Encounter!

"Three thousand gold soul coins, going once!"

"..."

"Three thousand five hundred gold soul coins, going three times. Congratulations to our distinguished guest in the purple section for winning this auction item, the Phoenix Feather Hairpin."

As the auction hammer fell, another item was taken by Na'er.

From the beginning until now, Na'er had already won over a dozen assorted items, with a total value of more than eighty thousand gold soul coins.

Eighty thousand gold soul coins was enough to buy the entire Speed Clan.

But Na'er did not care, and Jiang Yuan did not care either. With his status, he could have as much money as he wanted.

"Whose juniors are these two children? How can they take out so many gold soul coins?"

"Could they be from the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect?"

"But that's not right either. I know all the direct descendants of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect who are of the right age, and there aren't these two among them."

"Maybe they're descendants of some duke. Forget it. No one has ever defaulted on a bid at the Heaven Dou Auction House."

Whispers echoed through every corner of the auction house, and many curious gazes kept falling on Jiang Yuan and Na'er.

"Provocation. This is provocation. She's already snatched three things I wanted."

In another purple section, a girl with a fiery figure, short purple hair, and green eyes angrily slapped the armrest.

"Yanyan, the rules of an auction are that the highest bidder wins. The other party is completely within the rules. Who told you not to be as rich as her?"

Beside her, a silver-haired girl whose figure was somewhat more "ordinary" yet still outstanding stabbed her in the heart with an expressionless face.

A faint sound of heartbreak rang out. Though she was Dugu Bo's granddaughter, and Dugu Bo doted on her greatly, unfortunately, Dugu Bo was a lone wolf. He had no faction, nor close friends, and his family fortune truly was not abundant.

As the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo, she might not even be as well-off as a baron in Heaven Dou City.

Dugu Yan turned her head and looked at her best friend Ye Lingling in embarrassed anger, then said irritably, "Lingling, my Jade Phosphor Snake Poison isn't even as poisonous as your mouth. I think it was definitely a mistake that the Nine-Heart Begonia appeared on you. You should have awakened a Poison Begonia martial soul."

"And you still aren't as rich as her!" Ye Lingling was completely unaffected by the pressure. She gave Dugu Yan a faint glance and calmly stated the heart-piercing truth.

"Aaaah..."

Dugu Yan looked at Ye Lingling in a frenzy and said, cheeks puffed up in anger, "I don't care. Lingling, you have to help me. I have to beat that person once."

Ye Lingling looked at her best friend, who had gotten carried away, and could not understand what there was to compare.

But she did not say she would not help either. She only secretly calculated the size of her own little treasury.

Na'er, who still did not know she had been targeted by a beautiful snake, counted her recent gains on her fingers and nodded with some satisfaction.

Na'er was not interested in the items that came up next, which made Dugu Yan, who had been preparing for a major battle, so angry her teeth itched.

"With such bearing, I wonder whose children they are?"

In the white section not far away, an elegant-looking middle-aged man kept glancing curiously at Jiang Yuan and Na'er.

"Fengzhi, should we investigate?"

Beside Ning Fengzhi, the tall yet skeleton-like Bone Douluo asked in a low voice.

"No need. When the time comes to make contact, we naturally will." Ning Fengzhi shook his head and said lightly.

"I did not expect Teacher to be in such a mood today, actually coming to Heaven Dou City for a stroll."

At that moment, "Xue Qinghe," who had arrived accompanied by subordinates, came to sit beside Ning Fengzhi.

"I had nothing to do, so I came to the auction house to see if there was anything interesting. You also know the talent of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda."

Ning Fengzhi looked at the appearing "Xue Qinghe" in surprise.

"But Qinghe, you actually walked out of the Crown Prince's Mansion. You probably don't come to the Heaven Dou Auction House more than a few times in a year, do you?"

"Government affairs have been heavy lately, and my spirits have been somewhat poor, so I came out for some fresh air." "Xue Qinghe" tiredly rubbed his brow. Those words were half true and half false.

"His Majesty entrusted government affairs to you as a sign of trust, and also as training for you."

Ning Fengzhi was very satisfied with "Xue Qinghe" as his disciple. The two were originally master and disciple, and could be considered to advance and retreat together, so he casually gave a couple of reminders.

"This disciple understands. It is hateful that this disciple's cultivation is too weak, and I can hardly even sustain the energy needed to review government affairs."

"Xue Qinghe" nodded as if accepting instruction, then spoke with a regretful expression.

Compared to the Star Luo Imperial Family, the inherited martial soul of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was the Swan, which could only be considered a mid-grade martial soul and was not very powerful.

Restricted by their martial soul, even though the imperial family had already improved their bloodline through marriage alliances, the overall strength of the imperial family still remained low.

It was hard to say whether the Upper Three Sects had a hand in this.

The Upper Three Sects were all within the borders of the Heaven Dou Empire. Wasn't that precisely because the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was relatively weak, not as forceful as the Star Luo Imperial Family, and more advantageous for their development?

Sitting on the resources of an entire empire, if the Heaven Dou Imperial Family produced a few geniuses with mutated martial souls, then their interests would inevitably suffer.

So only this kind of not particularly powerful Heaven Dou Imperial Family was a good imperial family.

Seeing this, Ning Fengzhi could only speak up to comfort "Xue Qinghe."

"Xue Qinghe" quickly composed himself. He looked at Ning Fengzhi and asked curiously, "I seemed to hear Teacher say something about investigating just now? If you need Qinghe's help, Teacher, please feel free to ask."

"It's nothing. I just ran into two interesting youngsters."

Following Ning Fengzhi's gaze, "Xue Qinghe" quickly locked onto Jiang Yuan and Na'er. Although they were wearing masks, Na'er's silver hair was extremely eye-catching, and with his familiarity with Jiang Yuan, "Xue Qinghe" recognized the two of them in an instant.

"That bastard. Looks like he's been living quite comfortably while I've been away."

Qian Renxue could not help grinding her teeth inwardly, and the look she gave Jiang Yuan turned somewhat unfriendly.

"There are no juniors in Heaven Dou City who match them. They're probably wastrel children from some family elsewhere," "Xue Qinghe" said casually with a shake of his head.

"That bearing doesn't seem like that of a wastrel."

Although Ning Fengzhi sensed that "Xue Qinghe" seemed to harbor some hostility toward Jiang Yuan, he did not know where the problem lay, so he shook his head and said slowly.

Just then, the next item had already been brought onto the auction stage, and the host announced loudly.

"Next, the item we will be auctioning is an ancient soul tool. As long as soul power is poured into it, it can form a shield. After our testing, it can withstand a full-force strike from a Soul Ancestor."

The auctioneer's words drew the attention of quite a few people, including Jiang Yuan.

On the auction stage, a ceremonial attendant belonging to the auction house carried up a brocade tray covered with red cloth. On it sat an object that looked exceedingly peculiar.

The entire object was pitch-black, as though carved from jade, with patterns like a tortoise shell across its surface. Faint fluctuations of soul power permeated the air.

The only flaw in an otherwise perfect thing was that there were several faint cracks on the shell, ruining the sense of wholeness.