Ice attribute... Demon Soul Great White Shark Royalty...
These words exploded in Lan Xuanyu's mind like a bomb, blowing away his ability to think momentarily. He didn't even hear what Xu Jiujiu was saying.
As her beloved husband, Lan Xuanyu had naturally heard much about the Demon Soul Great White Shark clan from Bai Xiuxiu.
First of all, it was certain that in the entire Demon Soul Great White Shark clan, only Xiuxiu had mutated the extremely rare Ice attribute.
Logically, in this era, Xiuxiu only had eighty thousand years of cultivation and should not possess the human transformation ability unique to 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts. Yet, she could speak human language—this was the uniqueness of the Demon Soul Great White Shark Royalty.
Synthesizing these points, Lan Xuanyu was basically certain: this 100,000-year-old Soul Beast captured by the Star Luo Empire using the Sealing God Platform was his beloved wife, the future Life Core of the Dragon-Horse Star System and the Mistress of the [Dragon God Realm], Bai Xiuxiu.
"Xiuxiu... Xiuxiu..."
Indescribably complex emotions battered Lan Xuanyu's thoughts. He was even somewhat dazed; he never imagined that his first meeting with his beloved wife would be in such a scene, and even worse, that his wife was being auctioned.
I am truly an incompetent husband...
...
Huo Yuhao's perception was incredibly powerful, so he naturally noticed Lan Xuanyu's loss of composure.
Xiuxiu?
What is this guy mumbling about now?
Combining this with Lan Xianyu's status as a reincarnator, Huo Yuhao had a bold guess.
Does he know this shark?
That wouldn't be strange. And hearing his tone—so full of longing and obsession—could it be they were acquainted?
For some reason, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt a very refreshing sense of satisfaction.
On the screen, Xu Jiujiu bowed respectfully to the crowd. "...Next, we will give our distinguished guests thirty minutes of rest and appreciation time. In thirty minutes, we will conduct this final heavy-weight auction."
"This auction house allows for payment via collateral. We will evaluate collateral at the fairest rates. However, converting to cash requires a 20% handling fee. Do not miss this golden opportunity; it will not come again. This 100,000-year-old Soul Beast transformation embryo can be said to be unprecedented and unrepeatable. With it, a super-powerful expert will surely be forged. Do not miss your chance."
Inside the room of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Engineer Academy, everyone—including Xiao Hongchen—began to breathe heavily.
Big baby, you've finally arrived!
In reality, this was also a small trick played by Xu Jiawei. He deliberately sent people to leak a bit of information to the Sun Moon Empire side to help them make the resolve to buy the Sealing God Platform.
"This supreme treasure—this young master is determined to get it!"
Xiao Hongchen swung his hand down forcefully. He already imagined Huo Yuhao kneeling before his twin martial souls, bowing and submitting.
Hahaha... This young master is the strongest genius in this world!
...
Wang Yan hesitated for a moment and turned to look at Zhang Lexuan. This matter was of great importance and was no longer something he could decide.
"There is no need for us to compete with other powers for this," Zhang Lexuan shook her head. "Besides, if you think about it, would a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast willingly fuse with a human? These are just the one-sided words of the auction house. My personal estimate is that the success probability is likely not even 10%."
Hearing this, Wang Yan nodded in agreement. After all, the value of this thing was ridiculously high. If there was no money, there was no money; there was no way around it.
"No... No!"
Just then, an exasperated Lan Xuanyu roared at Zhang Lexuan.
"I don't care! I don't care, I want to save Xiuxiu! I must save Xiuxiu!"
"We must buy it! Otherwise, I will destroy the Star Luo Empire at any cost!"
Master Yu Xiaogang thinks this is f***ed and gives you a thumbs up, wishing you luck in destroying a nation with your rank-30-something soul power.
"!...?"
Everyone looked at Lan Xuanyu with expressions as if they were looking at an idiot.
Do you know what you're saying? Are you even conscious?
Is he having another episode?
"I..."
Before Lan Xuanyu could finish, he suddenly swayed and then collapsed to the ground, falling into an infant-like sleep.
As the perpetrator, Huo Yuhao only saw the golden light in Lan Xuanyu's eyes gradually dim. He stepped forward and gave a quick flick of his toe, kicking Lan Xuanyu into a corner with quite agile movements.
Looking at the still-unresponsive Qing Ya with a faint smile, he said, "I've always felt this guy had brain issues. Maybe he was struck stupid by that Death God Envoy. Auctioneer Qing Ya, you didn't hear anything just now."
Qing Ya blinked twice, and the flash of displeasure on her face quickly vanished. She gave Huo Yuhao a proper, gentle smile.
"Master Yuhao is indeed exceptionally brilliant. Qing Ya has learned a lesson."
...
Knock knock.
Just then, the sound of knocking rang out.
Everyone instinctively looked back. After receiving a nod of approval from Zhang Lexuan, Qing Ya rose to open the door.
The door opened, and the first to walk in was Princess Jiujiu, now dressed in a golden palace gown.
As they say, "clothes make the man"—the golden palace gown indeed complemented the princess's temperament and beauty. Even a serious person like Bei Bei was momentarily dazed.
Behind Princess Jiujiu was another person, wearing ordinary profound-yellow clothes.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Qing Ya and the two female attendants knelt in succession.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness."
Gazing at the newcomer, everyone's expressions changed as they stood up straight.
"Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Highness."
Zhang Lexuan and Wang Yan did not kneel but bowed instead; the other students followed suit.
Seeing this Emperor up close, everyone discovered that he didn't possess the typical imperial haughtiness. Instead, he was exceptionally easygoing.
Xu Jiawei chuckled. "There is no need for such formality from the geniuses of Shrek. In Star Luo City, I am considered the host and should fulfill my duties as such. It is a pity I have been busy with affairs and have neglected you all."
Zhang Lexuan nodded calmly. "May I ask what brings Your Majesty here?"
Xu Jiawei's gaze landed on Huo Yuhao's handsome, picture-perfect face. He said gently, "It hasn't been long since we last met, yet Yuhao has already grown so much... Even I can't quite see through you little fellow anymore. By the way, it was you who spoke about the restrictions on the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Huo Yuhao nodded slightly and responded calmly.
Xu Jiawei laughed. "Fortunately, you reminded us in time. Otherwise, a great mistake might have been made, ruining the reputation of my Starlight Auction House."
Princess Jiujiu explained, "We just bought back the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone ourselves to avoid credit issues. However, this auction item will naturally no longer be available for auction."
Huo Yuhao smiled. "Your Majesty is too kind. After all, I am a person of the Star Luo Empire, and the Empire has taken good care of me and my mother over the years. This is what I should do."
Hearing this, Xu Jiawei nodded with satisfaction. "You are my subjects; these things are only right. However, I should reward you properly. How about this: once you win the championship of this competition, I will give this soul bone to you as an extra prize. I believe that besides you, there is likely no second person in this world with an Ultimate Ice martial soul."
Huo Yuhao's expression changed slightly as he looked at Xu Jiujiu with some surprise.
This was different from what the two of them had discussed before...
Xu Jiujiu blinked at him innocently. As the Emperor, it was impossible for Xu Jiawei not to know about this.
Actually, looking at the big picture, Huo Yuhao was the one benefiting.
"Your Majesty overpraises me. The championship is somewhat difficult for me, and..." Huo Yuhao suddenly revealed a meaningful smile. "As the Empire's highest institution of learning, does the Star Luo National Academy not have the confidence to win on its own home turf?"
Xu Jiawei was clearly stunned. As an Emperor, he naturally understood the meaning behind Huo Yuhao's words.
Could it be...
An Emperor is an Emperor, after all. Xu Jiawei suddenly laughed heartily. "Good, good, good... It was my mistake then. I shouldn't have forcibly bound the soul bone to the championship; that would be disparaging the honor of the title."
Xu Jiawei's eyes swept briefly over the Shrek crowd, and he waved his hand. "How about this: as the saying goes, 'a precious sword for a hero,' I will simply give this soul bone to you directly."
Princess Jiujiu moved with light steps to stand before Huo Yuhao. She gave him a gentle smile and then took out a gift box made of cold jade from her storage ring and handed it over.
Everyone was stunned. Even Qing Ya and the others looked on in disbelief.
This was something worth 40 million gold soul coins! To just give it away like that—are all Emperors this generous?
"Your Majesty, this..." Wang Yan looked at the box in front of him in a daze.
Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, accepted the box with peace of mind and bowed slightly. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Highness."
As he accepted the gift from the Star Luo Empire, the eyes of not only the preparatory team like Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, but even Gongyang Mo and Ling Luochen, grew a bit strange.
Was this not a blatant recruitment? And Huo Yuhao had accepted it so openly...
Did he still have Shrek in his eyes?
Xu Jiawei was in a good mood. He patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder and said, "The gates of the Empire are always open to you. Alright, let's leave it at that for now. As you know, this final auction item is very important. I need to oversee the back. After the competition ends, I will host a banquet for everyone, and we can drink to our hearts' content then."
With that, the Emperor gave a slight nod to everyone and turned to leave gracefully.
Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei exchanged looks, then stepped forward. "Yuhao, you... this isn't very good for Shrek, is it?"
When you eat someone's food, your mouth is short; when you take someone's gifts, your hand is short. For Huo Yuhao to take benefits from the Star Luo Empire at this time was not a good thing for Shrek Academy.
Huo Yuhao looked at Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei with a face full of confusion. "When did I ever sell myself to Shrek?"
Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei felt slightly flustered by his gaze. Wang Yan's heart skipped a beat. "Yuhao, Sanshi didn't mean it that way. But if you do this... the influence isn't very good."
"Doesn't Shrek say it respects every student's choice to stay or leave? What does this mean then? When did I say I was bound to Shrek?"
Although Huo Yuhao's words weren't pleasant to hear, they were the truth. Shrek had never made a hard rule that students must be bound to the academy.
One must know that every student who has been to Shrek, even years after graduation, would never say anything bad about their alma mater and would take pride in having joined Shrek Academy.
But here with Huo Yuhao, anyone could hear the intent to leave in his words.
The atmosphere in VIP Room No. 7, which had been fairly harmonious, suddenly plummeted.
...
VIP Room No. 1.
Princess Jiujiu had a small earbud in her right ear. She listened for a moment and whispered excitedly, "Brother, the target has taken the bait! After we proposed reducing all handling fees for items produced by the Illustrious Virtue Hall to 10%, they have already sold us many soul tools!"
"Very good! After getting the soul tools, send them to the research institute immediately." Xu Jiawei continued, "In six months, release a mission to the Adventurer's Guild to seize treasures from the Illustrious Virtue Hall, with a mission amount of 100 million gold soul coins."
"Yes!"
Xu Jiawei smiled confidently. "Even if that kid Xiao Hongchen is talented, it's impossible for him to attempt fusion for at least ten years. Hall Master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, I hope you like the grand gift I'm sending you."
...
Thirty minutes flashed by. This time was enough for those with intent to prepare.
When Xu Jiujiu announced the start of the bidding at 100 million gold soul coins, the subsequent bidding could only be described as tragic.
Huo Yuhao had the ease of someone "sitting on the mountain watching tigers fight," even leisurely crossing his legs and swinging them back and forth.
As for what the others from Shrek were thinking, who knows? In any case, those deeply bound to Shrek were not in a very good mood.
Lan Xuanyu was still sleeping soundly, unaware that his dear wife was being sold for a staggering price.
For example, in Lan Xuanyu's era, the Silver Dragon Spear divine artifact once auctioned by Shrek Academy had a starting price of 100 billion—but that was in Federation coins. Combining inflation and the exchange rate between paper currency and gold, the 100 million gold soul coins in Huo Yuhao's era were actually higher than 100 billion Federation coins.
With his wife being sold for a price higher than a divine artifact, Lan Xuanyu should be happy.
The price continued to rise, but having passed 100 million, it was no longer a price a general power could afford. It only rose by a few million at a time.
Soon the price reached 130 million!
But just then, the number suddenly changed.
"150 million!"
Everyone in Shrek's VIP Room No. 7 stood up. This price was no longer "money making the mare go," but "the mare making the money go."
In VIP Room No. 2.
Xiao Hongchen sat with his legs crossed, using a spoon to stir a cup of coffee that gave off a rich aroma, looking calm and in control.
The expressions of others in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Engineer Academy varied; while some were envious, more were disdainful.
No other reason than this—this grandson Xiao Hongchen was too good at pretending! Isn't it just because he has a good grandfather? Otherwise, who would care about him!
But there was no way around it... he was the grandson of the Hall Master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, and would be the Hall Master in the future. There was no choice; the Illustrious Virtue Hall belonged to his family.
Old Ma, sitting in the middle, furrowed his brows. "Twenty million all at once... even for the Illustrious Virtue Hall, this isn't a small amount. Isn't it a bit too..."
Xiao Hongchen first took an elegant sip of coffee before saying slowly, "It's precisely to suppress them all at once. Otherwise, it will only make the price go higher and higher, which would only benefit the Star Luo Empire."
Ma Rulong asked with a solemn expression, "Is such a high price worth it?"
"Of course it's worth it! And I'm not spending the Academy's money," Xiao Hongchen's heterochromatic eyes were full of excitement. "As long as I fuse with this supreme treasure, I can have a 100,000-year soul ring, a soul bone, and a second martial soul! How could I let such an opportunity pass..."
Before he could finish, his sleeve was pulled by Meng Hongchen beside him.
At this point, Xiao Hongchen also realized and restrained his excitement.
Just as Xiao Hongchen had said, the price of 150 million indeed stunned almost everyone present, but that didn't mean people would give up.
VIP Room No. 3.
"You, come here."
A man with an exceptionally large head beckoned to the auctioneer in the black dress. Around his massive head, ripples of strange waves fluctuated.
The Black-level auctioneer stepped forward quickly and stood blankly before him.
"Go out and find out the background of the person who just bid 150 million gold soul coins."
"Yes." The Black-level auctioneer actually answered respectfully and turned to leave.
The man beside him with the exceptionally strong right arm gave him a thumbs up. "Second Brother, you really have a way. I say, why be so troublesome? Let's just snatch it back. Maybe the Young Master will directly..."
The big-headed man reached out irritably and slapped the head of the man beside him. "Stupid talk! There are likely no fewer than four Titled Douluo level experts in this Starlight Auction House. You going to fight them or am I?"
Similar scenes played out in almost every VIP room. With the "kind" cooperation of the Starlight Auction House, the identity of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Engineer Academy in VIP Room No. 2 was smoothly revealed.
By the time Lan Xuanyu woke up from Huo Yuhao's spiritual shock, what he saw on the screen were the four words "Transaction Successful" and the final closing price of 150 million—a full nine-digit figure...