Summoning Again: Daoist Qian He, He Shen

"Five Thunder Fire Talismans, starting bid: ten thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

Ning Fengzhi had just entered the auction hall with Ning Rongrong when he heard the auctioneer shout excitedly.

The next second, many people below the stage began bidding.

"Eleven thousand!"

"Twelve thousand!"

"Fifteen thousand!"

"Twenty thousand!"

Ning Fengzhi frowned slightly and turned to ask Sword Douluo, "Uncle Sword, what are Thunder Fire Talismans? Have you heard of them?"

Chen Xin shook his head.

Seeing that even Chen Xin did not know, Ning Fengzhi became interested in these so-called Thunder Fire Talismans.

This was the Heaven Dou City Auction House. Nothing brought here for auction was worthless, and the moment the auctioneer announced the price, so many people immediately started bidding. It was clear that these Thunder Fire Talismans appealed to them all.

Something like this was surely no ordinary item.

With that in mind, Ning Fengzhi led Ning Rongrong to a seat in the last row of the ordinary section. He then handed her the bidding paddle and smiled. "Rongrong, bid on this item too. Father wants to take a look."

"Alright, Father." The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was the wealthiest sect on the continent, so Ning Rongrong had never needed to consider the cost of anything she bought. Hearing Ning Fengzhi's words, she obediently nodded and raised her paddle.

"Fifty thousand!"

She opened with fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins, stunning many people in the hall who had intended to raise the bid.

"Hehe." Ning Rongrong smiled. She liked this feeling—when she made an offer, no one else dared follow it. It highlighted just how noble and lavish she was.

In the VIP section, Qian Renxue raised the paddle in her hand and smiled at Shi Jian. "I am also quite interested in Your Excellency's five Thunder Fire Talismans."

She immediately called out, "Sixty thousand!"

"Hm?" In the last row, Ning Rongrong had not expected anyone to dare compete with her. The smile on her pretty face froze, and she drew in a breath through her delicate nose before raising her paddle and shouting, "Seventy thousand!"

Qian Renxue turned back to glance behind her. Who was being so tactless? She had already made a bid, yet someone still dared to compete?

"Eighty thousand!" Qian Renxue called.

"Ninety thousand!" Ning Rongrong called.

Qian Renxue frowned, thinking to herself, Who exactly is this?

"Ninety-five thousand!"

"One hundred—"

"Enough, Rongrong!" Ning Fengzhi stopped Ning Rongrong from continuing to raise the bid. He had noticed the person competing with him: Xue Qinghe, his student. They were practically family, so there was no need to compete. Later, he could simply go over and ask him for two of them.

"Father, why? That person actually dared to snatch something you wanted?" Ning Rongrong looked up at Ning Fengzhi in confusion.

"That is Crown Prince Xue Qinghe."

"Oh." Ning Rongrong understood and reined in her temper.

Though she was willful, she knew there were people she could not offend. Moreover, Xue Qinghe was her father's student. It was only right for her father, as the teacher, not to compete with his student for something.

Ning Rongrong then lowered her paddle.

Seeing that no one continued bidding, the auctioneer onstage struck the table and called loudly, "Ninety-five thousand Gold Soul Coins, once!"

"Twice!"

"Three times!"

"Congratulations to His Highness the Crown Prince for winning these five Thunder Fire Talismans!" the auctioneer shouted, clapping his hands.

The others in the hall joined in the applause.

"Senior Brother, you're just handing money to Uncle Jian," Ye Zhou whispered to her from Qian Renxue's side.

"It does not matter. Since Your Excellency has become a Guest Elder of the imperial family, I naturally ought to support Your Excellency," Qian Renxue said with a smile. That smile and tone made it difficult not to feel favorably toward her.

Shi Jian's originally cold expression softened somewhat as well.

This little girl truly had some skill.

"Alright, next is the final centerpiece item: a thirty-thousand-year Spiny Flame Evil Lion Tiger soul bone, with a starting bid of two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!" The final auction item was brought onto the stage, and the auctioneer shouted loudly.

The next second, even fiercer competition erupted in the hall.

After the auction ended, Ye Zhou and Shi Jian bade farewell to Qian Renxue and Prince Xue Xing. Both sides agreed to enter the palace in three days to meet Emperor Xue Ye.

After they left, Ning Fengzhi strode toward Qian Renxue with Ning Rongrong, Sword Douluo following behind them.

"Qinghe." Ning Fengzhi wore a smile.

"Teacher?" Qian Renxue froze. She had not expected Ning Fengzhi to be here as well. So the person who had bid against her earlier was...

"Haha, it has been many days since we last met. You've grown a little taller again." Ning Fengzhi said to Qian Renxue.

At this time, Qian Renxue was disguised as Xue Qinghe. She was only seventeen or eighteen years old, right at the age when she was still growing taller.

"Teacher, you are as spirited as ever. Rongrong is becoming more beautiful by the day as well. And Senior Sword Douluo, why have you all come to Heaven Dou City? If you had informed this disciple beforehand, this disciple could have welcomed you properly," Qian Renxue said to the three of them.

"Sect Master Ning, Your Majesty Sword Douluo." Prince Xue Xing also greeted the two.

"Your Highness," Ning Fengzhi returned the greeting.

"Sect Master Ning, then... I'll be leaving first?" It would be inappropriate for him to linger while master and disciples reunited. What if Xue Qinghe thought he had some ulterior motive? That would put him in danger. Prince Xue Xing said with a forced smile before hurriedly making his escape.

After he left, Ning Fengzhi's smile faded. Looking at Xue Qinghe with some concern, he said, "The Spirit Hall has recently produced a Sword-wielding Elder with nine ten-thousand-year soul rings. This is not good news for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. I heard that a Titled Douluo had arrived in Heaven Dou City, so I wanted to meet him and see whether I could invite him to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

So that was why they had come.

Qian Renxue nodded inwardly, a smile appearing on her face. "Teacher, are you referring to His Majesty Shi Jian? To be honest, he was here just moments ago, seated right beside this disciple. His Majesty Shi Jian has already agreed to serve as a Guest Elder of the royal family. Not only that, he will establish his sect within Heaven Dou City."

"Oh, a sect? He has a sect?" Ning Fengzhi's expression changed.

"Yes, his sect is called Maoshan."

"Isn't Maoshan a place name?"

"This disciple thought so too at first, but later learned that it was the name of his sect," Qian Renxue said.

Upon hearing this, Ning Fengzhi's mood became somewhat heavy.

The other party had a sect, so it was impossible for him to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Fine, his idea of having three Douluos in one sect had completely fallen through.

Still, he and the Heaven Dou Royal Family were allies. Since the other party had become a Guest Elder of the royal family, that made him an ally as well. It was better than nothing.

"I never expected him to have been here just now. What a pity that I failed to meet him. By the way, Qinghe, what is this Thunder Fire Talisman in your hand? Why were so many people bidding for it earlier?" Ning Fengzhi sighed before pointing at the talisman in Qian Renxue's hand and asking.

"Oh, this is..."

Qian Renxue explained the Thunder Fire Talisman's function. As he listened, Ning Fengzhi's expression changed rapidly.

Qian Renxue took in every change in his expression.

Elsewhere, on the streets of Heaven Dou City.

"Here. The sale of the Thunder Fire Talismans brought in over ninety thousand, and together with the money I earned from fortune-telling, there are more than one hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins in total. What do you think we should use it for?" Shi Jian tossed a card to Ye Zhou and asked.

"Now that we have reached a partnership with the royal family, we temporarily lack neither sect buildings nor anything else that money can buy. So, we should make up for our weaknesses," Ye Zhou said after taking the card and thinking for a moment.

"Such as?"

"Manpower. Although Uncle Jian is a Titled Douluo and possesses Maoshan techniques, there are only the two of us in Maoshan. We need trusted subordinates. Tang San has the four single-attribute clans following him, as well as all those brothers of his."

"So you mean we should use it to increase our manpower?"

"Yes." Ye Zhou nodded.

After returning to the inn, they shut the door.

Ye Zhou used the Gold Soul Coins on the card as sacrifices and communicated with the system in his mind. "System, I want to conduct a random summon of a designated category. Category: characters!"

[ Ding, a random summon of the designated character category requires sacrifices worth at least five times the value of the summoned being. Confirm summon? ]

More than one hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, divided by five, could only summon someone worth a little over twenty thousand...

Ye Zhou frowned and removed the Storage Bag from his waist. "Add the corpses of the eighty-thousand-year soul beast Nine Nether Corpse Demon Tiger, the seventy-five-thousand-year soul beast Undead Demon Vine, the seventy-five-thousand-year soul beast Vajra Bear, and the seventy-thousand-year soul beast Jade Swan. Begin the summon!"

[ Ding, received. Beginning summon. ]

The scene changed, and an Altar appeared.

Very soon, a ray of light shot out from the center of the Altar and fell into Ye Zhou's hand.

[ Ding, congratulations to the host for summoning an A-rank character card: Daoist Qian He. ]

As soon as the system's voice fell, another ray of light shot from the Altar. It likewise transformed into a card and landed in Ye Zhou's hand.

[ Ding, due to the excess value of the sacrifices provided by the host, a character summon has been conducted using the excess value. Congratulations to the host for obtaining a C-rank character card: He Shen. ]

Ye Zhou: "???"

Daoist Qian He and... He Shen?