Picking Up a Bargain

"Storage Soul Tool!"

"It's actually a Storage Soul Tool!"

A wave of astonished cries erupted from the crowd. After all, Soul Tool manufacturing techniques had already been lost, and Storage Soul Tools were particularly precious among them—valuable goods rarely available for sale.

Storage Soul Tools were not only highly practical, but also symbols of status and power within noble social circles.

That alone was enough to make the nobles scramble for them.

"Two hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

From the circular seats below, a middle-aged man in a deep purple velvet robe was the first to bid.

"Two hundred and twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand!"

After only a brief contest, the price had already surged past three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

"That's terrifying. My little bonus could only cover the starting bid." Nuo Si stared blankly at the fierce bidding below.

After suddenly coming into two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, Nuo Si had thought he was wealthy. Yet before those great nobles with generations of accumulated wealth, he was still nothing more than a pauper.

He had wandered into the world of the truly rich.

After several more rounds of bidding, the Five Skandha Ring was ultimately sold for three hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins. The buyer was someone in private room number three to Qin Ming's left.

Probably some important figure from Suotuo City.

Qin Ming lowered his head and touched the bracelet on his right wrist. A Storage Soul Tool with only five square meters of storage space had sold for three hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

The one on his wrist was probably worth millions of Gold Soul Coins. Qin Ming could tell that Charlton's identity was far from simple. The things he had given Qin Ming were not things an Archbishop could produce.

After the first finale item was sold, the auctioneer at the center of the stage bowed to the audience again.

"Thank you for your patience. Now, please welcome our second finale item!"

She clapped her hands, and the staff pushed out another small cart covered with Red Cloth.

"Please take a look, everyone. This is a Thousand-Year Purple Lightning Leopard Left Leg Bone, and it has never been absorbed. Now, it is time for the display." As she spoke, the auctioneer removed the Red Cloth covering the cart.

The appearance of a Spirit Bone instantly set the entire venue ablaze. In their eyes, nothing was more precious than something like a Spirit Bone, known as a Treasure of the Blood River.

"What? The Spirit Bone isn't even the final auction item?"

"It's actually a Spirit Bone that has never been absorbed!"

The crowd broke into discussion. To let everyone see the Spirit Bone more clearly, the organizers projected an image of it onto the Soul Guidance Screen.

The screen displayed an enlarged Spirit Bone. It was entirely purple, with tiny snakes of lightning faintly coursing across its surface.

The higher the age of a Spirit Bone, the more complete its skeletal structure would be. The Spirit Bone on the screen could barely be identified as a leg bone, and it was likely only just over a thousand years old.

After everyone had roughly examined the Spirit Bone's appearance, the auctioneer spoke again.

"Please remain calm, everyone. Allow me to introduce this Spirit Bone."

"This Spirit Bone came from a Purple Lightning Leopard with a cultivation of one thousand years. Purple Lightning Leopards are lightning-element Soul Beasts with exceptional speed."

"As everyone knows, after a Spirit Master absorbs a Spirit Bone, it will randomly grant the Spirit Master one Soul Skill from that Soul Beast."

"If someone absorbs this Spirit Bone, there is a high chance they will obtain the Purple Lightning Leopard's signature Soul Skill—Purple Lightning Flash!"

"It can greatly increase a Spirit Master's speed."

"Most importantly, this Spirit Bone has never been absorbed. If a Level 49 Soul Ancestor absorbs it now, there is a high chance of breaking through to become a Quasi-Soul King."

"Thousand-Year Purple Lightning Leopard Left Leg Bone. Starting bid: five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Each raise must be no less than one thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

"Is there something special about a first-hand Spirit Bone?" Sha Sha scratched her head and asked in confusion. She only knew that Spirit Bones could be passed down from generation to generation—when a person died, the bone remained—but she had never heard that a first-hand Spirit Bone had any particular significance.

At that moment, Encyclopedia A Nuo came online. He smiled calmly and said at an unhurried pace, "When a Spirit Bone is first absorbed by a Spirit Master, it grants an additional increase in Soul Power. This increase is especially useful for breaking through bottlenecks."

"Take an example. If a Soul Douluo who has been stuck at Level 89 for years absorbs a seventy- or eighty-thousand-year Spirit Bone, they can basically break through to become a Level 90 Quasi-Title Douluo."

"But only Spirit Bones that have never been absorbed can provide this additional increase in Soul Power."

"If it is a second-hand Spirit Bone, it will not provide that extra increase in Soul Power, because the Soul Power contained within the Spirit Bone has already been absorbed by its previous owner."

"And that Thousand-Year Purple Lightning Leopard Left Leg Bone can help a Soul Ancestor break through the Soul King bottleneck." Nuo Si spoke animatedly, his face beaming.

Sha Sha's eyes practically sparkled as she listened.

"A Nuo really knows so much."

"Of course. Back then, I spent every day buried in the library just like Qin Ming!" Nuo Si said with slight pride.

Then Nuo Si looked at Qin Ming and asked, "Qin Ming, what do you think? Do you want it?"

Hearing Nuo Si's question, Qin Ming could not help but laugh. He asked in return, "What? Are you going to buy it for me, Brother Nuo Si?"

Nuo Si hurriedly waved his hands, shaking his head like a rattle. "I was just asking. After all, what Spirit Master wouldn't be tempted by a treasure like this?"

Qin Ming merely smiled meaningfully and said nothing. From the perspective of a transmigrator, he naturally had no interest in a Spirit Bone that had only just passed the thousand-year mark.

Putting aside its low age, its attributes were unsuitable as well. Qin Ming felt that even if he could not get a full set of hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bones, their attributes at least had to match his martial soul.

While the three were talking, the contest outside over ownership of the Spirit Bone had also been decided. A guest from private room number one bought it for the astronomical price of eight hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

"The people in private room number one are from the City Lord's Mansion." Nuo Si leaned close to Qin Ming's ear and reminded him in a low voice.

Qin Ming glanced over from the corner of his eye. The City Lord's Mansion represented the official forces of the Balak Kingdom. In a place like this, they were practically local emperors, and the taxes alone brought them enormous wealth every year.

Qin Ming was not surprised that the City Lord's Mansion had secured the Spirit Bone.

After the influential figures present offered their congratulations to the guests in private room number one for obtaining the Spirit Bone, the auction continued.

Qin Ming stretched his neck forward curiously as well. He wanted to know what sort of item could be ranked above a thousand-year Spirit Bone.

The auctioneer made an inviting gesture, and the staff placed a Jade Box on the display stand.

"The final auction item is somewhat special. It has a small flaw. Please take a look!"

The Jade Box on the display stand was opened. Inside lay a black crystal with an uneven surface, and it did not look like any sort of treasure.

The moment Qin Ming saw the crystal, his pupils suddenly contracted. "Could this be?"

He recalled the description of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber in Douluo Dalu II. Wasn't it exactly the same as the black crystal on the display stand?

And the auctioneer did not keep Qin Ming waiting for long.

"This is a piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber. Several hundred years ago, it was obtained when a Soul Douluo-level retainer of the Barak Royal Family hunted a whale-type Soul Beast in the outer sea."

When Qin Ming heard this, a frightening smile spread across his lips. He knew it was time for him to pick up a bargain.

People of this era did not know that Whale Rubber could strengthen one's physique and allow the body to absorb Soul Rings beyond its limits.

"Whale Rubber? Isn't that an aphrodisiac?"

"Yeah, and isn't Whale Rubber supposed to be transparent? Why is this one so black?"

"Could the people from Barak City be trying to fool us?"

A wave of discussion rose through the venue as people pointed at the final finale item. Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber was extremely rare on the continent; the vast majority of Whale Rubber in circulation came from hundred-year or thousand-year whale-type Soul Beasts.

The habits of ten-thousand-year whale-type Soul Beasts were completely different from those of hundred-year and thousand-year whale-type Soul Beasts. They did not need to surface frequently to breathe.

They lived in the deep sea several thousand meters below the surface. They were rarely even seen, and hunting them required traveling to the outer seas far from the continent.

As a result, almost no Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber circulated on the continent, and this was likely the first time it had ever been put up for auction.