The Final Auction Item, a Strange Treasure from the Deep Sea

Martial Soul City, East City Avenue.

A luxurious carriage rolled slowly along.

Before long, the carriage stopped in front of a peculiar building. The coachman climbed down, set out a small brocade footstool, and bowed.

"Madam, Young Master, Manager Xiao, we have arrived at the Seven-Star Auction House."

The curtain was lifted, and Xiao Kong, with red and green gourds hanging from his waist, stepped out first.

Xiao Kong ranked third in Xu Bayan's Blizzard Squad. His Martial Soul was the Wind Mane Hound, which possessed exceptionally powerful tracking abilities. He was a Soul Sage and currently served as a manager of the Xu Family, mainly responsible for security.

Afterward.

Ning Fengyu, a beautiful woman dressed in a lotus-white feathered dress, also stepped out of the carriage while holding Xu Huxiao's hand.

Xu Huxiao had already drawn up a new training plan for the day and intended to stay home cultivating, but he could not withstand his mother's gentle coaxing. She insisted that he accompany her on a stroll through Spirit City's auction house.

He was not accompanying her for nothing. To get her son out of the house, Ning Fengyu had boldly promised that anything Xu Huxiao took a liking to at the auction house—

No matter what it was, he could choose one item as a gift for obtaining his first soul ring and successfully advancing to Soul Master.

This promise was anything but ordinary.

If it had been an ordinary shop, it would have been nothing more than goods worth a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins at most. But an auction house was different; all sorts of rare treasures were sold here.

There were countless items priced above a hundred thousand.

There were also quite a few extraordinary treasures worth millions.

As one of Spirit City's top auction houses, the Seven-Star Auction House even had rare treasures such as Soul Bones.

Naturally, their prices were astronomical.

Thus, anyone who dared promise that someone could freely choose an item at an auction house had to possess extraordinarily abundant wealth.

Ning Fengyu naturally had that confidence. Not only was she the younger sister of the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the continent's wealthiest man, she was also the wife of a Spirit Hall elder.

After Flash Mongoose died and Lei Dao was severely injured.

Although the Xu Family no longer controlled Spirit Hall's concrete authority, the Great Soul Arena shares and part of the Flash Marten Lin Family's auction house shares had all been swallowed by the Xu Family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Their annual Gold Soul Coin income directly exceeded twenty million!

Therefore.

Although the Xu Family's influence had weakened, its financial resources were now greater than before.

Faced with his mother's outrageously generous promise, Xu Huxiao thought it over and could not find a reason to refuse. Besides, he was somewhat curious about this world's auction houses.

More importantly, he possessed the Eye of Omniscience. It could not only reveal information about Soul Beasts and Soul Masters.

With a glance, he could likewise obtain an item's information and value.

Perhaps he might even find something useful for himself at this auction house.

He could also look for some high-grade ingredients.

He would treat it as taking a day off.

Thinking this, Xu Huxiao gazed at the peculiar building before him, shaped like a gigantic diamond, his heart brimming with anticipation.

Seeing her son looking around curiously, Ning Fengyu smiled.

"Well, my precious son? Isn't coming out for a stroll nice? If you spend all day practicing martial arts in the training ground, you'll train yourself silly. Listen to your mother and come out to relax. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Mm."

"Let's go inside. Just tell Mother what you like, and we'll buy it all. Treasure hunting with money is very fun."

With that said.

The three of them entered the auction house through a special red-carpeted passage under the guidance of a VIP receptionist.

The auction house interior was extremely spacious, with a vast arched and domed structure that emphasized layers of space and exquisite design.

The lighting, however, was rather dim.

Dark-toned reliefs and exquisite murals lay beneath the immense starry dome. Every corner exuded an understated air of luxury, stirring an inexplicable sense of mysterious anticipation for the items about to be displayed within the guests.

Xu Huxiao followed his mother to an exclusive VIP room on the second floor of the auction house. This place was specially prepared for guests with assets exceeding one million Gold Soul Coins and a certain degree of influence.

The wall of the VIP room facing the central auction stage was completely transparent. Those inside could see outside, but those outside could not see in.

The overall atmosphere remained open and dim.

Beneath the vast starry dome.

A beam of brilliant Soul Tool light shone down from above onto the central auction stage, where a sexy female host with long, curly black hair appeared.

The woman wore a black leather one-piece minidress. Her voluptuous, alluring figure exposed broad swaths of snow-white skin, and the deep cleavage at her chest was faintly visible. Her hip-hugging short skirt barely covered her plump, perky buttocks, while her smooth long legs were fully exposed.

The moment this sexy female host appeared, she immediately drew cheers from the guests below.

Seeing the heated atmosphere below, the female host did not waste words. One auction item after another was brought out for display.

Various Soul Tools, rare ores and materials, exquisite top-grade formalwear, rare Soul Beasts, works forged by master craftsmen...

All kinds of rare treasures took the stage in succession.

The bidders below competed fiercely, but Xu Huxiao had no interest whatsoever in these items. The value column scanned by the Eye of Omniscience had not shown a single item worth more than five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

As for the Soul Tools that held even a little interest for him, they were all used for lighting, storage, or daily life. There were no offensive Soul Tools.

His mother, however, seemed to be bidding with great enthusiasm. Especially for formalwear and everyday Soul Tools, she bid on every one that appeared, as if she were simply sweeping through an ordinary shop.

Uncle Xiao Kong beside them bought several canine Soul Beasts, as well as several bottles of fine aged wine.

Xu Huxiao was rather bored. He should have known better and stayed home to cultivate. As expected, lucky encounters and bargain finds had nothing to do with him.

Just as he was about to sit cross-legged in the VIP seats and cultivate his Soul Power, a three-meter-tall cubic box covered in black cloth was raised onto the auction stage below.

"The final item of this morning's auction is a secret treasure from the deep sea. Everyone, please look."

The sexy female host pulled away the black cloth. Beneath the brilliant Soul Tool light stood a huge transparent aquarium.

There was only one thing inside the aquarium.

An ancient, weathered Bronze Giant Clam floated in the center of the tank.

"A giant clam?! It's so huge. It has to be over two meters long, right?"

"This should count as a rare deep-sea Soul Beast, but what use does it have?"

Exclamations rose from below as the female host introduced it.

"Our auction house's deep-sea exploration team discovered this at the edge of the East Sea Trench. Everyone knows that the East Sea Trench is known as the Netherworld Abyss. Its depths are unfathomable, and no Soul Master who has ventured inside to explore has returned alive. Even Soul Sages have not been spared."

"Our exploration team naturally did not venture deep inside. Every year on the eighth day of the eighth month, the great trench releases an Ocean Current Pulse. Under the churn of the Ocean Current Pulse, many things from the sea abyss have a chance to be swept out."

"This Bronze Giant Clam was one of the items brought out by this year's Ocean Current Pulse."

Someone below asked, "Does this count as a marine Soul Beast? How many years old is it?"

The female host spoke apologetically.

"Whether this is a Soul Beast or an inanimate object, we do not know either. We apologize."

"We tried every possible method but could not open it. The only thing we could determine from the bronze rust patterns on its surface was that this giant clam had an extremely ancient origin, more than Ten Thousand Years old."

"Appraisal Master Luo Wen has preliminarily determined that it is worth more than a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. If any distinguished guests are interested in this strange treasure from the deep sea, you may try your hand at it. Perhaps you will uncover the giant clam's secret."

"The two hundredth auction item—Bronze Giant Clam from the Netherworld Abyss!"

"The starting price is one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, with each bid increase no less than five thousand. Distinguished guests, you may begin bidding."

Although the female host had described the giant clam as extremely mysterious and valuable, those below showed little interest in something whose value was unknown.

Some regular customers of the Seven-Star Auction House had even begun packing up to leave, because they knew that the final item at every Seven-Star Auction House auction was always something whose value could not be appraised.

There had been meteorites said to appear only once every five hundred years.

Ancient Soul Beast fossils.

Cold jade crystals of unknown effect from the Far North.

Ancient, damaged Soul Tools, and many other such items.

Though they were described as mysterious, these things actually held only collectible value and no practical value.

Basically, no one would buy such things to take home, unless they were Soul Masters with a special obsession with collecting.

The female host, Shi Qi, saw that no one was bidding, but she was not disappointed.

This was the Seven-Star Auction House's tradition, after all. The final auction item was always like this.

According to their boss, a high-end auction house could not stop at appearances. Besides having high value, its auction items also needed to be unique strange treasures that sparked the desire to explore their worth.

Only an auction house with such collectibles could be considered a truly top-tier auction house.

And a starting price of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, with each increase no less than five thousand, was the minimum respect due to a strange treasure.

Shi Qi felt that her boss was right, but the two warehouses already piled full of "strange treasures" made the sexy woman feel that if her boss had a little less curiosity for bizarre things, those two warehouses might already be filled with glittering Gold Soul Coins.

"It seems this strange treasure from the deep sea has not sparked everyone's interest. Then..."

Just as Shi Qi was about to declare the item unsold, end that morning's auction, and place it in the new "strange treasure" warehouse, a pleasant female voice rang out.

"Wait. I'll take this strange treasure. One hundred thousand."

Shi Qi looked toward the sound. It came from a second-floor VIP room.

Sure enough, these bizarre things had to be sold to outrageously wealthy suckers!

Shi Qi immediately beamed. "Very well, VIP Number Two bids one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Is there anyone else who wishes to raise the bid? One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, first call. Second call. Third call!!"

Ding!

"Sold!"

The experienced woman swiftly concluded the auction. One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins—someone had actually bought it. She had actually sold that piece of junk, oh no, that "strange treasure."

It was simply unbelievable.

In VIP Room Number Two, Xu Huxiao watched the auction end and likewise could not believe the information the Eye of Omniscience had conveyed when he looked at the Bronze Giant Clam.

It was he who had just asked Ning Fengyu to bid one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for the Bronze Giant Clam.

Although the giant clam was inside the tank, and the VIP room's transparent wall stood between them, meaning his gaze could not directly touch the Bronze Giant Clam, he had still obtained its information.

Ever since obtaining these Eyes of Omniscience, Xu Huxiao had become increasingly proficient in using them. He could now, under certain circumstances, obtain information while ignoring obstructions.

[Item]: Demon Clam

[Effect]: Seal

[Value]: Immeasurable

[Words]: A hundred thousand years, a hundred thousand years... My mission is finally about to be completed!!