Chapter 82.3: The Future Developments and Dangers of a Soul Master
Huo Yuhao hurriedly chased after Wang Dong, “What’s with you, Wang Dong?” Even he hadn’t sensed anything wrong with him, and this sudden change had left him at a complete loss. Like the others, he didn’t think that Wang Dong would have any problems. He’d never heard Wang Dong rebuke soul tools so strongly in the past. Moreover, Teacher Wang Yan had just given a long explanation that was filled with true information.
Wang Dong paused, lowering his head slightly. “Yuhao, I’m fine. I have no idea what’s happened, but my heart doesn’t want this, nor is it willing to use a soul tool. You guys can go first, I’ll be waiting in the hotel.”
Huo Yuhao wanted to speak further, but Wang Dong raised his hand to stop him. “No need to persuade me any further. I’m really fine. I just don’t really want to use a soul tool to increase my own strength. I might be fine with it later, but I can’t accept it just yet. I understand the logic behind what Teacher Wang said, but I still need to go back and think it over a little.”
Huo Yuhao didn’t try persuading him any further, because he clearly understood that it would be very difficult to try changing his best friend’s mind when he had decided on something.
After seeing Wang Dong off, Huo Yuhao returned to the group. “He’s fine. He just doesn’t fancy using soul tools. Teacher Wang, let’s go.”
Wang Yan nodded and smiled slightly. “It’s fine. You all have your own aspirations, and I didn’t think I’d be able to convince all of you in the first place. I’m very satisfied that the six of you are willing to try them out. Let’s go, the auction is about to start.”
Huo Yuhao had originally thought that this was going to be a very small auction. After all, the building didn’t look too big from the outside. However, he entered a completely different world after truly entering it. The auction was located mostly underground, and the building was only its entrance.
After walking into the auction house, they were met with a five meter wide staircase that was laid with a red carpet as it headed downwards. Yet, they didn’t see any workers to guide them inside.
They continued heading downwards. After twenty meters or so, they finally reached the registration area. Wang Yan had already completed a few complicated procedures before coming here in addition to giving each and every person a number plate. Because of this, the red cheongsam-clad girl took them inside.
After passing through a simple wooden door, the scenery suddenly changed. A patch of gold filled their vision, the decorations of the wide, dazzling corridor surpassing even the Imperial Grand Star Hotel Huo Yuhao and the rest had stayed in in terms of luxury.
The corridor was over ten meters wide, and the ground was laid with precious white jade. There was a pair of beautifully patterned pillars that were carved from the same material every ten meters, and the walls seemed to have been papered with gold leaf. The carvings on the wall were complicated and beautiful. Huo Yuhao used his sight, that was far stronger than that of ordinary folk, to look at the walls in detail, and was astonished by how meticulous it was. It had to be known that this was only a wall used for decoration!
Luxurious crystal lamps hung from the top of the ceiling, but they didn’t give off a stifling feeling, as the corridor was a full five meters tall. The lamp gave off a gentle yellow light, and its contrast against the golden walls made it seem as if they were in a world of gold. This was enough to leave anybody dazzled.
Wang Yan whispered, “Don’t underestimate this place just because it’s unremarkable on the outside. In reality, this is Star Luo City’s largest auction house. It isn’t easy to obtain a pass to attend this auction. Not only do you need to prove your assets, you even have to go through an evaluation. If we followed the normal routes, it’d take at least half a month for us to get in here. We were only able to smoothly enter this place with Dai Yueheng’s help. Unfortunately, I was unable to persuade the three of them. They’ve stayed in the Martial Soul Department for many years, and their combat styles are already fixed. Hastily giving them soul tools won’t do them any good either.”
As Wang Yan spoke, they entered a large door, guided by the young lady. It was very obvious that this wasn’t the end of the corridor; there was still a door similar to the previous one in front of them. In addition, there was a flight of stairs that headed downwards at the end of the corridor.
Bei Bei seemed to be accustomed to this place. Unlike Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and Jiang Nannan, he didn’t look everywhere constantly. He turned towards the girl who’d opened the door for them and asked, “I’ll have to trouble you to give us a simple explanation of the rules of today’s auction.”
“Understood,” The girl said respectfully, “Today’s auction specializes in the sale of soul tools, and will only sell soul tools ranked Class 6 or below. Because of that, there are relatively lax rules. According to the way we classify auctions, this auction can only be considered a Grade 4 auction. Our Starlight Auction separates auctions from Grade 1 to Grade 5, with Grade 1 having the strictest rules. Only Grade 1 auctions will be held in the main auction hall. This is Hall 12, and it can accommodate a total of two hundred people. It’s used for Grade 4 auctions.”
Bei Bei nodded, “Thank you.”
After entering Hall 12, the lighting suddenly dimmed. This was because only the walls surrounding them had wall lamps on them. After entering the auction hall, every single person would receive a beautiful mask. Furthermore, these masks were differentiated by color. Huo Yuhao and the rest received white masks, but they didn’t know what these colors signified. Other than white, there were also yellow, purple, black, red, gold, and other types of masks.
The decorations in the auction hall gave off a simple, refined, but luxurious feeling without losing any sense of warmth. Only, one would feel very comfortable after entering here. There were a total of two hundred large, comfy chairs which were covered by dark-blue swan cloth; these chairs were curved. Perhaps it was due to Dai Yueheng’s influence, but Huo Yuhao and the rest were placed on the first row, which was also the row closest to the auction stage.
Wang Yan reminded everyone, “Everyone, put your masks on. It’s very possible that various problems will arise if you participate in this auction. Because of this, the auction house has provided masks to cover your appearances. This is all done to prevent any problems from arising. The colors of these masks are also used to differentiate the ranks of the guests here, and their ranking is identical to that of soul rings. The lowest ranked mask is the white one, and it goes up from there. On the other hand, the golden mask, which is ranked above the red mask, is for the auction’s most distinguished VIPs. Normally, a person like that will never appear in an auction like this.”
Only then did Huo Yuhao understand the differences between the masks. This was his first time attending an auction, and he was curious about everything. The chair he sat on was very comfortable, and this was one of the rare occasions that he was able to rest.
At this moment, the auction hall was already filled with sixty to seventy percent of its attendees. A waiter came over to ask what beverages they wanted, and Huo Yuhao asked for a glass of plain water.
“Distinguished guests, welcome to our Starlight Auction. Our auction is about to start, so I would like to ask all of you to take a seat.” The graceful and pleasant voice of a woman rang out from all directions, causing the auction hall to quiet down. The originally dim lights in the hall gradually turned even darker, but the lights on the auction stage grew brighter.
A purple cheongsam-clad girl climbed up to the stage from a side of the auction hall. She looked thirty or so, and had a dignified and beautiful appearance. Her face carried a faintly discernible smile, and as she walked, her perfectly fitting cheongsam sketched the outline of her perfectly mature body.
Xu Sanshi’s eyes immediately turned towards her, and his throat moved slightly as he involuntarily gulped.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were sat by either side of Huo Yuhao. At this moment, Bei Bei lowered his mouth to Huo Yuhao’s ear and whispered, “Junior brother, this should be the auctioneer. When choosing an auctioneer for an ordinary auction or a large-scale auction hall like this one, the first thing considered is a person’s appearance. They can’t just be good-looking; a male auctioneer has to have an upright-looking appearance, while a female one has to be dignified and beautiful. This way, they’ll instill a sense of trust in the people participating in the auction. If I’m not mistaken, the auctioneers in this auction hall are also separated by ranks according to the color of their clothes, just like how we’re differentiated by our masks. This auctioneer should be a lower-middle ranked one. Actually, I’m very curious as to how the gold-ranked auctioneers in this place look.”
At this moment, the purple-clothed auctioneer was already behind the auction table with a smile on her face. Her gentle voice reverberated throughout hall 12, borrowing the assistance of the sound-amplifying soul tool on the table.
“Distinguished guests, good evening to you all. I am a purple-ranked auctioneer of the Starlight Auction, Qing Ya. Today, I will be hosting this auction.”
With that, she walked out from the auction table and bowed with a smile on her face. This immediately won her a round of applause.
After returning to the auction table, Qing Ya smiled. “Today’s auction will specialise in the selling of soul tools. Our goods will all be soul tools which are ranked Class 6 and below. They are suitable for soul masters and engineers below the Soul King rank. In addition, we have prepared a secret, big item to make your trips worthwhile. Distinguished guests, don’t miss it for all the world. Our auction will now start, so can a staff member please bring up the first item that will be auctioned off today.”
Two red-clothed girls pushed a cart that was covered with a purple cloth onto the auction stage. After pushing the cart all the way to the center of the stage, they removed the cloth from the cart.
A black soul tool appeared on the cart. This soul tool was rectangular, and it was about a foot long. It had complicated carvings on it.
Huo Yuhao was not only a soul engineer, but he also possessed a pair of Spirit Eyes that ordinary folk could never hope to obtain. His eyes moved slightly, and he was able to clearly see the carvings of the soul tool on the stage. He whispered, “This should be an offensive soul tool that goes on your arm. It should be around Class 3 or so. Wang Dong should be able to use it.”
A soul master needed the corresponding level of cultivation to fully release the power of a soul tool. If a person’s cultivation was lower than the minimum requirements of a soul tool, he would be unable to release its strength; if his cultivation was higher than its maximum power, it would be unable to increase his combat strength effectively.
Qing Ya smiled slightly. “Our first auctioned good is a Class 3 attack-type soul tool, a relatively rare Soul light Ray. An ordinary item like this should never be able to be auctioned in an auction like ours, but this Class 3 Soul Light Ray that can be placed on a person’s right arm has been crafted by a Class 6 soul engineer. It’s a special item, and quite rarely seen. An ordinary item like this was turned into a complicated one in the hands of a grandmaster like him, and its core formation has given it a special effect.”