Chapter 37: Auction

Looking at Tie Li's side, the formation is three, two, two.

The third round features two Soul Elders.

Kaiqi thought a bit more; they were worried that the opponent's tactics would be the same as theirs, putting the main forces in the first and third rounds, so they would simply field two Soul Elders directly to ensure nothing goes wrong.

If the opponent placed the control-type Three Ring Soul Honorable in the third round, our side would happen to have two Soul Rings to counter it.

Control-type is the hardest to deal with; sending only one Soul Elder may not guarantee victory.

Fortunately, the opponent put their main forces in the first two rounds, making the third round very easy.

No, they didn't even wait for the third round; the opposing team leader surrendered outright.

"Firefly Team forfeits, Yan Team wins!" the referee announced the result.

But the spectators in the audience were not pleased.

The first round was exciting, the second was just perfunctory, and the third was outright forfeited.

"I spent so much money on tickets, and this is all I get?"

"It would have been more interesting to watch Team Soul Battle in Sotho City; I wish I'd known, I wouldn't have come."

"What a buzzkill."

……

After the first Soul Battle ended, Kaiqi told everyone to return to the dorm first; as the team leader, they needed to wait for the other teams' matches to finish and confirm which ten teams advance to the next round.

When leaving the Grand Soul Battle arena, Zhang Yang suddenly called out to Tie Li, and mysteriously took two golden cards from their pocket.

"Do you want to join me for the Ke Si Auction tickets?"

"Where did you get them?" Tie Li asked curiously.

They had all been staying together these past few days and hadn't seen Zhang Yang go out; how did they obtain the auction house tickets?

"A hermit always has clever tricks; what do you say, shall we go?"

"Sure." Tie Li also wanted to see what a Soul Master auction looks like.

The two returned to the dorm, changed into their own clothes, and left the venue heading for the Ke Si Auction.

This auction was organized by Ke Si Shang Xing, so it took place on the first floor of the merchant firm.

A red carpet stretched from the entrance to the interior auction hall; at the doorway two staff members checked tickets, and beside them stood four burly men whose faint soul power aura was evident—they were all Soul Masters assigned to security.

Zhang Yang handed the admission ticket to the staff, confirmed it was correct, and politely proceeded.

"Gentlemen, here are your seat cards," the staff said politely.

"Alright." Zhang Yang took the seat cards, kept one for themselves and gave the other to Tie Li.

Just follow the red carpet straight ahead to reach the auction hall.

The walls flanking the red carpet were coated with a special paint that emitted a golden sheen, and glass lanterns hung on them.

Arriving at the auction hall, they found their seats according to the seat cards.

They were in the regular seats of the hall; besides seeing the auction platform ahead, they could also see the protruding Gui Bin Bao Xiang above.

Guests inside the private box could see everything outside, but those outside could not see any view inside the box.

After Tie Li and Zhang Yang chatted for a while, a solemn middle‑aged man appeared on the auction platform.

"Hello everyone, I am the auctioneer for this auction; I will explain the items' details and prices to you all," he said.

At his signal, the staff placed the first auction item onto the platform.

"To start this auction on a good note, I have decided to put this item first," the auctioneer said, feigning mystery.

Under everyone's gaze, he slowly lifted the cover, revealing three small jade bottles.

"These are Flower Dew Pills from the Hua Yin Sect, a supplement for Soul Masters' cultivation; each bottle contains ten pills, and the starting bid for the three bottles is one thousand Gold Soul Coins, with each raise not less than fifty Gold Soul Coins."

The Hua Yin Sect enjoys a solid reputation in the Soul Master world; most of its Soul Masters wield plant martial souls and excel at communicating with plant‑type Soul Beasts to obtain their essence.

They refine that essence into pills, whose effects are excellent and side effects negligible, earning them a very good reputation among Soul Masters.

When the auction crowd heard the pills were from the Hua Yin Sect, they began placing bids.

"I bid one thousand one hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"One thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"Two thousand!"

"……"

Bidders kept coming in, and when the price rose to ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, the bidding gradually subsided.

The final price was thirteen thousand Gold Soul Coins, taken by a private box above.

"The second item is Fire Spirit Grass, a hundred‑year‑old herb; for fire‑attribute Soul Masters, it is a great tonic."

……

The next seven items were all spirit flowers and herbs; Tie Li bid and won a hundred‑year‑old Thunder Leaf Flower for three hundred Gold Soul Coins.

The Gold Soul Coins painstakingly saved at the Grand Soul Battle arena were suddenly reduced by almost half.

"The next item will certainly not disappoint; just its origin matches its price;

a soul‑power gauntlet forged by a master from Geng Xin Cheng, featuring aggregation properties that accelerate the release speed of soul skills and the condensation of soul power."

Tie Li looked at the item on the platform, feeling a slight resonance.

Originally, Tie Li had intended to go to Geng Xin Cheng, one purpose being to have equipment forged.

It is forged primarily from Thunder Attribute minerals, granting enhancement of Thunder and Lightning Attribute effects;

Although Dou Luo Da Lu's mineral resources cannot match those of Ri Yue Da Lu, it certainly is not lacking in Thunder and Lightning Attribute minerals; combined with superb forging techniques, creating equipment that matches one's own attribute is not difficult.

Gauntlets, greaves, armor… even if each only boosts Thunder and Lightning Attribute by five percent, stacking them yields an exaggerated increase.

But the required Gold Soul Coins must be huge, so Tie Li gladly accepted Fu Zhuguan's recruitment.

On one hand, it allows earning Gold Soul Coins at the Grand Soul Battle arena; on the other, it provides a way to hone combat skills, since pure meditation cannot make one a powerful Soul Master.

On the Pai Mai Tai, the price of the soul power arm guard was settled at five thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Just by looking at the auctioneer's smile, one could tell that this auction had already exceeded his expectations.

At that moment, the auctioneer's face showed an expression that any man would understand.

"Hehe, I suppose everyone has heard of this next auction item, right?"

Six staff members carried in a huge auction item, covered with a layer of black cloth.

When the staff placed the auction item on the Pai Mai Tai, the auctioneer lifted that black cloth.

"Wow, they really are fox women!"

"And they're twins—look how tender their skin is."

"Hehe, they belong to this young master now."

The auction hasn't started yet, but the auctioneer on the stage can already feel the enthusiasm below.

Tie Li wasn't interested in this and didn't want to spend money on it, but Zhang Yang beside him was very excited.

(End of chapter)