Douluo: Founding the Heavenly Court from the Holy Spirit Cult

With this constant back-and-forth bidding, the other party grew increasingly hesitant, while Yang Hao remained steadfast, following up with price hikes every time to demonstrate his absolute determination to secure the Spirit-Devouring Engraving Knife.

Finally, it wasn't until the price hit one million that the other side reluctantly gave up.

Seeing that the bidder had withdrawn, the auctioneer could only announce the final calls with a hint of regret.

"One million Gold Soul Coins, going once!"

"One million Gold Soul Coins, going twice!"

"One million Gold Soul Coins, third time!"

"Sold!"

"Bang!"

As the auction hammer fell, the Spirit-Devouring Engraving Knife belonged to Yang Hao.

"The next item is an eighth-level close-combat Soul Tool named the Tyrant Tiger Soul-Refining Blade. It incorporates a ten-thousand-year right-arm Soul Bone from a Tyrant Tiger beast, solidifying its innate Soul Bone skill, Tyrant Blade Slash, which can amplify the power of slashing-type soul skills by fifty percent..."

As the auctioneer described the item, Yang Hao in the VIP box felt a surge of surprise.

He was no stranger to this thing; a few years later, Dai Yueheng would buy it for the Soul Master Tournament.

This Tyrant Tiger Soul-Refining Blade originated from the Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Empire, so its quality was guaranteed, but he hadn't expected it to appear in the Star Luo Empire this early.

He had written on his list that he needed a Soul Tool fused with a Soul Bone for research, and he hadn't expected the Starlight Auction House to procure this piece.

However, Soul Tools fused with Soul Bones were rare; after all, anyone with a Soul Bone would refine it immediately—only a fool would turn one into a Soul Tool.

Even the Soul Bone used in this Tyrant Tiger Soul-Refining Blade was damaged and could no longer be refined, which was why it was used as material for a Soul Tool.

Now that it had appeared, it made sense.

"Six hundred thousand!"

As soon as the auctioneer finished the announcement, someone immediately placed a bid. The voice was very familiar—it was the same person who had competed with Yang Hao for the Spirit-Devouring Engraving Knife earlier.

Others joined the bidding as well, and the price quickly climbed to 1.5 million. Clearly, many had their eyes on this Soul Tool, but this price point was already the limit for most.

"1.6 million."

Seeing that no one else was bidding, Yang Hao finally entered the fray.

"It's that Number Nine again."

Inside the VIP box, Ma Xiaotao recognized the voice; it was the same person who had competed with them for the engraving knife.

"1.7 million."

Dai Yueheng gritted his teeth and continued to bid.

This Tyrant Tiger Soul-Refining Blade was too perfect for him. It could be used not only in this Soul Master Tournament but also in the next one, which they would be hosting. He had to have it.

"1.8 million!"

Yang Hao bid again without the slightest hesitation, displaying his immense financial resources.

"1.9 million!"

Dai Yueheng hesitated for a long while before gritting his teeth to bid again, but the next moment, he was struck by the opponent's continued, unwavering counter-bid.

"Two million!"

"Yueheng, stay calm."

Wang Yan patted Dai Yueheng on the shoulder to console him, realizing that they couldn't compete with the other party's deep pockets.

"Rich bastard!"

Dai Yueheng couldn't help but curse; that rich bastard was truly hateful!

"Aren't you the eldest son of the White Tiger Duke? Why are you so poor?"

Ma Xiaotao asked in confusion, wondering why he had stopped.

Dai Yueheng glared at her without a word.

Although their White Tiger Duke's Mansion was powerful, they had always been tight on funds, as the main income was poured into the military by his father. Even as the eldest son, he didn't have much money at his disposal.

Setting aside Dai Yueheng's frustration, Yang Hao continued to watch the items being auctioned, especially the Soul Bones, and discovered two familiar ones.

The Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone and the Golden Radiance Soul Bone—one was the piece Huo Yuhao would obtain in a few years, and the other was what Tang Wutong would get from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

"There is a fatal flaw in the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone that you haven't mentioned: refining it requires the attribute of Ultimate Ice; otherwise, the user will suffer a backlash, or even lose their life."

After confirming it was indeed the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone, Yang Hao spoke to the woman in the red dress who had been standing behind him. This was the description from the original work, so it shouldn't be wrong.

As long as this point was confirmed, he could save quite a bit of money.

"Please wait a moment, I will report this immediately."

The woman in the red dress turned slightly pale and hurried away. Not long after, she returned, bringing with her a golden-haired girl—it was Xu Jiujiu, the Princess of Star Luo, who had been keeping a close eye on this item.

The woman in the red dress did not enter; she closed the door and stood guard outside.

"Sir, how did you know about this fatal restriction of the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone? Many people have refined Ice Jade Scorpion soul rings, and I have never heard of any such limitation."

Xu Jiujiu was puzzled by this; she had already sent people to verify it. Although the results were not yet in, given the financial resources he currently displayed, he shouldn't be lying to deceive them.

Of course, her main reason for coming in person this time was to observe him at close range. If she could communicate with him and learn more about the forces behind him, that would be even better.

"Spirit rings use the spirit as a carrier. With the spirit acting as a buffer layer, the impact on a spirit master's body is naturally much smaller."

"However, the refining of a spirit bone involves direct fusion with the body, so the impact on the physical form is far greater."

"General attributes are not much of a problem, but extreme attributes are different—especially types like ice and fire, which are unfriendly to flesh and blood. They are very damaging to the body."

After sizing up the golden-haired girl, Yang Hao gave his answer.

He had some guesses regarding her identity; she was undoubtedly royalty, possibly even that Princess Jiujiu, as their ages were quite similar.

As for the answer he gave, it was something he had come up with, but the logic was certainly sound.

"So that's how it is."

Xu Jiujiu suddenly understood; this reasoning made perfect sense.

It was at this moment that the auctioneer announced the fatal restriction and lowered the starting price to one million Gold Soul Coins. Clearly, it had been verified, and this immediately caused many who were interested in the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone to give up.

Extreme attributes were already extremely rare, let alone the restriction to the ice attribute.

In the current world, there was no record of anyone possessing an extreme ice attribute; buying that soul bone back would only serve as a collector's item.

Coupled with the million-coin starting price, it was enough to make people shrink back.

However, there were still those who were stubborn, such as the Shrek team that had competed with Yang Hao multiple times.

"Is that person a shill you hired?"

Seeing that private room bidding against him again, Yang Hao couldn't help but look at Xu Jiujiu with suspicion.

"Please don't misunderstand. My Star Luo royal family would never engage in such base behavior, especially toward a friend."

"That room seems to be occupied by members of Shrek's main and reserve teams; that is not someone we can command."

Xu Jiujiu explained. She was leading this auction, and all she had done was expand the publicity to attract more bidders.

Moreover, since they had brought out so many items this time, they naturally needed to sell them for a good price.

No one would do business at a loss.

"Shrek, huh."

Yang Hao realized, and this explained everything. He immediately continued to bid.

He was determined to obtain that soul bone. If the child of destiny, Huo Yuhao, were to become his enemy in the future, he could use the Ice Explosion Technique from that soul bone to restrain him.

"Miss Yuhuan, your cumulative auction total has already exceeded thirty million."

Xu Jiujiu reminded him. There was still a batch of shields and swords of that quality in his hands that she had to obtain.

"Five thousand shields, ten thousand Gold Soul Coins each; ten thousand swords, three thousand Gold Soul Coins each."

Taking out a large-scale storage Soul Tool and handing it over, Yang Hao had been working overtime for the past month to produce these, sleeping very little each day, and finally managed to produce ten thousand swords and five thousand shields.

"Are you able to mass-produce these close-combat Soul Tools?"

After receiving the storage Soul Tool, Xu Jiujiu asked curiously.

She had no objections to his pricing; it was within her acceptable range.

Although the swords only weighed ten kilograms, they used more Black-Veined Iron on the blades, and the forging process for the swords was much more difficult than that of spears.

The shields went without saying; the one hundred kilograms of high-purity Iron Essence alone cost four or five thousand Gold Soul Coins, and such high-purity Iron Essence was often priceless and unavailable, let alone buying it in bulk.

It was truly not a loss, and this amount of Gold Soul Coins meant nothing to the empire.

However, she was more concerned about the forces behind him. They had studied the spears, swords, and shields; besides the absurdly high purity of the materials, the fusion of the Black-Veined Iron and Iron Essence was perfect, completely integrated into one.

This forging technique was of immeasurable value; it would be best to win him over.

"Judging by your temperament and attire, you shouldn't be an ordinary person, right?"

Yang Hao did not answer but instead asked a question in return. It was time to show his cards.

"It is my discourtesy!"

Only then did Xu Jiujiu remember she hadn't introduced herself. She stood up, performed a courtly bow, and said, "My name is Jiujiu, a princess of the empire. The current Emperor is my imperial brother."

"So it is Her Highness the Princess. Please forgive my rudeness."

Yang Hao stood up and nodded slightly, thinking to himself that it was indeed as he expected—it was that Princess Jiujiu.

"Your Highness, there is no need to probe. Our family is not from the Star Luo Empire, but from the Heaven Dou Empire. It is only because the Heaven Dou Empire is quite exclusionary toward the Soul Tool master system that our family had to consider expanding outward."

"We have two choices: your esteemed country or the Heaven Spirit Empire. My visit to Star Luo City this time is to represent my family and test the waters."

Spouting the lines he had prepared long ago to deceive her, Yang Hao appeared very sincere; this was the persona he had set for himself.

"The Heaven Dou Empire is indeed not suitable for developing the Soul Tool master system."

Xu Jiujiu expressed her understanding. She had some knowledge of the situation in the Heaven Dou Empire and knew they were indeed very exclusionary toward Soul Tool masters; the entire empire didn't even have a single Soul Tool academy.