Chapter 3590

9:00 PM, Lakeside Dormitory, inside Su Xiao's residence.

The lights in the room were bright, and various delicacies were laid out on the dining table. Although the richness didn't compare to the luncheon, it still greatly whetted one's appetite.

Benny, Green Wei, and the Goddess of Luck were enjoying a delicious late-night snack. To be precise, Benny had invited her good friend, the Goddess of Luck, to have a late-night snack, and Green Wei was just tagging along for the meal.

Previously, the Goddess of Luck wasn't familiar with Su Xiao, who was disguised as the Saint Flame Alchemist, so even though she knew Benny was in the next room, she felt too embarrassed to come over. But today, they were more familiar, and with Benny's invitation, she naturally came.

Su Xiao wasn't enjoying the meal; he was sitting cross-legged on the sofa with an ancient book on pharmacology and a cup of tea, looking as if he would stay that way for most of the night.

For any skill that exceeds what others can achieve, the process of mastering it must come at a corresponding price, whether it be resource costs or time costs. For instance, Su Xiao's pharmacology couldn't rely solely on the inheritance of the Alchemy Codex; it also required sufficient dedication.

In the past, without title bonuses, Su Xiao could spend an entire day with just an ancient book and a cup of tea, let alone now with the title's blessing. That's right, the upgrade of the six-star title 【Ancient Scholar】 had been completed, advancing to:

【Ancient Scholar】

Origin: Reincarnation Paradise

Quality: ★★★★★★★

Hint: After this title is upgraded to its maximum quality, a characteristic choice can be made. This choice will concern the final attribute bias of this title.

Category: Rare · Title

Title Effect 1: Scholar (Passive) After equipping this title, reading efficiency +82.5%, reading immersion +32.7%, knowledge imprint interpretation efficiency +10%, significantly improving knowledge mastery efficiency.

Title Effect 2: Inspiration (Passive), while in the process of knowledge mastery and absorption, your mental strength will gain permanent growth (the more profound or mysterious the knowledge absorbed, the more obvious the permanent improvement brought by this bonus will be).

Introduction: Please do not probe into knowledge that is too bizarre, although it is so fascinating. Of course, if your sanity already exceeds that of others, you might... be able to try it with a heart full of caution and awe, to explore that bizarre and fascinating knowledge, and taste the sweet mystery.

Price: Cannot be sold.

After 【Ancient Scholar】 was upgraded to a seven-star title, the strength of the gain underwent a qualitative change. First was the "Scholar" passive. After triggering this passive, Su Xiao felt that his efficiency in mastering pharmacological knowledge had increased by more than tenfold. That's right, it was that exaggerated.

As for the second passive, "Inspiration," it was practically tailor-made for interpreting the Alchemy Codex. Given the profoundness and mystery of the Alchemy Codex, every time he interpreted it, Su Xiao could use the 【Ancient Scholar】 title to increase his mental strength by a large margin.

What was even more wonderful was that Su Xiao's efficiency in interpreting the Alchemy Codex was determined by his mental strength; the higher the mental strength, the more knowledge imprints he could interpret at one time.

The more knowledge imprints interpreted at once, the greater the permanent increase in mental strength brought by the 【Ancient Scholar】's "Inspiration" passive effect. In this way, a snowball effect was formed, making the interpretation of the Alchemy Codex faster and faster, thereby making the knowledge levels of pharmacology and explosives engineering higher and higher.

Besides this gain, Su Xiao also discovered that the 【Ancient Scholar】 title had another different characteristic.

The initial star level of the 【Ancient Scholar】 title was six stars. By using conventional refining methods to upgrade its level, it could be upgraded at most three times, which meant that the limit of 【Ancient Scholar】 was a nine-star title.

When 【Ancient Scholar】 is upgraded to a nine-star title, a characteristic choice can be made. Based on the current attributes of the 【Ancient Scholar】 title and the content given in the introduction, there should be two final choice routes for this title.

1. Knowledge-type absorption limit gain.

2. Bizarre-type knowledge absorption gain.

Su Xiao naturally leaned toward the first route. No matter how one looked at it, the second choice exuded an Ancient God style and an evil aura. The title introduction, where sanity drops wildly, had already hinted at this.

"How do you understand these ancient books? I recognize the ancient characters on them, but they are too obscure when connected."

The Goddess of Luck, sitting on the opposite sofa, spoke up. She even picked up an ancient book from the tea table to look at, but the more she looked, the more confused she became.

"Meow."

Benny jumped onto Su Xiao's lap with a wronged expression, meaning that just after finishing the late-night snack, the Goddess of Luck had asked it to play Beast Chess. Benny was very confident about this; in the past, when playing chess with Xiang Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baja, Benny won nine out of ten games, but today it lost miserably.

"Mr. Saint Flame, shall we play a few games of Beast Chess?"

The Goddess of Luck placed the chessboard on the tea table. Seeing this, Su Xiao didn't put down the ancient book in his hand.

"I am not good at board games."

"It's boring to just sit around, and it's only past nine o'clock at night."

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak.

"Mr. Saint Flame, could it be that you think there are no stakes in winning or losing? Shall we bet 10 Soul Coins per game?"

"Forget it."

"Oh~? Mr. Saint Flame, you aren't afraid of losing to me, are you?"

The Goddess of Luck smiled as she spoke. Hearing this, Su Xiao pinched his hand and closed the book in his hand.

Two hours later, the Goddess of Luck was biting her thumb nail, staring at the chessboard. The expression of "this is impossible" on her face was almost written all over it. In the Beast Chess game with 10 Soul Coins per game, she had lost more than 300 Soul Coins. It was no wonder she doubted life so much.

"Damn it, I was just one step away from winning."

The Goddess of Luck angrily packed up the chess pieces, then let out a long sigh and said, "It's a pity I can't go find Anna and the others to play chess recently. Sigh, why did I offend that guy?"

After saying this, the Goddess of Luck sighed, looking as if life had no meaning.

"Who did you offend?"

Su Xiao spoke as if making casual conversation.

"I..." The Goddess of Luck hesitated for a moment, then said dejectedly, "Actually, I offended a Law Breaker. You should have heard of him; it is said that he is the last remaining Law Breaker."

"Oh? What grudge do you have with that Law Breaker?"

Hearing this, the Goddess of Luck opposite him deflated instantly. She smiled a bit awkwardly and said, "Fundamentally speaking, it's actually my fault. When I discovered that Law Breaker, he was still a newly promoted Law Breaker. Why did I have to offend him back then? Was I crazy? And why did he become strong so quickly?"

Speaking of this, the Goddess of Luck was a bit frantic. She continued as if pouring out her heart, "It's too late for apologies now. I can feel that the Law Breaker isn't just planning to beat me half to death; he's targeting me for other reasons. It's over, I've been targeted by a Law Breaker who has grown up."

"So, you don't have a death feud?"

"Of course not. Given how vengeful those Law Breakers are, if there were a death feud, that Law Breaker would likely do nothing else but spend all day finding where I am and then kill me."

The Goddess of Luck sighed weakly at the end.

"I know that Law Breaker; he is one of my old clients. Perhaps I can mediate."

"Really!"

The Goddess of Luck opposite him suddenly became excited.

"Of course."

"If you can help me get through this, I will definitely reward you heavily."

There was a hint of joy in the Goddess of Luck's eyes. It was unknown what kind of expression she would have when she discovered the truth.

After the Goddess of Luck left and returned to the room next door, Su Xiao checked the time; it was almost eleven o'clock.

Tomorrow was the second day of the Arcane Celebration, but the assassin booked at the Ash Bunker had made no move, which made Su Xiao suspect that the assassin sent from there had been dealt with by the spellcasters of the Arcane Eternal Star before even getting close to him.

If that were truly the case, although it wouldn't affect the overall plan, after this matter was over, Su Xiao would have to go to the Ash Bunker again. They took the money but didn't get the job done, so they would definitely have to give an explanation.

Su Xiao returned to his bedroom to rest. The next morning arrived quickly. He went to the Lake Heart Island alone by teleportation device to start checking whether the various instruments and solar solution in the underground laboratory were stable.

Su Xiao's action was naturally relayed to Serphilia by the spellcasters monitoring the Lake Heart Island. Regarding this, Serphilia didn't show any attitude. As the installer and user of this underground laboratory, Su Xiao coming to check the instruments here periodically naturally left no room for criticism.

When the sky grew dark, the Arcane Eternal Star, which had been bustling for another day, regained some quiet. At the same time, Su Xiao's door was knocked on.

After opening the door, Su Xiao saw the three disguised members of Caesar's group outside.

"The auction starts promptly at eight o'clock. It's almost seven now; let's enter early."

Violent Rat was very interested in this auction, or rather, this guy was very interested in the 600,000 Soul Coins he got for free.

The group boarded the rail train, and by the time they arrived at "Dawn Light Manor," it was almost seven-thirty.

The entire Dawn Light Manor, while called a manor, was actually a complex of buildings divided into four major areas. Su Xiao walked to the rear area of Dawn Light Manor and entered a magnificent building. After passing through a long corridor, as the servant lifted the heavy dark red curtain, Su Xiao finally arrived at the auction venue.

The entire venue could accommodate about a hundred people. Although it was large, the seats weren't arranged neatly. This seemingly chaotic arrangement actually gave people a sense of ease. While called an auction venue, it wasn't traditional tiered seating; it was more like a banquet hall.

As for VIP rooms or VIP seats, Su Xiao didn't see any. Just as he arrived at the venue, a waiter came forward and gave him a number plate, representing his table. This was clearly based on first-come, first-served.

Not just anyone could come to this auction. A sufficiently high threshold had already been set, meaning only about a hundred people participated. Adding more rules on top of that would inevitably cause resentment.

Su Xiao took a seat not too far from the stage, with Caesar, Toad, and Violent Rat on the side.

Benny first climbed onto Su Xiao's shoulder, then jumped onto its exclusive top-tier seat, which was Su Xiao's head, and began to look around.

"Meow."

Benny meowed, meaning for Su Xiao to look to the right. Su Xiao looked in the direction Benny was indicating, and several old friends came into view.

The first person Su Xiao saw was Saintess Seat, who was wearing a flowing dress and also looking in his direction.

Almost the moment their eyes met, Saintess Seat looked away calmly, acting as if she hadn't seen Su Xiao. The reason for this was that she still owed Su Xiao 250 Soul Crystals, and she felt very guilty.

In the seat in front of Saintess Seat was the Leader wearing a metal mask, with White Cow sitting next to him.

Nai Luo, who was drinking heavily from a bottle of wine at the banquet last night, had now returned to her well-behaved appearance, after all, White Cow was right there.

In addition to the three from the Starry Seat, Su Xiao also saw many familiar faces, such as the Feather race's old immortal, as well as the Feather race's younger generation sitting on his left and right, the sister and brother Ya Yi and Yu Li.

Looking further ahead was the Demon race's old immortal, Walpole, with Monde, Lilim, Lilith, and Yaba, who was participating in this fighting competition, on his left and right.

The couple Zui Yasi and Aona were also there, and they had arrived quite early, with seats very close to the front.

Su Xiao's gaze turned to the other side. Tree Sage was the first to come into view. Besides him, there were several old-generation pharmacists from his era. Discovering Su Xiao's gaze, these old-generation pharmacists all greeted him politely, and Su Xiao also raised his hand in response.

Besides these people, Su Xiao also saw Serphilia, Rin Feng King, and others. In the seat between the two was a gaunt old woman. This old woman's eyes were pitch black, a pure black that seemed to swallow all light.

On the old woman's forehead, there were a total of five holes the thickness of a finger, and the inside of the holes was pitch black. Not only that, these holes were arranged neatly, spreading to both sides of her head. Conservatively estimated, this old woman had at least a dozen holes in her head.

Undoubtedly, this must be one of the four leaders of the Arcane Eternal Star, You Wen Ge Wu, also known as Soul Master.

Seeing this person, Su Xiao had a feeling that the other party's soul strength must have reached an almost unbelievable level, much higher than his own.

Thinking that the other party was the leader of the Arcane Eternal Star's Soul Faction, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. He only had such high soul strength because of his talent ability, while the other party specifically developed in this area.

Including Soul Master, Su Xiao had already seen three of the four leaders, with only Dean Gu Ya of the Zhongshi Academy yet to be met.

Su Xiao looked toward the corner in the back, where a figure sat alone. It was Wood's sister; he didn't know where Wood had gone.

A moment later, the auction venue was packed, and the noisy chatter was endless. When the time reached eight o'clock sharp, the lights in the venue went out, leaving only a row of small lights on the top of the stage curtain.

Under the dim light, the curtain opened to both sides, and with a click, a beam of light shone on the center of the stage, revealing the host.

Looking closely, the host standing on the stage, who was also tonight's auctioneer, was actually Wood. On second thought, this was quite normal; in the Void, out of ten auctions, eight were hosted by the Demon race, as their aura was too suitable.

"Welcome everyone to this auction..."

Wood spoke, his voice spreading throughout the venue. Just as everyone thought he was going to give an opening speech, his second sentence took a turn:

"I announce that this auction has begun. First, I bring you a miraculous object."

Just as Wood finished speaking, a waiter brought a tray onto the stage from the side. On the tray was an old money bag, which looked not only dirty but also as if it had been swallowed by a wild beast and eroded by stomach acid.

The moment this money bag was brought onto the stage, Su Xiao noticed that Caesar's eyes on the side were fixed on it.

"My dear friend, no matter the price, I must buy this thing."

What Caesar meant by this was that even if the bidding price exceeded his share of the proceeds from this event, he would pay out of his own pocket to make up for the Soul Coins. It could be said that he was determined to take this thing at any cost.

"This item was discovered by scavengers on an ancient battlefield. After identification, this item is named the Ancient Money Bag. It connects to an ancient treasury, but because the money bag itself is cursed, it can only be opened once every three days..."

After Wood's explanation, Su Xiao understood the function of the 【Ancient Money Bag】. In short, this thing could be opened once every three days. After opening it, one might either take out treasures from inside or be cursed. If one's luck was particularly bad, it might even release evil spirits or ghosts from the connected treasury.

Previously, someone tried to use this money bag as a coordinate to find that ancient treasury, but discovered that it was almost impossible. That ancient treasury was located in an "Unknown Land," and the Unknown Land was too elusive and difficult to explore. More importantly, there were many Void alien existences there.

If one encountered ordinary Void alien existences, it would be fine; if one focused on escaping, there was still some chance of survival. If one encountered the Overgrowth Frenzy, the Lord of the Old Days, or the Candle Lady, then it would be over.

"The starting price for the first auction item is 5,000 Soul Coins. Everyone, feel free to bid."

Just as Wood finished speaking, a member of the Reverse Tooth race bid 8,000 Soul Coins, but in the next second, the Feather race's genius youth, Yu Li, bid 10,000 Soul Coins, showing that the Feather race was still very wealthy.

"100,000!"

As soon as Caesar said this, the venue suddenly went quiet. Taking advantage of the atmosphere, Wood on stage didn't call out "31" or anything like that. Or rather, an auctioneer could actually drop the hammer without calling out, as long as the bidder's price was high enough.

Bang~

"Sold, the Ancient Money Bag is purchased by this guest."

Just as Wood on stage dropped the hammer, Tree Sage, who was about to raise his sign, froze. A look of suspicion and confusion appeared on his old face.

Su Xiao absolutely didn't believe that Caesar and Wood weren't colluding in secret, but this matter didn't involve the use of goblin checks.

Facts proved that Caesar quietly contacting Wood to pull this off was very necessary. If Tree Sage had reacted, given the old guy's financial resources, Caesar would definitely have had to pay a much higher price to take this 【Ancient Money Bag】.

"Everyone, auction item number 2..."

Wood began to introduce the second auction item, a Soul Fruit. Su Xiao had no interest in this.

Su Xiao didn't bid, but Caesar on the side was the exact opposite. Caesar bid on almost every auction item, which immediately drew dissatisfaction from other bidders.

Caesar was doing this on purpose. First, he was currently in a disguised identity; second, even if he weren't disguised, he wouldn't care about his reputation.

Furthermore, Caesar's behavior of constantly bidding would make people feel that this Goblin Company shareholder was truly too difficult to deal with. In this way, there would be fewer people bidding against him later.

Only by avoiding bidding against others could the value of the goblin checks be maximized. Only by buying more things with goblin checks could one sell these things for more Soul Coins.

As the auction continued, the value of the items on stage became higher and higher, until a secret treasure named 【Heart of Eternity】 was taken by the Demon race's old immortal, Walpole, for 159 million Soul Coins.

Amazing auction items were brought onto the stage one after another. When eight high-value auction items were sold in a row, the atmosphere wasn't as enthusiastic, and some peculiar auction items began to be brought up. As the saying goes, there should be a balance between tension and relaxation.

"Auction item number 30, Abyss Blood of extreme purity, starting price 1,000 Soul Coins."

As Wood spoke, he naturally moved away from auction item number 30. He didn't like anything related to the Abyss or Father-level artifacts.

"1,100."

Su Xiao bid. This was his first bid tonight, and then there was nothing else. He bought the 【Abyss Blood of extreme purity】 for 1,100 Soul Coins.

Before long, Su Xiao took a fancy to another auction item named 【Blazing Sun Badge】. He discovered that this thing was related to the 【Blazing Sun Disk】, and the groove on the front of the 【Blazing Sun Disk】 could just fit this badge.

What surprised him was that he managed to take this 【Blazing Sun Badge】, which looked quite good, for 3,000 Soul Coins.

He then thought that his current identity was the Saint Flame Alchemist, a guest of the Arcane Eternal Star. Many people present were spellcasters of the Arcane Eternal Star who wouldn't compete with him. The Leader, White Cow, and the others wouldn't either, and neither would Tree Sage and those old-generation pharmacists.

Thinking about it this way, it was only the representatives of those medium-sized races who would bid against him. Plus, he was only bidding on peculiar items, not mainstream high-value items, which was why few people competed with him.

After a few rounds of bidding, Su Xiao discovered another interesting auction item. This thing was named 【Corrupted Flesh】, which belonged to the category of peculiar items and was a rare ritual object, but there were risks when using it. The side effect was that if used improperly, it would attract an Evil God.

In Su Xiao's view, the main function of this thing was useless to him; instead, its side effect was more valuable to him. In the end, he made a Spirit Hunter competitor give up for 3,100 Soul Coins. Actually, if the other party hadn't given up, Su Xiao was prepared to stop bidding.

The fierce bidding he imagined didn't appear. Even when the 【Heart of Eternity】 was auctioned earlier, the old guys present were very restrained.

Soon, a batch of high-priced auction items was brought onto the stage. Su Xiao even saw 【Soul of Technique · Blood】 among them. This was a necessary item for his Blood Gun Master to upgrade.

Unfortunately, this 【Soul of Technique · Blood】 was bundled for sale with 【Soul of Technique · Heart】, 【Soul of Technique · Ice Soul】, 【Soul of Technique · Spirit】, 【Soul of Technique · Death】, and 【Soul of Technique · Blade】. It seemed everyone knew that while Souls of Technique were valuable, they were hard to find buyers for, so the seller took advantage of the representatives of all major forces being present to bundle them for sale.

In the end, these Souls of Technique were taken by the Demon race, which made Su Xiao very gratified. His 【Soul of Technique · Blood】 was settled. As for what to exchange with the Demon race? Naturally, it was the produce of the Black Maple Tree.

The second batch of high-value auction items was sold one after another, and the auction was coming to an end. The last auction item was brought onto the stage. It was a heavy wooden box. Strangely, before Wood could introduce this item, the waiter who brought it up opened the wooden box.

Cold air diffused. An old thread-bound book, about the thickness of a thumb with uneven edges on every page, was frozen in the wooden box. This ancient book was actually made by binding many leather pages together.

At the first glance at this item, Su Xiao recognized that it was actually the "Book of the Dead." Almost at the same time, he thought of another problem: the Supreme One was more powerful than he had imagined.

Although this auction was held at "Dawn Light Manor," the auction items actually came from various forces, so the "Book of the Dead" being mixed in meant the buyer couldn't find out which party had entrusted it for auction.

Undoubtedly, the "Book of the Dead" was brought to the Arcane Eternal Star by Raven Woman. The previous holder of this thing was Su Xiao, and the holder before that was the Priest. As for before that, it could be traced back ten thousand years.

Plus, at this time, the "Book of the Dead" was frozen by an extremely special kind of ice. Among the bidders present, the probability of someone buying the "Book of the Dead" was actually not low.

Regarding why the Arcane Eternal Star chose to sell this thing through an auction, the reason was simple: the most troublesome point of the "Book of the Dead" was karma. Once karma was attached to it, even if it were thrown into some native world, it would reappear in the Arcane Eternal Star the next second.

Therefore, selling the "Book of the Dead" was tantamount to transferring the karma. This was the fastest and most effective way to get rid of the "Book of the Dead." From this, it could be seen that someone on the Arcane Eternal Star knew a lot about "Father-level" artifacts, or rather, did the Arcane Eternal Star consult the Demon race?

Wood on stage naturally saw the "Book of the Dead." The blank look in his pupil flames showed that this matter had nothing to do with the Demon race. Before he could speak, the Feather race auctioneer, who had replaced Wood once during the intermission, said:

"This is today's last auction item, the Unknown Book. Because it is completely unknown, the starting price is 1,000 Soul Coins."

The Feather race auctioneer's introduction made some bidders in the audience interested in the "Book of the Dead," and they successively raised the price to over 5,000 Soul Coins.

In the audience, Su Xiao figured out the key to it and had a response strategy in his heart. He immediately prepared to raise his hand to bid.

Soul Master, Serphilia, and Dean Gu Ya, who had just arrived not long ago, all noticed Su Xiao's intention to bid, which made the gazes of the three of them gradually become solemn.