Picking Up a Bargain, Ambushed by Assassins

"Seventy thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

A sinister bid came from downstairs. Dai Huabin sat in the VIP room opposite, holding his bidding paddle high. He shot a venomous glance toward Huo Yuhao, making it clear he meant to drive up the price out of spite.

"Eighty thousand!" Ning Tian raised her paddle again without batting an eye.

"Eighty-five thousand!"

"Ninety thousand!"

"Ninety-five thousand!"

The price soared, breaking the hundred-thousand-Gold-Soul-Coin mark in the blink of an eye.

Just as Ning Tian was about to bid again, Huo Yuhao caught her wrist and gently shook his head.

"Don't bid any higher."

He did want the Qilin Horn Jade Dew, but wanting it was all.

For him, it would only speed up his cultivation a little. As for purifying his elements?

He possessed a God Level Martial Soul whose very essence was an Ultimate Attribute. He had no need for this bottle of jade dew to draw legs on a snake.

Dai Huabin, on the other hand, had the White Tiger Martial Soul, a pure assault-type Beast Martial Soul. The ice-and-light Qilin Horn Jade Dew was useless to him. He had bought it purely to spite Huo Yuhao, making himself the fool who paid the bill.

The instant Huo Yuhao grasped Ning Tian's wrist, a blush spread across her cheeks. Her fingers curled slightly, and even her bidding paddle went still.

"Ahem... I didn't mean to." Huo Yuhao quickly let go and rubbed his nose awkwardly. He really hadn't meant to take advantage of her.

In the end, Dai Huabin won the Qilin Horn Jade Dew for eleven thousand—no, a hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Even through the one-way glass, Huo Yuhao could see Dai Huabin's face darken. He had been so busy driving up the price out of spite that only now did he realize he had paid double for something utterly useless to him.

Huo Yuhao merely watched the remaining lots and placed no more bids.

Ning Tian, however, raised her paddle from time to time. She seemed casual, yet each time she drove up the price of something Dai Huabin wanted. All told, she cost him nearly eighty thousand Gold Soul Coins, leaving Huo Yuhao stifling a laugh beside her.

Dai Huabin was a fool with money to burn. It would have been a waste not to take him for a ride.

"Finally, it's over." As the auction ended, Huo Yuhao stretched long and hard.

What kind of auction was this? It was a flesh-and-blood feast for the wealthy to flaunt their riches. Ordinary people could not even get through the door.

"Yuhao, look down at the stage! That's Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber!" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's excited voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

Huo Yuhao's gaze sharpened. Following Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's direction, he spotted a pitch-black mass of gelatin on the display stand.

He instantly recalled the original story. The original Huo Yuhao had swallowed a Mystic Water Pill and absorbed this piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, cleansing his muscles and marrow a second time.

But Nine-Turn Origin Art had already tempered his body. His foundation far surpassed that of Soul Masters at his level, so this piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber held little value for him.

Still... it would make a fine addition to the Lionheart Club's stores.

An idea took shape at once. The Lionheart Club was only a student society right now. Apart from free training grounds, it had nothing compelling enough to keep members.

It needed a complete rewards system, like Shrek Academy's credit system. The Lionheart Club could use points—

The club would post tasks, members would earn points by completing them, and those points could be exchanged for cultivation resources or even a share of the shop's profits.

Only with that kind of self-sustaining cycle could the club truly survive, rather than depending on him and Ning Tian to keep pouring resources into it.

With his mind made up, Huo Yuhao went straight to the auction settlement counter and told the waiting attendant, "I'd like to buy two lots: the Thousand-Year Whale Rubber and the Void Dreamweaver Spirit Sea Skull."

"Welcome, honored guest. Please allow me to check your credit limit and VIP status first." The attendant bowed politely, her tone practiced.

Without another word, Huo Yuhao took the crimson VIP card Qian Duoduo had given him from his Storage Soul Tool and placed it on the counter.

The attendant's expression changed the instant she saw the red card. She bowed deeply, her tone suddenly reverent. "Welcome, honored guest! This card entitles you to one lot from this auction worth no more than one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, free of charge. All other purchases are sixty percent of the listed price!"

"Then I'll use the free allowance for the Void Dreamweaver Spirit Sea Skull." Huo Yuhao smiled. Just as he had thought, Qian Duoduo's card was worth its weight in gold.

The attendant paused, clearly surprised he had chosen the relatively unpopular spirit-type skull, but she did not dare question him. She nodded quickly. "Of course! The skull's listed price is six thousand Gold Soul Coins, so you may take it free of charge.

"The Thousand-Year Whale Rubber is also listed at six thousand Gold Soul Coins. With your discount, that comes to just three thousand six hundred."

Huo Yuhao was about to pay when Ning Tian beat him to it, handing the attendant a bag of Gold Soul Coins in one clean motion.

"Let's go." Ning Tian passed him the brocade boxes containing the skull and Whale Rubber and smiled, as though she had spent only a few Copper Soul Coins.

"Thank you." Huo Yuhao took the boxes, his fingers tightening slightly around them. His feelings were complicated.

It seemed he really did owe Ning Tian far too much.

Even if she called it an investment in the Lionheart Club, he would remember what she had done for him.

That night, a silver moon hung high above the forest path outside Shrek City. Cold moonlight spilled over the swaying shadows of the trees, making them look like Ferocious Beasts lying in wait.

The four walked side by side toward the academy. Huo Yuhao suddenly stopped. The Heavenly Eye on his brow snapped open, and he activated his first Soul Skill, Heaven's Apex: All-Seer Clarity!

His Ultimate Spirit spread like a tide. Every rustle and stir within a thousand meters appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Yuhao? What's wrong?" Ning Tian asked, seeing his profile suddenly tense.

Soul Power began to circulate silently around Wu Feng. A chill entered Gu Yue's violet eyes, and the elements around her surged into motion.

Huo Yuhao shook his head without speaking. Instead, he sent his voice directly into the three girls' minds with his spiritual power. "Someone's following us. Six of them, hiding in the woods around us. When I count to three, run toward the academy. I'll hold them off!"

The three girls' expressions changed.

Ice spikes formed at Gu Yue's fingertips, cold fury filling her eyes. Someone dared attack Huo Yuhao right in front of her?

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Run!"

Huo Yuhao barked the order and flipped his right hand. The Imperial Bow appeared in his grasp. He drew and loosed, sending three platinum arrows screaming through the air toward three different spots in the woods!

"Seven Treasures Have Names: First, Speed!"

"Seven Treasures Have Names: Third, Strength!"

Ning Tian did not hesitate. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda floated above her palm, and two warm golden halos flowed into Huo Yuhao. At the same time, she flicked a finger, sending a red distress flare soaring into the sky, where it burst against the night—

It was Shrek Academy's emergency signal. Any academy teacher who saw it would come at once.

"Quick reflexes, brat."

A cold laugh sounded as six black-clad figures stepped out of the woods, unleashing their Soul Power without restraint.

Six Soul Rings lit up beneath their leader's feet in sequence—two yellow, two purple, and two black. He was a Six-Ring Soul Emperor!

Of the other five, three were Five-Ring Soul Kings and two were Four-Ring Soul Ancestors. It was a formidable lineup!

"Did Dai Huabin send you?" Huo Yuhao held the Imperial Bow and swept a calm gaze over the six men. There was not a trace of fear in his voice.

The men exchanged glances but gave no answer. Murderous intent blazed in the Soul Emperor's eyes. "Blame yourself for crossing someone you shouldn't have, brat. In your next life, remember to be smarter."

"Young Master, this is a nice little test for your Formations. Just don't let it get out of hand," Howling Celestial Dog said in his mind, amusement in his voice.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

He was about to channel his Soul Power when he suddenly found the spiritual energy around him sealed behind an invisible barrier. He could barely activate the most basic part of his Soul Skill, and he could not charge the Imperial Bow's attack at all.

"Whew..." Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and slowly put the Imperial Bow away.

The Soul Emperor sneered. "What's wrong? Scared now? Too late!"

Huo Yuhao ignored him. His fingertips swept rapidly through the air, tracing dark-blue Formation Runes into existence. He chanted under his breath, his clear voice carrying an irresistible rhythm. "Being is nonbeing, nonbeing is being. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Chaos without shape, all arts return to dust—Minor Chaos Formless Formation!"

As his final words fell, dark-blue light surged up across a ten-meter radius centered on Huo Yuhao!

The Chaos Formless Formation was rooted in the Void. Its essence was to disperse and erase all energy.

"You've got a death wish, brat!" the Soul Emperor roared. His Sixth Soul Ring flashed, and dense red light gathered around his hands. With force enough to shatter heaven and earth, he drove them straight toward Huo Yuhao's abdomen!

He meant to kill him in one strike and leave him no chance to turn the tables!

But Huo Yuhao, locked in the attack's sights, showed neither panic nor despair. His eyes held only mockery.

"Nine luminaries form the array, star paths shift. Heaven's secrets elude the eye, heaven and earth change hands—Minor Nine-Turn Starshift Formation!"

As the second incantation ended, Huo Yuhao's figure blurred within the formation's light.

The Soul Emperor's attack punched clean through him—only to strike an afterimage!

The Soul Emperor: ???

Before he could react, Huo Yuhao appeared atop a tree ten meters away. His fingers had already finished tracing a talisman seal. "Wind howls unseen, a thousand blades claim lives—By decree: Storm Rift!"

With a tap of his finger, the green-glowing Storm Talisman became a raging hurricane filled with countless razor-sharp wind blades and hurtled toward the Soul Emperor!