If the Xu Family Had an Outstanding Descendant, Perhaps the Throne Would Still Be in Our Hands

Although Moonlight Rice and Mysterious Ice Grass were rare, for the vast majority of distinguished guests present, their collectible value far outweighed their practical value. After all, who came to a top-tier auction because they lacked a bite to eat?

As for the ten century-old Mysterious Ice Grass plants, they were indeed helpful to ice-attribute Soul Engineers, but they needed to be at least a thousand years old to produce decent results. The century-old ones were somewhat useless. Of course, some still chose to bid; at the very least, buying them would not get them suddenly killed as easily as the Soul-Eating Carving Knife.

After several bids were placed, Lin Fan directly bid one million Gold Soul Coins.

The Soul Tool screen immediately refreshed with the new bid information.

"VIP Room Number One bids one million Gold Soul Coins."

As soon as that price was announced, the other VIP rooms that had still been hesitating instantly fell silent.

Paying one million Gold Soul Coins for those items was already quite an overpayment. Following that bid would not be worth it.

Standing onstage, Xu Jiujiu swept her rose-red eyes across the entire hall. Once she confirmed that there were no further bids, she gently brought down the auction hammer in her hand.

"Congratulations to VIP Room Number One for successfully purchasing the Moonlight Rice and century-old Mysterious Ice Grass for one million Gold Soul Coins."

Xu Jiujiu did not pause for long on the auction stage before quickly beginning her introduction of the third item.

"Next is tonight's third auction item."

She turned sideways, and the Soul Tool screen behind her lit up. The image displayed a silver-gray Soul Cannon, its barrel sleekly contoured and covered in intricate engravings.

"This is a Level Seven Soul Cannon, produced by Hidden Azure Pavilion."

Xu Jiujiu spoke with a smile as her gaze swept through the hall.

"I believe all of our distinguished guests have heard of Hidden Azure Pavilion's reputation. Over the past half year, the Soul Tools produced by Hidden Azure Pavilion have performed remarkably in Star Luo City. Both their quality and stability can be considered first-rate."

She paused briefly before continuing.

"This Level Seven Soul Cannon is one of the few finished products recently released by Hidden Azure Pavilion. Its power is formidable. The starting price is eight hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, and each increase must be no less than five thousand Gold Soul Coins."

As soon as her words fell, the atmosphere in the venue became noticeably livelier than it had been for the first two items.

The value of a Level Seven Soul Cannon spoke for itself, especially one made by Hidden Azure Pavilion. Within Star Luo City, those three words had become a guarantee of quality.

The bidding lights lit up one after another.

After several rounds of bidding, it was ultimately won by VIP Room Number Nine for one million two hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Inside the VIP room, Ling Luochеn saw the final transaction amount on the screen and could not help softly sighing.

"Soul Engineer really is an incredibly lucrative profession."

Leng Yaozhu nodded beside her. In her era, blacksmiths had been just as valuable. After all, the core of Four-Word Battle Armor was forging craftsmanship, and the worth of top-tier blacksmiths was no less than that of top-tier Soul Engineers.

The auction continued.

"Next is tonight's fourth auction item."

Xu Jiujiu's voice rang out again. The image on the Soul Tool screen behind her changed, revealing a dark brown glow and a piece of earth-yellow bone roughly half an arm in length.

"This is a ten-thousand-year earth-attribute Soul Beast torso bone, obtained from an Earth Demon Bear that had cultivated for over ten thousand years. The Soul Bone is of excellent quality and is a rare opportunity for earth-attribute Soul Engineers to improve themselves."

"The starting price is two million Gold Soul Coins, and each increase must be no less than five thousand Gold Soul Coins."

As soon as she finished speaking, bidding lights began flashing across the hall.

Soul Bones had always been popular auction items, regardless of their attribute.

What was more, this was a torso bone of over ten thousand years. It held extraordinary significance for earth-attribute Soul Engineers.

Lin Fan sat in the VIP room, his gaze fixed on the earth-yellow Soul Bone. He was not an earth-attribute Soul Engineer, but he wanted to see how much of an effect the Power of Time could have on a Soul Bone.

The fire-attribute Soul Bone he had previously given Leng Yaozhu had already been fused with her, leaving no opportunity to experiment.

This earth-attribute Soul Bone had arrived at exactly the right time. If it worked, that would mean the Power of Time in his hands had gained another application.

He directly pressed the bid button, and the number on the screen jumped.

"VIP Room Number One bids four million Gold Soul Coins."

The price of four million Gold Soul Coins directly suppressed the guests who had still been increasing their bids step by step.

For an earth-attribute Soul Bone that had only just passed ten thousand years and was not of a particularly rare attribute, such a premium had indeed exceeded most people's expectations. (In the original work, most ten-thousand-year Soul Bones cost no more than three million Gold Soul Coins, aside from Wang Dong's piece and this Ice Blast piece, which were highly valuable.)

After Xu Jiujiu confirmed it, she gently struck the hammer.

"Congratulations to VIP Room Number One for successfully purchasing the earth-attribute Soul Beast torso bone for four million Gold Soul Coins."

Inside the VIP room, Ling Luochеn and Leng Yaozhu exchanged glances, both with a trace of confusion in their eyes. However, neither of them asked.

After all, Lin Fan was the master of Hidden Azure Pavilion. Perhaps he happened to have earth-attribute Soul Engineers under him, and this Soul Bone was being bought for a member of the pavilion.

The auction continued, with most of the remaining items being Soul Tools. Once the ninth item had also been successfully sold, Xu Jiujiu stood on the stage with a smile and bowed toward the audience.

"Thank you all for participating. Tonight's top-tier auction has come to an end. I hope everyone leaves satisfied."

The three of them sat in the VIP room for a while. Before long, a maid knocked and entered, carrying an exquisite storage pouch containing the three items Lin Fan had won that night.

Lin Fan took the storage pouch and was about to rise and pay before leaving, but the maid did not immediately withdraw. Instead, she gave a slight bow and respectfully said,

"This distinguished guest, Her Highness Jiujiu wishes to meet with you. Would you be willing to spare some time?"

Lin Fan's eyes shifted slightly at those words as he looked up at the maid.

The maid seemed afraid that he might misunderstand and hurriedly added,

"Her Highness Jiujiu means that all the auction items you purchased tonight may be given to you free of charge, as a gesture of friendship."

By then, Lin Fan had already roughly understood.

She had simply learned that his status within Hidden Azure Pavilion was not low and wanted to build goodwill.

After all, Hidden Azure Pavilion had conducted many transactions with auction houses on the Star Luo Empire side over the past half year. It was only natural that they would take an interest in him.

He nodded.

"Sure."

Seeing that he had agreed, the maid immediately revealed a delighted expression. After bowing, she quickly withdrew to report the matter.

Not long afterward, a set of light footsteps sounded outside the door.

The door opened, and Xu Jiujiu appeared before them. However, she had already changed out of her auction attire and into a simple purple dress.

After entering, she first smiled and nodded at the three of them. When her gaze landed on Lin Fan, she could not help freezing for a moment.

Clearly, she had not expected the core figure of Hidden Azure Pavilion she wanted to befriend to be so young.

However, she was a professional, and her expression quickly returned to normal. With a proper smile, she said,

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Xu Jiujiu."

Only then did Xu Jiujiu reveal her full name. By giving her complete name, she was effectively acknowledging that she was the younger sister of the current emperor.

As she spoke, her gaze swept over Leng Yaozhu and Ling Luochеn standing behind Lin Fan.

Though the two women wore golden half-face masks, both their posture and bearing radiated extraordinary elegance. Even without seeing their full faces, it was obvious that beautiful faces lay beneath those masks.

"My name is Lin Fan."

Xu Jiujiu could not help being stunned when she heard that. He was actually that peerless prodigy who had broken through to Titled Douluo at the age of nineteen?

That prodigy was also from Hidden Azure Pavilion? No wonder her information had said that the people Hidden Azure Pavilion had sent to this auction were no ordinary figures.

"Your Highness Jiujiu did not come here merely to exchange pleasantries, did you?"

Xu Jiujiu was not offended by his bluntness. Instead, the corners of her lips curved upward.

"A straightforward person does not speak in riddles. That is indeed the case. I came here hoping to establish a deeper partnership with your pavilion."

"The Soul Tools produced by Hidden Azure Pavilion have an excellent reputation in Star Luo City. Starlight Auction Hall hopes to become your pavilion's long-term and stable partner."

Lin Fan nodded slightly after hearing this. His gaze fell on Xu Jiujiu as he asked,

"What can your auction house offer us?"

Xu Jiujiu was clearly prepared. She immediately smiled and said,

"First, the auction commission can be reduced by another ten percent. Second, if your pavilion wishes to purchase any items, we can keep watch for them and notify your pavilion immediately. Furthermore, when your pavilion purchases any auction item at our auctions, you will have priority access to all information and materials regarding every item. Third, the Gold Soul Coins your pavilion spends purchasing items at our auctions will be discounted by twenty percent."

She had spoken with considerable sincerity. Lin Fan did not hesitate for long before nodding.

"Fine."

Seeing him agree so readily, Xu Jiujiu smiled as well. Then she took out a Communication Soul Tool and handed it over.

"In that case, let us exchange contact information."

After the two exchanged contact information through their Communication Soul Tools, Xu Jiujiu extended her delicate hand toward Lin Fan.

"Happy cooperation. I hope our partnership lasts for a long time."

Lin Fan extended his hand as well and lightly shook hers.

"Mm."

At the same time, before the Light Screen ten thousand years later, a sigh came from the direction of the Star Luo Empire.

Starcrown Earl sat in his study, his expression exceedingly complicated as he could not help sighing.

"How could there be so many tomorrows..."

"In just a few years, the Star Luo Empire would return to the Dai surname. Calling it abdication would sound nicer; calling it self-preservation would be more honest."

"Just as the Dai Family's imperial throne had been taken away back then, it could be said to be the cycle of heaven."

"Still, Dai Hao had a good son."

"A good son who became a god."

"I heard he later went to enjoy life in the Divine Realm. What a filial son."

"Why did the Xu Family not have one?"