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Soon, the attention of everyone in Ye Wen's booth was drawn to the first auction item displayed before them. The voice of the auctioneer followed.
"The Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade—a Rank 8 close-combat soul-guiding tool. Its materials are extremely rare, including a right arm bone from a ten-thousand-year-old Tyrant Tiger spirit beast. This soul-guiding tool solidifies the soul bone skill 'Overlord Slash' and can increase the attack power of similar soul skills by 50%."
Ye Wen nodded appreciatively. Although the soul-guiding technology of this world deviated slightly from what he was familiar with, it still had some impressive highlights.
Because of his martial soul, Ye Wen had rarely relied on soul bones for combat in the past. It was only later that he learned how the same soul bone could produce different soul bone skills depending on the person using it.
The soul-guiding tool before him used an exceptionally advanced technique to solidify an offensive soul bone skill into one of its capabilities.
From Ye Wen's perspective, in terms of sheer strength alone, this soul-guiding tool was already powerful enough to rival a Super Douluo—making it one of the strongest tools below the level of divine artifacts.
If forced to compare it to something, it would be a few ranks lower than Qian Renxue's Angelic Holy Sword. After all, Qian Renxue's sword was a pure soul bone, albeit not one that reached the ten-thousand-year level.
Of course, if divine power were added to the equation, things would be different.
Seeing Ye Wen's slightly intrigued expression, Xu Jiujiu assumed he was interested in this soul-guiding tool and softly asked:
"Master, do you want it?"
Xu Jiujiu's voice brought Ye Wen back to reality, but he simply shook his head and chuckled lightly.
"This thing is useless to me. If I need anything, I'll let you know. Relax for now—it must be exhausting being a princess."
Though Xu Jiujiu was never short of people who cared for her, Ye Wen's words made her feel genuinely comfortable. She responded:
"You're right. With your cultivation, Master, this mere Rank 8 soul-guiding tool isn't worthy of you. Unfortunately, even Rank 9 soul-guiding tools are scarce in our Star Luo Empire—priceless and hard to come by. Otherwise, I'd definitely try to get one for you."
Ye Wen inwardly sighed. People were like blank sheets of paper, easily scribbled upon. Years of royal life had ingrained this polite, politically-minded behavior in Xu Jiujiu—it wouldn't change anytime soon. In the end, Ye Wen smiled and declined.
As for the reason, it was simple: at the level of a Supreme Douluo, there were no soul-guiding tools in this stage capable of matching his strength.
Xu Jiujiu knew when to stop and began chatting and laughing with the other girls nearby. However, she didn't go out of her way to flatter anyone—it was clear she had a good grasp of boundaries.
In the end, this Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade was purchased by Dai Yueheng from Shrek's booth for 1.56 million gold spirit coins.
Though this price seemed low compared to the tens of millions of spirit coins spent on soul bones by protagonists, it was already the entirety of this duke's eldest son's fortune.
As for why this blade was so cheap, in Ye Wen's view, it came down to two factors: the raw materials and the skill.
After all, with the advent of soul-guiding tools, soul masters no longer needed to worry about their means of combat. Additionally, the soul bone used in this Rank 8 soul-guiding tool hadn't even reached the ten-thousand-year level, which explained its relatively low cost.
The second auction item turned out to be another small bombshell, instantly igniting the enthusiasm of many attendees.
The screen changed, splitting the wall-sized display into twelve sections. The items within each section looked somewhat similar—they were all cylindrical, with one end tapered into a cone and the other forming a flat circular surface. Their shapes were identical, but the only difference lay in their colors, suggesting they were forged from different metals.
At this moment, the auctioneer's voice rang out again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, these are twelve fixed-cannon soul shells, also produced by Mingde Hall. They were painstakingly collected, and each one has a unique effect. They are standard size, and when used properly, these twelve fixed-cannon soul shells are potent enough to threaten the lives of Soul Douluo-level soul masters.
Even when used individually, each shell is equivalent to a Rank 6 soul missile.
Their attributes are as follows: water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, poison, lightning, frost, metal, explosion, and paralysis.
Additionally, as a hidden bonus, any soul engineers present who wish to may come forward to examine them closely. You have five minutes, after which the auction will begin."
As the auctioneer's words faded, dozens of figures shot from various booths toward the auction stage. None of them touched the items directly but instead examined them carefully with their equipment, their eyes filled with fascination and fervor. Many soul engineers even breathed heavily, as if gazing upon a peerless beauty.
Meanwhile, the auctioneer herself—a true beauty—seemed to fade into the background.
Xu Jiujiu knew Ye Wen wouldn't have any interest in such low-level gadgets, but she curiously asked:
"Master, I heard from my elder brother that you can create soul-guiding tools. Can you make Rank 9 fixed-cannon soul shells?"
"I can, but there's no need," Ye Wen replied indifferently.
Xu Jiujiu paused for a moment but quickly understood Ye Wen's meaning.
Currently, the original three kingdoms of Douluo still had the most Titled Douluos. Even though the Sun Moon Empire possessed quite a few Rank 9 fixed-cannon soul shells, they were only on par with the original three kingdoms in this field.
Moreover, these were single-use items that required large amounts of precious metals—a resource the original three kingdoms lacked. Instead of wasting resources on disposable tools, it would be better for Ye Wen to focus on crafting Rank 9 soul-guiding tools that could be used repeatedly.
Though Xu Jiujiu didn't voice these thoughts, her mind began calculating silently.
By this time, the five minutes were up, and the auctioneer's voice rang out again.
"Honored guests, these fixed-cannon soul shells are equipped with encrypted arrays from Mingde Hall. If you purchase them solely for research purposes, please exercise caution. Triggering the encryption array could cause the shells to self-destruct.
The auction will now begin. The starting bid is 650,000 gold spirit coins, with each subsequent bid increment no less than 5,000 gold spirit coins."
This price was somewhat inflated, but because the set included all attributes and had significant collection and research value, the premium was justified.
However, Xu Jiujiu was slightly surprised when the auction unexpectedly went cold—no one placed a bid.
She couldn't understand why. Such a valuable auction item had just moments ago drawn so much enthusiasm from the soul engineers. Why was no one willing to spend money on it?
After days of interaction, Xu Jiujiu instinctively turned to Ye Wen with a questioning gaze.
???
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