As soon as these words were spoken, the audience immediately became lively. Only those who had heard of the murderous knife's reputation remained unmoved, quietly waiting for the auctioneer's next words.
"Our Starlight Auction House has always been fair to all, so please allow me to finish. I believe all esteemed guests can guess that the listed carving knife can appear here because it has some problems."
"To be honest, this is a cursed carving knife. This carving knife was actually made by an Evil Soul Master. After it fell into the hands of the public, it had thirty-seven owners, and all thirty-seven of them died tragically without exception. Among them, nine even became Evil Soul Masters."
Hearing the 'achievements' of this carving knife, the crowd below finally understood why the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife appeared here. Those who had been eager to try their hand immediately fell silent.
"The Spirit Devouring Carving Knife, starting bid is one hundred thousand gold coins, with each increment not less than five thousand gold coins. Esteemed guests, you may begin bidding."
Time passed minute by minute, but the stage remained silent.
Although the owner of the Starlight Auction House had promised a one percent commission to the auctioneer who could sell this carving knife, the auctioneer on stage didn't hold much hope. After all, this wasn't her first time auctioning the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife.
"One hundred thousand gold coins."
The auctioneer looked down at the stage, her eyes instantly brightening a few shades.
"One hundred thousand gold coins, once."
"One hundred thousand gold coins, twice."
"One hundred thousand gold coins, thrice! Sold!"
The auctioneer, seemingly afraid that the bidder would go back on his word, called the final price quickly, and the auction hammer fell.
"Is that your target?" Ma Xiaotao leaned into Wang Nan's ear.
She knew Wang Nan well enough; he wouldn't bring her here for no reason. Although she didn't know where he got the information, it was clear he came for this carving knife.
Wang Nan slowly nodded.
The one who bid for the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife was, of course, him. As a Disciple of the Shrek Academy Inner Courtyard, one hundred thousand gold coins was something he could afford. Moreover, Wang Nan had plenty of experience dealing with the evil thoughts and curses tied to it.
The essence of the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife was a large piece of life gold. Although he couldn't use the power of another world like Iliex to unlock its full potential, keeping it by his side often brought immense benefits to his body.
In addition, a carving knife made of life gold could decompose almost all metals and ores, making it a powerful tool and a good weapon.
"Let's go."
With the most important target secured, Wang Nan had no intention of staying longer.
"Are you really okay with buying this carving knife?" Ma Xiaotao asked with some concern as they walked out of the auction house.
"Don't worry, the evil thoughts on this carving knife are not as powerful as the evil fire in your body."
Although the one who placed the curse on the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife was an Evil Soul Master of the Titled Douluo level, how much could he achieve on such a small carving knife, even if he exerted his full power?
With Wang Nan's Evil Breaking Dragon ability and his mental force, purifying it was not a difficult task.
Not rushing back to the hotel, Wang Nan took Ma Xiaotao to explore the night market of Star Luo City. Although he had other purposes for coming out this time, he genuinely wanted to take Ma Xiaotao out to have some fun.
Late at night, after returning to his room, Wang Nan immediately took out the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife he had just bought.
Although the curse on it might not affect him, keeping it by his side always posed some hidden dangers, so it was best to deal with it as soon as possible.
He placed the dark, ancient-patterned carving knife on the table, and immediately an uncomfortable sensation emanated from it. Wang Nan's mental force slightly vibrated, dispelling the feeling completely.
It seemed it didn't pose much of a threat to him.
With this thought, Wang Nan's mental force slowly extended forward.
The moment it touched the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife, an extremely cold aura, accompanied by malevolent energy, surged along his mental force toward his Sea of Consciousness.
However, before Wang Nan could even react, the Evil Breaking Dragon moved instinctively. Golden light shot out from Wang Nan's eyes, and a vast mental force surged forth, instantly crushing down on the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife.
The Spirit Devouring Carving Knife trembled slightly, seemingly emitting a mournful shriek. The next moment, wisps of green energy slowly emerged.
The green energy gradually gathered, forming a hideous, twisted face in the air. Its mouth was wide open, letting out a silent roar.
It was a pity that its resistance was futile.
Wang Nan's mental force seemed inexhaustible, continuously pouring from his Sea of Consciousness onto the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife. Each mental fluctuation dimmed that green face a little.
In a short while, the last wisp of black on the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife completely disappeared. Its body was no longer dark black but instead emitted a soft glow, like a piece of green crystal.
Wang Nan picked it up and felt as though he had taken hold of a warm, soft jade. A vigorous life force slowly emanated, cleansing his limbs and bones.
Wang Nan shook his head, slightly dissatisfied.
No wonder the Evil Soul Master from three thousand years ago, after obtaining the life gold, was unable to utilize its true power throughout his life. In the end, he could only reluctantly make it into a carving knife and leave behind evil thoughts and curses before his death.
Before mastering its true usage, whether using mental force or spirit power to interact with it, one could only obtain some weak life force from it. Its other abilities could not be utilized for the time being.
However, Wang Nan was not an overly greedy person. Such a harvest was already enough; the rest would depend on fate.
...
The three-day elimination round quickly passed. On the fourth day of the Soul Duel Tournament, the competition entered the round-robin stage.
Sixty-seven teams remained. These were divided into eight groups, with eight to nine teams in each group.
The order of appearance in the round-robin stage was arranged according to the qualification order from the first elimination round. The group that Shrek Academy was in had eight academy representative teams participating, and they would be the first to appear.
The host was already using an impassioned voice to stir up the audience's emotions.
"Next, please welcome the representative team of the continent's number one academy, Shrek Academy, and their opponents, the representative team of the Star Luo Empire's Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy, into the waiting area. At the same time, please invite the captains of both teams to the stage to confirm their match format."
After entering the round-robin stage, the competition format also underwent some changes. In addition to the seven-on-seven team battle, there were also two other formats: one-on-one individual battles and the two-two-three battle strategy. Before each match, one of these three formats needed to be chosen for the competition.
Wang Nan walked onto the stage. The captain of the opposing Yunluo Academy was a burly man with a robust physique. Generally, Soul Masters didn't have high demands on spirit rings, but their physical strength was usually not too bad, otherwise they wouldn't be able to carry so many spirit tools.