Night.
Su Yuan lay on a bed made of millennium tranquility wood, with a mattress sewn from tiger-type soul beast pelts beneath him and a quilt woven from the silk of the finest snow silkworms over him.
Once again, he marveled at how wonderful life was.
What miserable days he had lived back in the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect!
"This is so comfortable..."
Hugging the silk quilt, he couldn't help rolling around on the bed twice, and his eyelids began to fight to stay open.
Several days of travel had truly exhausted Su Yuan, and he hadn't gotten much proper rest along the way.
Although he was in an unfamiliar place, the outrageously comfortable bed, coupled with his physical exhaustion, spared Su Yuan any trouble sleeping in a strange bed. He soon fell fast asleep.
He didn't even dream that night. When he woke, it was already bright outside the window.
The moment he stepped out, the manor's pretty young maids had his washing supplies ready. They waited on him until he finished breakfast, only then withdrawing to their respective duties.
He had never experienced this before and wasn't quite used to being waited on, but he had to admit it was pretty damn nice.
This was so decadent-and so good!
"Young master, is there anything you would like to do next?" Mo Yunxing approached after Su Yuan finished breakfast and asked.
"Is Granny Wang here?" Su Yuan first asked after Wang Xian'er's whereabouts.
"Elder Wang has gone to the Imperial Palace," Mo Yunxing answered.
Wang Xian'er had previously been away from Star Luo City for nearly a month. She hadn't merely gone to Jiubao City to find Su Yuan; she had other arrangements as well.
Since she had needed to settle Su Yuan in last night, delaying things by a day was no trouble, and Xu Jiawei wouldn't say anything about it.
But now that she had some free time, she still had to fulfill her duties as a consecrated expert serving the Imperial Family.
Su Yuan wasn't surprised. Wang Xian'er had already told him yesterday, and he had only asked in passing. With Wang Xian'er absent, there didn't seem to be anything in particular he wanted to do.
"How about this, Elder Mo? I'll go read on the second floor of the main hall." Su Yuan rubbed his chin and looked at Mo Yunxing. "I'd like you to do me a favor."
"Please tell me, young master." Mo Yunxing's expression remained unchanged.
"I once heard something in Jiubao City about a very interesting item appearing at the Starlight Auction House in Star Luo City. It's called the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife." Su Yuan smiled, took out the Gold Soul Coin bank card Wang Xian'er had given him, and handed it to Mo Yunxing.
The design on the front of the card was an intricate, regal Star Crown, with the words "Star Luo Empire Royal Bank" printed in small lettering in the upper-left corner.
On the back was an image of a compassionate healing angel with ten wings sprouting from her back, representing Wang Xian'er's identity.
In theory, this card had no spending limit. There should have been nothing in the Star Luo Empire it couldn't buy, but the requirements for using it were quite strict. After all, it represented Wang Xian'er's identity.
At the sight of the card, Mo Yunxing's expression immediately turned solemn, and he respectfully accepted it with both hands.
"Elder Mo, go to the Starlight Auction House and ask whether that Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife is still there. If it is, buy it and bring it back," Su Yuan said.
"Yes, young master." Mo Yunxing nodded, then offered a reminder. "Young master, that Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife is very likely still being stored at the Starlight Auction House. I've heard a little about it myself."
"It is a Cursed Blade. Rumor has it that it once belonged to an extremely powerful Evil Soul Master. Over several thousand years, this carving knife has caused more than thirty people either to fall into becoming Evil Soul Masters or to die unnatural deaths. It is an unmistakably ill-omened object."
"I know. It's fine. Just buy it and bring it back." Su Yuan waved a hand, then headed toward the main hall.
Seeing this, Mo Yunxing said nothing more. As a subordinate, he had offered all the warnings he should. Whether Su Yuan accepted them was his own decision.
Regardless of whether Su Yuan heeded his advice, he would certainly report this matter to Wang Xian'er, so nothing should go wrong.
A carving knife...
Well, if he wanted to buy it, so be it.
With Su Yuan's orders, Mo Yunxing left the Wang residence and headed for the Starlight Auction House.
Su Yuan, meanwhile, went to the second floor of the main hall, searching through mountains of books and seas of knowledge for volumes that interested him, gradually filling in the common knowledge he had missed over the years.
Immersing himself in cultivation had certainly allowed his cultivation level to rise rapidly, but it had also left him with little time to learn about the outside world.
He was like a top-ranked student who had previously spent all his time on rote memorization.
Now he had to catch up on all the little things, like washing clothes, cooking, and navigating human relationships.
He didn't need to master them, but he at least had to know something about them.
And Su Yuan discovered that he was actually quite interested in these things.
There were too few forms of entertainment on the Douluo Continent. Previously, all he had done was cultivate and cultivate some more. He had neither the time nor the means to do anything else.
Now that he could settle down and read, even books about trivial matters had a charm of their own.
"Oh? Xu Jiawei's youngest maternal aunt actually ran off with a poor boy?"
"Holy shit, that's wild. A grand Earl was actually a horny old freak? He didn't fancy his wife, who was as lovely as a flower and precious as jade, but preferred his mother-in-law, who still retained her charms?"
"A certain marquis was taken down by Shrek's Inspection Corps for his brutality? Boring. Not surprising at all. Whether he was truly brutal or merely stood in the way of Shrek's high-and-mighty lords is still anyone's guess..."
"..."
Su Yuan read with relish, not even noticing when Mo Yunxing returned. Only when the man reminded him it was time for lunch did he reluctantly put down the book, still hungry for more.
"Elder Mo, did you buy it?"
"I have it." Mo Yunxing nodded and gently waved a hand. A black box the size of a human head appeared on the floor before them.
At the same time, Mo Yunxing presented Wang Xian'er's card with both hands.
"This is the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife?" Su Yuan took back the gold card while studying the black box before him with interest.
"Yes, young master. The Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife's baleful aura is extremely powerful. It can even corrode a Storage Soul Tool. This is a Lead Box with an interlayer that can seal off the knife's baleful aura. The auction house included it free of charge. The carving knife cost one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."
Mo Yunxing nodded as he answered.
The plot hadn't officially begun yet, so naturally, the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife was still stored intact at the Starlight Auction House.
The Starlight Auction House had acquired it long ago, and it had gone unsold at several auctions, its price dropping again and again.
With Mo Yunxing presenting Wang Xian'er's Gold Soul Coin bank card to purchase it, the Starlight Auction House had certainly sold it without another word. Not only had they offered a low price, they had also thrown in the box that sealed off its baleful aura.
Lao Huo hadn't received that kind of treatment when he bought it. After he got his hands on it, it had even burned through Wang Yan's Storage Soul Tool.
Su Yuan rubbed his hands together, looking a little excited, then gently opened the Lead Box right in front of Mo Yunxing.
The instant a crack opened in the Lead Box, an icy aura spread out, making even Su Yuan shudder.
Once he opened the Lead Box completely, the baleful aura erupted. Had Mo Yunxing not swiftly cast a Soul Power Shield in front of Su Yuan, he likely would have been driven back several steps by its intimidating force.
Inside the Lead Box, a dark green carving knife lay quietly. Dark green light streaked with black flickered around it, and its entire form exuded an eerie, ominous aura.
The Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife!
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