Chapter 99.3
Chapter 99.3: Top Quality Goods & The Princess
“Although my Golden Light Left Arm Bone can’t compare to a hundred thousand year soul bone, it’s still a rather formidable presence among soul bones. It was also the item with the highest value at the Treasure Appreciation Auction held in the Treasure Pavilion. While there are many items in this Starlight Auction house, not all of them can supersede it in terms of value in such a top-ranked auction.”
As the two of them spoke, the number on the soul screen had already changed rapidly.
The golden soul coin figure soared and crossed the 1 million mark very quickly. However, the figure increased at a slower rate upon crossing the 1 million mark.
Qing Ya said, “Distinguished guests, this Tyrannical Tiger Soulblade has a rough value of six hundred thousand golden soul coins based on its own quality and without consideration of the craftmanship of the soul engineer. This is according to careful analysis by our auctionplace. This is also the reason why we raised the starting bid for this item. A conservative estimate of its actual value would be at least 1.3 million golden soul coins. That piece of Tyrannical Tiger soul bone from which it was carved has a slight flaw, but the Class 8 soul engineer that produced it has already removed this flaw during the process of carving the blade. If that piece of soul bone were perfect, this blade might have been even be more powerful. However, this would also mean that its price would have been even more astronomical. Personally, I feel that the price of this Tyrannical Tiger Soulblade is very reasonable.”
How many of those who came to this top-ranked auction were fools? Just like Princess Xingyun said, they were all connoisseurs, and were clearly aware of the right price of the items. The auction house did not overprice the starting bids, but it was also almost impossible for anyone to obtain any item at a steal.
Dai Yaoheng eventually made up his mind and used 1.56 million golden soul coins to bid for this Tyrannical Tiger Soulblade.
The price of the blade didn’t change for a minute. After the bidding ended, golden lights in the entire room burst into bright fireworks. This signified a successful bid.
Dai Yaoheng was also feeling the pinch in his heart. After being a member of the Shrek Guardians for such a long time, his personal savings were barely over a few hundred thousand golden soul coins. However, Star Luo City was his headquarters. Thus, it was not too difficult for him to raise this sum of money.
Princess Jiujiu, who wore a long red dress, appeared on the screen once again. She smiled sweetly as she bowed slightly. She said, “I’d like to thank the guest who won the bid for the Tyrannical Tiger Soulblade for his support of our auction today. Below, we shall present the second auction item now. Although they can only be expended once, they are very rare. It’s not easy to gather this entire set. Distinguished guests, please take a look.”
The soul tool screen changed once again, and the screen on the wall was divided into 12 sections. The items in each of the 12 sections looked very similar to one another.
They were all cylindrical objects. One end was cone-shaped, and the other end was the base of the cylinder. This applied to all 12 items. The only difference that they had were in terms of their color. They seemed to be carved from different types of metal.
“Stationary soul cannon shells.” He Caitou muttered almost instantaneously, his voice filled with shock.
Princess Jiujiu’s voice echoed within the room, “These 12 stationary soul cannon shells are products of the Illustrious Virtue Hall. It took us quite some effort to gather them. Each of them has a different effect and their sizes are according to the standard format. When used appropriately, these 12 shells have the power to threaten the life of a Soul Douluo.”
“Using the class of a soul tool to measure them, each one of them contains a precise formation array. The formation arrays are not inferior to a Class 6 soul tool in terms of complexity. Their elements include water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, poison, lightning, frost, metal, explosion and paralysis. At least a Class 6 stationary soul cannon shell is needed to fire the cannonballs. For repeated firing, at least a Class 7 stationary soul cannon will be needed. I shall give all of you 5 minutes to appreciate this set of 12 items.”
Before she had even finished speaking, He Caitou had already leapt forward quickly. Huo Yuhao followed closely behind him. Although they had not encountered a soul tool of this class, it was still good if they could just admire it!
This was especially so for He Caitou, as he had used a stationary soul tool before. He was more aware of the importance of a stationary soul cannon shell. Thinking about it, the effect of the stationary soul tool in battle must be very immense given that even the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament did not permit the use of it by its participants.
Princess Jiu Jiu’s description was not exaggerated. If these shells were all at the Class 6 level, they could certainly threaten the life of a Soul Douluo, and even cause problems for a Titled Douluo.
“They’re too exquisite. Little junior brother, the formation arrays are at the tails of the cannon shells. There are accelerator circuits on the surface of the formation arrays, too. Furthermore, these circuits are so huge. Once the cannon shell is released, its speed will be frightening. No wonder a Class 6 and above stationary soul cannon is required to fire them, so as to prevent the bore from exploding.”
He Caitou looked at these shells and jumped around in excitement.
Wang Yan walked beside him and asked softly, “Caitou, do you know the value of these shells?”
He Caitou nodded his head without any hesitation and said, “Of course. I’ve researched them very heavily! Teacher Wang, we must get them. These few years, our soul tool department has focused our research on stationary soul tools. The might of a stationary soul cannon is a huge problem that has stumped us. Right now, our academy can only produce stationary soul cannon shells that are Class 5, at most. This item is pricey and expendable, but they’re something we haven’t been able to produce. These shells, will be very useful in our research of higher class shells.”
“Alright, I understand.” Wang Yan nodded his head.
Qing Ya reminded them softly, “Distinguished guests, these cannons are all equipped with the encrypted formation schematic of the Illustrious Virtue Hall. If any of you is buying them for research purposes, please take due care. If the encrypted formation is touched, it may induce an explosion.”
“Of course I know that.” He Caitou said without any hesitation, “No matter who created such a high-level soul tool, the same logic applies. However, we can reap some information just by looking at the clues on their surfaces…”
He wanted to continue on, but Wang Yan coughed and blocked out his words. He Caitou also realized that he was getting too excited, and quickly refrained from speaking further.
The price of these 12 shells was indeed astonishing, and were true to the idea that every succeeding auction item was more expensive than the preceding item. The starting price for these 12 shells was actually 650,000 golden soul coins.
“Distinguished guests, I don’t think that this set of cannon shells from the Illustrious Virtue Hall is too expensive for all of you. Not only can they be used in battle, they can also be kept as souvenirs. It’s also not easy for the Illustrious Virtue Hall to produce such a set like this. The most important thing is that they are very rare. The Starlight Auction house can guarantee that this is the first time a set of Class 6 stationary soul cannon shells from the Illustrious Virtue Hall has appeared in our auction house.”
The bidding started. Wang Yan did not rush to make a bid, and only watched the screen quietly.
It was not his first or second time taking part in an auction. Even for the most specific auctions, not all the auction items would be able to be auctioned out successfully. There would be situations where a second auction would be held.
Perhaps the value of these 12 shells might be greater than the Tyrannical Tiger Soulblade earlier. However, that was attributed more to their rarity. There were very few who were willing and able to use these shells. Furthermore, the price of the entire set of 12 shells was too high. They were not like close-combat soul tools or long-range soul tools. Once the shells were used, they could no longer be used anymore.
Indeed, Wang Yan’s steadiness was rewarded. The figure of 650,000 golden soul coins did not increase. No one was willing to make a bid.
After a minute, Princess Jiujiu regretfully said, “It seems like these 12 shells will not have an owner today. I shall count down the last 20 seconds. If no one makes a bid, this auction item will be put for up for a second auction.”
Wang Yan twisted his head towards Qing Ya and asked in a low voice, “How many seconds does it take to make a bid?”
“Bids are processed instantly.” Qing Ya replied.
Wang Yan nodded his head slightly, and his eyes flashed with a wise and far-sighted radiance.
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”
When the countdown reached 2 seconds, Wang Yan shouted, “I will bid 655,000 golden soul coins.” The smallest raise was 5000 golden soul coins. He did not bid the starting price, but added 5000 golden soul coins.
The price was entered in immediately. At the very last second, the illusory 650,000 figure jumped to 655,000 instantly after it froze.
Qing Ya was stunned as she covered her small mouth. Following that, she raved, “Teacher Wang, you are brilliant!”
Huo Yuhao also understood what had happened. At the very last moment, it was not only Wang Yan who had made a bid. However, the other person had offered the starting price. Under such a circumstance, the increase that Wang Yan had added to his bid had a decisive impact.
Wang Yan smiled before saying, “I was just taking precautions. I’m lucky to have obtained this set of stationary soul cannon shells by bidding a little higher.”
Qing Ya laughed slightly as she congratulated him; she seemed elated too. The Shrek Academy that she was in charge of hosting managed to succeed in their bid for two auction items consecutively. Not only would she gain a commission, but it would also greatly help her assessment score in the auction house.
However, Shrek Academy did not bid on any of the next 5 auction items. They included a left arm bone, a right arm bone, a right leg bone, a piece of rare metal and a long-range Class 8 soul tool.
What was worth mentioning was the long-range Class 8 soul tool. As a Class 8 soul tool, it required a Titled Douluo to use it. Its name was the Heavensplitting Cannon, and it also came from the Sun Moon Empire. However, it was not a product of the Illustrious Virtue Hall. It was made by a Class 9 soul engineer.