I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
Sun and Moon Royal Academy Library.
As a world-leading soul guide research institution, its collection of books and materials on soul guides is unmatched in the entire Douluo Star.
As long as they are enrolled, students can borrow books from the collection and use the vast resources to enrich themselves.
Xu Tianyang borrowed a book called "Level Three Soul Guide and Soul Guide Formation, Xu Yunxiao's Annotated Edition" and found a place with good lighting to read it with great interest.
It's no wonder that some of the insights really gave him great inspiration. His father was indeed worthy of being hailed as the genius with the greatest hope of breaking through to the ninth-level soul engineer.
"Boss, I've been looking for you for a long time. Why are you here?"
Zui Hongchen's somewhat low voice came, and Huang Xiuwen, who had gradually become inseparable from him this semester, sat on both sides of him.
"No way, boss, the final exams are over, and you're still writing them?" Looking past Xu Tianyang and seeing the books in the other's hands, Zui Hongchen lowered his voice and couldn't help wailing.
"Will you give us poor people a way to make a living?"
Seeing Zui Hongchen's resentful expression, Huang Xiuwen on the side was the first to get angry. He said with a stern face: "Fatty, besides the boss, you are the only one who got full marks in the final theoretical knowledge test. You are a poor student, so what am I?"
"Also, don't think I didn't see the copy of 'General Outline of Common Questions for the Level 3 Soul Instructor Exam' under your pillow. You're the one secretly involuntarily doing this, aren't you?"
Hearing the angry voice, the flesh on Zui Hongchen's face couldn't help but tremble. He smiled awkwardly, "Ahem... Old Huang, I'm doing this for progress. Besides, didn't we agree that the two of us brothers, one civil and one military, would assist His Highness and achieve great success."
"So, the college is on vacation, why don't you go home? What are you doing staying in school?" With a chuckle, Xu Tianyang closed the book, turned to look at Zui Hongchen and the others and asked.
Three months have passed since the last actual combat. The academy has completed one year's courses and started the holidays.
Because Xu Yunxiao and Mu Mengyu had not returned yet, Xu Tianyang did not return to the Prince's Mansion. To him, it was actually the same whether he lived in school or the Prince's Mansion.
He prefers staying in the school library rather than the Prince's Mansion.
"Boss, there are some interesting things at the Starlight Auction House." Zui Hongchen came over with a mysterious look on his face and said softly.
"Let's go and take a look!" Xu Tianyang stood up with a smile after hearing that.
Starlight Auction House is an old auction house located near the Sun and Moon Royal Academy. Due to its location, students and teachers of the academy like to go there to check out any new items or opportunities to find bargains.
Xu Tianyang also knew that the Hongchen family was a shareholder of the Starlight Auction House. With Zui Hongchen's knowledge, if they found something interesting, then it must be good. His curiosity was indeed aroused.
As night falls, the lights come on.
As the largest city in the Sun-Moon Empire, the Imperial Capital has never worried about wars due to its strength. It is considered the most prosperous city in the Sun-Moon Continent.
The pedestrians coming and going on the wide streets all have happy smiles on their faces.
The three of them walked through the school gate and soon stopped in front of a strange circular building.
This circular building covers an area of large light. Its diameter is at least more than 500 meters, and its highest point is more than 100 meters. It is an extremely rare building even in the imperial capital.
The fact that they can occupy such a large area in this land-scarce area shows how powerful their background is.
In addition to the Hongchen family, there are several top families, even the royal family is one of them.
The gate of the Starlight Auction House is also semicircular, and like the entire auction building, it is a simple black color.
Several tall welcoming girls stood at the door. These girls had clearly been carefully selected; not only were they all around 1.75 meters tall, but they also had incredibly well-proportioned figures. While not stunningly beautiful, their beautiful looks and youthful energy were still quite appealing.
However, it had no appeal to Xu Tianyang and the other two.
After Zui Hongchen took out a token, the three of them walked into the auction house amid the maid's excited expression.
The interior of the auction hall is not magnificent, but rather simple and elegant. The floor is made of milky white marble and the surrounding walls are decorated with various reliefs.
In the display windows against the wall of the building, there are some rare metals that are either crystal clear or brightly colored, as well as many well-made soul guides.
For some students who are valued by the college, they all have privileges given by the college and can spend freely within a certain limit.
This is equivalent to the college's early investment in students with good talents but poor backgrounds.
When it comes to training students, the Sun-Moon Empire is serious.
Inside the auction house, in the exclusive box of the Hongchen family, the most eye-catching thing in the box is the huge floor-to-ceiling window in the front. It is made of a huge piece of crystal and has been specially treated so that every corner of the venue can be clearly seen.
"It seems that the items at today's auction are of great value. So many 'big shots' are here." His eyes swept across the VIP rooms, all of which exuded a strong atmosphere. Xu Tianyu looked at Zui Hongchen beside him and chuckled."These guys are rats, and their noses are so sharp." When Zui Hongchen saw this scene, his face couldn't help but change and he cursed in a low voice.
Seeing this, Xu Tianyang's curiosity was completely aroused, and he looked at the center of the auction hall with great interest.
At this time, the lights in the auction center gradually dimmed. Under the illumination of several soul-guided crystal lamps on the stage, the host in a purple dress gracefully walked onto the stage.
Holding a loudspeaker soul guide, she glanced at the many top VIP rooms, and began to preside over the auction with a sweet smile.
As the auction officially began, the noisy audience seats quieted down.
The prices of the first few auction items were not expensive, within the range of 10,000 gold soul coins, but they were enough to warm up the audience.
"Deal! Congratulations to VIP #476 for winning this Level 4 Mysterious Water Shield with 12,138 Gold Soul Coins."
Sitting in an ordinary seat in the hall, a young man had a half-crying, half-laughing expression on his face. It felt good to bid for a while, but it was a crematorium afterwards. Late at night was indeed the peak time for impulsive spending, especially in an auction house, a place that makes people's adrenaline soar.
"Thank you all for coming. Now, let's unveil tonight's first major auction item: the invincible shield, which was developed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince a few years ago. Although it's only a Level 5 soul guide, due to its unique nature, the starting price is 100,000 gold soul coins. Bids will be accepted after five minutes, and each bid must be no less than 500 gold soul coins."
After the opening, the real auction began. As expected, the first auction item made the bidders in the audience excited.
Invincible Shield, this soul guide was developed based on an extremely rare soul skill, Invincible Golden Body. Under the injection of the core magic circle, the Invincible Shield can instantly burst out the energy in the golden crystal to generate powerful defensive power.
Just a level five invincible shield can block the attack of any soul master below the eight-ring soul douluo level for three seconds, and its value is no less than a thousand-year soul bone.
"It's actually an invincible shield. Isn't this thing restricted from circulation by the royal family?" Zui Hongchen blinked his narrow eyes and couldn't help but secretly glance at Xu Tianyang a few times.
"Why are you looking at me? Since the auction house dares to put it up for auction, it must have obtained the approval of the royal family." Xu Tianyang noticed the other party's eyes, holding the drink cup, with a relaxed look.
He also didn't expect that the Invincible Shield was actually researched by his father. The Invincible Shield was a soul guide that was a life-saving treasure at certain times. As soon as it came out, it was determined to be the soul master's favorite soul guide, and the market was extremely wide. In view of the current complex environment, after the test results were obtained, the royal family immediately issued a ban, prohibiting its circulation in the market for use by generals on the front line.
Such an excellent defensive soul guide is sometimes enough to change the outcome of a war. In such a tense situation, the royal family must also be wary of the people of the Moonlight Empire obtaining the invincible shield. If the other party is able to research it, it will be a disguised aid to the enemy.
Seeing Xu Tianyang's reaction, Zui Hongchen breathed a sigh of relief, then rubbed his hands, looking at the invincible shield in the auction house with some fiery eyes.
This kind of excellent soul guide is full of fatal temptation for a talented soul guide like him. Because of the ban before, even he had only heard of it from his grandfather and had never seen the real thing.
At this moment, the moment he saw the real thing, there was only one thought in his mind.
"Buy it, crack it, learn it."
"What a good thing, I really want it..." Huang Xiuwen walked to the one-way glass of the box, staring at the invincible shield without blinking.
"No, you don't want to!" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Zui Hongchen immediately turned around and interrupted him with a serious face.
Upon hearing this, Huang Xiuwen rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and sat back in his seat. Although he was learning how to make soul guides, he was not as enthusiastic about it as Zui Hongchen, and his talent was not as good as the other's.
Just as the few people were talking, the price of the fifth-level invincible shield in the field quickly soared to 300,000 gold soul coins, and was still rising.
Every new soul guide is a great temptation to these high-level soul guides, not to mention such an excellent soul guide as the Invincible Shield.
"Five hundred thousand!"
In the end, after Zui Hongchen called out a price of 500,000, he finally got the invincible shield.
During this process, Xu Tianyang clearly felt several unwilling gazes, but after they saw the price of the box being bid, they all gave up raising the price.
Although the power of the Hongchen family cannot compare to that of the Huo Yuhao period, it is still top-notch. Now that the royal family has given in, sooner or later everyone will get the invincible shield from somewhere else. There is no need to lose face and compete.
Moreover, I heard that Zui Hongchen of the Hongchen family is very close to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It's a pity, why doesn't their family have any outstanding younger generations of the same age?
The subsequent auction items were all soul guides above level seven. Of course, the various soul guides put up for auction did not involve core technology.
Xu Tianyang had been watching quietly, without bidding for any of the items. Born into a royal family, he had a lot of experience and naturally had a high standard. In his opinion, these soul guides were just average, and there was no need to bid for them.
"Next is today's grand finale."
The clear and moving voice sounded again, and those who knew what was going on today couldn't help but sit up straight, staring at the auctioneer on the field with eager eyes.
This time the show was bigger than any previous one. Two girls held a dark rectangular metal box in their hands. Then the auctioneer slowly walked up to the two girls, stretched out his slender jade fingers to open the closed metal box, and introduced it to everyone.
"This is the last lot to be auctioned tonight, the Hanyue Carving Knife, ranked 78th on the Carving Knife Ranking."