During this time.
In the distance.
A group of people passed by.
"Sect Master, look?"
He was dressed in fine clothes.
He leaned on a cane.
"So young. Could he have some kind of treasure?"
"Let's go in."
As the two spoke,
Ji Feng had already been invited into the auction hall.
"Sir, after a professional appraisal, the three items you consigned have been valued at over ten thousand gold coins. Please enter the Purple Zone."
The person who led Ji Feng into the auction hall was a woman wearing a purple dress.
"Mm."
Ji Feng nodded slightly.
As he approached the auction hall,
he saw a venue built in tiers, descending below ground.
At its center, it was about the size of two basketball courts.
The Purple Zone,
meanwhile, was beside the best viewing platform.
It was slightly left of center.
"Uncle Bone."
"Sect Master, over here."
Master and servant
entered the venue one after the other.
They sat in the Red Zone,
in the VIP seats.
"The first auction item..."
"A Ten-Thousand-Year Lingzhi!"
The auction began.
But Ji Feng was here to sell,
not to buy.
So when the early items came up for auction,
he kept his eyes closed and rested.
That gesture
also caught the attention of a man not far away, dressed in blue robes and leaning on a cane.
"An intermediate Soul Tool!"
"Five thousand gold coins!"
After the previous item was sold,
the auctioneer on the bidding platform spoke: "Next, we'll be auctioning a special Soul Tool."
"A special Soul Tool?"
The moment those words left his mouth,
everyone present looked puzzled.
"The reason it's special
is that using it requires no Soul Power at all!"
"It exists independently."
"In other words, whether you're a newborn baby or an eighty-year-old elder, you can use this Soul Tool without any restrictions."
"The bidder calls it equipment!"
Wow!
The item hadn't even been brought out yet,
and the audience
was already in an uproar.
In the VIP seats,
an old man with long hair and clad in black-and-blue armor
stirred.
"Sect Master!"
"Uncle Bone, could this thing be..."
The two exchanged a glance.
Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they looked toward the seats next to them.
Ji Feng had very keen perception.
He immediately met the gaze of the person to his right.
"They should be from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Ji Feng's heart sank.
Yet he kept his expression calm.
"This special item, known as equipment—
"let's bring it out for everyone to see!"
"It's called..."
"Sapphire!"
Boom!
As the words fell,
everyone in the venue
turned their gaze
to the stand on the exhibition platform, where the red cloth had been lifted.
A blue gemstone
floated there,
its surface shimmering with a slowly flowing blue light.
"Sapphire?!"
"Uncle Bone, you've seen a lot. Can you tell what it is?"
The man asked,
and the old man beside him shook his head. "Sect Master."
"This Sapphire has only one function: it increases maximum Soul Power by 400!"
"Increases maximum Soul Power by 400?"
"How much is 400?"
Those present
had never heard of Soul Power being measured in specific numbers before.
"Our auction house's Grandmaster has appraised this item. Four hundred points of mana are enough to let a Soul Master use one extra Soul Skill!"
"Its value is beyond measure."
"The starting bid is two thousand gold coins!"
"I bid three thousand gold coins!"
They had assumed
no one would make a bid.
But as soon as the auction house official finished speaking,
the venue erupted.
Everyone scrambled to claim it.
"Let's see what comes next."
"I wonder if the next auction item will be just as impressive."
The two important figures
exchanged a look.
Each understood the other's intentions.
"The next auction item..."
"It's called the Origin Flow Crystal!"
The Origin Flow Crystal!
The curtain was lifted,
revealing a piece of deep-blue crystal
to the crowd.
"Another thing that looks like a gemstone."
"But what does it do?"
The crowd buzzed with discussion.
The host pressed a hand down, signaling for quiet.
"This Origin Flow Crystal has only one function."
"That is, +5% cooldown reduction."
Cooldown reduction!
"What's cooldown reduction?"
Someone stared blankly.
Why were the people at today's auction saying things no one could understand?
"As everyone knows, after using a Soul Skill, a Soul Master has a period when they can't use it again. We call this the cooldown period."
"And this Origin Flow Crystal shortens the cooldown time of every Soul Skill!"
"That's what the five percent cooldown reduction means."
After the host explained,
the crowd understood.
"Uncle Bone! There's no need to wait. This is a good item!"
At that moment,
the middle-aged man could no longer sit still.
He planted his cane on the ground
and stood up.
Gradually, he made his way toward Ji Feng.
"Starting bid: two thousand gold coins!"
"I bid four thousand!"
"Four thousand is too little. I bid six thousand!"
Ji Feng watched his equipment
being fought over so fiercely,
completely absorbed in the bidding.
Just then,
two people approached him.
He looked up.
As expected,
it was those two.
"Young friend, there's no need to auction these items, is there?"
He leaned on his cane with both hands.
Ji Feng looked up
and stood.
Seeing Ji Feng's calm gaze,
the man worried he might be misunderstood. He smiled and said, "I, Ning, will take them all. Money is no problem."
"I mainly want to make a friend."
After saying that,
he was already prepared to be refused.
But Ji Feng simply replied, "Of course."
When the other party had revealed his surname,
Ji Feng had understood.
The people who had come were indeed from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
That meant the refined middle-aged man standing before him was...
Ning Rongrong's father, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—Ning Fengzhi!
"That was exhilarating. It's a stroke of good fortune to have met you on this trip, young friend Ji Feng."
The two exchanged a few words.
Once he learned the other man's name, Ning Fengzhi's excitement was plain to see.
He asked, "Are you a blacksmith?"
"Just a side gig," Ji Feng replied without thinking.
At that, Ning Fengzhi turned and exchanged a glance with Uncle Bone.
A trace of gravity flickered in their eyes.
So young, yet already able to forge such bizarre and powerful Soul Tools.
And he was a Soul Master, too!
A rare genius indeed!
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect excelled at support.
What they needed most was to recruit Soul Masters with offensive abilities!
So Ning Fengzhi asked, "Then, young friend, where are you currently making your way? Do you belong to an academy or a sect?"
"I'm a free agent," Ji Feng said without hiding anything.
"Hahaha!"
Ning Fengzhi burst into hearty laughter.
"Good! I feel a real affinity with you, young friend. I'd be glad to call you my friend. If you ever get the chance, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would be delighted to welcome you for a visit."
"Senior Ning, so you're from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Ji Feng lowered his eyes.
He spoke calmly.
He let a hint of surprise show on his face.
That reaction made Ning Fengzhi exchange a glance with Gu Rong.
They both read a look of smug satisfaction in the other's eyes.
Before you continue