Time flew by, and half a month passed.
This evening, Zhu Ziyang was dragged by Ma Xiaotao to Shrek City to attend a treasure appreciation event organized by the Jubao Pavilion.
Originally, Zhu Ziyang had no interest in such events, but he couldn't resist Ma Xiaotao's persistent coaxing and had no good reason to refuse, so he just went along with her.
Why didn't Jiang Nannan stop him, you ask? Because Jiang Nannan wasn't there; how could she stop him?
Not long after the school year began, Jiang Nannan and Old Song left Shrek Academy to awaken Spirits for children in some remote mountain villages, an endeavor expected to last half a month, with her returning next week.
The treasure appreciation event held by the Jubao Pavilion offered very considerate preferential prices for Inner Courtyard Disciple and Outer Courtyard core Disciple, with Inner Courtyard Disciple receiving a 70% discount and Outer Courtyard core Disciple a 50% discount, which was very thoughtful.
Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao quickly arrived at the Jubao Pavilion in Shrek City.
As the two walked through the exhibition area, Ma Xiaotao held Zhu Ziyang's arm, their proximity very close.
Zhu Ziyang felt his arm enveloped by something soft, and unable to break free, he simply enjoyed this treatment, envied by all men, with a look of pleasure on his face.
"Ziyang, let's go to the auction upstairs; there's really nothing to see down here," Ma Xiaotao suggested.
"Okay, let's go!" Zhu Ziyang nodded, then followed Ma Xiaotao upstairs.
The moment before he entered the upstairs auction house, his gaze caught a pair of familiar faces.
At a Spirit Bone display stand, a black-haired youth was animatedly describing something to a blue-haired youth, who wore a slight smile—a smile Zhu Ziyang had seen on the faces of Jiang Nannan and Ma Xiaotao.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong...
After entering the auction house, Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao were led by an attendant into a private room.
The auction had not yet begun, but most of the private rooms already had guests.
The Jubao Pavilion's auction house was of the highest standard, featuring only individual private rooms, with no public seating hall.
A cluster of private rooms formed a circle, and the central area of all the private rooms was an independent circular platform, which served as the auction item exhibition area.
Above the circular platform were four huge display screens, each corresponding to the private rooms in its respective direction.
Those qualified to enter the Jubao Pavilion auction house, even Inner Courtyard Disciple, needed to meet certain conditions to gain eligibility.
Of course, Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao didn't need to go through such trouble.
One was a disciple of the Sea God Pavilion Master, and the other was a disciple of the Shrek Academy dean; their identities were extraordinary and had been registered with the Jubao Pavilion.
So, when the attendant saw their identity tokens, he respectfully led them into an unoccupied private room.
Incidentally, they also enjoyed a 70% discount on items at the auction.
Specifically, they would bid normally, then pay 30% of the winning bid price.
As for the 70% discount, the Academy would cover it.
The auction quickly began, and all fifteen private rooms were filled with guests.
A mature young woman in a white evening gown slowly rose from the circular platform.
She wore a gentle, highly infectious smile and spoke in a soft voice, saying, "Welcome everyone to tonight's auction.
I am your host and auctioneer for today, Luo Shuiyun."
"It's actually Sister Luo Shuiyun! It seems there are good things at tonight's auction!" Ma Xiaotao said, looking at the young woman in the center of the circular platform with considerable surprise.
Luo Shuiyun, a graduate of Shrek Academy's Inner Courtyard, thirty-three years old, an 82nd-rank Spirit Douluo, an Inner Courtyard teacher, a gold-medal auctioneer for the Jubao Pavilion, and one of its managers.
Auctions she hosted almost always featured 100,000-year Spirit Bone.
Zhu Ziyang was also very much looking forward to it.
"Distinguished guests, without further ado, please behold tonight's first auction item!" Luo Shuiyun waved her sleeve, and a glass cover slowly rose beside her.
Inside the glass cover floated a Spirit Bone, emitting purplish-blue lightning, and as electric arcs flashed, the air within the glass cover would boil.
It was a Spirit Bone as the very first item!
Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao were both very surprised, their gazes falling on the large screen directly opposite their private room.
The screen displayed the basic information of this Spirit Bone.
"As you can all see, this Thundercloud Collapse Left Arm Bone comes from a 60,000-year-old Thundercloud Crane," Luo Shuiyun explained.
"The Thundercloud Crane is a rare thunder-attribute cloud Spirit Beast.
Not only does it possess extremely fast speed, but thanks to the formidable power of the thunder attribute, it also has strong destructive capabilities, making it an undisputed top-tier Spirit Beast.
This left arm bone can not only provide a powerful amplification-type Spirit Ability for a Spirit Master but also increase their thunder element affinity and thunder attribute resistance, making its value extraordinary."
Luo Shuiyun paused, then said, "Thundercloud Collapse Left Arm Bone, starting bid: eight million, with each increment no less than one hundred thousand.
Bidding begins!"
As Luo Shuiyun's words fell, a chorus of bids erupted from the surrounding private rooms.
In just a few minutes, the price of this 60,000-year Spirit Bone exceeded ten million gold coin, causing a slight change in the expressions of Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao.
Spirit Bone—these were the most difficult items to price in the entire Spirit Master's world, and also the items with the greatest price discrepancies.
Spirit Bone of the same age could fetch vastly different prices, because too many factors influenced Spirit Bone pricing, with age being the least important factor.
Of course, 100,000-year Spirit Bone were an exception, because any Spirit Beast that reached 100,000 years no longer belonged to the Spirit Beast level.
This Thundercloud Collapse Left Arm Bone, from its Spirit Beast level to its attribute effects, and then to its age and part, would at most, at most, not exceed thirteen million gold coin.
Indeed, as the price entered twelve million, the number of bidders instantly dropped by more than half, with only a scattered few still competing.
Ultimately, this 60,000-year Spirit Bone was acquired by the guest in private room number seven for a price of twelve million eight hundred thousand.
The second item followed, an eighth-grade defensive spirit tool.
The moment this spirit tool appeared, Zhu Ziyang instantly realized who its creator was: Qian Duoduo!
Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao were both uninterested, watching others vie for it, quite contentedly.
Soon, three more items were displayed and auctioned off, but Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao remained uninterested.
It wasn't until the sixth auction item appeared that the bored Zhu Ziyang immediately sat up straight, his eyes fixed on the item.
Zhu Ziyang's reaction made Ma Xiaotao a little puzzled.
She looked at the item information on the big screen, then at Zhu Ziyang, and asked, "Ziyang, what is this item? Do you recognize it?"
Zhu Ziyang nodded but did not speak, his gaze fixed on the item in the glass cover.
The sixth item was a silver-white imperial seal, carved with strange and special patterns.
The upper part of the imperial seal was sculpted into a half-moon shape, with a lifelike beauty reclining on the half-moon.
"This 'Beauty Reclining on the Moon Seal' is carved from the finest Yuanhun Treasure Jade and has the effects of gathering elemental energy, harmonizing qi, nurturing the heart, calming the mind, and dispelling inner demons," Luo Shuiyun explained, her expression peculiar, as if she wanted to laugh but couldn't, though her voice remained perfectly normal.
"Beauty Reclining on the Moon Seal, starting bid: five million, with each increment no less than five hundred thousand!"
No sooner had Luo Shuiyun's words fallen than they caused an uproar in the venue.
Everyone was shocked, unable to understand why this seemingly worthless broken imperial seal could be featured in an auction, let alone have a starting bid of five million!
Luo Shuiyun was also embarrassed, secretly annoyed.
The person responsible for reviewing the auction items could pack up and leave tonight; wasn't this tarnishing her, Luo Shuiyun's, reputation?
It seemed she would have an unsold item tonight, which was truly infuriating!
Time passed minute by minute, and soon the maximum retention time for an item in auction was reached, yet no one had bid.
Luo Shuiyun had given up and was preparing to have the backstage staff bring out the seventh item.
"Five million!"
At this moment, a price came from private room number three, instantly making Luo Shuiyun's eyes light up, and she unhesitatingly responded, "Private room number three bids five million! Five million once! Five million twice! Five million thrice! Sold!"
Undoubtedly, private room number three, which bid for the imperial seal, belonged to Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao.
Their actions did not attract the attention of others, as such 'foolish rich people' always appeared at every auction.
"Ziyang, what's the deal with this imperial seal?" Ma Xiaotao asked, unable to understand.
"Oh, nothing much, I just think it looks good and suits Nannan very well," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
His words instantly made Ma Xiaotao's expression change, a strong sense of resentment and dissatisfaction welling up in her heart, accompanied by a hint of sadness, her voice becoming somewhat dejected as she said, "Oh! Is that so!"
"Hahahaha, Sister Xiaotao, I was just teasing you!" Zhu Ziyang looked at Ma Xiaotao's reaction and couldn't help but burst out laughing, his schadenfreude making Ma Xiaotao grit her teeth in anger.
She unhesitatingly reached out and pinched his soft spot.
Zhu Ziyang immediately begged for mercy, but he had successfully brushed off the matter of the imperial seal.
So, what exactly was the use of this imperial seal?
In fact, it was related to a vague yet bold plan Zhu Ziyang had recently conceived.
This imperial seal's true name is the moon emperor jade seal!