The Second Auction, Begins!

Li An looked at the troublemakers who had lowered their flags and fallen silent, then nodded in satisfaction.

Then he gestured for someone beside him to take his place and maintain order.

Li An himself turned and strode quickly into the auction house.

After passing through several corridors, Li An arrived at the door of the Field Master's Office.

He took a deep breath, straightened his lapels, and only then lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in."

A somewhat youthful voice came from inside.

Li An pushed the door open and entered. Inside the room, Ning Liu was sitting leisurely in the main seat, savoring fragrant tea.

"Field Master."

Li An bowed respectfully.

Ning Liu set down his teacup and raised his eyes to look at him.

"How are things outside?"

Li An's face immediately filled with smiles, his tone carrying an excitement he could hardly conceal.

"Field Master, today's turnout is truly unprecedented!"

"Even the prince of Balak Kingdom, as well as several Soul Saint lords from Spirit Hall and other factions, have personally come!"

"There's still a huge crowd blocking the entrance outside, all wanting to come in and broaden their horizons!"

Hearing this, Ning Liu merely nodded calmly.

"Mm. As expected."

Li An rubbed his hands together and continued.

"Field Master, this auction will surely make our name resound throughout Balak Kingdom!"

He paused, then asked cautiously.

"Field Master, today... what exactly is our grand finale item?"

"The Soft Armor with a starting bid of one hundred thousand is already stunning enough. The finale must be even more earth-shattering, right?"

When Li An asked this, his heart was actually pounding with unease.

The pink Bunny Ear Pajamas from last time were a perfect example.

He was terrified that this Field Master would come up with some treasure that was shocking to the world yet impossible to clean up after.

Please, don't mess around again!

Ning Liu looked at Li An's expression, both expectant and nervous, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

He did not answer directly. Instead, he took something out of his Soul Tool.

It was a booklet that looked somewhat old. Its cover was pale blue, with several large characters written on it.

Li An stared at the booklet and froze.

What was this?

Some kind of secret cultivation manual?

Or some ancient inheritance scroll?

Ning Liu gently placed the booklet on the table and pushed it toward Li An.

"This is the tenth auction item for our auction this time."

Li An's breath caught.

He carefully picked up the booklet. It felt ordinary in his hands, not made of any rare material.

He opened to the first page and saw it packed densely with writing, along with some doodles.

The handwriting was delicate and pretty, but the contents...

"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Grandpa Jian secretly stuffed five hundred Gold Soul Coins into my hand again. Don't tell Dad, hehe."

"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Grandpa Bone took me out to play and bought me a huge pile of delicious food. It cost three hundred Gold Soul Coins. Grandpa Bone said this little bit of money was nothing."

"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, that bastard senior brother Ning Liu—I only asked him about cultivation experience, but he made it all sound so mysterious and even scammed this old lady out of a lollipop!"

"I'm so mad! Write it down. I'll make him pay back a hundred later!"

The more Li An read, the wider his eyes grew, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

This... this was clearly a little girl's diary or account book!

"Wait, Ning Liu?"

"No, isn't this talking about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?!"

"Grandpa Jian, Grandpa Gu—could these be the sect's two great guardian Douluo, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo?!"

"Field Master... this..."

Li An's voice was trembling a little.

Ning Liu lifted his teacup and took another sip, then said unhurriedly, "This item is called 'Ning Rongrong's Dark Ledger.' It must be auctioned as the final, centerpiece lot of this auction."

He paused, then added, "Starting bid: one Gold Soul Coin."

"Pfft—"

Li An nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

A starting bid of one Gold Soul Coin?

This thing—never mind whether it could even be sold. Even if it did sell, one Gold Soul Coin...

This—this was outright nonsense!

He stared at Ning Liu, his lips trembling, unable to utter a word for a long while.

He was numb.

This was no longer a matter of acting recklessly. This was trying to reach the heavens!

Ning Liu acted as if he had not seen Li An's expression, the one that looked as though his soul was about to fly out of his body, and merely waved his hand lightly.

"Go. The auction is about to begin."

Like a puppet on strings, Li An mechanically accepted the notebook and carefully placed it into his Storage Soul Tool.

"Yes... House Master, this subordinate... this subordinate takes his leave!"

Li An almost walked out of the room with the same hand and foot moving together, his steps somewhat unsteady.

Ning Liu shook his head.

This Li An—at first, he had thought the man was rather steady. Why was he suddenly so lacking now?

He turned his head to look out the window. Inside the auction house, the crowd was already boiling with noise.

As the resident in charge, he had naturally inspected the auction items this time himself, and there were indeed quite a few good things.

He wondered what kind of returns he would receive this time.

He truly looked forward to it!

Inside the auction house, enormous crystal chandeliers emitted a soft yet bright radiance, illuminating the entire venue as if it were daylight.

Li An finally managed to calm his surging emotions somewhat and stepped onto the auction stage.

A professional smile returned to his face, and his voice, amplified through Soul Power, spread clearly throughout the entire venue.

"Good evening, honored guests!"

"Thank you all very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this grand event held by our Suotuo City Seven Treasures Auction House!"

"For this auction, we have prepared many rare treasures that are seldom seen in ordinary times. I believe they certainly will not disappoint you!"

After the simple opening remarks, Li An turned sideways and made an inviting gesture.

"Then, without further ado."

"The following proceedings will be hosted for everyone by our auction house's chief auctioneer, who will preside over this thrilling auction!"

As his words fell, a burst of melodious music rang out.

A graceful figure walked slowly onto the auction stage with light steps.

The woman looked to be around eighteen or nineteen years old. Her pure white long dress set off her graceful figure, and her brown, large waves of hair fell casually over her shoulders, adding a few more touches of charm.

Her features were exquisite, her smile sweet, and her bright eyes sparkled as they moved, as if they could steal souls.

In the VIP seats, when Suotuo City's city lord, Liu Shaobing, saw who had arrived, he could not help nudging the arm of Wu Chen, the master of the Great Soul Arena, beside him.

"Old Wu, isn't that Doudou, the former chief female host of your Great Soul Arena?"

"How did she end up at Seven Treasures Auction House?"

Wu Chen's burly body leaned against the back of his chair. Hearing this, he gave a cold snort.

"What else could it be?"

"Money!"

"That old fox Li An offered her a high salary and even a commission. He poached her."

Wu Chen curled his lip, his tone carrying a bit of displeasure and a bit of envy.

"Damn it, if it weren't for this build of mine, even I'd want to go."

Liu Shaobing froze when he heard that.

"There's commission?"

"How many Gold Soul Coins must one auction bring in!"

A glint flashed through his eyes.

"Th-then I want to go too!"

Wu Chen shot him a sidelong look and snorted.

"You?"

"You won't do."

Liu Shaobing immediately grew unhappy.

"How won't I do?"

"I'm the dignified city lord of Suotuo City. Am I really not as good as some little girl?"

Wu Chen chuckled and lowered his voice.

"Your ass isn't perky enough!"

Liu Shaobing's face instantly flushed red, and he pointed at Wu Chen, laughing as he cursed.

"You shameless old bastard!"

Wu Chen grinned and rubbed his chin.

"Don't even mention you. That old brat Li An said it too—my ass... isn't perky enough either!"

The two looked at each other and both shook their heads helplessly.

On the auction stage, Doudou had already taken her position.

She held a small Soul Tool loudspeaker in her hand, and her sweet voice instantly drew the attention of the entire hall.

"Honored guests, good evening! I am the host of this auction, Doudou!"

"It is a great honor to witness this unparalleled auction feast together with all of you tonight!"

Her voice was like an oriole emerging from a valley, clear and melodious, carrying a unique infectious charm.

"Before we officially begin, Doudou would like to ask everyone a question."

She blinked, deliberately keeping them in suspense.

"What do you all think is the supreme treasure that soul masters dream of most, yet can only encounter by chance and never seek by force?"

The audience below immediately began discussing among themselves.

"Isn't that obvious? It has to be a powerful teacher!"

"No, no, it's a high-quality soul ring!"

"I think it's a top-grade Soul Tool!"

Doudou smiled as she listened to everyone's discussion. Only after the voices died down a little did she continue.

"What everyone said makes sense, but Doudou believes there is one more thing whose rarity even surpasses that of a high-quality soul ring!"

"Once possessed, it can cause a soul master's strength to undergo a Qualitative Leap!"

"That's right, it is—a Soul Bone!"

The moment the two words "Soul Bone" were spoken, the entire hall fell silent for an instant, then erupted into even more heated discussion.

Doudou looked at everyone's reaction in satisfaction, and her voice rose a few notches once more.

"And today's first auction item is an extremely rare Soul Bone!"

With a wave of her jade-like hand, a Soul Bone emitting a faint blue glow immediately appeared on the auction platform before her!

That Soul Bone was crystal clear, as though carved from the purest crystal, with strange halos of light flowing across its surface.

"This Soul Bone comes from a Bewitching Fox with three thousand years of cultivation!"

"The Bewitching Fox excels in spiritual illusions, and its Soul Bone contains powerful spiritual energy."

"After appraisal by our auction house's appraisers, if this skull is absorbed by a soul master related to the spiritual attribute, it can not only greatly increase Spiritual Power, but also grant an extremely practical soul skill—Bewitching Rainbow Wave!"

Doudou's voice was full of temptation.

"Bewitching Rainbow Wave: releases a fan-shaped wave of colored light, causing all enemies within its effective range to fall into a state of 'mental daze' for up to one second!"

"In this state, enemies will be unable to lock onto targets or release skills, making them no different from lambs waiting to be slaughtered!"

"Of course, against those whose Spiritual Power is higher than one's own, the effect of this skill will be somewhat reduced."

"But even so, in a battle of the same level, one second of control is enough to change the course of the fight!"

The people below listened until even their breathing grew somewhat hurried.

Although its age was only three thousand years, things like Soul Bones were truly far too rare to be brought out for auction!

Moreover, this effect was quite good!

An increase in Spiritual Power!

A group control skill!

This Soul Bone was simply a blessing for support-type and control-type soul masters!

Even assault-type or defense-type soul masters could still use it!

Doudou looked at the heated gazes of everyone below the stage and smiled faintly. The time had come.

"Three Thousand Year Bewitching Fox Head Soul Bone, starting bid—ten thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

"Each increase must be no less than one hundred Gold Soul Coins!"

"Now, the bidding begins!"