Black-on-Black

On the other side, a young, pretty woman with pink hair looked at the mysterious figure dressed in black and put on a professional smile. "Hello. May I ask what you'd like to sell?"

Several other appraisal counters stood nearby, with a sparse scattering of Soul Masters around them.

The person in black nodded silently, keeping their voice low. "What I'm selling is rather valuable. I'd like to speak with the person in charge."

"Pfft! Speak with the person in charge? That's hilarious." A Soul Master standing nearby couldn't help sneering. "Kid, this isn't a place for commoners. What's an ordinary person with no Soul Power doing here? I'd advise you to get out, fast!"

The pink-haired woman kept smiling gently. "If you'd like to sell an item, sir, I can appraise it for you here, and then it'll be put up for auction. The auction house takes a ten percent commission. If you only want an appraisal, you'll need to pay ten Gold Soul Coins. As for the person in charge, they don't meet with visitors."

The person in black—Qingxi—fell silent for a moment.

She didn't get angry. Her black-gloved hand passed over her Storage Bag, and a bone radiating a dark aura appeared in her palm. Its dense, baleful energy made the air around them oppressive.

"This is..."

"A Soul Bone?!"

In an instant, every gaze in the area turned toward them, greed showing on people's faces. If they weren't at the Suotuo City auction house, they would have already tried to snatch it.

Soul Bones were exceedingly rare on the Douluo Continent. Every Soul Master dreamed of owning one.

Even the Clear Sky Sect, hailed as the continent's number one sect, was said to have only a few.

There wasn't a single Soul Master who didn't want a Soul Bone.

"This Soul Bone came from a thirty-thousand-year Nether Ghost-Demon Octopus. It has an extreme evil attribute. How much is it worth?" Qingxi placed the bone on the counter, its wicked aura corroding the surface and pitting it with holes.

"This..." The pink-haired woman covered her mouth in surprise. It took her a while to recover. "My apologies, but I'm unable to appraise this item. Please wait, honored guest. I'll notify the manager right away."

She tapped a few buttons on the machine behind the counter, then came out from behind it.

The pink-haired woman gestured for Qingxi to follow her toward the back of the auction house. "This way, please!"

Qingxi put the Soul Bone away. The two of them wound their way to a private room, and the pink-haired woman lifted the curtain. "Please come in, honored guest. The owner is waiting inside."

Qingxi stepped into the room. Beneath a huge light, a thick stack of books sat on the table. A middle-aged man in golden finery sat behind it, his eyes gloomy as he swirled a glass of red wine.

"You're the one who wants to auction a Soul Bone?" He raised his eyes slightly, and his scornful gaze fell on the figure in black.

Qingxi pulled out a chair and sat down, then took out the Soul Bone again and placed it on the table.

"How much is it worth?"

Duke Drell looked at the Soul Bone, greed flickering in his eyes as his hand tightened around his wineglass.

He slowly set down the glass and crossed his legs. Seven Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet: two yellow, two purple, and three black.

"This duke will give you one choice. One thousand Gold Soul Coins, and I'll buy this Soul Bone! Now get lost!"

A powerful pressure bore down on Qingxi as Duke Drell smiled scornfully.

When respectable, prominent families auctioned items, they had people specifically handle the arrangements. They certainly didn't auction Soul Bones.

In his eyes, anyone this clueless was probably another commoner gambling on a lucky break.

Commoners were born to be exploited by nobles.

"One thousand Gold Soul Coins?" Qingxi lifted her head slightly, revealing her smooth jaw. Through the darkness, her clear black-and-white eyes fixed on the man across from her, who was clearly a noble.

"That's already a lot. That's all this Soul Bone is worth," Duke Drell said with disdain.

"Hmm..." She propped both hands on the table, rested her chin on them, and regarded Drell at her leisure.

"How about this? I'll give you two choices." She slowly raised one finger. "The first: I sell you the Soul Bone for one thousand Gold Soul Coins?"

"Oh?" Duke Drell immediately perked up and sat straight. "That's more like it. A wise man knows when to yield!"

"Tonight, I'll tear down your auction house and hang your head from the gates of Suotuo City!"

"Impudent!" Drell roared in fury and immediately tried to make a move. But as soon as he shifted, a sudden, stabbing pain shot through his body.

"This..." He stared at the countless sharp points surrounding him. As he moved, some of them had already pierced his body, drawing blood.

The pain bored into him, and his very soul trembled.

"These are all condensed from spiritual power. They can wound the soul directly. If you move recklessly, your soul will be pierced full of holes." Qingxi held a Soul Needle formed from spiritual power. A boundless killing intent spread through the room, as though a god of slaughter had escaped from Asura Hell.

Drell stared at the killing intent, almost tangible around him, and was so terrified he could barely breathe. A sudden wetness spread through his trouser leg, and urine dripped from his cuffs onto the floor.

He had never seen such terrifying killing intent in anyone. It was the kind that could only come from someone who had walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"Sometimes, I wish it weren't like this," she said, almost innocently. "But some people always look down on others..."

"The second choice." She raised another finger. "Do two things for me. If you do them, you live! If you don't, you can go hang yourself from a branch facing southeast!"

"Are you threatening me?" Drell stammered. "This is the Heaven Dou Empire. I'm a duke of the Heaven Dou Empire. If you kill me, the empire will hunt you down."

This person's strength was at least that of a Titled Douluo. He'd been blinded by greed for a Soul Bone—what a fool he was!

"That's why I gave you a second way out." She drew in the aura around her and smiled lightly, once more seeming like an ordinary person who barely stood out. "Just a joke. Surely you won't mind, Duke? Can we talk properly now?"

"Heh..." Drell forced a smile and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"This skull should be between thirty and forty thousand years old. It's from a rare ocean-dwelling Soul Beast, with an extremely evil and corrupting attribute." He picked up the Soul Bone from the table and examined it carefully, surprise flashing in his eyes.

Ocean-dwelling Soul Beasts were incredibly difficult to capture. Even the records of them in Heaven Dou Empire documents were extremely sparse.

"Even the slightest touch causes corrosion. May I ask what Soul Beast this Soul Bone came from?"

"A thirty-thousand-year Nether Ghost-Demon Octopus."

She had only seen a description of this creature in the Records of Ancient Anomalies. She hadn't expected it to exist in this world.

Unfortunately, an attribute like this didn't suit her Martial Soul.

"A Nether Ghost-Demon Octopus?" Drell furrowed his brow. He'd never heard of that Soul Beast. He stroked the small mustache above his lip and continued, "This Soul Bone is excellent quality. I'd set the starting price at fifty million Gold Soul Coins, and the final price should be no less than two hundred million. But Soul Bones are incredibly precious treasures on the Douluo Continent. Are you certain you want to sell it?"

Duke Drell cautiously glanced at the figure in black across from him. A treasure like this was practically worth a small country.

What kind of spendthrift would trade one for money?

"Yes. I also have a pill here. I'd like you to auction it for me as well." Qingxi took out a small medicine bottle and set it on the table, along with a sheet of paper covered in writing. "The things listed on this paper are what I want you to find for me. You have three months to gather them all. The more, the better."

"The auction proceeds can stay with you for now as funds to purchase the items."

Within three months, she had to break through to the Spirit Severing stage.

Qingxi's brows knitted together. For some reason, she had the feeling that something was watching her from somewhere beyond her perception.