Time passed, and both the participating teams and the audience had gradually entered the venue.
In the spectator stands, two young girls sat together. Their eyes weren't fixed on the contestant rest area or the VIP seats but were instead searching for something in the audience.
"Strange, Barbatos said he would come to watch the competition. Why can't we find him?"
With tens of thousands of spectators, finding one person was difficult. But someone with Barbatos' demeanor and appearance would undoubtedly stand out in a crowd.
Finding an ordinary person with a common face was difficult, but finding a young man like Barbatos was even more challenging, unless he wasn't there.
"Sorry, Xiao Xiao, I haven't seen Barbatos either. He... he probably didn't manage to get a ticket."
Wang Dong'er turned to Xiao Xiao, her face filled with apologies.
Hearing this, Xiao Xiao quickly waved her hands and said, "Dong'er, you're helping me look for him. Why should you apologize?"
"Barbatos is just a bard. It's understood that he doesn't have much money."
"He... he doesn't have money, but I could have bought him a ticket. Why... why didn't he accept it?"
At this point, Xiao Xiao paused and looked at Wang Dong'er, asking, "Dong'er, do you think Barbatos dislikes me?"
A faint black line appeared on Wang Dong'er's forehead as she felt somewhat speechless.
Her best friend was seriously lovesick!
She had to admit that Barbatos was indeed remarkable, charming, talented, and extremely handsome.
More importantly, there was a shadow of Zhongli in Barbatos. Even if it was just a slight resemblance, Barbatos was an unparalleled beauty in the mortal world!
"Xiao Xiao, you're so beautiful, cute, and talented, with a boundless future. How could he not like you?"
"Besides, if he didn't like you, why would he accompany you shopping, flower-viewing, and dining..."
"You should be more confident. My Xiao Xiao is the most beautiful!"
As she spoke, Wang Dong'er thought to herself: Except for me, Xiao Xiao is the most beautiful!
Fortunately, Xiao Xiao didn't know what Wang Dong'er was thinking, or else their "plastic" sisterhood might have fallen apart.
"Xiao Xiao, Barbatos is a gentleman. He doesn't want to live apart from others, and that's a good thing. You should be happy."
"Dong'er, are you serious?"
Xiao Xiao looked at Wang Dong'er with an innocent expression, asking.
It was as if Wang Dong'er's words were a sedative, if Wang Dong'er nodded, she would immediately believe it!
"Really!"
Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao didn't know that the "Barbatos" they were looking for had indeed come, but he had simply changed his identity and appearance.
While they were searching for "Barbatos," Zhongli's gaze also fell on them, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.
"Strange, the way Xiao Xiao looks at my disguised Barbatos is very similar to how Guizhong looks at me. What... what's the reason for this?"
Zhongli stroked his chin, deep in thought.
When it came to emotions, Zhongli was normal, whether it was friendship or any other kind of feeling, he was normal.
Except for love, he was like a stone... well, he was a "stone."
"Even though I don't understand what Xiao Xiao means, it's better to avoid using the Barbatos identity as much as possible."
After thinking for a while, Zhongli murmured to himself.
It was just an avatar. Creating a new identity wasn't difficult.
At that moment, Xu Jiawei's voice rang out again, pulling Zhongli out of his thoughts.
"Martial God, after today's elimination matches, please grace the auction house with your presence."
Xu Jiawei cupped his hands towards Zhongli and continued, "The auction house will auction off four Mora tonight. The remaining five Mora will be reserved for the next auction, giving them enough time to prepare Golden Soul Coins."
After several days of promotion, many major forces had prepared ample Golden Soul Coins. But Xu Jiawei wanted to tell them that the Golden Soul Coins they had prepared were not enough, far from enough!
Tonight, the first four Mora will test the waters!
These four Mora were destined to fetch an astronomical price.
As for the remaining five Mora, they will give these people enough time to prepare more Golden Soul Coins. If they were from distant places and didn't have enough Golden Soul Coins, well... the Star Luo Royal Auction House could accept items as collateral!
Xu Jiawei knew his limits. While he could have taken all nine Mora, there was no need for that.
What he needed were soul tools from other empires, especially from the Sun Moon Empire!
Xu Jiawei was afraid Zhongli might misunderstand, so he explained that his actions were meant to maximize the economic value of Mora.
Hearing this, Zhongli nodded suddenly.
The value of Mora exceeded his expectations, yet it was also within reason.
After all, it was an elemental creation, containing a trace of his divine power.
Mortals' admiration for it was natural.
"Since Mora has been handed over to the auction house, I'll leave it to your arrangements. I'm in no hurry."
Zhongli responded politely.
With 80 million Golden Soul Coins on him, he was naturally in no rush.
80 million Golden Soul Coins could buy half a Snow Emperor embryo!
Of course, the auction house didn't have a Snow Empress embryo now, the Snow Empress herself was sitting right beside him.
"Sigh~ Zhongli, you're actually auctioning off Mora?"
Paimon was sitting next to Zhongli, and she had clearly heard the conversation between Xu Jiawei and Zhongli.
Mora was a form of currency, yet he was auctioning it off to obtain another form of currency...
Could this really yield a good profit?
"What kind of profit can Mora bring?"
Paimon crossed her arms, her face filled with confusion.
As soon as she spoke, Snow Empress, Ice Empress, Xu Jiawei, and others twitched at the corners of their eyes.
Only this little one didn't take Mora seriously. She was the Martial God's spirit, and if she wanted to... creating Mora should be as easy as lifting a hand, right?
She was the Martial God's spirit, so using his divine power was only natural, wasn't it?
Snow Empress, Ice Empress, Xu Jiawei, and the others were mistaken. Even if Paimon could use Zhongli's power, she wouldn't create Mora!
"You'll find out tonight."
Zhongli didn't explain anything, simply replying briefly.
"Ugh, you're just brushing me off. Paimon's going to eat all your snacks!"
Paimon flew up to Zhongli in a huff, grabbed all the snacks in front of him, and then felt satisfied.
Zhongli looked sideways at Paimon.
"That was your goal all along, wasn't it?"
"Hehe, since you're not eating them, they're mine now!"
Paimon laughed while eating.
Who said Paimon was dumb? Sometimes, she was incredibly clever!
Zhongli shook his head, not bothering to argue with the little one. She was still too young to put on an act in front of him.
Seeing this, Xu Jiawei was momentarily stunned but then waved his hand, instructing his servants to bring more snacks for Zhongli.
Zhongli might not eat them, but the table couldn't be empty!