Soul Crystal

The Blazing Hound immediately grew serious when he saw the new item in the auction house.

According to the information he had obtained from the Survival Guide, any resource capable of upgrading a skill to advanced level was extremely precious.

Yet someone had actually put an advanced resource up for auction. How lavish was that?

Shocked, the Blazing Hound immediately opened the description and checked the seller. The moment he saw it, a look of realization appeared on his face.

"So it's the Shapeshifter Beast. What an incredible fellow. He always manages to surprise everyone."

The Blazing Hound sighed. As the only Black Iron summoned beast, he had once considered himself the strongest and looked down on the other summoned beasts.

But the Shapeshifter Beast had auctioned off items time and again, and every item had been highly valuable. Especially this time—it was downright shocking.

It dealt the Blazing Hound quite a blow and made him realize that the Shapeshifter Beast was far from simple.

However, when he saw the Black-Furred Dog showing off in the chat channel, the Blazing Hound suddenly thought of a way to deal with him.

"Black-Furred Dog, didn't you just say that advanced resources are extremely precious? Your master had to mobilize the entire country just to find one advanced resource?"

"Yeah. It's an advanced resource, after all. It can upgrade an intermediate skill into an advanced skill, so of course it's precious," the Black-Furred Dog said.

"Is that so? Then take a look at the auction house," the Blazing Hound said.

"The auction house? What's there to see? I remember only the Shapeshifter Beast put anything up there before. Did he put up something else again?"

The Black-Furred Dog did not believe him. He slowly opened the auction house, then froze in shock and fell silent.

The other summoned beasts had been watching the chat channel the whole time, so they naturally opened the auction house as well.

"Advanced resource, Light-Orb Flowers? Light-Orb Flowers that can upgrade intermediate skills to advanced skills? A quantity of sixty-six? Holy crap, that's insane."

"It's Shapeshifter Beast again! He casually put sixty-six advanced resources up for sale. That's incredible."

"How did Shapeshifter Beast do it? I can barely afford to eat, while he's already selling advanced resources. The gap is way too huge."

The chat channel instantly became lively. Many summoned beasts who had been lurking began discussing the item in the auction house.

The Black-Furred Dog, who had been smug just moments ago, fell silent, clearly stunned.

His master had mobilized the entire country and only managed to find one advanced resource.

But now, the usually silent Shapeshifter Beast had actually put sixty-six advanced resources up for auction.

The difference was so staggering that it left him speechless.

However, when the Black-Furred Dog remembered that he had formed a contract with a summoner, he felt a little more balanced.

"Though I admit you're impressive, you haven't contracted with a summoner, while I did long ago. I'm still better than you."

The Black-Furred Dog muttered to himself. He wanted badly to send those words, but ultimately did not dare, afraid that everyone would mock him.

At that moment.

The Big-Clawed Beast spoke in the chat channel, and a single sentence drew everyone's attention.

"Shapeshifter Beast, could you sell me some food? I have a Soul Crystal that strengthens the soul, and I want to trade it for something to eat."

"A crystal that strengthens the soul? Trade with me. I still have half a pig leg," the Berserk Lion suddenly said.

"Don't trade with him. Trade with me. I have bread, milk, and goat milk—all provided by the prince," the Black-Furred Dog hurriedly said.

Seeing those two summoned beasts try to cut in, many fell silent and waited to see whether the ever-quiet Shapeshifter Beast would appear.

After all, the Shapeshifter Beast needed items that strengthened the soul, and the items he auctioned were also meant to be exchanged for such things.

Amid this anticipation, the Shapeshifter Beast everyone had been waiting for finally appeared and spoke in the chat channel.

"What food do you want? Roast meat, fruit, steamed buns, rice? Magic crystals? Or armor and weapons custom-made for you?"

Li Xuan asked calmly, though he was very interested in that Soul Crystal that strengthened the soul.

His words instantly silenced the chat channel. Soon, a large group began chattering excitedly.

"Shapeshifter Beast is finally here. Greetings, boss," the Violent Rabbit said fawningly.

"Boss, did you contract with a summoner? The things you can provide are honestly a little frightening. I've been eating grass these past few days," the Stepping Sheep could not help saying.

"He definitely formed a contract. He can even make armor and weapons—he obviously contracted with a summoner," the Gale Mouse chimed in, his words filled with envy.

"Hahaha, I knew it. Based on the things Shapeshifter Beast auctioned before, it was enough to prove how powerful he was. The Black-Furred Dog thought he was the only one with a summoner contract. Maybe Shapeshifter Beast formed one long ago and simply couldn't be bothered to mention it."

The Blazing Hound laughed loudly and spoke without restraint in the chat channel.

Those words left the Black-Furred Dog deeply depressed. He did not even know how to refute them, because he also felt that the possibility was quite high.

The thought that he might not have been the first to contract with a summoner made the Black-Furred Dog feel utterly stifled.

He wanted to curse, but that would not make him feel any better. He might even be mocked by everyone.

Soon, the Black-Furred Dog thought of a solution. He could simply use food to snatch the Soul Crystal. It was a fair trade, after all—the highest bidder won, and no one could say otherwise.

So the Black-Furred Dog loudly said.

"I can provide more delicious food and supply you with food long-term. Big-Clawed Beast, trade your Soul Crystal to me, and I'll look after you from now on."

After the Black-Furred Dog spoke, the chat channel fell briefly silent. Mainly because the conditions he offered were quite tempting.

To get food, they had to go hunting every day. They were often injured and attacked by other summoned beasts.

If they had a stable daily food supply, they could survive safely. Thus, the Black-Furred Dog's offer was quite good.

However, everyone knew that Shapeshifter Beast also needed Soul Crystals. He would definitely come out to compete for it. There might even be a fierce battle.

Sure enough.

A line of text soon appeared in the chat channel. It was from Shapeshifter Beast, but there were only a few words—just a question.

"Big-Clawed Beast, what level have your claws reached?"

"Huh? They're at the lowest level, Big Claws. I don't know how to advance them into Iron Claws, so I'm very weak," the Big-Clawed Beast said helplessly.

"I can tell you the advancement method. Trade me your Soul Crystal," Li Xuan said flatly.

"What? Shapeshifter Beast, you know my advancement method? How is that possible? Even I don't know it," the Big-Clawed Beast asked in disbelief.

"You can put the Soul Crystal in the auction house. I'll trade you the information, and whether it's true or false will naturally become clear," Li Xuan casually replied.

He had reincarnated as many summoned beasts and gained vast amounts of memories from them, including memories concerning Big-Clawed Beasts.

In those memories, he had repeatedly seen Big-Clawed Beasts eating fruit before their claws turned into Iron Claws.

Li Xuan recognized that fruit as well. It was called the Brown Round Fruit, a plant that grew on iron ore mountains. There were quite a lot of them, and they were not rare at all.

Simply put, Big-Clawed Beasts were numerous. As long as a summoned beast had lived long enough, it would likely have seen them before, so their advancement method was no secret.

It was only because the people seeking survival had arrived in the summoned beast world so recently that they did not know. This was the perfect opportunity to exchange that information for the Soul Crystal.

"Shapeshifter Beast, I've put the Soul Crystal in the auction house. Boss, you can buy it now."

The Big-Clawed Beast spoke in the chat channel, clearly full of anticipation.

"Mm." Li Xuan casually replied and immediately chose to purchase it.

[Ding! Purchase successful. You obtained one Soul Crystal.]

[Ding! Your Soul Crystal has been placed in the temporary storage box, where it can be stored for free for three days.]

With the crisp notification, Li Xuan saw a cubic crystal appear in the temporary storage box, radiating a mysterious glow.

At the same time, delighted cries rang out in the chat channel.

"The trade really succeeded! Great, I finally know how to advance. Shapeshifter Beast, thank you. I'm going to advance right away—I know where to find that fruit."

After saying that, the Big-Clawed Beast fell completely silent, clearly having gone off to advance.

That sight silenced the entire chat channel for a moment, after which a flood of messages began scrolling past.

"Shapeshifter Beast, I'm the Black-Tailed Snake. How can I advance my skills?"

"Boss, I'm the Illusionary Lark. How can I upgrade my illusion arts to intermediate level? I'm a girl, you know. Can you tell me, boss?"