Blue Pregnancy Copper? Magic Silver!

Several more auction items were successfully sold in the interim. It is worth mentioning that a few pieces of top-grade thousand-year Whale Glue even appeared, though neither of them participated, and they were eventually snapped up by people from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.

Ordinary Whale Glue was already useless to Yang Fan, and Ning Rongrong was supplied by the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, the largest chamber of commerce in existence.

Yang Fan speculated that unless they were indulging in debauchery, the occupants of that private box were clearly direct descendants of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect; after all, not many people currently knew the secrets of Whale Glue.

The subsequent collection consisted mostly of items for luxury and pleasure, such as cat-girls and other exotic creatures. Yang Fan did not meddle in such affairs; if their talent had been decent, taking them in to cultivate wouldn't have been out of the question.

However, without soul power, taking them in would only be a burden. Moreover, the light had already faded from her eyes; she had clearly been broken in well and was beyond saving.

To people at their level, such things held no value.

Changing the existence of such things required a shift in economic systems, culture, and social ethos, not just a single act of kindness or mercy—that would only be aiding the evildoer.

It wasn't until one particular item appeared that Yang Fan's interest was piqued once again.

The lights on the auction stage converged into a brilliant beam, shining precisely onto the rosewood tray in the center.

The female auctioneer, Yanran, lifted her delicate hand and pulled away the red velvet cloth covering the item.

In an instant, a strange fluctuation rippled through the hall, and even the air inside the private boxes seemed to stagnate for a moment.

"Everyone, please look. This item is a piece of 'mutated Blue Pregnancy Copper' that our auction house has just received."

There was a perfectly measured hint of excitement in Yanran's voice.

"Although it retains the deep blue base color of Blue Pregnancy Copper, its surface features silver, wave-like patterns. After verification by several of our chamber's high-level appraisers, it has been confirmed that this is a variant of Blue Pregnancy Copper that absorbed an excessive amount of water-attribute elements during its formation."

"While its soul power conductivity is slightly reduced, it can exert an unexpected amplification effect when used to construct a simulated cultivation environment. The starting price is forty thousand Gold Soul Coins, with a minimum increment of five thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

As soon as she finished speaking, bids began to ring out one after another across the hall.

Unlike Extraterrestrial Meteorite Iron, this kind of mineral rich in elemental energy was highly sought after by soul masters.

Beyond innate soul power, age, and meditation techniques, the most important factor determining a soul master's cultivation speed was the simulated cultivation environment.

This type of mineral was a prime material for constructing such sites, enough to make many soul masters flock to it.

However, Yang Fan, sitting in the second-floor VIP box, kept his gaze locked onto the metal, his martial soul Monocle appearing over his right eye at some point.

As expected! This was no mutated Blue Pregnancy Copper; it was its companion mineral—Magic Silver—and top-grade Magic Silver of extremely high purity at that.

Under normal circumstances, one might not even obtain a piece like this after high-temperature extraction from dozens of tons of Blue Pregnancy Copper, and natural Magic Silver of such high purity was even rarer.

In the era of the Legend of the Dragon King, there might have been mining methods for artificial purification, but in this era, it was absolutely pure and natural.

The silver patterns on the surface were not water-attribute elements at all; they were the original imprints of the Magic Silver itself, which possessed an extreme affinity for the elements of heaven and earth.

It had likely been unearthed near a body of water, which was why it was tainted with a faint aura of water elements.

"Fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

In the hall below, a wealthy-looking middle-aged merchant raised his paddle.

His daughter was a holder of a water-element martial soul; perhaps with this, his daughter would be able to come home and spend more time with him.

Yang Fan took a deep breath, suppressing the flash of wild joy in his eyes. He knew that if he appeared too eager now, it would inevitably invite unnecessary trouble.

He had to put on a show.

"Eighty thousand."

Yang Fan spoke indifferently. His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly through the Soul Guidance Device in the box to every corner of the hall, as if he were merely tossing out a few extra chips.

The merchant below froze for a moment, looked up at the royal private box draped in heavy curtains, gritted his teeth, and did not raise his bid further.

Offending the royal family in Heaven Dou City was not a wise move.

"One hundred thousand."

Just then, a crisp, melodious voice suddenly came from the secluded box diagonally opposite, which had been secretly probing with spiritual power all along.

Yang Fan raised an eyebrow. Could it be that someone else had recognized this Magic Silver?

"One hundred and twenty thousand."

Yang Fan stated the number without hesitation, his tone still as flat as if he were buying a head of cabbage.

The opposite side fell silent for a full three seconds.

"One hundred and fifty thousand."

The crisp voice sounded again, carrying a hint of probing.

Yang Fan leaned back against the sofa, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest. A moment later, he spoke slowly: "Two hundred thousand. It's just a mutated piece of Blue Pregnancy Copper."

He delivered the line with such conviction that even Ning Rongrong beside him couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She had inquired about Yang Fan; the guy was very generous to his subordinates and ordinary people, but stingy with himself. The Treasure Appraisal Pavilion had only been established for half a year, and two hundred thousand was not a small sum for him.

The opposite box fell into a deathly silence once more.

Clearly, the other party was also weighing whether it was worth spending two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. In the end, they gave up.

"Two hundred thousand once, two hundred thousand twice, two hundred thousand three times! Sold!"

Yanran's gavel strike was crisp and pleasant.

When the metal was respectfully delivered to the box by a waiter, Ning Rongrong leaned over, curiously examining the mutated Blue Pregnancy Copper that had cost Yang Fan a massive sum of two hundred thousand.

"Hey, you didn't actually misjudge it, did you? Why are you only buying scrap metal today?"

She extended a fair finger and poked the cold piece of metal.

"How come I feel like this thing... is only a bit harder than ordinary Blue Pregnancy Copper?"

Yang Fan swatted her small hand away directly. This was a treasure; if he could find Secret Silver or Adamantine, he would have a chance to fuse-forge them into Jade Silver or Spirit Gold.

The former was suitable for those with holy-attribute martial souls, while the latter was suitable for those with elemental martial souls.

A weapon crafted from Jade Silver would be just right as a coming-of-age gift for Xue Qinghe.

This piece of Magic Silver was not small; he estimated that taking only one-third would be enough, and the rest could be kept for himself or Na'er to make Battle Armor.

Logically, as a three-ring soul master, he should already have a few pieces of Battle Armor. But there was no help for it; half a year was simply too short. He had focused his main energy on soul spirits, a product with more epoch-making significance, and he had never had the time to train his second profession.

He chose forging as his secondary profession, not because it was powerful since the protagonist in the original work chose it, but because it was easy to learn!

Mastering forging was difficult, but learning the basics was very easy. As long as one had a bit of strength and proficiency, one could easily rise to a fourth-level blacksmith.

Although he did not have the Golden Dragon King bloodline, he had consumed several pieces of Whale Glue, so he believed his strength was not inferior to others at the same level. Just as he had thought, under the systematic teaching of several seniors at the Spirit Pagoda, he had learned Thousand Refinement with almost no effort.

However, he had always been blocked by the threshold of a fifth-level blacksmith; his foundation was still too shallow. Moreover, Yang Fan believed that breaking through to a fifth-level blacksmith in Douluo might be more cost-effective.

In most fantasy worlds, pioneers were as if helped by gods, and the Douluo Continent was no exception.

If Lou Gao from the original work had not been too old and had not sacrificed his life, he would have had a very good chance of gaining the appreciation of a deity related to forging or metal.