Level Five Invincible Shield

However, Shui Jixi, seated on the sofa in the VIP room at that moment, was the complete opposite of the pitiful image she had shown before.

Her long, slender legs crossed beneath her white gauze dress, and she propped her flawless, smooth chin on a pale wrist. Yet her expression was icy, like ancient frost, and her aqua-blue eyes carried a trace of venomous resentment.

She glanced sideways through the amethyst wall, watching the auction floor below.

"Hmph! What a Viscount of Yuennan."

This was the first time she had repeatedly tasted such unforgettable defeat at the hands of a man. Ever since meeting Yaoyang five years ago, she had been subtly drawing closer to him.

It was not out of admiration for Yaoyang, but because his status, position, and strength gave her something to gain. Over the past five years, she had even gone so far as to disguise herself as a pure and innocent woman, all so she could become involved with Yaoyang.

Watching Shui Jixi's cold gaze, Shui Qianqian frowned slightly and could not help softly persuading her, "Auntie, stop. Even if you keep going like this, nothing will come of it. Though our Silver Fin Pirate Group is weak, we still occupy Yuexuan Island. We don't necessarily have to involve ourselves with that Viscount of Yuennan."

"Qianqian, you don't understand. You must know that Yueshu Island's tax revenue is at least three times that of our Yuexuan Island. Yueshu Island is the richest island in the Yuenan Islands." The coldness in Shui Jixi's eyes vanished in an instant, and she returned to her frail, delicate appearance as she gently stroked Shui Qianqian's cheek, which was even smoother and fairer than her own.

"Our looks are our greatest asset. You need to slowly learn how to use them to gain benefits from those men. If not for that bitch Zhu Yao getting in my way all these years, I would have gotten what I wanted long ago. If that had happened, think about it—would we still need to spend money to bid on that thousand-year Evil Spirit Orca at this auction?"

Shui Qianqian was speechless for a moment. She felt that her values were in serious conflict with those of this aunt of hers. But considering that Shui Jixi was her elder, she could not bring herself to argue further.

With a soft sigh, she could only suppress her emotions and raise her head to look toward the auction floor below.

What they did not know was that every movement the two of them made had been clearly seen by Xu Zihuang and the other two in the top-tier VIP room across from them.

"Hmph." Yaoyang stood before the crystal wall and gave a disdainful smile. At the same time, he warned Xu Zihuang beside him, "Zihuang, women like this will inevitably cling to you in the future. Be more careful from now on."

Xu Zihuang smiled lightly and nodded without saying anything. In truth, thanks to the keen perception granted by his Golden Eye Martial Soul, he had seen through Shui Jixi's duplicity from the very beginning.

At that moment, the first auction item had already been brought up on a tray by a maid. Zhu Yao, who was presiding over the event from the ceremonial stage, smiled and bowed to the crowd before beginning her introduction.

"I believe everyone has received the news released by our Yueshu Auction House. Today's auction is anything but ordinary, so I won't waste any more words. The first item of this auction is a Level 5 Soul Tool, an Invincible Shield. The starting price is one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Bidding will begin in five minutes, and each increase must be no less than five hundred Gold Soul Coins."

Though Zhu Yao's introduction was brief, the words "Invincible Shield" alone were enough to set the bidders below aflame with excitement.

The Invincible Shield was a type of Soul Tool developed from an extremely rare soul skill known as the Invincible Golden Body. It required Golden Crystal, a specialty of the Sun Moon Empire, as a medium. Once activated through a Core Array, the Invincible Shield could instantly unleash the energy within the Golden Crystal, producing formidable Defense Power.

Of course, so-called invincibility was always relative.

The lowest grade of Invincible Shield was a Level 5 Soul Tool, meaning it required at least Soul King level Soul Power to activate. A Level Five Invincible Shield could block the attacks of any Soul Master below the Eight-Ring Soul Douluo level for three seconds. A Level 6 Invincible Shield, meanwhile, could even withstand the attacks of an ordinary Title Douluo for three seconds. As for Invincible Shields above Level 7, they were exceptionally rare. Their value was no less than that of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone of superb quality.

After all, a Soul Bone could only enhance oneself, while owning a Level 7 Invincible Shield could truly be said to grant an extra life.

At certain times, a Soul Tool like the Invincible Shield was a life-saving treasure. Along with Milk Bottles, which could rapidly replenish a Soul Master's Soul Power, it was one of the Soul Tools most beloved by Soul Masters and was always in short supply.

However, the Invincible Shield's shortcomings were obvious. First, it was extremely expensive. While the shield itself was not particularly difficult to produce, Golden Crystal was produced in minuscule quantities. The higher the grade of the Invincible Shield, the higher the quality of Golden Crystal it required.

More importantly, Invincible Shields of every grade were single-use consumables. Once used, the Golden Crystal inside would immediately explode, damaging the Invincible Shield Soul Tool along with it. Thus, this was not something an ordinary Soul Master could afford to use.

By comparison, the Soul Guiding Shields used by the Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps against the Evil Spirit Orca pod were far more economical.

Xu Zihuang showed no emotional reaction upon seeing this auction item. It was not merely because he had already seen information on the ten items in this auction beforehand. In fact, this Level Five Invincible Shield had been made by members of the Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps.

High-level Soul Engineers never had to worry about money, because selling a Soul Tool casually could bring in hundreds of thousands of Gold Soul Coins. Rather than saying that the Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps lacked money, it would be more accurate to say that they lacked those precious rare metals.

Among high-level Soul Engineers, top-grade rare metals were the true hard currency.

Very quickly, the price of the Level Five Invincible Shield soared to two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. In the end, it was purchased by the leader of the Purple Snake Pirate Group for two hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins. In the Yuenan Islands, far from the Sun Moon Empire's mainland, a Level Five Invincible Shield was absolutely a rare commodity.

The following several auction items were basically all various Soul Tools crafted by members of the Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps.

Naturally, the Soul Tools put up for auction were the kind that did not involve core technology.

Xu Zihuang watched coldly throughout. To be honest, having been born into the royal family, his extensive experience naturally gave him high standards. These Soul Tools might have seemed like fine pieces to the bidders, but to Xu Zihuang, they were merely average.

But when the seventh auction item appeared—fish oil from the head of a Nine Thousand Year Demon Shark—he took the initiative to have Yaoyang bid for it.

Fish oil from the head of a Demon Soul Great White Shark could nourish the meridians and nurture Spiritual Power. Even given Xu Zihuang's status in those years, it was something he rarely had access to.