FE-Chapter 66: The Three-eyed Golden Lion Wants to See the World
"The first item is a piece of thousand-year-old whale glue. According to the seller who returned from the seaside, they found it on the body of a demon whale."
The auctioneer pressed the metal button in her hand, and the black crystal displayed on the soul guidance device screen enlarged. The whole piece slowly rotated 360 degrees, allowing everyone to see every detail.
"The whale glue that students usually see in the school's small kitchen is typically ten or one hundred years old. Thousand-year-old whale glue is still very rare and will not appear on the table. Its main function is to enhance the physical fitness of soul masters."
As the auctioneer continued her introduction, noticing the students' indifferent reactions, she put on a bright smile.
"I know that all students are interested in high-quality elixirs that can speed up their cultivation."
"People are not very interested in items like whale glue that can strengthen the body, so we have joined forces with the school officials to promote it vigorously."
As soul engineers, students of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy are naturally more concerned about their soul power cultivation. If they do not consider the side effects of high-quality elixirs, they will choose to improve their soul power and strengthen their physical fitness without hesitation.
In the minds of most students, investing a lot of money in physical fitness is less favorable. It would be better to use this money to quickly enhance their soul power and develop or produce high-level defensive soul guidance devices.
The auctioneer understood what everyone was thinking, so she mentioned the promotion for this item.
"So this piece of thousand-year-old whale glue is the appetizer of this auction and can be regarded as a friendly benefit prepared for everyone."
"The college will bear 80% of the cost. For this reason, if any students are interested, it will eventually be sold at 20% of the price."
Of course, the fact that this auction item can be used for promotion shows that this piece of thousand-year-old whale glue, in addition to not catering to the student's ideas, has certain quality issues.
As the exclusive auction house of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, they naturally would not cheat any student.
The auctioneer expressed some regret: "After our teacher's preliminary inspection, this piece of thousand-year-old whale glue has weathered for a long time, and its interior has slightly deteriorated."
"But please rest assured, students; it can still be used. Although the quality has declined, it is very effective in strengthening the body."
The atmosphere in the venue became subtle. The students were not interested in items that could strengthen their bodies from the beginning, and now, after hearing the introduction, their desire to buy dropped instantly.
In their opinion, strengthening physical fitness is far less useful than defensive soul guidance devices. Everyone abided by the auction house rules and was polite and well-mannered; no student shouted to lead the conversation.
After explaining the disadvantages of the thousand-year-old whale glue, the auctioneer tried to ease the atmosphere by offering huge discounts.
"Qualified thousand-year-old whale glue, depending on its size, typically has a market price between 2,500 and 5,000 gold soul coins."
"Although this piece of thousand-year-old whale glue has some flaws, its body strengthening effect, even at the lowest limit, is incomparable to that of hundred-year-old whale glue."
The auctioneer emphasized again: "The college will bear 80% of the cost, and the discount is quite substantial."
"Starting price: 500 gold soul coins. Each bid increase shall not be less than 50 gold soul coins. Interested students are welcome to bid."
The atmosphere in the venue was quiet, and the students remained silent. Although the price was under a thousand, students whose families were not very wealthy, had to calculate every gold soul coin carefully and spend the money wisely.
The items they understood were either high-quality elixirs that accelerated cultivation or items that aided in engraving core magic arrays. As for the wealthy and powerful students, they could easily acquire high-quality pills for physical enhancement and didn't even glance at the weathered items.
In an ordinary box of the auction house, the seller of the thousand-year-old whale glue and several business associates sat together.
"Brother, it seems that the students are not interested in whale glue. What if no one bids?"
"It's okay. After all, they are all soul engineers. If we can't sell it here, we can sell it on the black market in Shrek City."
"Sell it to Shrek Academy?"
"Well, soul masters always need physical enhancement items. When the time comes, just exaggerate its benefits, and you can sell it for a lot of money."
"That makes sense. Students of Shrek Academy are more reckless."
In the luxurious box of the Hongchen siblings, Huo Yuhao felt somewhat confused. Logically, there were some bigwigs in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, so there shouldn't be anyone who couldn't see the true value of the item. Either the discerning individuals were absent, or no one cared about this particular item.
He confirmed that this was the piece obtained by Huo Yuhao in the original novel, which allowed Huo Yuhao to use some small cheats in the early stage.
Of course, compared with other enhancements, a minor boost like Ten Thousand-Year Whale Glue was not truly a significant advantage; it could only be described as ordinary.
The Hongchen siblings were also uninterested in the thousand-year-old whale glue being auctioned.
Meng Hongchen took the drawing that Huo Yuhao had created for her the previous night, pointed at the chest armor design, and said playfully, "Yuhao, this one is a little smaller than last year's design."
She compared herself with the drawing, puffed out her chest slightly, and laughed, "It doesn't matter if there are little deviations in other places, as long as you can make it look beautiful for me. But this one won't do; it has to be larger."
Meng Hongchen's face became a little serious.
Huo Yuhao blinked and, seeing Meng Hongchen's serious expression, couldn't help but smile and say, "Don't worry, Sister Meng; my final product will suit you."
Laughing softly, Xiao Hongchen glanced at the two volumes of comics he had drawn the previous night. He wasn't certain how many copies he had finished.
Having only completed two volumes left him feeling a bit restless. He raised his eyes and noticed that Huo Yuhao was intently examining the thousand-year-old whale glue on the screen.
"Yuhao, this thousand-year-old whale glue won't work. The Moon Soul Pill I gave you last time is equally effective for body strengthening."
"I understand."
Huo Yuhao nodded and curiously asked: "Brother Xiao if no one participates in the auction, where will this thousand-year-old whale glue end up?"
Xiao Hongchen placed the comic on his lap and pondered for a moment.
"It will either be put up for a second-tier auction or flow into the black market. It all depends on the seller's decision." Huo Yuhao finally understood what he meant. If there is no market here and it flows into the black market, then the thousand-year-old whale glue may indeed appear in Shrek City.
At the same time, Huo Yuhao knew it was time to accept this little cheat.
"Five hundred and fifty gold soul coins."
The students noticed that the bid came from the private room upstairs, and they were unsure what the other party saw in the thousand-year-old whale glue.
Moreover, the occupants of the luxurious box upstairs were of noble status. The students were not interested in the thousand-year-old whale glue, so they naturally had no intention of bidding at this time.
Xiao Hongchen was a little puzzled: "Yuhao, I've already given you the elixir; why did you buy it?"
Huo Yuhao smiled slightly, activated his spirit eye, martial soul, and established a connection with the Hongchen siblings through spiritual detection and sharing.
His mental detection and sharing, if carefully directed, would surpass the longest range in the auction house. The entire auction table displaying items and all scenes within a ten-meter radius were presented clearly in the minds of the three, with every detail visible.
All the subtle traces and structures inside the thousand-year-old whale glue became distinctly visible under spiritual detection.
"Brother Xiao, did you see the internal details of the thousand-year-old whale glue through spiritual detection?"
Xiao Hongchen took a deep breath and said, "Hiss, this thousand-year-old whale glue seems unusual. The auction house's teachers didn't conduct a thorough inspection."
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "From what I know about whale glue, it shouldn't be just ordinary thousand-year-old whale glue that has deteriorated, but rather the ten thousand-year-old whale glue wrapped in weathered skin."
Xiao Hongchen observed the thousand-year-old whale glue on the screen alongside the detection map and nodded slowly.
"Well, I've figured it out. Yuhao, you're right; it's ten-thousand-year-old whale glue." Xiao Hongchen acknowledged generously.
"Yuhao, the cost of this piece of ten-thousand-year-old whale glue will be charged to me. It's a gift."
Meng Hongchen smiled and added, "Brother, Yuhao can also bid on this himself. It's just the price of thousand-year-old whale glue. If you want to thank Yuhao, shouldn't you give him something more upscale?"
"There's no chance."
Xiao Hongchen folded his arms and laughed, "If Yuhao encounters any useful and priceless treasures later, I will get them for him."
As Huo Yuhao made the bid, no student was willing to compete with the occupants of the luxury box. The auctioneer's face lit up with joy as she dropped the hammer three times, announcing that this auction item, Thousand-Year-Old Whale Glue, was won by the VIP in Huo Yuhao's box.
The items to be auctioned later included the high-quality elixirs that the students were interested in, which could speed up their cultivation, as well as herbs like the mind-calming rose and soul-condensing rose used to assist in engraving the core magic array.
Huo Yuhao was not very interested in the items for the later auction, but the Hongchen siblings purchased one or two medicinal herbs.
These herbs were more affordable than the elixirs that calmed the mind and gathered the soul, as they had not been processed or refined into elixirs, giving them almost no side effects.
Students sitting in the ordinary seats downstairs competed against each other in bidding for metals, pills, and medicinal materials.
"Deal! Congratulations to student No. 140, who won five kilograms of Star Stone for 1,200 gold soul coins."
"Deal! Congratulations… for winning three Mysterious Soul Pills."
The auction continued, and the splendid Hongchen siblings sat in their luxury box, watching while occasionally making a small bid.
Listening to the students bid for high-quality pills, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but smirk. The pills in Dou Er seemed forced together; the system, with its very high upper limit, has been broken down, lacking a true alchemist profession throughout Dou Er.
Let's not mention Shrek's Xuanshui Pill; after all, it holds blessings from the Buddha.
After taking the medicine, the students just need to go home, take a shower, and experience no side effects whatsoever.
However, the elixirs of the Sun-Moon Empire are different. They must have been cursed by the God King, leaving chronic side effects after consumption.
This is what makes Shrek Academy outstanding; it is touched by the Buddha's light. Yet, when it reaches Douluo Dalu…
Bang! The Buddha's light vanished, swept away by the turbulence of time and space, causing Shrek Academy to be blown up.
The elixir resources of the Sun Moon Empire are plentiful. Thus, I, Shrek, will promote widely, claiming that your cultivation is built on elixirs, leading to serious side effects, and a weak and unstable foundation, rendering you all useless.
While it seems logical, Shrek's Xuanshui Pill is said to be extremely rare and priceless, with the only side effect being the need for a bath after taking it. This hardly seems fair.
Eventually, Haoyue Auction House sent someone to deliver the thousand-year-old whale glue.
"It appears you can still find good things from the sea."
Xiao Hongchen smiled. While some pills may have similar effects to thousand-year-old whale glue, the degree to which ten-thousand-year-old whale glue can enhance physical strength is beyond what most pills can achieve.
Huo Yuhao pursed his lips and said, "There are quite a few good things in the sea."
Perhaps in the vast ocean, one could catch a 100,000-year-old mermaid princess or a 100,000-year-old demon soul great white shark.
Xiao Hongchen patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, cheerfully saying: "Yuhao, you have to understand that in the future, you can just buy whatever you need under the name of Mingde Hall."
"Grandpa only looks at the string of numbers you spent, regardless of what you bought."
Huo Yuhao smiled and nodded, then looked at the packaged black crystals on the table, feeling a subtle emotion in his heart.
"I didn't expect to arrive at the Sun and Moon and also acquire the ten-thousand-year-old whale glue..."
This time, his storyline at Sun and Moon was completely different from the original work, and the fortune that should have favored him continued to do so.
...
Star Forest, core area.
Next to the Lake of Life, the three-eyed golden lion lay in front of a ball of light, bored. She had read the story of the three-eyed golden lion in the ball of light countless times.
She realized an important point: "This auspicious beast is intertwined with Yuhao's fate. Is there someone behind the scenes?"
As she pondered this question, the three-eyed golden lion felt her very being elevated.
"Huh? Why do I suddenly feel a little itchy..."
The three-eyed golden lion stretched out her claws and scratched her head, gazing at the paused image in the light ball, depicting her sacrifice.
"In the end, she would choose to sacrifice herself for him. How could this auspicious beast not believe it?"
Having read the script multiple times, the three-eyed golden lion felt somewhat overwhelmed at the moment. If given another chance, she would never let herself be blinded by love.
"Hey, I wonder how that human is doing now."
"If he knew that this auspicious beast had learned so much from the light ball during this period, he would certainly be surprised." The three-eyed golden lion was determined to prove her worth. This time, she would not fall in love again.
At that moment, the Red King approached with a few pickled soft-bone rabbits.
"My little ancestor, what are you thinking about? Eat quickly and ponder after you finish."
The three-eyed golden lion looked at the soft-bone rabbits in front of her and casually remarked.
"Uncle Red King, I've explored the Star Dou Great Forest, and it feels a bit small."
The three heads of the Red King were all stunned, wearing confused expressions. They soon turned serious, engaging in brief contemplation, and then displaying kind smiles.
"Little ancestor, what's on your mind?"
The three-eyed golden lion's eyes sparkled, her golden pupils shining: "Uncle Red King, the world is so vast; I want to go out and see it."
The three heads of the Red King all looked at the Emperor Auspicious Beast, their eyes brimming with confusion. What was this little ancestor up to?
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(End of this chapter)