Chicken Leg Douluo
"The first auction item: Moon Cold Jade."
"The starting price is 100,000 Gold Soul Coins. Each bid must be at least 10,000 Gold Soul Coins higher."
The blonde girl brought out an exquisite wooden box and opened it with her jade-white hand.
Inside lay a piece of silvery-white jade, about the size of an infant's head. Shimmering light rippled across its surface.
"This treasure comes from the Far North. It weighs about two pounds. Carve it into an ornament and wear it for a long time, and it can nourish the soul and strengthen spiritual power."
The moment she finished speaking, the auction hall fell silent.
A red-haired young man, his whole body radiating evil energy, was the first to speak. "I bid 100,000 Gold Soul Coins."
Someone immediately shot back, "A treasure that can strengthen spiritual power, and that's all you're offering? I bid 150,000!"
Feng Yan opened his eyes. After sweeping the hall with his divine sense, a smile appeared on his face.
This auction was quite lively. All sorts of people had shown up.
He could sense the complex fluctuations of Soul Power throughout the hall.
There were quite a few Evil Soul Masters, and every one of them was strong. Several were Titled Douluo.
In one of the third-floor private rooms, someone was noisily chewing on a chicken leg—an expert at Level 98, a Super Douluo.
And directly beneath the auction hall, a tunnel ran all the way to the outskirts of Star Luo City. Several Titled Douluo were hiding in it, one of them also at Level 98.
Feng Yan had sensed more than ten Titled Douluo alone.
It seems there are more Titled Douluo around now that Soul Cores have emerged.
Ten thousand years ago, there had been about this many Titled Douluo across the whole continent, at least on the surface. Now, they had all gathered at this Starlight Auction House.
After a brief, inward sigh, Feng Yan paid it no more mind.
"200,000 Gold Soul Coins."
"300,000."
"500,000!"
"I bid 600,000!"
The bidding grew fierce, and plenty of people were willing to pay any price for this treasure.
A lazy voice drifted from one of the third-floor private rooms.
"700,000 Gold Soul Coins. That's already a fair price."
"This treasure would be very useful to our good students at Shrek. I ask you all to show some consideration for Shrek Academy, which protects the continent and purges Evil Soul Masters, and let us have it."
At the sound of that voice, the hall fell silent again. Many people came to their senses and decided to drop out of the bidding.
Only the blonde girl onstage looked displeased, though she couldn't say anything.
Heavenly treasures that could strengthen spiritual power were rare on the continent.
Moon Cold Jade was among the finest. For those old fellows stuck at a bottleneck, a piece of Moon Cold Jade might be the key to breaking through.
In her estimation, this piece should have fetched at least several million Gold Soul Coins. Yet Shrek had pushed the price down by more than half.
Useful to their students? More likely, the jade would go straight to some old fellow stuck at a bottleneck the moment they got back.
Though she thought this, the blonde girl couldn't break the auction rules. All she could do was raise her gavel in frustration.
"700,000, going once... 700,000, going twice..."
"Mingde Hall bids 800,000 Gold Soul Coins!"
The voice rang out from the second floor, drawing almost every eye in the room.
The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties, but he was a Level 9 Soul Engineer.
"Hmph!"
A cold snort came from Shrek's private room on the third floor.
Xuan Zi's voice turned icy. "900,000 Gold Soul Coins!"
He could tell that Mingde Hall was doing this on purpose, deliberately driving up the price to make Shrek pay more.
This time, the Level 9 Soul Engineer from Mingde Hall didn't bid again. It seemed he'd accomplished his goal.
"900,000 Gold Soul Coins. Does anyone have a higher bid?"
The blonde girl hadn't expected Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Empire to step in and help them, but she felt no gratitude toward them.
"900,000 Gold Soul Coins, going once..."
"Going twice..."
Just as the deal was about to be sealed, Feng Yan seemed to think of something. He stopped sitting idly and joined the bidding.
"910,000 Gold Soul Coins."
Feng Yan had just realized that, all this time, he'd only ever given Tang Wutong gifts in the capacity of an uncle.
Besides, this treasure could nourish the soul and would be of some help to Tang Wutong, whose divine soul had been separated...
Tang Wutong was about to descend to the lower realm and arrive at the Clear Sky Sect. He wasn't content to go on being her uncle.
Even with Tang San above him in the Divine Realm to consider, he still wanted to become Tang Wutong's adoptive father.
Even if only to hear those words he'd never heard before: "Father."
Although the half of Tang Wutong's divine soul that had been separated was being nurtured inside him, he wouldn't recklessly fuse with it.
If Tang San found out he hadn't followed the plan, things would get troublesome.
Some things were better left until after he broke through to God King.
"Who are you, kid?" Xuan Zi glared at Feng Yan, who was seated on the first floor, his voice laced with anger.
Feng Yan casually replied, "Come to think of it, I joined Shrek Academy a long time ago, studied there, and graduated. It's just that..."
Before he could finish, Xuan Zi spoke again. This time, though, his anger had faded. "Since you were once a member of Shrek, I'll let it go this time."
"But the academy urgently needs this item. You'd best stop bidding."
"920,000 Gold Soul Coins."
Xuan Zi didn't press Feng Yan about his identity. Plenty of people had joined Shrek Academy, but only students who made it into the Inner Court truly counted as members of Shrek.
In his mind, Feng Yan's seat on the first floor meant he had no real connections. Most likely, he'd only graduated from the Outer Court. Xuan Zi was already showing him plenty of respect by letting his earlier bid slide.
Feng Yan sneered. "930,000 Gold Soul Coins."
Shrek Academy had really changed. They'd become shameless.
Did they really think that he, the God of Fire, had no temper?
Feng Yan had already decided that once the auction was over, he'd put a sack over Xuan Zi's head and teach him a proper lesson.
Come to think of it, he hadn't sparred with anyone using only his physical strength in a long time.
Well...
The goddesses of the Divine Realm didn't count...
Xuan Zi was taken aback. He hadn't expected the man to keep bidding.
1,040,000 Gold Soul Coins—just 10,000 more than Xuan Zi's bid. It was the exact same tactic Xuan Zi had used earlier.
His expression darkened as he forced down his anger.
"940,000."
"950,000."
"960,000..."
"1,000,000 Gold Soul Coins!"
Xuan Zi realized yet again that this Outer Court graduate was clearly in league with Mingde Hall, both of them here to drive up Shrek's price.
Every time, he raised the bid by exactly 10,000 Gold Soul Coins. Not a coin more or less.
In that case, I'll let you hold on to this piece of Moon Cold Jade for now.
Once the auction's over, I'll teach you what it means to respect your elders!
With that thought, Xuan Zi stopped bidding.
"1,000,000 Gold Soul Coins, going once..."
"Going twice..."
"Going thrice! Sold!"
"Let's congratulate bidder number 78 on successfully winning this piece of Moon Cold Jade."
The blonde girl breathed a sigh of relief.
At least Shrek's pack of thugs hadn't gotten their hands on it. One million was lower than she'd expected, but...
To the Starlight Auction House, backed by the imperial family, this loss was a mere drop in the ocean.
Besides, this was only the first auction item. The later ones would make up for the loss and then some.