"Come to think of it, what exactly is an auction?"
The Auspicious Beast sat between Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen, her curious eyes peering through the glass of their private booth, gazing at the area below as she asked in confusion.
Hearing her question, both Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen were momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter simultaneously.
For the Auspicious Beast, once a soul beast, this was indeed something novel.
"Little Rui, you've seen human merchants selling things before, right?"
The Auspicious Beast nodded lightly. When she first encountered those vendors, she thought the goods on their stalls could be taken freely. If not for her quick reflexes, she might've been caught red-handed by a furious fruit vendor after brazenly trying to snatch some of her favorite fruits.
Later, she learned that in the human world, there was a concept called commercial trade. Unlike the soul beast world, where rare resources were usually exchanged directly, humans used something called money for transactions.
"Well, an auction is kind of similar to that. The difference is, here, the price isn't set by the seller. Instead, it's the buyers who compete. The one who offers the highest bid wins the item."
The Auspicious Beast nodded with half understanding. Just then, the hostess of the auction walked up to the stage, and soon, the auction would begin, answering all her questions through action.
The hostess wore a white-gold ceremonial dress, symbolizing the Sun Moon Empire's royal lineage. Huo Yuhao suspected she might be a collateral member of the royal family herself.
"Welcome, distinguished guests of the Sun Moon Empire's north, to the Frost Palace. The auction will commence shortly. We ask for your patience."
Her voice was clear and carried a commanding presence. Instantly, the entire venue fell silent, and all eyes turned toward her, captivated by the mental pressure imbued in her voice.
Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes slightly from within the booth. 'Not bad... her control over spiritual power is above average. She's managed to inject her voice with spirit energy to draw attention.'
"As for the auction items today, I believe many of you are already aware. That's right—what we're auctioning are the countless assets left behind by those foolish traitors. As a reward to all of you loyal subjects in the north, our imperial family has chosen not to hoard these treasures. Instead, we are offering these rare heavenly materials and cultivation resources for open bidding."
The moment she finished speaking, thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the crowd. Most of the attendees were minor nobles from the Sun Moon Empire's northern territories. The chance to bid on items like high-level soul tools and even soul bones was extraordinarily rare for them.
As the clapping and cheers faded, the hostess cleared her throat and continued.
"Alright, it seems everyone is eagerly awaiting today's auction. Let's not waste any more time and move straight to our first item. Just a reminder—there are plenty of excellent treasures in store today."
As she spoke, an attendant wheeled the first auction item onto the stage. It was covered with a cloth. Huo Yuhao sensed the aura emanating from beneath it and raised an eyebrow.
'They're really not holding back. This first item is already at this level?'
With a smile, the hostess signaled the attendant to remove the cloth. As it was lifted, a wave of icy energy burst out, blanketing the stage in a layer of mist.
Once the mist dispersed, the first auction item was revealed—a snow-white long spear exuding a bone-chilling aura.
"Our first item is this eighth-grade soul tool, Frostmourne, crafted personally by Cold Wind, the Frostmoon Douluo, a now-fugitive ninth-grade soul engineer from the north."
The moment her words landed, the crowd was in an uproar. Everyone had expected rare and powerful items, but none imagined the first item would already be an eighth-grade soul tool, and one forged by a ninth-grade soul engineer no less.
It was widely known that the number of eighth-grade soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire barely exceeded a few hundred, while ninth-grade soul engineers numbered under twenty. A weapon crafted by one of them carried immense value.
Even Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen were surprised in their booth.
'The royal family of the Sun Moon Empire is this generous? Starting off with an eighth-grade soul tool?'
"Frostmourne, as its name implies, is an eighth-grade ice-type soul weapon. It can fire highly lethal freezing beams, comparable to the effects of Ultimate Ice. Anyone hit by this beam, even a Titled Douluo, risks being instantly frozen. Moreover, the frost infused with the Frostmoon Douluo's martial soul carries devouring properties, draining soul power from the target and drastically weakening their strength."
Listening to the weapon's description, Huo Yuhao slowly shook his head.
'No wonder they're willing to part with this as the opening item. For an eighth-grade soul tool, its abilities are rather mediocre. Compared to the Judgement Sword developed by Mingde Hall, this one falls short. It's probably just a prototype Cold Wind created back when he was still a Soul Douluo. Nothing too impressive.'
Of course, Huo Yuhao's critique came from a place of elevated perspective. For most of the smaller noble families present, just owning any eighth-grade soul tool would be a tremendous stroke of fortune.
So when the hostess announced the starting price of three million gold soul coins, a frenzy of bidding erupted in the hall. The final price eventually settled at 5.5 million.
Neither Huo Yuhao nor Meng Hongchen participated in the bidding. To them, that amount of money was akin to pocket change. But the Auspicious Beast, upon hearing the price, was utterly dumbfounded.
"Five... hundred... fifty... thousand?"
She stared blankly, counting on her small fingers. Truth be told, ever since arriving in the human world, she hadn't truly grasped the concept of money. What did 5.5 million gold soul coins mean? All she knew was that a single coin could buy her over thirty sticks of grilled squid from her favorite Mingdu street vendor.
"Just how much delicious food could I buy with that?"
Seeing her stunned expression, Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen exchanged glances, then both burst into laughter. The current look on the Auspicious Beast's face was just like that of Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden for the first time—curious, overwhelmed, and utterly adorable.
(End of Chapter)
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