After leaving the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Xu Zihuang, following his habit, went to the Audo Auction House that Ke Ke had once taken him to and sold several soul tools he had made during this period.
Although he had moderately concealed his talent in crafting soul tools and hadn't started making level-7 soul tools, he had already shown Xuan Ziwen his ability as a top-tier class-5 soul engineer from the very beginning. After a full year of study, it would have seemed unreasonable if he hadn't produced even a single class-6 soul tool.
The class-6 soul tool he chose to make was the Milk Bottle.
Like the Invincible Barrier, the Milk Bottle was known as one of the two most difficult soul tools to produce at the same level.
Comparatively speaking, the Milk Bottle was even more complex to make. This was because it needed to store an enormous amount of soul power without allowing any leakage, and the compressed soul power must not cause an explosion. This placed extremely high demands on both the core array and the materials used.
There was only one criterion for a successful Milk Bottle: stability.
Many class-7 soul engineers were unwilling to make class-6 Milk Bottles because the profit did not justify the risk. In theory, however, a class-6 soul engineer already possessed the ability to produce a class-6 Milk Bottle, since all the core arrays required were only of the sixth level.
The issue was that the error margin of the core array had to be controlled within an extremely narrow range to maintain stability, something not every soul engineer could achieve.
Xu Zihuang had considered this exact point. As a spirit-attribute soul master, he possessed precisely this capability. This way, he wouldn't appear overly outstanding, yet it would also reassure the upper echelons of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy that everything remained within controllable limits, causing them to continue lowering their guard against him.
Inside a spacious and luxurious private room of the Audo Auction House, the same middle-aged steward who had previously received Xu Zihuang and Ke Ke saw the two class-6 Milk Bottles Xu Zihuang had taken out. Even though he had mentally prepared himself, his breathing still quickened noticeably.
"Esteemed guest, our Audo Auction House is willing to purchase these two class-6 Milk Bottles at eight hundred thousand gold soul coins each, a total of one million six hundred thousand gold soul coins. What do you think?"
Xu Zihuang calmly nodded.
"That's fine. Exchange them for rare metals of equivalent value."
"Of course, I have full authority on this matter. Please make your selection, and I will immediately arrange for it to be brought." The middle-aged steward was delighted and swiftly took out a sheet of paper from his storage soul tool and handed it to Xu Zihuang.
The paper listed in detail the prices of various rare metals for selection.
In the Sun Moon Empire, this kind of request was very common. For soul engineers, rare metals were the true hard currency.
Xu Zihuang finished selecting the rare metals and returned the paper to the steward.
He was deliberately doing this for Jing Hongchen and the others to see. Doing nothing at all would instead make them suspect he harbored greater ambitions. Little did they know that, thanks to the ability of his Golden Eyes, he had long memorized the production methods of dozens of high-level soul tools.
The steward was extremely efficient. It didn't take long before someone fetched the rare metals Xu Zihuang had chosen from the treasury.
These rare metals came in various colors and forms. Due to their high density, although they were astonishingly heavy, their volume was not large and took up very little space in a storage soul tool.
Afterward, the steward personally and enthusiastically escorted Xu Zihuang out of the main entrance of the Audo Auction House.
Being on good terms with such a genius soul engineer would bring him tremendous benefits for his future. Naturally, he was more than willing to curry favor.
Even setting everything else aside, just acquiring these two class-6 Milk Bottles and putting them up for auction again would earn him a considerable commission. Class-6 Milk Bottles had always been extremely sought-after soul tools; premium bidding was commonplace.
Afterward, Xu Zihuang strolled through Ming Du. After confirming with the awakened Tian Meng Ice Silkworm that no one was watching him, he once again donned the Thousand-Year Ice Silkworm Silk mask and arrived at the border between the western city district and the western suburbs of Ming Du.
The western suburbs were where the lowest-class commoners of Ming Du lived. There were a few tall buildings, but only stretches of low, simple houses. Further west lies the Sun Moon Mountain Range, composed of numerous rocky peaks.
The three-story tower that Ye Guyi and Nana had purchased was located exactly at this border. The area was neither prosperous nor deserted, but most importantly, if anything unexpected happened, they could escape into the complex terrain of the Sun Moon Mountain Range in the shortest possible time.
The two women had clearly chosen this residence after careful consideration.
Xu Zihuang had left the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy at dusk. By the time he arrived here, night had completely fallen. Lights were just coming on; bright soul guidance lamps adorned the streets, yet the bustle showed no sign of diminishing.
The boundary between the western suburbs and the western city district was very clear. One could tell just from the density of soul guidance lights on either side. Though only a street apart, it felt like two different worlds.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Xu Zihuang arrived in front of a spacious courtyard. Like most buildings in Ming Du, the courtyard was covered overhead by a thick layer of cyan vines, while the surrounding area was planted with all kinds of brightly colored flowers.
Nana had known Xu Zihuang would come tonight and had been watching passers-by from the top of the tower. Her Phantom Martial Soul was special; her entire person seemed to blend into the darkness and the layer of cyan vines.
Upon seeing Xu Zihuang, she drifted down into the courtyard and opened the gate. Just as she was about to instinctively call out "Master," Xu Zihuang stopped her with a look.
Nana understood his concern and cautiously closed the gate again.
"The mistress is in the room."
"Mm." Xu Zihuang acknowledged and, familiar with the way, went straight to the master bedroom on the third floor.
The door was open. Soft soul guidance light spilled into the corridor. Inside the room, Ye Guyi had her back to Xu Zihuang, combing her long, smooth golden hair with an exquisite ivory comb made of white ivory.
This ivory comb had been meticulously crafted by Xu Zihuang from the tooth of a thirty-thousand-year Diamond Mammoth and given to Ye Guyi as a twentieth birthday present.
The full-length mirror in front of her reflected Xu Zihuang's figure. Ye Guyi looked at him in the mirror and lazily beckoned with her hand.
"Zihuang."
Xu Zihuang helplessly walked behind her, took the ivory comb, and gently brushed her golden hair that cascaded like a waterfall.
A faint, refreshing fragrance emanated from her strands. Today, Ye Guyi was once again wearing her favorite golden dress, revealing fair, delicate shoulders. Below her exquisite collarbones was a rather pronounced, snow-white, and perfectly rounded outline.
Seeing Xu Zihuang determinedly keeping his eyes forward, Ye Guyi narrowed her eyes slightly, her long eyelashes resting on her lids, and suddenly asked, "Zihuang, between my hair and that little girl from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, whose do you think is better?"
As she spoke, she opened her golden eyes again and met his gaze through the mirror.
Xu Zihuang raised an eyebrow but did not answer this deadly question. After a year together, he had long grown accustomed to this kind of interaction with Ye Guyi.
Instead, he smiled gently and reminded her, "Her name is Ning Tian, Sister Lingyi."
A flash of annoyance appeared in Ye Guyi's eyes, but it quickly vanished as though she had thought of something.
In truth, the memories Xu Zihuang had previously shared with Ye Guyi were only partial; he had deliberately omitted the intimate moments he had shared with Ning Tian in the past.
Otherwise, Ye Guyi's reaction might have been far more than this.
Her golden hair shimmered under the ivory comb. The two fell into silence.
After a moment, Ye Guyi reached out her jade-like hand, grasped Xu Zihuang's wrist, stood up, and looked at him.
She was well aware of the heavy pressure Xu Zihuang carried. Accepting Ning Tian was also for the sake of his goals.
More than jealousy, her heart ached for him.
With that, she stretched out her arms and tightly embraced his waist.
This actually left Xu Zihuang feeling somewhat ashamed and at a loss for words. He had thought it was just their usual mutual teasing, never expecting it to turn into the present scene.
He could only comfortingly pat her back with his right hand. Alone in this world, they had only each other to rely on.
At this moment, time seemed to freeze. Memories from their childhood involuntarily flooded their minds.
However, Ye Guyi had not forgotten the important matter. She was the one who broke the tranquility.
"Zihuang, come sit."
She pulled Xu Zihuang to the table and sat down, then sent a summons to the Elder Yi residing within her mental sea.
A gray light flickered, and the illusory figure of an elderly man in white robes appeared out of thin air before them.
Xu Zihuang, who had still been immersed in their earlier peaceful moment, was violently shaken when he saw this figure.
Electrolux?!
The illusory figure smiled at Xu Zihuang.
"What's wrong, little fellow? You seem very surprised to see me. I thought you had already sensed my presence long ago."
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