Yet the women's eyes followed Toji of their own accord.
"This young master has such an extraordinary bearing..." one woman murmured, a trace of infatuation flashing in her eyes.
"Yes. I wonder which noble family he's from, to be so outstanding," another woman agreed, a hint of envy in her voice. "If I could get together with him, I'd gladly live in a mansion and enjoy an easy life every day."
"Having your cake and eating it too? Dream on~"
Toji, unaware of how many beauties wanted to get together with him, had just gone farther into the auction house, presented Liang Wu's identity records, and received his seat number when a familiar figure appeared in his sight.
It was a slender, middle-aged man in a long gray robe, with a sinister face and a cold look in his eyes. He was none other than the poison-using Soul Emperor who had crossed paths with Toji before.
The Soul Emperor had evidently spotted Toji as well. His pupils contracted slightly, and he involuntarily stopped in his tracks.
His gaze swept over Toji, and a trace of wariness flashed in his eyes.
This big shot again. How do I run into him everywhere I go?
But now, observing him from so close, the Soul Emperor felt something was off.
Why is this big shot so young?
Are there really Soul Saint experts this young?
The last time they had met, he really hadn't had a chance to take a good, close look at him.
The Soul Emperor hesitated for a moment before finally stepping forward, ready to sound him out again.
"Your Excellency, we meet again. It seems fate has brought us together."
Toji's gaze remained indifferent, and his words were brief:
"Looking for a beating?"
"No, no, no, I have no intention of getting into a conflict with you..." The Soul Emperor's mouth twitched as he recalled the terror of being dominated by Toji that day.
Even now, at such close range, he still couldn't sense any Soul Power fluctuations from Toji. This was probably a super big shot above the Soul Saint level.
But when he recalled how he had failed to complete his previous mission and been harshly scolded by that lord after returning to report to his family, he found himself in a bind.
There were big shots on both sides, and offending either one would bring him no good.
The Soul Emperor forced a faint smile:
"May I ask if there's a treasure you have your eye on at the auction house today?"
Toji's face was calm:
"Just looking around."
The Soul Emperor's heart tightened, and he didn't dare ask any more questions.
Toji's strength was unfathomable, and his ability to ignore his poison attacks in particular made him deeply wary.
The more indifferent Toji acted, the less the Soul Emperor dared to act rashly. He could only follow cautiously behind Toji, like an attendant.
Toji, however, seemed not to notice his presence and walked straight into the auction hall.
The hall was brilliantly lit and buzzing with excitement. Toji found his seat and sat down; it was near the front.
As ill luck would have it... when the Soul Emperor from earlier saw that his seat was right beside Toji's, his face darkened. Even so, he sat down cautiously beside him, not daring to overstep in the slightest.
What rotten luck.
The same thought rang out in both Toji's and the Soul Emperor's minds.
The auction soon began. Precious treasures were brought onto the auction stage one after another, prompting everyone to bid eagerly.
Toji, however, never made a bid. He simply sat there quietly, his gaze indifferent, as though he cared about none of it.
The Soul Emperor grew increasingly puzzled, but he didn't dare ask any questions. He could only watch Toji's every move with care.
But beneath Toji's outward calm, he was starting to grow restless.
Holy crap, a defensive Level 5 Soul Tool!
An offensive Level 7 Soul Tool!
There are even some Soul Bones!
The sight made Toji's heart itch. He wished he could buy them all outright to boost his combat strength, especially the Soul Bones. Those were real treasures.
If he got his hands on one, it might just improve his physical strength.
But as ill luck would have it, the Soul Emperor had settled in beside him and wouldn't leave. And here they were at the same auction; if Toji bid on these things, it wouldn't fit the image of a "reclusive expert" the man had of him at all.
Every time something he needed was bought by someone else, Toji's heart wept.
It seemed his luck wasn't all that good. If only he were a child of fortune like Huo Yuhao.
At that thought, Toji couldn't help looking up at the auction hall's ceiling.
I wonder if Tang San knows someone else transmigrated to Douluo Continent like he did? After all, he's an exalted god king now.
While he pondered, the auction drew close to its end. The auctioneer's voice brought Toji back to his senses.
"This is a piece of Thousand Year Whale Rubber. Whale Rubber is a special substance produced in the brains of whales, a type of Sea Soul Beast. It provides excellent nourishment for Soul Masters and can effectively strengthen the endurance of muscles, bone marrow, meridians, and so on..."
"The starting bid is three thousand Gold Soul Coins."
Hearing it was Thousand Year Whale Rubber, Toji knew the trip hadn't been in vain. This stuff had played a huge role in the original story, and for a body cultivator like him, it was a rare treasure. He immediately began bidding.
In the end, he won it for five thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Even some high-level Soul Masters coveted this stuff, but this piece of Whale Rubber looked somewhat poor in quality, something the auctioneer had also mentioned.
But to Toji's eyes, the black lump up for auction was no thousand-year-quality specimen. It was the ten-thousand-year-quality Whale Rubber mentioned in the original story!
Buying it for five thousand Gold Soul Coins was a huge bargain.
"I didn't expect Your Excellency to be interested in this little thing," the Soul Emperor beside him couldn't help saying.
"Heh." Toji paid him no attention. Next, the auction house's final, showpiece treasure was brought out.
It was a Soul Bone radiating a strange light, and the entire hall erupted in commotion. Even Toji's eyes lit up.
A Soul Bone!
The auctioneer announced in a loud voice:
"This is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone from a rare Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. It is a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Right Palm Bone. I'm sure you've all heard the legends surrounding the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's Soul Bones, so I won't waste time on them."
"But first, please allow me to say a few extra words of warning. We originally wanted to keep something this good for our own use, but the owner of this Soul Bone nearly lost his life trying to absorb it, and his right hand was completely crippled. That should show you just how tyrannical a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's Soul Bone is."
"The owner who tried to absorb this Soul Bone was a Soul Saint with a cultivation of level seventy-nine. A word of advice to everyone: without a powerful body, don't even think about absorbing it. Before this Soul Bone was put up for auction, who knows how many Soul Master experts tried to absorb it, but none succeeded."
The auctioneer sighed with some regret, then said:
"The starting bid is five million Gold Soul Coins. Each increase must be at least one hundred thousand."
The entire hall fell silent.
Everyone knew it was a good item, but after hearing the auctioneer's warning, they all gave it careful thought.
This was a ten-thousand-year-quality Dark Gold Dreadclaw Right Palm Bone. The moment it dropped, no one could have tolerated putting it up for auction rather than keeping it to absorb themselves.
If this Soul Bone had been of hundred-year or thousand-year quality, it would have been worth fighting over.
But at ten thousand years, never mind that a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear with ten thousand years of cultivation had terrifying combat strength on par with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast-even the Soul Bone it produced after death was more than a level seventy-nine Soul Saint could withstand...
No one dared think about it any further. Just because it was something good didn't mean they had to buy it and cripple themselves.
When the Soul Emperor beside Toji saw that the Soul Bone had indeed appeared, he breathed a sigh of relief. The information had been correct after all.
His mission this time was to bring this Soul Bone back for the lord, as atonement for failing his previous mission.
But just as he was about to bid, he heard Toji raise his paddle and bid:
"Five million two hundred thousand."
Toji raised his paddle and bid, becoming the first to break the silence.
The Soul Emperor's expression instantly turned ugly.