Chapter 3591

Inside the auction venue, Su Xiao suddenly placed a bid, clearly disrupting the layout of the spellcasters.

It was not that the spellcasters had any oversight or hadn't thought of this, but rather that it was truly unavoidable.

Although the items in this auction came from multiple factions, the auction was being held at the Liguang Manor. As this was the spellcasters' territory, they naturally had the final say on how the auction process was arranged.

Even so, they couldn't approach Su Xiao, who was disguised as the Apothecary Saint Flame, and tell him not to bid on the final item, as that thing was a mysterious object from the Abyss.

Within the spellcasters, only a few people knew about this. Even though they were currently trying to win Su Xiao over, they wouldn't inform him of such a disgraceful secret.

As for preventing Su Xiao from attending this auction, that was even more impossible; it would be blatant targeting. The subsequent relationship between the two sides, if not broken, would at least become strained, and the investment the Arcane Eternal Star had made in the early stages to win Su Xiao over would be equivalent to a total loss.

Coupled with the convening of the Arcane Festival, the setup for this matter inevitably appeared somewhat rushed, which was why such a flaw was left behind.

Before the auction began, Serphilia, Dean Guya, Lord Soul, and the Gale King had discussed it. The Gale King's proposal was to throw the "Book of the Dead" into the Abyssal passage; since it came from the Abyss, let it return to the Abyss.

Serphilia, Dean Guya, and Lord Soul unanimously opposed this. There were too many variables in throwing the "Book of the Dead" into the Abyssal passage; it was safer to sell this thing to a "fated person."

On the stage of the auction venue, although the Feathered auctioneer appeared calm, his back was actually sweating. He was, of course, one of the participants in this plan, or rather, this was a trap set by the high-level figures of the Arcane Eternal Star.

Inviting Wood to serve as the auctioneer tonight was a trap in itself. One must know that during the battle for the Painted World, the Arcane Eternal Star sent the female spellcaster Luoxi and the Flame-Starter Sawyer as representatives. Not only that, the female spellcaster Luoxi also carried the 【Insight Eye】 notarized by the Tree of the Void, broadcasting the scenes of the Painted World battle in real-time to the "Mou Arena" in the Void.

At that time, numerous Void race spectators witnessed parts of the Painted World battle through the images transmitted back by the female spellcaster Luoxi via the 【Insight Eye】.

However, the 【Insight Eye】 later ended up with the Apocalypse sisters, staging a series of "live broadcasts" of their escape.

These were not the main points; the point was that the Arcane Eternal Star learned through those parts of the 【Insight Eye】 footage that Wood and Su Xiao had once collaborated.

Under such circumstances, the spellcasters inviting Wood to serve as the special guest auctioneer for this auction certainly had no good intentions.

Who was Wood? Could he not have thought of this? The answer is, Wood had thought of it. To be precise, the Arcane Eternal Star that invited him had ulterior motives, and he, who accepted the invitation, actually had no good intentions either.

The spellcasters' arrangement was that with Wood serving as the auctioneer for this auction, the final item auctioned would turn out to be a "Daddy-level" object.

The buyer who won the "Book of the Dead" would certainly immediately associate it with Wood from the Devil race, as the Devil race's title of "Void Daddy-Raiser" was quite loud.

To prevent Wood from not bidding on the "Book of the Dead," the spellcasters also specially arranged for two auctioneers and had that Feathered auctioneer replace Wood halfway through the auction, thereby avoiding appearing abrupt by appearing now.

Regarding the unknown variable in this plan, the Apothecary Saint Flame, the four leaders of the Arcane Eternal Star had actually held a brief secret discussion.

In Serphilia's view, it was unlikely that the Apothecary Saint Flame would bid on the "Book of the Dead." First, as a top-tier apothecary, he must be knowledgeable. After seeing the "Book of the Dead" come on stage, even if it was difficult to sense its mysterious fluctuations because it was frozen by "Gale Ice," he would still faintly perceive that something was wrong with this object.

This view was unanimously agreed upon by Lord Soul and Dean Guya; the insight of a top-tier apothecary was truly not to be doubted.

The Gale King proposed a different view. In his opinion, what if the Apothecary Saint Flame suddenly felt that the "Book of the Dead" was good and participated in the bidding? What then?

The answer Serphilia gave was to go to the seat next to the Apothecary Saint Flame on the spot and tell him not to bid on this item anymore, saying that the specific reasons would be explained later. Hearing this direct, effective, yet simple and crude solution, the Gale King was choked for a long time and couldn't speak.

The method was a bit direct, but considering it from many aspects, this resolution strategy was indeed feasible. Moreover, the probability of the Apothecary Saint Flame choosing to bid on the "Book of the Dead" was very low.

Alas, this low-probability event eventually happened, or rather, this was not a low-probability event at all; it was something that was bound to happen.

The reason the spellcasters didn't want to see Su Xiao win the "Book of the Dead" was that once such a thing happened, it meant that Su Xiao had established a causal link with the "Book of the Dead." Under such a situation, should the Arcane Eternal Star continue to win over the Apothecary Saint Flame, or give up?

If they continued to win him over, it would be equivalent to once again creating a causal link with the "Book of the Dead." At that time, between the Arcane Eternal Star and the Apothecary Saint Flame, the "Book of the Dead" would certainly choose the former; their resource reserves were not on the same level.

And giving up on winning over the Apothecary Saint Flame who had won the "Book of the Dead" was also a huge loss for the Arcane Eternal Star. First, they would miss out on a top-tier apothecary, and second, the previous investment in winning over the Apothecary Saint Flame would be completely wasted.

"9000."

Su Xiao bid again, which made an Arcane Mist race member who was bidding against him choose to give up.

As the "Book of the Dead" was the final auction item and was introduced as an unknown ancient book, not many people were interested in it. Plus, no one present was willing to compete with the Apothecary Saint Flame.

"Mr. Saint Flame has bid 9000 Soul Coins. Are there any higher bids?"

The Feathered auctioneer on the stage vividly recounted the false origin of the "Book of the Dead." Listening to him, although the function of this ancient book was unknown, its background was very significant.

In reality, the Feathered auctioneer on the stage was stunned. He was very sure that this thing could not be auctioned to the Apothecary Saint Flame, but since the situation had reached this point, he couldn't just not drop the hammer forever.

Coming to the Arcane Eternal Star this time, Su Xiao had gained quite a lot. One of the gains was that he discovered that although the Feathered race and the Arcane Eternal Star appeared hostile at times, they were actually in cahoots.

Previously, the Devil race and the Feathered race secretly united. It appeared that a conflict, and even a war, had broken out between the two sides, but in fact, the old immortals of both sides had already colluded, using this mutually hostile way to avoid being targeted by the Arcane Eternal Star.

After all, in recent years, both the Devil race and the Feathered race had been too active, inevitably drawing the wariness of the Arcane Eternal Star. Rather than being suppressed by the Arcane Eternal Star, it was better to pretend to have a conflict with each other.

The result was that the more they fought, the more the Devil race felt something was wrong. They had agreed to hold back their strength, but after the Feathered race gathered their strength, they first took a running start and then jumped up to give the Devil race a huge hammer blow.

At that time, the Devil race was stunned and angrily questioned: "Are you playing for real?"

The result was that the Feathered race side shouted apologies while actually hammering even harder, and they even seized quite a bit of the Devil race's territory. This was nowhere near a mutual act; this was clearly playing for real.

This led to the two sides fighting harder and harder. At the most intense point, the Devil race saw the figures of spellcasters on the battlefield.

At this point, the Devil race naturally thought of what was going on. They had been played by the Feathered race. The Feathered race had united with the Arcane Eternal Star. After the two sides captured a piece of the Devil race's territory, they split it in half and showed that if the Devil race dared to fight back, it would be the Arcane Eternal Star + the Feathered race hammering the Devil race together.

More importantly, the Devil race felt that this matter was too shameful and chose to swallow this bitter pill.

So at this moment, there was a Feathered auctioneer standing on the stage. Su Xiao might have felt surprised before, but after coming to the Arcane Eternal Star this time and learning the details, he no longer felt surprised.

Why had the Devil race never mentioned this to him? Given the Devil race's warlike and face-saving personality, it would be truly abnormal for them to take the initiative to mention this.

After learning that the Feathered race and the Arcane Eternal Star were secretly united, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't go soft when he could arrange for the Feathered race this time, such as choosing the Feathered genius Yuli as the starting point for the plan.

"9200."

A burly man of the Inverse Tooth race raised his sign to bid. Seeing this, the Feathered auctioneer immediately raised his hand and said: "9200 Soul Coins. Are there any higher bids?"

That was what the Feathered auctioneer said, but in fact, while speaking, he had already raised the auction hammer, preparing to smash it down.

"9300."

As soon as Su Xiao said this, the Feathered auctioneer on the stage almost twisted his waist. The hammer that had fallen halfway hurriedly stopped. If he smashed it down and sold the "Book of the Dead" to the Apothecary Saint Flame, he would definitely not have a good end.

Just as Su Xiao bid, he discovered that Serphilia was already sitting in the seat next to him and whispered: "Saint Flame, that ancient book doesn't look like it's worth 9300 Soul Coins no matter how you look at it."

"Perhaps."

While Su Xiao was speaking, he prepared to bid again. The burly man of the Inverse Tooth race had already bid 9400 Soul Coins.

"Then why are you still bidding?"

Serphilia tilted her head and looked at Su Xiao, her heart already beginning to doubt Su Xiao's intentions.

"The wooden box it's in must be worth this price."

Hearing Su Xiao say this, Serphilia was stunned for a moment, and then she had nothing to say. As the creator of that wooden box, she naturally knew the value of that box better than anyone else. Let alone 9400 Soul Coins, in the outside world, 94000 Soul Coins couldn't buy that wooden box.

"If you had said you liked it earlier, I would have given you one."

Serphilia spoke in a low voice, which made Su Xiao's action of raising the number plate pause. He also whispered:

"I want a bigger one; that one looks a bit small."

"Okay."

"Sold."

Su Xiao placed the number plate on the table. In the end, the burly man of the Inverse Tooth race won the "Book of the Dead" at the price of 9400 Soul Coins.

With the end of the auction, the guests left one after another. Su Xiao went to the back to pay the Soul Coins and, after obtaining the three items he had bid on, left the auction venue with Benny.

Just as he left the corridor of the venue, Su Xiao met a female spellcaster wearing a black robe, a hood, and wrapped in white bandages all over her body. This female spellcaster said in a slightly crisp yet hoarse voice:

"Mr. Saint Flame, my mentor is waiting for you at the winery."

"Lead the way."

As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, the female spellcaster beside him snapped her fingers.

When the spatial fluctuations stabilized, Su Xiao was already in the restaurant on the second floor of the winery's castle. He looked around and then sat down. Opposite him was Serphilia, who was enjoying dinner.

"Saint Flame, do you know what that is?"

Serphilia put down her tableware, picked up a crystal glass, and sipped slowly. As soon as she spoke, she asked directly about the "Book of the Dead," clearly showing an attitude of already doubting Su Xiao.

"That is something from the Abyss."

Su Xiao didn't cover it up. The more calm he appeared at this time, the less he would be doubted.

"Then you still dare to bid on it?"

Serphilia's tone began to turn cold, lacking the usual bit of courtesy.

"Oh, so the Book of the Dead ended up in your hands. I was wondering, as the organizers of this auction, how you could accept all kinds of auction items."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, Serphilia's eyes narrowed slightly, and her aura became somewhat dangerous.

"So, you know a lot about the Book of the Dead?"

"Of course I know. If we count the Inverse Tooth race as the current holder of the Book of the Dead, then the previous one was you, the one before that was the Law-Breaker named Bai Ye, and during that period it even went to the Devil race side. The one before that was the rule-breaker Priest from the Sanctuary Paradise. Guess who the one before that was? Who sold that thing to the Priest? Who went to the Abyssal spreading area to look for rare plants and discovered the Book of the Dead?"

While Su Xiao was speaking, he pulled up the sleeve of his left arm, and translucent tentacles emerged from his arm. As a collaborator who had arranged for the Evil God with the "Book of the Dead," being deliberately assimilated to this extent by the fluctuations of the "Book of the Dead" was not dangerous for Su Xiao; he could remove it after returning to the Reincarnation Paradise.

In these words of Su Xiao, he also deliberately left a flaw, which was knowing that the Book of the Dead had once been in the hands of the Law-Breaker. The reason for doing so was to make the subsequent rhetoric more complete and realistic.

"How much... do you know about that thing?"

Serphilia frowned. She felt somewhat amused at this moment. The development of things to this point could no longer be described as wonderful.

But don't be misled by the attitude she showed at this moment. She had keenly captured one point: how could Saint Flame know that the Book of the Dead had once been in Bai Ye's hands? She was already prepared to kill him immediately if something was slightly wrong.

"I know more about the Book of the Dead than you do. The way you sold it was too casual. The Book of the Dead has a causal characteristic. After it causes the current holder to die, or the current holder's race to perish, it will trace back to the previous holder, which means it will come back to find you. When you can't hold on, or it can't hold on against your means, it will continue to trace back to the previous holder, to find that Law-Breaker..."

When Su Xiao reached this point, Serphilia opposite the dining table asked: "In other words, as long as we handle it properly, the one who will be unlucky in the end will be that Law-Breaker?"

"Of course not."

Su Xiao looked at Serphilia with a slight smile, which made Serphilia feel unhappy. She was very resistant to others looking at her with this kind of gaze.

"The Book of the Dead focuses on causality. If Bai Ye were just a Law-Breaker, that would be fine, but he is also a Hunter of the Reincarnation Paradise. Even the Book of the Dead would not be willing to fight to the death with a Hunter of the Reincarnation Paradise. At that time, when I learned that the Priest had gotten rid of the Book of the Dead, I was very disappointed, but after investigating that he had transferred the Book of the Dead to Bai Ye, I was very relieved. Originally, I thought the Book of the Dead would return to the Priest and continue to toss him around, but why did it end up in your hands?"

Su Xiao didn't hide this point. He had already set a trap, so he naturally had to throw out enough bait to get Serphilia hooked.

He had just deliberately revealed that he knew the Book of the Dead had been in the hands of the Law-Breaker. This was actually a relatively risky statement, but if the identity of Saint Flame was really the awakener of the Book of the Dead, he would certainly pay close attention to the trends regarding the Book of the Dead in the future.

According to Su Xiao's understanding, on the Devil race side, they would send people to inquire about news every 20 to 30 days to see if the Abyssal Jar was still with Caesar.

Therefore, Su Xiao was restoring the psychological changes possessed by someone who had been pitted by a "Daddy-level" object. As the saying goes, details determine success or failure.

"According to what you said, we can't get rid of the Book of the Dead this time?"

"Of course not. You can give it to me. Don't forget, it was I who awakened it in the Abyssal spreading area. Actually, I have always had an idea, which is to sell the Book of the Dead to the Reincarnation Paradise to see what happens. It's just that last time I wanted to use this method to deal with the Priest who didn't pay for the fixed potion, and this time it's just right to try it."

After Su Xiao finished speaking, he picked up his wine glass and took a sip, then his eyes showed surprise, and he praised: "Good wine, who brewed it?"

Hearing Su Xiao's praise for the wine, Serphilia's expression softened compared to just now.

"Where did you get that wooden box? That thing is made very exquisitely."

"It's not that exquisite, just average."

Serphilia's attitude completely softened. Facts proved that the feeling of having one's work praised by Saint Flame, a top-tier apothecary, was quite good.

"Saint Flame, you said you could help us solve the trouble of the Book of the Dead. This isn't free, right?"

"Of course not. 2 million Soul Coins, and I will help you solve this hidden danger forever."

"Impossible, 50,000 at most."

"Sold."

"..."

Serphilia opposite him looked at Su Xiao suspiciously, wanting to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.

Regarding this matter, Su Xiao would take benefits if he could. His main purpose was to help the "Book of the Dead" get out of trouble.

From fighting from the first tier to the ninth tier, Su Xiao had already come into contact with several types of "Daddy-level" objects, "quasi-Daddy-level" objects, and dangerous objects with the qualifications of "Daddy-level" objects.

The Abyssal Jar, the Book of the Dead, the Soul Crown (Dark Crown), the Ancient Mask, and finally the Bloodthirsty War Armor and the Dark Blade. After the two decided the winner, it should be heading towards the direction of a "quasi-Daddy-level" object.

Among these objects, the "Ancient Mask" appeared to have the closest relationship with Su Xiao, but Su Xiao knew that when this mask advanced from a "quasi-Daddy-level" object to a "Daddy-level" object, even if it didn't backfire on him, it would leave and stay away from him.

Only the "Book of the Dead" had hunted the Evil God with him, and after completing the hunt, this "Daddy-level" object hadn't swallowed the gains alone.

Su Xiao naturally wouldn't watch such a "Daddy-level" object be sealed in "Gale Ice." Of course, even if he released it, Su Xiao wouldn't carry this thing around. As the saying goes, distance creates beauty. Maintaining the occasional cooperation now was the best distance. Once the distance was too close, Su Xiao could be sure that he would die under the causality of this "Daddy-level" object.

After dinner, Su Xiao left the winery. Not long after he returned to his residence in the lakeside dormitory, the door was knocked.

Knock, knock, knock~

Su Xiao raised his hand to signal Benny not to open the door. He got up from the single sofa and opened the door himself, only to find no one outside. A 1-meter square wooden box was placed on the red carpet outside the door.

Su Xiao opened the wooden box, and inside was the "Book of the Dead" frozen in "Gale Ice." He directly picked up the cube-shaped "Gale Ice."

At the same time, inside the winery castle of Liguang Manor, Serphilia, Dean Guya, Lord Soul, and the Gale King all saw the scene of Su Xiao picking up the "Gale Ice" through a magic projection.

"Is this apothecary crazy?"

The Gale King frowned as he watched. He had risked touching the "Gale Ice" that sealed the "Book of the Dead" before, and that feeling made his memory particularly deep.

"That Law-Breaker named Bai Ye was also once a holder of the Book of the Dead and also came from the Reincarnation Paradise. Do you think Saint Flame and Bai Ye could be the same person? Is there any possibility that Bai Ye disguised himself as Saint Flame?"

Lord Soul spoke. It could only be said that she was worthy of being a ruthless person who had opened a dozen brain holes.

"Before tonight, I actually had this conjecture, but after tonight's events, I think it's unlikely."

Serphilia stated her position. The reason was that the Apothecary Saint Flame had never revealed anything related to the Law-Breaker, except that they both came from the Reincarnation Paradise and that the other party was his old customer.

Being in the same paradise, a Hunter being a customer of an apothecary was as normal as it could be. On the contrary, if Saint Flame said he didn't know the Law-Breaker Bai Ye, that would be the biggest point of suspicion.

Under such perfect disguise, why would he still involve himself in this matter tonight? Reasonably and logically, this couldn't be explained.

On the contrary, it was because Saint Flame's background was open and honest that he didn't care about these things, and revealing his relationship with the "Book of the Dead" was entirely for profit. This was the reality, and this was the Apothecary Saint Flame who gave people a sense of reality. No matter how superb Saint Flame's pharmacy was, first of all, he was a person. If he was a person, he would have seven emotions and six desires and would have his own desires.

Tonight's events were truly too consistent with Saint Flame's personality and style of doing things. In Serphilia's view, the other party came to the Arcane Eternal Star just to obtain more benefits and resources. The other party was able to cooperate with the White Bull force for the sake of benefits and resources, so tonight, for the sake of benefits, clarifying his relationship with the "Book of the Dead" was as normal as it could be.

Precisely because of this, Serphilia felt that Saint Flame was not suspicious. On the contrary, before, when Saint Flame's identity was very clean, Serphilia had always had concerns.

"Don't care about his background. As long as there is a slight problem, get rid of him to silence him."

Dean Guya spoke. This old guy who appeared the least was actually the most ruthless. He had always adhered to the principle of killing a thousand by mistake rather than letting one go.

"Old thing, you don't understand the specific situation of this matter. That Saint Flame is very good at being a person. Now the Apothecary Guild regards him as the top level of apothecaries. Let alone us getting rid of him without any reason, even if it wasn't us who did it, if he died at the Arcane Eternal Star, this account would be counted on our heads by those apothecaries in the Apothecary Guild."

The more Lord Soul spoke, the more speechless she felt in her heart. She looked at Serphilia and didn't understand why the situation had developed to this point. In the past, when Serphilia did things, even if she wanted to pick out faults, she couldn't. As a result, it ended up like this this time.

"Is there such a thing? Then we really need to deliberate carefully. But having said that, how suspicious do you think this Saint Flame is?"

"Half a point?"

The Gale King spoke. Up to now, he hadn't felt that the Apothecary Saint Flame had done anything suspicious. If it weren't for the other party's identity as a top-tier apothecary, which required careful probing of his background, if it were to win over other talents, he would have long since stopped probing.

"It seems like not even half a point."

Serphilia also stated her position.

"That is to say, even if Saint Flame has a problem, is it that his background has some problems under the situation of his identity as an apothecary?"

Dean Guya looked around at the other three people present.

"Saying that Saint Flame is disguised by Bai Ye is indeed too far-fetched. To tell you the truth, in order to avoid this point, I took him to the Soul Forest, and during the period, we passed through the Rock Bridge. There are so many magic towers in the Dark Ring River below, and there was no reaction at all. You all know the elemental affinity of the Law-Breaker."

As soon as Serphilia said this, Lord Soul's face next to her turned black. She could see that her old rival Serphilia had deliberately led her to say that Saint Flame might be disguised by Bai Ye just now. A Law-Breaker couldn't possibly walk over so many magic towers, and the magic towers didn't have any fluctuations.

"Then don't talk nonsense. He's just an apothecary. Even if his background has some problems, how much trouble can he cause?"

As soon as Lord Soul said this, it basically announced the end of this secret meeting.

What the four leaders didn't expect was that everything Su Xiao did tonight, and the risks he took, were just to get the four of them together. The reason for this was that on the Arcane Eternal Star, Su Xiao was wary of five people in total. He was most wary of the Supreme One, followed by Serphilia, Lord Soul, Dean Guya, and the Gale King.

The Supreme One rarely left the 【Elemental Superconducting Tower】. Su Xiao only needed to drag the four leaders for a short time, and some things could be carried out during this period.

In the lakeside dormitory, Su Xiao sat in front of the workbench. He was preparing a secret sleeping potion. This was a commission from the Gale Prince.

Just at this moment, the communicator on the workbench rang. Su Xiao held a vessel in each hand that was in a catalytic reaction. He signaled Green Wei beside him to answer the communication.

Green Wei picked up the communicator and connected it. The White Bull's voice came from inside: "Come out for a drink? Having a new boss doesn't mean you should forget the old one."

"Tomorrow night, then. I'll treat you tomorrow night."

"That works too."

The White Bull hung up the communication. Throughout the whole process, the conversation between Su Xiao and the White Bull didn't avoid Green Wei, who was Serphilia's disciple.

Actually, the content of the conversation wasn't important at all. The White Bull making this communication meant that the matter was done. Conversely, if it didn't go through, it meant that it hadn't succeeded, and Su Xiao would have to make corresponding changes to the plan.

To put it simply, tonight's plan was for Su Xiao to attract the four leaders of the Arcane Eternal Star through the matter of the "Book of the Dead," focusing all their attention on him.

At the same time, taking advantage of the period when the four leaders' attention was attracted by Su Xiao, with the White Bull as the leader, Caesar, Wood, Zuiyas, Toad, and Violent Rat had already quietly gone to do another thing.

At 10 o'clock that night, in the front area of the Star Plaza, inside a guest room of a luxury hotel on the commercial street.

The lights in the guest room were off, and the moonlight shone into the room, reflecting the side face of a Feathered genius. It was Yuli.

Yuli held an hourglass with an ancient style in one hand, and the smile on his face gradually became unscrupulous. This was his trump card for winning the championship of this fighting competition. He was quite confident in this trump card.