Chapter 822: Auction Begins

"Did the fusion succeed?"

Viola, who had been watching Lei En, saw him open his eyes and immediately asked concernedly.

"Hmm." Lei En nodded, glanced at the angels around him, stood up and smiled, "It went fairly smoothly; I'm already a nineteenth-level Wizard."

"Nineteenth level!" Viola was stunned.

She only knew Lei En was a Legendary High‑rank, but didn't realize he had reached the Legendary Peak. A little over a year ago, Lei En was still at fourteenth level like herself; she, with the full assistance of Longhaired Lady, had barely managed to reach sixteenth level, thinking she was on par with Lei En, only to find he had already surpassed her by three levels!

In just over a year, he jumped five levels!

Is he still a mortal?

Even Viola, who deeply understood Lei En's epochal talent, was still frightened. One step further, Lei En is about to challenge the Holy Soul Wizard!

For others, ascending to Holy Soul Wizard is extremely difficult; one might be stuck at a bottleneck for centuries, even a lifetime.

But Lei En could never be stuck that long.

Despair rose in Viola's heart, and she finally saw the reality: she would never catch up to Lei En's pace. Still, she sincerely felt happy for him and said, "For a Combat Wizard to break through to Holy Soul Wizard, one must fuse a Saint Rank demon soul. Are you prepared?"

"It's not that easy," Lei En shook his head and laughed.

In all these years, the Combat school has produced only one Holy Soul Wizard, its founder Ouroin Master, which shows how difficult the ascent is.

The biggest difficulty is cross‑tier fusion of demon souls.

Moreover, like the Law Seal school's Wizards and Grand Mages, the three Nine‑ring Techniques mastered during the ascent determine the future Saint Rank path. The first demon soul fused by a Combat Wizard is also crucial; it must be chosen with utmost caution, perfectly compatible with oneself.

First, the demon soul's wave frequency must be close, reducing conflict and making fusion easier.

Second, ascending to Saint Rank is the seventh soul metamorphosis, a cataclysmic change that surpasses the gains of the previous six transformations; the probability of Element advancement is higher, so one must seize this chance to maximize power growth, and the demon soul selection should consider this, not simply the stronger the better.

In short, becoming a Holy Soul Wizard is far from easy.

Even Lei En doesn't have a hundred percent certainty, and not just any Saint Rank demon soul will do; obtaining a suitable one still depends on luck.

Viola also understood this, nodded lightly and said, "At Nuosiruier I will keep an eye out for news of Saint Rank demon souls for you."

"No need to rush."

Lei En remained calm; his strength could no longer be measured by level.

To him, Holy Soul Wizard is merely a title to showcase status and facilitate political maneuvering; even without the title, he could still crush Saint Rank elites, including Holy Soul Wizards.

For example, the Duke of Silver Star.

With his true self plus Reslin and Saint Giles, after excluding Fu Kong Cheng, Lei En is confident he can defeat Holy Soul Wizards below Thirty-level within the Supreme Council. The weakest, the Duke of Silver Star and Sabbath Dean, he could annihilate with his true self alone, without using a clone.

"Put your angels away," Lei En's gaze shifted, and he grinned wickedly, "Let's continue."

"Huh?"

Viola was stunned for a moment before catching on, her cheeks instantly flushing red.

Just moments earlier, when passion stirred, she naturally wanted to make love with Lei En, but the solemn matter of fusing a demon soul interrupted her; now, when it resumed, she no longer felt that way, and she redressed the half‑removed clothing.

"You're still preparing to auction Fu Kong Cheng," Viola said, a bit unable to let go.

"That's three days away." Lei En wasn't about to let her off; he flashed forward, grabbed the unparalleled beauty, and whispered, "In the half‑plane no one comes to disturb us; we have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves."

As he spoke, his large hand was already roaming over her exquisite body.

"Um…"

Viola's whole body went limp, powerless to resist; in her confused, enamored state she barely recalled pulling her angels back into the Soul‑Gathering Tower.

Not until the deep night of the third day did the two finally emerge from the half‑plane.

Viola spent three unforgettable days; Lei En carried her horizontally back to Gramo‑Morgan Castle to rest. At her strong insistence, the return journey avoided everyone's sight entirely, for if the story spread, she would never have the face to continue as Pope.

She rested for a night.

Lei En rose early, sitting in his study, invigorated. Today was the auction date for Fu Kong Cheng, with the opening set for noon.

"Sir."

Fabian handed over a report, respectfully saying, "This is the list of guests attending the auction."

Lei En glanced at him; the wind elf's face bore faint dark circles, clearly having not rested well these three days, and he soothed, "You've worked hard."

"Serving you is no hardship; it's my honor," Fabian said anxiously. With Lei En absent these days, he had become the Empire's public focus, with countless people constantly seeking an audience; the guests who had paid deposits were all people he could not afford to offend.

However, the heavy pressure also brought great honor.

Fabian experienced the feeling of wielding great power; arranging this historic auction would become the pinnacle of his life.

Lei En scanned the list, his eyebrows instantly lifting, and exclaimed, "So many people are attending the auction?"

There were twelve individuals or factions on the list.

First was the ruler of Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng, the de facto controller of the Turde Trade City‑State, Lord Hestav and his wife Layla.

Then the Duke of Silver Star, Storm Queen, and Sabbath Dean.

KangJieladeGreatSage and GreyEagle Duke Tim Kainan Master, these two Holy Soul Wizards held the highest status among the guests.

Also present was the dean of the Eratusa Sorcerer Academy, Margarita *Lukes Antir, the foremost of the Empire's three Destruction Sorcerers, who had crossed paths at BrewotzAcademy last year.

The Steam and Machinery Guild, represented by Vice‑President Akarand.

The Earth Church also registered; the leader of the Earth Ring, Saint Rosita, would participate in the bidding.

One of Mo Du's nobles, the Pumor family, Countess Kailin, who is the mother of his student Jenna, was also a familiar. The Pumor family's strength clearly could not control a Fu Kong Cheng; behind her were five other Mo Du noble houses besides Gramo‑Morgan.

The last two were the "Aurianse Times" and the "Mo Du Daily"; they clearly had no intention of bidding for Fu Kong Cheng, but came to watch the drama and obtain first‑hand news of the Fu Kong Cheng transaction.

Excluding the two newspapers, ten actually participated in the bidding.

This exceeded Lei En's expectations.

He had originally thought at most five or six people had both the financial means and desire to obtain Fu Kong Cheng; the number nearly doubled.

It seems he had still underestimated Fu Kong Cheng's allure.

"Have they all paid the deposits?" Lei En put down the list.

"They have," Fabian nodded heavily, replying, "Sixty‑million Gold Shields were submitted in the form of gold tickets; the Extreme Warrior delivered the gold tickets to Jin Gang Fort, where they are hidden in a secret chamber of the base, constantly guarded, not a second out of sight."

60 million Gold Shields!

This astronomical sum, Fabi An never even dared to dream of, has also been the main reason he hasn't been able to sleep these past days.

"You did well," Lei En nodded, "I'll take it from here."

Fabi An let out a sigh of relief, "This is what I should do."

A few minutes later, the Extreme Warrior who had received the original body's notice delivered the 60 million gold tickets to the study; Lei En stored them in the Nebula Ring, keeping the money on his own person was safest.

"You go attend to your duties."

Lei En waved his hand, letting Fabi An step back, and sat alone in the study to contemplate.

This auction had been planned in advance; there was already a preselected potential buyer, the Silver Star Duke. The reason is that what I truly intend to sell is not the entire Floating City but its shell, leaving the Iola Core behind.

If only the shell is sold, its value drops dramatically and it becomes hard to offload.

Thus the best deal is to sell the whole Floating City, receiving an Iola Core plus other items in return, maximizing profit.

The Iola Core is the most valuable part of the Floating City, costing about 50 million Gold Shields to produce; each one is a one‑off, and surplus Iola Cores are extremely rare.

But Lei En knows the Silver Star Duke already possesses an Iola Core.

Moreover, the Silver Star Duke is intensely covetous of the Floating City and can be harshly extorted for a sum. Of course, if others can also present an Iola Core and bid higher, Lei En doesn't mind completing the deal.

Time passed, and the auction's start drew ever nearer.

Outside Glamorgan Castle, crowds had been gathering since early morning, mostly spectators; even being blocked at the gate by the Holy Spear Knight Corps couldn't dampen their enthusiasm. By near noon, the streets outside the castle were jammed solid, disrupting traffic.

Finally, the sun rose to the zenith.

"It's begun!"

"The auction time has arrived!"

Someone in the crowd stared at a pocket watch and shouted loudly, while the people fixed their gaze on the castle perched on the low hill, yet saw nothing.

Castle hall.

Fabi An had already cleared the hall of tables and chairs, leaving only a dozen or so sofas arranged in a U‑shape. Members of the Extreme Warrior Corps stood beneath the surrounding walls like statues, immovable as mountains. Every entrance and passage in the hall was guarded by Extreme Warriors.

One thousand two hundred Holy Lance Knights were stationed throughout the castle, while servants and maids were confined to their rooms, not allowed to leave.

Lei En stood in the center of the hall, awaiting the guests.

Fabi An slipped to a corner, remaining silent.

Beside him stood Viola, Aoxiliya, and Lei En's four students—Peralysis, Jenna, Sparrow Eagle, and Garu—who begged to tour the auction. Also present was Golden Three-Headed Dragon Borchi, who had spent his days mingling with Steel Dragon Madam Xialanwei, missing many chances to get rich; this time he refused to miss out, his eyes brimming with excitement and anticipation.

High above, Weizelan, and Anxiwodasi also cast covert gazes.

Glamorgan Castle had set up a sealing formation last year, prohibiting direct teleportation; Lei En had already had it temporarily disabled.

At high noon.

Strong void ripples surged across the spacious hall, and portal after portal opened swiftly, from which figures emerged.

A few also arrived via teleportation spells, arriving directly.

Regardless of how they arrived, almost every guest exuded a powerful aura that made those tucked in the corners' souls tremble.

Naturally, the most eye‑catching were the five Holy Soul Wizards.

Leading them was KangJieladeGreatSage.

His appearance betrayed no age; at first glance he seemed a young man under thirty, with smooth, metallic‑sheen skin, thick hair, chiseled features, and a pair of detached yet wise eyes that seemed to have endured long‑lasting trials, giving an air of profound wear.

Twelve gems floated above KangJieladeGreatSage's head, emitting multicolored light.

These gems are magical items crafted by the GrandSage, called "Ayn Stones," sharing a name with the GrandSage's Ayn Floating City.

Each Ayn Stone possesses its own function, bearing astonishing powers: protection, teleportation, spell storage, healing, physique enhancement, casting acceleration, spell‑damage amplification, resurrection, and more; any single one rivals a Legend Grade magical artifact, and only the GrandSage himself knows their full effects.

The GrandSage wore a flowing magical robe, a gem‑adorned badge on his chest, hovering about half a meter above the ground.

Everyone bowed to him, saying, "We have seen the GrandSage."

As the inventor of the soul stone, KangJieladeGreatSage's reputation in the Empire is so lofty that after Augulevi Master vanished, no one could match him.

At the same time, the GrandSage is also the longest‑living person alive today.

"No need for formalities."

KangJieladeGreatSage gave a slight nod, his voice ordinary yet tinged with a faint mechanical stiffness. His gem‑like eyes swept the hall, finally resting on Tim*Kenan, "GreyEagle, you have also arrived."

"Yes, GrandSage."

The towering, muscular GreyEagle Duke, with a shaved head, black beard, and a fierce visage, nonetheless showed great respect to the GrandSage, displaying a gentle smile.

However, the others felt immense pressure.

The Silver Star Duke, Storm Queen, and Sabbath Dean are Holy Soul Wizards, familiar with Master Tim*Kenan, so they felt fine.

Dean Maqilita of the Elatusa Sorcerer Academy, a famed beauty of the Empire, her fitted magical robe perfectly accentuating her curvaceous figure, bearing a dignified bearing that blended feminine allure with noble grace, forming a deadly temptation for men.

She gracefully bowed, "We have seen the GreyEagle Duke."

Tim*Kenan glanced at her, expression unchanged, and said lightly, "Does the Elatusa Academy also want the Floating City?"

"Yes," Maqilita replied evenly, "Sorcerers are also spellcasters; Elatusa hopes to use the Floating City to elevate sorcerers' standing in the Empire."

"Then you must work hard."

Tim*Kenan gave a noncommittal reply, then fell silent.

Nearby, Lord Hestav and his spouse, Vice President Akarand of the Mechanical Guild, and the Earth Holy Saint Rosita said nothing. Countess Kailin, a Mid-stage Storm Priest, not even Legend Grade, and the bidders sent by the two newspaper houses were only Legend Grade Mid-stage, trembling before these three imperial powerhouses, daring not even a breath.

The bidders had previously not known the list, sizing each other up.

Clap clap!

Lei En clapped, drawing the guests' attention, and announced loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Glamorgan Castle; the auction officially begins."

(End of chapter)