Black Eats Black

On the other side, a young and beautiful pink-haired woman looked at the mysterious figure in black before her, offering a professional smile. "Greetings. Is there something you wish to sell?"

Around her were several other counters for item appraisal, where a few scattered soul masters stood.

The figure in black nodded silently, lowering their voice. "The item I am selling is quite precious. I would like to see your person in charge."

"Pfft! See the person in charge? Don't make me laugh." A soul master standing nearby couldn't help but sneer. "Kid, this isn't a place for commoners. You don't even have a shred of soul power—I suggest you get out while you still can!"

The pink-haired woman maintained her gentle smile. "If you wish to sell an item, sir, you may have it appraised here. It will then be sent to auction, where the auction house will take a ten percent commission. If you only require an appraisal of its value, there is a fee of ten gold soul coins. As for our person in charge, they do not see guests."

The figure in black, who was Qingxi, remained silent for a moment.

She was not annoyed. Her gloved hand brushed over a storage pouch, and a bone radiating a dark aura appeared in her palm. The dense, malevolent energy made the surrounding air feel stifling.

"This is..."

"A soul bone?!"

In an instant, all eyes in the vicinity converged on them, faces twisted with greed. Had this not been the Soto City Auction House, they would have already moved to seize it.

One had to understand that soul bones were incredibly rare on the Douluo Continent; every soul master's greatest dream was to possess one.

Even the Clear Sky Sect, hailed as the number one sect on the continent, was said to possess very few.

There was not a single soul master who did not desire a soul bone.

"This soul bone comes from a thirty-thousand-year-old Nether Ghost-Demon Octopus. It possesses an extreme evil attribute. How much is it worth?" Qingxi placed the bone on the counter, its wicked aura corroding the surface into pitted holes.

"This..." The pink-haired woman covered her mouth in shock, taking a long moment to recover. "My apologies, I cannot appraise this item. Please wait a moment, honored guest; I will notify the manager immediately."

With that, she tapped a few times on the machine behind the counter and stepped out from behind it.

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

Qingxi put the soul bone away, and the two wound their way into a private room. The pink-haired woman lifted the curtain. "Please, enter. The proprietor is waiting for you inside."

Qingxi stepped into the room. Under the glare of a massive lamp, a pile of thick books sat on a table. A middle-aged man dressed in golden finery with a sinister gaze sat behind the desk, swirling a glass of red wine.

"So, you are the one who wants to auction a soul bone?" He lifted his gaze slightly, his contemptuous eyes landing on the figure in black.

Qingxi pulled out a chair and sat down, taking the soul bone out once more and placing it on the table.

"What is it worth?"

Duke Drell looked at the soul bone, greed flickering in his eyes as his hand tightened around the wine glass.

He set the glass down slowly, crossed his legs, and seven soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and three black—emerged from beneath his feet.

"I will give you one choice: one thousand gold soul coins. I am buying this soul bone! Now, get out!"

A powerful pressure surged toward Qingxi, and Duke Drell laughed with disdain.

Normally, large families had dedicated staff to handle auctions, and they certainly wouldn't auction off soul bones.

In his eyes, someone so ignorant of the item's value was likely just another commoner trying their luck.

Commoners were born to be enslaved by nobles like him.

"One thousand gold soul coins?" Qingxi tilted her head slightly, revealing a smooth jawline, her black-and-white eyes peering through the darkness at the man who was clearly a noble.

"That is already a generous sum. That is all this soul bone is worth," Duke Drell said dismissively.

"Hmm..." She rested her chin on her hands, leaning on the table and watching Drell with composure.

"How about this? I will give you two choices." She slowly extended a finger. "The first choice: I sell you the soul bone for one thousand gold soul coins?"

"Oh?" Duke Drell's interest spiked, and he sat up straight. "That's more like it. Those who know the times are wise!"

"And tonight, I will tear your auction house to the ground and hang your head from the gates of Soto City!"

"Insolent!" Drell roared in a fit of rage, intending to strike immediately. But as he moved, a sudden, piercing pain shot through his entire body.

"This..." He looked at the dense, sharp edges surrounding him—so many that some had already pierced his skin, drawing blood with his slightest movement.

It was a bone-deep agony, a trembling that originated from his very soul.

"These are condensed from spiritual power and strike directly at the soul. If you move, your soul will be riddled with holes like a sieve." Qingxi held a soul needle formed of spiritual energy, a monstrous killing intent permeating the room, as if she were a god of slaughter who had crawled out of the depths of hell.

Drell looked at the palpable killing intent and found himself unable to breathe. A wetness suddenly spread across his trousers as urine dripped onto the floor.

He had never seen such terrifying killing intent in anyone; it was the kind born from walking through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Sometimes I don't wish for things to be this way," she said, appearing innocent. "But there are always those who look down on others..."

"The second choice." She extended a finger again. "Do two things for me. If you succeed, you live! If you fail, you can hang yourself from the nearest tree!"

"Are you threatening me?" Drell stammered. "This is the Heaven Dou Empire, and I am a Duke of the Heaven Dou Empire. If you kill me, you will be hunted by the entire empire."

This person's strength was at least that of a Titled Douluo—he had been a fool! Blinded by a soul bone!

"That is why I gave you a second path." The aura around her retracted, and she smiled lightly, returning to the appearance of an unremarkable commoner. "I was only joking. A Duke wouldn't mind, would he? Can we talk properly now?"

"Heh..." Drell forced a strained smile, pulling out a silk handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"This skull bone should be between thirty and forty thousand years old. It is a rare marine soul beast, and its attributes are extremely evil and decaying." He picked up the soul bone from the table, observing it cautiously, his eyes flashing with surprise.

One had to know that marine soul beasts were incredibly difficult to capture; even in the records of the Heaven Dou Empire, there was very little documentation on them.

"Even a simple touch causes erosion. May I ask, honored guest, from what soul beast did this bone originate?"

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

She had only ever seen descriptions of such a creature in the Records of Ancient Anomalies; she had not expected one to exist in this world.

It was a pity, however, that its attributes were ill-suited for her martial soul.

"Nether Ghost-Demon Octopus?" Drell frowned slightly, having never heard of such a spirit beast. He stroked his handlebar mustache and added, "The quality of this spirit bone is exceptional. With a starting bid of fifty million gold soul coins, the final price should be no less than two hundred million. But spirit bones are incredibly precious treasures on the Douluo Continent; are you truly certain you wish to sell it, my friend?"

Duke Drell cast a cautious glance at the figure in black across from him. After all, a treasure of this magnitude was worth nearly as much as a small nation.

What kind of spendthrift would bring such a thing out just to exchange it for money?

"I am. I also have a medicinal pill here that I would like you to auction off as well." Qingxi took out a small vial and placed it on the table, along with a sheet of paper covered in writing. "The items listed on this paper are what I require you to find for me. You have three months to gather as many of them as possible."

"The proceeds from the auction shall remain with you for the time being, to serve as funds for these purchases."

Within three months, she had to break through to the Fen Shen stage.

Qingxi's brows furrowed tightly. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that something in the dark was watching her.