fewer abilities correspond to greater strength. In other words, the fewer innate Spirit Abilities a specimen possesses, the more formidable its power. This Evil Eye Tyrant carries only two attributes fire and spirit which places its quality firmly in the exceptional tier."
"As an Inherited Spirit Soul, the Spirit Master family it has long been bonded to has encountered difficulties and, regrettably, been compelled to dissolve the contract. Their sole wish is that its next contractor be someone of sufficient strength a condition the Spirit Soul itself has stipulated."
An Inherited Spirit Soul did not belong permanently to any single Spirit Master family. If a family fell into decline, and its later generations proved unworthy, certain Spirit Souls would decline to remain. Though the auctioneer's phrasing was carefully oblique, the meaning was clear to everyone in the room: the family had run out of successors capable of accommodating a thirty-thousand-year Spirit Soul, and that was the only reason the Evil Eye Tyrant was here at all.
"Opening bid one hundred million Federation coins. Minimum increments of ten million. Bidding begins now!"