Xu Jiujiao did not continue with the introduction, instead leaving those attending the auction to imagine for themselves.
If they could obtain this fire-attribute true dragon egg, how many immeasurable benefits would it bring to their own power?
At this moment, no one spoke. Every participant who had come to bid fell silent. In the VIP rooms, only the gradually heavy breathing of the crowd could be heard.
"After a thirty-minute break for rest and observation, the final item of the auction will officially begin. For this round, we allow all bidders to use collateral to exchange for funds."
"Our auction house will evaluate collateral based on market price. However, after converting it into money, a twenty percent handling fee will be charged. Miss this chance and it will never come again. We hope all honored guests can seize this unprecedented opportunity."
With that, Xu Jiujiao's figure disappeared from the soul-guide screen, leaving only the crimson crystal displayed from all angles, and the dark-red dragon egg sealed within.
In Shrek Academy's VIP Room No. 7, Xuanzi's eyes,originally clouded with drunkenness,were now filled with shock.
Even the chicken leg in his hand suddenly lost its flavor. "A true dragon egg. A true dragon egg! I didn't expect the final auction item to actually be this!"
"The Star Luo Royal Family must be mad. How could they put something of this level up for auction?"
At first, he hadn't sensed the fire-attribute life aura hidden within the egg. Clearly, the Star Luo Royal Family must have used some method to broadcast information about the dragon egg. The real egg definitely wasn't in the auction hall,likely hidden somewhere in Star Luo City with its aura suppressed.
To Shrek Academy, even though ten-thousand-year spirit rings and soul bones were coveted by all soul masters…
For the upper echelon of Shrek,especially the Sea God Pavilion elders,they were not rare. They were practically standard equipment.
Though Shrek could not guarantee every core elder would have ten-thousand-year rings and bones, to maintain the Academy's honor across generations, at least three people in each generation would be equipped with them.
Soul bones could also be passed down,some might be damaged in battle or failed breakthroughs, but overall, such items were not considered extremely rare within Shrek Academy.
However, a true dragon was different. Just as Xu Jiujiao had said earlier: on the entire Douluo Continent, the only confirmed pure-blood true dragon was the Beast God Di Tian.
Due to the Academy's proximity to Star Dou Forest and centuries of soul-hunting experience, Shrek knew well that, aside from Di Tian, another powerful dragon-type savage beast lived deep within the core region.
Its true form had been confirmed,king of the Hell Demon Dragon clan, ninth among fierce beasts.
Although Hell Demon Dragons could also be considered true dragons, their actual status was no higher than that of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan,both were mutated or mixed bloodlines, far below the nine noble pure dragon clans.
Those nine dragon clans were direct descendants of the Dragon Kings: Time Dragon King, Mountain Dragon King, Fire Dragon King, Water Dragon King, Earth Dragon King, Wind Dragon King, Light Dragon King, Darkness Dragon King, and Space Dragon King.
Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragons and Hell Demon Dragons, though calling themselves true dragons, were either mutations or hybrids,far inferior in both power and potential compared to the pure-blooded descendants of the Dragon Kings.
But judging from the situation now, what lay sealed inside that crimson crystal was highly likely the last surviving pure-blood descendant of the Fire Dragon Clan. With dragons being nearly extinct…
Once this fire dragon successfully hatched, its value and status would be unimaginable. If something like this was not in Shrek's hands, the consequences would be terrifying.
Xuanzi's gaze dimmed slightly. He squinted and took another large gulp from his wine gourd, unsure what he was thinking.
Unfortunately, he had come too hastily this time. Even thirty minutes would not be enough to gather the necessary funds.
The intentions of Starlight Auction House were obvious,they intended to take advantage of this opportunity to ruthlessly fleece everyone interested in the dragon egg.
Even if a bidder failed to win, the collateral they exchanged would not be refunded.
That twenty percent profit alone would allow the auction house to earn an enormous fortune.
After a long while, Xuanzi sighed and his figure disappeared.
Wang Yan could only watch helplessly. He had understood Xuanzi's meaning,Shrek Academy likely had no chance to compete for this item.
They had already spent a huge amount to acquire the ancient Ice Dragon external soul bone earlier.
How could Shrek compete now with forces that had waited until the finale and prepared heavily in advance?
Unlike the others lamenting the situation, Huo Yuhao surprisingly felt little emotion. Whether fire dragon or ice dragon, they were still out of his reach for now.
Even if Shrek acquired both treasures, based on his current status within the Academy…
There was no way he would be the one chosen to use them.
Besides, with Tianmeng Iceworm's earlier explanation, Huo Yuhao was nearly certain that even if others obtained these two treasures, they would be unable to fully utilize them for a long time.
The Ice Dragon external soul bone was practically a high-tier version of the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone from the original story.
Absorbing it would be extremely difficult. Only with powerful ice-attribute immortal herbs would the process become slightly easier.
The true dragon egg was even more complicated. Its rarity and power were unquestionable…
But the time and resources needed for a fire dragon to grow were unimaginably vast.
Huo Yuhao was almost sure that this dragon egg was originally meant to appear twenty thousand years later during the Ultimate Douluo era,after drifting through space from the Dragon Tomb,eventually becoming the last Fire Dragon King of the Dragon-Horse Galaxy.
As a pure-blood dragon, its potential was enormous.
But even if it hatched, the resources needed for a pure-blood dragon to grow would be astronomical. Without those resources, the egg would be little more than a burden.
Hatching it was also no simple task,after all, Fire Dragon King Jialin in the original story required nourishment from countless dragon-type bloodlines on Dragon God Star.
At that time, many god-level powerhouses existed. But now, Douluo was still suppressed by the Divine Realm…
Where could they find enough high-level life force to hatch it? Attacking the Lake of Life in Star Dou Forest was impossible.
The Lake of Life was tied to the recovery of the Silver Dragon King's injuries. If anyone dared harm it, Di Tian would rage.
Even without reaching god-level due to plane suppression, Di Tian, inheritor of the Dragon God's legacy, still possessed unmatched power on Douluo.
Meanwhile, in VIP Room No. 1, Xu Jiujiao entered and reported to the smiling young man seated inside:
"Brother, the target has taken the bait. They have started selling soul tools to us to exchange for gold soul coins."
"And after we offered to reduce the handling fee to ten percent for Mingde Hall-made devices, just as we expected, they sold us a huge number of Mingde Hall soul tools."
"There are a few other sects with similar intentions, but none as aggressive as Mingde Hall."
The Star Luo Emperor nodded. "Just as expected. It seems Mingde Hall truly desires this."
Xu Jiujiao smiled. "Of course. Aside from the true dragon itself, the crystal encasing the egg is a high-energy material. To soul engineers, it is extremely attractive."
The emperor shook his head. "They should think more carefully. If it were really that easy to use, would we put it up for sale?"
"How is Fragment-Star Douluo?"
Xu Jiujiao sighed. "With Heavenly-Medicine Douluo treating him, his injuries have stabilized. But full recovery will take at least half a year to a year."
The emperor could only sigh. When they first obtained the dragon egg, they were ecstatic.
But despite extensive research, they failed to make progress and could not analyze the egg because of the crystal sealed around it.
They summoned a Super Douluo, Fragment-Star Douluo, a level-95 powerhouse with a rare spatial-destruction-type mutated martial soul called Fragment-Star Light.
His attack capability rivaled that of level-96 or even level-97 Super Douluo.
Against an inanimate object like the crystal, theoretically, he should have been able to slowly wear it down.
But reality proved otherwise.
When he merely scraped off a small fragment of crystal using full power…
A terrifying explosion happened. Fire-attribute backlash severely injured him.
Without Heavenly-Medicine Douluo's timely intervention, his condition would have been far worse.
And the small fragment obtained could not be used at all,its internal energy had already been consumed in the explosion.
Star Luo speculated that the blast was caused by stored power discharging.
Because the remaining shell lacked internal energy, it could not be utilized.
Of course, this was only a guess,they no longer dared attempt another violent approach.
Little did they know…
The crimson crystal's protective power surpassed even that of the strongest beast alive,Beast God Di Tian,when fighting seriously.
It was a god-level object, created by a pure-blood fire dragon at the cost of its life and cultivation to protect its unborn child.
To soul masters who had not even touched the divine level, cracking it by force was nothing more than a fantasy.
Because of the previous catastrophe, the Star Luo Empire dared not keep the egg in their treasury any longer.
If, one day, the dragon inside hatched and shattered the crystal…
Would another catastrophic explosion occur?
The massive amount of energy within could obliterate everything nearby.
This dangerous item needed to be sold as soon as possible,for peace of mind.
And selling it would hinder the Sun Moon Empire while enriching their own treasury. There was no reason not to do it.
Returning to the moment, the Star Luo Emperor instructed Xu Jiujiao:
"The final buyer should be them."
"After the auction, I will allocate one hundred million gold soul coins. Three months from now, release a mission in the Adventurer Guild to steal the treasure from Mingde Hall."
"Stir up the Sun Moon Empire as much as possible. Only then can we buy more time."
He sighed. "I only hope that before that day comes… we are prepared."
Everything they were doing was out of desperation,Star Luo's national strength lagged far behind the Sun Moon Empire.
Thousands of years after the previous war, the gap had only widened.
A weak nation had no voice.
They could only rely on such small schemes to slow the Sun Moon Empire's advance.
Xu Jiujiao understood the pressure on the emperor, but there was nothing she could say. As a member of the royal family, her fate had long been bound to the rise and fall of the nation.
To be born into the royal family in this era… was truly unfortunate.
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