Nighttime.
A woman in a black gauze dress stood outside Starlight Auction House. She was around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, possessing mature charm without losing her youthful aura. At this moment, she seemed to be looking for something.
Suddenly, the woman enthusiastically approached a group of people.
"Excuse me, are you from Shrek Academy?"
"Mm.", An Zhen nodded slightly.
Suddenly, An Zhen looked up at the sky. A gray aura silently drilled into An Zhen's mind. Electrolux's voice sounded in An Zhen's mind, "Your grandfather is fine. Xuan Zi and Mu En will be here in one minute. We met Mu En in Fiend Forest. Xuan Zi told Mu En all the news. Mu En didn't say anything and is now rushing here with Xuan Zi."
"Thank you, Grandmaster."
"Welcome, distinguished guests.", The woman in black gauze looked at the crowd before her, her gaze immediately falling on the target the boss had specified. With a gentle smile, she said, "I am Qing Ya, a black-level auctioneer at Starlight Auction House. Auctioneer Jiu Jiu is unable to receive you due to work, so she has asked me to wait here."
"Thank you, Miss Qing Ya, for leading the way.", An Zhen did not look sideways. An Zhen was a true gentleman, definitely not because of the several gazes falling on him from behind.
Qing Ya led the way. The elegantly yet luxuriously decorated auction house looked empty; this auction had never been publicly advertised. Under Qing Ya's guidance, after passing through a very high-tech, futuristic-looking doorway, everyone arrived at Auction Hall One and entered a lavish room of about two hundred square meters, decorated with gold, silver, spices, and jade.
An Zhen sat on the sofa, holding Wang Donger.
Qing Ya and two beautiful golden-robed maidens stood in the middle of the room. Seeing the several beautiful young women, each with their own unique charm and looks far surpassing their own, sitting beside the young man the boss had named, they suddenly felt a bit superfluous.
Qing Ya showed a gentle and warm smile and said, "I will introduce some matters of our top auction house to you."
One of the golden-robed maidens walked to the smooth wall behind them and gently pressed it. The next moment, the wall gradually transformed into a screen.
"This is a light-guide screen customized by our auction house in Sun Moon Empire. It can transmit images and uses a type of ore from Sun Moon Empire."
"spirit tool?" Huo Yutong was surprised, a spirit tool that could be activated without a Spirit Master injecting spirit power.
Besides An Zhen, even Gu Yuena's eyes showed a hint of surprise. The Silver Dragon King, suddenly serious, thought of many things: a spirit tool that could be activated without a Spirit Master, could the extraordinary exist without living beings? Is this the wisdom of humans?
"The spirit power required for this spirit tool should be very weak.", An Zhen said.
"This distinguished guest is right.", Qing Ya explained, "This kind of ore can only be used to drive some low-energy spirit tools and cannot drive offensive or defensive spirit tools."
Wang Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but a hint of worry involuntarily surfaced in his heart.
"But since they are willing to sell this low-level technology, it means they are very likely to have mastered intermediate or even higher-level technology.", An Zhen's words instantly made everyone's hearts, which had just settled, jump up again.
A small interlude quickly passed.
The screen showed an empty auction stage.
Qing Ya spoke, "To ensure the privacy of our distinguished guests, all guests have exclusive rooms. I will be responsible for explaining various auction items in detail to you. During the auction, you can bid verbally, and the two maids will be responsible for the bidding. The food in the room is free. After an item is successfully bid on, it will be delivered to the room immediately, and final settlement will be done at the end."
The desserts and drinks in the room were good, not inferior to the daily meals of Shrek Outer Court core disciples. Gu Yuena had always loved good food. Her cherry lips opened and closed, and although her movements seemed very elegant, the food on the table disappeared at an extremely fast speed. An Zhen fed her from the side.
Suddenly, a golden light emitted from the screen, and Qing Ya reminded, "Distinguished guests, our auction has begun."
A voice somewhat familiar to the Shrek group came from the screen, making the opening introduction. Xu Jiujiu, who had previously come to the hotel to invite Shrek Academy, appeared on the screen, her red gauze dress accentuating her icy skin and jade bones.
"It's her?" Wang Yan was surprised, "Starlight Auction House has a royal background."
"Auctioneer Jiu Jiu is our auction house's chief auctioneer, and also the only gold-level auctioneer. However, she only wears golden attire when auction items worth hundreds of millions of gold coins appear. She is also the youngest sister of our current Emperor.", Qing Ya introduced.
"It would be surprising if the largest top auction house in Star Luo Empire didn't have a royal background.", An Zhen observed the princess on the screen, who, under the lights, resembled stars surrounding the moon.
Upon hearing this, Qing Ya quietly glanced at the boss's target—An Zhen.
The auction began.
The first item, Overlord Tiger Soul Blade, an eighth-level spirit tool, crafted from the right arm bone of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast.
Dai Yueheng was extremely covetous.
Close combat, and also a tiger. It was practically tailor-made for him. But unfortunately, the White Tiger Dukes Mansion was currently raising money to pay off that beast's debt, and this money should soon be transferred to Dean Yan of the Shrek Martial Soul Department. His personal savings were simply not enough. Damn it, it's all Dai Huabin's fault, that beast.
The second item, twelve fixed-soul cannon shells, with a starting bid of six hundred and fifty thousand gold coins. As in the original novel, Wang Yan acquired it for six hundred and fifty-five thousand gold coins just before the bidding ended.
Ten-thousand-year Spirit Bone, rare metals, and even an eighth-level spirit tool named "Heaven-Opening Earth-Splitting Cannon."
The eighth auction item, Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone. It was entirely emerald green, as if it contained a emerald green liquid, and a layer of icy mist shrouded it. Its solidified Spirit Ability was Ice Burst Technique.
Huo Yutong and Ling Luochen's eyes went straight.
Almost everyone in the Shrek Academy team looked at Huo Yutong and Ling Luochen. Without a doubt, both of them were very suitable for this Spirit Bone.
"Auctioneer Qing Ya.", An Zhen smiled as he looked at the beautiful woman in the black dress, "According to the rules of an auction, shouldn't there be a detailed introduction to the pros and cons of an auction item?"
Qing Ya was stunned for a moment, then respectfully said, "Of course."
"But Starlight Auction House seems to have just violated this rule.", An Zhen said softly, "There is a very strict restriction on this Spirit Bone that you did not mention."
Only Pole Ice can absorb it.
An Zhen wasn't trying to freeload. According to the rules, you had to state all the pros and cons before auctioning it. This was their mistake. Having money and being a sucker were two different things.
The Shrek Academy group looked at An Zhen.
"That's impossible!" Qing Ya subconsciously retorted, "This distinguished guest, every one of our auction items has been rigorously inspected by multiple Grandmaster experts."
"Then, shall we make a bet?" An Zhen took out a token in the shape of a Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, "Two hundred million gold coins. I'll buy this Spirit Bone, and excluding me and the two young girls beside me, we'll find a volunteer with ice attribute to absorb it. Even a Spirit Emperor or Spirit Douluo can do it. Let's see if anything happens to him?"
"Is there something wrong with this item?!"
An old voice, tinged with a hint of anger, sounded. The next second, to the astonished gazes of Qing Ya and the two maidens behind her, two white-haired old men suddenly appeared in the room. One was disheveled, with a greasy hand still holding a chicken leg. The other wore a clean, tidy white robe and had a kindly expression.
"Xuan Zi, let's talk calmly.", Mu En raised his hand to hold down Elder Xuan.
"Grandmaster!" An Zhen exclaimed in "surprise."
"Elder Xuan.", An Zhen saw Qing Ya, who was stunned by a trace of anger, and quickly got up and stood in front of Qing Ya, "Elder Xuan, this is not their fault. Spirit Bones produced by the Ice Jade Scorpion clan can only be absorbed by Spirit Masters with the Pole Ice physique. You should know that even ordinary Ice Jade Scorpions are Spirit Beasts with extreme attributes. This kind of thing is probably known by only a few people in the world today."
"Miss Qing Ya.", An Zhen turned around and looked at the auctioneer with some apology, "I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine.", Qing Ya felt her calves go a bit weak. Huo Yutong, Wang Donger, and Xiao Xiao helped Qing Ya and the two golden-robed maidens to sit on the sofa and rest.
"This distinguished guest, is what you said true?" Qing Ya asked anxiously. If this was true, auctioning this item would affect their auction house's reputation. The reputation accumulated over who knows how many years, once destroyed, Starlight Auction House would be completely finished. This was a major taboo in the auction industry!
"This old man is Mu En, the Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy. Miss Qing Ya, this old man is willing to vouch for my disciple's words.", Mu En said in a gentle voice, and a warm light shone on Qing Ya and the two others. The discomfort they had felt from the fright immediately dissipated.
Qing Ya: !!!
Sea God Pavilion Master!
She had never seen such a prominent figure in her life.
In front of people from Shrek Academy, she believed no one would dare to impersonate such a prominent figure. As for a self-directed play, even hundreds of millions of gold coins would not be worth Shrek ruining its own reputation like that.
"Please, Your Excellency and all distinguished guests, wait a moment. I will report this to the boss immediately.", Saying this, Qing Ya quickly walked out.
A moment later, Xu Jiujiu's voice sounded, "Due to the extreme preciousness of this auction item, this auction house has decided to extend the viewing time by ten minutes to allow all distinguished guests to understand and consider."
An Zhen looked at Huo Yutong and Ling Luochen, "Ice Burst Technique is a very powerful ability. I will buy it in the auction later."
"Give it to Yu Tong.", Ling Luochen said, the Ice Queen looking at An Zhen with a gentle expression in her eyes, "I have already gotten what I wanted."
"No, give it to Senior Sister Ling.", Huo Yutong shook her head, her eyes, bright as stars, sincerely looking at An Zhen, "Senior Sister Ling is more powerful than Yu Tong and can help Brother An Zhen better."
"You two.", An Zhen's lips curved into a smile as he gently stroked the heads of the two young girls. It was rare for young girls to get along harmoniously, and even rarer for them to humble themselves when facing such a precious treasure.
"You both will have it!"