Starlight Auction House

On Douluo Continent, Soul Masters above Rank 30 were considered to have moved beyond the beginner stage of the profession.

The travel speed of Soul Masters above the Soul Elder rank was naturally beyond anything Horned Scale Horses could compare to. Moreover, Jiang Yue's destination was very clear: Star Luo City. At most, he would only need to waste some time resting along the way.

In the original story, Huo Yuhao had been able to cross the Heavenly Soul Empire and enter the Extreme North with only Rank 20 cultivation. Jiang Yue was naturally even faster.

If he had a soul tool capable of boosting his speed, Jiang Yue could travel even faster. However, soul tools were far from widespread in the original three empires of Douluo. Shops selling them could only be found in certain large cities.

Moreover, the soul tools sold there were not particularly high-grade, yet their prices were exorbitant. Most importantly, even if he bought a suitable flying soul tool, Jiang Yue's current soul power level would not allow him to use it for long.

Furthermore, Jiang Yue was not traveling through places like the Bright Dipper Mountain Range, where the terrain was rugged and treacherous. He was taking broad, level official roads.

If he relied solely on his own body, the soul power within him would last much longer. Therefore, those soul tools would not only fail to increase Jiang Yue's speed, but might even slow him down.

What suited him was best. If he found any soul tools at the Starlight Auction House that suited his current needs or could be used after he reached four rings, and the price was reasonable, Jiang Yue would decisively buy them.

To Jiang Yue, soul tools were merely tools. Since they were tools, there was no need to harbor such strong resistance toward them.

The Star Luo Empire itself lay south of Shrek City. One could enter its territory without passing through the Bright Dipper Mountain Range. In the original story, Shrek's main team and reserve team had gone that way only because they needed to complete an Inspection Corps mission before participating in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

Sure enough, after only two or three days, Jiang Yue had successfully entered the Star Luo Empire and was already quite close to Star Luo City.

Only when he could see, from afar, Star Luo City's towering walls—nearly as tall as some of the skyscrapers in his memories—did Jiang Yue gradually slow down.

Many high-rise buildings were only around a hundred meters tall, and they stood scattered apart from one another. Naturally, they did not inspire the same sense of awe as the unbroken city walls before him.

Reading the numbers in a book was one thing; seeing them with his own eyes was an entirely different experience.

As the main city at the border between the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Sun Moon Empire, Maple Leaf City naturally had walls as well. However, they could not compare to the walls of Star Luo City before him.

It made sense. Star Luo City was one of the capitals of the four great empires on Douluo Continent. As an imperial capital, it was unquestionably the largest city within the Star Luo Empire, as well as its political, cultural, and economic center. Rumor had it that it had never fallen.

When he reached Star Luo City's gates and looked up at the stone walls from close range, it would not have been an exaggeration to call them soaring into the clouds. And this was only Star Luo City's outer city.

The inner city had a history of more than ten thousand years, just like Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heavenly Soul Empire.

That city within a city was Star Luo City's true core. Its construction had begun back when the White Tiger Duke's lineage had still been the Star Luo imperial family. After so many years of renovation and expansion, both its scale and luxury far surpassed what they had once been.

Although Star Luo City had a massive population and countless people entering and leaving, everything remained orderly. The city could easily accommodate this number of people. Jiang Yue simply wondered how lively it would become in a few months, during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

As he approached the gates with the flow of people, Jiang Yue had no travel permit or similar documentation, but he was not worried in the slightest. In this world where strength reigned supreme, a Soul Master's power was the best pass when traveling abroad.

Of course, Jiang Yue did not yet need to enter the city by displaying his strength. He merely took out the emblem belonging to Shrek Academy, and the soldiers guarding the gate immediately allowed him into Star Luo City without asking a single question.

It was clear that Shrek Academy's name still carried considerable weight in the original three empires of Douluo.

After casually finding a hotel to stay in, Jiang Yue noticed that it was still early. For the first time in a while, he stopped cultivating and drifted off to sleep.

After traveling for several days, Jiang Yue was somewhat exhausted from the journey. By the time he woke again, the sky outside had gradually darkened.

Seeing that the time was about right, Jiang Yue began searching Star Luo City for the Starlight Auction House. As the largest auction house in Star Luo City, its location was naturally easy to ask about.

From the outside, it looked utterly unremarkable, easily giving people the impression that the Starlight Auction House was merely a small auction house. In truth, it contained a world of its own.

An auction house—this was an indispensable staple of every fantasy world. The chances of treasures appearing in such places were absurdly high, and one could usually pick up quite a few bargains.

Only after standing before the entrance of the Starlight Auction House did Jiang Yue remember a serious problem: he did not have the qualifications to enter the auction house and place bids!

The Star Luo imperial family stood behind the Starlight Auction House. Obtaining the qualifications to participate in its auctions was no simple matter. Not only did one need proof of assets, but one also had to undergo an identity assessment. Going through the normal channels would take at least half a month.

In the original story, Shrek's reserve team and Wang Yan had obtained the qualifications to attend the auction only because Dai Yaoheng, the eldest young master of the White Tiger Duke's Manor, had helped them.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yue felt troubled. Even if he invoked his status as the Maple Leaf City Lord, he could not obtain the qualification in a short time. This was the Star Luo Empire; the lord of a major city in the Heavenly Soul Empire could not pull any strings here.

Jiang Yue silently sighed, somewhat resigned to his fate. Earlier, he had only been thinking about the price of the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife, yet he had completely forgotten about bidding qualifications.

But there was nothing to be done. Where there was a will, there was a way. Even without bidding qualifications, Jiang Yue needed to apply immediately. In any case, there was still plenty of time before the end of the holiday. He could afford to wait half a month, which was more than enough time to obtain the bidding qualifications and secure the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife. Besides, it was not as though there were no other options.

Fortunately, what Jiang Yue needed was only the qualification for an ordinary auction, not one of those top-tier auctions held only once or twice a year. He had to thank the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife for failing to sell at a top-tier auction and ending up at an ordinary one, giving him the chance to intercept it in advance.

If he truly could not obtain the qualification in the end, then he would obediently wait for a while. He could also use this time to purchase information on spiritual-attribute soul beasts. Hunting soul beasts with intelligence was far more efficient than wandering through Star Dou Forest like a headless fly.

Passing through the entrance and into the auction house, Jiang Yue found a carpeted staircase five meters wide before him. It extended downward, leading to the true location of the auction house. There was not a single staff member around to guide visitors.

Only after going about twenty meters deeper did Jiang Yue see the registration desk and several staff members.

"Hello, welcome to the Starlight Auction House, esteemed guest. How may we assist you?"

"I need to apply for the bidding rights to participate in the Starlight Auction House's auctions."

"Certainly. Please wait a moment. Due to the special nature of our auctions, you will need to provide a detailed account of your identity and present proof of assets. If you are a Soul Master, please also tell us your age and rank. That will help us process your application for bidding rights more quickly."

Douluo Continent was not populated solely by Soul Masters. Most people were ordinary citizens, and there were plenty of wealthy merchants among them. However, such people were simply too few, and under normal circumstances, their wealth and connections could not compare with those of Soul Masters.

Therefore, honestly declaring his identity as a Soul Master rather than pretending to be an ordinary person would help him obtain the qualifications sooner.

Following the staff member's instructions, Jiang Yue filled in the various forms one by one. In the section concerning his identity and background, he wrote about his relationship with the Maple Leaf City Lord. He also truthfully listed his soul power and age. None of this involved Jiang Yue's core secrets, so there was no reason to conceal it.

When these trained staff members learned that Jiang Yue had already reached Rank 40 at the age of twelve, they could not help but lose their composure.

Although they had encountered all sorts of people while working at the Starlight Auction House, they had never seen—or even heard of—a genius like Jiang Yue, who had reached Rank 40 soul power at only twelve years old.

What did Rank 40 at twelve mean? Taking the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament as an example, Soul Ancestors were already the main competitors for most academies in such a competition. Soul Kings could only be found in a few established academies, while Soul Emperors could generally only be fielded by Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.

In other words, at the age of twelve, Jiang Yue could already be fielded as a main competitor by most Soul Master academies. Five years later, there was an extremely high chance that he would directly dominate the tournament. Even Shrek Academy would likely need to avoid his edge—though that was assuming Jiang Yue had joined a Soul Master academy.

Furthermore, as long as such talent did not perish prematurely, becoming a Titled Douluo was practically guaranteed. A Titled Douluo—those were among the most powerful and influential people on the entire continent! No faction could refuse the addition of another Titled Douluo!

The receptionist respectfully handed over a small sphere. It was a simple soul tool specially used to test soul power levels, capable of measuring soul power below Rank 60. It was expensive and had little practical use, because leaving aside high-level soul masters, basically any soul master above Rank 30 could clearly sense the level of their own cultivation.

High-level soul masters had no need for it, while low-level soul masters would not buy such an expensive soul power-testing soul tool. As a result, this thing could be considered an unusual item that simply would not sell.

"Honored guest, if possible, please test your soul power level. If there are no issues, we will expedite the processing of your bidding rights. That will be much faster than the normal procedure."

After placing the soul tool before Jiang Yue, he examined the unusual device carefully before placing his hand on it.

At once, a gentle suction force drew soul power from Jiang Yue's body. After roughly two or three seconds, the number forty appeared on the soul tool.

After confirming that Jiang Yue had not lied about his age or level, the staff exchanged glances. One receptionist immediately stepped forward and guided Jiang Yue to a quiet reception room.

Seeing the receptionist's smile grow even brighter than the standard polite smile from before, Jiang Yue more or less understood why they had suddenly become so enthusiastic.

Starlight Auction House was an asset of the Star Luo imperial family. Based on Jiang Yue's memories and the information he had compiled, Starlight Auction House most likely belonged directly to the current Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, while the one who usually helped Xu Jiawei manage it was Princess Xu Jiujiu.

This place was practically Star Luo imperial family territory. What difference was there between a genius who had reached Rank 40 at the age of twelve suddenly appearing here and wrapping himself up neatly before delivering himself to their doorstep?

If they did not report this to their superiors, then these receptionists would be the ones with water in their brains.

Inside a special room within Starlight Auction House, numerous documents lay atop a table made from some unidentifiable material. A beautiful young girl who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen sat before the table, handling the documents one by one.

Her figure was exceptionally well-developed, and her skin was flawless, smooth enough to seem as though it could be broken by a breath. Calling her skin like ice and bones like jade would not have been an exaggeration. Most importantly, the unique air of nobility and warmth around her made people inevitably feel favorably toward her at first sight.

Star Luo Princess Xu Jiujiu, the youngest sister of the current Star Luo Emperor and his most favored princess. Her awakened martial soul was also the emblematic martial soul of the Star Crown lineage of the current Star Luo imperial family.

More importantly, Xu Jiujiu was a princess with genuine authority. She truly had the right to participate in state affairs, and Starlight Auction House had always been under her control.

Knock, knock—

"Come in."

Upon hearing the knock, Xu Jiujiu did not even raise her head. After casually responding, the room's door was opened by a woman dressed in a black gown.

The woman came before Xu Jiujiu and bowed. Then, she leaned close to Xu Jiujiu's side. Xu Jiujiu slightly tilted her body as well, allowing herself to hear clearly what this black-ranked auctioneer had to say.

Assassination was simply not within Xu Jiujiu's range of consideration. Leaving aside who would send an assassin into Starlight Auction House just to kill a princess like her, even if some faction truly did so, she still had an elder secretly protecting her.

"Hmm? Something like this happened? Take me over to have a look."

After hearing the woman's report, Xu Jiujiu's interest was piqued. She immediately rose to her feet and had the woman lead her toward that reception room.

A twelve-year-old Rank 40 genius had come alone to Starlight Auction House in hopes of obtaining bidding rights for the auction. His identity merely stated that he had some connection to the city lord of Maple Leaf City in the Heavenly Soul Empire.

What was this situation? Had a pie fallen from the sky?

As the princess of the Star Luo Empire, Xu Jiujiu could be considered knowledgeable and well-traveled, yet she had truly never encountered such a situation before.

Xu Jiujiu was certain that if someone truly possessed the talent to reach Rank 40 at the age of twelve, then they could absolutely be called a genius seen only once in ten thousand years across the Douluo Continent.

Even the legendary Sea God Tang San had only been a Soul Elder at the age of twelve. The heirs of various factions were already considered exceptionally gifted if they reached Soul Elder at twelve, yet now a monstrous talent had suddenly appeared, ten full ranks ahead of geniuses his age.

If the situation was true, and that genius had not joined any faction, then Xu Jiujiu felt that the Star Luo Empire might as well try to recruit him!

When facing such a genius, only an idiot would think of pushing him away, right?

No way, no way—could there really be such an idiot?