"Two hundred million!"
Zhu Ziyang didn't hesitate, directly shouting out a price that made everyone's expressions change: two hundred million gold coins. As soon as the price was announced, no one continued to compete.
"The VIP in Box Seven has bid two hundred million gold coins. Are there any higher bids?" The auctioneer, Jiu Jiu, held up his gavel and said loudly. After a moment of pause, he brought down the gavel, "Two hundred million gold coins, once!"
As Auctioneer Jiu Jiu brought down the gavel, many people in the boxes showed expressions of unwillingness, especially the box that had bid one hundred and fifty million gold coins. The guest inside was angrily tapping his teacup.
"Damn it!" The guests in this box were from the Sun Moon Empire, and the one who had shouted out one hundred and fifty million gold coins was precisely the extremely arrogant Xiao Hongchen. His face was filled with unwillingness. He genuinely wanted a ranked carving knife of his own, especially a high-ranking one.
However, almost all of the top thirty ranked carving knives were already owned. It was hard enough to find an unowned ranked carving knife, and it was even the eleventh-ranked Secret Method Blue Silver Carving Knife. Although he didn't know why such a high-ranking carving knife ended up in the hands of the Star Luo Empire and was put up for auction, he no longer cared. He really wanted it!
"Damn it! Who exactly is in Box Seven?! How dare they snatch my item!" Xiao Hongchen slammed the table again and roared.
The funds they could use only amounted to one hundred million gold coins, and he himself had fifty million gold coins in pocket money. He originally thought one hundred and fifty million gold coins would be enough, but he didn't expect Box Seven to be so rich. First, they bought the Ice Blast Spirit Bone for twenty-five million, and then bought this ranked carving knife for two hundred million gold coins. Which faction could it be?
This was not only Xiao Hongchen's question but also the question of everyone else in the other boxes.
In Box One, a man around thirty years old showed an expression of admiration and said, "Is this Shrek Academy? What a grand gesture!"
Then he stood up, took his attendant, walked out of the box, and said, "Let's go, this matter is concluded."
"Your Majesty, aren't you going to meet the people from Shrek Academy?" The attendant beside the man respectfully asked, and his address also revealed the man's identity; he was none other than the current Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, Emperor Xu Jiawei.
"Forget it," Emperor Xu Jiawei smiled helplessly and said, "It's meaningless. Among this group of students from Shrek Academy, there's no one worth us trying to win over, nor will there be anyone who can be won over by us! What's more, we just had an unpleasant incident regarding Dai Yueheng a while ago. Meeting now would only add to our troubles!"
"That Huo Yuhao, it is said he is from our Star Luo Empire, and even from Star Luo City. Isn't he worth Your Majesty trying to win over?" The attendant asked in confusion.
"Heh heh, although that Huo Yuhao is also a genius from Shrek Academy, he didn't give me a feeling of amazement," Emperor Xu Jiawei said with a smile.
"Is that so?" The attendant mused, "That is true. That Huo Yuhao's spirit power isn't high. The reason he could enter Shrek Academy's preliminary team must be because of his Spirit. A mental-type eye Spirit, aren't the people of Shrek Academy afraid of the Body Sect coming to their door?"
"Heh, the Body Sect, mere clowns!" Emperor Xu Jiawei showed deep aversion towards the Body Sect and said, "Those people believe the Body Sect can stir up the order of the continent and break the myth of Shrek Academy, but they don't know that their foundation can't even compare to the Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Empire, let alone Shrek Academy?"
Emperor Xu Jiawei sneered and walked away with his hands behind his back.
On the other side, after Zhu Ziyang and the others collected their auctioned items, they didn't linger. They immediately left the Starlight Grand Auction House and returned to the Star Emperor Hotel.
As soon as they returned to the hotel, Wang Yan immediately invited Elder Lin and handed over the matters from the auction, as well as the Secret Method Blue Silver Carving Knife and the twelve six-level linked fixed Spirit cannon shells, to Elder Lin.
Elder Lin looked at the items Wang Yan handed over, and a look of surprise and admiration immediately appeared on his aged face. He said, "Wang Yan, you've truly made a great contribution this time. Because Elder Xuan was injured by the eight-level Spirit cannon shells, Elder Mu has decided to have the Academy fully support the development of the Soul Tool Department. Your carving knife and fixed Spirit cannon shells have come at just the right time!"
"Really?" Wang Yan jumped up excitedly upon hearing this and said, "Elder Mu is truly brilliant!"
The students had various expressions upon hearing Elder Lin's words.
Zhu Ziyang, Jiang Nannan, Bei Bei, and Xiao Xiao were indifferent. Their attitude towards spirit tools was very calm; in their view, spirit tools were merely a means to enhance strength, neither good nor bad.
Ma Xiaotao, Xu Sanshi, and Wang Dong were angry and gloomy. These three were typical traditional Spirit Masters, and their attitude towards spirit tools was very negative. They believed that spirit tools defiled the honor of Spirit Masters. Although their experiences over the past few days had slightly improved their perception of spirit tools, their predominant attitude remained one of disgust.
Finally, there were Huo Yuhao, He Caitou, and Tang Ya, who were surprised and excited. Two of them were Soul Engineers, and one hoped to revive the Tang Sect with the help of spirit tools, so they naturally held an optimistic attitude towards the development of spirit tools.
"Heh heh, that's natural!" Elder Lin smiled and said, "Alright, everyone go back and rest. There's still a competition tomorrow! Ziyang, the funds you advanced, the Academy will fully reimburse you once we return!"
"No problem!" Zhu Ziyang waved his hand with a smile and said.
Elder Lin left, and the students also headed towards their hotel rooms.
"Big Brother Ziyang, who is Elder Mu that Elder Lin mentioned? Why can he decide the future direction of the Academy's development?" Huo Yuhao asked with great curiosity.
"Elder Mu, he is the Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy and the head of the Shrek Supervision Group. He is the person with the highest status in Shrek Academy, so he naturally has the right to decide the Academy's development plan!" Zhu Ziyang said with a faint smile.
"Sea God Pavilion?" Huo Yuhao couldn't help but scratch his head and said, "Big Brother Ziyang, I know what the Shrek Supervision Group is, but what is this Sea God Pavilion? Why have I never heard of it?"
"Right, right, right, I haven't heard of it either," Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao also chimed in, crowding around.
"The Sea God Pavilion is Shrek Academy's decision-making body. Elders you know, like Elder Lin and Elder Xuan, are all members of the Sea God Pavilion and are called Sea God Pavilion Elders," Wang Yan walked over and explained to the three, "Entering the Sea God Pavilion is also the ultimate dream of all Inner Courtyard Disciples, because only powerhouses of the Titled Douluo level are qualified to enter the Sea God Pavilion!"
"Titled Douluo!" The three youngsters trembled, and expressions of shock and longing simultaneously appeared on their faces. They said, "Only Titled Douluo are qualified to enter, doesn't that mean there are many Titled Douluo in the Sea God Pavilion?"
"Around twenty or so!" Wang Yan said with a proud smile, then looked at Zhu Ziyang, "Ziyang, you should go back and rest first. You still have a match tomorrow!"
"Okay!" Zhu Ziyang nodded and turned to leave.
After shaking off Huo Yuhao and the other two, Zhu Ziyang returned to his room, took out the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone, and began to fiddle with it. Feeling the faint coolness emanating from the Spirit Bone, he couldn't help but smile.
In his spiritual sea, the emerald green Ice Emperor Soul Spirit egg sensed the aura of the Ice Jade Scorpion Spirit Bone and immediately began to shake violently. Zhu Ziyang could feel the Ice Emperor's anger even through the eggshell.
"Alright, don't be angry!" Zhu Ziyang said, soothing her with a smile, "Didn't I get it? You are all mine now, so why care about a clansman's Spirit Bone? Moreover, they can no longer be considered your clansmen!"
Upon hearing Zhu Ziyang's reassurance, the Ice Emperor seemed to accept reality and gradually calmed down, no longer shaking. Seeing this, Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but show a triumphant smile.
He put the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone back into his star flame ring, then sat cross-legged on the bed and began to cultivate.
——
The next day, early morning.
The people of Shrek Academy walked into Star Luo Plaza, facing the morning sun, and were immediately met with the most enthusiastic cheers.
The Pan-continental Elite Soul Master Competition entered its most intense and exciting third stage starting today. The number of spectators suddenly doubled, forcing the Star Luo Empire's officials to widen the spectator stands and deploy more troops to maintain order at the venue.
With the arrival of Shrek Academy, all sixteen academies in the top sixteen had arrived.
The first round of the third stage, sixteen into eight, would feature eight teams and four matches each day, completing the first round in four days. Without a doubt, Shrek Academy, as the previous champion, would be the first to appear.
Everyone's eyes were on Shrek Academy. Everyone wanted to know what lineup Shrek Academy would send, after all, their opponent in this match was the top four from the previous competition, a veteran strong team, the Dou Ling Royal Team, which boasted five Spirit Kings!