"The quota auction is over. Next is the auction for three pieces of Spirit Alloy."
Duan Lin took out three pieces of Jade Silver.
"Fusion Forging is essentially the process of creating a new metal using two or more types of rare metals. The more thorough the fusion, the higher the quality of the resulting Spirit Alloy. These three pieces of Jade Silver will be auctioned in order from lowest to highest quality."
"The first piece, starting price one million Gold Spirit Coins. Each bid increment must not be less than ten thousand Gold Spirit Coins."
After fierce bidding, the Star Luo Royal Family secured this piece of Jade Silver.
The subsequent second and third pieces were secured by Shrek Academy and Mingde Hall respectively.
"Today's auction ends here. Finally, let me say this: forging is endless. Therefore, the Blacksmith Association widely welcomes all aspiring individuals from across the land. Except for Evil Spirit Masters, any Spirit Master can join the Blacksmith Association locally to explore the mysteries of forging together."
Room Number Three.
"Meng, how is it?"
All eyes were focused on Meng Hongchen.
Everyone knew she possessed a full set of spirit tool armor, custom-made for her by Hall Master Jing Hongchen, representing the pinnacle of Mingde Hall's current achievements in the armor field.
However, this suit of armor had a significant drawback: it was very troublesome to don and activate.
If they had this Spirit Alloy that could integrate into the body...
"It feels very good. It should be directly applicable to spirit tool armor technology." Meng Hongchen opened her eyes, a glint of unusual light shining within them.
She looked at Su Ming.
She stared directly at Su Ming.
Su Ming, under her gaze, also blinked.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"You forged the Spirit Alloy, right?"
"Correct."
"Then can I commission you to make some Spirit Alloy?"
"That won't do. The distribution of Spirit Alloy is planned by the sect. I cannot disrupt the sect's plans."
Su Ming was righteous and firm.
Sect plans?
Meng Hongchen deflated.
Right, for such a good thing, the Body Sect would definitely control it strictly, preventing it from leaking out.
Beside them, Xiao Hongchen raised a doubt.
"Isn't this a technology you developed? Are you also restricted?"
Su Ming nodded as if it were only natural.
"Of course."
His expression remained normal, his ears observing his nose and his nose observing his heart, no longer meeting their gaze.
Elder Ma watched from the side, comprehending the implied meaning, understanding Su Ming's intention.
This was to have Hall Master personally come forward to negotiate!
The auction ended, everyone returned to their quarters to prepare for the next day's match.
Su Ming obtained the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone.
After returning to his room, he used Spirit Power to form a protective barrier and had Electrolux shield all fluctuations.
During the Soul Master Competition, there was always a faint, barely perceptible fluctuation trying to approach him—that was Tang San's divine sense. Unfortunately, Electrolucus could detect it every time and prevent it from getting close.
"Elder Yi, regarding this Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone, do you think you can help me modify it?"
What Huo Yuhao said was certainly true; this Spirit Bone might indeed only be fuseable by a Spirit Master with Ultimate Ice attributes, and Su Ming truly didn't meet the condition.
However, Su Ming had Electrolux.
"Ultimate Ice indeed has a qualitative difference from ordinary ice."
Electrolux studied the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone for a while before giving his conclusion.
"The change in temperature is merely the external manifestation of Ultimate Ice. The biggest difference between Ultimate Ice and ordinary ice is that it possesses a certain conceptual nature."
Su Ming listened quietly without interrupting.
"Even I cannot directly modify this Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone. After all, my expertise in the ice attribute isn't deep. If you truly have your heart set on this Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone, you can use that Lich Martial Soul to possess yourself."
Lich Martial Soul?
Su Ming looked at the three light spheres in his Sea of Consciousness; these were the three Martial Souls stripped from the Evil Spirit Masters.
"These three Evil Martial Souls were supplemented and became normal Martial Souls when I stripped them. Their Martial Soul strength is very powerful now and should be considered top-tier. The inherent characteristics of the Lich Martial Soul align with my necromancy. You can use the Lich Martial Soul to possess yourself, practice my necromancy, tap into the Lich Martial Soul's potential, and bring its Yin attribute to the extreme. At that time, you can use the connection between the Yin attribute and the ice attribute to fuse with this Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone."
Practicing necromancy using the Lich Martial Soul...
Su Ming slowly nodded.
Under normal circumstances, he could practice necromancy and had already learned several techniques, with Purifying Flame being especially masterful. He just hadn't thought of practicing using the Lich Martial Soul.
"With the conditions I provide, your aptitude for practicing necromancy is higher than that of the Lich Martial Soul. However, this cannot change your physique."
To change his physique, he still needed to rely on the Lich Martial Soul possession.
Actually, Electrolux could directly modify Su Ming's physique, but he still didn't propose this method.
Given his relationship with Su Ming, Su Ming would definitely trust him to make the modifications, but Electrolux would not do so.
Recklessly modifying the human body could lead to unknown bugs.
Instead, Martial Souls are very profound; they can attach to a Spirit Master, granting them corresponding abilities. After the Lich Martial Soul possesses him, Su Ming's physique would temporarily change. Later, after releasing the possession, this influence would disappear.
"I understand. It's a long-term project." Su Ming nodded slowly and put away the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone.
He needed to first develop the Lich Martial Soul, then use it to fuse with the Spirit Bone. During the fusion, he would use the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone to alter his own physique, after which the Lich Martial Soul could gracefully retire.
"With my help, a few months' effort will suffice."
Dawn the next day.
The Star Luo Square was packed with people.
The group stage was over; the advancement stage began today.
Different from the group stage, the rules for the advancement stage changed again, no longer deciding victory or defeat with a single match format.
For the round of 16 advancing to the quarter-finals, four matches would be held daily, lasting four days in total. The first two days were team battles, and the subsequent two days were the corresponding individual battles.
If a team lost the team battle, then in the individual battle, they would need to powerfully defeat all seven members of the opposing team with only three of their own members to have a chance at victory, which was obviously very difficult.
Therefore, the team battle often decided the outcome of the advancement stage match.
"For the eight groups, the first-place team from each group will compete against the second-place team from another group."
This wasn't unfair but rather an attempt to be as fair as possible.
A team that could get first place in its group inherently possessed stronger strength. This arrangement gave stronger teams a higher probability of entering the quarter-finals, reducing the chance of weaker teams slipping through into the top eight.
After a fair draw, the opponent for the Sun Moon Imperial Team was finally determined.
"It's actually Zhengtian Academy."
Zhengtian Academy is an academy from the Tianhun Empire. It admires the Martial Soul system and holds an extremely strong rejection of Spirit Engineers, no less than Shrek Academy did in the past.
While Exclusion the Spirit Tool Department, Zhengtian Academy's overall strength is also very robust. It is not only a veteran quarter-finalist team, but this year it has also cultivated a fifty-eighth-level Spirit King, Ye Wuqing.
Ye Wuqing is only nineteen this year and is already at the fifty-eighth level. If given another year, he might very well have a chance to break through to Spirit Emperor.
"Unfortunately, he doesn't have that year." Ma Rulong said.
Such is fate.
If Zhengtian Academy could field a Spirit Emperor in the Soul Master Competition, it would certainly rank among the top academies.
***
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(Chapter End)