Qingya's delighted expression made it clear that this first item had already exceeded her expectations. After all, the higher the auction price, the more commission she received. How could she not be happy?
Seeing no further bids, Qingya raised her small hammer. "Two thousand two hundred Gold Soul Coins once, two thousand two hundred Gold Soul Coins twice, two thousand two hundred..."
Just as Qingya was about to bring down the hammer, a voice rang out.
"Two thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins." The one who called out the bid was Wang Yan, the Shrek Academy instructor who was with Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao smiled at this. Are they at their wit's end? He couldn't believe that even the usually arrogant Shrek Academy, which had always rejected Soul Tools, was now bidding.
Wang Yan's bid immediately caused others to completely give up. It wasn't that they didn't have the money, but spending two thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins on a Third Rank Soul Tool was simply not worth it.
Qingya struck the hammer three times. No one competed with Wang Yan. And so, Wang Yan successfully won the bid for the first Soul Tool.
Subsequently, more than a dozen Third to Fifth Rank Soul Tools were presented, and their prices did not exceed six thousand Gold Soul Coins.
But without exception, Wang Yan had bought all of those Soul Tools. His extravagant spending had drawn the attention of the Shrek Academy group.
From start to finish, Huo Yuhao hadn't bid once. He was only after the List Ranking Engraving Knife; he wasn't particularly interested in the other miscellaneous items.
"Next, we have our third-to-last item for today's auction. After this item, we'll have the grand finale of the day. I believe everyone will be very surprised."
The attendant pushed up the third-to-last item. Judging from the shape under the cloth, the item was not large; the cloth practically clung to the cart.
Qingya, holding a voice amplification Soul Tool, walked to the cart and smiled. "This item, I believe the esteemed guests here, who are all well-versed in Soul Tools, are very familiar with. It's also a frequent sight at Soul Tool auctions. It has a fun name, it's called, the Baby Bottle."
As she spoke, she lifted the cloth and picked up the item from the cart.
It was a silver necklace. The pendant was a metal charm in the shape of a baby bottle, about the size of an adult's thumb.
Auctioneer Qingya smiled, "The Baby Bottle, as the name suggests, is naturally used for drinking milk. However, for Soul Masters or soul masters, their Baby Bottle is used to replenish soul power. Of course, I must say, breastfeeding is still best."
A little joke immediately drew laughter from the bidders below, and Qingya herself couldn't help but smile.
"Back to business. The scientific name of this baby bottle should be 'Charging Soul Tool,' and can be used by both Soul Masters and Soul Tool Masters. Baby bottles can be any level of Soul Tool, but it takes at least a Level 3 Soul Tool Master to make one that has any effect. They're very common among Soul Tools, but high-level baby bottles are very expensive. I remember a Level 7 baby bottle appeared at a top auction of ours, and it caused quite a stir. It finally sold for seven million Gold Soul Coins, setting a record for the price of a baby bottle."
"The function of a baby bottle is naturally to replenish soul power, and a baby bottle of a certain level can replenish the same amount of soul power for a Soul Master of that level. You just need to charge it with soul power in advance. But it also has certain limitations. When using it, you must stop and fully absorb it. Otherwise, if you don't concentrate, you won't be able to guide the soul power. Therefore, we remind our esteemed guests every time we auction baby bottles not to use them in battle. Alright, I believe all our esteemed guests are very familiar with baby bottles, so I won't say any more. Now, let the auction begin. The starting price is six thousand Gold Soul Coins, with a minimum increment of one hundred Gold Soul Coins each time."
Huo Yuhao perked up when he heard it was a baby bottle. He wasn't concerned about the soul power replenishment function. He practiced the Heavenly Demon Technique, and the total amount of soul power in his body was at least ten times that of a Soul Master of the same level. He would need at least a Level 6 baby bottle to make it worthwhile.
Although he hadn't studied Soul Tools, he knew about baby bottles. This was because it was famous in the field of Soul Tools, with extremely strict requirements for both the materials used to make them and the internal arrays.
What Huo Yuhao was most curious about was that Soul Masters could actually absorb the soul power stored in baby bottles by others. Generally speaking, each Soul Master's soul power attribute was different, like the soul power of a fire-attribute and a water-attribute martial soul couldn't be easily transmitted to each other.
Although Soul Masters could also restrain the attributes in their soul power, such as when Huo Yuhao trained Lin Kong and the others to climb trees, that was training control over the other attributes in their soul power, but no matter how much they controlled it, it was impossible to eliminate it completely.
How did this baby bottle solve this point? Huo Yuhao really wanted to figure out the mystery, and he vaguely felt that it was very important to him to understand this point.
Thus, Huo Yuhao was determined to buy this item and study it thoroughly.
While Huo Yuhao was pondering, the auction for the Baby Bottle had already begun, and the price had soared to 15,000. It was evident that quite a few people were interested in it.
"Twenty thousand."
Someone else raised the bid. The people present were familiar with this voice; this person had practically monopolized the auction today, having already bought over a dozen items.
Because he had made multiple bids earlier, almost every time using his wealth to suppress others and prevent prices from rising too high, most bidders withdrew from the competition after he bid again.
Of course, there were still some who were unwilling to give up. After all, the actual price of this Level-4 Baby Bottle was around 20,000 Gold Soul Coins.
"Twenty-one thousand," a low voice sounded from the back.
Wang Yan remained composed and said, "Twenty-five thousand."
The entire venue fell silent once more.
After this string of auctions, Qingya's gaze, the auctioneer, shifted from a professional smile to an eager one as she looked at Wang Yan. No one dislikes a benefactor, and this wasn't just a benefactor anymore; this was a walking money tree. Just from Wang Yan's purchases today, Qingya personally earned thousands of Gold Soul Coins.
"Twenty-five thousand once, twenty-five thousand twice, twenty-five thousand…"
Perhaps to leave a good impression on Wang Yan, Qingya's gavel fell with unusual speed. Seeing the trend of the previous auctions, she knew that few people would compete once Wang Yan made an offer, and Qingya assumed this time would be the same.
"Thirty thousand." It was Huo Yuhao who called out the bid. To be honest, the price was a bit high, but he didn't really care. He had received fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins for killing Cui Lian and the others, and he didn't spend much money, so he still had at least four hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins in his storage Soul Tool. He could afford this.
Moreover, he believed that Song Ming, who accompanied him to the auction, would have made some preparations.
"Thirty-five thousand." Wang Yan continued to raise the price.
"Forty thousand." Huo Yuhao didn't back down.
After Huo Yuhao shouted out the high price of over forty thousand, Wang Yan hesitated slightly. Shrek Academy had provided them with a Credit Certificate for this trip, which signified absolute trust in them. Because this Credit Certificate had no limit, meaning the academy would pay for whatever they bought. The Starlight Auction House would simply settle the account with Shrek Academy.
A Credit Certificate wasn't money itself, but a guarantee of credit to obtain funds. Of course, only the most elite entities had access to high credit limits. For example, Credit Certificates issued by royal families of various nations, or those from top academies. Certificates with no upper limit were almost exclusive to these top-tier entities. Shrek Academy was undoubtedly one of them.
Even though the academy had given him unlimited spending authority, Wang Yan couldn't just throw money around. Every expense had to be reported in detail afterward. If the items purchased weren't cost-effective, it wouldn't be easy to explain it to the academy.
(End of Chapter)